Why business owners hire certified financial planners

You can change your life by hiring an experienced certified financial planner (CFP).

One with the right kind of experience can immediately help fix common mistakes and improve your portfolio performance. Great long-term rewards can come as you enjoy the positive life changes than can result from well-managed finances.

Keeping your personal and business finances in good order brings peace of mind.

With that comfort, you can focus on running your business or building your career.

Your financial planner becomes a dedicated resource to answer questions during turbulent markets, when tax rules or regulations change, or when family and life circumstances change. A CFP is required to take regular continuing education courses to maintain their certification. Additionally, the experience they gain over time working with families and multiple generations cannot be learned simply from reading an online post or a book on financial topics.

A CFP can help even the most successful people improve their lifestyle. An optimized financial plan taking advantage of long- and short-term tax savings opportunities and being positioned in assets with historically strong long-term performance is just a starting point.

The daily stress of managing your business or career, balanced with home life, is challenging enough. Add to that highly volatile markets like we have experienced last year, and many will question their longterm financial plan. Sometimes changes are needed, but staying the course is often the best strategy.

Without guidance from an experienced financial advisor who has experience managing through past challenging periods, it’s easy to make a costly or poorly timed investment decision that can’t be corrected.

Your financial planner should help uncover ideas to free up more of your time and help unlock your earnings potential. A CFP can coach clients on what’s possible beyond their current career positions. An experienced financial planner with an established book of business should have an idea of the earnings potential of one client by comparing with others holding similar career resumes and education levels. Rather than looking only at investment management, the real life-changing opportunities often come in making changes such as getting a better paying position, or even better, going to work for a company that offers an equity position.

The greatest pathway to building wealth is to be an owner, and those executives who own equity in the companies they work for have opportunities to gain wealth, not just with their salary but the growth of the business. Being a founder of a business and retaining all or majority ownership is the strongest position to be in, not just financially but by being in full control of your own career and company destiny. A CFP is often in a good position to help clients explore various avenues to business ownership.

Spending on the priceless

More than offering opportunities for additional income, an experienced financial planner can guide you on spending decisions that create family memories while children are young and at home. This can bring enormous value. So many business owners and executives dedicate their lives to their careers and defer some of life’s best times to a future date, whether it be at the time of selling the business or retiring.

We find that the happiest clients are those on the path to saving and growing wealth who also have time and money to spend during life’s special moments. Those moments are lost if not experienced while you’re in good health.

Additionally, it’s important to recognize the close connection between health and wealth. A financial planner can help you make decisions about getting the right help whether it’s a nutritionist to improve your diet or a qualified personal trainer to improve your fitness routine. Feeling your best lets you perform at your best.

Most people find the best financial planners in their community by referral from family or friends. If you are new to the area, it’s best to hire a CFP who has experience working through multiple market cycles. Find one who is independent from banks and insurance companies to be sure their recommendations are free of conflict and is a fiduciary, which means they only act in your best interest.

Daniel Cohen is CEO and chief investment officer at Cohen Investment Advisors, a registered investment advisory firm in Bedford. He can be reached at 603-232-8351 and online through investwithcohen.com.

Executives who own equity in the companies they work for have opportunities to gain wealth.