Holistic Financial Planning: What it is and How it benefits you

By Mandy Froelich / BH Financial Planning

When meeting prospective clients at events, such as the Home Show at the Monument in Rapid City, South Dakota, I always receive curious looks when I advertise that our firm offers holistic financial planning services. “What is holistic financial planning?” they ask. It’s one of my favorite questions because it allows me to explain why my team and I (all independent advisors) stand apart from the competition when it comes to educating and connecting others about their finances so they may wisely invest in better financial futures.

What led to offering holistic financial planning services

Firstly, I find it pertinent to explain my background before I switched careers to work as a financial planner and business strategist in 2020. For the first eight years of my career, I primarily lived abroad at holistic healing centers working as a chef, Registered Holistic Nutritionist (RHN), and bodyworker. I love the healing arts and have a deep respect for natural wellness.

When I returned to the United States in 2016, it became evident that most people want to invest in their well-being and eat healthier, but they lack the economic means to do so! This realization inspired me to return to school where I earned my degree in business and accounting and afterward, become a licensed financial adviser. Now, I specialize in teaching an integrated and holistic (well-rounded) approach to financial planning and prosperity.

While I do work with many alternative health practitioners – including chiropractors, acupuncturists, and nurse midwives, for example, I share this same approach with individuals, families, and other business owners to help them understand how money works and how they may leverage it to guarantee better financial futures.

So, what is holistic financial planning?

To help you better understand what holistic financial planning is, I’ve outlined it in the five points below.

1. A Well-Rounded Approach

   When I begin working with a client, I ask hard questions to not only understand their current financial situation but to understand their relationship to money. Understanding a client’s psychological relationship to money helps me better serve them by knowing how they approach topics such as saving, budgeting, investing, etc… These questions might include:

   1. What is their earliest memory of money?
   2. What attitudes have they developed toward their ability to earn and hold onto money?
   3. What is their current opinion on their ability to manage and wisely invest their money?

2. Organic

   While the approach is slower to building a book of business, I have never cold-called a single prospect. Instead, my team and I prefer to get in front of clients, meet them face-to-face, build trust through education, and continue the conversation if it makes sense to both sides. This is what I call an “organic” approach because it requires that I “put skin in the game” to show up for others so they know I’m serious about helping them generate and retain wealth.

3. Relationship Built

   Simply put, I work hard to earn the trust of my clients. In my opinion, you should be hesitant about letting just anybody manage your money or suggest investment options without thoroughly understanding the pros/cons of every strategy. As a licensed advisor held to the highest fiduciary standard, it is my pleasure to provide effective advice and build trusted relationships. In the past, before I switched careers, I had been bamboozled out of $16,000 by an untrustworthy person. I know the pain and hardship that accompanies poor financial decisions, and it is my pledge to help clients avoid these same traps and pitfalls.

4. Education-Driven

   My team and I believe in providing education to people and allowing them to make informed decisions on whether they would like to learn more. As a courtesy, we host free events (often which benefit community initiatives) on topics like estate planning and debt elimination and then provide free financial cashflow illustrations to illuminate how effective the solutions we teach can be. At the end of the day, I can’t live your life for you; but, I can educate and empower you to make the best decisions possible to benefit your financial future.

5. Referral Based

   If I don’t do my job correctly, I’m not going to be getting a referral. And, as an independent advisor, referrals are the #1 way I grow my client list. So, it naturally makes sense to do the best job possible by presenting information to my clients in an easy-to-understand way that empowers them to capitalize on the solutions available to them.

So, what did we learn about holistic financial planning?

In a nutshell, holistic financial planning is all about understanding the client’s whole needs, building strong and trusting relationships, leading with an education-first approach, and working at the client’s pace so they feel empowered to make the best decisions possible to benefit their financial future. If you’d like to learn more and explore some of the services and strategies our team offers, get in touch today.