How Losing $50 Million Led to Launching Our RIA
The origin story behind the firm, and the lesson that shaped it.
Read the transcript
I've been working in finance for 30 years now, but the start of my wealth management career began smack-dab in the middle of the Great Recession, in 2009. At the time, I had three kids and one heck of a knot in my stomach.
I lost everything
You see, before that, I had built up a $50 million real estate portfolio, but right in the middle of the Great Recession, a $5 million loan came due, and my bank would not renew the loan. That loan went into default, and that caused, due to cross-default provisions, all my other loans to go into default. Bottom line: I lost everything. The hardest part was in bankruptcy court; it was telling my kids we can't afford summer camp.
I own my role
I own my role in what happened. I take responsibility for the fact that I was over-concentrated in real estate. I did not have an asset protection plan or a tax plan in place, and that hurt. At that time, though, a mentor came to me, knowing that I was hitting rock bottom struggling, and says, "You know, you walk through fire. You should advise others." And that flipped a switch for me, and I started the firm shortly thereafter.
Our mission
Today, our mission is simple: protect families from avoidable risk and taxes, so that the answer to the question of "Do we have enough?" is yes.
Transcript edited for readability from the video. Machine-transcribed; may contain minor errors.
