How did we get to the place where you are reading this, and I wrote it? I am no author. At least not yet. But you can bet if I ever write a book and then some one asks me what I do for a living I’ll make sure to raise one eyebrow higher than my other one and say in my deepest possible voice “I am an AUTHOR. I also help people plan, invest, and live.” Perhaps that story will one day be written, but for now I’ll stick to the original question. How did we get here? You and I connected by paper and pen (or some sort of binary code thingy that has not yet fully replaced paper and pen, but it is well on its way) It’s a great story. Let me tell you what happened.
To use a film term, this is Episode 1 (StarWars reference) of what I hope are many helpful writings(ramblings) to the world about planning, investing, and living. I will attempt to write frequently and cycle through those main headings, but I can imagine that I will sometimes get an idea and need to run with it, even if it is the wrong topic on the rotation. I hope to educate you and be of some real help to you, but also to put a smile on your face once in a while. Perhaps none of what I write will be new information to you, in which case I’ll just remind or entertain you instead. But perhaps the information will be really helpful for other people in your life, and you can pass the ideas on to them. I hope to do some good in a world that seems kind of ugly sometimes. There is so much sadness, mean spirited banter and other craziness in the world that I wanted to contribute in a positive way. I am not an English major, so I am sure that you’ll find some typos sometimes and probably a good number of grammar mistakes. For that I am sorry. Sadly, I cannot communicate much in any other language so this will have to do for now!
Anyway, it was a long time in the making. “It” was me leaving my job as a financial consultant for a very large brokerage house to start my own “gig”, “hang my own shingle”, as they say.
For years, I kept telling myself that I needed to help clients a different way. I was not satisfied with the way I was helping clients. I felt like I was in handcuffs, not able to be free to really help without a bias towards a particular investment or product type due to the directives and framework I had been given to work inside. I am extremely thankful to my old employer for the position I had, the vast knowledge and experience I gained over my 17 years there, but mainly for the relationships with the people I worked with and the clients that put their faith in me. I wanted to do more for people, these clients, who had become close friends of mine. I consider them family. But my fear of change kept me seated.
I started Visionary Planning & Investment, LLC because I wanted to help more people, meet more people, and keep working with them forever, “or until death do we part” (one of us… you or me.) But that is not entirely true. The importance of what we do together will leave a legacy. If we do a good job together we will have an impact far greater than just on the earth now. It will carry on beyond the death of either of us, and both of us impacting generations to come. Let’s get a plan, make sure the investments match the plan, and then monitor the plan frequently to make sure that we stay on plan, and then while we are waiting…let’s go get some stories!
Go to www.visionaryplanningandinvestment.com to request a time for us to talk and get to know each other.
Chris