Touchy-Feely Finances: How to Find Out What You Really Want From Your Money
Financial advisers want to hold your hand. Should you let them?
The trend among more-thoughtful advisers is to turn themselves into "financial coaches" who offer "life planning" or "values-based financial planning."
I initially figured this was yet another dubious attempt by advisers to justify their hefty fees. But I tested some of the ideas on friends -- and I was surprised how effective they were in prodding folks to rethink their finances.
Getting your exercise. Consider two seemingly simple exercises. The first comes from Bill Bachrach, author of "Values-Based Financial Planning."
Sit down with, say, your spouse and ask, "What's important about money to you?" If your spouse responds that money is important because it buys freedom, you would ask, "What's important about freedom to you?"
If your spouse says this freedom would provide more time for leisure activities, you would ask, "What's important about having more leisure time to you?" And so it goes on for maybe seven or 10 questions.
With this exercise, "the tendency is not to go as deep as you could go," Mr. Bachrach warns. "The tendency is to stop at needs, wants and goals. You want to get some clarity about your purpose in life and what makes you satisfied and happy."
Financial planner Michael Jones uses Mr. Bachrach's technique in his Louisville, Ky., practice. When trying this exercise with friends or family, "you shouldn't prompt them," Mr. Jones advises. "You want them to flesh it out with their own words, not your words. One of the hardest things in the world is to sit quietly and let somebody else talk."
The conversations often start the same way. "The first few words that frequently come out of people's mouths are words like 'freedom' and 'security' and 'not having to worry about the bills,' " Mr. Jones says. But as the questioning progresses, "there are a lot of different responses. People start to talk about God or fulfillment or their purpose."
While the aim is to get through the conversation in one sitting, you may stall out and need to try again later. Even if you never finish, you will likely find the exercise prompts some soul searching -- and you will have a better idea for why you're stuffing those dollars into your 401(k).
Having difficulty figuring out what you want from life? Consider a second exercise, suggested by Carol Anderson, president of Money Quotient in Poulsbo, Wash., which provides life-planning training to advisers.
Start by drawing a wheel hub with nine spokes, which represent work, close relationships, finances, leisure activities, intellectual life, community involvement, physical health, emotional health and your home. Next, on a scale of one to 10, rate your level of satisfaction with each of these areas, with a score of 10 marked at the rim of the wheel and a zero placed at the hub. Finally, to gauge how well-rounded your life is, connect the dots.
"That gives you a graphical representation of how you feel about your life," Ms. Anderson says. "If you have a low number in a particular area, it's a sign that something is missing." Folks who try the exercise often indicate they're dissatisfied with the amount of leisure time they have and with their health, both physical and emotional.
Enjoying the payoff. All this thinking about values and life satisfaction might seem like unproductive navel-gazing. But there can be big payoffs.
? You will be more inspired to save diligently. "If people can connect what they really want to do with what it means to them, the goal becomes much more powerful," says Mr. Jones, the financial planner. "It increases the chance that they'll do what is necessary to achieve those goals."
? You can design a portfolio that's better aligned with your values and desires. Financial experts often push clients to think of their money as one big portfolio. But you will likely be more motivated if you have separate pots of money to pay for retirement, college, home improvements and other goals you've identified.
And don't just think about conventional goals. "You want to maximize your well-being," says Meir Statman, a finance professor at Santa Clara University in California. "That means having adequate income and wealth. But it also means being able to lead a life that is consistent with your values."
For instance, you might be more content with your portfolio if you buy socially responsible mutual funds. Alternatively, if you're aiming to spend less time on your finances and more time on other activities, you might purchase a so-called life-cycle fund, which will give you one-stop investment shopping.
? If you can get a handle on what's really important to you, you will have a road map for retirement. Many folks are eager to quit the work force. But they don't give nearly enough thought to what they will do with all that spare time.
"The most common thing on people's mind is retirement," Mr. Jones says. "But it's pretty nebulous. They don't know what retirement means to them or what they want to do. Once they retire, they struggle with it."
探寻理财真谛
理财顾问一见面就想牵你的手，你同意么？
而越来越多比较善解人意的顾问则转型为“理财指导”，为你提供“生活规划”或“基于价值的理财规划”等方案。
我最初认为即便这样，理财顾问的动机同样值得怀疑，无非是为了证明付高薪聘请他们是物有所值的。但我用同样的方法在朋友身上做了一些试验之后惊讶地发现：这些方法在促使客户转变理财观念方面确实十分有效。
做个测试。让我们来做两个看似简单的测试。第一个测试的思路源于比尔?巴卡拉克(Bill Bachrach)，《基于价值的理财规划》一书的作者。
比如说，坐下来问问你的爱人：金钱对你的重要性体现在什么方面？如果你的爱人回答说金钱的重要性体现在它可以买来自由，那你可以继续发问：那么自由对你的重要性又体现在什么方面？
你的爱人可能会说自由能够换来更多的休闲时间，那么你还可以问：那么更多休闲时间的重要性又体现在什么方面？这样的提问或许还能问上7到10个。
巴卡拉克提醒说，用这种方式可以无休止地问下去。这种问题应该在涉及到需求和目标的时候就此打住。你应该对生活的目的、追求的目标有一些清醒的认识。
财务规划师麦克尔?琼斯(Michael Jones)在路易斯维尔从业时就采用了巴卡拉克的方法。琼斯建议说，不妨把这种方法用在朋友或家人身上试一试，但不要催他们，不要越俎代庖，让他们整理好思路用他们自己的话把想法说出来。坐在那里安静地倾听别人说话恐怕是世界上最难做到的事情之一。
琼斯说，对话的开场白往往是这样的：最初从人们嘴里蹦出来的往往是“自由”、“安全”、“不用担心生活开支”等字眼。但随著问题的深入，就会得出大相径庭的答案。这时候，人们的谈话主题开始转向上帝、满足愿望或各自的目标。
虽然目标是一口气完成谈话，但在此过程中你也不妨休息一下，然后再继续回答问题。即使最终没有打破沙锅问到底，但或许还是能挖掘出内心深处的一些想法，与此同时，你也会对为什么把大把大把的银子投向401(k)退休金计划有更多的了解。
仍然搞不懂生活是为了什么？那就用第二个测试──Money Quotient总裁凯洛尔?安德森(Carol Anderson)的方法试一试吧。Money Quotient是一家向理财顾问提供生活规划培训的企业。
首先，画一个车轮的轴心，并从轴心向外辐射出九个分支，它们分别代表工作、密切关系、财务、休闲活动、思想生活、社区活动、生理健康、心理健康和家庭。接下来，把每个分支等分为十段，用1-10分的评分标准根据满意度对这九项内容分别打分。10分位于车轮的边缘，0分位于轴心。然后把这些得分点连接起来，看看你的生活是否“圆满”。
安德森表示，这就可以使你对生活的满意程度有一个直观的了解。如果某一项的分值偏低，那就说明在这一点上你的生活欠佳。采用了这种方法进行测试的人们往往在休闲时间、生理和心理健康方面感到不满意。
享受回报。对价值和生活满意度的思考似乎纯粹是毫无用处的纸上谈兵，但实际上这么做是可以收到很好效果的。
? 你将获得积极储蓄的更多动力。琼斯说，如果人们把他们的目标和这些目标对他们的作用联系起来，目标就会成为强大得多的动力源泉。
? 你可以设计一个与你的价值观和愿望更加匹配的投资组合。金融专家经常敦促客户把他们的所有资产作为一个大投资组合来进行考虑。但如果你为退休、上大学、家居装修等人生目标均分配了资产，那么你实现这些目标的动力可能就会更加强劲。
不要把思维仅仅局限于那些常见的目标。加州圣塔克拉克大学(Santa Clara University)的金融系教授梅耶?斯塔特曼(Meir Statman)表示，你希望的是能过上最幸福的生活，这固然意味著拥有充足的收入和财富，但这同时也意味著你能过上与你的价值观相吻合的生活。
例如，如果你投资那些有社会责任感的共同基金，你或许会对投资组合更为满意。另外，如果你不准备在理财方面耗费那么大的精力，而抽出更多时间去从事其他的活动，你不妨购买一只生命周期基金(life-cycle fund)，这会为你的整个人生提供一站式投资解决方案。
? 如果你弄清楚了生活的真正意义所在，那么你就会对退休生活有一个大概的认识。现在有不少人盼望著早日脱离劳动大军。但他们对如何打发退休时光并没有充足的思想准备。
琼斯称，退休是最常见的一个想法，但人们对退休生活缺乏清醒的认识，他们并不知道退休对他们意味著什么，也不知道他们需要什么。因此，退休之后，他们的日子过得并不顺心。
Jonathan Clements
