Reflections On Haas Financial Groups' 6th Birthday

It’s hard for me to believe that Haas Financial Group is turning six years old today.  Birthdays have a way of forcing reflection, don’t they? “Where did the time go?” “Did I accomplish everything I thought I could?” “If I knew then what I know now, what would I have done differently?”

As I think back, I realize that the Haas Financial Group family has witnessed the birth of two of my three sons while I’ve also moved a house and built out an office.  During this time, many of you were there to support Desiree and I, share wisdom, congratulate, and celebrate. That emphasizes the main reason for why the Haas Financial Group was started; to serve people I call friends and family. The corporate world has a way of treating people like walking wallets, not individuals and I wanted to do more to be a part of your lives, and in turn, you’ve become a deeper part of mine. Thank you!

Six years ago, I left Ameriprise Financial with two main goals; to better focus on a personalized financial planning process for my clients and to build my own team focused on doing the right thing at the right time whenever we are needed. Those goals have led me to deeper client relationships, a bigger role in serving my community and a lot of lessons in leadership. For all of that, I’m grateful.

Just as you have watched me grow as a person, father, and businessman, Haas Financial Group has watched many of you grow and go through change too. Some of it we planned for, other parts we couldn’t possibly predict. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is that the “best plans” will still fail to predict what life will throw at you. And that’s OK! Because that’s exactly why I’m here. Not to draft the plan, but to be there for you when you need to adapt it. Over the last six years…

• We’ve celebrated many retirements. We’ve been there to navigate lay-offs too.
• We couldn’t know there would be divorce or loss, but we tried to be present to help pick up the pieces when stress and anxiety and worry took over.
• Nobody’s plan predicted the car accident would happen or that cancer would be the diagnosis. But we were glad to be present to shoulder whatever burden we could.
• We’ve celebrated business and personal milestones and witnessed the joys of new beginnings.

The fact is that life has challenged all of us to different degrees and at different times and brought riches in many other forms as well. I appreciate you being there for me, and I’m grateful that I could be a resource to you.  Because that is the work what matters most. Not asset allocation advice or investment returns but having a process that doesn’t waiver when life up-ends our original plans.

That’ll continue to be our focus for the next 6 years. I am here to help you navigate the most difficult moments, celebrate the successes, try to avoid the blind spots, share empathy, encouragement and above all else, lean on my experience. Our number one goal is to help you try to make the best decision you can with the information given at that point in time.  When the information changes, we’ll assess it again. And then again, And then again. I’m committed to serving the best interests of my family, colleagues, clients and community and the last 6 years have only given me more passion and conviction to do just that.

I am excited to see what the next six years hold! I can all but promise we’ll go through a recession and market correction and we’ll be here to navigate your plan at that time. It’s also a safe bet that technology will continue to evolve the way we view plans, analyze data and communicate with you. I’ll look for ways to continue to integrate technology into our relationship as appropriate. On a more personal note – the only sure bets for the next six years are that there will be no other children to announce and I’ll continue to bald!

Through all those changes though, we will be here to be an extension of your family, not to be another business card on your refrigerator. That will continue to be our promise. Together we can work to pursue our life goals, bring the community together, and become fuller versions of who we are as people. We will continue to focus our advice and service on the fundamental values we share with you; faith, family, relationships, community, education and integrity. That’s the foundation of Haas Financial Group and I’m grateful to be a part of your life journey. Thank you all for being a part of mine.

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