How An Advisor Simplifies Financial Situations of Inheritors

Katherine Fox, CFP®, CAP®, founded Sunnybranch Wealth in 2022. She began her financial planning career at a large wirehouse and then moved to a Portland, Oregon-based RIA before “branching” out on her own. Katherine is deeply committed to demystifying the intricate financial situations of current and future inheritors, who often feel overwhelmed or unsure about navigating their next steps. The majority of Katherine’s client base of inheritors are very comfortable with technology but are learning how to manage their finances on-the-fly. RightCapital offers a range of insights that these individuals can easily understand and put into action, without inundating them with too much information or overcomplicated reports.

Challenge

Frustration with eMoney and MoneyGuidePro

Katherine had previously used both eMoney and MoneyGuidePro at her previous firms and was unable to use RightCapital even though she was drawn to it over these older platforms. “Working with younger clients, I was continually frustrated with the financial planning software we had.” Once she launched her own firm, Katherine was able to make her own technology decisions and officially made the move to RightCapital.

Rather than delivering a traditional financial plan, Katherine prefers guiding her clients through the financial planning process, as many of her clients have a long planning horizon. “When I was going through plan delivery with eMoney or MoneyGuide, I always felt like, no matter how I did it, I ended up showing my clients something that…I knew they weren’t going to understand. I knew they weren’t going to take all of this information and retain it.”

Here’s Katherine, starting with how she feels about RightCapital:

Katherine Fox: I find it to be very intuitive and very simple, and I can show things to my clients at a level they understand. When I was going through plan delivery with eMoney or MoneyGuide, it always felt like no matter how I did it, I ended up showing my clients something that, even before a meeting, I'd be like, I know they're not going to understand this. I know they're not going to take all of this information and retain it.

But being able to go through module by module and explain it, starting with the parts of their financial situation that they do understand — how much you're saving, how much you're spending, how much you have — is super helpful. In my experience, people really respond to that live view, being able to play as you go and adjust things, and feeling like it's the tool that matches their expectation for how technology works.

That is also really important to me, because my clients are of the internet generation — the older part of it — but we're in there. So we have intuitive expectations for how technology functions. Having a piece of software that fits with those expectations has been really helpful.

Solution

Meeting the expectations of tech-savvy clients

“RightCapital has been super helpful for me in terms of how I work with clients…I find it to be very intuitive and really simple and I can show things to my clients at a level that they understand.” Katherine noted that since many of her clients are not well-versed in the intricacies of their newfound or upcoming financial situations, she needs to be able to relay information clearly.

“Being able to go through module by module and explain, starting with the part of their financial situation that they do understand…is super helpful. In my experience, people really respond to that live view and being able to play as they go and adjust things and feeling like there’s a tool that matches their expectations for how technology works.”

Results

Interactive presentations

Katherine was clear when asked about presenting live in eMoney and MoneyGuidePro: “I didn’t…there was just no way, to me, that I felt like I could do it.” The navigation and inputs did not make sense for a live review. Contrasting that with her experience in RightCapital, Katherine said, “Having that really simplified, elegant menu…is really powerful.” She is now able to adjust levers and inputs on-screen with her clients and show them the impact changes can make to their financial outlook. Katherine elaborates further:

Katherine Fox: I couldn't even — there was just no way that felt like I could do it. Part of that was the planning process at the firm I was at was very focused on the financial plan. But the other part of it was being able to navigate in a way, and have inputs in a way, that made sense for a live presentation or a live review. Because if we're doing something live, but I have to click around to 20 different screens and then get to a place and say, look, it's live...

What I want to do, and what I do in RightCapital, is say, okay, we change this, this, and this, and here's how it changes. Just having that simplified, elegant menu where it's like, here's everything we can affect as a scenario — let's look at it and see how it changes. That is what's really powerful: explaining to people and showing them the consequences of choices, and showing them the power those consequences have when you project them out over 30 or 40 years, for good and bad.

Accessible information with details in the background

Katherine recognizes that the depth of intricate financial details more often required by advisors isn't always essential from a client's viewpoint. Operating with RightCapital, she can maintain these specifics in the background and dive deeper if the client asks questions, but she values the software's accessibility and simplified design. Katherine has been able to significantly reduce the time she once spent on data input and explaining how her financial planning platform works, allowing her to address what is most important to the client much faster.

RightCapital’s Blueprint visualization, as an example, is one way Katherine demonstrates a client’s current financial picture that they can grasp right away. “Having a software that supports the view that I want my clients to have—that really high-level, visually appealing view that’s understandable and also supports the way I do planning, which is module-based—is really great.”

Katherine Fox: And so I wanted a software that would reflect that, where all the underlying data and assumptions were there. It's all under the hood, it's all baked in — that stuff needs to be there. But as an advisor, and especially for my clients, I don't need to see it. I need to be confident and have done my research that it's there, but what I care about is communicating accessible information to my clients in a way that they can understand. That's all I care about.

So I wanted a software that supported that and could support the level of detail that I wanted to go into with clients. With some clients, it'll literally just be a quick look through, and it's like, okay, it's fine, we're good, and then they're happy. And some clients want to go deeper. So I really like that you have the ability to do both of those things.

Because to me, financial planning is an iterative process where you're looking at one thing and getting your arms around that one thing, projecting it out, seeing how it looks, and then you move through the different modules. I don't do everything all at once. So having a software that supports the view I want for my clients — that really high level, visually appealing view that's understandable — and also supports the way I do planning, which is module based, is really great.

Providing what clients need

When asked about what she might say to other advisors contemplating a change, Katherine's response was straightforward: "I don't miss eMoney or MoneyGuidePro at all." She provided insight into her past experiences with these platforms, describing their interfaces as "not ideal…I don’t think it’s ideal for the way that most people actually take in information."

She advocates for a more empathetic approach to software selection, encouraging advisors to view the software through their clients' eyes, focusing on their needs rather than the advisor's wants. A good rule of thumb, she suggests, is to ask non-advisors in your life to review the outputs and assess how effectively they comprehend the information. She rounds off her advice with a poignant question, "Are you building these plans for yourself or for your clients?" which underscores the importance of client-centered planning.

Katherine Fox: I don't miss eMoney or MoneyGuidePro at all. I'm still sort of horrified. I can still see so clearly the eMoney interface, and it's just not ideal. I don't think it's ideal for the way that most people actually take in information.

So if you're considering switching, there's this question of, what do you want as an advisor? But I think the more important question is, how do your clients consume information? What will let them understand the information? Look at it through that lens. Because you can say, no, it has to be able to do this, this way, and I have to be able to do that, that way. But who are you building these plans for? Are you building these plans for you, or are you building these plans for your clients?

So that would be my biggest advice: really think through that. And ask people — regular people, not your advisor friends, but family members and other friends — to look at things and say, which of these is easier for you to understand? Which of these is more appealing to you? Which of these is less confusing? Because money is a hard thing to talk about and it can be very overwhelming. So when you present something to someone, a lot of these deliverables from other planning software are going to trigger a fight or flight response in people. Consider that before you make a decision.

Ready to offer simplified and effective financial planning to your clients? Join Katherine and many others by scheduling your RightCapital demo today.