Today's guest is Brent Kessel. Brent is founder of Abacus Wealth Partners, which has more than 50 employees and more than $2 billion in assets under management.
About ten years ago I was reading a Buddhist magazine and did a double-take when I saw an ad for a financial advisory firm on its back cover. Abacus Wealth has been on my radar ever since.
"I have been a student of different kinds of Eastern traditions, mostly yoga and mindfulness meditation, for over 25 years," Brent says. "As your listeners probably know, the abacus is a Chinese mathematical computational instrument. What I liked about that name is that it felt like it brought in Eastern tradition and history along with computational dexterity, just the ability to really think, figure things out precisely."
Brent's unique path through life and personal passions have had a big influence on how he runs his firm. We discussed how that confluence has helped to make Abacus stand out from the crowd while also offering its clients a mind-opening perspective on what the wealth they're building is really for.
Today's guest is Dan Moisand. Dan is a Principal and Financial Advisor at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo. He’s also a past national president of the Financial Planning Association and has been featured as one of America's top financial planners by at least 10 financial planning publications. Dan’s perspective on how the industry has changed during his long career led our conversation to some strong insights on steps advisors can take to improve their value in 2019 and beyond.
“I've done a little bit of just about everything that you can imagine,” Dan Moisand told me as he reflected on his 30 years as a financial services industry leader. "I don't know if the next 30 will be more dramatic, but I sure as hell wouldn't bet on it being less. The pace of change generally does seem to be quicker. So, I think that the financial planning profession will continue to evolve." And we discuss how your role as a financial advisor needs to evolve right along with it.
If you could come up with 3 words for this year, 3 words that would drive your actions and keep you on track to make this your best year ever, what would those 3 words be?
This is the fifth year now where I’ve begun the year by identifying 3 words that will set the course, give me direction, and totally excite me as I move through the year. I write these words at the top of my Daily Focus sheet and look at them daily throughout the year.
2018: Spark, Community, Savor
2017: Discipline, Deliver, Score
2016: Launch, Leverage, Connect
2015: Implement, Energy, Relationships
The premise is simple. Pick 3 words that motivate you, remind you, and guide you on your road to making 2019 your best year ever.
I encourage all my clients to do this and I encourage you to do this same exercise as it will help you stay focused on the most important outcomes for the year.
In today’s podcast, I discuss my 3 words for 2019 as well as review my 3 words for 2018 and discuss how well I executed on them.