Stock market risk is the primary focus of the financial news. The reason is simple. The scarier the headline, the more eyes are attracted to it.
In my time working with clients, there is one question asked more than any other, “Am I going to be okay?”
I certainly would argue that building a business is more than just a dice game, but both involve risk. How you fill out your scoresheet in Yahtzee is a good example of what business owners might decide to do with their business profits.
While each person has different long-term goals, a common future desire that exists for most people is retirement. There's a day coming when you won't want to, or can’t, work anymore, and your income will need to be replaced. This is a huge “future self” liability that has to be considered.
In my daily work with clients, the question often comes down to, “How much do I need to retire comfortably?” My usual answer is, “How long are you going to live, and what do you want to eat?!”
There is always more stuff to do or buy. There are always more “what if’s” for which to account. It’s a rare creature who has found contentment in what they already have, a person who no longer searches for the next thing or feels empty because of what they do not have.
Recently, a colleague and I sat down with a married couple who is on the cusp of making significant wealth transfer and philanthropic decisions that will impact their family for generations to come. Naturally, their first question was, “Where do we start?”
