Build Your Professional Team (WHW #8) HD

Back with another Wealth Hack Wednesday! Today I want to talk about the importance of building a professional team around you. Especially if you have any desire for building wealth. ️ If you are watching, and you are saying to yourself “I am not a business owner or entrepreneur, how does this apply to me?” It does. Let me share a story about how it does. I was deployed to Iraq, I had two years of tax returns that I hadn’t filed yet. (When you go overseas you don’t have to file until you get back). I didn’t know where to go, I didn’t have an accountant. So my wife and I went to Walmart to one of the tax services that were set up there. Now, did they do the job? Yes. But they didn’t ask many questions about what we wanted to do in the future. They didn’t offer any planning or consulting. As a financial planner, I knew that I needed to find a tax professional. I ended up hiring a CPA, because I wanted someone that wouldn’t JUST get the job done, but also help us prepare for our future. I thought about this today because my CPA is coming by and I have all my 1099’s spread out behind me. (I share one of my 1099’s to show you that I actually do earn a good amount of passive income). Back to talking about building a professional team - with my CPA, this is someone that I met in a networking group. I went to him for my own personal services, because I wanted to be able to refer him to other people. I have been working with him for 14 years, so he has watched me move from a W2 employee to a successful entrepreneur. He knows almost everything about me! He gets to see all the emotions of going through the growing process, the stress, the excitement, etc. He has been invaluable through all of that. But here is the thing, going back to before I hired him, I had this misconception that it was going to cost way more than I could afford. Was I prepared to hire a CPA? Why not just continue going to a service, like the one I went to at Walmart? When I compare the cost of what I spent at that service vs. what I paid my CPA the first year I used him, the difference was like $100. But for that additional $100 I had a Certified Public Accountant that asked me questions, offered advice, consulted with me, and had me and my wife thinking more about our goals and future planning. I can’t imagine how we would have accomplished what we did without him. I also have an attorney and a business insurance professional that we use. I have this group of business professionals that I can go to with questions on the topics that they specialize in. Having that team that surrounds you will contribute to you growing wealth so much faster than you trying to do it on your own or by using a service like TurboTax. You may save money with those services, but are you going to get those probing questions that are going to make you think and challenge yourself? I am going to say No, you are not. You may not feel like you are ready to hire a profess