What matters most?
When I stepped into the client meeting, I was brimming with excitement over what I was about to present. Our team had worked tirelessly reviewing financial statements, tax returns, estate planning documents, and a schedule of real estate holdings. We analyzed everything and created an elaborate presentation that would reveal how our proposed solution would save them tens of thousands of dollars in fees, reduce their overall risk profile, and eliminate a significant tax exposure that they were facing. I just knew they would marvel at the brilliance and demand we get started right away. But sometimes things don’t always go as planned.
As I presented our findings and recommendations, they were genuinely impressed with the body of work, but that meeting ended with the much feared tepid response, “thank you for all of this, we’ll think about it.” For the life of me, I couldn’t fathom what there was to think about. This was simple arithmetic, and their lives would be improved by simply saying "yes." Or so I thought…
As it turns out, not everyone gets as excited as I do about standard deviations of risk, clever estate planning strategies, or even well-crafted spreadsheets. As I would eventually discover, most of us care far more about things like our health, safety, happiness, faith, or the long-term well-being of our children. So why do advisors spend so much time in discussion about our financial wealth? Your wealth is much more than that. In fact, if asked if you would sacrifice a relationship with your family or children in exchange for millions of dollars, most of us would say, “nah.”
So rather than spending our time discussing the rates of returns and risk profiles of our financial wealth, what if we placed emphasis on our personal and relational wealth? What might that look like? What if your advisor started addressing questions around the impact of your wealth on your children? Will an inheritance result in demotivation or inspiration to them? Are there things you can do today to teach and share the value of money to your children? How will you invest in them? What might a positive return look like?
After 20+ years working with families, asking these questions, and addressing the challenges, we’ve learned a lot! If nothing else, we’ve learned that it’s a LOT of work to come up with answers to the questions. And it’s even more work to do something about it. However, what could be more important?
What would it mean to you to know that your family, your children, or even the causes you care about, are provided with resources to thrive?
We all seem to think we want more money. But what we really want is more life. More freedom, time, and people to enjoy them with. Money doesn’t provide any of that. However, a well-crafted plan can increase the odds of having the financial freedom to live the way you choose, as well as the peace of mind in knowing that those you care about will be okay while you’re here as when you’re gone. But none of this will come to fruition until we are asking the right questions.
What’s matters most to you in life?
As your strategic advisor, we’d be pleased to help you unlock answers to the important questions, then work with you and your advisors to structure your tax, legal, and investment plans to align with your preferred life.