The Life-Changing Power of Financial Planning for Advisors
DEAR ADVISORS,
Back in 1987, President Ronald Reagan made his famous Berlin Wall speech, and some of the most popular songs were Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”, and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer”. The average house price was only $104,000… Those were the good old days! That’s when my grandad, we call him Poppy, made the life-changing decision to become a financial advisor. His very first financial plan helped him imagine a way to reunite our families AND create his ideal exit strategy. Sadly, his eventual exit didn’t go according to plan, which is why I’m sharing his story today. There’s so much we can learn from him about the value of engaging our own financial planner, and how to retire successfully.
How to put your Exit in Your Financial Plan - Poppy wasn’t trained to be a financial advisor; he was a career-changer. He experienced financial planning for the first time when he did his own financial plan. Sitting in the client’s seat opened his eyes the life-changing power of financial planning. He imagined building a business that would be so wildly successful that it would provide retirement savings every year, and he’d be able to gift the business to his two sons. The only problem was that my dad and his brother had families and careers of their own, across the country. So my grandad added something special to his financial plan - he would need to work hard enough for the income from the business to cover an all-expenses-paid trip for the entire family, every year for 10 years. Those vacations would help our families spend time making memories together, and when he invited his sons to join his firm, and eventually gift them the business, it would be “an offer they couldn’t refuse.” Believe it or not, that’s exactly what happened! Even from the early days of his business, Poppy had a vision for is exit strategy. That served as a motivation through the long days of building his book, and was a guiding light in his financial decisions over the years. Sharing this story with every client helped each of them see how to use financial planning to achieve their dreams. Poppy didn’t just change his own life, he reunited my family, and inspired hundreds of clients to create their own future through the power of financial planning.
Retirement is Inconceivable, without a Financial Plan - My dad and his brother joined Poppy’s firm in 2000. After 15 years of working together, and transitioning all the client relationships, it was finally time for Poppy to retire. But, just like most business owners we know, Poppy wasn’t ready. Year after year, they would set the expectation of Poppy retiring, but it just didn’t stick. He tried golfing during the week, which helped a little. They tried changing Poppy’s job to focus more on bringing in new clients and building referral relationships, but that didn’t work. Finally, one issue came to the surface that they could resolve - Poppy didn’t feel like he had saved enough to retire. He hadn’t updated his financial plan since he did it the first time, when starting the business 30 years ago! They brought in an objective third party to update Poppy’s financial plan, and determined that between Social Security, and retirement savings, Poppy did have enough to successfully retire! But, even that wasn’t enough. Poppy didn’t have a clue about what he wanted to DO in retirement. He finally retired, but wasn’t happy about it. After several years, he’s gotten into a regular schedule of golfing, playing racquetball with friends, helping my grandma around the house, and discovered a love of reading. I just wonder how he might be more happily and successfully retired if he had updated his financial plan throughout the years and made a plan for retiring “to” something, instead of waiting for life to force retirement upon him.
Poppy likes to tell us that the entrepreneurial spirit runs in our veins because our distant ancestors were once famous train robbers, during the days of the Wild West. To be clear, I do not condone a life of crime! However, I see the same entrepreneurial spirit in myself, and in my clients. Financial planning is a tool we use to transform the lives of our clients, but are we doing the same for ourselves? That kind of transformation isn’t possible without an objective financial guide and life planner, like Ellevate Advisors. We help our clients plan with the end in mind. It’s all part of this amazing journey to secure the future of your family and your financial advisory firm.
Warm regards,
Brooklyn
P.S.
At Ellevate Advisors, we believe that advisors deserve to retire too. What does that look like for you, your family, and your business? Let’s figure it out together! Click here to schedule an initial phone call with our team today or get to know me on my bio here!