

Derek Hagen, CFA, CFP®, FBS®, CFT™
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
-Pablo Picasso
When you don’t know how to cook a particular dish—or even how to cook at all—starting with a recipe is often best. A recipe is a step-by-step guide that shows you exactly how to combine ingredients. Eventually, though, you develop an intuitive sense of flavors. You learn when a dish needs a little more of an ingredient (or less), and you figure out how to tailor recipes for different palates. Or, if you like, you can still follow the recipe precisely. Over time, as you become more experienced, you gain the mastery to adapt and improvise.
The same is true for financial life planning—especially when it comes to the True Wealth Process. Early on, you learn a specific sequence or “recipe” to implement. This doesn’t mean you’ll always have to use it in exactly that order, but it’s a reliable starting point. Once you’re familiar with the process, you can adapt it. Some clients might benefit from certain tools more than others, and some may prefer skipping particular steps. Much like cooking by taste, you’ll discover how to tweak the “recipe” to best serve each client.

Learning Using Recipes
For a beginner cook, it can be overwhelming to know the flavors of each ingredient, how they interact, and in which order to add them. That’s the beauty of a recipe—it’s an algorithm that walks you through the process. The recipe creator has tested a method they believe is the best way to make the dish. It works, and if you follow it, you’ll be okay.
Financial life planning (and True Wealth Planning specifically) can feel just as overwhelming at first. It’s challenging to know what information each inquiry category will uncover, how individual tools fit together, and how it all aligns with the five stages of the process. That’s why the True Wealth Planning Process functions as a roadmap or recipe—it shows you how to implement each step. It works so well that if you always use it this way, you’ll still be okay.

Subscribe for Updates
Get notified when the latest articles are published.
Cooking By Taste
Of course, you won’t always follow the recipe word-for-word. Maybe you’re cooking for someone who dislikes a particular ingredient, or maybe you love a certain spice and want to add more. Over time, you get to know the recipe so well—and your own tweaks—that you don’t even need the written version anymore. You can cook by taste, adjusting each dish based on circumstances and preferences.
Similarly, once you’ve internalized the True Wealth Planning Process, you can switch it up just like you would with a familiar recipe. Some clients might benefit from a specific tool or skip a particular topic they find irrelevant. If you know the “recipe” thoroughly, you can adapt it to “cook by taste” for each client’s needs.

Like learning to cook, you begin True Wealth Planning by following the recipe. Over time, the process becomes second nature. You’ll understand it so thoroughly that you can make it your own, tailoring each step to the unique needs of each client.

You’ll reach a point where experience and intuition (the “Y-axis”) intersect, allowing you to adapt as needed. At the beginning, recipes dominate. As you gain confidence, intuition takes over.

Remember: Learning the True Wealth Planning Process doesn’t mean you’re bound to follow it verbatim forever. It’s your foundation—a way to truly learn the techniques—so you can then customize them. Much like cooking, mastery comes from blending the structure you’ve learned with the intuitive flair you develop over time.
Want to Learn More?
Money Quotient trains financial professionals in the True Wealth process and helps them implement the concepts into their practices. The first step is to learn about the Fundamentals of True Wealth Planning.
References and Influences
Adams, Scott: How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big
Ariely, Dan & Jeff Kreisler: Dollars and Sense
Gladwell, Malcolm: Blink
Haidt, Jonathan: The Happiness Hypothesis
Heath, Chip and Dan Heath: Switch
Kahneman: Daniel: Thinking Fast and Slow
Urban, Tim: What’s Our Problem?