Real Financial Planning

A Manifesto for Real Financial Professionals

Greetings, Carl here.

I wrote a manifesto for Real Financial Professionals everywhere.

For many years, I’ve been using this term—"Real Financial Professional."

I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me what those words mean.

When I explain that a Real Financial Professional is someone who actually puts the client first, who’s as solid in the feelings department as the math department, I get eye rolls.

Good one, Carl. Like the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. We all know that doesn’t exist.

But I know better because I've met Real Financial Professionals.

It's almost like a secret society.

They’re out there.

All over the world, doing amazing work.

And yet, almost nobody knows they exist.

And that’s probably because Real Financial Professionals tend to be outnumbered by the sleazy used car salespeople of the financial industry.

You know exactly who and what I’m talking about.

I don’t even have to describe them.

My goal with The Manifesto is to provide a blueprint for everyone out there who wants to flip the script.

In the pages of the book, you will find my blueprint for what it means to be a Real Financial Professional. Sure, that includes a few specific tactics.

But more importantly, this book is a philosophical treatise on what it takes to give meaningful financial advice in the 21st century.

If you’re looking for hacks, tricks, and hot investment tips, you’re in the wrong place.

If you’re looking for a manifesto, you’re right where you belong.

Here’s the ethos of this book in a single sentence:

A Real Financial Professional is a guide in a changing landscape, not the defender of an outdated map.

Here’s my promise: If you can understand and internalize that concept, it will change everything.

It will change how you communicate to the public.

It will change how you work with clients.

Most importantly, it will change how you feel about the work you do.

And that will change how you feel about yourself.