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In any profession, it’s natural to ask yourself what it is your clients are seeking from you. In my industry, even more so.
In my many years of working with clients, I have learned that for me, that answer is clarity. More specifically, financial confidence through clarity.
My clients are looking to me to help them cut through the complexity and make sense of a world that has been purposefully tangled for them.
Without clarity, otherwise simple things become complex. It’s quite possible to know what you should be doing, without knowing where to start, how to start or where to focus your energy. Such complexity can lead to overwhelm, and overwhelm can become paralyzing.
For example, when a person decides to get in shape, the overwhelm around knowing how to start can push a simple goal out of reach.
In the world of finance, things can seem intentionally complicated and out of focus. That’s where I come in, but here’s what you need to know. Investing and saving should feel like the same thing to you. If they don’t, there’s a good chance that something or someone is complicating the issue.
The traditional financial services industry is set up to magnify the complexities of investing, so you focus on factors that are largely out of your control. The result is that we don’t take the simple, repeatable actions that are absolutely in our control. Without clarity, complexity reigns. If you're curious what decades without financial clarity looks like nationally...
44% of Americans don’t have enough cash to handle a $400 emergency without using debt. If the emergency is $500, it knocks out 63% of Americans. We now have $1.6 trillion in student loan debts as a nation and 43% of debt holders aren’t making payments. $9,333 is the average balance for credit card debt holders who will pay an average of $37,486 in interest payments on that debt over the next 30 years. 33% of Americans have $0 saved for retirement.
Investing is simply saving with a clear purpose in mind. Once you have clarity of purpose for your savings, it becomes relatively simple to decide how to build a portfolio. So, why aren't people saving money in curated portfolios? The simple answer is that of the 7.5 billion people on earth, 5 billion can’t accurately answer basic questions about money.
Without basic financial literacy, we're stuck in the mud of complexity, aware of what we should do, but far from any means to do it.
If you’re an expert on money, grab some friends and teach them something. If you don't feel qualified to do that, reach out to me on social media and secure an invite to a free financial literacy masterclass… then grab a friend. Everyone can use a little more clarity on the financial road ahead.
Kelechukwu “Chu” Oparah is a Licensed Financial Professional Serving your Dayton Community. For more content, Chu is on Instagram @chuoparah.