Speaking and Presentations - Rick Kahler, CFP®

Rick Kahler, CFP® has spoken to numerous consumer and professional organizations. He is an energetic, provocative, thoughtful and entertaining speaker and presenter who leaves people enlightened. Whether it’s a keynote speech, a presentation, or a week long workshop, Rick brings his listeners an interactive experience that often changes lives.

Presentations are available from fifteen minutes to 5 days! To find out more, please call 605-343-1400 or email Rick@KahlerFinancial.com.

The topics below are typically one to two hour presentations, however, all can be modified or combined to fill fifteen minutes, one-half day, or a full day.

Consumer Presentations

Money Skills - 21st Century’s Survival Skills

Good financial planning can be summed up in one simple sentence, “Save more, spend less, and don’t do anything stupid.” For most Americans, putting that simple sentence into action is incredibly difficult. In this enlightening presentation, Rick provides a time tested process to turn this simple sentence into a powerful reality. If you are one of the 97 percent of Americans that have a net worth of under $500,000, this presentation will give you the tools that could change your life.

  1. You will learn a time-tested method of cash flow management that allows you to spend every dime in your checkbook, yet insures all your bills will be paid.
  2. Discover how to eliminate the endless stream of ‘surprise’ expenses that kill so many well intentioned spending plans.
  3. Find out what lifestyle you can really afford. It may be better than you think!

All You Really Need to Know About Financial Planning

Money skills are the 21st century’s survival skills. You may have a great education, a successful career, or be the best in your field, yet if you don’t understand how to make sound money decisions you won’t be going far. You don’t have to be a genius to make sound money decisions. In this informative presentation, Rick provides straight talk on financial planning, including what insurance you don’t need, when having a will can actually be worse than not having one, and a method of spending yourself to prosperity.

  1. You will learn the basics of creating a spending plan that really works
  2. What insurance you need or need to stay away from
  3. How to determine how much you need to save for retirement
  4. How to find and hire trustworthy advisers
  5. Why smart people make dumb money mistakes

What a’63 Chevy Can Teach Us About Investing In An Uncertain World Economy

Where do you invest in a world of increasing government spending, high unemployment, struggling economies, high taxes, and an equal chance of inflation or deflation?  Most investors, and some of their advisers, could learn a thing or two from the '63 Chevy Wagon with a 283 hp engine.  In this unique presentation Rick provides you the investment strategies of the nation’s best money managers in a simple and easy to understand formula.

  1. You will learn why most forms of diversification don’t work
  2. A proven strategy for keeping your emotions from ruining your investments
  3. A worry-free method of consistently selling high and buying low
  4. How to consistently earn returns two to three times higher than the ‘average’ investor

Financial Sobriety Skills for A Nation Out-Of-Control

We need to only look to the lessons of the Great Recession of 2008/09 to understand something is not working with the way most Americans relate to their money. Just like an alcoholic, we became intoxicated on easy credit, financial entitlements, and living a lifestyle that was a lie. But how do we wean ourselves from financial dependency and take control of our lives? In this unusual presentation, learn the symptoms that keep people trapped in financial lethargy and how you can gain control of your life and get your financial house in order. Rick provides specific time-tested principles to set you on the path to financial sobriety and recovery.

  1. You will learn how to recognize the signs of financial dependency
  2. How to take responsibility for yourself and propel yourself to action
  3. How to identify financial enabling and save your loved ones from the shame
  4. Find out where your values are out of integrity with your financial behaviors

The Great Recession of 2008/09 - Causes, Casualties, and Cures

It’s been said that those that don’t understand the past are guaranteed to repeat it. In this informative presentation Rick explores the causes of the Great Recession, compares it to other recessions of the 20th century, and summarizes the lessons we can learn.

  1. You will learn who Rick’s readers blame for the Great Recession
  2. The number one cure readers say will prevent it from happening again
  3. Why this recession is different from most
  4. How not to repeat the mistake that caused so many people to loose so much
  5. Why the recession was a ‘non-event’ to wise long-term investors

The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge

In the timeless traditions of The Tao of Pooh and Who Moved My Cheese, Rick reveals how the wisdom in Dickens classic A Christmas Carol can help financial professionals facilitate financial health. The premise is simple: Money isn't the problem; it is an unhealthy belief system and the relationship we and our clients have with money that matters. The Character of Ebenezer Scrooge is the perfect model for exploring the elements of interior finance and how it applies to your financial planning. In the context of the story, we explore the stages of financial integration as they relate to Scrooge’s journey into his past, present and future. Attendees will learn how the three elements of financial integration are used to help you achieve a more clear understanding of money and how it can be used to help them achieve financial peace.

  1. Use the metaphor of “A Christmas Carol” to understand your financial behaviors
  2. Discover why every financial behavior makes perfect sense
  3. Learn the five-steps to financial transformation

Asset Protection – Protecting Your Assets from The Unthinkable

Many people think their assets are protected because they have liability insurance, only to find out that insurance is not always enough. That’s what Rick discovered when he was faced with a frivolous lawsuit that lasted nine years. Find out what you can do to protect your business, real estate, and liquid assets when your insurance company either won’t pay your claim, goes bankrupt, or your coverage just isn’t enough. This is mandatory information if you are in a high profile profession, own a business or real estate, or have a net worth over $1 million.

  1. You will learn why you should never own anything in your own name
  2. Why you need to get out of most partnerships
  3. How a South Dakota asset protection trust can protect your assets
  4. How to put most of your assets beyond the reach of a frivolous lawsuit

Planning Like King Tut

The ancient Egyptians gave so much attention to the afterlife that they never got around to living their lives. Their culture seemed almost obsessed with preparing for death. Our culture, on the other hand, seems to believe death is something we shouldn’t talk about or think about. Even when we do estate planning, we tend to avoid the details of death itself.  Maybe the ancient Egyptians had a point. Making some plans around the end of life can be extremely helpful for our families.

In this informative workshop, financial planner Rick Kahler, CFP, will give you information on what you can do today to be fully prepared for when (not “if”) you pass into death. You'll learn about:

  1. Money scripts around estate planning that cause more harm than good?
  2. Questions you need to ask before drafting your will?
  3. Why your will may not be the actual way your estate is distributed
  4.  The six items you must have in your Master File

Professional Presentations

Transform Your Practice and Your Life

One of the hallmarks’ of a profession is that members of the profession become consumers of the services they provide. Lawyers joke that “Any attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client.” Physicians and therapists are also accustomed to consulting their peers. Why don’t financial planners do the same?

In this ground breaking session Rick explores the reasons financial planners give for not having a financial planner based on his award-winning research and why engaging a financial planner pays double dividends.  

  1. Gain new insight to the personal benefits of a financial planner having a planner
  2. Gain even greater insight into the practice management benefits of a financial planner employing a planner
  3. Raise new questions on what constitutes a profession and is financial planning indeed an industry or a profession

The Health Care Bill - Planning Strategies You Need To Know

Even though many of the provisions of the new health care bill don't take effect until 2013 it is not too early to begin considering your best options to minimize your costs and maximize your coverage.  Rick Kahler will tell you specific steps you could be doing today to get ready for the big changes coming tomorrow.  The new health care bill will affect the daily lives and wallets of millions of Americans. While we don’t exactly know what that impact will be, it isn’t too early to consider some of the possibilities and start planning personal strategies to deal with them.  This workshop will help you:

  1. Identify if you or your company should obtain health insurance or pay the penalty 
  2. Reposition your investments and balance sheet to survive the coming cost increases.
  3. Help you prepare and prosper under the new bill.

The Financial Wisdom of Ebenezer Scrooge

In the timeless traditions of The Tao of Pooh and Who Moved My Cheese, Rick Kahler reveals how the wisdom in Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, can help financial professionals facilitate financial health. The premise is simple: Money isn't the problem; it is an unhealthy belief system and the relationship we and our clients have with money that matters.

The Character of Ebenezer Scrooge is the perfect model for exploring the elements of interior finance and its application in the financial planning profession. In the context of the story, we explore the stages of financial integration as they relate to Scrooge’s journey into his past, present and future. Attendees will learn how the three elements of financial integration: Traditional Financial Planning, Financial Coaching, and Financial Therapy, are used to help our clients achieve a more clear understanding of money and how it can be used to help them achieve financial peace.  This workshop will help you:

  1. Use the metaphor of “A Christmas Carol” to understand the financial planning process of the future.
  2. Understand the three professional disciplines of facilitating financial health
  3. Raise new questions on what constitutes the exquisite financial planning process

There Are No Difficult Clients - Just Advisers Who Have Run Out Of Tools

Very few of a financial adviser’s clients have problems with money.  It is the relationship that both we and our clients have with money is an unhealthy belief system about money. Further, few financial advisers really have the ‘solution’ to our client’s needs.  We can, however, become expert facilitators at helping client’s achieve the life of their dreams.

Facilitating financial health requires more than presenting spreadsheets, cash flow statements and asset allocation models.  It requires an understanding of the kind of life the client envisions and how the client’s emotional and psychological predispositions facilitate or obstruct (or both) the development of successful financial plans. This presentation will give you a glimpse into the best practices of financial advisers who are integrating the fields of psychotherapy, coaching, and traditional financial planning. This workshop will help you:

1. Learn how to build a trusting relationship with clients.
2. Identify your clients' money scripts and the financial disorders they cause.
3. We will explore the latest research used in facilitating change in individuals.  .
4. Understand the integrated financial planning process.

Applying the Tools of the Masters - A Life Planner's Search For The 'Killer App' of Life Planning

How often do you pick up a great new tool at a conference, come home and implement it for one round of client meetings, scan the results, and it never again sees the light of day?  Have you ever wondered what handouts and process are real life planners using?  What really works and what doesn’t?  In this workshop, Rick Kahler, CFP, will discuss and analyze the dozens of exercises, forms, and techniques being touted today by the best Life Planners.  Learn those he uses in his practice and he finds most effective.    

The workshop will cover: 

  1. What life planning handouts/exercises offer the  most value in working with clients?
  2. When and how do you best present them to the client?
  3. Which are best mailed to clients and which are best in a face-to-face meeting.?
  4. How to use video exercises to save client meeting time.
  5. Which are most effective in terms of getting value/insight from the results?
  6. Is the processing of exercises off-the-cuff or does a script work best?

Leveraging Technology to Create a Happier and Healthier Life

Live the life of your dreams. Go where you want, with who you want, and work when you want. Rick travels one week out of every month, yet maintains a vibrant ‘mature solo’ financial planning practice serving nearly 75 clients. “Rick shows you how to use technology to live a more fulfilling, richer and vibrant life, while also serving your clients.

 You will learn about the technology and tools Rick uses

  1. Why his smart phone is an indispensable tool in his practice
  2. How he uses VoIP to wonder the world and be accessible anywhere
  3. How to use technology to work as a FTE 

Expanding Your Practice By ‘Shrinking’ Your Clients – Exploring The Planner Therapist Alliance

We can now see where the evolution of life planning services is taking us, and how it may benefit you and your clients more than you realize. The planner-therapist alliance may be the endgame for where the life planning service is going, Financial planners are regularly bringing psychologists into their tool kit. Rick Kahler, a pioneer of the planner-therapist alliance concept and an instructor of Golden Gate University’s ‘The Psychology of Money’ course, will give you new insight and practical information on how involving a psychologist in your planning process can add value to your clients. Kahler will give you step-by-step advice on how to decide when to bring in a therapist or coach and how to select and integrate a therapist/coach profitably into your practice.

  1. The difference between financial coaching and therapy
  2. Tips on interviewing and selecting a financial therapist
  3. How to profitably integrate a therapist into your practice
  4. How to demystify and understand the therapeutic process
  5. How to use ‘The Decision Tree’ for when to bring in a coach or therapist

Supercharge Your Practice and Your Life – How One Adviser Made a Euro Star out of a Train Wreck

Two years ago Rick Kahler, Kahler Financial Group, lost 5 of 6 staff members. He quickly learned his infrastructure, technology, and processes were inefficient, under maximized, unstructured, and bloated with excess. For the next year, Rick and his associate worked weekends and evenings to service clients, cut inefficiency, and embrace new technology to rebuild his practice. Today profits are up 300%, he only replaced one employee, he is paperless, outsources some tasks, communicates with clients only by email and his website, receives 50% of his new business from his blog, YouTube videos, and website. He works out 2 hours a day, travels a week a month, and can operate his firm from anywhere in the world. Find out how you can supercharge your practice, increase your profitability and get your life back, by embracing technology.

  1. How to create a non-virtual, virtual office that works for you
  2. What works and doesn’t work when outsourcing
  3. How to create a blog and website that supports clients, cuts expenses, and attracts prospects

Wiring Your Clients For Wealth - New Tools for Discovering and Changing Their Money Mindset

It’s possible for you to help rewire your client’s money mindset to one that is associated with wealth. Changing a clients money mindset is not a gimmick or a “wealth secret.” It is a process, based on well-established research, that employs techniques therapists have used successfully for many years. In this session you will discover the latest tools and research to help you and your clients understand the roots of their financial beliefs and behaviors. Participants will leave this session with practical tools they can put to use immediately on Monday morning. This will be an interactive and experiential session, where participants will gain experience administering and using the tools.

  1. Tools for helping clients identify their money scripts
  2. The ten top money scripts and tools to use to help clients change them
  3. The top money scripts common to clients with or without money
  4. How to use the Money Script Log, the Stock Market Money Timeline and the Money Dialog with clients.

Are You Tasting Your Own Cooking? – Practical Steps to Creating Integrity In Your Practice and Your Life

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey says a chef who doesn’t sample every dish is no chef at all. Are you a consumer of the advice you give your clients. Can you look you client in the eye and assure them you embrace the same investment philosophy and invest in the same investment vehicles as your recommend to them. That you have a budget, track your expenses, and don’t use revolving credit, just as you advise them to do? That you have adequate disability, health, liability, life, property casualty, and LTC insurance? In this session Kahler will build upon his 2008 winning Frontiers Award paper and research to further explore the power and practicality of ‘walking the walk’.

  1. An action plan ready to implement on Monday morning
  2. An inventory of personal and professional incompletions
  3. Increased integrity and stronger client connections.