Why This Advisor Says Choosing RightCapital is a No-Brainer

Brooke Martinez: When I worked at my previous firm, we were very limited on the tools and resources that we had available, which makes sense when you work for a big corporation. But part of being an independent advisor is you're empowered to search for the right tool that will accomplish everything you're looking for and only make your clients' lives better and your job easier.

I needed to make sure tax planning was easy to incorporate into the conversation with my clients. My previous software didn't do a fabulous job with that, so it made it hard to have those tax planning conversations when you don't have a tool that's equipped with those capabilities.

The other non-negotiable was Medicare planning. A lot of tools will just have a generic cost estimate, and with a lot of our wealthy clients, they're unaware of how Medicare works. RightCapital has a fabulous ability to do a detailed estimate, and that really stood out to me.

Those two things were great. I really focus on tax planning, and how can we be efficient in our savings now so that in the future you're also efficient, not only from the tax standpoint but the Medicare piece. That's where I really feel like RightCapital stands out from its peers — it shows the impact to a client when they are retired and they have all these sources of income, whether it be pension, Social Security, and their required minimum distributions, and how that impacts their taxes and Medicare premiums.

So that has been a very valuable tool to a lot of my high-net-worth clients, because they have no idea that's coming, and they trust that we're looking at those things. And yes, there are a lot of things out of our control, and there are things that can change between now and then, but it is our job to give them that education and insight. When you have a tool that is efficient and easy to use, it makes your job so much easier to have these conversations with clients, because they have no idea that's coming.

Brooke Martinez: Choosing RightCapital was a no-brainer. In fact, I have talked to several of my peers and talked them into using RightCapital from other competitors. Because why make planning harder than it has to be? There are already so many things we have to juggle in our lives. If we can have a tool that is efficient and easy to use, and also very straightforward from a client experience, it's a no-brainer. It sells itself.

Brooke Martinez: It was extremely easy. The way it's set up, you go through the profile and enter the data into each section. But where I like to spend most of my time is in analysis. I'm looking at different scenarios with clients, and it's all specific to each client. It's extremely easy to use.

That's why I talked to some of my peers about switching from a tool that may not be easy to use. It's very powerful, and there's a lot that other tools have, just like RightCapital, but it's not efficient when you have to go from one screen to another to look at cash flows and you're clicking probably six times to get there. Whereas in RightCapital, in analysis, you click and then you're in cash flows, and it allows for a much more streamlined, efficient meeting.

I've had a lot of experience with some of my advisors who are outsourcing planning to me, where they did use another software. And I asked the advisor, let's do the plan in your current software, but let's also use my software so that we can see what the client experience will look like and the difference. We started with a presentation in their current software, and then I transitioned over to RightCapital. The client was very familiar with the previous software — they'd been using it for probably a decade with their advisor. But I said, with this life change that you're currently going through, we're going to incorporate another tool, and here's why: I want to be able to show you the cash flow of how you're going to sustain your lifestyle in a very straightforward manner.

So we brought RightCapital into our presentation, and the client was so impressed that he was very honest. He said, can I have access to this online now? Because I feel like this really answers my questions. Other software doesn't allow clients to see those cash flow summaries and click on the different headers and see, okay, here's where my income's coming from. Other software only allows it if you generate a report and upload it, which doesn't resonate with clients as much. So that was really rewarding to hear about their experience in a very crucial time in their life.

Brooke Martinez: I feel like a lot of clients are hands-on now. They want to be engaged in conversations with their advisor, and yes, they trust us. They know that we're doing the best job for them. However, they still want to be able to log in and see, if they had a really bad day at work, what if I retired two years earlier? What's that going to look like? So to empower them with a tool where they can go online and see that change in real time is very impactful to the relationship, because we're investing in that relationship and in tools that make their lives easier.

I also like how RightCapital has the intel for us to go in and see when clients are logging in and how often. It's really funny — I have a client that has logged in almost every single day in the last year. Some people are really hands-on and they like to have that tool. That's their one-stop shop. They link all their external bank accounts and their credit cards, they're using our budget tool, so they use it for all things financial. I also add their insurance policies, their property and casualty, their umbrella policies. So it allows them to take that tool and use it with their insurance broker to make sure they have adequate coverage from that risk perspective as well. It helps those clients manage all things financial.

The clients have access to the tool, and I like that they can go home and talk amongst themselves and say, we've talked about retiring at this age, however, maybe we want to retire earlier. What is that going to look like? And they can do that from the comfort of their home. They don't have to feel like they have to be very vulnerable in our meeting — even though a lot of times they are — they can still have that private conversation at home, play with the tool, and utilize it in the way that they see suitable for their family dynamic. I do feel like that is really important for clients.

Brooke Martinez: I really like how the Snapshot brings all the components that you customize for that particular client into one screen, so you can show them, yes, we're experiencing volatility in the market right now, however, you're still at X percentage probability of success. A lot of times it's between 90 and a hundred percent. So when the market's down 5, 10, 15% and the client can still see they're on track to meet their goals, it helps give them peace of mind. It's uncomfortable, but they know that they're still on track.

Using that Snapshot screen has really changed the relationship, because we've always talked about it, but seeing it all in one page doesn't overwhelm them. You can customize what's important to that particular client and how you're focusing that relationship, whether it's tax planning or just income distribution. It allows you to show on one screen, here's where you're at currently, and then you can lead into other topics if you need to.

They want to see their situation live, and they want to see how, when you move the dials, those variables might change their outcome. So giving a report isn't as important as it used to be. They want to see a tool on one screen that is easy to understand, and know if I'm going to be okay if this variable changes. RightCapital, by far, does a fabulous job with our clients in showing those impacts to their life.

I think RightCapital does a great job of meeting the client where they're at in their life. A lot of advisors work with pre-retirees or retirees, which is great. That's the target demographic, that's where you can manage a lot of assets with IRAs, etcetera. However, RightCapital is also a really great tool for your younger clients who are still in the savings phase of their life. I like incorporating the difference of saving in Roth versus tax-deferred into meetings with these clients. I like the idea of incorporating saving in a health savings account and the benefits of that, and not reimbursing yourself until years later. RightCapital does a fabulous job of meeting clients of all ages where they're at in their life. You can really customize it for that particular client and their specific needs.

With every single financial plan that you do being unique, different, and customized to the client's needs, I really like the different visuals, because they resonate with certain clients in different ways. Some clients really like to look at the cash flow summary, where it's just a whole bunch of numbers, where other clients want to see a chart or a graph. It's really nice to be able to customize your presentation to what you know is important to the client, so that they can actually interpret and understand what their financial picture looks like. So I do love the visuals that RightCapital has available.

Brooke Martinez: You can have these great conversations with clients. However, if they don't take your recommendations and incorporate some of those changes into their lives, it's almost a moot point. So I really like how RightCapital has the task feature built in, where you can help clients prioritize what they need to focus on.

I have tasks built out for clients years out, and I like that it helps me stay organized. I like that it helps my clients stay organized, and we know that in a few years we'll talk about this, but it's on the list and we're going to address it when the right time comes. That really helps me hold my clients accountable, hold myself accountable, and it allows us to make those changes in our clients' lives.