Happy holidays. Familiar face here. Yes,

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
0:03

happy holidays.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
0:05

She’s back, everybody.

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
0:08

So good to be back.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
0:10

So we said she’s back. Go check out her episode. I’ll put it in the description. We’re not going to give her background. Like I said on the others, this is about the client’s story. We want you to be able to listen to this if it’s you and say, holy shit, they’re talking about me. Maybe I should take that step and go talk to One of these professionals, or at least story and he’ll connect me, whatever it is. That’s the whole purpose behind the 12 days of giving. So without further ado, let’s get into your client profile. Tell us about your story and your situation.

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
0:39

Yes, this is great. So glad to be on here and just helping people to just see like where they fit, that they’re not alone. I like this. I love this concept. Steps away. So I’m going to chat about. Kelly, her fictitious name names have been changed, but I felt like I need to give her a name. So Kelly. Is a recent graduate and this is I can go back about 10 years ago, but she was a recent graduate out of school. 1st job taking care of her life, adulting learning how to live this life. And, we all wanted to be grown so early in life. And then we come out and we’re like, oh, my gosh. Yeah no, take me back to mama’s house. But she, she came to me. I actually had met her at my church at the time. And once I said, Oh, that I’m a, what I do, what, that I’m a financial advisor, financial planner. She was just like, Oh my gosh, that’s what I need. So it wasn’t one of those things where I just came up to her or she found me on a website or anything. It just happened organically while we were out and about, and coming out of church Oh, you want to go to lunch. So she shared with me, she didn’t have any retirement savings. She wanted to get on track or at least figure out like, is she on track? What does she need to do? And what I loved about it was that she was in her early twenties having just graduated from college. So I think she was like 22, 23, and it just reminded me of myself. And so I just love that. I love that she was. So proactive and trying to talk about finances at that point in her life. And so she wanted to understand saving. She wanted to understand investing understand where she was at, like budgeting. Over the years we’ve done a lot. Actually, she’s, I still work with her but she was able to start at zero. Literally start at zero and I know a lot of there’s a lot of advisors out there that may not want to work with a client like that. Oh, you’re at zero. My gosh. Why don’t you call me back in 10 years? And then we can chat. But but we started, we started, I started with her. I knew that she was I just felt like she was going to be diligent about everything. I explained to her about, this is what a Roth is and based on your situation right now, and the income that you’re bringing in, you would qualify for a Roth IRA. Would you be open to, putting money into that. And then I was able to guide her into, this is about how much you want to do. And I believe at that time, because it was so long ago, it was like the max was like 5, 000 at that time, and they change consists continuously. So check, check the numbers whenever you’re watching this, for whatever year, but. But but we started off and then over time and I’m trying to recall with her, I believe we started at a decent number, but it wasn’t quite the max that she could do every month to max out. So over the years I would encourage her, and share with her, okay, this is what the max is and how about increasing that and then how about, just. Trying to get to that max. And so there became a point where we did and she just, and then she started to lead that Oh, okay. Has the, have, has the max change for, the Roth IRA contributions. I want to make sure I max out. And initially it was a little, made her a little nervous. Should I do that? And this is the way we feel and it’s normal should I max out and there were times when we had to talk about, her budget. And now I mainly focus on cash flow planning. And that’s the term terminology I use. But at that time, I really use the traditional budgeting. Terminology. And so we went through that, looked at her budget and she was renting an apartment at the time. She had a car loan and I remember her little red hatchback card. One of the things I really enjoyed about her and this, it’s going to be different for everybody, but that she just wasn’t, she had a good job in the it industry, it field, but she didn’t really go all out. Like she got that little red hatchback and. That was good enough for her, and so I love the modesty and that she wasn’t trying to live beyond her means. So we put together a game plan for paying her car off. And we over the years, she’s even been able to purchase a home. We’ve talked about, Making sure you have an emergency fund and not using the emergency fund for the down payment on the home and all the furnishing. So just really, it was almost like we were able to, I was able to walk her through all the things. I wish I was told right when I had just graduated from college. And so this is the type of thing that I wanted someone to do with me a financial advisor. And so it was just, she’s always, she was the 1 that came up. There’s numerous examples, but she was the one that came up in my mind. And basically, Kelly, like I said, bought a home and now I believe, she’s up to, close to six figures, if not already there in just a Roth, and I think that’s a beautiful thing to watch your money grow and accumulate and throughout the process. There was education about investments, oh, okay we’re going to invest. What are we going to do? And what does that mean? And what’s the mutual fund? What’s an exchange traded fund and just sitting down and educating. And then over time, she would share with me the things she was learning on her own. It’s a constant thing. And they say, or not even they I used to, I listened to Mitch Anthony. And he says that there’s going to be about 62 life transitions that we’ll have throughout our lives, potentially, and each one of those life transitions will cause. You to potentially most likely have a money decision. Beside mu much of the time we’re thinking death, life, marriage, divorce, but there’s more transitions that we have. And so that’s what I’ve experienced with her. I’ve experienced her, being in an apartment, buying a home, paying off her car loan, getting, building her emergency, getting a, building up her Roth IRA, building up her 401k at work. Just all these various things and we, and we’ve been measuring and I’m just really pleased with. Her progress and how she’s dealing with all the life transitions and actually recently she just got married. So again, marriage, a life transition. And so eventually maybe if she wants a desire, she’ll have kids. It’s just a beautiful process to be able to walk somebody through all the different decisions that they’re going to have to make as they move through these life transitions. So she’s been really fun to work with. Yeah.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
7:38

And there’s a couple of key points that it’s a fun theme. All of these, we’re getting to these two things, like literally we’ve had 11 different stories, right? And they all have two key factors that one, the person is wanting someone to help guide them educationally, make the right decisions. To that. It’s because of some emotional thing that happened or is occurring in their life that has caused them to take that next step. And what’s really amazing that I’m getting out of this whole thing, and I probably should do like a whole summary of all of them, but is ultimately that we as planners are here. To take on that emotional stuff to help guide them of where they are and where they want to go. And it’s really cool to see the different levels, right? I wish I was her right out of college too. I wish I knew and had someone help me like, right? Help me. The other point I wanted to make is. Time it takes time. Yeah, this wealth journey isn’t a overnight deal. Some people get lucky when I don’t have any of those clients. So like it takes time. You said you’ve been working with her about a decade, right? And all of the things you’ve gone with her and it’s a relationship. Do you guys have a bond? That is something that we all are wanting as humans. We want that person who we can trust that has our back. And I talk about this all the time. Clients want to know two things. Am I good? aNd do you have my back? That’s it. Yes. Those are the two things in life. Doesn’t matter what your returns are, how much money you got anywhere. It’s literally just, am I good to live life how I want? Or in life where I want it. And then do you have my back in case things go crazy? That’s it. Absolutely. We’ve been doing that for over a decade. So I applaud the hell out of you for that.

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
9:31

Yeah, thank you. Thank you. It’s just, I just commend her, like as a client, they’re the heroes, they actually, the fact that they take, they link up with us as financial planners or advisors and they. Decide to do the work, cause it’s really up to them and we’re there to help. And so I just, I love that aspect of the work we do.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
9:54

So it’s a lot to take that step. It probably took a lot out of her. Before you had met her and said what you do, I’m sure she did a ton of work to figure out like, what do I need? What do you think it was, at least in that maybe that first meeting or whatever that you recognized if you can remember, was that thing that really helped her hone in to you, right? Obviously you’re out of church, saying what you did, she’d already been thinking about it, it triggered her to take that next step. Do you know what maybe that caused that next step or what you had figured out in that first meeting or anything?

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
10:30

I Think thinking back and just thinking back to, the relationship we’ve built over the years is. Just really looking at how she looked at her parents, her mother and just the things that she was just like, I want to, they, they did the best they can do. They’re doing the best they can do. And they’re here for me. I just want to do things a little differently. I want to see, is there a different way? Is there a different method? And and so I believe that is a big catalyst for why she felt like, oh, Financial advisor, and I don’t know how much she had thought about it, but you’re right. Like she could have been thinking about it. We just, we never got to that, but. But I do believe just, when you, when just knowing her, just the family, the familial aspect and watching, what her family had dealt with, and then also what she wants out of her life. And and I know she came from a very great family background, but it’s just, you always want better and your parents want better. And so she is just Oh. You want to, if you want something different and expect different results doing the same thing, then that’s insanity. So let me figure out like, what do I want? And this is the difference, having a financial advisor, this is different than what I’ve seen. And so I think that was a big part of her or at least some part of her journey. And that’s, yeah,

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
11:50

that’s phenomenal. I bet there’s a lot of people out there at the same spot right now. What I’m doing is not working. What I’ve done in the past isn’t working. I need to be able to do something else. And luckily we had a pandemic and I say luckily because it’s been phenomenal for our industry to be able to go more virtual for these people, no matter where you live, you can find the person that you connect with. Who’s around the corner, not who’s in your town, but literally just out there being like, I can rock with them. I love that. I love, I just, I connect with them and I definitely. Have a positive outlook on the pandemic for that specific reason. Yes, I agree. The other topic I wanted to talk about and discuss with you in terms of what you had just said with just the wherewithal at a young age or at really any age to be like, it’s not working. I should just, I need to try something. I need to try something. Is the open ability and the approachability of who you are. And I speak to you on that because you’re one here, but really, there’s a lot of planners out there just like that who are just approachable. We’re not here to judge you. We’re not here to put you down to do any of that. Our little, our duty is to create and be on this journey with you in wealth and just guide you in the right direction. And so if you’re there and you’ve already thought about it and you’re like, this ain’t working, go find that person. And find the person. I don’t care who they were for whatever. Can you connect to them? Because they’re going to be there to guide you. And honestly, like you’ve attested to is, you’ve been in a relationship with her for over a decade. Yes. It’s a lifelong thing. It doesn’t have to be, but it, journey changes. You said 65 transitions. That’s a lot when you, and it’s probably after graduation, 23 to average lifetime of 70 to 80. That’s a lot of transitions, a lot of

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
13:52

transitions potentially. Yeah. And we don’t tend to think about that in our twenties and our thirties and, but it’s wow, as you look back, you’re like, Whoa, I did, I, there was a lot of things that happened over my life and pretty much when you look at it, they all require me to make some type of money decision, moving across country, getting a new job. All these things, it’s amazing.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
14:16

It really is. So during this holiday season, as people are hopefully listening and reflecting what do you want to leave them with? What is something that you want to leave them with to helpfully get them to take that next step? Just like Kelly did.

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
14:31

Yes. So I want you to believe that’s the thing I would say. I think, the holiday, the theme of the holidays. It’s all about believing the best, and no matter where you’re at, whether you start at zero or whether you got some type of major, influx of funds, you still want to be a great steward of what you’ve been given, what you’ve been allowed to, to put out there in the world. And so be encouraged and believe that you can do it. Believe that it can happen and really find the right people that you trust and that you’re willing to link up with to guide you as well. And it can be a financial advisor, but also having a good community as well, because it really does take a village. It takes a village to to learn everything to make that transformation to take that leap. And so you really got to believe that it can happen. And once you do that, things will start falling in place and it will happen. So that’s what I would say.

Stoy Hall, CFP®:
15:39

Belief. That’s all there is. Happy holidays and belief. Yes. There you go. We appreciate you and you keep believing too. We all got to keep believing and we’re in this thing.

Shehara Wooten, CFP®:
15:51

Absolutely. So I thank you.

Black Mammoth:
16:09

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