Customer Reviews

Getting Started as a Financial Planner: Revised and Updated Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bottom line up front - you will not gain a top down view of the industry, the understanding of the types of businesses within it, or the nitty gritty of the components needed to do financial planning or run the business. From the other reviews, most that liked this book didn't have much perspective in this category.

I've bought a number of books to familiarize myself with the financial planning industry before setting off on an educational track. This book has been my only complete disappointment. I'm sure Mr. Rattiner knows his business, but this book does not serve any particular purpose. The scope is too broad and the depth of analysis to shallow to be helpful. No one will "Get Started" in one book. Many parts of the book are more like bulleted/paragraphed lists which can't possibly reveal the extent of the author's knowledge on any of the topics. Other parts skim through the technical parts of financial planning (e.g. types of life insurance policies) which have to be learned later in official certification courses. The aspects of running a small business he mentions don't reveal anything significant or truly specific to this type of business - you could get as much from a good article on the subject.

If you have not yet read anything on the industry, try In Search Of The Perfect Model which gives an excellent overview of very successful and inspiring corporate visions of real financial planning businesses from sole practitioners to regional firms. An alternate bottom-up book which does not sugar coat anything and will specifically point you toward further research in a variety of areas is So You Want To Be A Financial Planner. If you are looking for how the business should be structured for financial success under any model, Practice Makes Perfect written by industry consultants (no "this worked for me" bias) is phenomenal. For office operations, Virtual Office Tools for a High Margin Practice will get your mind spinning with what technology can do for you as a planner. For marketing, I recommend The Brand Called You which gets down to what weight of card stock you should have for mailings.

Sure it's better than nothing but...

How can you plan other people's financial futures without a firm grip on your own professional plan? If you are trained and ready with the know-how and skills to be a financial planner, but could use some help getting your professional practice together, here's the book you need. Author Jeffrey H. Rattiner guides you through the basics of setting up your business. While he doesn't teach you how to be a financial planner - that would be an entirely different book - he does cover everything else you need to open your office, including an explanation of the education and certification process in the U.S.. He shows you how to create a business and marketing plan, how to deal with clients and understand their needs, how to comply with regulations and how to protect yourself legally. His book is filled with useful lists and charts; We [...] were particularly impressed with his excellent resource section. Fledgling financial planners, line up here.

When I started out as an independent financial planner almost 8 years ago there was little on the market in terms of well written, content-rich references on financial planning. I recently came across Jeffrey Rattiner's "getting started" book for financial planners. First, I wish I had this book 8 years ago. It would have saved me time and mistakes when I got started. The second point to make is that Rattiner's book, especially the sections on managing client relationships and marketing, is thorough and practical. For example, as Rattiner points out there are important psychological issues at play (denial,guilt,avoidance, etc.) between planner and client that affect the relationship.These issues need to be recognized and managed to forge a productive, long-term association. The section on marketing is also right on target. While Rattiner's advice largely focuses on the new planner, I found his range of marketing strategies to be a good reminder of the broad approach the financial planner needs to take to get the best ROI on marketing spending. Overall, Rattiner is very successful in presenting the various challenges and solutions the new(and experienced)planner needs to address. "Getting Started as a Financial Planner" is money well spent.

A real book, not a pie-in-the-sky, full of theory book. Written by a author who's heart is in the right place. Many people from many different industries are pouring into the financial planning industry. This book provides them with practical, step-by-step, approaches needed to dig in and get started.
Mr. Rattiner gives the reader a solid framework on which to build. He outlines the key points, something very needed, if someone is new to the industry. An excellent reminder to those of us in the business.
Excellent summaries, charts, checklists and samples are sprinkled throught the book.
My favorite chapter was "Marketing Your Practice" and the sample SWOT Analysis.
In total, if you are looking for a "Nuts & Bolts" book and wish to get started in the process of becoming a financial Planner, this book is for you.

This book is a disappointment. While other professional financial planning books from the Bloomberg Press [e.g., Katz on Practice Mgt, Protecting your Practice, Best Practices for Financial Advisors] can be safely bought sight unseen, this book cannot. The title should have clued me in that this was a lower-level book; however, the material is so basic that it was unhelpful. The book claims to be written for stockbrokers, insurance agents, CPAs, etc., "who want to graduate from the transactional selling aproach to the client management approach." If they need this kind of help, then pity their clients.

Two caveats: a) I have a fairly extensive professional financial planning library; my chief disappointment is that this book covered little new ground. For those targeted by the book's title or with less extensive reading in profesional financial planning, this book may be more appropriate. b) I only "sampled" the book's nine chapters; I did not read the book in its entirity. I used the helpful section and subsection headings to guide my reading; unfortunately, they only infrequently tempted me to read in detail.

Bottom line: I wish I had opened this book before Amazon's 30-day return window expired.

I am looking to establish my own financial planning firm, so I searched for material to read so that the process would be easier. Rattiner authored another book that I read so I was familiar with his energy and commitment to the profession. "Getting Started as a Financial Planner" was a good book. I will recommend it to my CFP classmates at NYU.

I find the book Getting Started as a Financial Planner by Jeffrey Rattiner as a very valuable source of information for anyone who wants to enter the financial planning career. Rattiner gives an excellent overview of financial planning. He delineates the dos and the donts of the business and provides important tips and insights regarding how to develop a business infrastructure, how to market the practice and how to communicate with the client. He informs the reader about legal issues involved in the practice and about resources and the training needed to become a financial professional. I like the easy style of Mr. Rattiner's writing, the in-depth nature of his chapters and the use of examples and worksheets throughout his book.

Anyone reviewer who doesn't see the incredible value in this book doesn't know much about running a business. I have read every book available on building and managing a financial planning practice. Rattiner gives the best advice so far on developing a business plan and marketing plan for a financial planning practice.

There are a plethora of books on the craft of financial planning. Finally, a seroius book that treats this business as something other than a second income career.

I read many business books and when I find one worthwhile I type a summary a page or two long and file it categorically. Not only was this book worthy of a writeup for my personal files but I couldn't get my "summary" under 7 pages. I am a CPA and MBA who was considering starting a personal financial planning practice at some point in the future. That point in the future will probably be much sooner than anticipated after reading this book. It is very insightful and has been instrumental in the business plan I have been working on for a PFP practice.

I was hoping for more of a step by step guide toward opening your own office. I've been in practice with a major firm for years and often dream of my own office. this book didn't help at all. truthfully there was more useful free information on the web. look elsewhere if you are in the same boat as me.