How to Use Plain Language to Empower Retirement Planning

"Unfortunately, the practice of plain language writing and content development isn't as simple or straightforward as replacing jargon with easy-to-understand language," says Fleshler.

The basic principles, she explains, are to use short sentences, active verbs, stepped instructions and numbered and bulleted lists.

She also advises planners to avoid vague terms and concepts and use conversational styles — "you" and "we" — rather than the third-person "the investor" or "the client."

"Don't overwhelm your client with too much information at one time. Consider what your client must know to meet their needs and move forward in your work together," Fleshler adds. "Put yourself in your client's shoes. 'Speak' their language and understand that people process information differently. Present the same information multiple ways — in text, graphically and, especially, through story."

As financial professionals revise their verbal, print and online language to fit plain language standards, they can test their progress with free tools that provide "readability scores," a computer-calculated index that analyzes the education level necessary for a reader or listener to quickly and easily understand a snippet of text.

Readable.io is one popular option. The site invites users to paste copy into a window and receive immediate feedback on readability; letter, word and syllable counts; keyword density; and "sentiment analysis" — a score that rates the copy as positive, negative or neutral. 

Advisors who invest the time in learning plain language may find not only better collaboration with their clients, but also more empowerment to become better advocates for their own financial health.