By Karen Caplan Altfest | Rethinking65

Financial planning is not just about numbers, it is about understanding what your clients actually want to do with their lives and helping them do it. Karen Altfest, Executive Vice President, believes that advisors should master a range of skills, including communication and empathy—not just math—to help clients reach their desired lifestyle.

This article in Rethinking65 highlights the importance of balancing qualitative factors, such as emotions and personal values, with quantitative factors when creating a financial plan. Advisors should remember that they can offer very little without great communication and should therefore avoid overwhelming clients with an excessive amount of numerical data and focus on what matters most, in order to foster understanding.