Newsletter for the Counter-Cultural Retirement Advisor
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Issue: #503
June 23, 2025
“Authors put years, even decades, of knowledge in a book that you can read in a few hours.”
―Michael
Greetings,
 
Welcome to this week's Advisor Training newsletter. Our goal is to provide training, education and insights for those who adhere to our counter-cultural and sometimes counter-intuitive investment and business philosophy.

  • Main event: Deception of Rate-Of-Return & Fallacy of the Hypothetical.

  • Have Superbe Client Follow-Up. 

  • What Income Level Makes You Happy?

  • Mike Beardi's Tip on Using ICA

  • Make the Big Moves Intelligently. 

  • Review of last week's quiz

  • Updates, News and Announcements

  • and much more...
THIS WEEK'S PRO-TIP

Get to $100,000, then $200,000, then $500,000
TOP 17 SECRETS
#7 ― The AdvisorFirst Self-Study Curriculum

  • The AFSSC is our self-directed, eight-part curriculum to learning the fundamentals of our business.  You complete it in your own time, and is based upon the honor system. Just inform me once you’re done.

  • You receive our AdvisorFirst Polo for completing it!
BOOK OF THE WEEK

Behavioral Investment Counseling by Nick Murray

 

This book is a complete investment advisory paradigm, based on two essential perceptions.

 

1) The dominant determinant of long-term, real-life return is not investment performance but investor behavior.

 

2) Behavior modification is an advisor's value proposition, because great behavioral advice is worth so much more than the advisor can ever charge for it.
ADVISORFIRST ADVANTAGES
#8 ― We’re Building an Advisor-First Culture
“In dealing with your career and its inevitable changes, you must think in the following way: You are not tied to a particular position; your loyalty is not to a career or a company. You do not hold on to past ways of doing things, because that will ensure you will fall behind and suffer for it. You are flexible and always looking to adapt.”
―from Robert Greene's Daily Law's, Jan 6

Our Group (AdvisorFirst) had been developing High-Performance Advisors in this industry for over three decades (at four different broker/dealers). 

 

What makes our current BD (Innovation Partners) special is that they have given us the freedom to structure our business as we see fit.

 

All of our previous B/Ds were run by management that had never actually hired, trained and developed reps in the field. No matter their intention or intelligence they just didn't “get it” - they couldn't help but view the sales force through the lens of “corporate”, “revenue”, “profits” and “control”.

 

We, being field reps, are building our platform with an Advisor- First perspective, and one that has simplicity, transparency, fairness, common-sense and reason as it’s foundations. Our systems and culture are built by Advisors and for Advisors (and doing what's right for clients, of course).

 

If you had the chance to make improvements to your current B/D, what would they be? Chances are, that’s what we did.
LAST WEEK's QUIZ

Client has an existing American Funds account of $50k in C-shares. You open another account for the same client for $60k A-shares. Which breakpoint does the new $60k qualify for?

  1. $100k. C and A-share count together.

  2. $50k. C and A-share don't count together.

Answer = 1
BUSINESS MEMES

Michael Paulding Thomas

Securities Principal & Advisor Development

 

Over three decades of training part-time and full-time financial advisors. Developed 2 $200k-earners, 10 $100k-earners, 15 part-time $50k-earners and built a $1.6M revenue sales force.

Securities offered through Innovation Partners, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC

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