Advisors Tend to Emotional, Financial Needs

ATLANTA —  When Tricia Reyer went to a financial advisor for help managing her money, the mother of 3-year-old twins didn’t expect to also get some help with the emotional stress built up from dealing with her husband’s sudden death.

Atlanta-based Geller Financial Advisors is one of the first financial planning firms in the country to also offer in-house counselors to assist their clients with emotional or psychological troubles.

“I help clients talk about their feelings and identify the underlying reasons why they may be stuck,” said Margo Geller, a licensed clinical social worker with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “This is often all they need to feel comfortable about following through on their financial plans.”

After her husband died of a heart attack at 53, Reyer was deflated and emotionally worn out, which made it difficult for her to concentrate on the financial problems she faced.

“My advisor took time to listen, and offered different options to me in terms of how to manage my money,” Reyer said. “He was very sensitive to suddenly becoming a single parent.”

Geller was brought to the firm as a counselor when her brother, David Geller, the president of Geller Financial, asked for help. David Geller had been planning the estate of an 80-year-old woman when he knew he needed help he couldn’t provide.

“I asked [the woman] if she had any damaged relationships in her life that she would like to repair and she mentioned her sister,” David Geller said. “She hadn’t talked to her sister in 22 years and she only lived two miles away.”

David Geller said the client became very emotional.

“I was about to unleash 22 years of emotion and I felt like I was over my head,” he said. “I didn’t know how to push it forward, so I backed off. I left that meeting and said we needed to have a counselor in the room.”

Soon, Margo Geller began sitting in with financial advisors and clients during emotionally charged meetings.

“We have to peel back the onion to get at what people really want,” David Geller said. “With Margo’s insight we have been able to take a leap forward and become much more effective with it. People are happier because at the end of the day they have peace of mind.”

There are several non-money reasons why a client doesn’t implement a sound financial plan. Margo Geller said. Some people are more inclined to spend or save too much money because of the belief systems instilled by their families. As adults, some act the same way their parents did, while others do the exact opposite, she said.

“It’s unbelievably common that people are not enjoying life the way they could because they’re afraid they’re going to run out of money,” David Geller said. “But once we get down to it and figure out why they have these fears, we can often help them do the things they really want to do.”

That’s what prompted Charles Haines to hire counselor Marty Carter at his financial planning firm in Birmingham, Ala.

“It’s more than just money,” said Haines, owner of Charles D. Haines Inc. “Our clients hardly ever say money is what makes them happy. It’s about human issues. When financial advisors deal with numbers, all they are dealing with are symptoms of underlying problems.”

Clients at Haines are required to undergo at least two hours of counseling with Carter.

“We kept stepping on emotional land mines,” Haines said, adding that most financial advisors are not prepared, trained or equipped to handle the complex emotional needs of clients.

But it’s hard to say whether adding professional counselors to the employee directory will catch on.

Jessie Harmon, vice president of academic affairs for the College for Financial Planning in Greenwood Village, Colo., said there are only a few offices around America that have in-house counselors. The future of financial planning could change dramatically depending on the success of these firms, he said.

“It’s a worthwhile idea because there is nothing more frustrating to a financial planner than a client who is paralyzed by emotion,” Harmon said. “It’s a fairly new concept, but an important one.”