Give your clients a day to dream

I love when lottery jackpots become obscene. When the number crosses the hundred million dollar threshold a trigger is flipped in my brain. The amount of money becomes transforming and questions arise - How would we live? Give back? Would I work? Would I travel? Where would we live? Questions multiply and answers fly to the forefront. Without fail I buy a ticket.

This weeks powerball was no exception. I spent $10 on five tickets the day before the drawing. I understand the lottery is a pipe dream, and that my odds of wining (1:232,000,000) are less than my chances of being killed by a lightning strike in the United States this year (39:323,500,000). To put the odds in perspective fill Memorial Stadium at Illinois (60,000). Then fill another 3,876 identical football stadiums. One person wins.

I'm not buying a lottery ticket to win, but to dream about winning. And that exercise can be extremely powerful in helping clients actualize true goals. It gives them a period of time to dig in to the meat of the thought "how would I live if I didn't need to work". This opens doors and decisions. I'm at The University of Illinois in part because of this kind of exercise. If I had all the money in the world, I would spend most of my time with my family while growing the field of financial planning. And the dream is coming around.

The same kind of exercise can shape charitable intent. "If I had more money than I needed what impact would I leave on my community?" Giving that thought on a hundred million dollar scale helped me decide on where my $100 should go today.

Buy your clients a ticket. For $2 they will be able to dream big, and at the end of the dream have a better idea of retirement, philanthropy and maybe even how they live today. Follow up with your clients after the drawing, talk about goals and dreams. You may open the door to a deep and rich conversation.