My life as an advisor got so much better when I realized what clients actually want and how to deliver it to them.
For a long time, I didn't really know what to hand clients. I tried PowerPoint presentations, long planning documents from planning software. They had lots of information, but none of it distilled into anything they could act on.
After they told me they just want to understand their financial life and know what to do next, I started listing out changes for them to make.
So I started grouping my recommendations into a simple structure and called them "changes to be made." Because that's what they are.
Two things happened. My job got clearer, because I knew exactly what I was looking for in every conversation. And my clients' follow-through skyrocketed, because they could actually understand what I was asking them to do.
The 5 categories
Every recommendation I've ever given a client falls into one of 5 groups:
Accounts — something needs to be opened, closed, consolidated, or restructured
Cash flow — saving more, spending less, redirecting money somewhere
Insurance — coverage gaps, policies to add or drop, beneficiary updates
Allocation — investment changes, rebalancing, risk adjustments
Documents and procedures — wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, POAs, anything that needs to be signed or filed
That's it. Five buckets that cover virtually every planning recommendation you'll ever make.
Why this matters
The changes are the whole point. Every planning module in Kerdora (goals, investments, insurance, taxes, estate) exists to help you identify what needs to change. The planning is the diagnosis. The changes are the prescription.
When you sit down with a client and hand them a guide that says "here are the 4 things that need to change," they get it. They don't need to understand the math behind the retirement calculator or the logic of the insurance gap analysis. They need to know: what do I do next?
How it works in Kerdora
As you work through each planning module, you'll see a "+ Add Change" button. Spot something that needs to change? Note it right there. Select the category, type in the recommendation, and keep moving.
By the time you've worked through a client's full file, you've built the action plan without ever leaving the planning workflow. The planning and the action plan build at the same time.
The 5 categories come pre-built, but they're yours to customize. Rename them, reorder them, add new ones, hide the ones you don't use. They should match your language, not ours.