Insights

There are many misconceptions about financial advisors. For starters, advisors are often thought of as a salesperson, trying to sell you a product that makes them a commission. Or that advisors are unnecessary in a world of robo-advisors and online trading. In reality, there are a lot of im …

Many of us think we don’t have enough assets for a will to be necessary, or we’ve simply put it in the “I’ll get to it” category. But planning carefully now can save your beneficiaries from legal fees, tax losses and the ugly relational stress that comes up all too often in the estate process. 

The so-called “Peanut Butter Manifesto” written by a Yahoo! Executive in 2006 gave us a term that hasn’t worn thin yet. The “Peanut Butter Approach” is a derisive term used in business to describe spreading anything – money, energy, time – too far and too thin to be effective or useful. 

Return on Investment (ROI) is a term you learn about 5 minutes into your first class in business school. Maybe the business model is elegant and the organization is streamlined, but that all begs the question: what is the ROI? How much will we make?

Foundational decisions you make can save you – or cost you – thousands over time, no matter how many widgets you sell or clients you sign up. There are deep structure questions here that will be the difference between long-term growth or flash-in-the-pan success.

Imagine yourself on your last ride home from work on the day you retire. The cardboard box is in the backseat, your gold watch is on your wrist and you realize you don’t have to wake up to an alarm clock tomorrow. Are you ready? Is your plan in place? Is that fear or excitement fluttering i …

Published by Paul West Perception and reality. If you believe everything you read, you’re naïve. I recently had the incredible experience of a private lunch with Charles Koch. If I believed everything I had read online prior to the meeting, I would have been a fool. While I, like many of yo …

Published by Paul West When you think of a financial advisor, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Unfortunately, for many of you it’s one word- salesman. While some of those type of “sales-y” advisor types do still exist, they are commission based representatives that only have to ma …

Published by Paul West Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking… These eight words have immense power. Occasionally, they are the precursor to an early arrival, but more often than not, they are the harbinger of turbulence, delayed flights and unexpected sprints through airline terminals.

Published by Paul West Do you remember when your parents forced you to do something you didn’t want to do? Go to a museum; take a long Sunday drive to see where they grew up; etc. It seemed painful then; however, if you could have the chance, wouldn’t you not blink an eye if asked …