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I want to start with something real. Some of you watching this are making some really good money right now.
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I want to start with something real. Some of you watching this are making some really good money right now. Six figures, maybe more. What have you ever thought you could possibly make? And yet something still feels off. There's quite stress that's following you. This feeling like you should be further along in your life right now.
Like no matter what you do, it's never quite enough. And here's the thing that most financial advice out there has nothing to say about this specific person. Because most financial advice is centered around products. Open this account. Buy this fund. Use this specific app. But what if the problem isn't about products? What if the real issue is that you've never been helped with making the right decisions?
The ones that actually changes everything. Now that's what today's. No products, no tactics, decisions. Four of them to be specific. before that actually moves the needle in your finances and in your life. Stick with me. Hopefully, by the end of this video, you're going to be able to see your money completely differently.
If you're new here, welcome. My name is Prince Chenou, a charter financial consultant working in wealth management. I created a channel to help professionals and business owners build real wealth and align their money with what matters most to them, their values. Every week I break down practical financial strategies in a way that is clear, honest, and useful to help you to make better decisions with your money that you work so hard for.
If that sounds like you, make sure you subscribe. And now, let's get into it. Now, before we get into the four decisions, I need to say something. The standard financial plan goes like this. Earn more, save more, invest, retire, maybe budget somewhere in the middle. That's basically it. That's what most financial content is built around.
And here's the thing, none of that is wrong. But there's a huge piece missing. It's a math plan, not a life plan. You didn't work this hard just to hit a number. You worked hard because you had a vision for your life, for your family, for the impact that you wanted to make.
And most financial advice has nothing to say about any of that at all. The person who's built wealth doesn't just make more money. They make better decisions and on purpose. And that's what today's going to be talking about for decisions. So, let's get into it. Decision number one is this. Define your enough number and build towards it with a clear plan.
Now, I know what you may be thinking, Prince. Why would I put a limit on what I want? I'm not saying to think small. I'm saying to think clearly. Here's the pattern I see all the time with high earners. They're chasing a number that's keeps on moving. They hit 200,000. Then they think once I get to 300, I feel good.
Then they hit 300K, then now it's 400K. and the feeling of actually winning never comes because the target keeps on moving. That's not a money problem. That's a clarity problem. Here's something that comes up constantly in wealth management and in the industry. You see a professional earning over 300,000 a year doing well by every measure, but when someone finally asks them what number would actually make you feel free, there's a long pause because nobody has ever asked them that question before.
They've been running hard towards the finish line that's never been drew. So, here's what I want you to do. I want you to think about three things. First, what does your ideal life actually cost? Not what you spending now. If money wasn't a problem, what would your life look like? The house, the travel, the experiences, the freedom.
What does that actually cost you every single year? Be specific. Put a real number to it. Second, how many years until you want to be truly free? Free to choose how much you spend your time. Maybe it's age 55. Maybe it's 10 years from now. Stop being in the vague about it. Pick a number.
Third, is there a legacy you want to leave? Money to pass to your kids, cause that you want to fund, something that outlasts you. What does that look like? Now, here's what most people stop. They think the enough number is just adding up these years up. Maybe like 200k a year for 20 years equals 4 million.
Done. But that's not how it works. Because the goal isn't a pile of cash and slowly spending it down until it's gone. The goal is to build enough money that your money works hard for you and never runs out. So, here's a simple formula that planners use all the time. It's called the 4% rule.
The ideal is simple. If you live off of just 4% of your total wealth every year, your money should last you your entire life. So, you flip the math around. Take the ideal annual lifestyle cost. Let's say 200k a year. Divide that by 4%. You get 5 million. And that's the amount of wealth that you need so that 200k a year comes off every year sustainably without ever running out.
Then you add your legacy goal on top. Let's say 1 million. Your enough number is 6 million. That's the finish line. That's what you're building towards. And the 20-year timeline, that doesn't change the target. It just tells you how fast that you need to get there. Now, a real financial plan can work backwards to tell you exactly how much you need to save to invest every single year to hit that number.
that shifts from chasing something vague to building towards something specific is worth more than any investment tip that I could ever give anybody because you can't build intentionally towards a destination that you haven't defined. This is your one clarity. Define your enough number. Decision number two, alignment. Make sure your money matches your values.
Decision two is this. Align your cash flow. What matters most to you? Let me tell you why people skip this one. Decision one is exciting. It's about your future. Decision three, which I'll get into, feels responsible and important. Decision two is uncomfortable because it makes you look at what actually is happening right now with your money.
Not what you plan to do, what you're actually doing right this moment. And here's your truth that I want to sit with you. Your bank statement is your value statement. It shows you exactly what you prioritize, whether you mean it or not. Here's what I've seen time and time again in the industry.
Take a household bringing in over 100,000 a year and they feel like they can't max out their retirement accounts. Not because the money isn't there, but because no one has ever helped them look at exactly where the money is going. When you sit down with them and look at the 90 days of spending, what you'll almost always find is big gaps.
3,000 4,000 a month going to things that neither person will put on their list of priorities. Old subscription, convenient spending, little upgrades that actually add up to anything. That's 36,000 to 48,000 a year possibly going to things that they didn't necessarily care about. And again, these are smart, hardworking people that we're talking about.
It's not a character problem. It's an intentionality problem. And here's what I want you to hear. This is not about budgeting. And I don't even love that word. Budgeting sounds like restricting. What I'm talking about is alignment. I want you to spend freely on things that genuinely matter. Your family, your health, your experiences, the things that you prioritize the most and redirecting money from things that you don't.
So, here's an exercise. It's simple. Write down your top five life priorities. Just five. Whether whatever matters most to you right now. For example, my top five is one, faith. Two, health. Three, my family. Four, building real financial freedom. And then five, experiences. Now, that's my list. Now, go pull up your last 90 days of bank and credit card statements.
And now, ask yourself one question. Does the money match that list? Because here's what I find. You'll see a gym membership that you haven't used in 4 months. Subscriptions running in the background that you completely forgot about. Three or four food delivery orders that adds up to 600 a month. Clothes that you bought because you were stressed out, not because you needed them.
And meanwhile, the things that are on the list, the family trips that you keep on saying at your plan, the investment account that you keep in the that you meaning the fund, the given that you keep on putting off to the next month, those things are waiting because the money is already spent somewhere else.
That's the gap. And that gap is not a character problem. It's just what happens whenever you're busy and nobody is there to help you align those two things up together. So that's the work. Not a budgeting app, not a strict spending plan. Just this the list and the statements side by side and comparing them.
That's where the real financial planning begins. Decision two alignment. Make sure your money is matching up with what your values are. Three. This is where we get practical. This is where I put my CHFC hat on. Decision three is this. Protect your wealth that you're building. Most high earners I talk to have a version of a financial setup.
A 401k, a brokerage account, life insurance, and work. And they call that a plan. I get it. It looks like a planet. It's usually what you would think. It's a collection of products that with nothing connected to them, no structure, no real strategy. And the gap, the things that are missing, that's where wealth gets quietly eroded.
Let me walk you through the three gaps that I often see. One, tax exposure for business owners especially. How you pull money out of your business, what accounts you use, how you structure, all these different things have massive impact on how much you actually get to keep. Most people are just doing that what they've always done, not looking at the strategy in years.
For W2 professionals, the gap is usually around layering. Are you using every available vehicle in the right order? Roth accounts, HSAs, deferred comps, after tax brokers, all of this working together. Gap number two is income protection. Here's something that I truly believe. Your biggest wealth building asset is not your portfolio. It's your ability to earn.
And most professionals are dangerously underinsured against losing that. Disability insurance, the right life insurance coverage. Not exciting topics, I know, but there are the foundation for everything else that sits on it. A pattern shows up consistently with clients. You are hiring and doing everything right. Max out your 401k every year, saving consistently, but zero disability coverage, and an estate plan that's years outdated, still naming the wrong person.
This is not rare. This is the one most common gaps planners find. Gap number three, estate and legacy. Outdated beneficiary forms, no trust structure, no plan for what happens if something were to happen to you. These conversations always feel like they can wait until they can. Truly wealthy people sleep well at night, not because they have money, but because the money has structure.
Protection isn't pessimistic. It's what gives you freedom to invest boldly, give generously, and live without fear. Decision three is protection. Build the structure that makes it last. Decision number four. Most financial channel channels will never get into this. This might be the most important thing I say today, but because this isn't about finances, it's about a whole relationship with your money.
Decision number four is this. Surrendering ownership and understanding who really owns it all. Here's what I believe, and I'm going to be straight with you. None of us actually owns any of this. The income, the investments, the business, all of it. At the end of the day, it's not ours to be to keep.
We are managers, stewards, you may say. We've been trusted with resources, with talents, with opportunity. And the question isn't how much we can build. The question is what we do with what we've been given. Whether your faith looks like mine or not, the most grounded, the most generous, the most genuinely wealthy people that I've ever come across all share one thing.
They hold their money loosely. And I want to be clear about what I mean by this. I don't mean that you don't work hard for it. I don't mean that you stop growing it. It's about the grip. A lot of hirers hold on to their money with white knuckles. The fear of losing it all is stronger than the joy of having it.
And that grip, that anxiety, it cost you more than what you think. Ownership creates grip and grip creates fear. Fear drives hoarding. And hoarding of money, of opportunity, of resources, keeps your circle of impact very small. Stewardship creates something that completely is different. Stewardship creates freedom. When you genuinely see yourself as a manager, not as a owner, something shifts.
You can watch the market drop without panicking because your identity isn't in the numbers. You can write a big check towards something that matters most with to you without resentment. Plan for legacy without fear because the goal is never to accumulate. It was to deploy. Deploy the things that matter most to you.
Your family, your friends, your community, and everyone else. For people who have built real wealth, the financial plan is rarely the problem. It's the posture towards money. When that posture shifts from owner to steward, the giving gets easier. The investing gets purposeful. The decision gets clearer because there's a finally a why behind the what.
And here's what happened when you hold on to wealth with the open hand. Your impact grows. First yourself, then your family, then the people around you, your community. Cause bigger than any of us. The goal is never just to build a big number. The goal is to build something that matters. Worldw wealth touches people.
It opens doors for kids. It funds things that outlast you. It makes an impact in your community. It's not just the wealth. It's the legacy. If giving generously makes you anxious, that's your information. If fears driving your financial decisions more than your values are, that's the work, not the portfolio, the posture. Decision four, stewardship.
Surrender ownership. Hold it loosely. Deploy it on purpose. Okay, so let's bring it all home. Four decisions. None of them are about a specific account or a fund or anything like that. Decision number one is clarity. Define your enough number. Know exactly what you're building towards. Decision number two, alignment. Do the value audit.
Make sure you're spending matches your priorities, not just your habits. Decision number three, protection. Build the structure that makes what you're creating actually last. tax strategy, income protection, estate planning, all of it. Working together. Decision number four, stewardship. Surrender yourself. Hold it loosely. Give generously. Build something that means something. Most financial content will give you the first three.
But I hope today I gave you all four because the goal was never just to be wealthy. The goal was to build a life and a legacy that actually means something. If this video connected with you today, please share it. Send it to another professional or maybe a friend. And if you're not yet subscribed, please do that now.
Every week I put up context to help build wealth with intention and purpose. Thank you all for being here today. I don't take that lightly and I'll see you all in the next one. Thank you.
This video is for general educational purposes only and is not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Every situation is different. Talk with a qualified professional about your circumstances before acting. PLC Wealth Partners is a registered investment adviser. See our disclosures.
