Have you ever solved a jigsaw puzzle?
Well, which piece of the puzzle do you think is most important? Most people will say either the corner, or the edges. That’s certainly a good answer, but I would suggest that the most important part of the puzzle is actually … The picture on the top of the box!
Why?
What’s the first thing that you do after you lay out the pieces? You look at the picture, right? The pieces don’t have much meaning without the picture to guide you, do they? Is the blue piece sky, or is it water? Look at the picture!!
What we do is similar. First we help you see the big picture. You may have come to see us because you have one piece you want to understand. Perhaps you are concerned about your plans to retire, taxes, your portfolio, child's tuition, or insurance plan. Until we get a clear picture of what you want your life to look like, and how you want your money to relate to this goal, than we can’t put that piece of the puzzle into it's proper place. We often meet people who don’t have a clear vision of what their "box cover picture" looks like. Couples can provide a different challenge. One spouse may clearly envision a certain picture, while the other has a different picture in mind altogether.
Our job involves helping you sort out your "box top picture". Suddenly the pieces come alive. Your motivation to get all the pieces organized and working together is greater because there is a vivid picture of what you want to accomplish. As we proceed, our role is to help make sense of the pieces, and assemble the picture you have in mind.
This process can be empowering and life changing. As we seek to understand who you are we will ask many questions. Sometimes our conversations may not involve money at all. By gaining an understanding of your money attitudes, experience, history and personality traits, we will be able to "custom fit" your personal financial plan. Perhaps most important is that you may discover things about yourself that you hadn't realized before. When you know yourself, and you understand your choices, and together we understand where you want to go, the picture may become very compelling.
