11 More Ways To Measure A Truly Rewarding Life

How important are a tax and financial advisor’s “soft skills?”  Having deeper conversations about many life components, other than finance, can be an important first step in improving your clients’ lives. 

“The Recipe for a Better Life,” recently published by the OECD, provides important context to such a theory.  It calls into question the adequacy of gross domestic product (GDP) as the sole measure of a society’s or a nation’s progress, and proposes that governments around the world need to start taking into account a much wider range of factors to find policy solutions that truly improve people’s lives.

The OECD Better Life Index measures eleven major areas—the traditional economic metrics as well as other key factors—for a much more holistic view of national well-being. Following are the themes they focus on:

1. Income

2. Jobs

3. Housing

4. Environment

5. Community

6. Work-life balance

7. Safety

8. Education

9. Health

10. Civic engagement

11. Life satisfaction

That speaks to the need for tax specialists and wealth managers to follow suit in their holistic planning.  As an advisor, do you know where your clients stand on these key indicators? Do you know what’s really most important to them, to their family, and to their overall happiness and sense of well-being? Thinking about these themes and discussing them with your clients will enable some crucial conversations that can lead to better outcomes in tax and financial planning.

Advisor Alert: Staying on top of broader policy issues and studies, like this one from the OECD, can help you find new and more meaningful ways to engage with your clients, determine their true goals (financial and non-financial) and help them achieve their objectives.

Client Alert: Give some thought to what makes your life truly rich and fulfilled, and convey your priorities and goals to your advisor. Taking a broader look beyond just the numbers can help you work together to build wealth as well as real abundance in your life.