Ryan Gomez, CFP®’s Post

Most people are one tragedy away from being wiped out financially... This doesn’t have to be you - But if you: -Keep less than $10k in savings 💵 -Don’t have enough auto insurance 🚗 -Aren’t covered by any kind of disability insurance 🏥 Any layoff, car crash, or health problem can ruin your finances… ON TOP of these events having already turned your life upside-down. Look, I know people who had SIGNIFICANT incomes (I’m talking $200k+) & were in this same exact boat. They put off planning too - Until it was too late. I’ve had to speak with people who: -Had to move back with their parents in their 30s due to a layoff 💼 -Pay $75k out of pocket because they got in a bad car wreck 🚙 -Watch their family go from living good to food stamps 🎟 Most people don’t want to think that bad things can happen to them because it’s unpleasant. And when you’re dealing with the day-to-day, it’s not easy to find time to look ahead. Taking a couple hours to sit down & hash out a plan can change everything. Make sure you have a backup plan in case things go wrong financially.

I work on financial plans for $10M+ clients every day. The hardest part of building wealth? Getting started - Most of these clients admit they wouldn’t be where they were if they weren’t given a push to start putting money away early on. The first advisors at my firm started 50+ years ago & they’ve been able to help people build up to being multi-millionaires by: -Getting them started with a financial plan to hit their long-term goals 🎯 -Checking in each year & making sure they’re on track 📈 -Growing alongside their clients through the years ✅ What most people forget - Investing is just a small piece of financial planning. It also includes: -Tax Reduction Planning 💰 -Insurance Analysis 📝 -Wealth Transfer 💸 -And More ➕ If you really want to build wealth - Get started early. And if you help getting there, reach out. We’ve helped people get there.

You have a ton of company stock. But instead of it going up with the market, it’s tanking. You have a few options here: 1 - Take the loss & sell your stock 📉 2 - Set a price where you will sell the stock in the future 📈 3 - Hold the stock indefinitely 💰 1 - Take the loss Oftentimes one of the better options, because you can: -Diversify into different assets 🗃 -Potentially use that loss to help reduce taxes 💰 It never feels good to ‘lose’ money on a stock… But it’s often a good call to make as you never know what the future will hold for your company. 2 - Sell At Set Price Another great option, but keep in mind that: -The company stock may never reach your set price ⌛ -You’ll want to place a Limit Order to make sure it sells automatically  ✅ 3 - Hold Stock Indefinitely It can make sense to hold the stock indefinitely, if you: -Are okay with the possibility of losing that money 📉 -Make sure to limit your company stock to 10% of your net worth 🔽 The best thing to do? Make sure you have a plan in place BEFORE your company stock tanks.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received: “Do good things to others & good things will come back to you.” My 86-year old business mentor told me this on a call this week. He had an insanely successful career in sales & later in financial planning. How he did it: -By constantly learning 🎓 -Always doing right by his clients 📝 -Making sure people actually understood what they were buying 💭 He had plenty of opportunities to get some big-time deals or clients by overpromising. But he’d say: -“Your reputation is worth more than any one deal or client” - 👨💼 -“Doing the right thing might be slower in the short term..” .⏳ -”But brings riches in the long-term.” ✅ Even though he may have been out of the game for a while… And just can’t seem to comprehend how some of my best clients “Come from the internet.” - The baseline lessons he teaches still hold true. Now he’s using the money he made to take his grandchildren around the world & to donate to local charities. Make sure you're putting “Doing the right thing” ahead of making a quick buck. Because it’ll end up paying off in one way or another. As he’d tell me, “Ryan, what goes around comes around.”

I’ve known these guys for well over 10 years now. It might sound ridiculous - But it’s all because I make sure to put some cash away for my “social budget” every weekend. It’s not always spending on dinner & drinks. Spending time doesn’t always mean spending a ton money, sometimes it’s a: -Day Hike ⛰ -Beach Day 🏖 -Board Game Night 🎲 But I don’t know if anything can beat some mole & margaritas at Guelaguetza. 🍻 Make sure you’re allocating enough cash in your “social budget” Material goods are temporary - But relationships can last a lifetime.

You have a ton of RSUs vesting… But have no clue what to do with them. There are three main things to consider here: 1 - What to do with the RSUs 💵 2 - The taxes due on the vested RSUs 🎁 3 - The taxes due on the sold RSUs 📝 A lot of information here, but I’ll try & break it down. 1 - What To Do With The RSUs 🔽 You can do a few things with your RSUs: -Keep the company stock 🏢 -Sell the stock & diversify 💸 -Sell the stock to spend 💰 Unless you have an upcoming big cost (down payment, etc.) to use the money for, I typically recommend selling the RSUs & diversifying once they vest. If you do want to keep some company stock, try to limit it to 10% of your net worth. 2 - Taxes Due On Vested RSUS 🔽 The RSUs are considered extra income & are taxable. Most people will automatically have 22% withheld (Which might not be enough). This can be a BIG problem if your income bumps you into a higher tax bracket. You’ll want to do some research or work with your financial professional to make sure you have the tax situation covered. 3 - Taxes Due On Sold RSUs 🔽 If you sell immediately (As I advise most clients) this is minimal because the stock price hasn’t moved much. If you choose to wait, things get more complicated… To make things simple: -If you sell within a year - Taxed as Ordinary Income  -If you wait at least one year - Taxed as Capital Gains Make sure you have a plan for your equity compensation - If you don’t you could get taxed big-time.

You can’t decide between that beach getaway & saving for the future. If you play your cards right, you don’t have to - It’s all about getting your priorities straight. How I help clients work through this: ⬇ Back into what you need to save for their future goals, this can be: -Financial Independence 🎯 -Future Down Payment Savings 🏠 -Saving For Kid’s College Education 🎓 Make sure you know what your fixed expenses are: -Rent or Mortgage 💰 -Groceries 🛒 -Utilities ⚡ After money’s set aside for future goals & fixed expenses, all what’s left is fun money: -Travel 🌎 -Hobbies ⛳ -Eating Out 🍽 -Drinks With Friends 🍻 This way, you know you’re on track for your goals, have the basics covered, & can spend the rest on what you enjoy. What are you spending your ‘fun money’ on right now?

You won’t hear this from most financial planners: Don’t invest, spend it on yourself. The often overlooked secret - High Income > Investing If you put the work in, your income will increase MUCH faster than most traditional investments would. Just a few ways to increase your income: -Coaching 👨🏫 -Courses 💻 -Books 📕 These all have their tradeoffs: -Coaching - High Cost / Quickest Results ✅ -Courses - Medium Cost / Medium Time Investment  -Books - Low Cost, Long Learning Curve ⏳ I dropped $300 on a coaching program this month, which helped to reduce a client’s taxes this year by: -$160k using their $2M rental property 🏠 -$3k through tax loss harvesting 📉 -$1.5k with their HSA 💊 And that’s all for this year, all these strategies can be used multiple times. My goal is to save client’s more money through tax planning than what I charge them… You think spending $300 to help save a client $164k will pay off? I sure do. This will look different than it will for me… But no matter what area of the tech world you work in: -Sales 📞 -Marketing 💻 -Customer Success ✅ Reinvesting in yourself is absolutely worth it. But having money set aside for professional development is never a bad call. How are you all reinvesting in yourself?

“Life is like ice cream, enjoy it before it melts.” Heard this from a Pakistani guy in the Berlin subway at 3:00 AM. To back up - I missed a prior train so ended up getting to the city late. We’re both waiting for the subway & he strikes up a conversation. He saw that I looked like a classic backpacker: -A giant bag to haul all my clothes around 👖 -Sandals hanging off my backpack 🎒 -Had maps up on my phone 🗺 He asked what I was doing in Germany & started telling me a little more about himself. He was a software engineer & used to work 80 hour weeks in London. But quit after 5 years - The juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze, now: -He makes a little less living in Berlin 💵 -But works half as many hours ⏳ When I work with clients - We take a similar approach. “Save what you need & spend the rest.” Don’t get me wrong, my clients kick A** during the work week. They’re mostly Account Executives or Customer Success in the tech space & keep full calendars. But when they’re off, they want to enjoy the money they’ve worked hard to make. What does your balance look like?

Here’s the truth: Spending your time investing is losing you money. What I see when I go over investment statements with new clients: -20+ different stocks or mutual funds 🏦  -No real rhyme or reason behind the investments 💭 -A lack of alignment between their assets & their goals 🎯 Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than not getting started in the first place. But almost every time, they’re doing worse than they aren’t getting as much out of their investments as they should. You’re missing out on well over $5 MILLION - Here’s how: On average, stock market investors earned 5.5% less than the S&P 500 in 2023. Example - You’re someone who: -Makes $200k 💰 -Invests 15% of their income  -Starts at age 30 & looking to stop working at 65 The gap is $5,685,832.51. A breakdown: 30 years of growth at a 10% return (S&P 500 average returns): $8,130,731.05 30 years of growth at a 4.5% returns (10% minus 5.5%): $2,444,898.54 That’s a lot of cash to give up by trying to play the stock market. Make sure you have a plan in place when you’re investing.