One of Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling books, Blink, attempted to change how we trust the way we process information. He asserted that people with many years and countless hours spent studying and working in a discipline could take in massive amounts of data and make surprisingly accurate assessments of the situation in the blink of an eye. He called this ability “rapid cognition” and it has myriad implications.
We all use rapid cognition in any number of ways. Everything from dating (love at first sight) to hitting a curve ball in baseball allow us to use this hard-wired or hard-won superpower to become expert.
In the context of financial planning, I ask you this: can the tools required for rapid cognition be shared with others? More specifically, can the benefits of an advisor’s rapid cognition be put to use for your benefit? After all, thousands of hours invested in studying, analyzing, synthesizing, and applying financial principles and strategies give us advisors more blink-ability than someone who doesn’t have the same experience. But can I translate that into value for you, my client?
Here’s how we do it: we have learned that most people make financial decisions using myths, misconceptions, and misinformation and don’t see the consequences of those decisions until years later. To help people anticipate this unfortunate experience, we choose to teach clients the questions to ask themselves and their other advisors before making financial decisions. Questions like “How will this plan affect my future tax liability?” can allow the client the benefit of seeing into the future to avoid missteps.
The best we can do for our clients is to help you see the choices available to you through our eyes – the very eyes that have amassed years of experience studying the outcomes of others’ financial decisions. In other words, our ability to “Blink” can be transferred to your decision-making if we choose to engage you in the process. If you feel like you’re being sold a questionable outcome, ask yourself if you’re being taught the right questions to ask before risking your hard-earned wealth.
If you are nearing or at-retirement, contact us today at (419) 931-0704 to go through our no-obligation Four Dimension Review Process. Learn the right questions to ask before making financial decisions.