Advisor Spotlight: Nathan
A Bit About Nate
Nate is the CEO of DiversiFi Capital and has years of experience in the financial world—specifically having served the tech industry since 2010. Although he currently is not taking on new clients, his leadership and insights are what sets DiversiFi’s advisor team apart from the field.
Nate, tell us a bit about yourself!
I was born and raised in California. My wife and I recently had our first child in early 2023 after several years of trying.
Personally, I had two major influences on my path toward being a financial planner. When I was around 12 years old, my mother taught me how to write a budget and how to use Microsoft Money to create a financial plan. She got me into investing during the Dot Com bubble.
My second influence has been my passion for sports. While I’m certainly no professional athlete, I have a nerdy obsession with sports statistics and fantasy sports, which made for an easy crossover into stock market investing.
What does “Financial Wellness” mean to you as an advisor?
To me, financial wellness comes in three stages:
Stage One: You no longer have to worry about your day-to-day spending and debt management strategies. Accomplishing this means that you are still consistently saving 20% or more of your income every month, and you no longer stress about being able to afford vacations, personal luxuries, etc.
Stage Two: You’ve grown your net worth large enough that you can rely on it to provide you time off between jobs. I often see too many clients who are nervous to have a lapse in employment—that is how most of us are wired. However, having a job gap can often provide clients with improved mental clarity to better understand what move is best for their life, family, and career.
Stage Three: The ultimate stage of financial well-being! You no longer work for financial gain but rather for career curiosity, pride, and enjoyment. Some may call this stage “retirement,” but others truly enjoy their work and find purpose in continuing.
Nate, what’s your advice to someone just starting on their financial wellness journey?
It’s become cliche but it’s true: save early and save often. The power of compounding is such an incredible tool that can help pave the path towards financial wellbeing much sooner for you.
As a planner, I’ve been able to witness so many incredible people in their 30’s and early 40’s who really get to call the shots with their careers because they positioned themselves to save early and save often at a young age.
What are some of your favorite aspects of working with new clients?
While I’m currently not accepting new clients, it’s always fascinating to me when I work with a client that has 50% or more of their investable assets tied to their employer’s stock.
Oftentimes it’s due to inaction or nerves, but during much of the 2010’s it was also because of market hype. Working within this situation, I uncover psychological barriers that must be overcome to move the client toward a more well-diversified portfolio for long-term wealth. Helping clients overcome those barriers is one of my favorite aspects of my job - it’s very rewarding!
Do you have an exciting client success story you can share?
One that comes to mind is a client that I’ve had since 2010 when I first started in the industry. At the time, his company provided stock options; when we met, those stock options were underwater. Unfortunately, we had to let them expire worthless.
The company switched over to an RSU plan, and the client continued to stick it out. Over the past 13 years, that company has now grown to be one of the top 10 stocks by market cap in the entire market!
This particular client also worked incredibly hard to work his way up the ladder and has now settled in as a VP. Reflecting, I’ve seen our planning discussions go from, “this $1M home is going to be a bit of a stretch for you; maybe it’s better to keep renting” to him now owning a beautiful $10M+ home in a premier Bay Area city, allowing his significant other to retire, and affording lavish extended vacations with his family that undoubtedly form core memories for his children.
What makes it even better is that he’s managed to stay grounded and incredibly appreciative of everything that has come his way. Our next step is ensuring that his wealth will continue as generational wealth for his children and beyond.
