What is the purpose of financial planning?

Wealth is, for better or for worse, woven into every fiber of the American experience. This manifests differently for each of us, but as we get older we gravitate more and more towards “our people” and learn to smile and check out politely with everyone else. Since wealth management is a very personal service, anyone working with me should feel comfortable that I am one of your kind. In these posts I'll offer financial planning ideas in my own words and tone so you can begin to decide if we might fit as a team.

But first you should ask why you need a financial advisor at all? What value will be added to your life and your worth?

When I was 25 I was very concerned with making money (because I didn't have any). I carried this weight long after a good job and good money came my way. Eventually the figures were too hard to ignore, as were the price I'd paid to get them that high. It was time to ask, now what?

Many have learned the hard way that wealth costs more than an extra 20-40 hours a week. Sometimes it costs relationships. Sometimes it costs our health. I had to confront a shift in the purpose of my wealth. It was no longer just to keep me safe from catastrophe. Now it was time to ask how it could be wielded as a tool to build personal growth and happiness instead of feeding my growth and happiness in order to grow wealth.

“To live under constraint is a misfortune, but there is no constraint to live under constraint.”

Yes, a financial advisor should steward your wealth, your tax liability and your cash flow to enrich you when possible. Your advisor needs to be studying your tax return for opportunities and reviewing your estate plan. If your advisor is not setting you up with the best possible small business retirement plan, or plotting out exactly how your children will pay for college then you should consider a new financial advisor. But this is also deeply personal work. Your advisor should help you explore what benefit your wealth is bringing you. How will you compound that return? How will you have grown a year from now as an individual, a family member and a part of your community? Is your wealth serving that growth? Who is helping you reach those goals?

These are the questions I have begun to ask myself daily this past year. Exploring together for your own answers to these questions is the purpose I seek as a fiduciary and your advisor.