Playing Financial Quarterback in Your Own Life

As I watched the later moments of the Superbowl earlier this week, I was reminded of the beauty of the flow when a team comes together to create amazing results.

And while a football team and a football game are certainly different than your financial life, I was still reminded of the importance of being the financial “quarterback” in your own life. The quarterback is responsible for understanding who is on the field, providing instructions to each player for what to do next, and also soliciting input for strategy from others (amongst many other things).

So if we consider what it takes to be an effective financial quarterback who is actively taking a role in your financial freedom, some important questions come to mind to when considering how to effectively put together a financial plan to support your goals and your life.

  1. Do you have all of the positions filled on your financial roster?

    Often times, I find that many people don’t fully understand who is available to support them and even if they are aware, sometimes they’re afraid to reach out to ask for support. The key players on a financial team tend to include (and can also include more technically specific individuals as well): a CPA, a financial advisor, an insurance professional, an estate planning attorney, and a financial coach. Depending on your needs, you may need all of these professionals or perhaps you only need a few of them. My invitation is to take the time to meet with each of these professionals to allow them to support you in identifying the possible risks that are present to your financial future, and if it makes sense to partner with them to mitigate the risks present to your financial plan then by all means do so. At the very least, don’t leave a hole in your financial roster simply because you haven’t yet taken the time to educate yourself about what, if any, support you could receive!!

  2. Are you confident in all of your financial team members?

    To the extent that you already have financial professionals that work with you, are you satisfied with how they’re serving you? If I had a penny for every person who told me they weren’t satisfied with someone that they’ve hired, I would definitely be extremely wealthy.

    If you’re happy with the service of your team, great! And if you’re not happy, then I would recommend taking 1 of 2 steps – either sit down with them to offer them feedback in terms of how they can serve you better, or consider interviewing another professional to get a second opinion and perspective on how they could serve you to strengthen your financial foundation. It never hurts to get a second opinion, and you may decide that it’s time for a change if your current team member isn’t serving you in the way that you would like to be served.

  3. Are you engaged in the “game” of being financially conscious and/or how would you rate your performance as the quarterback?

    This is the more challenging part of the process to evaluate your team’s performance – completing a self-assessment. Are you communicating and interacting proactively with your team members, and using them to their fullest potential to serve you? Are you actively engaged in asking questions and allowing your team members to teach you so that you can powerfully oversee your financial future? If the answer is yes, then keep up the good work! Unfortunately, many times I hear people say “oh, I don’t talk to my CPA/financial advisor/attorney all that often, I just let them do their thing.”

    If a quarterback on a football team just let the other players “do their thing,” how do you think that would turn out for the team? I’m going to guess it would be a disaster!

Take a moment today to step back and evaluate how your financial team is shaping up, and how your team is performing with respect to the goals that you’ve set for your finances and your life. And while you may identify gaps in your team while evaluating, this isn’t an exercise to feel badly about what isn’t happening, it’s simply an exercise about what’s missing and what your next step is to take ownership of your financial future.

So what’s the next step for you to build your financial team? A CPA? A financial advisor? An estate planning attorney? Ask a friend or loved one for a trusted recommendation and get the support you need to establish the next pillar in your financial foundation and strengthen your financial plan!

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