
Does your money have a purpose?
When I start working with a new client, one of the first questions I ask is “What are your top three goals?” These are usually financial goals but they also often include life goals. That’s not surprising because money often helps us achieve our life goals. On a few occasions I’ve had a prospective client counter with a different question, “How much money can you make for me?” To me, this is the wrong question because achieving financial independence begins with figuring out what really matters to you. Only when you have figured out what really matters can you then determine how to get there—and that may or may not involve earning a rate of return that varies depending on your goal, timeframe, and risk tolerance.