Are You a Financial Advisor Worried About Dealing with Market “Collapse-O-Phobia”?

One of the most frequent issues that financial advisors bring to me is how to handle their fear of dealing with difficult clients when the market heads south, or “Collapse-O-Phobia”.

As I thought about the concepts to introduce in this piece, I am elated to see that two female army officers withstood the extreme rigors (both mental and physical) of Army Ranger School and passed!  Think about it.  Both women had to endure exactly the same challenges as their male counterparts—no exceptions—and they did it!!

What kind of a mentality does it take to walk into the face of extreme adversity and come out on top of it?  It takes mental toughness and the genuine belief that you will survive this adversity and once it’s over, you will feel extremely proud of yourself and know that you can survive any adversity in the future.

So, put this market “Collapse-O-Phobia” into perspective.  First, understand your clients’ fears, empathize with them, and then fall back on your core investment/planning values and stick with them, pointing out to your clients how this strategy has survived such market fluctuations in the past and it will do so again.

The more you trust those values, the more your clients will continue to embrace them.

Like these female Army rangers, don’t let difficult times overrule your mental toughness.  Use your mentally tough mindset, composed of your experience in surviving these challenges, to help you to push through and succeed.