Life is too short for needless meetings. So don't have them.

We have discussed the primacy of the financial plan and how, as the trusted adviser, with time you become the financial plan.

Now we need to work through:

1. How often should you meet with your clients?

2. Who decides?

In terms of the meeting cadence, once a year feels about right. Is that the perfect regularity? I don't know. Remembering that Perfection Is The Enemy (of good), meeting with clients every 12 months seems to work.

It seems about the right amount of time for things to have had the chance to breathe and progress since the last meeting.

More often than not, just letting some time pass and letting life "happen" is just what the plan needs.

If you meet more frequently, what on earth will you talk about that you didn't cover just six or three months prior? Into that awkward silence - as ever, nature abhors a vacuum - will fall awful time-fillers. Pure evils, such as:

• economic forecasts;

• performance reviews;

• investment outlooks;

and a host of other horrors.

As to the second question: the adviser sets the cadence. No pandering, ever. "But our previous adviser met with us every quarter." "I'm sure he did. We don't do that here. Are you free in a year's time?"

When you as the adviser set the meeting frequency you are reaffirming your position in this relationship. You are not an order taker. You set the agenda, always.

Of course, you are there for significant life events that require your input. Event-driven ad-hoc meetings in addition to the annual planning meeting are absolutely essential, as and when required.

Other than that, one meeting every year seems good enough. And good is enough is always better than perfection.