Use case: Bringing credibility to longevity planning

How Yeisley Financial Group uses Lumiant HALO to bring credibility and confidence to longevity planning

Every financial advisory firm wants to deliver the best results for its clients with as much confidence as possible through personalized financial planning. However, with a complex topic like longevity planning, many firms fall back on averages and actuarial tables, which are nothing more than population-based averages and are significant financial assumptions that can impact whether a plan is effective or not.

For Randy Yeisley, founder of independent financial advisory firm Yeisley Financial Group, relying on average life expectancy wasn’t good enough for his firm. Having started his career as an engineer before retraining as a financial advisor, Randy wanted to have a credible, repeatable, and personalized approach to longevity. 

The problem with traditional longevity planning, according to Randy, is that the tail-end of projections often vastly underestimates care costs and life expectancy, leaving clients at risk of not appropriately funding their retirement. This presents not only a client-centric problem but also a significant reputational and financial risk for the advisory firm. 

Initially, he created a spreadsheet, often planning for clients to age 95. But this only worked for a time. And as his firm grew, he needed a longevity solution that could scale with demand. One that could provide a scientifically-based and reproducible foundation for longevity assumptions.

Lumiant HALO emerged as the preferred solution, chosen after Randy meticulously tested five different longevity solutions. HALO stood out for its repeatable results and its scientific basis, which aligned with Randy’s engineering mindset and demand for robust data. This adoption enabled Yeisley Financial Group to confidently manage increasing client numbers without compromising the integrity of their financial plans, fostering advisor confidence and consistency across the firm.

Randy Yeisley, Founder and President at Yeisley Financial Group, stated:

“The HALO longevity solution provides two key pieces of information for our planning process – life expectancy and how many years they might need long-term care. We do not use rule-of-thumb estimators for any of our planning because they are inherently inaccurate. Using HALO gives us a basis for the assumption on life expectancy, and it stimulates the conversation about long-term care and how we can deal with those expenses.”

Enhancing Client Engagement and Mitigating Risk

For growing advisory firms, personalizing financial plans around their clients’ lives is paramount. HALO serves as a critical data input for Yeisley’s sophisticated financial planning software, Money Guide Elite. By using HALO data to fuel projections, advisors aren't just guessing; they have a scientifically backed, repeatable basis for key assumptions. 

This not only streamlines the planning process but significantly boosts advisor confidence when presenting long-term financial strategies to clients, leading to a more consistent and professional client experience across the firm.

To proactively mitigate the risk of clients outliving their funds, Yeisley Financial Group strategically enhances HALO's estimated life expectancy by adding five years to the projection, viewing HALO's output as the 50th percentile. This disciplined, data-driven approach demonstrates a commitment to robust financial planning and firm-wide risk management.

"I just don't want them to get to the last couple of years of life and then run out of money".

HALO addresses the challenge of discussing sensitive topics like longevity and long-term care. The ability for clients to complete a HALO assessment at home and for advisors to tailor the level of detail presented makes the conversation less daunting and more comfortable for clients. 

This flexible engagement strategy fosters deeper client trust and can lead to higher adoption of essential planning elements.

"The conversation about longevity is an uncomfortable one for most people. And yet, it is necessary because it can have a dramatic impact on the probability of success of their long-range financial plan." 

The firm then uses HALO's insights to model "what-if" scenarios for long-term care costs within its financial planning software, stimulating crucial conversations about managing these expenses.

Securing Competitive Advantage through Strategic Client Acquisition and Retention

A crucial aspect for any growing RIA is maintaining and expanding its client base. Yeisley Financial Group recognised the inherent risk in directing potential clients to third-party longevity assessment sites, which could potentially lead to client poaching by competitors. With many of these ‘free assessments’ linked to insurance companies, clients could also be inundated with offers related to annuities or long-term care insurance, which could well conflict with the advisor's advice. And, of course, the danger that ‘free assessments' pose, likely leaving client information at risk of being sold. On the other hand,  HALO is not only purpose-built exclusively for advisors and their clients, it also allows direct embedding of the assessment widget onto the firm’s own website, which proved to be the "deciding factor" for Randy.

This strategic control over the client journey ensures existing clients feel secure interacting on a trusted platform, and drives traffic to the firm’s website, serving as a powerful lead generation and client capture mechanism for new prospects.

“HALO was the first longevity assessment that I’ve seen that let us embed it directly into our own website. With an older client base, it’s doubly important that they feel safe and secure when interacting with us online, making it ideal to have everything housed on our own website where they feel comfortable.”

The simplicity of HALO's interface also addresses a key concern for firms serving an older demographic. Its user-friendly design ensures a seamless online experience, removing a potential barrier to engagement and reinforcing the firm’s commitment to client-centric solutions.

"Halo is very simple and straightforward. Our clients find it easy to use and input the data we need to personalize plans."

When Yeisley Financial Group onboards new prospects, they receive a “Confidential Profile” booklet that includes clear instructions to complete the HALO assessment. By completing the assessment before their financial analysis, Yeisley Financial Group ensures longevity projections used in financial plans have a solid basis.

If existing clients need to make updates to their plan, they go through the process again to retain the accuracy of their financial modelling. 

Using HALO with new and existing clients has been an excellent solution to demonstrate Yeisley Financial Group’s commitment to providing tailored financial advice to each client, while providing a structured entry point for sensitive discussions on longevity and long-term care.

The implementation of Lumiant HALO has enabled Yeisley Financial Group to tailor their advice at scale,  and its experience with HALO offers valuable insights for other large RIAs and financial advisory firms:

Prioritise Solutions that Deliver Reproducible Accuracy and Credibility: invest in tools that provide a robust, data-driven foundation for critical assumptions, such as longevity, thereby fostering both internal confidence among advisors and external credibility for your firm's advisory services.

Implement Flexible Client Engagement Strategies for Sensitive Topics: Develop approaches that allow for tailored client conversations around difficult subjects like longevity and long-term care, ensuring maximum comfort and engagement, which can lead to higher adoption and deeper client trust.

Opt for User-Friendly Technology: Select solutions with intuitive interfaces that minimise friction for both advisors and clients, particularly for an older demographic. Ensure the data can be easily used within your existing financial planning software to maximise operational efficiency and consistency across the firm.

Leverage Website Integration for Lead Capture and Brand Reinforcement: Choose tools that allow direct embedding on your firm’s website to drive traffic, capture leads, prevent client poaching, and reinforce your firm’s brand as a secure and trusted advisory partner.

By embracing these strategies, financial advisory firms can replicate Yeisley Financial Group's success in enhancing their longevity planning capabilities, driving firm-wide efficiency, mitigating risk, and ultimately strengthening their market position and client relationships.

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