Meeting Prospective Clients Where They Are — And Guiding Them to Accuracy

Why Language Is a Process, Not a Punchline

One of the most misunderstood aspects of professional advising isn’t strategy.

It’s language and terminology.

Not grammar. Not jargon. But where conversations begin, how ideas are framed, and whether understanding is allowed to evolve.

Great advisors don’t confuse clients by being too technical too soon. And they don’t leave clients confused by never becoming precise.

They understand something essential:

Language is a progression.

The Core Tension in Advising

Every effective advisory relationship must navigate a tension between two responsibilities:

1. Meeting the prospect where they are

2. Leaving them more accurate than you found them

If you fail at the first, you never earn trust. If you fail at the second, you create misunderstanding—and potentially misrepresentation.

The art of advising lives in knowing when to speak conceptually and when to speak structurally.

Example 1: “Tax-Free Retirement Income” vs. Tax-Exempt Cash Flow via Loans

Few phrases generate more debate among licensed professionals than “tax-free retirement income.”

And the critics aren’t wrong.

From a technical standpoint, policy loans are not income. They are loans—accessed under specific contractual rules—and their tax treatment depends on proper structure, performance, and management.

In fact, there are real-world consequences to sloppy language. I’m personally aware of an agent—not securities licensed—who was investigated by their state’s Department of Securities over possible misrepresentation tied to how these strategies were described. Everything was ultimately cleared up.

But the investigation itself was the consequence.

Why the Phrase Still Exists

Here’s the part many miss:

When a prospect says they want tax-free retirement income, they aren’t making a technical claim.

They’re expressing an outcome:

• “I don’t want taxes eroding my retirement.”

• “I want predictable cash flow.”

• “I want clarity and control.”

At that stage, saying “tax-free retirement income” is directionally correct and emotionally accurate.

It meets the prospect where they are.

Where the Advisor Must Transition

Once trust and engagement are established, the advisor’s responsibility changes.

Now the language must evolve:

“What we’re really talking about is tax-exempt retirement cash flow accessed through properly structured policy loans—not income in the traditional sense.”

This is not wordplay. It’s education.

The mistake isn’t starting with conceptual language. The mistake is never leaving it.

Example 2: “Personal Pension” vs. Annuity Contract

The same pattern appears when advisors refer to an annuity as a “personal pension”—often intentionally placed in quotation marks.

A personal pension is not a pension.

It is an annuity contract.

And yet, the phrase works.

Why the Language Resonates

When prospects hear “pension,” they immediately understand the idea:

• A paycheck they can’t outlive

• Stability

• Predictability

• Income that doesn’t require constant management

Most people no longer have pensions—but they still understand what one represents.

Calling an annuity a “personal pension” communicates purpose, not product.

Where Precision Matters

Once interest is established, the explanation must mature:

“What we’re really discussing is an annuity contract that can be structured to provide pension-like income, subject to specific guarantees, riders, and limitations.”

Again, the problem isn’t the initial language.

The problem is failing to clarify the mechanics once the concept is understood.

Example 3: “Is the Money in a Life Insurance Policy Your Money?”

This question exposes the limits of rigid technical language better than almost any other.

Academically and regulatorily, the answer is often:

“No.”

From that perspective:

• Cash value represents a present value reserve

• Assets are held in the insurer’s general account

• The policyowner doesn’t own specific dollars

Technically accurate.

And yet—deeply incomplete.

The Practical Reality

Here’s what clients actually experience:

• You own the contract

• You control access to cash value

• You can withdraw or borrow (within known rules)

• You decide beneficiaries

• You bear the consequences of your decisions

That is real, enforceable control.

So while the cash value may not be “your money” in a balance-sheet sense, it is undeniably your contract, and the economic utility of that value is subject to your decisions.

Ironically, insisting only on the academic explanation—without explaining how the contract functions—can itself be misleading.

Even regulators and academics can be “wrong” if the explanation stops too soon.

The Pattern Behind All of These Examples

Across advanced planning strategies, the same structure repeats:

Prospect Language	Advisor Language
Tax-free retirement income	Tax-exempt cash flow via policy loans
Personal pension	Annuity contract with income guarantees
Is this my money?	Contractual control with defined consequences

The first column explains why the client should care. The second explains how it actually works.

Both are necessary.

Ethical Advising Is About Progression, Not Purity

There is a constant debate—especially online—about whether advisors should ever use simplified or conceptual language.

That debate misses the point.

Ethical advising is not about avoiding accessible language.

It’s about intentional progression:

• Start where the client is

• Educate them forward

• Leave them clearer, not just comfortable

Misrepresentation occurs when:

• Conceptual language is never clarified

• Mechanics are hidden

• Clients are left with literal misunderstandings

Clarity, not cleverness, is the safeguard.

Final Thought

Language opens the door. Clarity keeps it open. Accuracy is what allows clients to walk through with confidence.

Great advisors don’t choose between being relatable or being precise.

They understand when each is required.

Meeting clients where they are isn’t weakness. Leaving them there is.

And guiding them forward—carefully, honestly, and completely—isn’t just good communication.

It’s good advising.