Evelyn Jacks: Building Wealth: Don’t Go It Alone

Are you wealthy? What’s your definition? One way to think about it is to consider: what does it take to achieve peace of mind – to be free of financial worry? Would you be truly wealthy then?

If you think so, go further: what is the definition of “enough” for you?  Is it $1 million? Is it $10 million? You may have quite a different number in mind than that of your spouse or neighbour.

This is all complicated by the great wealth eroders – taxes, inflation and fees – and for this reason understanding how much is enough in your future to achieve financial peace of mind requires knowledge, planning, and precision. Often, two or more heads are better than one. 

Imagine the power in a multi-stakeholder approach to tax-efficient wealth management...and the potential chaos if multiple heads work against one another in the absence of a strategic plan to get results. To do it well, the mission is to bring a consistent, repeatable strategy to financial decision-making, together with the knowledge and skills families living in various economic situations need.

These professionals – individually and working as a group – must possess the skills to listen for the various life, financial, and economic events that affect that joint decision-making in both the short and long term. Then they need to have the skills to apply the most current tax, financial, and wealth management processes to get the financial results the client needs.

In short, the new wealth advisor – poised to help families and their whole wealth – must play a three-part role:  Educator, Advocate, and Steward of family wealth. That requires broad knowledge to co-ordinate tax compliance, debt management, investment product selection, family governance, and business succession and estate planning.

It’s Your Money. Your Life. Tax time is a great time to review professional relationships as well as tax documentation itself. A multi-stakeholder approach to responsible financial decision-making secures futures. So does a tax-efficient strategic plan everyone can work towards. That’s the role of a Master Financial Advisor™ proficient in the skills of Real Wealth Management.™  You may wish to seek one out, or if you are a traditional tax or financial advisor, look into earning the skills to become one.

Evelyn Jacks is president of Knowledge Bureau and author of 51 books on tax and personal wealth management. Her newest book Jacks on Tax: 2014 Edition is now available. She is also the founder and director of the Distinguished Advisor Conference (DAC). The theme of the 2014 three day think tank in Horseshoe Bay, Texas Nov 9-12 will be “Think BIG: Find the Sweet Spots in Wealth Management”  Follow Evelyn on Twitter at @EvelynJacks.