Exploring the Relationships between Virtual Client Meetings, Financial Anxiety, and Trust in Financial Planning

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Client Demographic Data

Demographic Characteristics		N or M	% or SD
Age		52.02	16.65
Gender	Female	304	48.64%
	Male	321	51.36%
Education	High School or Less	95	15.15%
	Some College or Diploma	231	36.84%
	Bachelor’s Degree	218	34.77%
	Graduate Degree	83	13.24%
Marital Status	Married	352	56.05%
	Single	146	23.25%
	Cohabitating	54	8.60%
	Divorced/Separated	46	7.32%
	Widowed	30	4.78%
Race / Ethnicity	White, Non-Hispanic	466	71.25%
	Asian*	122	19.49%
	Black/Other	58	9.27%
Household Income	$0 – $50,000	127	20.26%
	$50,000 – $99,999	213	33.97%
	$100,000 – $149,999	173	27.59%
	$150,000 – $249,999	81	12.92%
	$250,000 – $499,999	33	5.26%
Subjective Financial Knowledge		4.83	1.11
Years with Financial Planner		8.56	7.98
Financial Planner Designation	No designation	25	8.15
	CFP®	194	63.19%
	Other	88	28.66%
Services Financial Planner Provides**	Budgeting/Cash Management	122	19.27%
	Retirement	347	54.82%
	Tax	232	36.65%
	Investment	417	65.88%
	Insurance	136	21.48%
	Estate	154	24.33%

Descriptive statistics_

Question	N or M	% or SD	Minimum	Maximum
Client Trust Scale
I have confidence in my financial planner’s recommendations	4.26	0.83	1	5
I have confidence in my financial planner’s integrity	4.34	0.86	1	5
I have confidence in my financial planner’s financial skills and expertise	4.34	0.88	1	5
I can rely on my financial planner to follow through on their commitments	4.36	0.89	1	5
I trust my financial planner to act in my best interests	4.34	0.82	1	5
Perceived ease of use (PEU) scale (Strongly disagree to Agree)
My interaction with video conferencing is clear and understandable	3.81	1.11	1	5
I find it easy to get video conferencing to do what I want it to do.	3.62	1.18	1	5
I find video conferencing easy to use.	3.75	1.16	1	5
Are you provided the choice of meeting with your planner virtually (using videoconferencing tools) or in-person?
No	193	31.03	0	1
Yes, I am asked my preference for the first meeting with my planner	258	41.48	0	1
Yes, I can choose virtual or in-person for each meeting with my planner	171	27.49	0	1
Are you satisfied with the frequency with which your planner meets with you virtually?
No	63	10.13	0	1
Yes	559	89.87	0	1
How often do you meet with your planner virtually (i.e., using videoconferencing tools)?
At least once a year	296	47.51	0	1
Never	327	52.49	0	1
Financial Anxiety Scale (Never to Always)
I feel anxious about my financial situation.	1.36	1.09	0	4
I have difficulty sleeping because of my financial situation	0.82	1.02	0	4
I have difficulty concentrating on my studies/or work because of my financial situation	0.74	1.07	0	4
I am irritable because of my financial situation	0.88	1.09	0	4
I have difficulty controlling my worries about my financial situation	0.92	1.10	0	4
My muscles feel tense because of worries about my financial situation	0.69	1.03	0	4
I feel fatigued because I worry about my financial situation	0.81	1.10	0	4

Unstandardised, standardised, and significance levels for model in Figure 2 (standard errors in parentheses)_

Parameter Estimate	B (SE B)	β (SE β)
Structural Model
PEU → Choice of meeting type	−.01 (.04)	−.02 (.06)
PEU → Frequency of virtual meetings	.34 (.10)	.27 (.07)***
Choice of meeting type → Frequency of virtual meetings	.63 (.17)	.37 (.08)***
Choice of meeting type → Client satisfaction	.12 (.11)	.08 (.07)
PEU → Trust	.22 (.05)	.27 (.05) ***
Frequency of virtual meetings → Trust	−.10 (.04)	−.15 (.06)**
Client satisfaction → Trust	.31 (.05)	.44 (.05) ***
Financial anxiety → Trust	−.32 (.05)	−.33 (.04)***
Significant Controls
Age → Trust	.01 (.00)	.18 (.08)*
Education → Trust	−.12 (.05)	−.14 (.06)*
Budgeting → Trust	.23 (.08)	.13 (.05)**
Age → Financial Anxiety	−.02 (.01)	−.35 (.07)***
Subjective Financial Knowledge → Financial Anxiety	−.11 (.04)	−.15 (.06)**
Budgeting → Financial Anxiety	.33 (.09)	.19 (.05)***
Insurance → Financial Anxiety	.26 (.09)	.15 (.05)**
Income → PEU	.13 (.06)	.16 (.07)*
Retirement → PEU	.29 (.12)	.16 (.06)*
Estate → PEU	.33 (.14)	.17 (.07)*

Standardised factor loadings for latent variables_

Item	Cohabit
Client Trust
Recommendations	.87
Integrity	.89
Skills and expertise	.88
Follow-through	.83
Best interests	.74
Standardised Alpha	.94
Perceived Ease of Use (PEU)
Clear and understandable	.87
Easy to do what they need to do	.91
Easy to use	.86
Standardised Alpha	.92
Relationship Quality – Time 1
Stress	.75
Sleep	.91
Concentrate	.90
Irritable	.92
Worry	.87
Tense	.87
Fatigue	.86
Standardised Alpha	.96