1. A control interface for controlling multiple functional devices comprising:
at least one control element in the form of, or positioned in a configuration on the control device corresponding to, a part of the a face or body; wherein the control element performs a function of the device associated with the part of the face or body;
a selector for selecting one from a plurality of functional devices.
2. The control interface as in claim 1, wherein the control element comprise physical control elements.
3. The control interface as in claim 1, wherein the control element comprise virtual control elements.
4. A control interface for controlling a multiple purpose device having a plurality of modes:
at least one control element in the form of, or positioned in a configuration on the control device corresponding to, a part of the a face or body; wherein the control element performs a function of the device associated with the part of the face or body;
a selector for selecting one from a plurality of modes.
5. The control interface as in claim 1, wherein the control element comprise physical control elements.
6. The control interface as in claim 1, wherein the control element comprise virtual control elements.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
We claim:
1. A method for evaluating the performance of a financial advisor comprising:
reading a case prepared by the financial advisor, wherein said case provides recommendations;
rating said case in a plurality of areas by comparing said case to a predetermined standard; and
assigning a numerical value for said case in each of said plurality of areas based on said rating.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising repeating said reading, rating, and assigning steps for a plurality of cases for the financial advisor being evaluated.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein said repeating step is performed by a different person than said reading, comparing, and rating steps.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said financial advisor is a member of a larger group of financial advisors, each group comprising a plurality of financial advisors, further comprising:
compiling data regarding the ratings of the group.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein a higher numerical value indicates increased compliance with said predetermined standard.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of areas comprises: Financial Planning; Financial Position; Protection Planning; Disability; Life Insurance; Long-Term Care; Investment Planning; Tax Planning; Retirement Planning; Estate Planning; Communication; Overall rating.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of areas comprises: Cash reserves; BudgetExpensesCash FlowDebt Management; Overall Financial Position rating; Disability Insurance; Affordability of Disability Insurance Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Disability Insurance recommendation; Overall rating of Disability Insurance section; Affordability of Life Insurance Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Life Insurance recommendation; Overall rating of Life Insurance section; Affordability of Long-Term Care Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Long-Term Care Recommendation; Overall rating of Long-term Care section; Affordability of Investment Planning Recommendation; Documentation of risk tolerance of the client; Exploration of tax ramifications of Investment Planning recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding investment planning recommendation; Overall rating of Investment Planning section; Advice with respect to Tax-qualified investments; Advice with respect to Tax-deferred investments; Advice with respect to Tax-exempt investment; Advice regarding tax effect of liquidating certain investments; Advice regarding the hiring of a tax advisor; Overall rating of Tax Planning section; Affordability of Retirement Planning Recommendation; Documentation of risk tolerance regarding Retirement Planning; Exploration of tax ramifications of Retirement Planning Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Retirement Planning Recommendation; Overall rating of Retirement Planning section; Advice regarding wills, trusts, or other estate planning techniques; Advice regarding beneficiary designations andor ownership issues; Advice regarding Estate Tax situation; Advice regarding the hiring of an estate planning attorney; Overall rating of Estate Planning section; Linkage of various financial planning areas to another; Organization and presentation; Statement of sources of information andor assumptions; and Overall rating of the work-product.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said reading, rating, and assigning steps are completed by a plurality of people.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein said reading, rating, and assigning steps are completed by a plurality of financial advisors.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein said reading, rating, and assigning steps are completed for each case in a subset of all cases produced by the financial advisor during a predetermined time period.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein said numerical value comprises a numerical rating that is an integer selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; and wherein:
a numerical rating of 1 in a particular category indicates that the advice in that category is considered questionable;
a numerical rating of 2 in a particular category indicates that the advice in that category is considered limited;
a numerical rating of 3 in a particular category indicates that the advice in that category is reasonably informative with respect to any actions that are recommended;
a numerical rating of 4 in a particular category indicates that the advice in that category details the reasons for the recommendation of a particular action and the manner in which an action should be performed; and
a numerical rating of 5 in a particular category indicates that the advice in that category sufficiently provides an analysis of alternative courses of actions in addition to detailing the reasons for the recommendation of a particular action.
12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:
providing negative feedback to said financial advisor if said numerical rating in a any of said plurality of categories is at least one of 1 and 2.
13. A method for evaluating the performance of a financial advisor comprising:
selecting a case prepared by the financial advisor, wherein said case provides recommendations;
selecting a first assessor and a second assessor;
rating said case in a plurality of areas by comparing said case to a predetermined standard;
assigning a first numerical value for said case in each of said plurality of areas based on said rating by said first assessor;
assigning a second numerical value for said case in each of said plurality of areas based on said rating by said second assessor; and
comparing said first numerical value to said second numerical value in one of said plurality of areas.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said first numerical value is not equal to said second numerical value, said method further comprising:
selecting an arbitrator;
rating said case in a plurality of areas by comparing said case to a predetermined standard;
assigning a third numerical value for said case in each of said plurality of areas based on said rating by said arbitrator; and
finalizing said rating based on said third numerical value.
15. An evaluation system used to measure written work-product comprising:
a plurality of categories in which the work-product is to be rated; and
a rating scale with which to evaluate said work-product.
16. The evaluation system of claim 15 wherein said rating scale consists of integers ranging from 1 to 5.
17. The evaluation system of claim 15 in which said plurality of categories comprises:
Cash reserves; BudgetExpensesCash FlowDebt Management; Overall Financial Position rating; Disability Insurance; Affordability of Disability Insurance Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Disability Insurance recommendation; Overall rating of Disability Insurance section; Affordability of Life Insurance Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Life Insurance recommendation; Overall rating of Life Insurance section; Affordability of Long-Term Care Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Long-Term Care Recommendation; Overall rating of Long-term Care section; Affordability of Investment Planning Recommendation; Documentation of risk tolerance of the client; Exploration of tax ramifications of Investment Planning recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding investment planning recommendation; Overall rating of Investment Planning section; Advice with respect to Tax-qualified investments; Advice with respect to Tax-deferred investments; Advice with respect to Tax-exempt investment; Advice regarding tax effect of liquidating certain investments; Advice regarding the hiring of a tax advisor; Overall rating of Tax Planning section; Affordability of Retirement Planning Recommendation; Documentation of risk tolerance regarding Retirement Planning; Exploration of tax ramifications of Retirement Planning Recommendation; Feasibility of Goal Achievement regarding Retirement Planning Recommendation; Overall rating of Retirement Planning section; Advice regarding wills, trusts, or other estate planning techniques; Advice regarding beneficiary designations andor ownership issues; Advice regarding Estate Tax situation; Advice regarding the hiring of an estate planning attorney; Overall rating of Estate Planning section; Linkage of various financial planning areas to another; Organization and presentation; Statement of sources of information andor assumptions; Overall rating of the work-product.