Live Well, Stay Rich, Never Retire – Financial Independence for Business Owners – Part One
As a wealth advisor, it is my mission to inspire and empower entrepreneurs and business owners. I help them fulfill their professional ambitions, achieve financial independence and become the best versions of themselves.
How?
By introducing them to the approach of living, planning and investing properly. That fuels my personal and professional success. I call it teaching business owners how to Live Well, Stay Rich, Never Retire.
This article is the first in a three-part series.
Part One – Live Well
When I first became a financial planner, I thought the profession was about helping people structure their spending and saving to achieve their financial goals. Boy was I naïve. I completely underestimated what financial planning in Toronto is really about.
As my career progressed, I found myself drawn more and more often into people’s lives. I came to learn that money and wealth are connected to, and impacted by, everything we do. Everything that happens in our lives impacts our money. And everything we do with our money impacts our lives.
It was a powerful revelation. As it dawned on me, I discovered a level of meaning and purpose in my work that far exceeded any hopes I had when I entered the profession. Today, I consider it my mission to inspire and enable people to live their best lives.
Having spent the majority of my career working with business owners, while also building my own business, I know firsthand about the challenges and obstacles that arise from starting a company. I also know the toll a venture like that can take on your personal life.
At heart, I view wealth planning and sound investing as a path to an ultimate goal: Live Well. That’s why I have written at length about the role financial independence plays in our ability to be our best selves. When buried under a mountain of financial concerns and stresses, we cannot be the best wife, husband, parent, friend or colleague we hope to be.
When I lead clients through drafting a wealth plan, I strive to help them Live Well. I also guide them to see the interconnectedness of money and life. How they live doesn’t just impact their happiness and long-term well-being. It influences their financial future because of our money and how we live create a mutually reinforcing spiral.
This emphasis led to my three-stage model for arriving at your personal version of Living Well.
Step One: Be Deliberate
I don’t preach to my clients about exercising, eating right, reducing stress or meditating, though those are all beneficial practices. But I do start every planning process by sharing an underlying philosophy with them. One that is, in my experience, the difference between Live Well and live with regret.
I believe that living well begins with living deliberately. Know what you want from your life. Identify how you think that can happen. And take full responsibility for all of your actions and inactions – from day one.
For example, if you are unhappy with your job—or the state of your business—it is your sole responsibility to make the necessary course corrections. Sure, there may be things other people can do to help, or ways that you can coordinate with them, but that’s not your primary focus. Your primary focus is on you.
Does the change you need to make require additional education or skills? Should you move to a new location? Is it best to leave behind particular personal or professional relationships? Are you in need of a new perspective on your personal and professional endeavours?
Whatever it is that you need, it’s on you to make it happen. Each of us should know that we hold the solution in our own hands. Complaining or blaming others is not only counterproductive, it won’t do one bit of good in getting you where you want to go.
To emphasize what I mean, consider a quote from a book I love, Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill: “You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make life what you want it to be.”
All the planning in the world can’t overcome a lack of willingness to take full responsibility for your life and live deliberately.
Step Two: Identify Goals and Set Priorities
Once you have accepted that you are the only person with the power to direct your life, you are ready to identify what you want to accomplish. Setting objectives and targets based on a wholehearted commitment to your own success is an inspiring and energizing process. It can also be surprising, because our belief in ourselves tends to turn our greatest hopes for life into actionable targets.
My advice to clients is to begin by expressing every goal they can think of that matters to them. I then suggest they share the list with their spouse, key colleagues and close advisors. Then, through a process of reflection and tinkering, I work with them to prioritize those goals.
This second step is critically important because that’s how we generate focus. When we have a large collection of goals, it’s easy to flounder because we are trying to accomplish too many things at once. It’s like the old adage, “You can have anything, but you can’t have everything.” By ranking and sorting your objectives, you will end up with a clear vision of what you want to achieve. When that happens, you will be energized to make a plan that is fueled by your passion to Live Well.
Let’s look at an example. Say you sit down and come up with a list of goals that includes many of the following: protect your lifestyle; provide a legacy; support family members; improve your health; reduce money worries; prepare for life after work; support your favourite charities; bring harmony to your family business; establish a family vision; transition your family business to the next generation; sell, buy or merge your business.
With those goals outlined, you are in a position to engage in the wonderful and inspiring exercise of ranking priorities. That’s when you push yourself to figure out what you care about and want to pursue. Often, I have seen clients start out with one objective in mind and then realize that it isn’t their main priority. It’s an exciting process.
Step Three: Make a Plan
Once you have listed and ranked your priorities, you are ready to make a plan to bring them to life. This is where the previous two steps pay off in a big way. You have taken responsibility for your success. You know what you want. Now, you decide how to do it by building a plan tailored to your particular needs, challenges and circumstances.
Let’s say you are like me and grew up in a family of modest financial means. In my case, that meant my parents worked several jobs, did all the chores around the home themselves, and lived with a constant worry that the car or furnace would break down.
That kind of upbringing has had a very particular impact on those of us who have gone on to build a successful business or reach financial independence. In particular, we often feel guilty if we spend beyond the necessities of life. There is also a tendency to work longer and harder than necessary while delaying our ability to enjoy the fruits of our labours, which is not a way to arrive at Live Well.
If I were building a wealth plan with someone like me, my emphasis would be on helping by providing detailed projections about how their income, investments, and spending will play out in the future. Typically, this is the way to help someone who is having trouble accepting that they have enough wealth to Live Well. By numerically demonstrating the implications of their spending on their long-term security, we can prove that a higher level of spending doesn’t have to cause a loss of lifestyle. Invariably, the detailed projection helps shift a person’s thinking and enable them to move toward their own version of Live Well.
What are your planning needs? How will you reach your prioritized goals? What kind of plan do you need to inspire your success? These are questions you can explore as you build your own plan.
That’s it. Three steps to achieving your own version of Live Well: live deliberately, set priorities, and establish plans.
The process of finding a financial advisor can be overwhelming. It is our job to make that process simpler and easier. Dri Financial Group’s proprietary Wealth Navigator Process is designed with you in mind. Its structured framework helps you make an informed decision and feel confident in our team and management practices before we get started.
We offer you a range of services from creating bespoke financial plans and providing investment advice to helping you take advantage of our investment models. If you would like more information on the Wealth Navigator Process or our team, call me any time at 416.355.6370 or email me at richard.dri@scotiawealth.com.
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