Should this client be fired?

John S. Davis, CFP, wrote the following in response to a column asking whether financial planners should "fire" clients who do not follow their advice. It was published in the August 2004 issue of the Financial Planning Association/Illinois newsletter.

Sometimes, in spite of our heartiest efforts to show clients the enlightened path, we fail.

Sometimes, it's the client's fault. He's too dense. He's too set in his ways. He lived through the depression. He can't or won't understand the advantages or disadvantages of taking (or not taking) action.

Other times, it's our fault. We haven't done a very good job showing the client the costs and benefits of a strategy. Some of us don't have time to educate; we want only to implement (eagerly and anxiously salivating toward the goal - the transaction). After all, how can anyone not understand the benefit of leveraging an appreciating asset?

When a client tells us that he absolutely cannot be comfortable with a mortgage, should he be fired? When he says he's opposed to investing in socially unacceptable industries, should we get out the axe? When he admits that he just hasn't had the time (after five, 10 or 15 reminders from us) to see an attorney about a will, do we say "Sayonara"?

I think not. This client needs us more than the client who's putty in our hands. This client has asked for our help, he's willing to pay us for our help and it is our duty to help him - not to set him off on his own to do more damage than he would with us.

Ultimately, we have a responsibility to do what's right for a client. Firing him because he wants to pay off his mortgage (or avoid a risky investment) is not in the client's best interests. The client has not failed - we have. We have not become the trusted advisor we pride ourselves as being. We have failed to help this client improve asset utilization, capital accumulation and goal achievement.

We're not dictators, we're consultants. When we educate the client, when we prove ourselves to him, when we show him that we are absolutely listening to him about his fears, failures, goals - implementation will follow.

Do we want client who mindlessly obey our every command, or do we want those who are involved in the decision-making process?