Inside a Real Case Consultation: How One Advisor Handled a Financial Plan Falling Apart

Picture this: You've just finished a client meeting where you had to deliver some tough news. The plan you've been working on together for years? Yeah, it's not going to work out the way you all hoped. Your client is staring at their Zoom screen with that defeated look, and you're sitting there thinking about how much wine you're going to need when this day is over.

That's exactly where my friend and fellow advisor Yohance Harrison found himself recently. In our first-ever case consultation episode on Planning & Beyond®, he brought this raw, real scenario that I know many of you are living through right now. His clients had been diligently saving for their first home—following all the "rules" advisors love to give about down payments and cash reserves. But then the world changed. Housing prices shot up 50% in some markets, interest rates doubled, and suddenly the math just wasn't mathing anymore.

Here's the thing: this isn't really about real estate or market volatility. This is about what happens in that space between the technical problem and the human sitting across from you who trusted you with their dreams.

The Emotional Toll of Financial Planning When Client Goals Change

If you've been in this business for more than five minutes, you know that plans change. Markets shift, life happens, goals evolve. That's Finance 101, right? But what they don't teach you in all those CFP courses is how to handle the emotional tsunami that hits when you have to look someone in the eye and say, "Remember that thing we've been working toward? We need to completely rethink this."

Yohance described it perfectly: "I feel defeated. I feel like I had one job and I failed." And here's what struck me—this guy has been helping people buy homes for 25 years. He's sent out more housewarming gifts than most of us have hot dinners. But in this moment, with interest rates and housing prices completely outside his control, he was questioning his entire professional competence.

Sound familiar? Because I'm guessing if you're an advisor, you've been there too.

How Advisors Can Navigate Self-Doubt, Client Overwhelm, and Power Dynamics

When I'm working with advisors navigating these sticky situations, I always come back to this framework: there are three components happening simultaneously, and you've got to address all of them.

First, there's the "you" piece.

Yohance was carrying around this boulder of defeat, self-doubt, and what he called "imposter syndrome." He's thinking, "Who am I to tell them they'll be able to buy this house?" Meanwhile, he's trying to show up professionally for his clients while internally feeling like he let them down. You can't compartmentalize that stuff—it seeps into everything.

Then there's the client piece.

His clients had moved into what I call "absolute land"—"We're just going to be renters forever." When people are emotionally flooded, they go to extremes. Forever. Never. Always. Those words are your cue that someone is not in a place to hear your beautiful spreadsheets about market cycles and alternative scenarios.

Finally, there's the relational dynamic between you two.

There's a power imbalance here—you're the expert who's supposed to have answers, and they're the clients who trusted you with their biggest financial goals. How do you navigate that when the plan falls apart through no fault of anyone in the room?

A Communication Strategy for Financial Advisors: Ask Permission Before Offering Solutions

Here's where Yohance had a breakthrough that I think every advisor needs to hear. He realized that in these moments, he had a "Superman complex"—he'd jump straight into fix-it mode without checking if his clients were emotionally ready to receive solutions.

Instead, he learned to pause and ask: "I don't know if you're ready to hear this right now, and that's totally okay. Would it be okay if I shared some perspective from my side?"

This isn't just being polite. This is psychological gold. When you ask permission, you're doing several things:

• You're giving them agency in a situation where they feel powerless

• You're acknowledging their emotional state instead of bulldozing over it

• You're saving yourself from wasting energy on solutions they can't hear yet

• You're creating space for them to say "Actually, I just need to sit with this for a bit"

And here's the kicker—if they say no, they're not ready for your perspective, that tells you something really important about where they are emotionally. Don't take it personally. Work with that information.

Why Financial Advisors Should Embrace Vulnerability in Client Conversations

This next piece might feel scary, but stick with me. When Yohance talked about sharing his own emotional response with clients—admitting that he felt defeated too, that he wished he could have prepared them better for the uncertainty—something beautiful happened. He realized this wasn't about him being unprofessional. This was about modeling the kind of authentic relationship he wanted to have with his clients.

Think about it this way: when you vulnerably share that you're struggling with this situation too, you're showing them that it's okay to have feelings about money and plans and disappointment. You're not saying "I don't know what I'm doing" (though sometimes we all feel that way). You're saying "I'm human, you're human, and we're going to figure this out together."

As Yohance put it, using a sports analogy that really landed for me: "It's like the coach who takes the team all the way to the championship and they lose. The coach was there with them through all the trenches, preparing them. But somewhere something was amiss." The great coaches don't pretend they're not disappointed too. They acknowledge the shared experience and then figure out what comes next.

Why Case Consultations Are Essential for Independent Financial Advisors

Here's something Yohance said that really stuck with me: "I don't have the community at the coffee stand where I can go and just talk about things with other advisors." If you're an independent advisor, you know exactly what he means. You don't have colleagues down the hall to bounce ideas off of when you're stuck.

This is exactly why case consultation can be such a game-changer. It's not just about getting technical advice—it's about having a space to process the emotional complexity of this work. When you can talk through a difficult situation with someone who understands both the financial and psychological dynamics at play, you get:

• Permission to acknowledge your own emotional responses

• Fresh perspectives on situations where you feel stuck

• Real-time professional development

• A reminder that you're not alone in these challenges

Why Case Consultations Are Essential for Independent Financial Advisors

Alright, here's what I want you to try in your next difficult client conversation. First, notice what's coming up for you emotionally. Are you feeling defensive? Defeated? Rushed to fix things? Just notice it—that's step one.

Second, when you see those absolute statements from clients ("We'll never be able to afford this," "This is impossible"), resist the urge to immediately counter with data. Instead, validate their experience first: "This feels pretty hopeless right now. I totally get why you'd feel that way."

Third, ask permission before you shift into advisor mode: "Would it be okay if I shared some thoughts about what options we might have?"

The psychological benefit of this approach? You're treating your clients as whole humans, not just financial problems to solve. You're building the kind of relationship where they feel safe being honest about their fears and disappointments. And honestly? You're making your own job as an advisor easier because you're working with their emotional reality instead of against it.

How to Support Clients When Financial Plans Derail

Plans fall apart. Markets change. Life happens. But how we navigate these moments with our clients—that's where the real value of what we do shows up. It's not about having all the answers or never being wrong. It's about being human enough to sit in the discomfort together and wise enough to know when someone needs emotional support before they need financial solutions.

If you're dealing with clients whose plans have been derailed, or if you just want to get better at the human side of this work, I'd love to hear from you. Sometimes the best learning happens when we're brave enough to share what's not working and ask for help figuring it out together.

Because here's the thing: finances don't have feelings, but your clients do. And as I see more and more in my work with advisors, you're also having emotional responses to these challenging situations. The sooner you get comfortable with that reality, the better you can serve everyone involved.