Meg Bartelt, CFP®, RICP®, MS
@MegBartelt
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Financial planner. I help early/mid career women in tech build wealth through IPOs...and then protect and use that wealth once you "retire."
Bellingham, WA
Joined October 2011
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We are told to closely guard our SSNs.
But it seems like every medical care provider, to include orthodontists for example, require it in intake paperwork.
Why does the medical industry need our SSNs all the time?
Genuinely curious.
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Just heard this amazing description of crypto:
MLMs, but for men.
I'm going to be chuckling all day.
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Why are 401(k) rollovers done by mailing a physical check most of the time?
All other account movements are usually electronic.
It's boggles the mind.
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I enjoy a lot of
#fintwit
. Lots of wit and insight. But good LORD, it seems to be an insulated community made entirely of 20-40 year old men who support, reinforce, broadcast, and love one another. The lack of diversity is sometimes a bit depressing.
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Best compliment I could possibly receive from a client: "maybe I should become a financial planner, because the way you've made me feel so much more comfortable about my money, I'd love to do that for people." Wrapped myself in that cuddly blanket last night as I went to sleep.
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My CPA recorded a video that accompanied and explained the most important parts of my tax return.
I don't know if this is common, but it is AWESOME.
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The longer I'm in the investment business, the more I learn about investing, the less interested I am in being cutting edge.
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Does it bug anyone else when someone talks about their company and states the # of yrs of experience as the *sum* of yrs of experience of all the employees? At what point does that calculation become asinine? 200 employees with 6 mos of experience each = 100 years of experience!
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Wow. I'd heard before about
@ewarren
's erasure from media coverage. This looks like a pretty egregious, undeniable example.
I AM BEYOND OUTRAGED.
This is truly interfering in the election in a way that has a definite impact. Total removal of the woman with the third most amount of delegates. Unforgivable. Sinful. Deliberate.
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If you are a woman who has 15 years of experience in the industry, has your CFP, and wants to start your own RIA.
FUCKING DO IT.
No, you won't be the best RIA owner or best financial planner ever. But you'll be a damn sight better than most of the shmucks in this industry.
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I just spent a 45-min flight next to a financial advisor at UBS.
We talked the entire (ENTIRE) time, by which I mean he talked and I was polite. Even spoke over me at times. Always talking about this "good guy" and that "good guy."
I am exhausted.
PSA: Don't be that guy.
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After attending to enough CPAs for the last couple years I'm wondering if tax preparers (with us planners to back them up) need to shift to:
Our policy is to extend all clients. AND THAT'S OKAY.
...
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When new ppl start working with us, it is almost guaranteed that they say they want a new CPA.
Why? Their CPA isn't responsive.
One of the values we provide for our clients is connecting them with CPAs who will respond reliably. Which should be a PSA for all your CPAs out there!
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I know it's necessary to know this stuff to help clients, but looking at all the withdrawal rules applicable to IRAs & 401(k)s (qualified plans in general)...
THIS IS SO DUMB.
What a colossal waste of human time, energy, and talent.
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Do you think that, much as women are born with all the eggs they're going to have for the rest of their lives, we're born with all the f*cks we're going to have for the rest of our lives, and by our 40s, we're starting to run out?
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One of my favorite kinds of people:
Men who earn less money than their wives and it doesn't affect their sense of manhood/worth at all. In fact, they are rather proud of their wives for their accomplishment.
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Ah, it's ADV season again. My annual reminder that I, a financial planner for > 10 years and firm owner for 6, basically don't understand the regulatory documents we submit. The same documents we seemingly expect clients to glean useful information from.
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Running a financial advisory business with actual clients is hard.
Knowing that, I kindly request of everyone—but especially people who haven't done this exact thing and simply cannot understand what it takes—to take care in giving advice to those of us are in the trenches.
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From my new CPA's contract:
"Going forward, 100% of client returns will be extended using the information we collect during the tax projection and planning session."
Setting expectations like a boss!
(This is actually Very Cool to see.)
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It still startles me when clients come to us from their
former wirehouse advisor, and that advisor more or less recreated an index fund in their taxable account...but by way of a bajillion individual stocks. WHHHYYYYY. Why make it so hard? So complicated?
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Just learned this unfortunate little bit about
@robinhood
: You can only sell your stocks there FIFO (First In First Out).
Not sure why that's unfortunate? ...
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"Tell us one thing you spent money on in the last year that made you happy."
We added this Q to our Spring meeting w/clients this year.
Highly recommend 10/10.
It's great to see clients actively celebrate using their money to make their lives better.
And the As are fun. :)
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Friends, Bellinghamsters, Countryfolk.
Rejoice! I am now done with radiation and therefore cancer treatment in total.
Now, excuse me while I go put burn cream on my nipple. (Have I mentioned that cancer treatment is very unsexy?)
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I just described an Investment Policy Statement as the equivalent of lashing Ulysses to the mast so he wouldn't sail his ship onto the rocks when the sirens sang.
I feel this analogy is so good that I must not be the first one to make it.
Who else describes it this way?
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If your financial advisor is doing—or not doing—something you don't—or do—want them to, maybe don't jump first to firing them.
Consider telling them that what they're doing isn't meeting your needs, here's what my needs are, and could you do that?
...
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Do you ever think about consuming less?
Not differently or better.
Just LESS.
(FWIW, I think about this all the time.)
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Complexity is NOT your friend when it comes to your finances.
It can manifest lots of ways. I'll harp on one: Having 8 bank accts and 10 inv accts (taxable, IRA, 401(k)) is almost a guarantee that you won't feel in control of your money.
Consolidate accounts when you can.
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2 more (of 16) days of radiation. And then the cancer treatment is over.
I am trying desperately to allow myself to be an impressively useless sloth until then. Demonstrably, I'm going to be one anyways, but it's the *not feeling bad about it* that I'm trying to embrace.
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Now every time I see talk of saving 1% more, all I can think of is the
#RICP
lesson that:
If you work 1 more month before retiring, that's as good as saving 1% more each year for 10 years before retirement.
If you work 3-6 more months, same as 1% more for 30 years.
BONKERS.
Making the single decision to increase your savings rate and investment rate by 1% each year will make you more money than all the coffee you will ever buy in your lifetime, combined
Focus on $30,000 questions, not $3 questions
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My 13 yo has discovered babysitting.
She is *beside herself* with the prospect of making This Much Money.
And I, *I* am beside myself at the prospect of having the "Let's set up a Roth IRA now and LET ME EXPLAIN HOW COOL THAT IS. NO REALLY." conversation with her.
...
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Daughter's friend: So, what do you do?
Me: I own a financial planning business.
DF: Is it just you?
Me (proudly): No, I have 3 employees.
DF: Oh. That's all?
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OMG, how are people posting about anything BUT the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v Wade (or other attacks on vulnerable people) today?
Especially posts about your business or tips for optimizing your finances. GROSS.
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My mom's generation: "Can I pay off my mortgage and have enough $ to never work again by 65? Great."
People I talk to now: "That, but by age 40, please."
It's remarkable: we used to be OK with the idea of achieving these huge financial goals over the course of decades.
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A recurring theme from my convos with planners considering launching their own firm:
If you are anxious about starting it, rest assured that many Less Experienced and Less Knowledgeable people have already launched their firms.
And yes, I'm talking to you, my fellow women.
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It Is Official. I am a Registered Life Planner(R).
It's been > 1 year, a 2-day "make my head spin" training, a 5-day "bring me to my knees in a puddle of tears" training, a 6-month mentorship, and many hrs having amazing conversations with clients.
...
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It could very well be Just Me, but I'd like to see financial-advisor podcasts feature new faces/voices/thoughts.
The same guests appear over and over. For good reason, as the guests have good stuff to say. But if you listen to podcasts long enough (as I have), it gets boring.
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Is it just me, or are every advisor's clients in their 30s and 40s being hit in the face with aging, incapacitated family members and wondering how to handle all that on top of their own finances and lives?
It's startling how quickly this has appeared across my client base.
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How is Vanguard customer service. So. Effing. Bad. Just. Every. Time. For. Years. Too. Lazy. To. Move. Away.
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Bullied by
@MichaelKitces
into writing this flame-war article, you can now read about why I decided to adopt—and ultimately abandon—Surge meetings in my firm.
But remember, as
@bhenrymoreland
didn't actually say, I'm charming! so be nice even if you're a Surge devotee.
Abandoning Surge Meetings To Better Meet Client Needs And Promote Advisor Well-Being
Discover:
- how Flow Financial Planning implemented surge
- why they ultimately abandoned it
- what they chose to do instead
@MegBartelt
#Advicers
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2 weeks ago, I invested a client's (large) cash pile from the Airbnb IPO.
I emailed them: "You are now the proud owners of a large, extremely uninteresting traditional investment portfolio. Congratulations."
They replied, "Yay! A bit anti-climatic."
Just the way we want it.
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@LoganGrafTax
As a not-tax-preparer (but as a fin planner), I feel as if it's been a 2nd job this last year or two explaining to clients (and the internet), "Do you know how bad it is out there? Yes, they raised their fees. Yes, they're changing their service model. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE."
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Wow. Wow. Wow. (And by "wow" I mean "barf.") And the financial-services industry wonders why it has trouble connecting with women. What an appalling statement.
Kamala Harris is "a little too charismatic" and "little bit dominant."
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One client leaves in the same week that another client writes me an email from vacation thanking me profusely for encouraging her and her husband to make the vacation bigger and better bc she has made so many memories with her family.
This work is an emotional rollercoaster.
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My 10 year old, attempting to "get back at me" for the crime of saying the word "rizz":
"Oh, look at me, I'm a financial planner. Put your money here. Put your money there. Get a 401(k)."
A remarkably accurate description of my job from a 10 yo.
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For every client, every year:
Send clients an email with the fee for the next 12 months stated in $.
Scary, but I feel kinda badass being so transparent.
I don't want to quibble about fee level/calculation. I do want to quibble about fee transparency, saliency.
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Had a meaningful conversation with a colleague today, who's at about the same place I am business-wise. And it left me thinking that this idea needs to be discussed more frequently:
You could just NOT grow, ya know?
What if you stayed Exactly Where You Are Right Now?
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Finally getting a real business valuation is freaking AWESOME (ht
@fptransitions
) . It's 3x revenue.
Going several years with zero/low income at the beginning is definitely coming back around in a positive way. My family's Net Worth statement just got a delightful boost.
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Assoc Planner. New as of last wk. In client mtg debrief, observed that the mtg had bad energy, probably due to me not being enthusiastic about client's plans, instead focused on risks.
I might feel like a failure as a planner, but I'm feeling like a total *boss* at hiring people
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We had a client do some angel investing in 2021.
She got her K-1s (you know, docs necessary to do your tax returns) on March 31.
When you invest in anything other than a boring ol' ETF, mutual fund, or stock, do you know if you're creating a tax nightmare for yourself?
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I just had a meeting with a prospective client who has been reading my blog for years, had no questions for me other than "how soon can we start," was technically perfectly matched to me, and was lovely to boot.
That almost never happens. And I like it.
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I'm happy, and not too too late, to announce that Yerim Hahm has joined Flow's team as our new Associate Financial Planner.
She brings with her a kind of startling amount of initiative, curiosity, and Slack mojo...and the requisite adorable pet.
...
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How do you think the HSA strategy is going to work out 3 decades from now, when a bunch of super organized people bust out decades-old receipts for long-defunct medical practices to get reimbursed?
That just seems ripe for fraud.
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Tax Loss Harvesting: It's not a universal good. I tend to shy away from it for most our clients, in fact. And I'd like your perspective.
Why do we shy away?
Bc tax rates could go up in the future. Don't think many people think cap gains rates will *decrease*.
1/
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I'm usually a frugal person. Married to another frugal person. And in 2020, I am throwing $ at happiness as hard as I can. And I'm so glad I have to $ to do it. Savings might just have to take a back seat to my sanity this year.
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A client has an investment account at Acorns.
Please tell me I'm wrong that the transfer (out) fee is $35...PER ETF?!
#fintech
...yet another way it's "democratizing" investing...
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When you own company stock, and you keep it, what are you really saying?
You're saying two things:
1) I think the price will go up
2) I think the price will go up *faster* than the price of any other stock or the broader US stock market
...
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There are all sorts of "flexes" when it comes to money.
I was just reflecting:
Having a stay-at-home spouse/parent must be one of the biggest, if subtlest, such flexes.
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Running a financial planning firm is, undoubtedly, difficult no matter what your starting point.
But EXTRA POINTS to those of you who started your own from scratch with little financial or family backstop.
The risk tolerance and drive required for that blows my mind.
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After only 7 years of regular activity, I received my first inquiry from a prospective client who found me...on Twitter.
The dream lives!
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I see in financial planning professional commentary a tendency to conflate being a good *financial planner* with being a good financial planning *business owner*.
They are just so different.
You can screw one up while doing awesome at the other.
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How to make a disaster plan.
The pandemic has forced us all to stay home, largely sitting on our hands feeling useless and anxious (or maybe I'm projecting).
My husband and I updated our disaster plan. Here are as many specifics as possible, so you can do it, too. 1/n
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Just started looking for a financial planner for me and my family.
Taking notes as I go so I can write it up at some point.
First realization: Holy shit, the kind of firms that sound good? They're more expensive than I expected.
I hope my brain survives this process.
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Planners: You ever think that many people buy homes simply because they don't know what else to do with their money?
They want to do something "smart" with their $, and buying a home is the only thing they (more or less) know how to do?
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The longer I practice as a financial planner, the more dedicated I become to NOT being the technical expert.
Instead I prefer to focus my efforts in 2 roles:
...
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Thank you for accompanying me on this
#RICP
journey.
As of today, 10:20am Pacific time, I have passed my final exam and will no longer be tweeting out every weird or interesting thing that I encounter in the study materials.
If you do retirement planning, I'd look at the RICP!
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(It feels wrong to say nothing, and wrong to say anything on social media, so with that:)
A woman should have the right to control her own body.
It's gross and terrifying that someone else can tell me, my daughters, or any woman, what we can or can't do with our own bodies.
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If you want to not have a job or be self-employed, cool.
Just be aware that HEALTH INSURANCE IS VERY VERY EXPENSIVE AND YOU WILL LEARN TO RESENT IT.
Easily 5 figures each year even for the most bare bones, administratively cumbersome coverage.
...
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I don't think we talk nearly enough about the difference in workload between *starting* work with a new client and *continuing* work with an existing client.
There are So Many More Hours involved in the former.
Why do I mention this perhaps glaringly obvious point?
...
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Every time I look at my 16-year-old Toyota Sienna with its missing trim, engine sounding like a tractor, filth, scratches and dents, I get a little swell of satisfaction at all the money I'm not spending on my car.
(No, I'm not a FIRE type, but it's cool to see values in action.)
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The older I get, the more I appreciate the times when I chose to NOT say something.
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Just had my first post cancer treatment annual mammogram. Stressful, but thankfully all looks good.
Now, just another...50 or so of these suckers and I can stop worrying.
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I officially have my RICP® designation.
That plus having our Official Afternoon Tea in London today make this a banner day.
Here's my prematurely published blog post about why I pursued the designation:
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I—and many of my financial planning colleagues—have seen this up close and personal as we struggle to help clients find a new (or their first) CPA who is some reasonable combination of competent, responsive, and affordable.
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A successful financial planner was asked how he achieved success:
"I was there for my clients when they needed me."
I forget where I heard this story, but I am gladly giving it free rent in my head.
It has to always trump structure/process/efficiency.
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Searching for a financial advisor for a loved one.
"our fee-only approach ensures we are objective in our recommendations"
Argh! Immediate disqualification!
The misrepresentation of objectivity/no conflict of interest drives me BATTY.
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One my favorite Qs to ask clients every now and again is "What role do you want me to play in your life?"
People often don't know what they should/can expect from working with a financial planner. This forces them to clarify their needs/wants.
...
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Two years on, every thing you ever wanted to know about how I started my financial planning business and how I selected—and evolved—my client niche. (Thanks to
@michaelkitces
for inviting me to guest post on his blog.)
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Two waypoints on my journey to understanding my privilege as a white person:
#1
: I shared an Airbnb with a Black woman advisor.
We were at the same point in our professional lives and biz ownership. We were attending the same training. In the morning, we each got ready.
1/
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My husband and I are officially "Pay the young strapping college student men next door with beer to carry heavy furniture up the narrow staircase."
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If you die or become incapacitated (as unlikely as it sounds), *someone* is going to make decisions about what happens to:
🔸 you
🔸 your stuff
🔸 your kids (if applicable)
It can be you. (if you get your estate planning docs done)
Or it can be the state gov't. (if you don't)
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Listening to
@JoeBiden
's speech made me realize the last 4 years have destroyed my ability to evaluate political oratory. I have no idea if Biden's speech was mediocre or great, because it felt WONDERFUL and UTTERLY FOREIGN. What the last 4 years have wrought!
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Received an inquiry from a woman in tech, looking for a financial planner.
In fact, she's looking specifically for "peace of mind."
See, it *is* what some people are looking for. ;)
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Agreed.
And
If you're early in owning your firm, and Cody's
#s
make you feel like a failure, may I join your club?
My firm is now 6 y.o. and I'm happy with it, but uh... My 1st year looked mighty diff from Cody's.
$25k rev.
$25k exp.
$0 for me.
Just. Keep. Swimming.
Really incredible thread on Cody's first year in business. It's a great business model catered to DIY'ers and Validators, which our industry has completely ignored (we only really work with Delegators).
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I am not aware of a financial-advice/literacy platform as big as Ramit's that has nearly the diversity of guests he has on his shows.
Age, sex, sexual orientation, immigrant status, wealth, race.
It's wonderful.
New podcast released today:
“We’re worth $1.25M, so why is he afraid to get a $15 gym membership?”
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I am hiring an Associate Financial Planner.
Flow is a virtual, fee-only firm. Come help us serve more women in tech, and better.
This role is entry-level. We want you to have demonstrated interest in the profession.
Read the full job description here:
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I'm going through a rough time in my personal life. Lots of wonderful people have asked me how they can help.
I finally came around to, "Send me stuff in the mail (cards, flowers, fun gifts). Because that'll make me happy."
And embracing the "give me stuff" is kinda awesome.
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(Almost) every damn time:
Client: I think I'll keep all my company stock.
Me: Did you know that your company stock makes up 85% of your net worth?
Client: I think I'll sell my company stock.
Not saying it's always the right decision, but I AM saying to check on that NW%!
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The value of professional financial planning is only the value *on top of* what the client would get doing their *own* planning.
ht @ Stuart Heckman
#FPARetreat
Certainly introduces a bit more humility into our work.
What could our clients do on their own?
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Wondering if there's a way to minimize/avoid taxes on your vesting RSUs?
There isn't.
There are NO TAX GAMES you can play with RSUs. The moment they vest, you owe income tax on their value. It DOESN'T MATTER what you do with these shares the second after: hold or sell.
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Let a new tradition be born:
Starting the year with fellow women biz owners, on the Olympic coast.
We life planned each other, reconnecting with what's truly important in our lives (only sometimes our biz). We shifted our perspective and energy for the upcoming year.
...
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Are you, as I am, hunched over your phone, manically scrolling, more than usual of late? I find this yoga session with
@yogawithadriene
*particularly* helpful in response. 25 minute later, my body (shoulders, upper back, neck) feels notably better.
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In the discussion of "how to pay for my kid's college," I like to remind myself (and clients) of a heuristic I heard years ago from a college planning expert.
You can pay:
1/3 from past earnings (savings)
1/3 from current earnings (income)
1/3 from future earnings (loans)
...
9
3
36
I am sitting in my favorite coffee shop.
And next to me is The Guy Who Always Wears The Anti-Vaxx sweatshirt. He's got company today. And I *swear* they are talking about some sort of conspiracy between stock market values and the virus.
Where are my earplugs.
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If you give to charity, remember:
It can save a lot of money on taxes if you donate *stock* (or funds), not cash!
Plus, you will feel fancy doing so.
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Do any financial-advisor conferences happen in the forest?
I want to go to a conference in the woods.
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I've been fairly stressed out lately about my business. For a variety of ir/rational reasons.
What do I do to feel better? Write a blog post.
Which tells me that *writing* about financial planning is a sh*t ton easier than *doing* it.
Why? Bc *doing* involves actual humans.
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Biggest takeaway the documentary "Minimalism":
The part of our life that we try to fill with *stuff*, it is a hole left by a lack of community.
Find community, purpose, etc., and your perceived need for "stuff" shrinks.
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Did a loved one name you as their kids' guardian in their will?
If that person doesn't already have a bunch of $ ==> Push them to get life insurance.
Because if they don't, and they die, now YOU'VE got Insta-kids and Insta-giant-expenses...with no more $ to support them.
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