As advisers, you invest time and effort in building deep, lasting relationships with your clients. Yet, even the strongest relationships can start to feel a little stale over time.
Familiarity breeds comfort, but it can also breed complacency. That’s why I’m suggesting the introduction of a new approach to client reviews: the ‘hopes and fears’ meeting.
In this article, we’ll explore how advisers can use this meeting structure to revitalise long-standing client relationships, while also helping clients plan more meaningfully for the future.
What is a ‘hopes and fears’ meeting?
The concept is simple but powerful. First, you ask your client what it is they’re glad to have done – be it financially or personally. This step celebrates their achievements and reinforces their sense of agency.
Then, comes the more difficult follow-on question: ask them to now mentally leap forward 15 years. Invite them to imagine what they would be glad they did in that time frame.
By asking this tricky question you could help clients develop a stronger connection to their future self. That's a crucial factor in financial planning. Research shows that people who feel connected to their future selves are more likely to make choices that benefit them in the long run, such as saving for retirement or investing for the future.1
Exploring hopes and fears
After setting the scene, you can guide clients to reflect on their ideal future self in 15 years’ time. Encourage them to consider their hopes and fears across key areas: health, wealth, family, work and wellbeing. These categories come from Aegon’s Second 50 research, which highlights what matters most to people as they navigate later life.2
Why these categories? Because they capture the holistic nature of financial planning. Health, for example, influences healthcare costs and lifestyle choices. Wealth affects security and independence. Family shapes legacy planning, intergenerational wealth transfer and support networks. Work can drive philanthropic goals or career decisions; while wellbeing encompasses mental and emotional health that directly impacts financial behaviours.
Clients’ answers might surprise you. A client might hope to travel extensively, but fear declining health. Another might hope to support grandchildren through education, but fear becoming a burden on their children.
These hopes and fears are, I believe, essential to understanding how well the financial plan aligns with what matters most to the client.
Reflecting on the financial plan
As an adviser, this is your opportunity to listen deeply and reflect on whether your client’s existing financial plan adequately addresses their hopes and fears. If the plan is missing key elements (perhaps it’s strong on investment growth, but light on planning for health costs or intergenerational transfers) it may need tweaking.
This is where you could bring Anne Karpf’s idea of the ‘arc of life’ into the conversation – a concept she expressed on our Money:Mindshift podcast. Remind clients that life is not a linear journey, but an arc with gains and losses at every stage.
Ageing is not simply a story of decline, but a process of continuous change and growth. By encouraging clients to think in this way, you help them embrace the full scope of life’s possibilities and challenges, rather than fearing the inevitable.
How to weave the ‘arc of life’ into advice
When clients express fears about becoming dependent, you can gently remind them that dependence is not unique to old age. We all experience dependence at different life stages: when we’re children, when we’re injured, even when we’re just learning something new. Framing dependence as a normal part of life’s arc can help clients see that planning for potential care needs is not a defeat but a proactive way to protect independence and dignity.
Similarly, when clients express hopes about future opportunities (whether that’s travel, volunteering or starting a new venture) you can highlight how financial planning supports these goals. By aligning the financial plan with the client’s evolving hopes and fears, you demonstrate the value of financial advice as a dynamic, lifelong partnership.
Conclusion
The ‘hopes and fears’ meeting is more than just a review. It’s a chance to reconnect with your clients, engage their prospective brain, and bring their financial plan to life.
By embracing the ‘arc of life’ and encouraging clients to see ageing as a continuous process of growth, you can help them plan not just for wealth, but for a fulfilling future.
- Improve your financial wellbeing. Data source: Aegon. Research conducted with 10,040 UK residents. The research was carried out online by Aegon’s Centre for Behavioural Research in July and August of 2023. The study was nationally representative in terms of location, age and gender.
- The Second 50 report 2024. Data source: Aegon. Research conducted by H/Advisors Cicero on behalf on Aegon with 900 adult workers in the UK and 100 fully retired UK residents. Data collected between 10–22 July 2024.