Managing Expectations

It is critical to understand your expectations and communicate our expectations to have a mutually beneficial relationship.

What can I expect from One Life in a working relationship?

  • Our process and your team are focused on achieving our mission – “Harmonizing dreams and means to liberate lives” to help you live your best life.
  • Achieving our mission requires a collaborative effort and healthy communication from all parties.
  • One Life’s process is designed to uncover new ways to get more life out of the limited amount of time and money that you have.
  • Making better decisions about your money and money requires clarifying your values and life goals.
  • Together, we need to figure out what you value and want out of life before we can create a relevant and realistic plan.
  • One Life is not a good fit for people who only want to talk about money because what we do is more than just managing money.
  • One Life will put your best interests first and operate under a fiduciary standard of care.

Not all financial professionals operate under a fiduciary standard of care. Some professionals, registered representatives, are held to a suitability standard of care which can create conflicts of interest with the advice you may receive.

  • Meetings can be held in-person, at our office or over the phone/web.
  • One Life will not sell you any type of insurances, annuities, or other investment products that pay a commission. The only revenue we will receive will be the fees that you pay.

What should we know about the One Life Team?

  • We maintain flexible hours for our team members and encourage our team to sign off completely when taking PTO (ex: no checking emails or returning calls). When your planner or service team is out of the office, a different team member or advisor may respond to your inquiries to ensure our team can be “on vacation” when they are on vacation.

What characteristics does One Life look for in an ideal client?

One Life prefers to work with people who…

  • Want to have an inspiring vision for their life, a plan and processto achieve that vision, and a team to help them get to where they want to be.
  • Appreciate the core values and mission of One Life Financial Group.
  • Are open-minded when exploring opportunities to get more out of their time and money.
  • Will provide feedback if something is not working well so that we can address any issues/concerns with your experience and service.
  • Respond to emails and phone calls from One Life within a reasonable period of time.
  • Appreciate that we are constantly exploring new technology and investment solutions that can add value, reduce expenses, and improve the client experience. We will do our best to facilitate positive change and communicate what you can expect whenever a change is made to systems or technology that may impact you.
  • Utilize One Life’s planning tools and systems to organize and share their financial information including cash flow, financial goals, and financial documents.
  • Understand that One Life’s standard operating hours are Monday-Friday from 8 am- 5 pm CST. Client meetings are typically scheduled between 8 am-3 pm CST. Client(s) will be notified if we are not available during our normal schedule.
  • Understand that One Life’s meeting preferences are as follows: 1) Web meetings with a web camera turned or at your planner’s office or 2) a location mutually agreed upon.
  • Review statements and planning reports within a reasonable amount of time and notify One Life of any errors. We make every effort to minimize errors, but if an error is discovered we will work to correct it in a timely fashion
  • COUPLES – Have both clients present at all meetings during the onboarding process in the initial year and during annual reviews.

We understand that some couples prefer to delegate administrative/maintenance meetings to one spouse/partner (getting organized, form completion, set up online access, etc.).

WHAT TYPES OF CLIENTS MAY NOT BE A GOOD FIT FOR ONE LIFE?

One Life may not be a good fit for people who…

  • Make it a habit or require the flexibility to reschedule meetings on a regular basis.
  • Want One Life to analyze and review self-made spreadsheets on an ongoing basis. One Life has made significant investments in technology to develop and maintain relevant financial life plans and portfolio strategies in a cost-effective manner.
  • Want One Life to invest in strategies or solutions that do not fit our investment philosophy.
  • Want to base the value of our working relationship on investment returns only and place a high value on shorter-term investment returns (ex: 1-5 years). While maximizing an investor’s returns is a critical part of our mission, we also embrace academic research and the reality that markets can be unpredictable for shorter periods of time.
  • Want One Life to manage assets and develop a financial plan for two people (i.e. married couples & partners) while one person is not engaged in planning and goal setting. One Life is required to meet with clients at least annually to provide asset management and financial planning services for each person named on the client agreement.
  • Want their planner to meet outside of normal business hours on a regular basis. If meeting outside of normal business hours is important to you, please notify your planning team in writing of your needs to determine if they can accommodate your schedule.