a conversation
On day John was having lunch with his supervisor when Bill, the supervisor, asked John how things were going on the homefront. John said, “Great! Kathy and I just had our second son and we are preparing to move from the apartment to a home we just bought”. As John described the house and the neighborhood, Bill’s face seemed to contort with disbelief. John asked, “Bill, what’s wrong?”
“Did you have help from your parents, or Kathy’s or an inheritance?” replied Bill.
John, slightly offended, said, “Of course not. Neither of our families have that kind of money and both our parents are getting ready to retire. What makes you say that?”
Putting has hands palm forward, Bill replied, “ Whoa, no offense, but I have worked here three years longer than you, I make more money than you, and I sure can’t afford a down payment on a house like that!”
“Oh!” John chuckled, “well, we saved it ourselves,”
“How did you do that?” Bill asked with another concerned look on his face.
“We work with a wealth manager.” Johnsmiled.
“Oh, well, we don’t have enough money for a wealth manager,. We’ll get one when we have some wealth, first.” Bill shook his head.
John looked at Bill in shock, “How do you plan on getting the wealth if you don’t have a wealth manager to help you accumulate the money?”
“ They are too expensive,” Bill replied. “We can’t afford a wealth manager.”
John stared at Bill for two full minutes before replying, “Maybe you’re looking at it from an incorrect perspective.”
Warily, Bill asked, “What do you mean an ‘incorrect” perspective?”
“Well,” John drawled, “You just said you’ve been working longer than I have, you make more money than I do, yet, you can’t afford a house like mine, right?”
Bill looked John in the eyes and slowly said, “ yeah?”
“That tells me that you gave the house, or at least the idea of it, away for something else.” John said with a small smirk.
Bill looked off to the side for a minute, clearly deep in thought, then turning he said, “What do you mean?”
“If you’re not spending the money on a house, and you have no money saved, the money is going somewhere else. The somewhere else is obviously a higher priority than the house, otherwise you’d have a house. So you ‘spend the house’ elsewhere, no?”
“I see what you mean.” Bill said slowly. “How did you know to find a wealth manager?”
“I didn’t! Kathy and I were out to dinner with my brother and his wife and we ran into his guy at the restaurant with his wife. Steve introduced us. We wound up all having dinner together and the conversation, thanks to my brother ran to money and investing. When I looked at Kathy she gave me a nod so I asked for his number. That’s when Steve said he only meets with people he’s been introduced to. I looked at him and Steve and asked “We’ve been introduced tonight, haven’t we?’”
“He said, ‘Well, yes, I guess we have. Here’s my card, call me when you’re ready and we’ll set a time and date.’ We set the appointment right then. We’ve been working with him ever since. We’ve had a couple of rough spots, but he’s helped us work through them and move on very well.”
“Do you think he might be willing to help Jenny and me?”
“I’ll go you one better. When we get back to the office, I’ll call him and set a time and place to introduce you to him. That way you can ask him yourself.”
What part of your future have you spent for something else today? Was it worth it? For questions, comments or to get help call:
Tony at (440) 205-1277
Or
Email: aconstantine@lifemark.com