Episode Summary:
In a world dominated by digital platforms, Urban Adams offers a refreshingly human approach to financial advising. With 25 years in the industry and a philosophy grounded in stoicism, Urban helps clients balance enjoying the present while planning for the future. His new book, "Wealth Your Way," challenges traditional mindsets about wealth accumulation, advocating instead for an intentional, values-driven approach. Urban shares how he applies stoic principles to help clients navigate financial uncertainty, why he maintains a high-touch service model in the digital age, and how his experience as a father of three daughters has shaped his approach to serving women clients. From comprehensive planning strategies to emotional decision-making during market volatility, Urban offers insights that emphasize the human side of financial advising.
About the Guest:
- Urban Adams entered the financial industry in 1999, just before Y2K. After spending years in back-office operations for a large broker-dealer, he launched his own practice 13 years ago. Based in the Phoenix area, Urban serves clients across all U.S. time zones and has acquired two practices from retiring advisors, both of whom were women.
Key Concepts Explained:
Stoicism in Financial Planning: Urban applies stoic principles to help clients embrace financial uncertainty. Rather than fearing market volatility or unknown lifespans, he encourages clients to make peace with ambiguity while making intentional choices about their resources.
Present vs. Future Balance: One of Urban's core philosophies challenges the "unending accumulation of wealth" mindset. He shares a poignant story about clients who took a European vacation he helped plan, only for one spouse to pass away unexpectedly six months later - reinforcing the importance of not endlessly deferring life experiences.
Comprehensive Financial Planning: Urban defines this as going beyond investment management to include tax planning (current and future), estate planning, risk management (life and long-term care insurance), and income planning (Social Security and pensions). He notes that focusing solely on investments is like planning a trip without considering the mode of transportation or timeframe.
High-Touch Approach: Urban differentiates himself by being exceptionally accessible - answering his own phone during business hours and being willing to assist with decisions beyond strict financial matters. He's helped clients shop for electronics, asked tough questions about real estate transactions, and even supported widowed clients navigating the dating world.
Practical Takeaways:
Emotional Decision-Making: Urban prepares clients for market downturns at the beginning of relationships, telling them exactly what questions he'll ask when markets decline. This proactive approach helped his clients stay invested during COVID-19 market drops.
Tax Planning Strategy: Rather than focusing solely on current tax situations, Urban helps clients build tax-free wealth through Roth contributions and conversions. He explains to clients that a million-dollar traditional IRA isn't truly worth a million after taxes are considered.
Gender-Inclusive Advising: Drawing from his experience raising three daughters and coaching female athletes, Urban ensures both partners in couples are equally engaged in financial discussions. He also emphasizes helping clients (particularly women) achieve financial independence.
Connect with Urban:
- Website: urbanadams.com
- Book: "Wealth Your Way" (available on Amazon)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What if your financial advisor didn't just
manage your money, but trulyunderstood your life?
In a world where digitalplatforms rule our finances, the
human touch can feel like athing of the past.
But today's guest, urban Adams,proves that personal connection
is everything.
So much so he still makes housecalls.
Welcome to the InfluentialAdvisor Podcast.
(00:23):
With 25 years of experience anda philosophy grounded in
stoicism, urban helps clientsfind that crucial balance
between enjoying the present andplanning for the future.
His new book, wealth your Way,challenges the traditional
mindset of endless accumulation,offering a more intentional,
values-driven approach tobuilding wealth.
(00:44):
If you've been looking for anadvisor who treats you like a
person, not just an accountnumber, you'll want to hear this
conversation.
Urban, great to see you.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I'm doing great, Paul .
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I am doing fantastic.
I've been looking forward todoing this episode with you.
I know you recall this becausewe talked about it, but the way
that you and I met originallywas through a podcast, and so
this is exciting for me to comefull circle and have you as a
guest on my podcast, so it'sgreat to have you here.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, and great to be here and great to have reached
this milestone aspect of thatwhole process as well.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, definitely, and that's what we're gonna be
diving into in today's episodes.
You have just released your newbook, which we'll be talking
about, and just maybe a littlebit of the process.
First and foremost, I'd love tohave our audience just get a
better idea of who you are andyou can take the snippets that
make the most sense, but you'vebeen in this industry for a
while, so who is Urban Adams?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Thanks, paul.
And yeah, I'll spare us, sinceit's going on 25 years, if not a
shade more Now at this point.
I got into the industry rightbefore Y2K so 1999, I was on the
front lines talking toindividual investors and it just
so happened that maybe twoyears or so into it I had the
opportunity to join a burgeoningprogram.
(02:06):
That really got me anintroduction to the advisory
business, and it was for a verylarge broker-dealer firm dealing
with internal advisors.
So I was not serving as anadvisor at that point, I was on
the back office serviceoperations team.
But it really gave me anopportunity to be a little bit
of a student of the game, so tospeak, and over time, as I
(02:28):
learned more and more, I kept onputting that information in the
database there, and about 13years ago now I launched my own
practice.
I joined Dynamic, who affordedme the opportunity to build a
practice while I was still doingsome behind the scenes work for
them, for the advisors thatthey support.
And now here we are full-timeresponsibilities working on my
(02:49):
advisory practice, acquired acouple in the meantime and
really just excited this phase.
I never could have imaginedthis 25 years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You're located in the greater Phoenix area, is that
correct?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I am, yeah.
Primarily my clients arelocated in Arizona or the
Phoenix metro area, but I've gotclients all over been working
with for a number of years.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, you also acquired a couple of practices,
so that's a bold move.
Are those practices that youacquired?
Are they also in the Phoenixarea?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
They are and they were, while they were still
active, the advisors thatretired from the business.
I'd known professionally for anumber of years and had the
opportunity to build arelationship well in advance of
any discussions of a transition,so that really made it a smooth
process when we ultimately madethose two moves.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's awesome.
Let's jump into the main topichere.
So I'd love to have you shareabout your book Wealth your Way,
and what I find so interestingabout your book is that you've
taken your experience as anadvisor, but you have a unique
twist at least I think which isyou also have a background as
practicing stoic, and if you canexplain what that means for
someone that doesn't know it.
But you've twisted, you'veadded in elements of stoicism
(04:01):
into your overall philosophy offinancial planning, which is now
captured in your brand new book, Wealth your Way.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So feel free to dive into that wherever you'd like to
.
Honestly, I could talk forhours about it, but I got
introduced in an early in mycollege career philosophy class
and admittedly I didn't do greatin the class of all things.
But what happened is over timeand not aiming for any shout
outs or anything like that, but2007, 2008, I read four hour
(04:29):
work week.
M Ferris inserts a great dealof stoic philosophy, although it
doesn't necessarily make it tooovert, but at the same time
recognize that there were a lotof principles in that book that,
quite frankly, I didn't knowhow they were going to shake out
at the time really have come tofruition in a way and I'm
certainly working more than fourhours a week, but what I mean
is the principles in there.
(04:50):
And then stoicism is more in thepractice and more in me taking
a focus on it.
That's been over the last fouror five years and have really
embraced that for a lot ofreasons.
One is that, let's face it, Itell clients virtually every day
that we deal in ambiguity.
There's so many unknowns, somany uncertain things that we
(05:12):
deal with on a day-to-day basis,working with our clients and in
a way, one of the tenets ofstoicism is embracing that
unknown, embracing the ambiguityin a way, and being open to
however things happen to evolveand roll out.
And I've really embraced thatto mold that to how I work with
my clients and how I help themdeal with the uncertainty of the
(05:35):
future and help relieve some ofthat stress or that anxiety.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
You mentioned in the book the 4-Hour Workweek, which
I'm a fan of, that it's notovert, right, it's kind of built
into it, but it's not overt.
So when you typically talk toyour clients, are you calling
out stoic principles or are youblending them into the overall
messaging?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I will confess that sometimes I am using some of the
attributed quotes to some ofthe stoic philosophers not to
pull anyone out or not, but oneof the ones that is central to
what I do for my clients andbeing able to serve them
appropriately is I try to makesure that I remember at all
times the quote about the reasonwhy we have two ears and one
(06:14):
mouth, and that is to listenmore than we speak.
And the more I listen, the moreI learn and the better I can
help my clients.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Big picture.
I heard you say that.
In terms of stoicism,everything, a lot of what you do
in financial planning.
It's like the stock markettoday, right?
Literally it's up, it's downand sideways.
I mean what's going to happen?
Who knows?
We have a reasonableexpectation that over time it's
going to go up, but in terms ofthe short term it's kind of hard
to predict the future.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Just kind of like big picture when it comes to your
clients.
Clients is there, like anycentral tenant, that stoicism
helps them embrace.
I believe, in reviewing yourbook, that one of the key
questions that comes up forsomeone that's in retirement or
planning for retirement is thatwe fundamentally don't know when
we're going to die, and so wesave for the future because we
want to be responsible.
(06:59):
But at the same time, how do weenjoy the now and make sure
that we're doing botheffectively?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I believe that you address that question in your
book, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I do, and I really stress that in that I know that
I've got some clients who willnever come close to worrying
about spending down what theyhave, and I have others who are.
Maybe the margin of error isn'tas great, but at what cost do
you continually kick the candown the road of the things that
you want to do or you'd like todo or you're putting off?
(07:29):
And I share one story in thebook that talks about this
couple who went on a rather verynice vacation in Europe a
couple different destinations,river cruise and we spent a fair
amount of time planning forthat and how to do it in the
most tax efficient manner andalso assuage some of their fears
about whether or not it wouldhave an impact long term on
(07:51):
their financial plan.
And I met with them and wetalked about nothing other than
the vacation.
With the meeting after that,and not six months later, one of
the members of the couple hadpassed away from an unexpected
illness.
And I just remember reflectingnot only the fact that losing a
client that I felt dearly about,but the idea that if I had
(08:13):
discouraged this in some way orsomehow this didn't work out and
things happened the way theydid, I would have felt terribly,
and I want to stress that I'mnot the gatekeeper when it comes
to my clients and theirinvestments, their money I
remind them all the time it'stheirs.
My job is to help them managethe trade offs that exist for
(08:34):
any decisions they might makeand be a very loud no when I
know there's something that Itruly believe is detrimental to
their long-term plan.
But ultimately, they're thegatekeepers.
They say yes or no.
I'm there to help themsynthesize all that information
to make an informed decision.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
You find that more often, they're the ones that are
more conservative and are moreless likely to spend, and you're
the ones saying no, you canspend, you have the money.
Or is it the reverse?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
that I'm not simply a yes man for anything they want
to do, because I will, like Isaid, I won't be shy about
telling them anything that Ithink is not helpful in their
long-term plan or I think couldbe impactful.
But I am very much about thehey, I think you might be
holding this too close to thevest.
Go out and do it yourself,because none of us have an
amount of time that is promisedto us, and I remember there's a
something from Seneca about that, the on the shortness of life.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Another aspect of the book is that it's geared
towards both men and women, butI think there's a little bit
more emphasis at least onaddressing women's concerns and
their needs, and I understandthat you have three daughters,
and so tell me a little bit moreabout just your background
there and maybe in helping womenmore broadly, and what
specifically did you add to thebook that is unique for?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
women it's what I mentioned and what I was
thinking about as I was writingthe book is the fact that being
the dad of three daughters, Iwill say, had an influence on my
communication style.
There's no two ways about it.
The fact of the matter is andthey're all individuals, there's
a different way to interactwith all three of them.
At the same time, there aresimilarities in that All three
(10:11):
played supports to some degreeand I coach sports and you have
daughters, you're going to becoaching female athletes.
After a certain age group, theco-ed teams go away and it's all
female athletes.
And I learned a great deal fromother coaches members of the
national team for Team USA,learned from them and really
molded my style, and I'd beremiss if I didn't say it didn't
(10:33):
influence my style ininteracting with clients and it
wasn't anything that Ispecifically set out to do.
But I understand that, yes, ithopefully resonates with all of
my clients, but, in particular,and thinking back to the two
acquisitions, both of theretiring advisors were female
advisors.
It's probably not a surprisethat, to some degree, whether
(10:54):
it's my style, whether it's theway I communicate, whether it's
the listening skills that I'veworked to improve over time,
something resonates maybe alittle bit differently, and I'd
heard all of the you know theanecdotal things where advisors
talking, you know, has thehusband and wife in the office
and they're staring straight atthe husband and never or barely
(11:15):
acknowledge the wife in the room.
When talking about the financialplan, I've made a point to
insist upon making sure thatboth members of a couple are
engaged in the planningdiscussions, making sure that
they're both there and neitherone, regardless of gender, is
being removed from that processbecause, well, first of all they
(11:37):
have to be.
It's their plan to and they do.
But I have a client who wentthrough a rather long legal
separation, ultimately finalizedthe divorce, but was very
dependent on some thingspersonal finance wise from their
now former spouse.
And part of the effort over thelast four or five years in
working with this client ishelping them gain their
(11:58):
independence and not be asreliant on the former spouse,
regardless of the level of helpthey might be willing to offer.
It's about working on makingsure that they were independent
and what I aim to do is help bethat objective party in that
respect.
And if I'm the opposite gender,so be it.
And it goes back to lessonsthat I've aimed to teach my
(12:20):
daughters, and that is one offinancial independence for
themselves, so that they're notdependent on a mate or any other
person for that matter andhopefully that those principles
make its way through to theconversations that I'm having
with my clients.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
By extension to that, do you find that maybe the
single female clients versus themarried clients versus the
single men?
Are there different specificneeds that they come to the
table with, or is it more orless the same types of issues?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I think there are other things that separate them
with the types of issues thatthey're dealing with is,
ultimately, whether it's singlemale, single female couple, you
name it whatever the clientrelationship is at its core.
The reason I think they'reworking with me is because it's
not simply about the unendingaccumulation of wealth.
(13:09):
It's about enjoying their liveswhile they're doing that and
making sure that the wealth thatthey accumulate affords them
the freedom of their time to dowhat they want.
And those are the clients,regardless of background.
Those are the clients whoultimately, I think, will enjoy
working with me.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
What is comprehensive financial planning versus
financial planning?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It can certainly fall into a number of different
definitions.
As I define it, it's not onlymaking sure that we've got an
investing strategy for specificgoals that the client or clients
are looking for, but we'rebeing mindful of tax
consequences, not only in thehere and now but in the future.
We're taking into considerationtheir estate planning and
(13:51):
making sure that when thateventual time comes, when we
don't know, things are tied uppretty tightly.
We talk about risk managementwhen it comes to early in life,
whether it's using lifeinsurance or, later in life,
using some form of long-termcare insurance to help make sure
that that is as smooth asituation as possible, and we
also talk about the fact that,yes, between Social Security and
(14:14):
, potentially, pension incomefor those who are eligible,
we're managing that as far asthe overall picture is concerned
.
And if I were only managinginvestments for a certain
strategy, for a certain risklevel and this is the return we
got One of my colleagues manyyears ago said well, I could do
that.
It's like you telling me youwant to go from Phoenix to New
(14:34):
York, but you haven't told mehow many days you want to do
that or how many months, weeks,you want to take, whether you're
flying bus, train, justinvesting.
While it's very useful, it's avery important tool, don't get
me wrong.
But ignoring the other assetscould really derail any
investment results you mightachieve.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Just as you were saying that, I can see how you
embrace stoicism, because everysingle one of those things is a
high degree of uncertainty,right From investments to risk
management, to estate planning,to all these different things.
I mean, you can plan for them,but you never know when it's
going to happen or what's goingto happen.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Exactly and embrace it however it evolves.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah.
So another thing that came upduring the process of working
with you to write the book isthat you have a very high touch
approach to your clients, andjust I'll frame it out where in
today's Internet world, andreally in today's AI world,
there's a lot of options thatare not high touch.
Tell us about your philosophybehind high touch, maybe share a
(15:36):
story or so about what thatreally means, and maybe even
just the future.
What does that look like goingforward in today's world?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I think it evolved just out of my personality.
I'd always been that personthat sort of connects others.
My daughters would tease me andsay you can talk to anybody.
And I would back to my earliercomments.
I would say, no, but I canlisten to anybody.
The skill is in listening.
And what it really evolved fromis as I began working with
clients, many of whom werefriends well before I even
(16:07):
joined the industry.
Now, granted, I've earned otherclients along the way who
didn't know that background forme but were attracted to the
method in which I do business.
I've been iPad and iPhoneshopping with clients not really
acted as a consultant on a realestate transaction, but ask the
questions, the devil's advocate, questions that the client
(16:27):
needed to ask in order to get towhere they needed to be on that
decision.
And I find that, in the way Idescribe it to my clients, is if
you think it has anything to dowith your overall financial
picture, ask me.
I'll give you my thoughts.
I'll ask questions.
I'll ask questions, and a lotof the times I'm just asking
questions they hadn't thought toconsider asking and end up
(16:49):
getting the answers elsewhere.
I'm not the one telling themwhat to do or what not to do in
that case.
Just more of a.
Here are the things to consider.
Here's what I'd be thinkingabout.
If that were the case, and ifyou become that first in line
person with those things, you'vegot a better data set to help
clients with their plan.
(17:10):
You know so much more.
I shared recently that you know.
I've got a couple of widowedclients who were starting to
wade back into dating and onlinedating and companionship and
things like that, and while Iwas certainly grateful that they
shared it with me, furtherreflection says wow, imagine the
level of trust that they'rewilling to share that with me in
(17:33):
the first place.
Sure, and so I get to know myclients very well and what I try
to do is understand them thebest I can, so that all of the
nuance that comes into financialplanning.
Humans make decisionsemotionally plain and simple, so
I try to remove the emotionaldecisions out of it, but by
first understanding wherethey're coming from.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
I think that's fantastic.
I think who wouldn't?
Because what you're describingto me is really you become that
trusted advisor I thinkfinancial advisors aspire to be.
Is the person that the clientsactually trust and reach out to
and ask their, get feedback onthings that are meaningful
decisions for them, and so Ithink of that picture.
Perfect, or very well, I guess.
The question I have, though, isthere's only 24 hours in the
(18:15):
day and there's only seven daysin the week.
How do you manage all this?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I certainly delegate out a lot of very important work
and it doesn't mean that Idon't have an arm's length
contact to it.
I leverage tools wherever Ipossibly can to ensure that the
most time available during theday is available for my clients
and I tell them and I've toldthem the entire time.
I've had my practice if youcall and it's Monday through
(18:39):
Friday business hours and I'mnot in a meeting, I'm going to
answer the phone, and it took awhile for clients to get used to
that.
I had quite a few who would say, gosh, I thought I was going to
leave you a voicemail and Isaid, well, maybe you shouldn't.
And I do strive to get backwithin a day emails and things
like that.
But the more I can delegate outto stay available and
(19:00):
accessible to my clients, thebetter, and I'm doing more high
value activity by beingaccessible to them.
I'm not adding tremendous valueby being behind the monitor and
pressing buttons on trades, forinstance, and in doing so I do
recognize that my practice won'tgrow infinitely.
There is only a certain amountof time, no matter how efficient
(19:20):
I get, and I've accepted thatbecause, first and foremost, for
the clients that are alreadyworking with me.
They are accustomed to acertain level of service which I
do not intend to degrade from,and the other is anyone else
that I bring on who is a goodfit for what I do is going to be
that much more appreciative ofthe time that I can give to them
as well.
(19:41):
So I recognize that it might besomewhat limiting as far as the
number of clients I can workwith, but I'm going to have very
high value long-termrelationships with clients.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
And as part of that, you just mentioned earlier on
that you've acquired twopractices which I guess.
I'm just curious, it's whatwere the new clients' reaction
to this high-touch approach?
Because I don't think whatyou're describing is the norm
for most advisors.
I think it's we have three orfour meetings per year, but I
don't think that they'reanswering the phone if you call
(20:10):
their office.
For the most part I could bewrong.
And so, just out of curiosity,did you get any reaction or
notice anything different whenyou brought on these couple new
acquisitions?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, it was one of the clients that I work with as
a result of one of theacquisitions and I I offered to
do the house calls.
They're locals of the Phoenixarea, so I go and meet and I can
assure you that two existingclients now who I was introduced
by that client explained tothem I made house calls and that
(20:39):
may not be the only reason theychose me, but I'm sure that
that factored into the decision.
Very cool.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
One of the big things and I think we may have touched
upon this a little bit, but Iwant to explore a little bit
more, because you do talk aboutit in your book and it's just
the idea of emotional decisionmaking, and I'm just going to
frame it again where, literallyyesterday, today, this week, the
markets have been crazy and, aswe all know, there's a lot of
there can be fear and there canbe greed that drive decision
making, a lot of probablyirrational decision making.
(21:07):
Is there anything else you'dshare just about from the book
or just what you do day-to-dayin terms of how you guide or
coach your clients to makedecisions that are in their best
interest?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I try to do my best to prepare them at the very
beginning of our relationship.
So, upon the decision to workwith me or us to work together,
the first thing I will saytypically, as we're doing a sort
of a that risk assessment,looking at their existing
investments, how we're going toultimately invest that, and I'll
explain whether it's soon,whether it's far in the future.
(21:39):
However many times it happens,however long we're working, the
mark is going to go downsignificantly and you're
probably going to be tempted tomake a change in the investing
strategy.
Here's what I'm going to askyou when that happens.
I'm telling you the questionsnow so that you can be prepared
when that happens.
And I talk through it and it'snot scripted questions, it is
(22:01):
conceptual in nature and saying,okay, what significantly has
changed for you other than theexternal events, the things that
we can't control?
Nothing, oh, okay, how doesthat?
Or what's the trade-off ofselling into a down market and
realizing losses that aren'tactually losses until you take
action?
I tell a story about a clientwho I worked with for a long
time and they would callespecially early on and would
(22:24):
say, hey, am I losing moneytoday?
I'd say only if we didsomething unwise like sell today
and we wouldn't, we would talkabout assessing their risk
profile again and didn't makeany changes and ultimately never
did.
So it's about being veryproactive on the front end to
establish that I'm going to beconsistent on the messaging.
In fact, during COVID so justabout five years ago I fielded a
(22:47):
number of calls not everyone,but there was a healthy number
of calls, and rightfully so.
Clients were concerned and Ican't think of one that
capitulated and went to cash oranything like that and some
jokingly admitted hey, I've beenworking with you long enough.
I knew what you were going tosay.
I just wanted to hear you sayit out loud and I said if I'm
(23:08):
nothing, I'm consistent withthat.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I'm going to change the message based on what
external things I can't controlare going on, and that gets back
to the idea of, I think ofcomprehensive financial planning
is that you've helped yourclients get prepared for these
events.
And your point with a clientjust calling anyways, just
already anticipating your answer, just goes to the point.
Like myself, it's like I'm notcalling my advisor because
there's planning in place.
I already know what the futureis.
I don't.
(23:35):
If I call it, it'd be for thesame reason that your client
called you.
It's just like, hey, what'sgoing on?
But you know, I already knowthe answer.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah, I think of it now too, and this was funnily
enough with another advisor andI was visiting with them.
They happen to have their ownplane, private plane, small,
four seater I'd never been onanything other than a commercial
and we get up in the plane.
We're 13,000 feet, they'returning.
I never took the controls and Ididn't want to.
I was taking pictures andthings like that.
(24:02):
But I remember at one pointthey made the comment that said
hey, you don't look all thatconcerned or nervous up here.
And I said if you're not, I'mnot and I think of myself as
that pilot for my clients.
If they call and I'm panicked,then that's real cause for
concern and that can create someother difficult conversations.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Very cool and again getting into the idea of
comprehensive financial planning.
But it's not just investments.
One of the things that you hadmentioned was it also you look
at the tax implications, bothnow and in the future.
Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah, what we do is and it depends on each client,
where they are in theirinvesting lifetime, so to speak
we'll look to reduce the taximpact, not necessarily just in
the here and now, of course.
We're looking to do that andI'll coordinate with their CPA,
their tax preparer, to make surethat we're making coordinated
moves, all oars rowing in thesame direction, if you will.
(24:58):
But when it comes to the taxplanning, I'm thinking about
also creating tax-free wealth inretirement through either
contributions to Roth orcontributions to the Roth 401k
or even Roth conversions overtime.
I was just having thisconversation not long ago with a
client who has a rather sizableIRA and let's just say, for
(25:19):
illustrative purposes, it's amillion dollars.
I said, well, technically it'snot really a million dollars
because if you're the 22%bracket it's $780,000.
And in thinking in real dollars,I think turn the light bulb on
to help them understand.
Okay, we're not avoiding taxes.
But let's put it this wayWhatever we convert now, 10, 20,
30 years from now, is hopefullyconsiderably more, and it's
(25:43):
also tax-free on top of that,and that win is there.
So there's definitely an eyetoward efficient distributions.
So if clients have tax-deferredmoney, tax-free money,
non-qualified money, we're usingit in the most tax-efficient
manner on a distribution side.
If we're already at that stageFor those, who are accumulating
(26:03):
we're trying to accumulate asmuch as we can on the tax-free
side, within, of course.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Okay, so a couple of questions while we're just
wrapping up, and the first oneis for someone that's listening
to this, and if they don'talready have a copy of your book
, wealth your Way.
What is the best way for themto get a copy of your book?
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Right now they can find it on Amazon.
Wealth your Way and my name asthe author, of course.
That'll be the easiest way tofind it.
They can also contact methrough my website, just simply
urbanadamscom.
That's a really easy one toremember, hopefully.
And right now those two wayswould be the easiest way to get
a hold of the copy.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Perfect.
And for someone who's listeningto this, maybe they have your
book and they're ready for yourhigh touch, comprehensive
approach.
What is the best way forsomeone to reach out to you to
learn more about how you mightbe able to help them with their
own financial planning?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, there's a couple of ways, much like they
could with the book.
They can visit my website,submit a request online there to
request a meeting.
I'm happy to get that scheduledwith them and truly get a
better understanding.
It's great that they would havehad the background of reading
the book and that way hopefullyhave a little bit better idea
about me and my approach.
(27:15):
With the meeting we candetermine if that is indeed the
case and I'm open to speakingwith anyone about that.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
And you work with people both in Arizona but also
outside of Arizona as well.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yes, without a doubt.
So yes, certainly there's a.
There's a concentration ofclients here in Arizona where
I'm physically located, but I'vegot clients coast to coast all
time zones and really it's justa matter of if there's a
willingness to work remotely,for the most part happy to do
that.
I do visit clients.
I've been over the last coupleof years.
I've been to the Kansas cityarea, denver, southern
(27:48):
California, and if my personaltravels end up crossing paths
where clients live, I willalways let them know that way.
If there's an opportunity tomeet in person, I always seek
that out.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That's awesome.
Well, Urban, thank you verymuch for your time today.
I've enjoyed the conversationand congratulations on your new
book.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Paul, thanks very much, it was a pleasure.
What if your financial advisor didn't just
manage your money, but trulyunderstood your life?
In a world where digitalplatforms rule our finances, the
human touch can feel like athing of the past.
But today's guest, urban Adams,proves that personal connection
is everything.
So much so he still makes housecalls.
Welcome to the InfluentialAdvisor Podcast.
(00:23):
With 25 years of experience anda philosophy grounded in
stoicism, urban helps clientsfind that crucial balance
between enjoying the present andplanning for the future.
His new book, wealth your Way,challenges the traditional
mindset of endless accumulation,offering a more intentional,
values-driven approach tobuilding wealth.
(00:44):
If you've been looking for anadvisor who treats you like a
person, not just an accountnumber, you'll want to hear this
conversation.
Urban, great to see you.
How are you doing?
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I'm doing great, Paul .
How are you?
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I am doing fantastic.
I've been looking forward todoing this episode with you.
I know you recall this becausewe talked about it, but the way
that you and I met originallywas through a podcast, and so
this is exciting for me to comefull circle and have you as a
guest on my podcast, so it'sgreat to have you here.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Yeah, and great to be here and great to have reached
this milestone aspect of thatwhole process as well.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, definitely, and that's what we're gonna be
diving into in today's episodes.
You have just released your newbook, which we'll be talking
about, and just maybe a littlebit of the process.
First and foremost, I'd love tohave our audience just get a
better idea of who you are andyou can take the snippets that
make the most sense, but you'vebeen in this industry for a
while, so who is Urban Adams?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Thanks, paul.
And yeah, I'll spare us, sinceit's going on 25 years, if not a
shade more Now at this point.
I got into the industry rightbefore Y2K so 1999, I was on the
front lines talking toindividual investors and it just
so happened that maybe twoyears or so into it I had the
opportunity to join a burgeoningprogram.
(02:06):
That really got me anintroduction to the advisory
business, and it was for a verylarge broker-dealer firm dealing
with internal advisors.
So I was not serving as anadvisor at that point, I was on
the back office serviceoperations team.
But it really gave me anopportunity to be a little bit
of a student of the game, so tospeak, and over time, as I
(02:28):
learned more and more, I kept onputting that information in the
database there, and about 13years ago now I launched my own
practice.
I joined Dynamic, who affordedme the opportunity to build a
practice while I was still doingsome behind the scenes work for
them, for the advisors thatthey support.
And now here we are full-timeresponsibilities working on my
(02:49):
advisory practice, acquired acouple in the meantime and
really just excited this phase.
I never could have imaginedthis 25 years ago.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You're located in the greater Phoenix area, is that
correct?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
I am, yeah.
Primarily my clients arelocated in Arizona or the
Phoenix metro area, but I've gotclients all over been working
with for a number of years.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Yeah, you also acquired a couple of practices,
so that's a bold move.
Are those practices that youacquired?
Are they also in the Phoenixarea?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
They are and they were, while they were still
active, the advisors thatretired from the business.
I'd known professionally for anumber of years and had the
opportunity to build arelationship well in advance of
any discussions of a transition,so that really made it a smooth
process when we ultimately madethose two moves.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's awesome.
Let's jump into the main topichere.
So I'd love to have you shareabout your book Wealth your Way,
and what I find so interestingabout your book is that you've
taken your experience as anadvisor, but you have a unique
twist at least I think which isyou also have a background as
practicing stoic, and if you canexplain what that means for
someone that doesn't know it.
But you've twisted, you'veadded in elements of stoicism
(04:01):
into your overall philosophy offinancial planning, which is now
captured in your brand new book, Wealth your Way.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
So feel free to dive into that wherever you'd like to
.
Honestly, I could talk forhours about it, but I got
introduced in an early in mycollege career philosophy class
and admittedly I didn't do greatin the class of all things.
But what happened is over timeand not aiming for any shout
outs or anything like that, but2007, 2008, I read four hour
(04:29):
work week.
M Ferris inserts a great dealof stoic philosophy, although it
doesn't necessarily make it tooovert, but at the same time
recognize that there were a lotof principles in that book that,
quite frankly, I didn't knowhow they were going to shake out
at the time really have come tofruition in a way and I'm
certainly working more than fourhours a week, but what I mean
is the principles in there.
(04:50):
And then stoicism is more in thepractice and more in me taking
a focus on it.
That's been over the last fouror five years and have really
embraced that for a lot ofreasons.
One is that, let's face it, Itell clients virtually every day
that we deal in ambiguity.
There's so many unknowns, somany uncertain things that we
(05:12):
deal with on a day-to-day basis,working with our clients and in
a way, one of the tenets ofstoicism is embracing that
unknown, embracing the ambiguityin a way, and being open to
however things happen to evolveand roll out.
And I've really embraced thatto mold that to how I work with
my clients and how I help themdeal with the uncertainty of the
(05:35):
future and help relieve some ofthat stress or that anxiety.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
You mentioned in the book the 4-Hour Workweek, which
I'm a fan of, that it's notovert, right, it's kind of built
into it, but it's not overt.
So when you typically talk toyour clients, are you calling
out stoic principles or are youblending them into the overall
messaging?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
I will confess that sometimes I am using some of the
attributed quotes to some ofthe stoic philosophers not to
pull anyone out or not, but oneof the ones that is central to
what I do for my clients andbeing able to serve them
appropriately is I try to makesure that I remember at all
times the quote about the reasonwhy we have two ears and one
(06:14):
mouth, and that is to listenmore than we speak.
And the more I listen, the moreI learn and the better I can
help my clients.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Big picture.
I heard you say that.
In terms of stoicism,everything, a lot of what you do
in financial planning.
It's like the stock markettoday, right?
Literally it's up, it's downand sideways.
I mean what's going to happen?
Who knows?
We have a reasonableexpectation that over time it's
going to go up, but in terms ofthe short term it's kind of hard
to predict the future.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
Just kind of like big picture when it comes to your
clients.
Clients is there, like anycentral tenant, that stoicism
helps them embrace.
I believe, in reviewing yourbook, that one of the key
questions that comes up forsomeone that's in retirement or
planning for retirement is thatwe fundamentally don't know when
we're going to die, and so wesave for the future because we
want to be responsible.
(06:59):
But at the same time, how do weenjoy the now and make sure
that we're doing botheffectively?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
And.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I believe that you address that question in your
book, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
I do, and I really stress that in that I know that
I've got some clients who willnever come close to worrying
about spending down what theyhave, and I have others who are.
Maybe the margin of error isn'tas great, but at what cost do
you continually kick the candown the road of the things that
you want to do or you'd like todo or you're putting off?
(07:29):
And I share one story in thebook that talks about this
couple who went on a rather verynice vacation in Europe a
couple different destinations,river cruise and we spent a fair
amount of time planning forthat and how to do it in the
most tax efficient manner andalso assuage some of their fears
about whether or not it wouldhave an impact long term on
(07:51):
their financial plan.
And I met with them and wetalked about nothing other than
the vacation.
With the meeting after that,and not six months later, one of
the members of the couple hadpassed away from an unexpected
illness.
And I just remember reflectingnot only the fact that losing a
client that I felt dearly about,but the idea that if I had
(08:13):
discouraged this in some way orsomehow this didn't work out and
things happened the way theydid, I would have felt terribly,
and I want to stress that I'mnot the gatekeeper when it comes
to my clients and theirinvestments, their money I
remind them all the time it'stheirs.
My job is to help them managethe trade offs that exist for
(08:34):
any decisions they might makeand be a very loud no when I
know there's something that Itruly believe is detrimental to
their long-term plan.
But ultimately, they're thegatekeepers.
They say yes or no.
I'm there to help themsynthesize all that information
to make an informed decision.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
You find that more often, they're the ones that are
more conservative and are moreless likely to spend, and you're
the ones saying no, you canspend, you have the money.
Or is it the reverse?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
that I'm not simply a yes man for anything they want
to do, because I will, like Isaid, I won't be shy about
telling them anything that Ithink is not helpful in their
long-term plan or I think couldbe impactful.
But I am very much about thehey, I think you might be
holding this too close to thevest.
Go out and do it yourself,because none of us have an
amount of time that is promisedto us, and I remember there's a
something from Seneca about that, the on the shortness of life.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Another aspect of the book is that it's geared
towards both men and women, butI think there's a little bit
more emphasis at least onaddressing women's concerns and
their needs, and I understandthat you have three daughters,
and so tell me a little bit moreabout just your background
there and maybe in helping womenmore broadly, and what
specifically did you add to thebook that is unique for?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
women it's what I mentioned and what I was
thinking about as I was writingthe book is the fact that being
the dad of three daughters, Iwill say, had an influence on my
communication style.
There's no two ways about it.
The fact of the matter is andthey're all individuals, there's
a different way to interactwith all three of them.
At the same time, there aresimilarities in that All three
(10:11):
played supports to some degreeand I coach sports and you have
daughters, you're going to becoaching female athletes.
After a certain age group, theco-ed teams go away and it's all
female athletes.
And I learned a great deal fromother coaches members of the
national team for Team USA,learned from them and really
molded my style, and I'd beremiss if I didn't say it didn't
(10:33):
influence my style ininteracting with clients and it
wasn't anything that Ispecifically set out to do.
But I understand that, yes, ithopefully resonates with all of
my clients, but, in particular,and thinking back to the two
acquisitions, both of theretiring advisors were female
advisors.
It's probably not a surprisethat, to some degree, whether
(10:54):
it's my style, whether it's theway I communicate, whether it's
the listening skills that I'veworked to improve over time,
something resonates maybe alittle bit differently, and I'd
heard all of the you know theanecdotal things where advisors
talking, you know, has thehusband and wife in the office
and they're staring straight atthe husband and never or barely
(11:15):
acknowledge the wife in the room.
When talking about the financialplan, I've made a point to
insist upon making sure thatboth members of a couple are
engaged in the planningdiscussions, making sure that
they're both there and neitherone, regardless of gender, is
being removed from that processbecause, well, first of all they
(11:37):
have to be.
It's their plan to and they do.
But I have a client who wentthrough a rather long legal
separation, ultimately finalizedthe divorce, but was very
dependent on some thingspersonal finance wise from their
now former spouse.
And part of the effort over thelast four or five years in
working with this client ishelping them gain their
(11:58):
independence and not be asreliant on the former spouse,
regardless of the level of helpthey might be willing to offer.
It's about working on makingsure that they were independent
and what I aim to do is help bethat objective party in that
respect.
And if I'm the opposite gender,so be it.
And it goes back to lessonsthat I've aimed to teach my
(12:20):
daughters, and that is one offinancial independence for
themselves, so that they're notdependent on a mate or any other
person for that matter andhopefully that those principles
make its way through to theconversations that I'm having
with my clients.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
By extension to that, do you find that maybe the
single female clients versus themarried clients versus the
single men?
Are there different specificneeds that they come to the
table with, or is it more orless the same types of issues?
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I think there are other things that separate them
with the types of issues thatthey're dealing with is,
ultimately, whether it's singlemale, single female couple, you
name it whatever the clientrelationship is at its core.
The reason I think they'reworking with me is because it's
not simply about the unendingaccumulation of wealth.
(13:09):
It's about enjoying their liveswhile they're doing that and
making sure that the wealth thatthey accumulate affords them
the freedom of their time to dowhat they want.
And those are the clients,regardless of background.
Those are the clients whoultimately, I think, will enjoy
working with me.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
What is comprehensive financial planning versus
financial planning?
Speaker 2 (13:29):
It can certainly fall into a number of different
definitions.
As I define it, it's not onlymaking sure that we've got an
investing strategy for specificgoals that the client or clients
are looking for, but we'rebeing mindful of tax
consequences, not only in thehere and now but in the future.
We're taking into considerationtheir estate planning and
(13:51):
making sure that when thateventual time comes, when we
don't know, things are tied uppretty tightly.
We talk about risk managementwhen it comes to early in life,
whether it's using lifeinsurance or, later in life,
using some form of long-termcare insurance to help make sure
that that is as smooth asituation as possible, and we
also talk about the fact that,yes, between Social Security and
(14:14):
, potentially, pension incomefor those who are eligible,
we're managing that as far asthe overall picture is concerned
.
And if I were only managinginvestments for a certain
strategy, for a certain risklevel and this is the return we
got One of my colleagues manyyears ago said well, I could do
that.
It's like you telling me youwant to go from Phoenix to New
(14:34):
York, but you haven't told mehow many days you want to do
that or how many months, weeks,you want to take, whether you're
flying bus, train, justinvesting.
While it's very useful, it's avery important tool, don't get
me wrong.
But ignoring the other assetscould really derail any
investment results you mightachieve.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Just as you were saying that, I can see how you
embrace stoicism, because everysingle one of those things is a
high degree of uncertainty,right From investments to risk
management, to estate planning,to all these different things.
I mean, you can plan for them,but you never know when it's
going to happen or what's goingto happen.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
Exactly and embrace it however it evolves.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah.
So another thing that came upduring the process of working
with you to write the book isthat you have a very high touch
approach to your clients, andjust I'll frame it out where in
today's Internet world, andreally in today's AI world,
there's a lot of options thatare not high touch.
Tell us about your philosophybehind high touch, maybe share a
(15:36):
story or so about what thatreally means, and maybe even
just the future.
What does that look like goingforward in today's world?
Speaker 2 (15:43):
I think it evolved just out of my personality.
I'd always been that personthat sort of connects others.
My daughters would tease me andsay you can talk to anybody.
And I would back to my earliercomments.
I would say, no, but I canlisten to anybody.
The skill is in listening.
And what it really evolved fromis as I began working with
clients, many of whom werefriends well before I even
(16:07):
joined the industry.
Now, granted, I've earned otherclients along the way who
didn't know that background forme but were attracted to the
method in which I do business.
I've been iPad and iPhoneshopping with clients not really
acted as a consultant on a realestate transaction, but ask the
questions, the devil's advocate, questions that the client
(16:27):
needed to ask in order to get towhere they needed to be on that
decision.
And I find that, in the way Idescribe it to my clients, is if
you think it has anything to dowith your overall financial
picture, ask me.
I'll give you my thoughts.
I'll ask questions.
I'll ask questions, and a lotof the times I'm just asking
questions they hadn't thought toconsider asking and end up
(16:49):
getting the answers elsewhere.
I'm not the one telling themwhat to do or what not to do in
that case.
Just more of a.
Here are the things to consider.
Here's what I'd be thinkingabout.
If that were the case, and ifyou become that first in line
person with those things, you'vegot a better data set to help
clients with their plan.
(17:10):
You know so much more.
I shared recently that you know.
I've got a couple of widowedclients who were starting to
wade back into dating and onlinedating and companionship and
things like that, and while Iwas certainly grateful that they
shared it with me, furtherreflection says wow, imagine the
level of trust that they'rewilling to share that with me in
(17:33):
the first place.
Sure, and so I get to know myclients very well and what I try
to do is understand them thebest I can, so that all of the
nuance that comes into financialplanning.
Humans make decisionsemotionally plain and simple, so
I try to remove the emotionaldecisions out of it, but by
first understanding wherethey're coming from.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
I think that's fantastic.
I think who wouldn't?
Because what you're describingto me is really you become that
trusted advisor I thinkfinancial advisors aspire to be.
Is the person that the clientsactually trust and reach out to
and ask their, get feedback onthings that are meaningful
decisions for them, and so Ithink of that picture.
Perfect, or very well, I guess.
The question I have, though, isthere's only 24 hours in the
(18:15):
day and there's only seven daysin the week.
How do you manage all this?
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I certainly delegate out a lot of very important work
and it doesn't mean that Idon't have an arm's length
contact to it.
I leverage tools wherever Ipossibly can to ensure that the
most time available during theday is available for my clients
and I tell them and I've toldthem the entire time.
I've had my practice if youcall and it's Monday through
(18:39):
Friday business hours and I'mnot in a meeting, I'm going to
answer the phone, and it took awhile for clients to get used to
that.
I had quite a few who would say, gosh, I thought I was going to
leave you a voicemail and Isaid, well, maybe you shouldn't.
And I do strive to get backwithin a day emails and things
like that.
But the more I can delegate outto stay available and
(19:00):
accessible to my clients, thebetter, and I'm doing more high
value activity by beingaccessible to them.
I'm not adding tremendous valueby being behind the monitor and
pressing buttons on trades, forinstance, and in doing so I do
recognize that my practice won'tgrow infinitely.
There is only a certain amountof time, no matter how efficient
(19:20):
I get, and I've accepted thatbecause, first and foremost, for
the clients that are alreadyworking with me.
They are accustomed to acertain level of service which I
do not intend to degrade from,and the other is anyone else
that I bring on who is a goodfit for what I do is going to be
that much more appreciative ofthe time that I can give to them
as well.
(19:41):
So I recognize that it might besomewhat limiting as far as the
number of clients I can workwith, but I'm going to have very
high value long-termrelationships with clients.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
And as part of that, you just mentioned earlier on
that you've acquired twopractices which I guess.
I'm just curious, it's whatwere the new clients' reaction
to this high-touch approach?
Because I don't think whatyou're describing is the norm
for most advisors.
I think it's we have three orfour meetings per year, but I
don't think that they'reanswering the phone if you call
(20:10):
their office.
For the most part I could bewrong.
And so, just out of curiosity,did you get any reaction or
notice anything different whenyou brought on these couple new
acquisitions?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, it was one of the clients that I work with as
a result of one of theacquisitions and I I offered to
do the house calls.
They're locals of the Phoenixarea, so I go and meet and I can
assure you that two existingclients now who I was introduced
by that client explained tothem I made house calls and that
(20:39):
may not be the only reason theychose me, but I'm sure that
that factored into the decision.
Very cool.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
One of the big things and I think we may have touched
upon this a little bit, but Iwant to explore a little bit
more, because you do talk aboutit in your book and it's just
the idea of emotional decisionmaking, and I'm just going to
frame it again where, literallyyesterday, today, this week, the
markets have been crazy and, aswe all know, there's a lot of
there can be fear and there canbe greed that drive decision
making, a lot of probablyirrational decision making.
(21:07):
Is there anything else you'dshare just about from the book
or just what you do day-to-dayin terms of how you guide or
coach your clients to makedecisions that are in their best
interest?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
I try to do my best to prepare them at the very
beginning of our relationship.
So, upon the decision to workwith me or us to work together,
the first thing I will saytypically, as we're doing a sort
of a that risk assessment,looking at their existing
investments, how we're going toultimately invest that, and I'll
explain whether it's soon,whether it's far in the future.
(21:39):
However many times it happens,however long we're working, the
mark is going to go downsignificantly and you're
probably going to be tempted tomake a change in the investing
strategy.
Here's what I'm going to askyou when that happens.
I'm telling you the questionsnow so that you can be prepared
when that happens.
And I talk through it and it'snot scripted questions, it is
(22:01):
conceptual in nature and saying,okay, what significantly has
changed for you other than theexternal events, the things that
we can't control?
Nothing, oh, okay, how doesthat?
Or what's the trade-off ofselling into a down market and
realizing losses that aren'tactually losses until you take
action?
I tell a story about a clientwho I worked with for a long
time and they would callespecially early on and would
(22:24):
say, hey, am I losing moneytoday?
I'd say only if we didsomething unwise like sell today
and we wouldn't, we would talkabout assessing their risk
profile again and didn't makeany changes and ultimately never
did.
So it's about being veryproactive on the front end to
establish that I'm going to beconsistent on the messaging.
In fact, during COVID so justabout five years ago I fielded a
(22:47):
number of calls not everyone,but there was a healthy number
of calls, and rightfully so.
Clients were concerned and Ican't think of one that
capitulated and went to cash oranything like that and some
jokingly admitted hey, I've beenworking with you long enough.
I knew what you were going tosay.
I just wanted to hear you sayit out loud and I said if I'm
(23:08):
nothing, I'm consistent withthat.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I'm going to change the message based on what
external things I can't controlare going on, and that gets back
to the idea of, I think ofcomprehensive financial planning
is that you've helped yourclients get prepared for these
events.
And your point with a clientjust calling anyways, just
already anticipating your answer, just goes to the point.
Like myself, it's like I'm notcalling my advisor because
there's planning in place.
I already know what the futureis.
I don't.
(23:35):
If I call it, it'd be for thesame reason that your client
called you.
It's just like, hey, what'sgoing on?
But you know, I already knowthe answer.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Yeah, I think of it now too, and this was funnily
enough with another advisor andI was visiting with them.
They happen to have their ownplane, private plane, small,
four seater I'd never been onanything other than a commercial
and we get up in the plane.
We're 13,000 feet, they'returning.
I never took the controls and Ididn't want to.
I was taking pictures andthings like that.
(24:02):
But I remember at one pointthey made the comment that said
hey, you don't look all thatconcerned or nervous up here.
And I said if you're not, I'mnot and I think of myself as
that pilot for my clients.
If they call and I'm panicked,then that's real cause for
concern and that can create someother difficult conversations.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Very cool and again getting into the idea of
comprehensive financial planning.
But it's not just investments.
One of the things that you hadmentioned was it also you look
at the tax implications, bothnow and in the future.
Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah, what we do is and it depends on each client,
where they are in theirinvesting lifetime, so to speak
we'll look to reduce the taximpact, not necessarily just in
the here and now, of course.
We're looking to do that andI'll coordinate with their CPA,
their tax preparer, to make surethat we're making coordinated
moves, all oars rowing in thesame direction, if you will.
(24:58):
But when it comes to the taxplanning, I'm thinking about
also creating tax-free wealth inretirement through either
contributions to Roth orcontributions to the Roth 401k
or even Roth conversions overtime.
I was just having thisconversation not long ago with a
client who has a rather sizableIRA and let's just say, for
(25:19):
illustrative purposes, it's amillion dollars.
I said, well, technically it'snot really a million dollars
because if you're the 22%bracket it's $780,000.
And in thinking in real dollars,I think turn the light bulb on
to help them understand.
Okay, we're not avoiding taxes.
But let's put it this wayWhatever we convert now, 10, 20,
30 years from now, is hopefullyconsiderably more, and it's
(25:43):
also tax-free on top of that,and that win is there.
So there's definitely an eyetoward efficient distributions.
So if clients have tax-deferredmoney, tax-free money,
non-qualified money, we're usingit in the most tax-efficient
manner on a distribution side.
If we're already at that stageFor those, who are accumulating
(26:03):
we're trying to accumulate asmuch as we can on the tax-free
side, within, of course.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Okay, so a couple of questions while we're just
wrapping up, and the first oneis for someone that's listening
to this, and if they don'talready have a copy of your book
, wealth your Way.
What is the best way for themto get a copy of your book?
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Right now they can find it on Amazon.
Wealth your Way and my name asthe author, of course.
That'll be the easiest way tofind it.
They can also contact methrough my website, just simply
urbanadamscom.
That's a really easy one toremember, hopefully.
And right now those two wayswould be the easiest way to get
a hold of the copy.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Perfect.
And for someone who's listeningto this, maybe they have your
book and they're ready for yourhigh touch, comprehensive
approach.
What is the best way forsomeone to reach out to you to
learn more about how you mightbe able to help them with their
own financial planning?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Yeah, there's a couple of ways, much like they
could with the book.
They can visit my website,submit a request online there to
request a meeting.
I'm happy to get that scheduledwith them and truly get a
better understanding.
It's great that they would havehad the background of reading
the book and that way hopefullyhave a little bit better idea
about me and my approach.
(27:15):
With the meeting we candetermine if that is indeed the
case and I'm open to speakingwith anyone about that.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
And you work with people both in Arizona but also
outside of Arizona as well.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Yes, without a doubt.
So yes, certainly there's a.
There's a concentration ofclients here in Arizona where
I'm physically located, but I'vegot clients coast to coast all
time zones and really it's justa matter of if there's a
willingness to work remotely,for the most part happy to do
that.
I do visit clients.
I've been over the last coupleof years.
I've been to the Kansas cityarea, denver, southern
(27:48):
California, and if my personaltravels end up crossing paths
where clients live, I willalways let them know that way.
If there's an opportunity tomeet in person, I always seek
that out.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
That's awesome.
Well, Urban, thank you verymuch for your time today.
I've enjoyed the conversationand congratulations on your new
book.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Paul, thanks very much, it was a pleasure.
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