Why I Stay At Consolidated Planning: A Testimonial From A Seasoned Financial Advisor

Sometimes it’s hard to know if your decision will be the right decision.

When you don’t make the right decision for your career, you end up with a firm that doesn’t fulfill your goals, and frankly, isn’t what you want or need.

What can help you better evaluate Consolidated Planning is understanding the experiences of our financial advisors – where they’ve been and where they are now.

To help you pick the right firm for you, this article will share my experience in the industry, my specific experience with Consolidated Planning, and why I choose to stay here, all to help you decide what you value in your career.

Experience In The Industry

I’ve been in the financial industry to some extent for the majority of my career. It wasn’t until 2012 that I joined Consolidated Planning. Leading up to my start with CP, I spent time in the banking industry, owned my first financial advising practice, and years later transitioned to a large firm.

With such different experiences I realized one common thread – planning philosophies. While all great companies, with some great products, it was all very transactional.

Some firms think everything can be solved with insurance and some think everything can be solved with investments – and that’s just not the case.

However, at the time, I thought I was adequately planning for my clients. But then I started at Consolidated Planning and learned what true planning was.

Experience With CP

My initial draw to Consolidated Planning was the planning philosophy. This contract allows me to have strong insurance products in my wheelhouse but also an open platform on the investment platform. This means together, with my clients, we can determine the best option for them and their unique situation.

Eleven years later, this is still the case with my career at Consolidated Planning. And that’s just part of the reason I stay here.

4 Reasons I Stay With CP

Because building strong relationships is at the foundation of a successful financial advising career, it behooves you to do your due diligence in your career search. There is no better feeling than knowing you’re at the right firm – where you can focus on building your practice, not spending time finding the next firm for your career.

#1 Culture of Support

My career with Consolidated Planning is possible with this culture of support in place.

The Advisor Performance Group

The Advisor Performance Group (APG) is a collaborative approach to case planning and preparation for your client meetings. APG will help sift through your client data, look for gaps and opportunities, and draw illustrations and meeting narratives to set you up for a successful and robust client meeting.

The Underwriting Team

The process of ensuring your clients are a worthy risk is where our Underwriting Team comes in. This team acts as the liaison between you and your client for gathering data related to underwriting policies for disability and life insurance.

This requires timely communication and attention to detail making this a crucial piece of building your practice.

Having your own case manager gives you a point person to order medicals and ensure this time sensitive process remains within the allotted time frame.

The New Business Hub

Something most financial advisors don’t enjoy doing is paperwork. And that is true for me. The New Business Hub is part of your workflow from day one as a financial advisor at Consolidated Planning. The New Business Hub team is made up of highly knowledgeable individuals whose sole focus is onboarding and processing new business paperwork for you and your clients, including life and disability applications and investment solutions.

The Living Balance Sheet

The Living Balance Sheet® (LBS) is you and your clients greatest tool. This tool follows a process that provides clients financial clarity, organization, and an understanding of how each financial decision affects the other. The Living Balance Sheet® (LBS)* helps your clients envision their personalized, holistic financial picture – and journey.

All in one place. Organized and consolidated.

These resources and tools allow you to focus on your revenue-generating activities – building relationships, finding and keeping clients, and doing it all over again.

#2 Income Potential

Part of the draw to becoming a financial advisor is the truly unlimited potential to make the income you want to make and know you can make. Depending on the compensation structure of the firms you’re evaluating, you might have more or less flexibility in your income potential. Advisors at Consolidated Planning can benefit from income potential outside of their yearly income in a few ways:

Guardian FR’s Have A Pension

Some financial firms, depending on who they’re affiliated with, may offer a pension. Yes, a pension as an FR.

Your pension with Guardian at Consolidated Planning is based on your last 20 years of service and your age. This is calculated by the average of your last earning 20 years and your age. Once those numbers meet 85 – you can retire with a pension, according to the Guardian Field Representative Plan Handbook.

Renewals from Life and Disability Policies

With a planning philosophy that focuses on protection first, your renewal income is an important piece of building your practice.

Not only does your renewal income compound overtime, but you own your renewals at Consolidated Planning. This means that even when you retire – you earn compensation for your life and disability renewal policies for the following 15 years.

#3 Levels of Autonomy

Here at Consolidated Planning, you work for yourself but not by yourself. You have the freedom and support to build your practice in a way that makes sense for you. This might include:

Your work schedule
Your compensation structure on your investment business
How you utilize our back office programs
How you meet with your clients
The ways in which you network

After all, isn’t that part of the draw of becoming a financial advisor…the ability to make the best decisions for yourself.

#4 Opportunities For Growth

Your career as a financial advisor can be so much more than just advising your clients. Here at Consolidated Planning there are many opportunities for growth beyond that. For my career, as a natural coach, I found myself drawn to positions that allow me the opportunity to coach my peers.

This opportunity at CP helps me fulfill my desire to coach those around me – new financial advisors, experienced financial advisors, and our market leaders.

Having these opportunities for additional growth is ideal for those financial advisors who want to further build relationships with their peers and become less siloed.

Oftentimes a career in financial advising is thought to be a siloed position, but that doesn’t have to be the case here. It doesn’t.

Become A Financial Advisor At Consolidated Planning

I understand that CP might not be the right firm for your career. Maybe you want to just put your head down and remain siloed while you find your clients. And that’s ok.

But for those who want their career to be centered around truly helping people (and a high income potential), Consolidated Planning might be the right fit for you.

Reach out to our team to discuss our interview process and what your first year will look like.

2023-159049 Exp. 7/2025

Published: August 18, 2023

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