Advisor Spotlight: Raymond
A Bit About Raymond
Raymond works hard and plays hard. While very diligent in his financial work, he also believes that money and hard work can be enjoyed now as well as later in life with the right financial decisions. Learn more about what makes Raymond a talented advisor in the industry.
Raymond, tell us a bit about yourself!
“I was born and raised in San Francisco in the Sunset District. I later moved to the East Bay to Hayward and I am now situated in San Leandro. I have a Bachelor's degree in Business Economics and I am a Certified Financial Planner (CFP)..
I recently adopted my first dog with my fiancée and it has been a wonderful experience so far.
I have been known to write lengthy emails (sometimes even called “novel emails) to provide clients with a detailed response and explanation around my advice. But don’t worry: I have learned different writing styles over the years to adapt to each clients’ needs.
While as a financial planner, I am constantly reviewing the numbers and following industry standards when it comes to topic discussion but I also treasure the fact that “money is also made to be spent” and to enjoy life now and to spend as much time with your loved ones.”
What does “Financial Wellness” mean to you as an advisor?
“Financial wellness to me is the ability to live a healthy financial life that YOU choose for yourself. This means taking control of your financial health now as well into the future while understanding the tradeoffs of your actions today.
By understanding your finances, money habits, and setting goals for yourself, this provides reasons behind why you are saving. This prepares you to take the steps needed to achieve your goals while consistently aiming to improve your quality of life are all part of financial wellness.”
If I were new to my financial wellness journey, what is some advice you would share?
“So much of what we talk about stems from having a strong foundation which includes understanding your finances and being aware of the options you have to ensure your assets are working for you.
A big component of our advice revolves around budgeting and spending within our means. While creating a budget is not the funnest thing to do, it is a very important exercise to understand where you are spending your money in comparison to how much you are bringing in. It is important to set a threshold for how much you spend allowing you to determine how you want to budget your lifestyle expenses.
By seeing the full picture and understanding your budget, this is a great start to learn more about options to take control of your finances. “
Do you have an exciting client success story you can share?
“One of my favorite client success stories was assisting a client get out of debt by understanding more clearly his different types of income including equity compensation and understanding his cash flow through budgeting. This was a difficult situation as much of the savings were used to provide support to his parents.
While this was a goal of his to continue to provide support, there were no boundaries set around spending for himself or his parents, which usually caused a deficit in spending and a delay in achieving his own financial goals. We were able to limit the deficit by discussing how best to think of his equity compensation and create a strategy to liquidate in a tax-efficient manner.
He also had to have a heart-to-heart discussion with his parents so they could understand his goals as well as setting thresholds on certain spending.
Over a year of incorporating this change mentally and through his budgeting, he was able to become cash-flow positive and he started saving more towards his lifetime goal of purchasing a house for himself. We were able to create an environment with a mixture of equity compensation, liquid assets, retirement contributions, and setting certain goals to achieve over the next few years.
He also was able to understand all of his finances, how much he could save, and knowledge around the process of purchasing a home. He is now in a much better situation and has achieved one of his goals while setting himself up for more success in the future.”
