The answer is you hire a coach. Yes, it’s obvious…but any coach?
So you want to cut your golf handicap. You hire a coach and you talk through ideas and then the coach suggests, it’s not you, it’s your clubs. If you had a better set of golf clubs, your game will change. The golf coach says, “…and I have the perfect set for you” So you buy the new set in the belief your handicap will fall.
You go for a tennis lesson. You know the story. It’s your racquet. The coach says “…and by the way, I have the perfect racquet for you”
Of course, you know it’s not the clubs or the racquet. It’s you. Of course, good equipment helps, but to improve, it’s about you.
Why is it when you take retirement advice, you end up with a pension or new investments. You want to have enough money for your children’s education, and end up with some kind of school investment plan. You are worried about Inheritance Tax and end up with a “fancy” trust or life assurance policy. So often, the focus ends up on the product. Whatever the reason you talk to your wealth manager, you end up buying what they are selling.
The tennis and golf coaches don’t need to sell clubs or racquets to make a living.
It is so important to segment help in the form of coaching, mentoring, advice, and a product solution.
If the focus is on you, not a product solution for you, just as with tennis and golf, your financial outcomes will be significantly enhanced. Buying a firm’s product solutions will never give you the reassurance you need about achieving the best outcomes for you.