🦖 Hello, Old Friend

Three young boys were on a family hike in North Dakota when they stumbled upon something interesting emerging from a sedimentary rock formation.

Turns out, they were the bones of a T. rex fossil.

More specifically – after contacting a paleontologist and doing some excavation work – they discovered it was the lower jaw with several teeth.

For these three kids, it’s going to be hard to top that hiking experience.

They set the bar kinda high 🦖 

- Team Advisorist

In Today’s Issue 👇️ 

• Americans are rich & cranky

• The power of the ‘Stumbling Effect’ in marketing

• How to build a 7-figure practice [final replay]

🙃 Why Are Americans so ‘Rich and Cranky’?

Collective American wealth – as calculated by U.S. household net worth – has never been higher.

It’s reached $160.84 trillion.

And despite numerous “less than stable” financial factors in the larger economy, this figure is about $40 trillion higher than it was prior to the onset of the pandemic.

To put it another way, household net worth has increased by more than 33% over the past 4 years.

And despite all of this, Americans are crannnkkkyy – with consumer sentiment dropping to a 6-month low.

👎️ There’s More to the Story

The reality is that there’s more to the story than the chart above shows.

These aggregate statistics are, in fact, a little misleading.

That’s because the majority of these increases belong to a very small group of the richest 1% of households.

Consider that last year, for example, 75% of the increase in US household wealth went to the richest 10% of households.

That means the other 25% was shared by 90% of Americans.

🤔 Who Believes What?

As we enter into what will be a heated election cycle, it’s going to be interesting to see how both sides of the political aisle attempt to focus on different numbers to support their economic arguments.

As an advisor, it’s best to stay out of the political riff-raff and instead focus on how you can meet your clients where they are – whether they’ve benefited from the past 4 years of economic “growth” or they’ve spent this time treading water.

Headline Roundup

🏠 Affecting Your Clients

• Affirm ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Coming to Apple Pay [MW]

• Hidden Costs Average $18k/yr for Homeowners [BR]

• Despite Record High, Tapping Home Equity Difficult [CNBC]

📈 Markets & Economy 

• Singapore Set to Become Center of Global Gold Market [CNBC]

• Stocks Used to Rise Ahead of Fed Meetings; Not Anymore [MS]

• Latest CPI Forecasts Show Inflation Softening Overall [MS]

💼 Industry Roundup 

• Social Security Program Marks a 50-Year Anniversary [CNBC]

• Morgan Stanley: AI Helps Financial Advisors [PYMNTS]

• More DIY Investors Want an Advisor [IN]

🧠 Marketing Psychology: ‘The Stumbling Effect’

Let’s say you’re shopping for an anniversary ring online for your spouse and the website’s home page proudly boasts:

All of our gold is sourced from the Green Forest Gold Mine, which was unintentionally stumbled upon by our founder Larry Pope, when he was on a hike with his kids.

Do you think knowing that the discovery of the gold mine was unintentional would make you more OR less likely to buy from that company?

While previous research suggests that consumers tend to value effort and hard work – supporting brands that keep pushing and never give up – a more recent study says, not so fast.

🔎 The Appeal of Fate

The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, finds “communicating unintentionality in discovery increases consumer preference.”

The reason?

Fate.

People find unintentional discoveries and unexpected events oddly intoxicating. 

The fact that an ordinary person stumbled upon something makes people feel like they’re experiencing something that might not have been available to them under other circumstances.

When a product or service feels ‘fated,’ it’s difficult for someone to say no.

This is called the ‘Stumbling Effect.’

Using Fate in Your Own Marketing

You should never lie in your marketing, but if you can find ways to weave unexpected events and discoveries into the marketing stories you tell, it can prove to be quite useful.

For example, nobody is very “moved” by a backstory like this:

I’ve always wanted to be a financial advisor, so I went to college to get a finance degree. During my senior year, I interned with a wealth management firm and loved it. I’ve now been in the business for 15 years.

On the other hand, a fateful story like this pulls people in:

I stumbled into financial planning when I had to help my elderly parents manage their minuscule retirement portfolio. I started doing a lot of research and helped them put together a plan that allowed them to stretch their savings for the remainder of their years.

Despite being on track to become a physical therapist, I immediately fell in love with financial planning and thus began my 15 year career as an advisor.

🗓️ Virtual Event of the Week

Our support team was slammed with requests after attending the encore of How to Build a 7-Figure Practice With HNW Doctors & Dentists yesterday.

So we’re doing something a little unique around here and offering a limited time replay of the masterclass so that nobody has to miss.

But here’s the deal – it comes down on Friday at 10PM EST.

If you’ve ever wondered HOW to get in front of doctors and dentists…

Or if you’ve been uncertain about WHAT to say…

This training is an eye-opener. 

One advisor recently used it to go from not sure how to even find doctor prospects to now having so many that she’s considering putting some on a wait list.

John Moakler – a 5x Financial Planner of the Year – shares his simple strategy for getting in front of wealthy doctor and dentist clients to average $400k/yr in fees and commissions.

Click here to watch the replay before it comes down on Friday at 10PM EST!

🧮 By the Numbers

873 Hours

That’s the amount of time the average American spends “Dreamscrolling” – looking at dream purchases or things they’d like to own one day – each year.

According to the study by Empower, this breaks down to about 2.5 hours per day.

43% of people polled say they spend more time dreamscrolling when the economy is “uncertain.”

✌️Good Vibes

Researchers have discovered that African elephants actually call each other and respond to individual names – something very few animals do.

The names are included in the elephants’ low rumbles that can be heard from miles away.

Humans, of course, have names. And humans give dogs names (who are then trained to respond to them).

However, dolphins are the only other known species to invent their own names (which are really ‘whistles’).

Elephants have long been considered one of the most intelligent and emotionally-advanced species, and this discovery proves there’s even more to elephants than meets the eye!

Sharing looks good on you.

When you copy that link at the bottom and share it with a few financial planning colleagues, you look like the smartest advisor in the room by keeping them informed.

Plus, you earn rewards. Sweet.