LEFT HAND- MEET THE RIGHT HAND!

Neal A. Deutsch, CFP^®

Published in Rivertown Journal, December 2009

As a Financial Planner for over 25 years, I never tire of speaking to new clients about their situations, getting to know them, and helping them to solve their financial issues, either good or bad. I recently spoke to a friend in Chicago who relayed a personal story (with his permission) of how a lack of coordination between his doctors led to a very painful and avoidable mishap.
.
He had been treated for two different ailments by two different doctors, who, with the best of intentions, were treating him for two different maladies. Steven, with full trust of his physicians, did what he was told and adhered to the course of medicine prescribed. While on the tennis court yesterday, he unfortunately pulled muscles in both legs. After an exam, it was determined that the weakened muscles were as a result of an interaction of the two medications (and a still to be perfected tennis serve!) As I am a great believer that everything in life leads to a lesson (as my daughter will no doubt confirm, followed by a sigh and a rolling of the eyes… you know that look) I set about to think as to how this story and occurrence would lead to today’s lesson. Stick with me here.

In life, we all have our “Trusted Advisors:” doctor, dentist, accountant, lawyer, financial planner, etc. It takes a long time to establish the relationship to the point that we feel that we can rely on our advisor to be there when we need them, give us reliable information, and feel that we can trust that the information we get is in our best interest. In Steven’s case above, while his doctors were his Trusted Advisors, there was a lack of coordination between them leading to catastrophe. One did not know what the other was treating him for and, while it was Steven’s obligation to tell them and monitor his own course of treatment and meds, the mix of the two turned out to be a cataclysmic chain of bad events. Where’s the lesson here? Are ya’ seein’ it yet?

Let’s replace the name “Steven” with yours. Take a look at your list of Trusted Advisors. Let’s draw a diagram- go ahead, get a pen and pad. You ready? Now list all of your advisors by name down the pad leaving space between each of them. Now list the jobs they do for you (medical exam, tax return, draft legal documents, etc.) After you have done this, take a look at it and connect a line from one advisor to another who have met, have ever spoken, or create a coordinated effort in your best interest. After doing this, take a step back and take another look at it. Are your Trusted Advisors truly coordinated, or do you have a great group of people who have never met and don’t create a coordinated effort with your interests first? Could you imagine a sports team who went out on the field to play who never worked together before, never strategized, never even met? How successful do you think the team would perform? How successful does your team perform?

Here at Chestnut, we believe in a team approach, where our clients have their accounting, legal, money management, insurance and other Trusted Advisors working together for the benefit of our clients. Take a good look at your team-whether in the financial, healthcare, legal or another other field. It is imperative that you construct a plan to connect your advisors so that the left hand knows what the right is doing. You can’t win the game if the teammates don’t know how to create a successful, coordinated plan- and I’d hate to see you pull a muscle…

If hearing from me once a month isn’t enough, come visit me in our new blog site at www.chestnutblog.com.  If you think I’ve got pearls of wisdom here…you ain’t read nothin’ yet! See you there!

Neal A. Deutsch is a Certified Financial Planner^™  & Registered Securities Principal, offering securities through First Allied Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.  Neal is President of Chestnut Investment Group in Suffern, NY, helping people with financial planning since 1984. Please feel free to call Neal at 845.369.0016 or email him with your questions at neald@chestnutinvestment.com. Visit his website at www.chestnutinvestment.com