Carl Richards

Just a reminder.

A lot of financial stress comes from trying to evaluate every opportunity that shows up. A simple plan filters most of them out. Mine fits on one card: 💪 Time with my family, mainly outside, and serving in my community. When something new appears, I ask one question: Will this get me closer to what matters most? This idea appears as sketch #21 in my new book, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches. If you haven't yet, you can pick up your copy here: buff.ly/3kiffEo Something to sit with today... If you wrote your One-Page Financial Plan, what would it say? 💥

How do we help clients we love make rational decisions aligned with their values and goals when everything around them is irrational? Let's talk about it. The first video is a heart-to-heart between us as friends, as Real Financial Professionals. The second video will teach you, word-for-word, exactly how to have this conversation with your clients. Get them in your inbox. 👉 thesocietyofadvice.com/scary-markets

Enough is a decision.

For years I have been talking about something I call a "Real Financial Professional." 📈 Not a product salesperson. 🗺️ Not a defender of an outdated map. 🥾 A guide in a changing landscape. Someone who helps people align their time, money, energy, and attention with what actually matters to them! That work is harder than most people realize. It requires technical skill, emotional awareness, and the ability to sit with uncertainty alongside your clients. It is not about being precisely right today. It is about helping people be less wrong tomorrow. A few years ago I wrote a Manifesto about what this work really means. If you care about the craft of advice, I think you’ll appreciate it: 👉 thesocietyofadvice.com/manifesto

Before you replay the mistake again, ask: Would I judge someone else this harshly for the same thing? If the answer is no, that’s useful information. This sketch is from my book, Your Money. It’s about noticing the stories quietly shaping our decisions.   📚 You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore or wherever you buy books: buff.ly/SDQF3Xb

You can’t make it too simple. Most of us in this industry are really good at complex things. We’ve “Kitces-ed” it to death. Big spreadsheets and more and more technical precision. That’s required. But here’s what’s easy to forget: Most clients don’t know what you mean when you say volatility. And they won’t tell you. They’ll nod. They’ll say yes, yes, yes. Then they’ll go home and think, “I don’t know what she just said, but she seems smart.” 🤷 We use words like "risk" and mean standard deviation within known bounds. A dial we can turn up or down. Our clients hear risk and think, “Am I going to end up under a bridge?” Same word. Completely different meaning. Keeping jargon out of conversations is like weeding a garden. It never ends. You have to stay vigilant. There’s a difference between simplistic and elegantly simple. Simplistic ignores complexity. Elegantly simple earns its way there. You’ve been through the edge cases. You’ve done the hard thinking. And you come out the other side and say, “Here’s what matters.” 🎯 That’s what clients pay Real Financial Advisors for. If you’re tired of hiding behind complexity… If you know you’re good at the technical work but want to get better at the human work… If you’ve felt that gap between what you know and what your clients actually hear… 💥 That’s exactly what we work on each month inside The Society of Advice. The Society of Advice is where financial advisors gather to practice the craft that can’t be automated. It’s a live, monthly conversation curated by me and featuring a guest worth paying attention to. Advisors who care about this work show up for it. No extra noise, just the REAL work on how to make things clear, human, and useful. If that’s the kind of advisor you’re becoming, you’ll feel at home here. Join us for the next live conversation: 📆 Thursday, March 26, 2026 ⏰ 11:00 a.m. Eastern for 90 minutes 👉 Register: thesocietyofadvice.com

After our May 2025 workshop, @TimMaurer and I recorded an extra 30 minute follow-up. We answered the questions from advisors that we didn’t get to live in the private 90 minute conversation. We talked about things like... • Money scripts. • Client honesty. • When tactics become a hiding place. • Why simple visuals work. • Why becoming a better Real Financial Advisor starts with being a better human 💥 We decided to share that 30-minute follow-up conversation publicly: youtu.be/ghYNZFS66Vs The full 90-minute workshop is gone. We don’t keep an endless archive at The Society of Advice. But the next live conversation is happening in March. I've noticed that most advisors don’t need more tactics. They need space to think. If you’re feeling pressure from AI, the answer isn’t to race it. It’s to become more human. Each month I curate and host one 90-minute conversation specifically for your work as a Real Financial Advisor. There is no prep work needed from you, and there's no homework. You are not signing up for a content treadmill with an endless archive of recordings to watch. This is clarity work. Live. A conversation hosted by me and featuring a guest whose thinking is worth your attention. 👉 Join us for the next conversation: thesocietyofadvice.com

A lot of us say we just want to get ahead. But most of us have never stopped to ask what that actually means.   If we never define what “ahead” means, we end up in a race that has no finish line. This sketch is a reminder that “enough” requires a decision.   If you like this sketch, I think you'll LOVE the entire book. Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches is available at local bookstores here: buff.ly/9SNUSrH   Sometimes clients say they just want to “get ahead.” That’s usually a signal, not a strategy. This sketch creates space to ask the better question: What does "ahead" mean to you?   If that sounds useful, you can license this sketch and use it as the foundation for your next client newsletter. 👉 buff.ly/5F0uZDP

Scary markets are not a portfolio problem. They’re a conversation problem. 👉 Your job is not to eliminate fear. It’s to make space for it, and then guide a client you love through it with clarity. If you want help thinking about how to do that well, I shared some tools: thesocietyofadvice.com/scary-markets Real Financial Planning happens in moments like this.

Lifestyle creep rarely announces itself. It usually sounds reasonable. It usually feels earned. Until we realize the goalposts moved… again. This sketch maps that pattern. It’s from my book, Your Money, where my goal was simple: to help you see what’s really driving your next money decision. 📚 You can pick up a copy at your local bookstore using this link: buff.ly/9SNUSrH

If you’re a financial advisor and something about this industry feels off to you, you’re not alone 🖤 I wrote The Manifesto as a line in the sand. ...We are not salespeople. ...We are not asset gatherers. We are stewards of decisions that shape lives! If that lands with you right now, I'd like you to read the digital copy of The Manifesto: thesocietyofadvice.com/manifesto It's free and I think you'd love it.

One of the hardest parts of writing to clients is knowing how to start. This sketch solves that problem. It opens a thoughtful conversation about comparison and identity without explaining, persuading, or overwhelming. Remind clients: If money has felt heavier than usual, notice where comparison shows up. If you’re a financial advisor, you can license this sketch and use it as a simple entry point in your next client email. buff.ly/aOYkmPq Because “I wonder how much they make” is rarely about the number. It’s about what we think the number says about us. It’s all about slowing down the thoughts that quietly drive our money decisions.

One of the best-performing funds in history still had investors who lost money. Why? Because they chased returns and bailed at the first sign of underperformance. Even the best strategy can’t protect you from your own behavior. linkedin.com/pulse/astonish…

Scary Markets don’t require better predictions. They require better conversations. When uncertainty shows up, most of the work isn’t technical. It’s emotional. The work is helping clients slow down, identify what they’re feeling, and make decisions they won’t regret later. These are the kinds of things we’re practicing each month inside The Society of Advice. If this kind of work matters to you, I created a Scary Markets resource I think you'd love: thesocietyofadvice.com/scary-markets

For ten years I wrote a weekly column for the New York Times. Each one had a simple sketch. Readers started emailing in, but they didn’t say the sketches were beautiful. They said something even better... “I put it on the fridge.” “I hung it in the break room.” “You wouldn’t believe the conversations it started.” Sketches weren’t just art... They were tools! You drop one of these into a room and conversations break out. I started calling them conversation grenades. These conversations are the reason for the new book, "Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches." 📚 Grab your copy from your local bookshop using this link or get it where ever you buy your books bookshop.org/p/books/your-m… If you’re thinking about sharing the book with a team or clients, bulk copies are available. Get an additional 5% off bulk orders (U.S. shipping only) with the code ADVISOR5. bulkbooks.com/products/your-…

We all carry an invisible number above our head. At some point, the number stops being information and starts being something we defend. We protect it. Grow it. We become obsessed with comparing it. That’s rarely where clarity lives. 👉 You can pick up your copy on Amazon or wherever you buy books. buff.ly/QkAWVWg   If you’re in the U.S. and ordering for a firm, team, or event, you can purchase bulk copies at a discount here: buff.ly/nPFjTsI

Most conversations about taxes start too late. This sketch shows the difference... On the left are the taxes you paid. On the right are the taxes you could have paid. That gap is not about loopholes or clever reporting. It is about planning... or the lack of it. Good tax work happens upstream. Before the sale. Before that big decision is final. Once you see this distinction, it is hard to unsee it. And it changes how you talk with clients about what actually matters. → This sketch is available as a digital license if you want to use it in client conversations, presentations, or internal training. This art is meant to be used. store.behaviorgap.com/products/tax-p…

If you have ever felt allergic to the industry’s noise, this is for you... I wrote The Manifesto for Real Financial Professionals. I meet them all over the world. ...They do the work that actually matters. ...They put the client first. ...They are solid in the feelings department and the math department. ...And they rarely get credit for it, because they are not selling hype. The Manifesto is my blueprint for that kind of work. It's a clearer way to think about what the job actually is 💪 💌 It's my love letter to you. Grab your digital copy here, free: thesocietyofadvice.com/manifesto

Most of the damage in scary markets is not market damage. It’s behavior damage. Your clients do not call because they want more data. They call because they want relief. They want someone steady on the other end of the line. 💪 I put together a "Guide to Scary Markets” for that exact moment. Two short videos... One is a quick heart to heart between you and me. The other is word for word language you can use with a client who is tempted to do the big mistake. If you want it, it’s here and it's free: 👉 thesocietyofadvice.com/scary-markets

If money feels heavier than it should, pause and ask yourself, "Who am I comparing myself to right now?" Many times, the pressure isn’t about the numbers at all. This sketch is one of the 101 in my book Your Money. The book isn’t about telling you what to do. It’s about helping you notice what’s actually driving the decision so you can choose more deliberately.   → You can grab your copy here or wherever you buy books. buff.ly/r5tLBP5