The Confident Wealth Podcast

In this episode, the Bush brothers, Bill and Pete of Horizon Financial Group, talk about three important categories on the Confident Wealth Scorecard: tax efficiency, business continuity and estate planning. Tax efficiency is a year round process that needs professional intervention. It is also critical that you force different agencies to work together for the best results. Business continuity and estate planning are essential to ensure that your loved ones and employees are well supported and have all they need to thrive. Listen as Bill and Pete share important insights that will increase your confidence in how you manage these critical issues.

• 00:41 – In the last episode, we talked about the Confident Wealth Scorecard and its 8 categories
• 01:42 – Today, we will discuss the categories of the Confident Wealth Scorecard, starting with tax efficiency
• 02:39 – If you are doing your own taxes or getting a help from a non-CPA friend, it is likely that you are not taking advantage of all tax savings
• 03:38 – Too often, we bring our tax receipts and documents to a professional well after the opportunities for tax savings is open to us
• 04:40 – Proactively working with a professional gives you the CONFIDENCE that you are maximizing your deductions
• 05:20 – You would score a 4, 5, or 6 on the Scorecard if you are using a professional but are not confident about whether or not you're maximizing savings because of the way you interact with the person
• 06:06 – Realize that tax efficiency is a year-round process; maximizing return of point contribution, using tax deferred investments and getting advice from a CPA before making a decision that has tax implications will score you a 7, 8, or 9
• 06:43 – Avoid being lax and overconfident with your tax planning
• 08:24 – Ensure that the person that you are relying on for tax advice is turning over every stone
• 09:31 – Common for professionals, such as a CPA, lawyer and investment advisor, to be in different silos and totally disconnected; FORCE them to connect with each other
• 10:36 – Good to have more than one set of eyes
• 11:48 – The next categories we will discuss today is Business Continuity and Estate Planning
• 12:14 – A successful business ends up becoming a large part of a person's net worth; there is a concentration risk since up to 80% of your wealth is concentrated in just one area
• 13:10 – You would score poorly on the scorecard if you are at an advanced age, and have not thought about exiting the business at all
• 13:21 – Often, people are too busy working IN the business to work ON it
• 14:21 – As you move slightly higher on the scorecard, you come across people who have an outdated exit strategy and improper documentation
• 15:20 – Oftentimes, the business OUTGROWS the planning you have in place
• 15:44 – Even if you do not own a business, you should have proper estate planning in place
• 16:37 – Not focusing on estate planning often results in liquidating the company to meet estate tax liabilities
• 17:00 – You score a 7, 8, or 9 on the scorecard if you have taken the necessary estate planning steps, but are unsure if your business or heirs will have the resources to implement your plan
• 17:57 – Can take up insurance which will create liquid cash to pay off the IRS in case of death
• 18:33 – We explain what is takes to score a 10, 11, or 12 in estate planning on the wealth scorecard
• 19:23 – Ensures that the business continues to thrive, support the family and all its employees
• 20:17 – 5% to 10% of business owners fall in this top category
• 21:08 – By using the scorecard, you can become aware of the ideal situation and know where you stand in respect to it
• 21:58 – In the next episode, we will look at Wealth Building and Cash Management
• 22:06 – Check out our website to know more about our team and our various services

Confident Wealth Scorecard

1. Tax efficiency is a year-round process; access the help of tax professionals to ensure every tax-saving opportunity is being utilized.
2. A business often outgrows the planning you have in place; plan properly to ensure that a business is able to meet any IRS demands and can survive and thrive.
3. Even if you do not own a business, you SHOULD have proper estate planning in place to ensure that you can pass on your belongings to your loved ones.

In this episode, the Bush brothers, Bill and Pete of Horizon Financial Group, list and explain the 8 categories of their Confident Wealth Scorecard. Filling in this scorecard helps an individual outline their personal and financial vision for the future. Oftentimes, business owners compare their success with others as a means to determining how well they are doing. This launching pad and tool will help you assess where you ARE and where you WANT to be in relation to your own personal financial and personal goals. The wheel emcompasses risk management, tax efficiency and wealth building to name a few. Tune-in to learn how to achieve balance in all 8 categories of the Confident Wealth Scorecard and some great insights to help you to do just that.

Show Notes:

• Today, we will discuss the Confident Wealth Scorecard for business leaders

o Helps gauge the level of confidence in specific areas of wealth management

o Consists of 8 categories and multiple questions

o Risk management is the first and foremost important category for most people

o Tax efficiency is the second category; maximizing deductions by working within the rules that IRS has set forth

o Business Continuity and Estate planning is the 3rd category; important to plan for succession since 80% of a business owner's assets are often tied to their business

o Wealth Building is the 4th category; this involves accumulating investments and setting up lifetime income streams

o Cash Management is the 5th category which deals with budgeting and planning your expenses; understanding how leveraging impacts your life

o Sharing success is the 6th category; successful people like to share their success with families, communities or charities

o Overall Coordinated Plan and Vision is the 7th category; gauging your confidence with regards to getting to your financial goals and realizing your vision

o Leading a Balanced Life is the 8th and only qualitative category in the wealth scorecard; people tend to sacrifice their personal life or health in order to achieve their financial goals

• A thinking tool and a launchpad to help you plan your financial and personal life in a better manner
• People have a tendency to score themselves outwardly by comparing their financial success with others; a much better way is an innate scoring mechanism
• Business owners, CEO's and CFO's will find a lot of value by completing the scorecard

o Helps overcome inertia and sets people towards the next steps that they need to undertake to achieve their financial goals

o Wealth management is a personal thing without a fixed, definitive answer; the scorecard is helpful since it covers a wide gamut of topics

• Analyzing the 1st Category: Risk Management

o The first question gauges the likelihood of your business surviving your death; you can assign a score of 1 to 3 with 3 being the highest possibility of survival

▪ Often business owners have not even thought about getting risk insurance; people who have risk insurance might be paying more than what they should be paying

o Important to structure a buy-sell arrangement and funding mechanism in case of a business partner's death

o Need to review policies at regular intervals to ensure that you are getting the best possible deal

o Poor communication and over-confidence are reasons for poor risk management strategies; a financial advisor can look at your OVERALL financial situation which enables you to get a bird's eye view

o Categorize questions if your financial advisor and insurance provider is proactive in doing an annual review of your insurance plans

o Possible to add comments in the scorecard if you seek clarification with a particular question

o Knowing that you are annually reviewing, updating your risk management plans, and keeping them attuned to your life's changes will give you confidence with regards to your coverage

o Asking, "Do you know?" often leads to "I don't know"—the scorecard is the first step in plugging these gaps

• On the paper version, you can plot your score on a wheel; if you are supremely confident in all 8 categories, you will score a 12 which will be well-rounded financial wheel that rolls perfectly
• In the next episode, we will talk about tax efficiency
• Shoot us an email to receive the PDF version of the Confident Wealth Scorecard in your inbox
• Check out our website to know more about our team and our various services

1. The Confident Wealth Scorecard is a thinking tool and a launchpad to help you plan your financial and personal life in a better manner.
2. Often business owners have not even thought about getting risk insurance; people who have risk insurance might be paying more than what they should be paying.
3. Having a scorecard helps you overcome your inertia and sets you onwards to the next step that will help you achieve your financial goals.

To use the Confident Wealth Scorecard online, click here.

Securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.

In this episode, the Bush brothers, Bill and Pete of Horizon Financial Group, discuss the various ways through which individuals can build confidence when it comes to managing their wealth. Bill and Pete consider financial planning as much more than working through just income, estate planning and taxes. A financial planner is responsible for understanding the responsibilities of the client and being responsive to his concerns. Moreover, he also needs to reassure an investor and restore confidence in turbulent times—because, whether we want them or not, the hard times WILL come. Listen as Pete shares with listeners the nuances of a client-financial planner relationship and the need to restore one's confidence as an investor.

• Brothers Bill and Pete Bush from Horizon Financial Group will give us tips to build, grow and maintain confidence in our financial lives
• When it comes to one's wealth, everyone wants to be waking up feeling good, free of anxiety and truly confident

o Market conditions or a family situation are factors that can shake an investor's confidence

• Confidence is a superpower; an individual lacking in confidence will sit on cash and avoid making investments

o Confidence is the underlying emotion that gives you the power to make PROGRESS

• Objective of a financial advisor is to earn enough to meet the requirements of the client; solely concentrating on rate of returns and market comparisons is meaningless
• Indulging in some self-introspection made Paul realize that he really enjoyed making people feel confident

o Simon Sinek's Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action urges you to discover your WHY

• The result of eliminating FEAR is that you become MORE confident

o There are many things that can affect your confidence; so, you have got to protect it

• What the financial services industries has been doing wrong….

o Human beings are emotional creatures; they feel first and then go and look for reasons to back up their feelings

o Industry bombards investors with logic and ignores the emotion; need to unpack fear before moving forward

o Lot of financial salesmen are solely bothered about making a sale; they completely disregard client requirements

• Successful investing is incredibly boring; do not chase shiny investment instruments, stick to those that have stood the test of time
• To build confidence, you need to commit to a course of action by unpacking your financial goals

o Take inventory of your assets, how you can invest and your financial program at work to set the ball rolling

o Move on to Step Two where you need to determine the income that you need to reach your goal

o A large population of people fail to let go off their inertia which necessitates the need for a financial planner

o Remember that you might have to make some unpleasant changes; might have to earn more and spend less to reach your targeted savings

o Push through so that you can start seeing results; knowing where you are in relation to where you should be in order to get to where you want to go will help you build your confidence

• Investors are highly reluctant to trust a financial computer model or algorithm; much more comfortable taking advice from financial advisors, friends or family
• Remember to take advice from a certified financial planner (CFP)

o While the questions you ask an advisor are important, the questions they ask you are even more telling

o A good financial advisor asks personal questions through which he can gauge your responsibilities; this has a big impact on financial planning

• All emotions: fear, excitement and confidence are transient, it's impossible to be absolutely confident all the time

o Sometimes a financial planner will have to RESTORE confidence

o A 20-30% correction often tends to shake up an investor's confidence; personal circumstances, like going through a divorce or moving to another city, also makes a huge impact

• Financial advice and planning is much more than pouring over investments, talking estate planning and taxes—it is about discussing the concerns which got them to a financial planner in the first place
• Have a SCORECARD which helps you accurately gauge your financial position
• Everyone at Horizon Financial wants to help people lead more confident lives
• Check out our website to know more about our team and our various services

1. Human beings are emotional creatures—the financial industry needs to understanding the emotions of the investor, which mainly involves unpacking their fear before moving forward.
2. You might have to make some difficult changes like earning more and spending less in order to reach your financial goal—push through so that you can start seeing results.
3. All emotions: fear, excitement and confidence are transient. It's impossible to be absolutely confident all the time, so it's the job of the financial planner to restore the confidence of his clients.

Securities and advisory services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.