Transitions/Resilience

• Tell me about where you were born - did you stay in one house or did you move as a kid?

• What was it like for you to go to school for the first time? Did you know anyone at school? Did you ever change schools?

• What was it like to move out of your family home for the first time? Where did you go? What kinds of experiences did you have as a young adult living on your own for the first time? Did you have roommates, get married? What stands out to you most about this time?

• How did you adjust to being a parent? What surprised you about it?

• Have you made any major shifts in your life about what you believe in (political, ideology, philosophical, religious)? What did it feel like to make those changes? What prompted the shifts?

• If you retired, what was that like for you?

• Did you move as an adult? What prompted the moves and how did you manage them? What was it like to make friends in a new city?

• Tell me about some travel experiences you’ve had?

• What advice do you have for me when unexpected things happen in my life?

• What is something you learned late in life that you wish you had known earlier?

Values and Finance

• What do you value most in life?

• What’s an example of a time period, event, or activity when you really felt like you were living out your values? How did that feel?

• Do you feel like you’ve made sacrifices in your life that you’re glad you made? What sacrifices do you hope I don’t make in my life?

• What is your earliest money memory?

• Who taught you about money as a child?

• Do you share the same values about money as your parents? What is different and what prompted any differences?

• How has your relationship with money changed throughout your life?

• Tell me about your first job. What was it like to earn money for yourself for the very first time?

• As an adult supporting yourself, how did it feel to take on that responsibility?

• Tell me about why you decided to work with a financial advisor?

• What was your process to choose the advisor you work with?

• What impact did your upbringing have on the choices you made about money later in life?

• What advice do you have for me to be happy with the choices I make with my resources: time, money, creativity?

• How do you hope your family members honor you with their inheritance?

• What were you taught about money? 

• What have you learned about money throughout your life that you wish you knew earlier?

• Tell me about the charities or people — anyone you supported with a financial gift in your lifetime. What do you want your heirs to know about those choices?

• What do you value about your relationship to money?

• Tell me about a money mistake you made. How did you recover? 

• Do you have any memorable experiences related to being the recipient of a financial gift? 

• Why was it meaningful for you?

• If your money could accomplish one thing beyond your time on this earth, what do you hope that will be?

• Tell me about the choices you made about your financial advisor(s) and investments? 

• What do your heirs need to know about your financial decisions and these relationships?

• What’s one simple thing your heirs can do to honor you with their inheritance?