We enjoy working with a wide variety of clients from all walks of life and don’t define a particular life experience niche for our clientele. In fact, we don’t find “divorced,” “widowed,” “small business owner,” or “near-retiree,” to be compelling market niches anyway. Any two people in one of these categories can be vastly different in their financial needs and goals.
However, our clients are often bound by a common mindset. This mindset is described thoroughly in Dr. Thomas Stanley and William Danko’s well-known book, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy.
What does this mindset look like? For our clients, money is an important part of their lives, but it typically isn’t the most important. Family, community, and living a full life are all more important than finances or accumulating wealth. While they may buy a new car – eventually—they are just as likely to brag that their 10-year-old car just surpassed 150,000 miles. Our clients have often been married to the same person and have lived in the same house for many years, and they don’t dream of a house on the hill or a fancy timeshare in Europe.
As is defined in the book, our clients are often “Balance Sheet Affluent” but not necessarily “Income Affluent.” This doesn’t mean that all our clients are millionaires – far from it. But our clients typically have the potential to be millionaires – especially with some guidance – and they are willing to make some sacrifices along the way in order to reach their goals. They have the mindset of a millionaire.
Our clients also appreciate the comprehensive approach we take to financial planning and wealth management. They prefer to pay for unbiased advice from someone they can trust as they have an aversion to being sold financial products that are in the best interest of the advisor, not the client. That doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate selling skills — in fact, they may be in sales themselves. Still, they have come to the conclusion that the “free” advice they were getting in the past was some of the most expensive advice they have gotten. Others simply realize that while they wouldn’t mind managing their investments on their own, they simply don’t have the time to do so with the care and skill required.
Whether a successful doctor in the “city” or a service station owner in a small town, our clients are hardworking people whose success hasn’t come from luck or a big financial windfall. Instead, their financial success has come through years—or often decades—of living below their means and avoiding big financial mistakes. It is truly our privilege to know and serve them every day.
Connect with Us