Gratitude
As we enter 2022, I wanted to share a few thoughts about the previous year. Professionally, it was the most refreshing year that I have ever experienced. Starting my own wealth management firm in 2020 was a move of excitement for the future, with plenty of uncertainty. I knew that I had the experience to do great work for clients and had plenty of people that I care about cheering me on. When you work for a large company, which I was grateful to have done for many years, you are never one hundred percent certain if the clients that you work with are there for the big box brand or for you. I had that question answered many times over as I was able to reconnect with many clients that I care about. It is incredible to form new relationships that I had not previously known either from local outreach or client referrals. I have experienced the joy of putting myself out there in the community and connecting with other like-minded professionals. Our industry if full of great people who want to be a trusted partner to clients that they truly care about.
It has been gratifying to be a decision maker for my company in terms of how I will serve clients. I have been an employee my entire career and have always been told what to use and how to use it. Now I am on the other side of that table. Now I am a client of many firms who serve me and my clients directly and indirectly. Picking and choosing what software and services that I want to use has been an interesting experience. Now that I have had time to use various tools and get to know the people behind them, I feel that I have a solid lineup and a great process to serve my clients. Getting to know people in the industry through conferences and social media has been very helpful. I have gotten to know many other pros in the industry by reaching out after seeing a social media post or listening to a podcast. I have had CEOs of companies in financial services respond to me personally to offer me their resources and contacts if I need them.
Partnerships that I have in place for things like portfolio management, compliance, back office, trading, web services, marketing and practice management have been invaluable. We are all working together to make a successful outcome for our clients.
On the personal side, 2021 was a tough year for our family. The stress that comes from family members with health struggles can be overwhelming. I am so grateful for my network that always asks about how we are doing and offers support. We are in a better place now. Putting that support into action and charging ahead with a new mindset is what we are trying to do. I believe that 2022 offers a chance at renewal and putting our family on a better track.
Breaking news: My daughter is now engaged and will be getting married in the fall of this year, and we are excited about that. The plans are already coming together. I have been piddling around on the guitar for 30 years and have started taking lessons again this year. It is incredibly frustrating and fun at the same time. The challenge for me is alone time in the house where I can rattle the windows without complaint! I think our next house will have a studio with soundproof walls. My youngest son and I just got our passports and now our whole family finally has them. We will be plotting out where our first international trip will be. We are thinking about Ireland and are open to suggestions. A lot of this will depend on Covid restrictions and seeing how things progress in that area. Unfortunately, we just had to say good-bye to our 17-year-old Jack Russell Terrier that has been with us since she was a puppy. We will miss her. We are down to 2 dogs, a 3-year-old Basset Hound and an 11 year old Chihuahua. Recently, I dipped my toe into the cryptocurrency market on an extremely small scale. Being more knowledgeable in this area is one of my goals.
I am thinking about a lot of things that could be interesting such as a YouTube channel. My thought is posting short videos on topics that my clients and the virtual community want to know more about. Rotating videos between personal and professional is the idea. I would appreciate people letting me know topics that they would like to see a short video on. I could drone on and on about topics like 401k rollovers, how to structure a portfolio in retirement and tax loss harvesting, but would anyone want to hear about that? Making the complex simple is my specialty. As much as I listen to podcasts, I haven’t really considered starting my own. The space is crowded, but there is always room for more. I will be hosting at least a few webinars in 2020 and I am looking forward to that. I am confident that 2022 will be a great year of renewal for all of us and hopefully we can emerge from this frustrating pandemic and live normally for the most part. As the title of this blog says, I am very grateful to clients, friends, and family for their support in 2021 and cannot wait to see what the future holds.
