What the pandemic taught us about helping clients navigate shocks

The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged us all in many ways. Those of us who entered the pandemic with a financial plan likely fared better than those without. However, those of us with a plan were not immune to the shocks, and many of us navigated the challenges with the help of frequent contact with our trusted financial planners.

I recently read the Covid-19 special issue of Financial Planning Review, the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning’s peer-reviewed academic journal. Dr. Jonathan Fox and Dr. Suzanne Bartholomae from Iowa State University argue in their article, “Household finances, financial planning, and COVID-19,” that larger destabilizing shocks, such as the pandemic, increase stress and undermine feelings of financial security. This is especially true for those most adversely impacted by the pandemic, such as people of color and women.

This important paper raises the question of what financial planners can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic to help their clients better prepare for and respond to the next macroeconomic or client-specific shock.

InvestmentNews
Kevin R. Keller, CAE
April 9, 2021