About The Site

This site was created as a means of sharing information and resources that I've accumulated while working with individuals over many years as a financial planner and investment advisor. The information accumulated and documented began for my benefit as I searched for answers to many of my own questions that I had regarding money and then steadily moved more towards the topic of "life."

One of the things that made me excited about working in personal finance and often working with wealthy individuals is that I hoped to learn "the secrets." Loaded with all of the education, credentials and certifications that could be obtained from "book smarts," I was anxious to see how things worked in the real world. In the beginning, I had plenty of questions about money, investments and finance but as these questions were answered I found myself with new questions that moved beyond the direct subject of money and wealth but undoubtedly had connections to it. Some of these questions included;

• How much money does it take to be wealthy?
• How does wealth impact other areas of life?
• Why are some wealthy people so unhappy?
• What can wealth provide us. What can't it provide us?
• What is success?
• What is happiness?
• How can I control my time?
• How did wealthy people become wealthy?
• How could I avoid some of the mistakes made by others?

I've seen the best of wealth and I've seen the worst of wealth. I tend to now break wealthy individuals into two distinct categories; those that desire wealth as a means to satisfy a desire for the endless pursuit of material possessions, and those that desire wealth as a means to provide them with ultimate control over their time. Over the years, my personal desires have shifted towards the latter of the two categories which was an about face from the desires I had in a more youthful state of life. Live and learn.

I'm happy to report that those that also seek wealth as a means to ultimately control their time, there appears to be good news. It takes less than what I would have imagined and is an accomplishable goal if made a focus of a chosen lifestyle.

I've learned that the end goal of wealth is not a state of superior unproductivity or "retirement" as many people envision. Most wealthy people don't sit around and watch cartoons while eating potato chips.

Wealth can impact health and happiness as much as health or happiness can impact wealth. They tend to interrelate with some interesting connections.

Wealth doesn't diminish a persons desire to be productive and perhaps diminish "work." Rather, wealth allows a person to work "because they want to" not because they "have to." There's a rather large difference in the two that can greatly impact our health and happiness on that one topic alone.

Finally, it appears that the accumulation of wealth had more to do with behaviors and habits than it did with intelligence or formal education. It turns out, building wealth is simple, it's just not easy. And as simple as it appears to be, over 95% of the American population won't achieve it mainly due to three factors;

1. Lack of a clear goal to achieve wealth.
2. Poor habits and discipline.
3. Irrational behavior throughout a lifetime.

Having said all of that and having had the opportunity to study and observe many different personalities and characteristics over the past two decades, my clients and friends tend to share the vast majority of the following abilities and behaviors;

• Earn a strong income (this is a relative benchmark and varies) but they tend to earn in excess of a six-figure household income.
• Live below their means.
• Invest the difference between what they make and what they spend in a prudent manner.
• Total household debt is consistently decreasing or non-existent.
• Live a healthy and active lifestyle.
• Organize their life in a way that allows them to work or have a job that they "want to do" rather than performing work or having a job that they "have to do".
• Approach the concept of wealth as a means to control their time rather than use wealth as a means to pursue an endless list of material possessions.

As with most things, we tend to overestimate what can be accomplished in short periods of time in our lives and underestimate what can be accomplished over long periods of time in our lives.

I am ecstatic to learn that there are a few recipes for success. Similar to making a batch of cookies, the recipe requires a variety of ingredients and skipping some (or even skipping one) can make all the difference in the world when it comes to the finished product. Along the same lines, even if you have all the ingredients, too much of one and not enough of another can also lead to a bad tasting cookie.

And finally, this site is constantly evolving as I learn, as I evolve myself and as I view things differently with age. The site is a documentation of what I've learned over the past 20 years and use as a means to remind myself of what it is I want to accomplish in life and what it is that I need to do in order to accomplish it.