Unexpected Wealth Wants a Guide

Imagine a wedding planner named June Hale who meets Dan and Leah Moss on a Thursday afternoon. Last year, the Mosses came into a large inheritance from an aunt they barely knew. They bring photos of weddings from a magazine, and Leah asks what a wedding like that would cost.

June has a venue visit at four. “A wedding like that would be around $300,000,” she says, and she opens her calendar to look at dates.

The Mosses go quiet. Nobody has told them where $300,000 would go. Leah asks, “Is that normal?” June says, “For a wedding like this, yes,” and asks which month they have in mind. The Mosses say they will talk it over at home, and they do not call back.

Suppose instead that June answers Leah’s question in parts. “A wedding like the ones in these photos usually comes to about $300,000. Most of that goes to the venue, the food, and the flowers. My part is finding the venue, the caterer, and the florist, checking every contract, and running the day itself. My fee for that is $45,000, and it is inside the $300,000.”

Leah asks what the flowers alone would cost. June says that flowers for a wedding like this usually run from $30,000 to $40,000. The Mosses book a second meeting to see two venues.

June offered the same planning at the same fee both times. In the first version, she gave the Mosses a total and moved on. Her answer to “Is that normal?” asked them to take her word for it. In the second, she told them where the money goes and what her fee pays for. Then they could judge the price for themselves.

So when a client whose money is new asks about a price, explain where the money goes before they have to ask.

A client whose money is new often does not know what the work costs

Some wealthy clients inherited their money, along with a household whose ways were settled long ago. Others built it, often through a business they started. Some still earn it through skilled work, such as surgery or law. Unexpected wealth is the fourth kind. It arrived suddenly, through a settlement, an inheritance nobody expected, or a lottery win.

A client with unexpected wealth got the money all at once. They did not get the years of buying at this level that usually come with it. So they often do not know what a service like yours usually costs.

Here is the course’s view of what that means for you. A client who has never bought your kind of service at this level cannot tell a fair price from an inflated one. So they may worry about paying too much. Every question they ask about cost is a fair question, and not a sign that they should already know the answer.

You usually cannot tell from a first conversation where a client’s money came from. So listen for a few signs together. A client whose money is new may ask what is normal, or what a service like yours usually costs. They may also say that they have not hired anyone for this kind of work before.

A florist in New Jersey says couples have never made this kind of investment

Nichole Anderson is a floral designer in Franklin Park, New Jersey. In a piece on wedding florists, she said that weddings were difficult before the pandemic. After it, they were more draining. She decided to pause her wedding work for a while.

In the same piece, she described the couples who hire a florist. “I find that wedding clients have a lack of understanding of what the dream costs, and most often it’s because they’ve never made this kind of investment,” she said. They see beautiful weddings published “without reference to the amount of the investment required for the design.”

While Anderson was talking about wedding clients in general, her reason fits a client whose money is new. That client has not made this kind of investment before, either. So expect a client who has not bought your kind of service at this level to need the costs explained. That is true however much they can afford.

A florist in Virginia lists the work behind her price

Ashley Greer is a florist in Alexandria, Virginia. In the same piece, she said that wedding clients can be hard to take on. The article gives the main reason, which is that there is “so much education needed in terms of what costs are involved.”

“It is not as simple as just designing,” Greer said. She listed the consultation, the proposal, the flower order, and the staff for the event. She also carries the insurance most venues ask for, at least $1 million. At the end of the night, every flower has to be picked up, “sometime between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.”

A couple who sees the flowers on the tables sees none of that work. So name the parts of your work that a client does not see, the way Greer does. Name them before you give your price.

A butler in London became his employer’s guide to what to buy

Steve Ford is a butler who works for a wealthy family based in London. In 2024, he told Robb Report how the job has changed. “Today, a client will often come to you for advice, like what kind of crockery do you recommend?” he said. “They know about Harrods, but they don’t know what to purchase there. You become a kind of guide for them.”

One weekend, Ford’s employer was invited to a shooting estate where the dress code was formal. The employer did not own a tuxedo. So Ford rented the clothes and laid them out for him.

At dinner, Ford helped the estate’s staff serve. “As I was serving him, I was whispering quietly what to do,” he said. “I was constantly coaching him.”

Ford showed his employer what to wear, and he told him what to do in a whisper while he served. So when a client asks what to buy, answer as their guide. Say what you would choose and why, where nobody else is listening.

Do not assume a client whose money is new will waste it

You may have heard that 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt. News reports have credited that figure to the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). The organization says that the statistic “is not backed by research from NEFE, nor can it be confirmed by the organization.”

Here is the course’s view of why that story matters to you. A professional who expects a client to waste new money can end up talking down to them. That professional may also push the client toward the most expensive option, on the guess that the money will be spent anyway.

So set that story aside. Explain the costs to a client whose money is new the way you would to any careful buyer.

Explaining the costs does not talk down to the client

Explaining costs to a wealthy client can feel like telling them what they should already know. Many professionals worry that the client will hear a lecture.

An explanation made of facts about the job does not sound like a lecture. June’s second answer gave the Mosses three facts. She said where most of the $300,000 goes, what her part is, and what her fee is. She did not tell them what they ought to know or what they ought to spend.

The explanation is not a defense of your price, either. Reasons added after a price make it sound less sure, because they answer a doubt the client has not spoken. The explanation here comes before the price, and it is made of facts about the job. After the price, say when the work starts, and stop.

If the client wants more, every fact about the costs is theirs to have. So answer each question with a fact. When Leah asks what the flowers alone would cost, June gives her the usual range.

Why brushing off a question about price goes wrong

Imagine an interior designer named Paul Brandt whose new client, Rena Castro, won a large settlement last year. Rena calls Paul while he is between two site visits. When she asks why the sofa he chose for her living room costs $14,000, Paul says, “At this level, that’s just what a sofa costs.”

Rena hears that she should have known already. So she stops asking questions, and she does not learn what Paul’s invoices cover. In March, his invoice for the curtains looks to her like an overcharge, and she disputes it. Paul spends a week of calls on one invoice, and Rena hires another designer for the second floor.

Paul is not being rude. He is in a hurry, and his answer still tells Rena that her question was one she should not have asked.

In the version that works, Paul names the parts of the sofa before the price. “The frame is built by hand, and it takes 14 yards of the linen you chose. The workroom needs ten weeks. All of that comes to $14,000.” Rena asks what the curtains will cost, and Paul tells her before he orders them.

How to guide a client whose money is new

Listen for a few signs that a client’s money is new. They may ask what is normal, or say that they have not hired anyone for this kind of work before. When you hear those signs, plan to explain the costs before you give your price.
Name the parts of your work that the client will see, before the price. For example, a private chef can say, “Each week, I plan the menu with you, shop on Monday, and cook five dinners in your kitchen. You pay for the groceries at cost.”
Then give the price once, say when the work starts, and stop. For example, the chef can add, “The fee is $2,000 a week, and I could start on the 3rd.”
If your fee is part of a larger total, say what the whole job usually costs and which part your fee covers. For example, a home organizer who packs houses for a move can say, “A move like yours usually comes to about $20,000, for the movers, the storage, and the packing. My fee covers the packing and unpacking, and the movers bill you directly.”
Find the point where a first-time buyer is most likely to feel overcharged. It might be the first large bill, or a change to the job. Explain that cost before the bill arrives. For example, a wedding photographer can call a week before the album invoice and say, “The album bill comes next week. It’s $2,400, for the 40 pages you chose on Saturday.”
Answer every question about cost with the facts, however basic the question sounds. For example, a tutor whose client asks why the summer costs more than the spring can say, “In the summer, I see Max three times a week instead of two.”
When a client asks what to buy, answer as their guide, and say what you would choose and why. For example, a personal trainer who is asked which rowing machine to buy for home can say, “I’d buy the wooden one we tried at the gym. It’s quiet, and it stands against the wall when you’re done.”

Next: You will see how what a new client says about money and family points to their kind of wealth.