Kinder Institute of Life Planning’s Money and Meaning Blog presents the “I’m a Registered Life Planner®” series. Host Lora Woodward, Communications Director for Kinder Institute, chats with Ian Bloom, Founder and Financial Life Planner at Open World Financial Planning based in Raleigh, NC. Ian is one of nearly 600 professionals globally that have earned the prestigious Registered Life Planner® (RLP®) designation.
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome, Introductions
00:30 Ian dives into the meaning behind his company name and how the “choose your own adventure” mindset fits really well with life planning
02:20 Ian shares that he knew that he wanted to become a Registered Life Planner® as soon as he joined the profession and how being mentored by Stephen Brody helped shape his career path.
05:40 Ian outlines how he works with his financial life planning clients and integrated the EVOKE® process into his business, even if it isn’t in the “traditional” structure.
09:18 Ian shares a few client success stories that were the result of the life planning work he did with his clients, commending the life planning curriculum for helping him develop the emotional skillset that complimented his CFP® training.
12:00 Ian discusses the big changes that happened in his life post EVOKE training and how he navigated a divorce, the pandemic, and growing his company from its infancy. He used the life planning exercises to get clear on his own priorities and has reached a new state of fulfillment that helps him follow through on the projects he wants to do.
15:43 His advice for future life planners: “don’t be closed off to the changes that you should be making in your life.”
18:03 End
Ian Bloom, CFP®, RLP® is a financial life planner and owner of Open World Financial Life Planning. He started the firm in 2018 after years in the industry under much larger firms. Open World was founded with the goal of providing financial life planning for nerds! Open World and Ian put out a ton of content! If you’re looking for further resources to be connected with, tune into the YouTube channel, newsletter, or website. One of the side quests of Open World is making all of this content available to you for free. In his personal life, Ian spends a lot of time with his friends, primarily playing games. Ian’s favorites are Magic: The Gathering, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Teamfight Tactics, Cyberpunk 2077, and a collection of various board games. When he’s not gaming, Ian enjoys watching professional esports, cooking, and getting in a good workout.
Kinder Institute of Life Planning, founded by George Kinder in 2003, advances the practice of “whole-life” Life Planning as the most fiduciary, most comprehensive, and most client-centered form of financial planning.
Experiential core training, mentoring, and continuing education programs unite our nearly 600 Registered Life Planners® (RLPs®) around the world meeting the growing demand for life-centered, client-centered financial planning. Kinder’s resources for consumers include a searchable database of RLPs and an interactive online life-planning guide. The designation of Registered Life Planner® (RLP®) is earned by completing an entire course of study including The Seven Stages of Money Maturity® Training, the EVOKE® Life Planning Training, and a subsequent Life Planning Mentorship.
