If there’s one holiday that should especially resonate with financial advisors, it’s the 4th of July – a celebration of our nation’s unyielding and relentless desire for self-determination. After all, it was that same fundamental yearning for independence that propelled most of us to take a step into the unknown and launch our own firms.
The allure of independence is extremely compelling – calling all the shots, no more limited payouts, long-term equity ownership and an ability to align the business with your core values and beliefs. But perhaps there’s no stronger case to be made for blazing your own path than the opportunity it affords you to act in an unencumbered fiduciary capacity for your clients.
There’s one particular sentence in the Declaration of Independence which reads:
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
It’s a sentiment (albeit a strongly worded one) that could serve as a “bill of rights” for each and every client who entrusts you with his or her financial future. While your name may not be Hancock, Jefferson, Adams or Franklin, you nevertheless follow in their footsteps by passionately advocating for and acting in the best interest of those whom you serve. This is a truly noble profession – one that directly impacts the lives of the individuals we work with, future generations of their family, and the philanthropic causes they support.