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BlogJennifer Landon’s Financial Tips for Business Owners

Jennifer Landon’s Financial Tips for Business Owners

Financial Tips for Idaho Business Owners and Beyond

Journey Financial President Jennifer Landon was recently featured on the Idaho Business Podcast. In an episode titled “How to Manage Your Wealth,” Jennifer shares her insights on financial success for Idaho business owners. 

Enjoy these tips from an expert. Here are a few highlighted takeaways from Jennifer’s interview. 

Getting Started in Financial Advising

Jennifer started her career with a not-for-profit fraternal agency. There she built a knowledge base and developed a set of values for what would come next. 

“I knew what I wanted to build. I wanted to build a business that was very set on doing client-centric planning. I didn’t want any board of directors or any big shot company telling me what was best for my clients. It might have been a harder path, perhaps, than just joining an existing team with a big name on the door but we wanted to pave our own path.

There are a lot of good people in this industry that work in a lot of different types of offices… but for me it was important to have that independence, to be able to truly work in the best interest of my clients without any conflicts of interest.” 

What’s Your Favorite Part About the Financial Advising Industry?

One of Jennifer’s favorite parts of financial advising is “helping people with complex decision making.”

“There’s all these people who have done everything right… they get to the point where they’re trying to put together a good retirement plan and it feels overwhelming… the most intelligent people can feel overwhelmed. I really like helping people deconstruct the big decisions.

I really enjoy helping people who are going through big life decisions. You can feel overwhelmed, like the world is on your shoulders… I really like taking the complexity of finances off of their shoulders.” 

For Established Business Owners, What’s the Secret to Wealth Management?

Jennifer was asked to describe what goes into helping established business owners manage their wealth. When there’s investable cash, and a willingness to invest, what’s the game plan?

“We are all creatures of habit and the biggest thing we need to do is create good financial habits. As you grow and you mature in your business, those goals and targets that you’re trying to hit need to mature also. 

If you’ve already set up a savings plan, great, let’s push the envelope. Any business owner knows, if you’ve got money behind you then you have options… automate as much as you possibly can so you don’t have to constantly think about it. Set up a review schedule every three or four months. Reevaluate where you’re at and see if you need to move the marker.”

Do Business Owners Understand the Realities of Retirement Planning?

When it comes to retirement planning, Jennifer appreciates the savvy that business owners bring to the table. 

The average retiree builds up a “reservoir” of savings. They’ve built up their accounts and just want to make sure that the reservoir is big enough to withstand withdrawals over time. 

Business owners, meanwhile, are more about “rivers”, i.e. multiple revenue streams. 

“Most business owners think about money differently. They’re more about the river. They don’t care about the reservoir. ‘I’m much more about the cash flow. How do I create multiple streams of income so that I can retire differently?’ 

It’s really interesting if you’ve got a married couple. One of them’s ‘reservoir’, one of them’s ‘river.’ The reservoir person says ‘we don’t have any money!’ The river person says ‘What are you talking about? We’ve got all this money coming in every month!’” 

Jennifer notes that it’s possible to have both rivers and a reservoir: varied income streams that feed a growing and stable reservoir. 

How Should Business Owners Prepare for Inflation and Other Economic Shifts? Is Cash Trash?

The perfect investment has great growth, safety, access, and tax treatment. No investment hits each mark. 

“Do I hate cash? No, cash has a purpose. Cash’s purpose is accessibility, being there for that rainy day. But having excessive cash can be harmful. It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. 

If you’re trying to build up an emergency fund—everybody has this level that they feel like they need to have in order to feel good—whatever that level is, anything above that is unnecessary to keep in cash. 

If you want to talk about macro trends, we as a country are just swimming in cash… we’re near all-time highs on the amount of cash that’s on the sideline in corporate accounts, personal accounts, money market accounts. That is actually a good sign for the market, because nobody is going to hold onto cash as a long-term play. 

That cash is going to deploy… it’s either going to move into businesses, into buying goods or services, into the market, into real estate. But at some point it’s going to move. 

One of the best ways to hedge against inflation is to put your money to work.” 

Want More Financial Insights Like This?

Whether a high net worth individual, business owner, or just someone that wants to create a more financially secure picture for their future, we want to help you approach retirement with confidence. Contact us any time to speak with one of our financial advisors.

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