By Somehow it’s the end of September, and that means you have 60 days. Remember, for half the month of December, the kids are out of school and it’s Christmas for the FFP team. So. You basically have 60 days to get everything done in 2021 that you wanted to. (If that doesn’t stress you out, what will?!)
Now you’re thinking, “Dave, I have a lot of things pulling on me!” I get it – you’re “busy” and “don’t have the bandwidth” and you’ll get to these financial to-dos “when you can.” Luckily, the leadership at Family Financial Partners doesn’t accept these as valid excuses. All year, you’ve asked us to hold you accountable to your financial goals and planning checklist, and I believe we’ve done that. It would be disingenuous for me to now accept those excuses as gospel. I want to remind you of your remaining to-dos in a positive way. We started 2021 by looking back at the goals you set for yourself when you first started working with us, and celebrating how far you’ve come in working towards and achieving those goals. It was truly a blessing to hold those meetings with you all and look at the progress we’ve made together, while also challenging you to think about the next goals on your list.
Many of you haven’t had a response when asked about your next goals, saying you need to focus on other things. I get it – I truly do. And if I was 10-plus years older like the average financial advisor, I might not have the energy to chase you and challenge you so your future self with thank you. But this Dave will chase you down and help you work toward your goals. Or, if you’ve met your goals, I’ll challenge you to come up with a couple of new, realistic goals, and one “unreasonable” goal just to keep things interesting. What feels unreasonable today might start to seem achievable in a few years.
As an advisor, I’ve seen over and over again how goal-setting works, and I truly believe the best thing for you and yours is yet to come. As your planning team, we’re here to hold you accountable to the plan we create together, and to help you aspire to more. And that doesn’t just mean more money. More means more time. Time truly is my most valuable asset, whether that’s spending time with our staff, with you, my family, my horses, at the beach or with my hairdresser (not necessarily in that order!). Time is priceless.
I know you’re busy. But do your future self a favor, and even if there’s no time for a full meeting, just give us a call (859.219.1006) and ask us to remind you of your most important goals. Take 30 minutes to make a plan for the rest of the year, and you’ll be in a better place in the years to come.
Article by David Smyth, Senior Partner at Family Financial Partners — a financial services firm in Lexington, Kentucky.
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