Helping people succeed financially isn’t about dollars and cents or numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s really about uncovering and understanding where clients are in life and how they’re feeling about it. Today’s guest runs a practice that helps his clients uncover their goals and find smarter ways to achieve them. Mark Shimkovitz has been providing financial planning advice and managing investment portfolios for 25 years. He works together with his wife Robin, a life coach, to take a life-first approach to financial planning. This approach allows him to build personalized financial plans and investment strategies. Listen to the episode to hear what life-first financial planning is, what it was like for Mark to start an independent practice after over twenty years working for banks and why he’s excited about giving back. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:  How Mark compares working for a bank to running an independent practice (5:10) How Mark brings his philosophy into the conversation with clients (12:30) Mark’s three-dimensional planning process (14:45) How Mark and his team help clients create – and stick with – a budget (26:10) Why investment management is just a small slice of the wealth management pie (31:15) Mark’s focused approach to acquiring clients (37:40) How giving back is – and isn’t – part of Mark’s business (49:25)  Links and Resources:  Mark Shimkovitz Living Richer Podcast  Quotes by Mark Shimkovitz:  “I’m very clear, in fact, in saying that you know when you’re hiring me, the investment management component is only one slice, and it’s not a very large slice.” “We need to be able to articulate and demonstrate why we deserve to be paid more than, you know, 30 or 40 basis points that could perhaps be attributable to the investment management.” “Let’s really look at the big picture. Let’s look at what’s really most important to you. Those should be your benchmarks for measuring success.” With plenty of experience working for banks and now running his own financial practice, Mark has figured out a lot about what works in financial planning – and what doesn’t. He has a clear philosophy and strategy for his own business, so it makes sense that’s exactly what he helps his clients with in their own lives. Below, we’re sharing three key ideas from this episode:   A three-dimensional planning process How Mark and his team help clients create – and stick with – a budget Why investment management is just a small slice of the wealth management pie For the rest of the episode, find the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher, or hit the link above.