Hugs From Clients

True Story:

Yesterday morning one of my clients (We'll call her Sherry for confidentiality reasons)  called and asked if there was any way they could stop by that afternoon because they had some important questions they would really like answered ASAP. These kind of phone calls always scare me a little bit, especially when I manage ALL of the retirement accounts of the client who wants to get together immediately!

Did I do something wrong? Are they unhappy with me? Are they pulling all of their accounts? I felt like I used to back in the day when my mom would tell me "wait until your dad gets home!". Your imagination runs wild and before you know it, ridiculous and bad thoughts start racing through your mind - all of which are far worse than anything that could happen in real life.

I was extra nervous yesterday because earlier this year I took over on a very large sum of Sherry's retirement money and moved it into strategies we thought would better fit her retirement goals. I thought it was a great move for her and a far better fit than her old investments but maybe she's changed her mind. I knew I had done a good job and put together some great strategies for her, but needless to say I had a very long afternoon waiting for my 3:00 appointment.

3:00 came and, as usual, Sherry was right on time. When I walked into the conference room she wanted to get straight to the business she had come to discuss. "I need to ask you a few things about my money" she said as she was laying her most recent account statements out in front of me. I've been watching all of my statements  and comparing them with what I hear on the news and what my friends are telling me about their retirement accounts and I'm not sure that this makes sense."

Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes! It's never good to hear that something doesn't make sense when you're dealing with large sums of money. I was pretty sure everything was explained well and understood, but did I miss something?

Sherry continued, "my statements show that none of my accounts have lost any money. One of them has stayed the same and the other three have all gone up."

I told her that was right, she was reading the statements correctly.

"So I really haven't lost any money, my accounts are all safe?"

I told her she was right again and reminded her that we made moves to protect her retirement from the bad stuff that was going on the economy and the stock market so she wouldn't have to worry about it.

"That's wonderful! I wanted to make sure that these statements were correct and I feel so good now, I'd like to give you a hug!" And then she did, she stood up, gave me a hug and then headed for the door. Our urgent meeting was over in 5 minutes, and Sherry was happy enough to give me a hug. Did I mention I like hugs from happy clients?

If you're not working with someone worth hugging, you might want to consider working with someone else. Remember, you can keep your money safe and protected from volatility and you can keep your retirement money moving in the right direction. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!

Robert Edgin