As a new entrepreneur, I find myself getting stuck in all the specifics and details of making everything perfect. Making sure the software is working as expected, confirming compliance and creating workflows. It’s almost the middle of May now and I have been going at this nonstop since March 5th. I’m taking a little break from the business details to share WHY I decided to take the leap and start Level Wealth Management. Why take the risk of starting my own financial planning firm? I had a few people telling me to wait until my kids were older. Some suggested waiting until I had a little more experience. I had so many doubts and fears myself, but there is a quote I think about when presented with tough decisions.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

- Sarah Frances Brown

With that in mind, I made the leap to pursue my best life.

I have been working in an office since I graduated from App State over 10 years ago. Sitting in conference rooms with hundreds of people living their golden years. A few things I frequently heard were, “Your kids won’t be small forever”, “It goes by quick”, “I wish I would have…”. I have clients who had expectations to retire early and ended up working much longer because they truly loved what they were doing. I have clients who worked hard their entire career and now get to live their best retired life. Unfortunately, I have had clients who worked hard only to find a devastating illness waiting for them in retirement. Seeing these folks over the last ten years has assured me of two things. A plan for my future is imperative but living my life to its fullest potential every day is just as much a part of that plan as my 401k. Owning my own firm is a part of me reaching my full potential and I’m excited to be seizing this opportunity.

I wanted to create a practice that I truly believe in. As a man who wants to have a healthy balance between life and work, the best option was creating my own firm. As a man who wants to provide an opportunity for others to not only live their best life in retirement, but also leading up to retirement, the best option was creating my own firm. As a man who is pretty fee conscious and wanted to offer a service that I would choose, creating my own firm was the best option. A firm that would provide the same high level of service for a flat rate, a fair rate. It seemed as if no matter what direction I came from, all roads led to going out on my own. In the last few years, I realized that my profession was missing an opportunity to serve a community of people who are fee conscious. Historically, investors have had to do it themselves, work with a commission broker or work with a financial advisor that charges 1% of their investments. Many people are looking for support transitioning into retirement but conflicted because of the fees that 1% can add up to. As a person who would prefer to keep my costs low, I understand this sentiment. Part of what I wanted to do was provide an option for these folks. Provide an alternative solution.

I have often found myself conflicted when saying things like work/ life balance, and even hesitate when I say that I want to work with “less clients”. I don’t want people to misunderstand my fundamental goal of loving my life as much as I value my work. At the end of the day, I LOVE what I do. I love working with people who have complexities within their financial lives and need support reaching their goals. I love when I get emails from people who are RVing through Arizona in the winter or standing at the most incredible vista in Glacier National Park. They did the work and now they are living their dreams. I love that I can teach my kids the value of a dollar, how to have a healthy relationship with money and seeing it as a vehicle to help you move through life. Honestly, I love this work that I am doing. But I came to a point in my career that I was ready to take the leap and do it all on my own terms. To focus on the client’s needs before growth. To focus on fair compensation without compromising returns. To help my clients find healthy balance while I am seeking my own. I couldn’t be more passionate or more excited to jump right in and do it all.

I want to say a quick thanks to all who have supported me in this journey. The days have been long, and the sacrifices have been many, but I believe we are at the start of something remarkable. I hope you will continue to support me as we reach new heights with Level Wealth Management.