Module 1: ChatGPT 101 -- The VPF Lab

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Overview Video

Max walks through the basics of ChatGPT and how VPT will use it.

Video coming soon -- Max will record a walkthrough

The Basics

What ChatGPT Actually Is

Not a search engine. Not a calculator. It's a writing and reasoning partner that gets better the more context you give it.

Think of it as a smart associate

ChatGPT reads what you write, understands your intent, and generates a response. It can draft emails, analyze scenarios, summarize documents, brainstorm ideas, and walk through complex calculations. It doesn't browse the internet in real-time (unless you ask it to search), and it doesn't have access to VPT's systems.

What makes it useful for VPT: You spend hours every week on recap emails, meeting prep, client communications, and document formatting. ChatGPT handles the first draft in seconds, and your expertise turns that draft into something great. The time savings compound -- Brennan went from 30 minutes per recap email to 5 minutes, and the emails are better.

ChatGPT is great at

Drafting emails and communications
Summarizing long documents
Formatting and structuring information
Brainstorming and generating options
Explaining complex concepts simply
Comparing scenarios side-by-side
Building templates and checklists

ChatGPT should NOT be used for

Final investment recommendations
Storing or processing client PII
Replacing your professional judgment
Generating compliance-approved content
Looking up real-time market data
Anything you wouldn't show in an SEC audit

Know Your Tools

Two Models, One Decision

You have access to two AI models. The only question is which one to use.

5.3

Instant

Your fast assistant

The default. Fast, accurate, handles 90% of daily work. Think of it as your quick-turn associate who's always available.

✓ Drafting emails and follow-ups
✓ Summarizing meeting notes
✓ Quick Q&A and lookups
✓ Brainstorming and ideation
✓ First drafts of anything

Responds in seconds. 26.8% fewer hallucinations than previous versions.

5.4

Thinking

Your deep analyst

The reasoning model. Slower, but thinks through problems step-by-step. Use when the cost of a wrong or shallow answer is high.

✓ Bucket Plan scenario modeling
✓ Roth conversion timing analysis
✓ Multi-variable tax comparisons
✓ Estate planning edge cases
✓ Research combining multiple sources

15-60 seconds per response. Shows its plan first -- you can redirect before it finishes.

The One-Question Decision

Ask yourself this before every prompt:

"Would I hand this to a junior associate or a senior analyst?"

Junior Associate

5.3 Instant

Draft this email, summarize these notes, look up this regulation

Senior Analyst

5.4 Thinking

Analyze tax scenarios, model Bucket Plan, compare estate strategies

Thinking Effort (When Using 5.4)

Standard

The default. Good enough for 95% of your 5.4 work. Use for single-question analysis: just the Roth conversion, just the insurance comparison, just the Social Security timing.

Extended

Model spends significantly more time planning, verifying, and cross-referencing. Use only when asking for the full client picture -- multiple accounts, tax implications, estate considerations, and insurance needs in a single prompt.

Default Advice

"Use 5.3 for simple tasks and 5.4 for complex ones."

VPT-Specific Advice

Stay on 5.3 Instant for everything except three workflows: (1) Bucket Plan scenario modeling, (2) multi-document client review prep, and (3) tax strategy comparisons. These three account for 80% of the reasoning benefit. Switching to 5.4 for an email draft doesn't make it better -- it just makes it slower and burns your weekly message limit.

What changed: A generic guide tells you to evaluate complexity per-task. The VPT version names the three specific workflows where 5.4 matters -- identified from Brennan, Andrew, and Sophia's 1:1 sessions. This prevents over-using 5.4 on work that doesn't benefit from deeper reasoning.

Pin This

Quick Reference Card

Print this or keep it in a tab. This is your daily cheat sheet.

If you're doing...	Use this model	Thinking effort
Recap email after a meeting	5.3 Instant	N/A
Meeting prep brief	5.3 Instant	N/A
Quick question ("What's the RMD age for...?")	5.3 Instant	N/A
Summarize a document	5.3 Instant	N/A
Client communication / follow-up	5.3 Instant	N/A
Brainstorm seminar topics	5.3 Instant	N/A
Bucket Plan scenario modeling	5.4 Thinking	Standard
Roth conversion comparison	5.4 Thinking	Standard
Tax strategy analysis	5.4 Thinking	Standard
Full client financial review (5+ variables)	5.4 Thinking	Extended
Estate planning analysis	5.4 Thinking	Extended

Try It Now

Your First 5 Minutes

Don't read the rest of this training first. Do this right now, then come back.

Open ChatGPT and find your Project

In the left sidebar, click Projects. Find the one Max built for your role (it'll have your name or department). Click into it.

Start a new conversation inside the Project

Click "New chat" within the Project (not from the main screen). This ensures ChatGPT already knows VPT's voice, your compliance rules, and your meeting types.

Pick your last client meeting and paste this

Fill in the client name, paste your notes or transcript, and you'll get two things back: a client-facing recap email and an internal team summary. Click Copy to grab the prompt:

You are a financial planning meeting analyst. Read the meeting notes or transcript below and produce two outputs. CLIENT NAME(S): [First names of the client(s) in the meeting] === PASTE YOUR MEETING NOTES OR TRANSCRIPT BELOW === [Paste here] === END === PRODUCE THESE TWO OUTPUTS: OUTPUT 1: CLIENT RECAP EMAIL Write a recap email to send to the client. Guidelines: - Warm, professional tone - Under 250 words - Open by referencing something specific from the conversation - Summarize the key topics discussed (highlights only, not every detail) - List any decisions that were made - List next steps with who owns each one - Close with the next meeting or touchpoint if one was mentioned. If none was mentioned, add a placeholder like "[INSERT NEXT MEETING DATE]" so the advisor remembers to schedule one - Plain language only. No jargon, no compliance boilerplate OUTPUT 2: INTERNAL TEAM SUMMARY Write a debrief for the advisory team. This never goes to the client. Include all of the following sections: 1. Meeting snapshot: Who attended, what type of meeting this appeared to be (planning, review, check-in, initial, strategy, etc.), and the overall tone in one sentence. 2. Client sentiment: How did the client come across? Confident, anxious, disengaged, relieved, uncertain? Note emotional signals or concerns that surfaced even indirectly. 3. Decisions made: Bullet list of anything agreed upon or decided. 4. Action items: Who owes what. Include deadlines if any were mentioned. 5. Strategic observations: Things the advisor should be thinking about that were not explicitly discussed. Look for: life transitions hinted at, shifts in risk comfort, planning gaps, chances to deepen the relationship, topics that got glossed over or avoided. 6. Potentially missed topics: Issues or follow-ups that typically matter in this type of meeting but never came up. Flag these as "worth circling back on." 7. Suggested next touchpoint: Based on what was discussed, when should the next conversation happen and what should it focus on?

Read the draft, refine once, then send

Tell ChatGPT what to change: "Make the tone warmer" or "Add a mention of the document they need to sign." One round of feedback turns a 70% draft into 95%.

Do this after every meeting this week

By Friday, it'll take you 3 minutes instead of 30. That's the habit. Everything else in this training builds on it.

Client Data in ChatGPT -- SEC Audit Risk

Grace flagged this directly. This is policy, not a suggestion.

Never enter: Full client names (first names only when necessary), Social Security numbers, account numbers, specific portfolio holdings with identifying info, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses
Safe to enter: Anonymized situations ("a married couple, both 58"), general financial details without identifying info, process questions, VPT-internal procedure questions
When in doubt: Would you be comfortable if this exact text showed up in an SEC audit? If no, don't type it.

Building the Habit

The 4-Week Ramp

Don't try to use ChatGPT for everything at once. Build one habit at a time.

Week 1

One Recap Email Per Day

After any client meeting, open your Project and use the recap email prompt above. Just the recap email. Nothing else.

Week 2

Add Meeting Prep

The night before or morning of, run a meeting prep brief for your next meeting. Now you have two habits.

Week 3

Any Communication Over 5 Minutes

If a client email, template, or document would take you more than 5 minutes to write, draft it in ChatGPT first.

Week 4

You Won't Need This Guide

By now it's automatic. Start experimenting with the patterns in Module 2: Prompting.

Default Advice

"Start with simple tasks and gradually increase complexity as you get comfortable."

VPT-Specific Advice

Start with the recap email. Not because it's simplest -- because it's the most visible. Every advisor sends recap emails after every meeting. When Brennan cuts his recap time from 30 minutes to 5 and the email is better than what he was writing manually, that story travels through the office in a week.

All Modules Next: Prompting