Just when we thought we had mastered the business of financial planning — with our sophisticated soft-ware that compiles, calculates, projects, plans, allocates and illustrates — along comes Client-Centred Life Planning, by Michael Curtis, to tell us that we are only doing part of the job.

Curtis contends that financial planning, in the traditional sense, falls short of what consumers want and need from their advisors. The call now is for “life planning.” And, although that is not a new concept, its dependency on latest-generation software for effective deployment is.

Traditionally, advocates position life planning on the “soft” side of planning, developed through dialogue with clients rather than through number crunching “what if” scenarios. That makes Curtis’s emphasis on the availability of powerful software for life planning as the “paradigm shifter” a little surprising, as is his assertion that the latest Web-based planning tools have knocked us backward because they don’t have the full functionality of older desktop planning systems.

The rationale for his position is clearer once you realize that Curtis is the founder of Vision Systems Corp. and the chief architect of the VisionWorks Life Planner software, billed as “the only realistic, dynamic personal life planning model.” All the examples and illustrations of the life-planning processes in Client-Centred Life Planning were developed using VisionWorks.

That said, this book is an interesting mix of cerebral discussion of the neurobiology of consumer decision-making and the practicalities of implementing life planning in a professional advisory practice.

One of the book’s major themes is the idea that traditional financial plans almost invariably fail to satisfy because they are not client-centred. Rather, they are based on assumptions about external factors, such as investment returns and taxation, over which neither clients nor advisors have direct control.

So, whenever results aren’t tracking consistently with expectations, disappointment develops, along with a dip in the confidence clients have in their plans and their advisors. When plans are based mainly on internal factors, however, such as lifestyle or career decisions, clients feel in control because they are able to adjust their actions according to life’s realities.

By definition, life planning is based on clients’ attitudes, preferences and experiences. And because money arouses strong emotions, there is the notion that life-planner advisors must be amateur psychologists, able to unearth clients’ deepest feelings about money. Also, it is certainly useful to understand what attitudes got specific clients into their current financial situations.

There are many ways to close the gap mathematically between what clients have and what they want. But, normally, there are only a few paths that clients will pursue with comfort and confidence. Marrying action plans with attitudes is more likely to result in full implementation and perseverance.

The book draws on two equations: the “action equation” and the “relationship equation.” Each step in the life-planning process touches one or more variables of each.

The “action (A) equation” is A=I+L+B+P+C, in which:

I = intention, a vision of life made up of specific client wants;

L = learning that comes from interactively creating plans with clients that reflect their real-life

circumstances;

B = belief in what is learned, because the software shows clients’ visions as they see them, not in spreadsheets;

P = preferences, which are values, feelings and attitudes that must be reflected in any plan;

C = confidence that comes from plans over which the client has some control of the outcome.

The “relationship (R) equation” is R=(U+D+E)/S, in which:

U = understanding what happens when advisors really listen to clients;

D = dependability, which comes from a reliable process and consistent communication;

E = expertise that you demonstrate throughout the process;

S = self-orientation, which is negatively correlated, meaning greater emphasis on the advisor’s own interest reduces the quality of the relationship.

The final chapters deal with the specifics of marketing and other best practices for a life-planning approach. Some readers may find the discussion of neurobiology too academic and the promotion of VisionWorks software too blatant. But anyone interested in life planning should look past that to the other content. It’s worth the effort.

The book is available at www.clientcentredlifeplanning.com. IE