“But isn’t it way too late for that?”
The man in front of me looked at me like I had four heads.
“I am 52 years old; I just don’t see how this could work.”
He was absolutely adamant, but then he paused. And in that pause, you could almost feel the tiniest bit of hope creep in.
“… right?”
He was eight years away from his planned retirement. He was a high-powered marketing executive for an agency that produced major product launches and events that got national coverage. He was always the man with the plan, the one everyone turned to when they needed to get things done. He turned dreams into reality, and he was great at it.
And now he was sitting in front of me, wondering if it was too late to chase his dream.
He had never shied away from chasing dreams before. But – as he explained – he was younger, then. Now was the time in life to be practical, cautious, and worried about having enough. With inflation climbing and the cost of living increasing seemingly exponentially, those are real and valid fears.
But he was also concerned with legacy.
He wanted to leave behind something his grandchildren would still benefit from well into adulthood. He wanted to create something that would have an impact on the community he’d lived in for 27 years.
He wanted to start a business.
But he was worried. At 52 years old, he felt he was past the age of “taking risks.” What if his business failed?
Well, what if his business failed?
How much did he want to put into his business to launch it? What kind of income did he make now, along with other benefits, that he would need to effectively replace? What were his ultimate retirement lifestyle goals, and how could he achieve those goals? Were there other ways to leave a legacy? How could he protect what he already had?
The WORST-case scenario – what did that look like?
We could look at that. We could look at the whole financial picture – what his current plan was, what his investments looked like, projections – and actually see what failure looked like, financially.
We could also help protect against that. There are some fantastic options through insurance to leave a tax-free “legacy” to loved ones—ways to protect his current assets in the event of the so-called worst-case.
The biggest fear he had was of the unknown.
He felt he had a retirement plan. He’d been contributing to it since he was in his mid-twenties. But when it came down to it, he didn’t truly know how robust it was. Could he afford to take this risk?
So I asked him: could he afford not to?
In 8 years, when he was retired, would he regret not pursuing his dream?
Would he regret not at least considering it?
Financial planning isn’t about generating wealth for the sake of accumulating more wealth. Financial planning is about leveraging the tools and experience, and knowledge of a financial expert to help you accomplish your goals with eyes wide open.
At 52 years of age, his goal was to start a business.
So he became a client of mine. We worked together to make the most of the portfolio he brought with him and all the other tools I laid on the table.
He started a business.
It is growing. Slowly. But that is exactly how he planned for it to go. He has other plans in place to guarantee a financial legacy for his family. His retirement plan is far more robust than it was, despite leaving a corporate job. But he never felt like he was jumping into the unknown.
It is never too late to reevaluate your goals.
It’s never too late to work with a financial planner, either. Book a call with me, and let’s talk about the goals you have for your life.