[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Welcome to Wealth Intelligence with Dominick d' Andrea where I break down the psychology, strategy and decision making behind real wealth. I'm Dominic d'. Andrea. Today I'm sitting down with Stefan Chitara, co founder and financial advisor at Dandora Wealth Management in Westbury, New York. He works with pre retirees, closely held businesses and high net worth families. And his practice is rooted in fiduciary guidance, communication and service.
What I love about this conversation is that it starts where great planning really starts. The human being behind the balance sheet.
Stephan, welcome to the show.
I want to open by making financial planning feel personal, grounded and emotionally intelligent. Before I talk about portfolios, retirement timelines or business wealth, I want viewers to meet the person behind the advice and understand why presence, trust and clarity matters so much in this work. Welcome Stefan.
Before I get into strategy, what do you want people to know about you behind the credentials, titles and financial language?
[00:01:24] Speaker B: First and foremost, Dominic, thank you for having me on your show.
Well, I really like to, you know, let my, let the viewers know who I am as a, as an individual, as a human.
I'm a husband, I'm a father or two. You know, I enjoy, you know, spending time with my family and friends.
Really I'm just your, you know, your typical Long island guy. And I just really like to,
[00:01:56] Speaker A: you
[00:01:56] Speaker B: know, and enjoy life as best as I can aside from the financial world we live in.
[00:02:05] Speaker A: Great.
To further extrapolate on that answer. When you step away from the office for family, beach days, golf or time in your church community, what brings you back to center?
[00:02:20] Speaker B: So all those things to me are so super important, you know, again spending time with my family in golf and you know, my church community, ultimately it's the reason why I do what I do. I help clients, you know, in the communities that I'm a part of. I help my friends and my family in my church community with financial services.
And what brings me back is, is, you know, to help more people right in the capacity in which we do right with, with the planning strategies that we offer to our clients.
So it's, it gives me more of a reason why to, to get back to work.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: Fantastic. So family values, church and life is what is the why of what makes you do what you do?
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Absolutely fantastic.
[00:03:19] Speaker A: That's very important. Family with all of us.
You work with people during high stakes financial seasons. What first pulled you into wealth management in a serious long term way?
[00:03:35] Speaker B: So growing up, my father was a business owner and I worked for his engineering firm doing some minor drafting and filing for him.
I noticed that, you know, he was on the grind every single day. And, you know, while he had a financial advisor, I really felt like my worry for him was that what would happen if he passed away? What would happen when he retired? Like, all these things came into my mind when I was, you know, a teenager and I worked for him, I met the financial advisor and he showed me how putting small amounts away over a consistent amount of time, over a long period of time in the right investment can compound and really allow you to build great wealth.
So, you know, once I met this financial advisor, I basically, I wish I took more of his advice, put more money away, but I really looked at him dead in the eyes and I said, hey, I want to do what you do.
So, you know, that was a start ultimately in my career and how I got started and, you know, you know the rest of the story. So it's, it's great to be here, you know, over a decade
[00:04:53] Speaker A: and just to extrapolate on that, you know, you're saying you're in the decade. What are some of your most enjoyable successes you've had? Do you have any good stories, value add you've given to clients or anything of the sort?
[00:05:06] Speaker B: I have so many stories to tell and you know, dami, you know, you know, I work together, but oftentimes you divide and conquer.
I want to say, early in my career, I think the best thing that I've ever done was just share wealth management strategies with some of my closest colleagues, closest friends, rather closest family members that, you know, have businesses and just didn't understand how real money works and how to build wealth.
I look back today, over 10 years later, and that specific, that certain individual now has three children, multiple businesses and properties, and a great amount of assets that they're continuing to build on, along with multiple insurance policies and accounts for their children. And it all started with a conversation about life insurance and a $50 a month Roth IRA.
So, you know, working with clients like that over a number of years and really having an impact and an influence on their financial future is really what drives me, I think on the flip side, I have another great story is, you know, working with those individuals that have saved for a long amount of time with variety of different financial advisors, but then narrowing down to one, you know, and choosing to end our wealth management as their, as their main financial planning facility and practice. And myself, you know, being the advisor yourself as well, and helping them with their estate planning needs and wealth transfer needs and, you know, making them feel extremely confident. And while they're retired and, you know, while it's being passed on to the next generation.
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Fantastic. Great answer. Your bio says one of your keys to success is being present in the moment and smiling. How does that mindset change the way you guide clients through stressful decisions?
[00:07:03] Speaker B: That's an excellent question because, you know, when the market's going up, down, left, right, and sideways and we're dealing with geopolitical issues or there are some personal issues that clients have to deal with that are probably that feel harder than some of the things that I just mentioned.
You know, I, I, I think when we have conversations with clients, we oftentimes naturally just allow them to take a, take a step off the treadmill of life and, and to understand what the core, what their core issues are and, and brings her issues to surface and to light.
And, you know, having those conversations and, and talking through some issues kind of naturally, you know, I guess helps them through their issues.
You know, I can tell them to smile as much as I can. I think when I show them a picture of my, my children, they naturally bring out a nice smile.
But, you know, having that mindset, I think it, you know, just keeping that in the back of my mind and continuing to continue to be positive for our clients, I believe it's a great message to them.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: So connecting with, on a personal basis and getting them, getting to know you as a, as a person, not just a financial advisor, has helped you build those relationships.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Oh, 100, I believe, I believe that's been a great, great way to connect with clients is, you know, just sharing personal, you know, exciting things that's happened in my life. My children really being the main, the main subject matter there. But the, but also, you know, just being there as a, as a guide for them and, and just a sounding board and think partner.
I think naturally, you know, when clients express themselves, I think there's a release there. And I think that through stressful moments, having someone to lean on can certainly get them better results.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Fantastic.
And lastly, when someone sits down with you for the first time feeling intimidated by money, what do you want them to feel by the end of that meeting?
[00:09:21] Speaker B: That's an excellent question. I ultimately want a client to feel more educated than they were prior to meeting with us.
And the reason for that is because, I mean, there's so much to learn in, in, in the world of financial planning. But if, as long as they understand their situation better and they know that they're at X and they need to get to Y, you know, we'll help them get there. But as long as they understand that they have a guide and they have a trusted advisor by their side, I want them to feel a little bit more confident knowing that it's, you know, it's easier than they may think by having a trusted advisor. So relief is the biggest feeling I want them to feel at the end of the meeting.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: That's fantastic. So basically they come to you with a problem and you want them leave the meeting saying, okay, this is someone that can help me solve whatever those goals problems are financially and understand There's a plan 100%.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: You hit the nail on the head. Dominican.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: Fantastic.
Great session.
Coming up next, I'm stripping away the confusion around financial planning and getting clear on what real planning actually means.
[00:10:46] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand, anytime you like. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast
[email protected].
welcome back to Wealth Intelligence with Dominic D'. Andrea. In this segment, I want to clear up one of the biggest misunderstandings in personal finance. Too many people think financial planning means picking investments, when in reality it should function like a decision making framework.
I'm shifting the conversation from product thinking to planning thinking. I want viewers to understand the strong planning connects goals, cash flow, risk, tax awareness, protection, behavior and time horizons into one coordinated strategy.
We have Stephan back for the next session and here's his first question. A lot of people hear financial planning and immediately think investments. When you say comprehensive planning, what does that really include? Stefan
[00:12:14] Speaker B: hey Don, thanks again for having me.
That's an excellent question.
Financial planning can mean so many things to so many people. I think how we articulate it is really helping solve a problem for a client, whatever that may be. And it can be a variety of different life stages that the client is in.
So we first and foremost understand the client's goals, understand what they've done so far and align their goals and their actions to create a full, you know, comprehensive financial plan. And what that means is protecting their loved ones and protecting their income and their assets, understanding the risk tolerance and making sure that that all aligns within their entire plan and the goals for their specific accounts and funding. Certain goals, you know, for different specific whatever they're specifically earmarked for, for example, college or saving for a vacation home, exotic car or what have you.
So soup to dots planning, you know, I and then coupling that with a contact, a point of contact, someone to Refer back to and give advice. A real human, not AI, someone that can actually pick up the phone and, and have a full conversation with. I think that's a recipe for success.
And that's our definition of financial plan.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: Fantastic. Great answer.
When someone comes to you for help, what blind spots do you see most often in the way they understand their own financial life?
[00:14:07] Speaker B: That's an interesting question. I think it's our job to discover some of those blind spots with the clients and you know, in the way we question and the way we converse with our clients and with prospective clients.
You know, oftentimes, you know, we'll find a blind spot in their financial portfolio and we'll find that, you know, they may not be taking on as risk or if they need or if they're too risky for their portfolio. Really there, there's a misalignment between what they want and what they have and what they're comfortable with.
And I believe our process our really hits nail on the head.
Using our risk analysis software and our financial portfolio assessment tools, we're able to find any blind spot that a client has potentially within their portfolio and constructing their positions.
Another blind spot is with their actual financial plan. If they have know more often, more often than not, we're seeing clients and they don't have a financial plan that they can rely on or they have, you know, in their, you know, we have in our client portals but they, you may have another file cabinet, you know, at home.
And, and the, the blind spot is if they're going to make it in retirement, right. If they're going to have enough money to live off of, you know, are they going to run out money? If, if they're going to run out of money, what year are they projected to run out? You know, and you know, is it index for inflation? Are they prepared for potential changes in the economy, in the market?
You know, all these things are questions that we ask and blind spots, if you will, that we try to cover as much as we can when we work, when we work with the client.
I hope that answers your question. Dominic Camera thought a little bit.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: Great answer.
The one thing I heard in there is that the way you help find those blind spots is using some technology and software in enhancing the planning process and helping them figure out where they need the most help and what will help them get to the point of their goals.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: 100%. Yeah.
In 2026, technology is your friend. And, and as a financial advisor, you know, of course you have to listen and the old, you know, yellow pad and asking notes and taking down notes is still there, it's still intact. But our technology allows us to streamline and deliver client, you know, reports and analysis in such a short amount of time.
And it gets us, I believe, the best results.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: Fantastic. Great answer.
Why should a real plan begin with values, priorities and goals instead of performance numbers or products?
[00:17:07] Speaker B: I genuinely love this question so much because we get graded oftentimes we get graded on how we're performing against each benchmark. And while that's a great way for us to assess our investment models and our portfolios, the whole purpose of financial planning is to, is to allow you to keep your values, allow you to keep your lifestyle. In the greatest golden years of your life is when you're not working. Right.
Ultimately it stems down and boils down to, you know, who you are as an individual, what your priorities are with your, whether it's your family, whether it's, you know, charity, whether it's, whatever the case may be there and your goals. Right. Because having that kind of emotional connection to, to money gives it a, a real purpose.
Fantastic.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: I couldn't agree more.
I a great answer. I could not agree more. It's, you know, it's really making sure we help, you know, you help out with the values and priorities and goals because product market's gonna get markets to be down. It's a long term plan, a long term strategy.
[00:18:20] Speaker B: Right. And beyond that, there's a great growth vehicle, you know, the growth ETFs or VAL, you know, value ETFs, defensive, whatever the case may be, they're a dime a dozen. But understanding why you're doing what you're doing, I think is, is the main, you know, main core key factor there.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Great.
If I want both short term confidence and long term wealth, what does my plan have to address that most people overlook?
[00:18:54] Speaker B: Well, first and foremost, you need great communication with your financial advisor. I think we'll start with that because that'll give you some real short term confidence.
Long term wealth is again understanding your risk and being in the right investments and having the right mindset and planning.
Especially if you're in the accumulation phase because you want to accumulate, you know, while you have a finite amount of time to start to save and invest.
You know, ultimately you want to know that you're putting away the right amount of money to, to get to your, to have enough to get to that end game right there.
So people overlook a genuine plan and a blueprint to follow. I, I believe, luckily Dan do our wealth manager. We provide that Information, we provide that knowledge for clients and we, that's a, you know, they have access to it at all times.
So planning is really overlooked. And it's not necessarily just, you know, the general term planning, it's specifically planning for certain goals with facts and figures and real data to follow.
[00:20:00] Speaker A: Great, thank you for that.
For the viewer who feels financially scattered right now, what is the first practical move that starts turning chaos into structure?
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Awesome question.
You know, we live in a chaotic world. So this, you know, this applies to a lot of people, you know, I would imagine. But I think really what it boils down to is taking things step by step, maybe taking a step back and asking or getting asked the right questions about what you want out of life and really what your goals are and you know, what means, what your priorities are, what, whatever, you know, what is, what does this all really mean to you?
And once you understand that part, you know, create a plan to conquer and to accomplish those goals step by step. Now it's not going to get done overnight.
You know, great things don't happen overnight. They happen in steps.
They happen by one, identifying the issue and two, finding the right solution to solve your problems.
Especially in a chaotic world. Just try to cancel all the noise, whether it's the news, whether it's social media, whether it's a toxic friend or relative.
Try to sit down with somebody who's a non biased third party as a sounding board, right? And you know, get, get your head and get your foot in the right direction so that way you can at least get somewhat of a head start.
Beyond that, there's also maintenance, we believe, right? It's, it's not just, you know, one day you're completely financially sound. It takes time, just like exercise, right? It's building good habits and you know, building good, building a good system
[00:22:14] Speaker A: and
[00:22:15] Speaker B: following that system, being committed to that system.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: That was great.
That was a great answer. And tying it back. I gotta believe that all this ties into, when you talk about the software and the tech, that that just helps get it all moving forward.
And I want to say right now, next, I'm focusing on the years right before retirement because the window is smaller, more emotional and more important than many people realize.
Welcome back. Stephan works closely with pre retirees and in this part of the conversation I really want people to lean into.
The years right before retirement are not just about accumulating more. They are about preparing for transition income, durability and peace of mind.
I want to help viewers understand that pre retirement is where the strategy has to Become more precise. This is where sequencing, income planning, lifestyle readiness, emotional readiness, all start to matter in a different way.
Welcome back. Stefan, you work closely with pre retirees. What makes that season more financially important? Sorry, let me start that over again.
Staphon, you work closely with pre retirees.
What makes that season more financially important than many people realize?
[00:24:11] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question, Dom. So being a pre retiree means that you have probably, I would say, within five to seven years of retirement, right? So you have a few years, really, to just get it right.
And what makes it really important is that, you know, you have to have the precise planning intact and in play to get the best results. Well, one, you know, ultimately you don't want to have to go back to work, right? You want to make sure that, you know you have enough to live off of and you have the right plan to follow to get you through to retirement.
So there's a bit pressure, right? Pressure's on when it comes to retirement planning because if you don't have it down, packed up, you know, you may have to change some of your lifestyle. And that's the sad news that we may have to tell clients if they're not fully fair.
I think that quick thing that covers it.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: No, that's fine.
So really, what you're saying, and it's going to tie into the next question, is that they need to figure out a plan early on. They just can't say, I'm going to retire in 5 years, 10 years, and live on my money.
Which ties into the next question. What do you see? Sorry, which tie? Okay, this ties in. Okay, let me start that over again.
All right, what we just said just ties into the next question. What mistakes do you most often.
God, I can't get this. I'm messing this question up. I apologize.
This ties into the next question. What mistakes do you see most often in the five to ten years before retirement?
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Yeah, Dom, great question.
Like I said before, the five to 10 years before retirement are so crucial.
And the reason for that is because you really have to find out amount of time to get it right.
So the first thing I'll say is that, you know, one, we often see that clients aren't saving enough and, or they're saving too much and they're getting themselves in trouble at the end of the month, and they may, you know, get caught up with a credit card bill or statement.
The next thing is about their portfolios and, and how they're really, they're built if they're, you know, overly risky. Or overly concentrated, you know, you'll, they'll find themselves in a high risk situation or they're too conservative and they're not growing enough. Right. So there is a sweet spot when it comes to retirement planning. And there is a philosophy that we have here at Danzara Wealth Management.
I think that those, again, those, those five to 10 years are, are extremely crucial. But the mistakes that people are making can, can be a detriment to their entire, you know, retirement years.
Another issue that, you know, we may come across is that maybe they get overzealous with some of the spending, right, because they had a really good year on the market and that they're spending too much money or, or they're planning to spend, you know, money on whether it's like a vacation home or a timeshare or a vehicle that they always wanted. Well, you know, look, let's have a conversation to see if it makes sense for, you know, your actual budget and your dollar and throw it into your plan to make sure that it's going to work in the right way, in the best way that possible.
[00:27:38] Speaker A: Fantastic. So going back to planning, planning, planning and revisiting the plan at a minimum on a yearly basis to make sure that some of these mistakes don't happen. Sounds like what I'm hearing from you.
[00:27:53] Speaker B: 100%.
[00:27:55] Speaker A: Great.
How should I think differently once the goal is no longer just grow the portfolio, but make this work for the rest of my life?
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Very interesting question. Because in retirement, right, we still want to grow our portfolio. So I want to make money over the long term. Hopefully we're living a very long life while being retired.
But the last part of it, make this work for the rest of my life is ultimately the most important thing because, you know, what is growth without making it work?
And the mindset needs to shift because, you know, ultimately, you know, in retirement, yeah, you want to, you know, have the best growth or have the best ideas in terms of its growth. But if you don't have an actual retirement plan and income strategy and building your necessities on guaranteed and fixed income streams, then you may be at what's called sequence of returns risk.
And allowing clients to understand what that means is so crucial because one bad year in the market can ruin everything.
And we don't want to do that for our clients, right? We, we want to give them the best advice. We want them to live a very long life and have money left over, hopefully, and have enough and not to think about, you know, all the stressors that the market adds to People's lives if they're watching the market constantly.
Let us do that for you first and foremost. But making this work for the rest of my life, to me means that you're following a sound plan and your confidence abilities for it to pay you dividends until the day God calls you.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: Fantastic answer. Now this next question you've already touched on a little bit in your last answer, but if you could add any more, any more details or information regarding it, that'd be fantastic.
When you build a retirement income strategy, what has to be considered, considered beyond the size of the account itself?
[00:30:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, you know, I did harp on this a bit. Obviously the size of the account and the portfolio balance, you know, is crucial so that we, you know, you know, exactly what you have to work with in terms of, you know, in terms of, you know, divesting and pulling income from it.
But maximizing its abilities to, to, to pay. Right. Income is, is also very important.
Understanding risk and risk tolerance and good years in the market, bad years in the market, what that means for your portfolio is ultimately, you know, and I would say the more important part of that equation, you know, size of the portfolio. Look, you have to have a sizable portfolio, right, to, to generally draw a substantial amount of income. But everyone's income need is different. Let's, you know, start with that as well, you know, you know, if you live in, here in New York or if you live, you know, somewhere in the Midwest, you know, right. The cost, cost of living is significantly different. So the size of the portfolio, certainly it varies, right, based on the demographic and who we're sitting down with, you know, the, the time in the market as well.
But maximizing it to maximizing it is, is really what we do for clients and we try to get them the best results with what they have. And a lot of them understand that here's what you have, here's what you can, can generally take from this and you know, here's where, you know, here's where, here's what this portfolio means for you and, and what it, what it can provide and give clients, you know, the real, you know, give clients, you know, a real look and a real 30,000 foot view of their, of their life situation and their retirement picture.
[00:32:20] Speaker A: So just to go further on that, which was a great answer, I gotta believe that some of the financial planning tools you use with clients and prospective clients help in showing them how the size of, help them in planning for their retirement income strategies.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I gotta say, because I think I'm Talking a bit more conceptually on the conversations that I have with clients, but really in the background. And the way this works is us using our tools, right, and us using, you know, it's, it's ammunition, you know, for us as advisors to, to share, you know, this type of information with them. But our tools, our tools and our philosophies, I mean, they, they're, they're what drives the ship.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: Fantastic. Great answer.
If someone is nearing retirement and feeling uncertain, what do you want them to stop doing immediately and what do you want them to start doing instead?
[00:33:25] Speaker B: Well, I don't want them to stop saving in retirement. So let's, let's call it how it is. I want them to stop overthinking and I want them to start getting help immediately. I want them to start having a conversation with a financial, financial professional and, and go through the, you know, the process of going through their goals, going through their assets, going through their portfolios, and designing a strategy and a plan for them to follow. Hopefully it's, you know, within that five to ten year mark that we talked about in the last segment.
If it is a year or two, it's still okay because, you know, you still have time to make certain decisions.
But if you're in retirement or if you decided to retire and you didn't get help, I don't know, sometimes it may be too late.
Not all the time, not in every case.
Obviously everyone's situation is differently, but ultimately the best thing that one person can do is to sit down with the financial professional, sit down with the retirement plan advisor, fiduciary, a certified retirement counselor or a CFB of any sort, and get the help that we believe you know that you need, right? And get those proper plans in order.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Thank you very much, Stefan. This was a great session.
In my final segment, I'm speaking directly to business owners because revenue and real wealth are not the same thing.
If you want more episodes like this, you can watch now media TV live or on demand, download app on Roku or iOS podcastowmedia TV.
Welcome back to my final segment. I want to close with business owners because this is where I see one of the most dangerous wealth illusions. Confusing business success with personal financial security.
A great company can create wealth, but it can also hide risk if there's no personal plan behind it.
I'm drawing a clean line between operating a business and building transferable, durable personal wealth. This segment is about getting intentional cash flow, discipline, tax efficiency, succession thinking and making. The owner's life is not entirely tied to the Business balance sheet.
I read that wrong.
I'm gonna start back from my drawing because I forgot. Sure.
I'm drawing a clean line between operating a business and building transferable, durable personal wealth. This segment is about getting intentional cash flow discipline, tax efficiency, succession thinking, and making sure the owner's life is not entirely tied to the business balance sheet.
Stephan, welcome back.
Many business owners are still.
You're welcome.
Many business owners are so focused on building revenue that they need.
Sorry.
Many business owners are so focused on building revenue that they neglect personal planning. How often do you see that pattern, Stefan?
[00:37:13] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, as it relates to business owners, I know a lot of them are so, so busy because their entire, you know, days are an energy, are going to their, you know, their craft and their passions.
What the disconnect that I see is that oftentimes they neglect their personal planning because the business does just take so much out of them. And oftentimes they're, they're putting all their eggs in one basket. Right? And they're putting, you know, they're, you know, reinvesting the revenue back into the business as they should. Right. In order to scale, in order to grow.
But what happens is that you forget about yourself and forget about number one. And, you know, the question that each business owner needs to ask themselves that are you going to continue to do this for the rest of your life?
Right. And if I hear, you know, oftentimes you'll hear the answer, no, I don't. I do want to eventually retire. I eventually want to sell.
Well, what is your actual enterprise value? Right. What are you going to get for your business if you sell? Are you going to pass it down to your kids? Are you going to, you know, sell it to or get bought out potentially?
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Right.
[00:38:22] Speaker B: I mean, that's the goal for a lot of these, these business owners as well.
But you can't just rely on that one thing, right? It's to a sale, right? You know, there's a really cool saying, concentration builds wealth, diversification preserves wealth. And when you own a business, you're concentrating and you're building hopefully revenue stream and hopefully building an enterprise value.
Hopefully you have that knowledge and information about, you know, what that value specifically is.
But when it comes to financial planning, we're going to help preserve that wealth. Right? We're going to help diversify that wealth a bit, maybe get you a tax deduction here. Obviously speak to your CPA about tax planning and we can work in tandem with him or her.
But we see what these, you know, this pattern is Is that, you know, people are spreading them to business owners specifically are spreading themselves very thin throughout the day and they forget about themselves and they forget to properly plan for their financial future before retirement.
[00:39:30] Speaker A: Great answer, Love it. What is the danger of believing my business is my retirement plan?
[00:39:39] Speaker B: The danger is that they're over concentrated or that, you know, if they don't have the proper, you know, they're taking a risk really was if they don't have the proper, if they don't have a buyer for their business, right. It only something is only as is worth what someone will pay for.
So you know, that being said, you know, if you have all your eggs in one basket and you're all your chips are on your business and something goes wrong or if the world changes or technology changes or you name it with AI and all, you know, all these disruptions that are happening in the world, not every business is safe.
You know, there are businesses that are definitely safer than others and.
But we could talk about the, you know, the different businesses that are out there that you know, are gonna withstand changes in the world as we know it, in the economy as we know it.
But not having a substantial savings or a nest egg next year, business can be a detriment and can be dangerous.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: What about a business owner overvaluing their business and thinking they're going to sell it for more than it might be worth or there might not even be a market for it and they don't realize that until it's too late?
[00:41:07] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%.
It happens all the time. Or you know, people think their business is worth a certain amount and they value it at a certain amount.
And if there isn't a buyer for it or the right buyer for it, what does it mean?
Right.
In addition to that, it's timing too. Right. And control. Right. Because if you're 100, relying on your business and you want to retire at 65, let's say, and you start looking for a buyer at 64, but that buyer is not ready for two or three more years and it's the right buyer, well, what does that mean to you? That means you're working two or three years more than you what you wanted
[00:41:41] Speaker A: to,
[00:41:43] Speaker B: or if that person backs out, even worse. Right. So we can keep going on about it. Right. But ultimately it's diversifying your, your positions and your wealth. Right.
With beyond just a business.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Okay. How should business owners think about cash flow, tax efficiency and wealth building differently from salaried professionals?
[00:42:09] Speaker B: Excellent question. And the reason this is so important is because business Owners are the creator of their practice. They have ultimately control over the benefits that they choose to provide for their employees and themselves.
So they need to create, whether it's with 401k, 403b IRAs, what have you, wealth building strategies that are designed for them and potentially their employees to have that, you know, to set in stone tax efficiencies. You need to have the right accountant and the right financial advisor to get you the right plan in place, I. E. Retirement Plan, 401k, 403b, whatever the case may be.
And then the right, you know, potentially a bookkeeper or just advisor to help guide on, you know, with, with their cash flow. Or maybe oftentimes you'll see that the business owners themselves are taking a look at some of this, you know, information.
But it's different than a salary employee because a salary employee is just walking into, you know, their benefit package and they have, you know, potential matching or they have a, a pension, you know, and then payroll deductions through salaries, right? It's, you know, you're a W2 employee, you get paid, you put away 10 or 15% of your income tax deferred, you're getting a tax savings, you put into the right mutual funds, you know, you're growing, you know, 7, 10 over the next, you know, 30 some odd years, you might be in really good shape, right? And at the end of the retirement, hopefully you're sitting down with a financial advisor and you're getting an income strategy with a business owner. Again, you need, they need to create that, right? They need to build and formulate those benefit packages and customize it to their, you know, budget to their employees needs potentially to maybe they have, you know, a significant other or a wife on, on their payroll as well. You know, obviously have that work for them too. You know, we see that all the time.
Again, it's customization and it's control and it's just having, you know, again the right plans in place, you know, for them to follow also and not having to worry about it on a day to day basis. Hopefully they have the right help, right? They have a good payroll person, they have a good advisor and they have good retirement plan to, you know, to follow and to, to start saving into.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: Thank you. Fantastic answer.
At what stage should succession planning stop being a future issue and become part of the conversation now?
[00:44:46] Speaker B: Great question. If you have a business partner, you should have did your, you should have done your succession planning yesterday, right? Because God forbid something happens, you want to make sure that your families are Protected and that there's no legal issues. Right?
We see this happen all the time in our world where an advisor might pass away, you know, tragically, and their families may get pennies on the dollar of what their actual book of business is worth.
That's really relevant to every business, right? Some businesses have certain licenses that they need when the spouse cannot work as a specific, you know, profession because they don't have the license or the credentials, the capabilities. And so succession planning needs to happen as soon as possible.
Even if you don't have a business, even if you're a sole practitioner, you know what happens to your business, right? You want to know what happens because accidents happen. It's sad, it stinks. You know, we see things on the news, you hear stories all the time, and sometimes people look at themselves and say, yeah, this will never happen to me, but what if it does?
So you want to get that conversation as soon as possible, especially if you
[00:45:55] Speaker A: have a family planning, planning, planning. I love it.
And lastly, what does it look like when a business owner finally shifts from surviving quarter to quarter to building wealth with real intention?
[00:46:10] Speaker B: This is such a great question and it's such a breath of fresh air when you, when you hear about the last part, which is building wealth with real intention and having that real abundance mentality and not having to worry about the day to day bills and the month to month bills and payroll tax and over, you know, federal income tax, whatever the case may be, you know, what does it look like? I, I believe in, you know, you can see it in a client's and a business owner's face. You know, that they feel very abundant and they feel relaxed and they feel at, in control.
You know, they may have some time to spend with their family. They may, you know, have the ability to go on multiple vacations, you know, in the given year and spend time with their family and do things that they enjoy like golf and beach and, you know, you name it, movies and, you know, shopping, all the fun things that, that life has to offer. But I think really it's just a feeling of confidence that you can see across the table when you speak to a business owner. So it's really about the demeanor, it's about, you know, their Persona and, you know, it's a really wonderful thing to see.
[00:47:27] Speaker A: Stefan, this has been a wonderful conversation.
Where can people learn more about your work, connect with your team, or continue the conversation with Dandara Wealth Management?
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Excellent. Well, again, I'm Stefan Chitara, co founder, financial advisor, Dan Dara, Wealth Management.
Please visit our
[email protected] for more information. There's a wealth of knowledge there. There's also our contact information but if you want, please reach out to me directly.
Office hours are 8am to 8pm Monday through Friday night. Holidays 516-494-3451. That's the best way to get me. Thanks again, Dominic.
[00:48:10] Speaker A: Stefan, thank you for joining me. What I love about today's conversation is it reminds all of us that wealth planning is not just technical, it's personal.
It's about how I think, how I prepare, how I how I lead my family and how I make sure success actually turns into security.
To everyone watching, whether you're approaching retirement, building a business or simply trying to get financially organized, the goal is not to just earn more. It's to think clearly, plan intentionally and build wealth that can actually support the life you want. I'm Dominic d' Andrea and this is Wealth Intelligence. I'll see you next time. It.
