Effective financial planning for executives and entrepreneurs is complex, dense and impossible to reduce to a single, easy-to-understand formula. However, the latest book from The Colony Group, Personal Financial Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs: The Path to Financial Peace of Mind, might be as close as you can get. Not only do the authors offer incredibly relevant and easily digestible advice, but they also show exactly how to implement their suggestions (and avoid common missteps) through the story of David and Abby, effectively turning what could be a very dry topic into a legitimate page-turner.
Last week, three of the book’s 11 authors—Jeffrey T. Craig, senior wealth advisor for The Colony Group, Nadine Gordon Lee, president of The Colony Group Family Office and managing director of The Colony Group’s Metro NY Offices, and Michael J. Nathanson, chief executive officer and chair of The Colony Group—sat down with Worth to discuss the importance of goals-based financial planning, how to achieve financial peace of mind and why reaching financial independence can be even more complicated for business executives and entrepreneurs.
“It’s imperative to do some planning,” Craig explained. “We see in the book what happens, what can happen, when there’s no planning involved. With this group of people, executives and entrepreneurs, they generally have wealth that’s tied to the success of their companies. So, they need to plan for multiple things.”
From comprehending and negotiating executive employment agreements to understanding the implications of certain selections on IRS forms, Personal Financial Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs gives readers all of the practical tools and information necessary to maximize rewards, minimize risk and everything in between. And while that may sound tedious, The Colony Group authors make the subject not only approachable, but also relatable and interesting, by weaving in the cautionary tale of a fictitious couple, David and Abby, who make all kinds of financial mistakes—almost all of which could have been avoided if they had engaged in some goals-based planning with a trusted financial advisor.
“If you have a heart condition, you need to immerse yourself in cardiology; you need to work with cardiologists, not neurologists,” Nathanson explained. “Ultimately, it’s the same thing when it comes to the science of financial planning. If you are an executive or an entrepreneur, you need to immerse yourself in planning around executives and entrepreneurs, not something generic and not something focused on other people or people who have different circumstances. Going back to my medical analogy: If you have a heart issue, by all means, see your general practitioner, and your general practitioner will guide you to the right experts. But ultimately, you have to understand this concept of personal financial planning. It should be customized for you, the individual.”
Watch the full video of the session below, and purchase your own copy of Personal Financial Planning for Executives and Entrepreneurs: The Path to Financial Peace of Mind here.
