“Pay off your loans.” “Maximize your retirement plan contributions.” “Invest in real estate.” Perhaps these nuggets of advice apply broadly to the masses, but when do they get in the way of your clients’ progress? In this episode of Elementality, Reese welcomes Abby Morton, CFP® at Dentist Advisors to talk about the role of liquidity in a financial plan—especially for small business owners. You’ll learn how to calculate an Element® called Liquid Term (Lt) and how it can be used to understand the source of your clients’ frustrations or achievements. The principles discussed in this episode are foundational, but since widespread advice often sends people down highly leveraged roads, Reese and Abby explain liquidity from a more strategic point of view.

The client-advisor relationship is a two-way street. At least it should be. As the advisor, you have just as much say about who you work with as the client does. So who will it be? How will you define your target audience, and how will you stay committed? In this episode of Elementality, Reese Harper welcomes Patrick Brewer, CEO of SurePath and host of the Model FA podcast, to expose the challenges and opportunities of building your firm around a niche clientele. With so much riding on the vertical you choose, what are the biggest questions you should ask before going all-in? In this conversation, you’ll hear Patrick explain how your personality factors into the equation and lesser-known ways of defining market segments. He also shares a commonly used marketing phrase that usually signifies a death sentence for young advisors.

In healthcare, the roles of humans and technology are front and center. Machines do X-rays and MRIs, and then doctors prescribe treatments. The approach to financial health should be no different—gather data, perform analysis, make decisions, and take action—and leverage the respective strengths of advisors and technology. But most financial planning software was never developed with the client/advisor relationship in mind, which makes real planning labor-intensive. In this episode of Elementality, David Weiss, Chief Technology Officer of Elements®, joins Reese Harper to talk about the insights and philosophies driving the development of the Elements® app. You’ll hear about the concept of microinteractions, and how the proper delineation of responsibilities between advisors and technology can reduce overhead and enhance the client experience.

Our discussion about the most important indicators of financial health begins with the mother of all Elements®, Total Term (Tt). When a client asks, “Am I on the right track?” your job is to have an informed answer—and an accurately calculated Tt score can give you the foundation for a productive conversation. In this episode of Elementality, Reese Harper and Ryan Isaac explain how Tt objectively measures progress toward financial independence and the rate at which someone’s Tt score should grow throughout a typical career. This is the brass tacks approach to measuring your clients’ financial progress without having to run a bunch of Monte Carlo simulations.

As investment management becomes more of a commodity and the advisor’s value proposition shifts away from products, a differentiated approach—one that demonstrates real planning and meaningful advice—will ultimately separate the contenders from the pretenders. But walking away from a commission-supported salary into a fee-only model isn’t an easy decision. In this episode of Elementality, Reese Harper welcomes Matt Mulcock, CFP® who talks about his transition from Fidelity Investments to Dentist Advisors. Matt recalls the unknowns he was facing, the trade-offs he had to consider, and the learning curve he had to go through. He also shares the key to handling an unexpected wave of client volume so quickly.

You're part advisor, part entrepreneur. More clients create more stability, but they can also take up all of your available time, leaving nothing for the business. How long can you sustain your growth without a dedicated business manager? In this episode of Elementality, Reese Harper welcomes Justin Copier, Chief Operating Officer at Dentist Advisors, to talk about the start and evolution of their working relationship. You'll hear Reese explain the triggers that put him on the search for another manager, the skill set he was looking for, and things you might consider before pursuing a similar hire for your own business.

There’s no universal standard for financial planning, which means you’ll have to put your own stake in the ground and define what it means for your firm. Where does your minimum offering begin and your maximum offering end? And how will you control the service experience as more clients and advisors enter the mix? In this episode of Elementality, Reese Harper and Ryan Isaac, co-founders of Dentist Advisors, describe the art and science of measuring financial health and the evolution of their Elements® planning methodology.

In this episode of Elementality, you'll hear Reese Harper and his co-founder at Dentist Advisors, Ryan Isaac, reflect on the early days of their business and how they laid the groundwork for a profitable and consistent client experience across multiple advisors. As the demands on their time increased, learn how they answered tough questions, such as: Should we raise our fees? Wait for our clients to accumulate more assets? Hire another advisor? Scale back our service?

In this introductory episode of Elementality, you’ll hear Reese Harper, CFP® explain his decision to take a pay cut and pursue a more client-focused, specialized approach to financial planning while the market was collapsing in 2008–2009.