Where has the time gone? I can remember graduating from the University of Guelph at age 23 and thinking to myself ‘Ok Brandon, it’s time to start building your business and get into the world’. I was excited, nervous, and filled with enthusiasm all at the same time. As a recent graduate, you can imagine my network of ‘successful’ investors wasn’t exactly thriving. My parents were not in the business nor were they connected in the community. I've shared before that I didn't start with a trust fund to help incubate my career so it was sink or swim.
Fast forward to 2023 and I have built a practice that 23-year-old Brandon could never have dreamed of. I wake up excited that I get to work with caring, genuine families and business leaders in our community every single day. Were there early days filled with uncertainty? Absolutely. No entrepreneur is immune. But I kept showing up and working hard for clients, believing it would all work out. Ten years later, here we are. Having the pleasure of connecting with hundreds of like-minded individuals over the years has offered opportunities to learn and grow. I get an inside look at how they define, build and manage success – family success, financial, health, and relationship success. Sometimes those are lessons about what to avoid. I'd like to share them with you. Here are 10 things I've learned in my 10 years as a CFP: 1) Building and protecting wealth is important. Prioritizing building and protecting wealth allows you to buy more time, create new experiences for those you love, and do good for your community. When you have a clear path to where you’re going, you can focus on all the other important areas of your life (family, health, relationships). A life of abundance doesn’t happen by chance. I encourage clients to set an example and demonstrate to their children what life with a financial plan looks like. 2) Think in decades, not days. Whether you’re investing in your family, friendships, or the markets, you have to think long-term to get the best results. Planning for decades, not days is what differentiates success from average. Having that long-term view really keeps tough decisions in perspective, and having the faith that you will be able to reap what you have sown years earlier is the motivator to stick to the best plan. 3) Persistence and grit trump IQ. I have witnessed many smart people fail in my business, whether it was from arrogance, lack of effort, or fear of failure. Those who showed up every day and persisted, despite challenges, are successful in any business, not just mine. The saying ‘people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’ always rings true. IQ is important but not without grit and an intense work ethic, in my opinion. 4) Budgets don't always work. Here is why I'm not a big proponent of budgets; they look backward instead of forwards, they drag you into the weeds of $3 questions when we need to be asking $30,000 questions, and budgets don’t tell you where or HOW to spend your money correctly. What do I believe in? I would rather have clients focus on the Big Wins, playing offense with their money, rather than defense. Most importantly, I believe living a rich life means cutting costs mercilessly on the things that don’t matter and spending with purpose on the things that you love. 5) Investing is 70% emotions, 20% implementation and 10% strategy. As Warren Buffet says, "If investing was easy, everybody would be a millionaire”. Investing is hard and often unguided investors underperform the market's returns. Why is this? There is more information available than ever before and that should help us invest, right? Well, our emotions like to get in the way and this can be a major cause of investors' lackluster results. With the constant bombardment of negative world news, it’s no wonder that we are our own worst enemy when it comes to emotional investing decisions. I've noticed over the last 10 years that helping manage clients' emotions and actions in times of duress and providing fact-based data is a lot of my value. 6) Delayed gratification works but only for so long. In order to achieve success in any area, we must delay short-term gratification. I believe this wholeheartedly. But, we cannot delay it forever. Far too often I am seeing clients ‘save for a rainy day’ and the rainy day never comes. Enjoying wealth is a balance, both now and in the future. Think of the memories you can make, the time you can buy back and the experiences you can create. Wealth is meant to be used, not hoarded. Think of these experiences with family as your legacy – this is what they will remember when you’re gone, not the money they inherit. 7) Dollar-cost averaging is a simple way to build wealth. Setting up a monthly savings plan and adding to a risk-appropriate investment portfolio every single month is a simple strategy for everyone to build wealth. Yep, not rocket science. When markets are low, your monthly investment buys more. When markets are high, you may buy less. But when you continue to invest every single month, year after year, decade after decade it grows. This builds wealth, plain and simple. 8) We all have the same financial fears. Would you believe that clients with a net worth of 5mil+ have the same fears as those with 500k? They both worry their kids will struggle. They both worry they may run out of funds late in retirement. They both worry about geopolitical strife and how it will affect them. They both worry about what would happen to their family if they passed prematurely. The amount of zeros does not matter, they both have the same fears. These are normal fears and we are human to have them. No matter the size of your current portfolio, I assure you, you are not alone. 9) Keep it simple. We tend to get in our own way and complicate things. There are new, complicated products created every year. Are you a Bitcoin expert? I'm not. The KISS principle really rings true when it comes to investing; buying simple, high-quality income-producing assets that will grow over time will keep you on track. I’ve noticed over the years that the more complicated the ‘investment’ is, the more likely it is to lose your money. Buy real assets. Pay down your debts. Live within your means. Save 20% of your gross income. These are principles I practice personally and will forever preach to clients. 10) Life is short. I read that kids born today have a chance of living to be over 100 years old – crazy! But life can also be very short. Whether it's fear of rejection, or of perception, I’ve learned that a lot of people are scared to do what they really want to do. I’ve always lived with the mentality ‘What is the worst that can happen?’ and taken the risk. You can never get back more time. If you are 65 today, what if you only have another 15-20 Christmases with your kids? Always thinking, ‘Someday I will...' has put off so many dreams. Start that side business! Take that trip you’ve always wanted to! Call your son or daughter and tell them you love them! Drink that good bottle you’ve been saving! Get in the best shape of your life! Most importantly get out and live because life is short. Yours in wealth and health, Brandon Yanchus
1 Comment
J Walters
6/1/2023 04:38:34 am
Excellent financial and living life to the fullest advice!
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AuthorBrandon Yanchus is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ with over a decade of experience. This is his personal blog where he shares what he's learned helping families, professionals, business owners and retirees grow and protect their wealth. Archives
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