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Planning For Success
As we prepare to start a new year, many of us will pause to look at the future. This is a thought leadership piece to help you look at your financial future as part of your vision, goals and planning.
In a previous article, I outlined Pivotal Growth’s System for Success. Soon after it was published, a former client sent a note. Michael Yhip, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager and Wealth Advisor, felt we had missed an important element of success: wealth. He shared the importance of a financial vision. He wanted to raise awareness on the effort involved to incorporate wealth, lifestyle and happiness into the success equation.
Core to his philosophy is the need to bridge the gap between work and success. In Michael’s view, work must translate into your aspired lifestyle, wealth and happiness. Michael is the successful the leader of Michael Yhip Wealth Partners, a highly regarded practice with RBC Dominion Securities. He and his team are known for their passion in helping clients become strategic planners as they grow, manage and enjoy their wealth.
If you have nagging concerns or don’t feel settled about your financial health, there’s opportunity. The key is to understand how you define success. Here’s how Michael solves this for his clients.
We also asked Michael to share more about his philosophy, including what he thinks professionals should be doing to focus on their financial futures. Here’s what he offered.
How do you define wealth?
The best definition of wealth I have heard is the ability to do what you want, when you want, where you want, and with who you want.
What is the success you want your clients to realize?
It’s not necessarily about a number, but where they've connected their business and personal vision into a sound financial plan that takes care of their family and employees right now, and in the future. At the end of the day, be happy and content.
How do you help your clients realize their lifestyle goals?
The biggest way is trying to help our clients draw a straight line from business success into their lifestyle goals. For business owners, realizing ambitious growth in wealth is not a trivial process, and the help we provide should result in significant value created during the process in terms of dollars and time. Our engagement ensures the basics are covered first, like planning, tax minimization strategies, thoughtful investment management, risk management (insurance) and estate planning. Most families have gaps in these areas of wealth management. Once these areas are covered, we provide strategic advice around how clients can better grow the value of all their assets, including their business, and can extend to M&A discussions, succession planning and charitable strategies.
What do you think is holding people back from translating their work into success?
There may be many reasons, but a common one is not finding skilled advisors early on in their journey that can think ahead. The biggest thing we notice is that smaller business owners generally don’t have advisory teams. Medium and large business owners tend to have better teams around them, including advisory boards. Having great advisors around you at every stage of your personal and business growth is a wonderful cheat code in life.
What else do you want ambitious professionals to think about as part of their system for success?
Having a plan to realizing their goals in ALL areas of their life, such as family, friendship and the community, and implementing and executing that plan relentlessly. Ultimately, I think this is key to being happier.
What holds successful leaders and entrepreneurs back from realizing their wealth potential?
I think the traits that make them successful, such as the ability to move quickly, pivot and focus intently on their business, is the reason some feel fairly disconnected and disorganized on their wealth.
They believe that if they have more sales calls or drive more revenue, this will lead to growth in personal wealth. In many cases, it only results in burnout and business instability. Growing wealth requires a more strategic approach than just running faster on the hamster wheel. I’ve been personally guilty of this mindset in my career.
Wealth management requires longer term focus in areas that require skilled guidance, and many business owners don’t feel they have the ‘time’ to put things together.
Michael has offered several points about our financial habits, including a financial formula to reflect on. As you slow down over the holidays, make time to plan or refresh your focus on your financial future. Start working on your wealth goals by investing time. This includes time to set a vision and goals, build your advisor and mentor network, and execute.
Ask yourself: How do you connect your work and life for success?
Michael is one of the professionals I met when I worked with RBC. We did some great work and had fun in our time at RBC Capital Markets. I’m proud to say that I have coached Michael and his team. He has built an ecosystem of professionals to surround himself and his clients. His relentless passion to help his client’s success sees him connecting his clients with skilled advisors.
My work with Michael let me experience his approach to working with clients. Even today when we catch up, he’s interested in my work and helping my success. He’s focused on the future and planning for what’s next.
Michael Yhip, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager and Wealth Advisor
Michael Yhip leads the award-winning advisor practice Michael Yhip Wealth Partners at RBC Dominion Securities Inc. His work has earned him RBC’s coveted Donald J. Langill Memorial Award, as well as the title of 67th President of RBC Dominion Securities’ President’s Club.
Michael started his career as an investment banker in the late ‘90s. He then went on to build RBC’s national interest rate risk management business for commercial clients. In 2006, when he started his own hedge fund, Michael began to recognize his ability to think differently, create value, and solve unprecedented business challenges. It was here that Michael realized that investment returns alone did not provide what his clients needed most. He now uses a combination of his continuous learning, practical experience, and passion for his client’s success to realize superior outcomes for his clients.
Lisa W. Haydon is a business leader and entrepreneur with over 30 years of operational experience leading teams in banking, capital markets, technology and professional services. Lisa’s instinct for sorting through business complexities, understanding distinctive leader personalities, and realizing results compelled her to leave a corporate career and become an entrepreneur.
Her company, Pivotal Growth, introduced a technology tool for leadership development assessment and planning. The suite of tools offers diagnostic capabilities to synthesize and accelerate people performance.
Lisa’s skills and the Pivotal Growth product help companies enhance their performance and support leaders achieving greater confidence and success.
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