Goals-based Investing: The Difference Between Surface Goals and Deeper Goals

Prioritization is a basic component of goals-based investing, but advisors and clients also need to consider the underlying motivations for that prioritization.

Take retirement for example. A common goal with unique motivation. “I want to save for retirement” does not provide the rich context that “I want to be able to travel and spend quality time with my family without worrying about money once I retire” does. As an advisor, eliciting that context from your clients not only improves your personal relationship but empowers your decision making and strategy.

In Morningstar’s latest report, Digging Deeper for Goals, we explore whether providing a positive psychology framework could elicit these deeper goals from investors.