Your Financial Reality

Grounding Your Financial Reality

A prudent question is one-half of wisdom. - FRANCIS BACON

Defining your path to professional and personal success is no easy task. Chau Lai and her team form a values-centric organization that cares equally about your financial wellbeing and your personal goals. Together, they’ll work with you to ground your financial reality and priorities, redefine your definition of success, and create the achievable pathways to get there. It all starts with asking yourself the following questions.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS TO GROUND YOUR FINANCIAL REALITY

STATE of MIND Questions:

What are the top 3 financial concerns that weigh on your heart and mind? Why?
What is your process for making important financial decisions? Are there other people involved?
How collaborative is your current team of advisors (i.e. financial advisor, CPA, business attorney, estate planning attorney, business banker, etc.) to work together for your benefit?

VISION Questions:

When you become financially free, what valuable life work could you see yourself doing every day?
Describe your relationship with money. How has this served or hindered you from increasing your income and building your estate?

PROTECTION Questions:

How well protected are your income and assets from unforseen life events such as lawsuits, illness or injury, and death?
How have you protected your hard-earned income and assets from creditors and predators?
How have you addressed the potential need for long-term care for yourself, your spouse/partner, and your aging parents?

ESTATE PLANNING Questions:

How are your values reflected in your estate plan?
How have you prepared those you've selected to assume the important roles of guardian, executor, trustee, power of attorney, healthcare proxy?

SAVINGS Questions:

What is your personal savings rate? How consistent is this on a monthly or annual basis?
Do you know how much cash you should have on hand?
What strategies are you employing to make your idle cash productive?

INVESTMENT Questions:

Are you taking any uncompensated risk (i.e. more risk than your portfolio can return)?
What is your process for evaluating investment options/opportunities?
What is your tax mitigation strategy to minimize the tax liabilities and maximize profits of investment gains?

RETIREMENT Questions:

How much income will you require in retirement to maintain your desired standard of living?
What have you done to safe guard your retirement income against key retirement risks (i.e. longevity, market volatility, tax increase, sequence of return, inflation, and deflation)?

CASH FLOW Questions:

How much of your income is dependent upon your personal labor/involvement in your business?
What is your plan to reduce financial and emotional dependence on your "work" over the next 3, 5 to 10 years?
Besides the sale of your business, what is your financial exit plan from your business?

BUSINESS Questions:

Have you positioned your business to be a surplus asset so that the net proceeds from the sale are not required for your retirement? Rather, the sales proceeds are extra funds to enhance retirement lifestyle. Thus, you are in full control and have the strongest negotiation position in a sale.
What strategies have you employed ot use business assets and cash flow to build your personal balance sheet?
How will you reduce your personal labor/involvement in your business over the next 3, 5 to 10 years?