A New Generation of Women Advisors: Trust, Strategy, and the Future of Planning

0:00 The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W FOURCY Radio. Welcome to to Ask Good Questions Podcasts, broadcasting live every Wednesday, six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at W four cy dot com. This week and every week, we will reach for a higher purpose in money and life, as well as a focus on health and wellnent. Now, let's join your host, Anita bell Anderson, as together we start with Asking Good Questions.

1:01 Hey, welcome to the Ask Good Questions podcast. I am so happy you're here today. We are going to be talking about something near and dear to my heart because we're talking about women in this industry today. We have a lot to say. I have a guest who's just a few years younger than me and just so so happy that I have her on the podcast today because we're going to talk about some really really important things that apply to everyone. And so with that, let me invite Claudia Glover to the podcast stage. Hi believe, Hi Claudia, welcome, Welcome. Well, we're actually on you know, she's all the way over on the East coast. I'm in Hawaiian magic of technology.

1:51 We're able to have this conversation today. Let me tell you a little bit about Claudia. She joined BFG Financial Advisors in October twenty twenty one. Where do you primarily work. Out of Timonial Maryland? So just North Maryland. I was going to say Maryland, right. So she's also impressively the chair of the Investments Committee and serves as a Chief Investments Officer at BFG. She was drawn by a shared passion of spreading financial literacy, and that's also near and dear to my heart. She strives to educate clients and empower them to make sound financial decision. She brings a wealth of experience. She was actually seventeen years at Wells Fargo Advisors, and she started as a client associate and she worked her way up through the ranks, and she brings a lot of institutional investment and management knowledge. And in her previous roles, she managed a one point one billion dollar separately managed to account and she's participated in a lot of things I'm having to do with this industry. She's a graduate of James Madison University. She holds a BBA degree in finance and earned her MS degree in Financial Planning from the University of Georgia. She's got her licenses. She's earned both her Certified Investment Management Analyst and her CFP. We both

3:25 have all these letters behind our names. Else like a. Lot of work to get those things, isn't it? It is, yes, And so outside of the office, she spends her time with her husband and her two daughters, to whom she hopes to pass down her enthusiasms enthusiasm for financial literacy and philanthropy and community involvement. Is there anything you'd like to add to that. I think you covered it pretty well there. I'm happy to be here. It's certainly been quite the journey togay. But I've had the privilege to see this industry from many different sides, experience that myself, and working through clients.

4:09 So I think we're gonna have a really good conversation today. Well what do you think I mean? We're going to basically talk about you know a lot of you know, people wonder about finding a financial advisor and what drew you into this crazy field? What do you think? You know, it started with the finance part of it. I always loved the math aspect of it. I loved building financial plans and the stock market. That's really what drew me at first, and I think that's why I kind of got, you know, tugged into really working closely with portfolio managers on a trading desk.

4:49 But after a while, I realized what was really driving. Me was was the people behind the numbers and how they were affected by the things that we did. And it it took me probably ten plus. Years into my career to figure out that, you know, I wanted to be the advisor working with the clients. And it's just been so rewarding after doing this for so many years. I always tell people my favorite part is getting to see people reach these milestones right and reach reach these goals. They aren't always you know, happy and positive, but still getting people through these phases of life. It's just so rewarding and I have so much fun doing it.

5:31 Well, my next question has to do with, you know, the young advisor, And when I first met you, I was like, she can't possibly have all this. Look at her, She's a baby, you know. It's just like she looks like she's so young. But what do you think is a misconception that people have about you know, quote unquote younger advisor that you routinely disprove. You constantly have to fight the you know, people thinking the lack of the experience. It is funny people see me and think I'm a lot younger than I am, and immediately you know, responding, there's no way you could have done this. You haven't been in the end, you know, you haven't been doing strong enough. But you know, so, I do feel like as younger advisors, as female advisors, we constantly have to overcome kind of you know, people's misconceptions about.

6:25 How much experience we have. But what I would say is when I look at you know, my generation of advisors and those coming up behind me, and I compare them to you know, advisors ahead of me, I do feel like. We've kind of come up in a different way. I think, like me, who's gone, although I will probably. Yeah, no, I would argue you're probably different than most. But there's there is a big you know, a large cohort of point them out, you know, male advisors that kind of came up in the stock trading days, and even when I started, it was all about how you know how.

7:08 Much you were selling. It was a transactional nature to the business, and I think that that has largely changed over time. I came up when that was still changing, But I do think that now you see a lot of education happening on early on, and while it does take time to get the experience and getting comfortable with different situations and getting a little life under your belt, I do think that the younger advisors coming up are really well educated. They're coming out from undergraduate programs that focus on financial planning. They're getting their sies and Series seven's early on, and they're getting cfps really early on. So I think they're coming into the industry with a really strong educational foundation, which I think is great.

7:52 Right, what are you know? Can you think of a moment with a client where you really feel like your whole philosophy around money and what you're trying to do with this whole thing with giving advice. How is there a moment with somebody that you felt like you were really shaping how you felt about the whole thing. I think, you know, there are different moments where they definitely shape you, right. I think for me it's not any any single one thing. I learned a lot in terms of my fundamentals with finance and investing from my parents, primarily my dad and just kind of how how he invested, just really a little bit at a time, really consistent, and so I kind of grew up with the basis of that anybody, anybody can do this right. It doesn't You don't have to have a lot to have a good financial plan.

8:54 And but I you know, I do think along the way, you do come across a lot of different people with a lot of different philosophies that will, you know, kind of challenge the way that that you see the world and the way that you've been advising. I'm always open to it, you know, I. Will tell people there's there are many ways to do this. I don't think anybody has figured out the secret sauce for exactly how you do it. And you know, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with with being challenged and having my my ideas question. And I do think that, you know, with working with clients, it's not so much telling them what to do. I do think it's it's a collaboration. You know, there there are going to be things that they're comfortable with that I may not be, but you kind of work with them to get to that point where both of your philosophies kind of merge.

9:48 Right, Well, what do you think is driving I mean the I mean, you know, I I went into this mid life. I mean you went into it after college. I went into this after mid life, after this divorce situation that turned my life upside down. But I remember somebody saying you should look at financial services because you'd be good at it. Well, what do you think is driving the growth of women and advising. Do you think it's client demand or is there culture shifts going on or people just wanted to be there. I was a big I want to be my own boss. Okay, yeah, yeah, I think yeah.

10:29 I think it's a combination of things. I mean, it is a great industry where you can be your own boss. You can, you know, if you're willing to kind of put the work into to build that business, make it work for you and your lifestyle. So for you know, for women from others, it's it really is a great industry. I think it's it's we're seeing the shift though, you know. I think we saw the shift into the advisory business where people were paying, you know, for advice, and I think as that shift started to happen, we start to see the world of behavioral finance kind of start to peak. And I think that that's someplace where women really shine and where you realize it's not all you know, not everybody needs to light the numbers like me. It's not all about that, you know, it's the behavioral aspect of it.

11:18 I think women are really good listeners. I think that that allows us to make people feel comfortable. And I do think that women are taking over. Management of assets more so than we've ever seen before. You know, whether we were talking about it earlier. It's husband's aging, or they're getting divorced, or maybe they're widowed, they're in control of their finances, and I think having female advisors tends to be a positive thing for the industry. Do you think this is affecting firm models. I mean, you like, you know how you know, like back in the day, I can remember, you know, it's like there was a obligatory there was like a woman who was But I think that's changing. I think that there's a lot more leadership, right Like in your firm, you've got great leadership. You've got Lena who has been on the podcast.

12:20 But what do you think, how do you think women are changing the industry than most What do you think? I you know, I think we're you're certainly seeing women in leadership more naturally now, right, So it kind of used to be that you wanted to have a woman in the room, and you know, I certainly remember lots of times being the woman in the room and kind of thinking to yourself, as you know, is that why I. Was chosen to be here? And then it, you know, it started to be more and more so I think at first it was it was very purposeful and maybe for the wrong reasons, but I think over time it's that diversity of thought. I mean, I truly believe that to make a better team, to make a better company, to make a better industry, having diversity of thought, diversity of leadership is a positive overall, So bringing women into those leadership roles, I think it's changing.

13:11 Its changing the industry for for the positive. Yeah, do you think there's any barriers left, you know, or what what barriers do you think still exist for women entering the field. I'm wondering if it's maybe just what's up what's up there that that is the barrier. Yeah, there's you. Know, there's there's a lot of that. I think we are a little a little hard on ourselves. When it comes to, you know, can we do it? It's gotten better, you know, I was talking to some young ladies coming out of college not too long ago and still being honest, you know, you you will go to conferences and be one of a few. Still there are definitely more women, and now you have the women's luncheons and you have the various events. It's tailored towards women.

14:01 But the reality is you're you're going to be outnumbered. So it's it's not an industry that you're going to go into and uh, you know, necessarily feel like you're surrounded by a lot of people that look and. Act like you. But it is a very rewarding industry. On the on the other side of it. And what I have found, you know, over time is you know, obviously I've come to BFG where we have great female leadership and great diversity, but even going to conferences, you you start to get more comfortable and you start to meet more people, and and my personal network of women in the industry is growing and growing faster than it's ever before. So it's it's fun to see.

14:41 Well, how do you see the next ten years? What do you think how is that advisor landscape going to continue to change? Especially we've we've kind of hinted at it a couple of times here with what we've called the wealth transfer, women outliving their spouses, their partners and going and living just straight out, living longer and having a large amount of wealth that they are now responsible for. How do you you see some more shifts in the next five to ten years. Oh, I mean, I think it's always shifting, right. I think the only constant to a lot of things is changed.

15:23 I think we will continue. To shift to have you know, I don't know that the shift well. And I just got I was going to say not all around women, but I literally got back from a conference and it was you know, women is the industry now, so it's kind of hard to say that it's not. But that's what they were actually saying was women's the industry now. It's like that women are the industry now. And you know, the whole premise was that we used to come up and teach advisors make sure you talk to the woman too, make sure you're addressing the wife as well, and that we've now shifted into a world where women are the industry and women are the clients. And even if they're coming in with their husband, a lot of times their husbands are making financial advisor decisions based off of whether or not their spouse is comfortable with them, because they need to be able to know that they have that continuity of care. So I think things will continue to shift to be you know, easier to understand. I you know, I don't think women are looking for overly complicated investment strategies.

16:25 I think advisors are going to you know, continue to have more conversations around goals, dreams, grandchildren, great yet, grandchildren, legacy planning. I think it's it's going to shift more into those softer human, you know, desires, and we move away from the conversations of did my portfolio perform better or worse than the S and P? Five hundred? So I think we continue to go in that direction. Well, let's talk a little bit more about, like the whole what does advice mean? Because you know, you know, we just don't know who might be listening to this or watching this and going I'm at a point where I really need to get an advisor. What is modern financial planning? What do you think it means to you?

17:14 Beyond the whole investments? I'm guessing it means a lot more than just the investments. Oh yeah, you know the first thing I tell people because the assumption is do I have enough money to invest with you? Like for some reason, that's always the first concern people have. I am a firm believer. It's about the planning, and the investments are one of the many tools that we use to accomplish a plan. I think anybody can have a financial plan. I don't think you're too young. You know, we have clients come in the office when they're first starting their new job and understanding how to look through benefits and how to you know, choose the best plan and do I do a roth Ira versus a traditional IRA. I can tell you I wish somebody had told me when I started investing a roth ira when I was coming out of college.

17:59 Nobody was to me. And I do think that, you know, if people are open to it, the financial planning is what they want it to be. I tell people that it's it's finding clarity and confidence in their financial situation, whatever that is, and everybody's is really different. But if you can, if you can understand what financial situation you're in and kind of what are the two or three things I need to work on this year to get me closer to my goal, you know, and you do that every year, you'll get to where you're trying to go. Well, I think you might be saying that people want to be heard, right, and I.

18:40 Think that that has to do with body language and tone of voice, and how do you how do you feel like you try to help somebody feel like they're being. Heard truly listen, you know the basics of I'd like to repeat myself, make sure I understood your question correctly, or did I understand that this is what you're hoping for? You know? I think that that's always helpful when I'm going through a financial plan. One of the first that we always talk about the family first, and then the very next thing. We talk about, what are your goals? The longer term goals a lot of times remain the same, but then there are some kind of intermediate term goals.

19:24 That come up. I always write them down, you know, as soon as they say it, and as we're having that conversation, making sure that the planning that we're doing and the next steps that we're putting in place all come back to those goals that the client, you know, I wanted to talk about. The Other thing is, you know, if they have questions, I always ask first, are there any questions or concerns that you have? I write them down. I make sure I address them. You know, if at the very end of the meeting, I go I go back to the goals, I go back to the questions, and I make sure that we talked about them and address them and you know, put put direction in place to get to those places. Yeah.

20:06 You know, sometimes I feel like you don't always have people that are open and willing to just really engage with you. Sometimes you have people that are anxious or they're just you can just tell they're avoiding. How do you how And you know, sometimes you have hard math that needs to be dealt with that people sometimes want to avoid. So how do you balance empathy and coaching with that hard math that needs to be addressed. Yeah, it's it is. You don't always have good news to get, you know, and that's that is a tough conversation to have with somebody. I'm a firm believer in honesty is the best policy.

20:50 I think. You know, you're not doing the clients. Any favors by not being honest with them if they're withdrawing too much from the portfolio, if their debt is too high, if they can't afford the vacation they're taking, or the private school that they're sending the kids to, and. You don't tell them that, you know, are we doing our jobs? Because you know, some people won't take your advice, and that happens, you know often. But I am very open and honest with people. But explain the why, right, you can't just tell somebody you're taking too much money out, but explaining the why and again bringing it back to their goals. So if somebody has the desire to leave assets behind to the next generation, but they can't spend it down to zero, right, Or if somebody has a spouse that's you know, a lot of years younger than them and we have to plan for a significant age gap there.

21:48 You know, that affects different things. So I think as long as you're being honest, you're being warm. I mean, these are difficult conversations to have. It's harder being on the other side of the conversation, right, and kind of receiving the news. So I think it's something that has to be delivered gently, with honesty and with the reflection of why it's important. Yeah, you know, I think that what we're basically talking about is like behavior traps, like you know, like we've talked about a little bit about overspending, fear during volatility when the market's going. You know, it's like I've actually this was before this was before a presidential election. I won't tell you which one, but this was before a presidential election where I was actually on the phone with a client doing breathing exercises with her because she was having a panic attack about the election. But so these are all things. I mean, just how do you help clients shift if there was that overspending or they're fearful or are they're procrastinating? What are your biggest things that you say that you do.

23:05 Yeah, I think the biggest thing is keeping them focused on on what matters, keeping them focused on. On their on the end goal. Right. Sometimes you know, the volatility thing is funny because you and I. Both know it's it's going to pass and if you have. The right allocation and you did all the right things, it's not really relevant, right, But people are still going to go. Through the emotions and we're still going to be there to help them through that. But I think bringing bringing things back to the big picture. You know, if you get into some of the bad habits with with overspending, it's it's the reminder, Okay, well if we do this today, but we have kids to put through college and in four or five years, how that's going to affect it. So, you know, I I try to really understand what drives the clients that I work with. Everybody is a little bit different. But bringing it back to what it is that drives them, what it is that really they care about and will change behaviors for I think is important.

24:09 Some When I when I was early on, you know, twenty five years ago, when I was early on, I started noticing that my natural client tended to be somebody who was getting close to retiring. So the biggest like you know, in trust clarity, you know, coming up against I have to make some real life decisions. What do you see as the biggest planning mistakes you see among people entering retirement? What do you think they are and how can void them? So? I think the first one I would probably say is not planning for retirement early enough and thinking that you're going to start planning your retirement income the day that you retire.

25:01 I think, you know, that's something that you and I. Both know should start years before they get to retirement, and so I think that's one. You know, the second one is probably rushing to take social security right away. I think that you know that's not always the best decision, and there are a lot of considerations into making that decision, whether you're married or single, And you know, understanding the benefits of taking assets from your portfolio for a few years while allowing that social security to. Grow I think is really important. But you know, certainly there are a. Lot of people out there that will jump and just file for Social Security right away. I think, you know both of these things. Talking to an advisor is going to help you kind of navigate those those decisions. And also, you know, not understanding the complexity of creating income in retirement and how to plan for that. I think that I find a lot of times people could be really good at saving and investing, and when you're kind of in that accumulation phase and it's going into your four to one k regularly, it's fairly easy. Right you get a good allocation, it's on autopilot, your assets grow and then you're ready. But there's a lot of complexity when you start taking income for retirement. If you have a combination of IRA accounts, Roth IRA accounts, you know, Burgridge accounts,

26:33 if there are pensions involved, Social Security, there are just a lot of different questions that should be answered ahead of time. I have one client that I remember, and I swear when he first walked into my office, he looked like a deer in the headlights, and I knew, and I knew even before he opened his mouth. I knew that he was way behind on his planning. Now now it's like ten fifteen years later, they're surviving, But things would have been a lot easier if they wouldn't have had to scrimp, if they had started a lot sooner. So they will always plug that. So then another area that I have always found interesting is the mismatched money styles.

27:20 The spender who marries the savor, the anxious person who's like married to somebody who will take on lots of risk. How do you help that? You know, when you've got two people, they're they're married to each other, and they seem to have wildly different styles when it comes to all of this. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what we call balance, right, but not really. Yeah, but you know, those are tough. It's tough when you have couples. And and yet I think as humans we like to find our opposites in the financial world. A lot of times it seems. Like that happens more off than not. But you know, I think again.

28:03 Understanding people's goals, whether it's short term or long term. I think for the saver, you have to show them that it's okay to spend the money right or and maybe in some cases I feel like with the client that is the longer term saver, Maybe the filling the bucket strategy is a good one. You know, if we put this money aside first, whether it's the four to one ks and you make your IRA contributions and and you put one hundred dollars a month into the Burgridge account, you filled your buckets and it's going to be okay. You know. Sometimes that gives them peace of mind. And I you know, I think with those that are kind of on the other side of it, kind of putting some parameters in place, and you know, kind of understanding. I find a lot of people's like like the guard rails, right, you can you can spend up to this much as long as you're doing this in saving, so you know, trying to understand the individuals and again what drives them and how you can put guardrails around both because you you know, there you have to find that balance in life, right, you can't do everything, you know, and we're not guaranteed tomorrow, so you've got to balance it with the other side.

29:13 But I I think a lot of times it's just being able to show people that that they both can work together. It just you have to have the right right amount going into kind of each each place, whether it's spending or saving. It can work, but you know, it does make for some difficult decisions and you know, some some more stressful situations. But I think I think that's where a lot of times we become a therapists and in our meetings as well. But you know, you do what you can. And actually, had that happen, Yeah, I actually had, There was, There was There's been more than once where someone said, are you sure you're not a therapist?

29:55 Sometimes we have to be, you know, sometimes we have to cross that line and you know, delve into some other issues that you know, at the end of the day aren't necessarily how much we're spending or how much we're saving. But you know, I think that's what makes women good at this is being able to identify those those underlying drivers and understand what's behind kind of the behavior. Well, there's another bucket, and you know, I've written a book about this, and you've been heavily involved in this, and that bucket is the big, big, big transitions, losing your spouse, going through a divorce, caregiving, inheritance. What's your approach to a really emotionally charged Is it any different or is it just the same. What do you think?

30:49 Oh, I think when somebody is going through a big change like that. It's it's really emotional, and I think they do need you first as as a a friend, as somebody to be able to talk through these issues. Through a lot of times, when somebody goes through that, I find they're nowhere near ready to start talking about what it means for the numbers or their financial plan, and they just really need you to help you figure out, like, what is this next phase of my life going to look like? Right? Like? How am I even going to go? For? Purpose? Yeah? I mean it's really hard. So I think it's the purpose for their money? Was the purpose for their life?

31:32 Right? Yeah? I think that the money a lot of times come second. And you definitely have to spend a lot of time just allowing that person to process their new reality. And that takes time. Yeah, yeah, it absolutely does. So, you know, it was last week somebody who has been a client for a long time, and I swear they must have amnesia because they I don't think people remember much about what you've tried to teach them when the market is volatile. So in a volatile market, what do you want retirees to remember first so that they don't make some big damaging move with their investment. What do you want them to remember?

32:22 Do nothing, try your best to do nothing. Don't check your account values online, don't sell out of everything, call us and do nothing. You know, I think I tell people a lot of the times. You know, that's really where we earn. Where we earn our keep is talking people off of those moments where market volatility is high and they feel like we need to act, but they don't. I tell people, just just back. Yeah. We've got in different workshops that we've done. We've shown you know, like World War two, Korean War, they have pigs, candy assassination, this election, that election, and the market just kind of keep us on going.

33:13 Yep, yeah, yeah, you know, you know, you can show people all of those charts. You know. One important thing that we do do for retirees is ensure that they have the money that they need in retirement set aside. We have a five year rule. You have five years of your income set aside in predictable sources. And you know, my theory and our theory behind that is two thousand and eight. If you did absolutely. Nothing during the financial crisis, it took you about three years to get back. To where you were. So yes, and it's about mayor. Touch your equities while the market goes through that and we have the money set aside that gives people confidence.

33:54 Right, So let's talk a little bit about choosing an advisor. Right. And by the way, if you don't know if whoever's listening, and if you don't know this already, on my website, I have information about guests. So there will be a place to find Claudia and there will be a place on where you can get her information if you if you would like to follow up with her. So hiring an advisor, what are the top five questions that you would want every listener to ask before hiring an advisor? Yeah, well, you definitely want to ask about you know, I think everybody knows that, ask about fees. I think you definitely want to understand what their cost structure is going to be.

34:41 Doesn't have to be the first question, but it's up there in the top five. I think you want to understand if they're fiduciaries or not, what type of structure they're working under. Why don't you say, let's let's say what a fiduciary is. A fiduciary is somebody who has to act and their clients' best interest, which I tell people all the time sounds so simple, but it's really not, you know, it's it's making sure that we're putting the client's needs ahead of ours at all times. Which feeds into the recommendations that you make. So understanding if your financial advisor is, you know, tied to a particular firm, if they can only sell certain products, you know, if they get compensated differently for certain products, is important.

35:32 That that is something that graded me wrong long ago. Yeah, yeah, and what else. It's difficult to understand, but it's good to ask the question, you know, I think you want to understand their their philosophy around around financial planning and their process. Certainly, you know one thing that that's unique to us and and nobody asks us, but I feel like they should ask, is is how how are you compensated as a financial advisor? Because a lot of advisors are compensated based off of things that they sell to their clients. All advisors in our in our office are salary. Nobody gets compensated for selling any more products or anything like that.

36:18 So it's it's a. Really unique thing I think for our industry that we do to allow us to really be in that fiduciary ce and be able to give clients advice to kind of go anywhere. I think if your advisor is tied. To a specific. Set of funds, or you know, they can only use a couple of different companies, it's it's really hard to say that you're doing the best possible planning for somebody if your options are limited. So, I think you know that that's a big that's a big one that nobody asks. We always say people should ask us because we would feel really good about our answer. And then I think I gave you five Did I give you the cost?

36:59 I don't know, but those are all good questions. Yeah, I think I think you a lost track. Well, you know, let's go back to that. The how. The thing I'm thinking about is the fiduciary versus product sales. How can someone quickly tell the difference between product sales and real fiduciary planning? So I wan to be if somebody's really pushing me. I mean, I always I can tell if anybody's pushing me. I'm wanting to know nobody. Should push you to do anything, or buy anything or implement anything. If there's a requirement that you have a certain level of assets under management, it can. It can kind of you know, get tricky. People find an hour onboarding process. We ask a lot of questions and we have our initial interview with the client takes anywhere from sixty to ninety minutes, and we're going to talk about everything, and the feet that we get the most we never you know, nobody's ever asked us those questions, and so I would argue pay attention to what questions they're asking you.

38:07 Are they trying to understand what your family situation looks like, your holistic picture beyond just the money that you're potentially investing, because I think that. That allows you to really make. A best interest recommendation if you if you know the clients really well, if somebody is leading with products or with investments, or you know how much they charge based off of the assets that you have under management, to me, that feels very salesy and product pushing potentially. So what are your first like if you're having a first meeting with somebody where if they're you know both ways, you know, both for the advisor and for that new client.

38:55 One of the biggest red flags. You know, I'm wondering about language. What about promises that people might make confusion if like fees are confusing. Sometimes I feel like advisors need to think in terms of is a client good for them as well as the other way around. I agree, one that's actually how we start. We start with what we call a fit call, and you know, we'll tell clients we want to make sure we're a good fit for you, and you're a good fit for us. Clients that aren't a good fit for us. If you want us to be picking stocks, uh day trading, we don't do that. You know, there are a lot of advisors that will do that. But that's kind of an easy one for us to know. Well, they're not going to like our lengthy planning process, right, and so we'll be open and honest and upfront with them. But yet, your advisor, if you're if you're interviewing an advisor, you should be able to ask just as many questions of them, and they should really want to get to know you.

39:59 If there are confus usions around the fees, if you can't really get a sense for what you might be paying for, or if there are more fees you know behind door number two, I don't. I think you should leave having confidence that this person is going to act in your best interests. And if for whatever reason, you don't ask more questions, and if they're not receptive to the follow up questions, to me, that's that's a red flag. Right. We're not a good fit for everybody. So when we get to that point with somebody and for whatever reason we decide we're not a good fit, it's never a negative, you know, it's that's that just is.

40:40 The way of the of the industry. And so I think that advisors should be open to the repeat questions and wanting to. Know and that they answered every question that I had. So our time is up, Claudia, can you believe it? I can't. That would by always. So let's talk about one thing. What would be if someone has been inspired to say, Okay, I'm going to get myself on track, what would be the first step that someone should take.

41:23 I would say, you know, reach out to an advisor. If you have friends they use an advisor, or that that somebody's there, make that first call and just kind of kind of start having that conversation. Don't be afraid that it's not the right thing for you. Planning is I think planning is for everybody. Everybody can use a little bit of guidance. So just take that first step, send somebody an email, schedule, you know, a phone call, and just start having the discussion. Yeah. So, Claudia, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having men.

42:03 Yeah, and you know what, it's such an important thing. We touched on many, many different areas of this and so wherever whoever is listening, and wherever you fit in that whole thing, just take the first step to get yourself more on task, more clear with what you want to see this be for you in your future. So with that, Claudia, I've got to say goodbye and thank you so much to everyone for joining us today on the Ask Good Questions Podcast. See you next time. Today's episode is over. But we did Ask Good Questions again, didn't We don't miss out as we broadcast live every Wednesday, six pm Eastern Time on W four CY Radio at W four cy dot com. Joined Banina Bellmerson next week for more conversations with experts on finance, retirement, behavioral finance issues, health and wellness, and more. Until then, remember to ask good questions,