There’s so much more to finance than dollars and cents. In today’s article, you will dive into the larger element of finance and truly, the part of it that drives us to attaining real financial security.
Written by one of our Relationship Managers, get into it below!
This article is a 8 min read.
In 2020 one of the things I really missed was meeting up with clients for face to face conversations. So, in 2021 my hot foot has taken me back on the road, socially distant and masked up, but out and about nonetheless.
Last week I made a visit to the business place of one of my clients who I deal with in his personal capacity. It was my first time there and I was really impressed with the whole enterprise. I said as much as he took me on a tour of the compound and while we walked around, he shared with me his strategies and beliefs from over the years, some of which I’m going to pay forward now.
He had developed his business over the course of thirty years, on the site that had once been the residential home of his parents. This was a source of pride for him, this constant testament to the support of his family. Similarly, he spoke often of his legacy, not so much about his specific mark on the world, but on the value of what he would leave for his children as his successors in the business, so that they could build on his efforts and grow the company tenfold.
The business had its inherent value undeniably, but my client made it clear that in essence, it was the vehicle by which the future of his extended family could be secured for generations to come; to cushion them all against life’s uncertainties but also to provide open doors and clear pathways to make their own marks on the world. Just as the former home of his parents had been his foothold, so too did he see his business – as a foothold for his children, to step on to greater things.
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Specific to his current location, business has been going so well, even in the COVID downturn, that they’re bursting at the seams and a sale is in order which would facilitate a relocation to a larger complex. At that point, the proceeds of the family home, though greatly increased in value through the business’s physical upgrades, would be equally distributed among his siblings. At this, my client was candid with me. It was what his parents would want. It was also what he wanted. Commitment to family was his priority, without which business success would amount for nothing.
This gentleman used tradition as the steppingstones to what he considered his ultimate achievement. His wealth was not only the physical assets of the business, but the financial security and general happiness of his wife, his children and his extended family.
This visit really moved me because my client’s words reminded me of my own culture. I am a second-generation product of Middle Eastern heritage; Trini to the bone, but I hold firm to those Middle Eastern beliefs of the strength and importance of the family unit.
If we take my client’s story and extrapolate it to our twin islands, it’s our combined responsibility to:
All that said, the most significant aspect in anybody’s existence is the investment we make in ourselves. Investment has many channels: educational, professional, experiential, financial (of course) and the list goes on.
My client couldn’t have made the strides he did for his family without first investing in himself. We can only give of ourselves when our well is full.
So, just as my client shared with me, I’ll conclude by leaving you with some of my own personal tips for investing in the self:
I hope you found this helpful, if even as a reminder. I purposefully didn’t focus on financial investments because 1) finance is just one aspect of our life and 2) We can help you with that in even greater detail 😉 (see what I did there)?
