“What will you miss the most?”

THE CONVERSATION FOR ADVISORS: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁?

Retirement conversations naturally gravitate toward what clients are looking forward to: Travel. Freedom. More time with family.

Those are important conversations. But one of the most revealing questions an advisor can ask is very simple: "What will you miss the most?"

The first answer is rarely the most important one. Clients often say:
• "𝘔𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮."
• "𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦."
• "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦."
• "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬."
Those answers are just the starting point.

Great advisors don't stop at the first answer. They become curious.
Try this framework with one client this week:

𝗔𝗦𝗞: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵?"

𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡: Allow the silence. Don't rush to the next question.

𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥: Instead of assuming you understand, simply ask: "𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁." That's where the conversation usually changes.

A client who says they'll miss 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 may really mean... "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥."

A client who says they'll miss 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦 may actually be saying... "𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦."

A client who says they'll miss 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦 may be grieving the loss of identity.

Those are entirely different conversations. And they often shape the financial plan just as much as the numbers.

𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗗: Ask one follow-up. "How might we intentionally replace that in your next chapter?"

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧: Now connect what you've learned back to the financial plan.

Because clients don't retire 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 something. They're retiring 𝘁𝗼 something. And understanding what they fear losing is often the first step toward helping them build what comes next.

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀™ 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲:
Don't listen for the first answer. Listen for the answer beneath it. That's where better advice begins.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.

Better Conversations™ isn't meant to be read. It's meant to be practiced.