After many months grounded here, outside of NYC, we’ve started making plans for a trip to Europe. It’s been a long time coming, and my wife and I are returning to Portugal and Spain. We’re working with a travel agent for the best experience possible, and on our introductory zoom meeting, these were the questions posed:
- What season do you plan to travel?
- What do you hope to do?
- How long do you intend to visit?
- What will make this trip one you’ll remember with delight for the rest of your life?
It wasn’t until we were discussing the thoughtfulness of the questions over dinner the next night that I saw the parallels to financial planning.
What season do you plan to travel in?
In your life, you’ll have many seasons. A season of starting out, a season of becoming established, a season of top-earning, a season of giving back, and with strong planning: a season of retirement.
Getting clear on what season you are in helps financial planners assess risk tolerance, establish goals, and set expectations on how you’re living, thriving, and establishing multi-generational wealth.
What do you hope to do?
While we’re in Portugal, we have plans to visit a vineyard called Bodegas Garvey which is across the border near Cádiz in Spain. . There is a great tale of a Garvey that left Ireland and set up in Spain. I’ve been thinking it would be fun to bring back a few bottles for our grandchildren’s wedding days.
It’s these long-term aspirations that help us as financial planners determine goals, investment milestones, contribution goals and more. I consider myself lucky to get to invest my time getting to know our clients and their entire families to discover what is most important to them when considering their financial planning.
How long do you intend to visit?
While this question was easy to answer for our travel agent–2 weeks and 3 days if you’re curious–it’s more difficult in financial planning. Our time on this planet is not guaranteed and we want to plan for financial ease for as long as we have the pleasure of being here.
Working with our clients we use the latest technology to bring transparency to their financial picture today which helps us all plan for whatever the future brings.
What will make this trip one you’ll remember with delight for the rest of your life?
One of the parts of my work that is most fulfilling is ensuring that each of our clients enjoys their life. It may sound obvious but financial planning isn’t just about wealth accumulation it’s about enjoying the life made possible through prudent and value-aligned financial planning.
When we focus on this objective we can create a tailored approach leveraging the best-in-class tools and the expertise of our team to ensure our clients have the ability to invest their most precious resource: time.