Working with Wisdom
Wisdom isn’t something you are born with. Yet wisdom, once gained, can be the most valuable thing you achieve and maintain - second only to your relationships with God and those you love most in life. Wisdom is achieved through years of watching, listening, observing and experiencing.
Much of the value we provide doesn’t come from the books we read, the education we have received, or even the ongoing learning environment we throw ourselves into. It comes from hard earned wisdom. It comes from all of the individuals and families we have worked with for almost thirty years and the experiences they have shared with us about other loved ones in their lives. You only get one chance at living your life. You may only get one chance to retire, sell your business, keep your wife or husband out of financial devastation should something unexpected happen to you, or pass on your legacy to your children or grandchildren. I assume you want to get it right. So, here are your choices:
#1-DIY (Do It Yourself)—You can research it, study it, ask a friend or colleague and go it alone. But what’s missing? There was a story floating around online recently about a giant ship engine that had failed. They worked on it for hours, one expert after another. They tried everything, but couldn’t make it work. They finally brought in an old man who had worked on ship engines since he was very young. After inspecting the engine thoroughly, he picked up his hammer, tapped it one time and presto—it worked! A week later they received a bill for $10,000. They were astonished. $10,000 they thought, all he did was hit it one time. How could it cost that much? So they asked him to justify his amount. He then made an itemized receipt, $2 for tapping the hammer, $9,998 for knowing where to tap. Just remember you only get one chance to tap the right spot when it comes to selling your business, retiring, passing your legacy to the next generations, pay or not pay taxes every year. Wisdom is worth a lot—not only knowing where to tap, but to also help guide you in times when your emotions might seize control of you, causing you to do things you wouldn’t normally do that ultimately may devastate your financial future forever.
#2-Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. I was recently reviewing some notes I took back in 2008 when I listened to a speaker by the name of Mark Zinder. He stated that the average baby boomer has four financial advisors. You would think among four financial advisors, there would be enough wisdom to avoid any pitfalls, right? There are two points I would like to bring up here. First, Mr. Zinder also gave two other statistics: The first is that 70% of advisors say they do comprehensive wealth management. The second is that only 9.6% of those advisors who said this are actually doing it. Hmmm?
Secondly, think about your four favorite foods: Me?-#1 Tiramisu, #2 Crab Legs, #3 Fettuccine, #4 Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy. Sounds great, right? But, what if I took all them and mixed in one bowl? Yuck! Unintentionally, this is what happens when we diversify advisors. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. And we have seen this across professional fields as well… the CPA doesn’t know what the insurance agent did, who doesn’t know what the financial advisor did, who doesn’t know what the attorney did, who has never talked to the banker. It is one big bowl of yuck. Who knows how much risk is actually there because of the overlap that may be occurring, holes that may exist because of assumption.
#3-Live LIFE on purpose! You can get one chance to live your life, and we have lived it already through these experiences with others. We don’t claim to know everything, but we do claim to know enough to be extremely valuable. We know enough to quarterback the team of professionals that you need for your unique situation. We know enough to uncover holes and when to get second, third, or even more opinions. We know enough to remain proactive whether it is your first day to start planning or whether you have been planning for the last thirty years. We know enough to not settle for “No.” The answer can always be found somewhere, somehow. We know enough to ask the questions you don’t know to ask; to the professionals you may or may not know you need. We know enough to know you need a holistic, comprehensive life plan if you want to avoid the stress, problems and heartaches ahead for you, your spouse and your family.
Kennedy Financial Services isn’t a brand name and it definitely isn’t the biggest wealth management firm in the world, but we do help people live Life on purpose rather than the alternative—by default.