Letztes Update: 28. September 2023
The specialist book “Orientierung statt Moneypulierung “* by Pascal Bechtiger and Reto Spring was published by SKV at the beginning of 2022 and sheds light on holistic financial planning from a scientific perspective, but also provides practical input for implementation.
Authors
Pascal Bechtiger is a lecturer in Banking and Finance at the Institute for Corporate Management at the OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule. There he teaches and conducts research in the area of private financial planning.
Reto Spring is dipl. Financial Planning Expert NDS HF and CFP® (Certified Financial Planner). He has been President of the FinanzPlaner Verband Schweiz for ten years and is a lecturer at various educational institutions. Both authors thus have many years of practical experience in the financial planning field.
First of all, you can expect no number crunching and the book gets by without any complicated calculations. Graphics and tables as well as practical examples lighten up the writing. At the end of each chapter, takeaways are summarized briefly and understandably. The book “Orientation instead of Moneypulation” is therefore definitely suitable for interested private female investors.
Financial planning: Why?
The first part is about what financial planning is good for in the first place. The authors paint an ideal financial coach who empowers clients to make decisions for their own benefit and steers them away from emotional course-closing decisions. Who manages to present complex things simply and explain them in understandable language. He can create multi-page analyses with colorful rows of numbers, but knows that they often just end up in the folder. That is why he carries out controlling and accompanies his customers during the implementation.
In addition, the challenges facing the first and second pillars are explained and the importance of personal retirement planning is elaborated. The authors do not spare clear words and always mix in a pinch of humor, as the following passage shows:
"Switzerland's pension system resembles Rocky Docky's old house: It is half in ruins, and it creaks and groans and cries. And: For the most part, it is still at the level of its introduction (AHV 1947 and BVG 1985). No wonder it trembles, no wonder it shakes. Sure, reforms hurt. But just because they hurt doesn't mean they aren't necessary."
The authors have little love for “self-proclaimed financial bloggers, investment gurus and economic astrologers” and make no secret of this fact in several places. However, the criticism is too general and not very differentiated. Yes, financial bloggers are not controlled and neither regulated nor certified, but consumers browsing the Internet already need some critical judgment. This is not only the case when it comes to finances. And those who find a low-threshold introduction to financial topics will probably find their way to a financial planner more quickly in the future for more complex topics.
Financial planning: concept
The second part is about the fact that there is no uniform understanding, either in theory or in practice, of what financial planning actually is. The authors define financial planning as a network discipline that keeps an eye on the big picture. And this is what makes financial planning so exciting – for me, too. For detailed questions, a responsible financial planner refers to subject matter experts. The aim is to impart financial knowledge to customers so that the industry succeeds in shifting from earning to serving.
Bechtiger and Spring define financial planning as a risk management process and position risk as a central element of the financial planning process. Insights from behavioral finance also flow into the explanations.
Furthermore, the relatively new regulatory foundations such as the Financial Services Act (FIDLEG), which increasingly focuses on customer protection with information obligations as well as appropriateness or suitability checks, are discussed.
Financial planning: process
The third and largest part is devoted to the systematic and continuous opportunity and risk management process. The three dimensions of need, risk and behavior play an important role. This multidimensionality distinguishes comprehensive consulting from consulting that focuses only on product sales.
Risks must be identified, assessed and managed at an early stage. Again, practical examples are always given. The financial consequences of a divorce, for example, are shown as an example. And last but not least, he says, it’s important to evaluate how much risk would even be necessary to achieve a savings goal.
Furthermore, the two authors point out that there is no one correct financial plan, but only more or less plausible financial plans. That is why it is so important to work with different scenarios, variants and alternatives.
Financial planning: Future
In the last part, the author duo devotes itself to future topics. Sustainable lifestyles, customer-focused communication, and the standardization and digitization of financial planning will be discussed.
One of the things needed to build a trusting, consultative customer relationship is a certain level of seniority. I only agree with this to a limited extent. If I’m about to retire and I’m looking for a succession solution for my company, for example, I probably want to discuss it with a person who shares my life experience to a certain extent and yes, not necessarily with the 22-year-old apprenticeship graduate.
But that’s exactly how it is when I’m in my early thirties and seek financial advice. Here, too, I want a financial advisor who knows the reality of my life, and that may not be the advisor who is about to retire himself.
Like the lighthouse on the cover and the pictures at the beginning of each chapter, financial planning is primarily intended to provide orientation and security.
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