Did you know that since June 2022, Financial Zen boasts a 97% client retention rate?
Did you also know that the industry average over that exact same period is ~81%? (Based on the industry bible: the Charles Schwab RIA Benchmarking Study).
Since we launched our current Mastery and DIY programs in the summer of 2022, we have worked with 108 households. Today, 105 of them are still with us.
We are burying the industry average. And that’s entirely by design.
The traditional wealth management model is an all-or-nothing proposition. Traditional firms charge you a bundled fee (usually 1% or more of your portfolio), mixing the financial planning and the investment management together.
Whether they meet with you four times a year or haven’t spoken to you since 2023, they get paid the same amount.
And if you ever hit a point where you just want to step back and coast for a bit? You can’t just pause the advice.
To stop paying those fees, you have to formally fire them. It’s uncomfortable for everyone, and it’s a huge pain in the ass, so disgruntled clients often just suck it up and stay anyway.
We love meeting our Members wherever they’re at. So Financial Zen has built flexibility into the system instead.
We broke up our fees so you pay separately for the financial planning (our time, energy, attention and Accountability Meetings) and the investment management (managing the money).
Because they are separated, we let our Members hit “pause.” If a Member gets laid off, hits a cash flow crunch, or simply reaches a “cruising altitude” where meeting with us regularly isn’t adding extreme value, we are usually the first to suggest they pause their membership.
They just hang back, we continue managing their money for a ridiculously low fee, and the baseline system keeps running.
So, just like the Hotel California, our Members can check out anytime they like.
(And they can leave if they really want to, but why would you unless I’ve done a terrible job at explaining our value prop? Which, admittedly, I’ve done exactly three times.)
P.S. Out of those 105 households we work with, we manage money for 103 of them. We love making the decision to get some help as frictionless as possible.