The Financial Advisor You Deserve

It’s not about the math—it’s about time, love, and building a life of joy.

Dec 09, 2025

I was the CEO of a wealth management firm for years. I understand how to build investment portfolios, interpret financial projections, and craft estate plans.

People are surprised that my wife, Heidi, and I have our own financial advisor. Why would I hire someone to do something I could do for myself, especially now that I am retired with plenty of time?

I have a financial advisor because I need one. If that is true for me, someone with more than 30 years of wealth management experience, it is almost certainly true for you.

Here’s why.

I am human. Managing my own money is different from managing other people’s money. I am more likely to make emotional decisions I will later regret.

I love my wife. I am more than a decade older than Heidi, who is not a financial person. When I pass, I want her to have a relationship with an advisor she trusts. An advisor who will help her think through important financial decisions with confidence.

I have better things to do. Superior wealth management takes time. I would rather outsource it to professionals and free up time to write my blog, spend time with friends, travel, and play with my grandchildren.

Easy for me to find an advisor, of course.

Finding the right advisor might be a challenge for you. To give you a better sense of what to look for, here is a brief description of the relationship with our advisor.

Our advisor works with his company’s investment team and an outside consultant to build our globally diversified portfolio. He regularly rebalances our portfolio and captures tax losses.

In turbulent markets, he proactively reminds us how our portfolio is designed to give us the money we need during a severe and long lasting market downturn.

He prepares financial projections that guide our long-term decision making, utilizing complicated software and sometimes accessing an in-house expert when he has to model an unusual situation.

Every three years, we review the estate plan to confirm it remains aligned with our values and desires.

We periodically review our life, disability, and long-term care needs, and develop a risk-management plan to fill in any insurance gaps.

His team helps us handle the daily details of our financial life such as funding our checking account each month so we can pay bills, and providing our accountant with year-to-date interest, dividends, and capital gains from our portfolio.

Unlike many of his competitors, our advisor understands what money is, and is not. He knows that money is a tool–not a metric for success, self-worth, or security. He understands the true power and the limits of our money. Money allows us to purchase the things and experiences money can buy–new cars, nice clothes, luxury vacations, college educations for grandchildren. Money can’t buy friends who love us, the self-confidence to overcome adversity, or a deep sense of purpose.

Our advisor reminds us that time is our most precious resource. We have plenty of money; we don’t know how much time we have left.

Instead of merely focusing on growing our net worth, he encourages us to use our money to grow closer with family and friends, to enhance our spiritual lives, to have more fun, and to give joyfully to family, friends, and charities.

He always has our back. He would never allow us to put our financial security at risk. He guards our precious time, helping us focus on what matters most. He helps us build a life at the intersection of joy, meaning, and fun.

You deserve nothing less.

Until our next conversation,

David

Small Steps & Worthy Questions

Send this blog to your financial advisor to start a candid conversation.
What does your financial advisor need to know about you that you have not yet told him or her?
If you don’t have an advisor, network with friends and colleagues to find two or three who might be a good fit. Interview them and choose one

Discussion about this post

Ready for more?