Extreme results. Extreme desire. Extreme decisions. The year is 1999. My Managing Partner (GA) at the time, Bob. Walks into the office one morning and smells smoke. There’s a fire in the office, he thinks. Bob rushes in, past the rows of cubicles on the second floor of our office in downtown LA, tracking the smell – and now, a whisp of smoke in the air. It leads him to my cubicle, where he stops abruptly with a quizzical look. Sitting calmly at my desk, I’ve removed the plastic bag from the inside of my trash can. I’d then taken […]

An advisor I know was recently brought into a situation that I’ve never had any real experience with. Within a family of clients, the daughter, now in her 60’s, is a schoolteacher. She makes about $60k per year. She’s also the sole trustee and beneficiary of a billion-dollar trust that she doesn’t want anything to do with. Her mother passed away recently, leaving this trust and all of its proceeds to her. To make things even more challenging, the daughter’s husband is terminally ill with cancer – so they definitely need the resources. In fact, the entire family has used the […]

“I’m not so sure about this market,” Tom said. “What do you think? And how should I be feeling?” “The market is the market,” I replied. “My crystal ball broke yesterday!” My longtime client, sitting across from me, laughed. “That being said, things will continue as they are,” I went on. “Rest assured that we are here with you and doing everything possible to make sure you are protected.” He nodded, visibly relieved. “But what you have to ask yourself is when do you need this money?” I continued. “No one likes seeing losses or a decline in portfolio value. But, then again, […]

My family relocated to a new state a while back, but my son has really struggled with the move. Before we packed up and made the journey, if you’d asked me which one of my kids I thought would have the most difficult transition, it would not have been him. My daughter has done well; really thrived. She is very much like me. We go into every situation with both eyes open. No matter what it is, we embrace the experience and make the best of it. That can be both good and bad, but I my son’s process of adjusting […]