Values-Based Financial Planning ™ The Art of Creating an Inspiring Financial Strategy Reviewed by Carolyn Hersman Editor, Financial Services Journal Bachrach is back--and if you know anything about his earlier works, you're already aware of how on the money he is about what a client really needs from a financial advisor. He's made his reputation on talking frankly about and to the industry, urging the derrier-draggers to get it in gear and coaching the elite on how to be even better at their profession. But this time, he's not talking to the financial pros; he's talking to their clients. With Values-Based Financial Planning: The Art of Creating an Inspiring Financial Strategy, Bill Bachrach takes the lid off financial planning, advising consumers about the standards they should set, the kind of service they should receive, and the hallmarks of dealing with a trustworthy, competent advisor. If you are in the top levels of your profession, practicing excellence in everything from the first interview to strategy-building, then you should rejoice that this book is now on the market. It will reinforce your clients' loyalty to you and bring more ideal prospects to your door. Of course, if you are one of the people who are dragging, then look out. This may just be the book that moves your clients on to a better advisor. The text takes potential financial services consumers through their paces, starting out with Bachrach's stock in trade, asking "What's important about money to you?" Readers identify their values, set goals, organize their financials, and benchmark their current financial reality, then begin the process of creating a Financial Road Map™ (a visual reference for all of the previous items), and learn what their next steps should be. This is one of the beauties of the book: it gives readers enough to do so they can see the need for a financial advisor, then tells them exactly how to go about finding one. (And if you are one of the savvy individuals who takes Bachrach & Associates, Inc. up on its offer to publish your own personalized foreword, then readers won't even have to lift a finger except to dial the number you print inside the book.) As usual, Bachrach serves the financial professional with both a strong marketing angle and a sincere, trustworthy approach to use in conducting everyday business. Just as when he's giving a presentation for or writing directly to an industry audience, Bachrach pulls no punches. Get a load of this, from page 76, directed to die-hard do-it-yourselfers: So let me say this, with all due respect. You ain't never gonna get it! You are almost certainly never really going to understand how markets work, why one insurance policy is better than another, or how global events affect your investments. The brightest financial minds in the world debate these issues ad nauseum, people who have spent their entire lives immersing themselves in economics and being students of how events affect the financial world. It's their full-time job. And any belief that you have figured it out, or are going to figure it out, in your spare time, may be an illusion created by your ego to humor you into thinking you are smarter than you really are. Of course, most of the text is not so "in your face"; it is gentle and graceful throughout - but no less genuine. Bachrach is obviously on a crusade to revolutionize the way we do business by upgrading the financial professional from technique- and product-oriented salesperson to trust- and client-oriented advisor. Whether he's doing this by educating the pros on how to raise the quality of their skills or telling the consumer the secrets and strategies of the trade, it is equally effective. "Bachrach has contributed an inestimable amount to the skills, esteem, and credibility of the financial professional," according to Jonathan Steinberg, CEO of Individual Investor Group, Inc., which publishes both the print and online versions of Individual Investor, as well as Ticker magazine. About this new book, he added, "Now he's unveiled the secrets of top advisors and made their most important and effective tools available to everyone, including do-it-yourselfers and clients of financial companies everywhere. This will undoubtedly boost the business of excellent advisors and help to 'raise the bar' for anyone who is not yet serving clients in a way that really matters." Defiantly a book worth purchasing! The insightful book, Values-Based Financial Planning; The Art of Creating an Inspiring Financial Strategy ($29.95 USD + S&H) is by Bill Bachrach, a financial services industry speaker, consultant and author. To order his powerful, how-to book (175 pages, hard cover, ISBN 1-887006-03-06, Aim High Publishing), e-mail info@bachrachvbs.com, go to his website (www.bachrachvbs.com), call 800-347-3707 or fax 858-558-0748.