Tell me about the types of clients you work with.
For the leader at a public or private company preparing to exit with the wonderful benefit of wealth and the unfortunate complexity that comes with it, my team and I are prepared to assist.
You wake up in the middle of the night thinking:
- Am I betting my retirement on the value of my business/company stock?
- What am I going to do after I exit?
- What are my kids going to do with this money when I’m gone?
- What am I missing?
I help you uncover solutions to your family’s most acute financial concerns and ultimately make an informed and educated decision about working with me, or any firm you may be considering, all before charging you a dime in fees or asking to be entrusted with a penny of your nest egg.
What’s the best way for people to put their wealth in perspective?
First, it’s to recognize that wealth is the great enabler. It magnifies what we’ve prioritized and who we’ve become. So, if we’re intentional, wealth can be a great blessing. If we’re not intentional, wealth can be a curse.
My clients find the following questions to be particularly helpful:
- Imagine you’re completely secure financially and have more than enough money to take care of your needs now and in the future. How would you live your life? What would you change? Describe a life that is wholly and richly yours.
- Imagine you’re given 5–10 years to live but won’t ever feel ill. What would you change and how?
- You discover you have only one day left to live. What feelings arise? What do you wish you would have done? What will you miss?
When values are clear, decisions are easy. Through these types of questions, I engage clients and their families in the ongoing process of aligning their capital—time, talent and treasure—with what matters to them.
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
My father-in-law. He grew up on a farm in Ohio among his nine brothers and sisters. He was teaching middle school math when Arthur Anderson Consulting recruited him. Over the next 20 years, he traveled the world on behalf of his clients, eventually retiring in his early 50s as a senior partner and Global Head of Insurance for the firm he helped to spin off, Accenture. Over the last 20 years, he’s dedicated his capital—which again, I define as time, talent and treasure—to philanthropy, travel, and his granddaughters.
Now, if you found yourself in the gardening section of Lowe’s in Gun Barrel City, Texas, you might not believe that the gentleman in the checkout line behind you, clad in his grass-stained Costco jeans, was the same man I just described, but you would be wrong.
He is a living testament that when values are clear, decisions are easy. He has inspired me to commit my life and career to empowering people like him and their families to lead their most fulfilling lives.