Episode 3: From objectives to priorities

Oscarlyn Elder (00:05):

Welcome to "I've Been Meaning To Do That," a podcast from Truist Wealth, a purpose-driven financial services company. I'm Oscarlyn Elder, co-chief investment officer for Truist Wealth. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. We've covered the basics of purpose in our previous episodes. Purpose is your why. It centers you and is often your north star. Now we're going to talk about how to take your purpose and apply it to defining your wealth objectives, one of the first steps in financial planning. First, we'll explore what wealth objectives are and why they're important; then we'll discuss how you can establish priorities among your wealth objectives. And finally, we'll give you concrete actions you can start today to define your objectives and prioritize them.

(00:58):

These activities are the beginning of creating your financial roadmap. Today, I'm joined by Bill Lyons, director of governance for Truist Wealth's Center for Family Legacy, and Kristin Beard, regional director of advice and planning at Truist Wealth. They work closely with clients on living out their purpose through their wealth objectives and financial plan. Welcome to you both. Bill, it's great to have you here today. Will you share with our listeners what you do for Truist Wealth?

Bill Lyons (01:36):

Thanks so much, Oscarlyn. It's great to be here with you and Kristin. At the Center for Family Legacy, we work with families with complex assets, oftentimes family businesses, family foundations, and family offices. We help them with communication, education, and decision making. And I'm really excited to be part of this call today to share some of the lessons we've learned with that unique audience, with a broader audience.

Oscarlyn Elder (01:58):

Great. Thank you so much, Bill. It's great to have you here today. Kristin, welcome to "I've Been Meaning To Do That."

Kristin Beard (02:05):

Thank you, Oscarlyn. Hello to Bill. It's great to be here with both of you. I really appreciate this opportunity. And just to share a little bit about the advice and planning group. So, we work with clients to create a financial planning experience that helps move clients closer to their goals. We believe that actionable advice is so critical in this process. It's not just about the analysis, but it's what can a client actually do to accomplish what they want to in life.

Oscarlyn Elder (02:33):

Wonderful. Thank you, Kristin. Let's turn now to talk about wealth objectives. Kristin, can you walk us through what wealth objectives are and why they're important in the financial planning process?

Kristin Beard (02:46):

Well, wealth objectives are the things that you want to accomplish over the course of your life. And many times we find that they're associated with what we would call financial goals, but sometimes they're not. And that's important to understand the distinction there, because both are important.

Oscarlyn Elder (03:02):

So, unpack that a little bit. So, wealth objectives can be connected to a specific financial goal, to a specific number, or they can be connected at a higher level to how you define success outside of a number.

Kristin Beard (03:18):

One of the easiest ways to think about a numerical goal would be, how much do I need to save for retirement? If I want to retire at this age, how much do I need to save between now and then? What have I already accumulated? Maybe a less financially oriented objective would be that I want to be able to give back to my community. So, I want to have the time to do that, and it's hard to put a number around that.

Oscarlyn Elder (03:38):

Right. All right, Bill, you've worked with families really across the U.S., lots of different families. Can you share with our listeners what are some of the wealth objectives that you have heard when you've been working with clients?

Bill Lyons (03:55):

They often fall into similar categories. And in the document that's connected with this, there's an activity for reflecting upon your own objectives. And we have 12 different categories that are common for individuals or families thinking about their wealth objectives. And you've hit on a couple already in terms of retirement, some classic ones are saving for a rainy day, those kinds of security ones. There's definitely that community impact that Kristin just mentioned. And then other things like planning for future generations and education or healthcare. And then also the reality is that life has changed and the multiple careers we have in our lives today. So, preparing for your next chapter of life. So, you might be retiring from one career and starting a new business, or thinking about how you might want to have recreation or travel as part of the next chapter of your life. So, thinking about those things that are either major purchases or things that might be significant changes in your life, both good and bad, those are all different categories that these objectives often fall into.

Oscarlyn Elder (05:01):

And is there just one example that you can give us from a client situation that you've worked or been involved with over the years, that really in your mind maybe is a great example of a wealth objective that's driven by a purpose, that is also very influential in a client's financial plan?

Bill Lyons (05:23):

A set of them that come to mind for me is around businesses. And I think a lot of our wealth creators spend a lot of time building a business. And that's often one. I think another set of them is around real estate. So, for some listeners it might be buying the first home. For some, it might be around buying a vacation home. Or maybe you're part of a larger family that owns a beach cottage or some other piece of real estate that may have incredible emotional meaning to you and your family. And so, to me, real estate is often the place where it is such a classic example of why the emotional and aspirational fit together with some critical financial decision making.

Kristin Beard (06:05):

Well, and what I hear in that too, Bill, is the interconnectedness of the objectives. So, talking about a business and as we think about transition, is that going to future generations in the family? Or the real estate, are there future generations that are involved in that vacation home? And so, that's a really important part and a part of purpose as well. When we think back to wealth objectives, many times stem from personal purpose, whether we realize it or not. And even the connectedness of those objectives relate back to a common purpose.

Oscarlyn Elder (06:37):

So, if I was going to take a stab maybe at trying to articulate a wealth objective around the real estate example that you just gave, a wealth objective might look something like, our family will always have a place to gather for many generations, to come together and to celebrate life events or frankly just to enjoy each other's company. Would that be an example of an articulation of a wealth objective?

Bill Lyons (07:07):

Absolutely. I think that's a great example. And oftentimes, if a family's focus is on peace and joy and creating that space for your family, that's a way to operationalize it. If you want to invest in a property that will be a place for you to do that and share memories and build memories, can be a very powerful thing. And sometimes being clear about what that purpose is makes the day-to-day headaches that may come with managing a piece of real estate, makes it all worth it.

Oscarlyn Elder (07:35):

Now what I'd like to do is ask you both if you would share with our listeners a personal wealth objective that you have for your own life. And Kristin, I'm going to go to you first.

Kristin Beard (07:49):

Well, we're picking up on a theme of real estate here because one of my immediate-term objectives is to buy a home. My family, last year we made the decision to take advantage of a lucrative seller's market. So, we sold our home, and now we are apartment living and trying to evaluate what's next in our move.

Oscarlyn Elder (08:06):

All right. So, that real estate's really important. Have you captured that wealth objective in specific terms? Is it to have a place where your heart is? I'm trying to get from you if you've developed a vision perhaps of what that objective is for you?

Kristin Beard (08:26):

We are certainly still work in progress on that. We are evaluating a couple of different options. We certainly have thought about maybe buying something on the coast where we can create family events, family activities, have memories where it's a destination we go to. But we're also considering maybe we take some of the proceeds and save that for the future so that we could retire a little bit earlier and enjoy a longer opportunity when we're young and active and being able to travel.

Oscarlyn Elder (08:57):

Thank you. Bill, I'm going to turn to you. What is a wealth objective that you've established for yourself?

Bill Lyons (09:05):

One of mine is around education. And although I don't have kids, education has been a core value within my family. My parents both were first in their families to go to college, my father on the GI Bill. All four of my grandparents were immigrants to the United States. And so, education has been a core value of our family. And as I think about, I don't have children yet, but if something were to happen to me, I'd like to be able to support education of my nephews or cousins and other family members. So, thinking about how to operationalize that and really continue on that value within my family.

Oscarlyn Elder (09:39):

Wonderful. That's really beautiful. And we share something in common. Education is a key value of mine. And my personal purpose, which I believe I've shared before, is really to live in peace and joy and to create better futures. And so, education is a key component of building those better futures. And for me, I'll just share a wealth objective, really is to educate my daughter fully in whatever way she would like to be educated, and that she not have to worry and have the stress of making that happen on her own. And then also thinking through beyond her, but to grandnieces and grandnephews, and ultimately one day perhaps additional generations of our family, what does that core education value look like for future generations? So, we share that, Bill, if you will.

Bill Lyons (10:36):

I loved to hear you talk about that in the previous podcast. And to me, these wealth objectives are really a way to connect that purpose, maybe sometimes dreams you have, into really actionable financial decision making.

Oscarlyn Elder (10:48):

Yeah. So, I would like to take a second and have both you and Kristin talk about your perspective on why connecting a wealth objective to purpose is so important. So, Bill, why don't you start us off and then Kristin, you jump in.

Bill Lyons (11:05):

I guess two things come to mind. One is around community impact. Oftentimes, people have a really driving force around the communities they want to impact. And I know for myself personally, both in terms of volunteering or financial contributions, or even in the way you invest, the opportunities to align your values and your investments, there are incredible new opportunities today. And then the other category of things I'm thinking about is around healthcare. And when something happens in your family and there's a medical issue with a child or with a parent, that can often reshape the objectives and crystallize your priorities. And so, to me, those are some ways in which your deeper purpose and meaning in life, how you define the core of success, those are a couple of places where it really becomes crystallized around some of those topics.

Oscarlyn Elder (11:52):

So, one thing that I heard you say was that your purpose can really help you define what success looks like, and that's one of the key reasons to ensure that we have alignment there.

Bill Lyons (12:03):

Absolutely.

Oscarlyn Elder (12:04):

Yeah. All right, Kristin, I'm going to ask you that question.

Kristin Beard (12:08):

Well, emotion and heart are powerful motivators. And as we've talked about before, I think you've talked about in previous episodes, that the purpose is your why. So, if your wealth objectives are connected to your why, that alignment breeds success naturally without you even realizing it. And so, it's a very powerful connection to make sure that your wealth objectives and your purpose are aligned. And before you know it, you're making great progress towards what you want to accomplish.

Oscarlyn Elder (12:39):

So, that alignment makes the forward action easier. It may not be easy forward action, but it makes it easier. And what I've experienced over the years with clients is that if there's misalignment, the journey becomes much more difficult. It almost feels like you're trudging around in mud and it's really painful to make forward motion. Whereas, if you have your purpose defined and it's very clear, you have your values set, you know what's important to you from a values perspective, then defining your overarching wealth objectives becomes easier. On the whole, it still is aspirational, it should be inspiring, but if there's alignment, it does become easier to start narrowing in on the financial tactics that are necessary to bring about the result that you're looking for, is what I've seen over the years. Kristin, Bill, would you have anything to add to that observation, maybe experiences where there was misalignment or experiences with clients where there was really strong alignment?

Bill Lyons (13:49):

I think it's a great question. It's so easy to get caught up in guilt around some of these topics. And I think that that's not often very helpful in motivating and taking next steps. I do think that humility is a powerful tool in taking next steps. And to me, family's broadly defined, whether it's the family you're from or your chosen family or your nuclear family right now, or the family you're planning for in the future, a family can be a great source of humility and grounding in terms of what you want to achieve together. And so, you think about somebody who's building a business and their aspiration is for my children to take over the business, one of the questions that comes to mind is, have you talked with the children about do they want to take over the business and what does that look like?

(14:37):

And oftentimes when you get to talk with loved ones or trusted advisors, it can really clarify what the shared objectives are. I love the first two podcasts that talked about personal purpose. I think as we get into wealth objectives, it's often shared wealth objectives of you and your spouse or for your family, and how you practice that, listening to each other and defining those objectives together.

Oscarlyn Elder (15:00):

Bill, you've anticipated my next question, which was completely around who should our listeners consider connecting with to discuss or share their wealth objectives and ultimately their purpose. And what you've just illuminated is that really sharing your purpose, sharing the wealth objectives, again, not necessarily talking about sharing the specific financial tactics at this point, but sharing that larger wealth objective could be really important to do with the people that you love, the people that are essential to your achieving the success that you're defining for yourself.

Kristin Beard (15:43):

I certainly believe in that, sharing with the loved ones is so important, because if you're not aligned with those closest to you, you'll have a much harder path down the road when it comes to trying to accomplish what you want to and thinking about your journey. The other component I would incorporate into that is having some sort of trusted advisor to be sharing your objectives with. After you have that alignment with those closest to you, bringing in someone who can look at things objectively from an outside perspective can be very powerful. Because again, emotion and heart, they're powerful motivators, but we find sometimes that what someone thinks they're doing isn't what they're actually doing. So, a trusted advisor can help to identify those opportunities and help people course correct if they need to in a non-threatening way and an objective perspective, so that you do stay aligned and accomplish what you want to.

Oscarlyn Elder (16:39):

Yeah. So, Kristin, what I hear you saying is that that person or collection of people, it doesn't just have to be one person.

Kristin Beard (16:48):

That's right.

Oscarlyn Elder (16:49):

But someone who is perhaps removed from your family's inner circle, your chosen family or your family, however you think about that, however you're going through life in that way. The folks that you love, ultimately having someone outside of that circle to talk with, to be a sounding board, someone who can listen and care, but who can also view what's happening through a lens that is somewhat removed, can be very valuable to stress testing. Here's what you say your wealth objective is, however, when we dig into your actions, it actually looks like your wealth objective is something completely different.

Kristin Beard (17:41):

Yes. And I think the words you mentioned of listening and care, and the other word that comes to mind is respectful, in that process, so key.

Oscarlyn Elder (17:48):

Yeah. And I realized, as I responded to you, that I was working from a frame of someone who isn't aligned in their behavior with their wealth objective. But it could also very much be that third party, that advisor who's again outside of your family, the folks that you love, even though you may love your advisor and hopefully people do, but someone who's a bit removed from your day-to-day. It could also be that that person is providing that very positive feedback that you are aligned, that your actions are aligned with your objectives, which is aligned with your purpose, and can be a confirming positive feedback element to really help propel you to continue to take additional action to even strengthen the course more towards achieving those wealth objectives. So, it doesn't have to be a negative, is what I'm saying. It can be a positive frame as well.

Bill Lyons (18:55):

And I think it's such a great point. I'm reminded from the last episode around the idea that if the purpose of your family is joy, someone went to their financial advisor and the financial advisor said, well, maybe you should spend more on that now.

Oscarlyn Elder (19:09):

Yes.

Bill Lyons (19:10):

And they were sort of apprehensive. They'd been getting advice to, they should be saving more and putting more toward retirement, but some of these things are about if that's really what's most important to you, there may be ways you can take that once in a lifetime trip now and enjoy that time with your family. If that's what your priority is, maybe there's some ways in which you want to invest in that right now. So, sometimes some of this can be hard work, but sometimes when you get a great listener who can really, and trusting your gut around who is a great listener is really incredible, it can help you clarify what's most important and you might get there sooner than you think.

Oscarlyn Elder (19:41):

Yeah. Thank you so much, Bill. I want to make one additional point that we haven't made so far in the episode, and that is certainly if you have a partner or spouse, if you're a couple and you've got some form of shared finances, you hopefully have shared your purpose, you've got alignment there. It's also really important within those relationships to share your wealth objectives. It's entirely possible that you have the same purpose, but that you have very different objectives that how you define success could look differently. And so, engaging each other to make sure you have a sense of where the other is coming from. Bill, something comes to mind that I've heard you talk about before, your relationship with money. And you say it a different way, so you might have to help me with the words there.

Bill Lyons (20:40):

I'm thinking about maybe some of the messages you got about money growing up with your family of origin may be different than your spouse or partner. And oftentimes that can shape how you're thinking about your wealth objectives, especially if you have children. Sometimes some of those differences may come out in that parenting and parenting style and what your concerns are. I think on one of the previous podcasts you talked about the same actions but a different why. So, talking with your spouse or co-parenting, thinking about why they are doing the things they're doing, what's behind the messages that they're saying or doing, and so often, so much easier to understand somebody's actions when they're explaining the why, what's behind it.

Kristin Beard (21:26):

When I think rallying around common values, we come back to the values and behaviors, that can be a great tool as well. When we find there may be some misalignment, focusing the family back on values and what we have in common, not necessarily related to the finances, can build that bond to help move forward.

Oscarlyn Elder (21:46):

Right. Thank you so much, Kristin. So, looking for that alignment is critical. Building towards alignment to really create a positive environment so that you start to take those steps forward towards your wealth objectives. Bill, I think you might have wanted to jump in.

Bill Lyons (22:04):

I think just on that last point, one of the things that's really interesting around values is that some of the biggest conflicts can exist around the same values in a slightly different order, rather than very different values. Folks can often understand somebody with very different values, but sometimes it's folks who have the same values in a slightly different order that can be like nails on a chalkboard. And so, sometimes it might be family members of yours that folks say like, oh, you two are so much alike. Those can sometimes be the most frustrating folks to make decisions with. And so, having some, I don't know, sense of humor about that and going into it lightly about how some of this just needs to be talked through and understand in that context, and it definitely gets complicated at times, but reminding yourself of the joy and the purpose that you're seeking is a great reminder to keep doing that work and learning and sharing with each other.

Oscarlyn Elder (22:58):

Thank you so much, Bill. All right. I am really enjoying this conversation about wealth objectives. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back to discuss how to approach prioritization of your objectives.

Oscarlyn Elder (23:20):

All right. We have had a robust conversation around objectives and what they are, how they can be formed, and why discussing objectives with folks you care about is important. Now let's turn to how to prioritize. Kristin and Bill, what are your thoughts on why it's important to prioritize objectives and how would you go about it? Kristin, why don't you start us off?

Kristin Beard (23:47):

We know that many times objectives can compete with each other, and so that's why you have to prioritize because you can't accomplish everything at once. And so, depending on what would be going on in your life, Oscarlyn, for instance, we would recommend a couple of different approaches for prioritization. We might first start with what's causing you anxiety, what do you need to deal with right now? Because if we don't focus there, you're going to be distracted. And any other advice or recommendations we might provide you or try to talk to you about, it's going to be somewhat ignored because you're distracted by whatever's causing you anxiety. On the other hand, we also find that sometimes those heavier topics are just overwhelming. And so, starting with something a little easier, maybe a little more fun, really is the way we can get things started. Because if you can make some progress right away, it builds momentum. You feel like you've accomplished something and that encourages you to continue forward and take on the next thing.

Oscarlyn Elder (24:43):

All right, Bill, how about you? What do you have for us?

Bill Lyons (24:46):

I think one of the things that comes to mind for me is around the unintended consequences of some of the things Kristin talked a little bit about, are you doing what you thought you were doing? And one person I was working with, a younger entrepreneur who had created some significant wealth. He was a part of a couple of startups and had accumulated some significant wealth pretty early on in his life. And his mother who was in her 50s lost her job, and so he started sending her money each month. And then a couple months later said to her, "Oh, Mom, how's the job search going?" And she said, "What do you mean job search? You're sending me money, I'm not looking for a job." And he was actually really disappointed that he felt like he had pulled her back from life, that she was young and that her work had been meaningful to her and connecting with folks.

(25:32):

And he had this unintended consequence of he thought he was helping her, but then ended up wondering, did he diminish her life by pulling her back from full engagement in life? And so, to me, the idea of talking about the decisions you're making with the folks that you're planning for can really change the way in which you think about the priority, can help you clarify what you're really trying to accomplish, and really clarify what the steps are to really accomplish what matters most.

Oscarlyn Elder (25:59):

Thank you, Bill. That's very powerful. And we talked about this earlier in the episode, I think it's important that we touch on it briefly again here. In a way, you brought it into the discussion, Bill, with your example: life events and how they can impact your prioritization of objectives. So, just maybe a quick thought around, look, life happens constantly and it could be a health situation, it could be unemployment or sale of a business. How do you all think about life events and how they impact priorities? How do you think about that journey? Kristin, why don't you go first?

Kristin Beard (26:40):

So, like you said, life does change constantly, and I think we go back to purpose and how does what's happening impact or not impact your purpose. And that can start to then inform what does that mean for our objectives, and then what does that mean for our priorities? If our purpose remains steadfast, then we may not have to make as many changes as we first think. But if whatever's happening causes us to reevaluate our purpose, then it's important to revisit those objectives and we can certainly map out a different path and still get to a great place where we define success.

Oscarlyn Elder (27:17):

So, the journey, it is a journey, we think about it in a journey, and it may be that we were planning to go right and a major life event happens. I know we've got many listeners who are part of a sandwich generation, so they have older parents that they may be a caregiver for, or at least a close resource, and then they may also have children that they're caring for. That sandwich generation may be thinking that the road's going to go right, but then there's a health event with a parent that makes it go left, or there's a college decision by a child that makes it go left. So, having the flexibility in the path as you're going through the journey is really important, and at times it can flip the priorities for you.

Kristin Beard (28:04):

Right. But tying it back to purpose, I think, is always important. And I think one of the other things we tend to focus on with life events are maybe the unexpected bad things that could happen, but good things happen too.

Oscarlyn Elder (28:18):

That's right.

Kristin Beard (28:18):

When you mentioned the college decision, it made me think about a college scholarship that someone wasn't planning on and they've been saving for that child's education. Now they have funds that can be applied elsewhere and that's a really fun decision to make.

Oscarlyn Elder (28:32):

That's right. The frame, Kristin, we talked about that earlier, the frame matters. Bill, how about you?

Bill Lyons (28:39):

I think that's a great point. To me, there's another component around education and preparing for things that may come. My father passed away pretty suddenly and my mom had never been involved in the financial decision making. And to try and learn, in the midst of grief and loss, financial literacy, is just the worst possible time. And so, to think about preparing young people, that most spouses are aware of what's happening and not trying to learn in the midst of a sudden crisis, the more you can do to think about your own learning, the other kinds of things you want to prepare, folks who may be responsible for financial resources at some point. How do you prepare folks? How do you help people think about education, how they find mentors, or really cultivate lifelong learning so that you're prepared and ready for what may come?

Oscarlyn Elder (29:30):

Yeah. Okay. This has been a great conversation about establishing priorities. Next, we're going to take a short break and we'll be back to talk about action steps.

Oscarlyn Elder (29:58):

Welcome back. We spent time together discussing wealth objectives, what they are and how they're best aligned with your purpose. And we have also started to explore the importance of establishing priorities. So, to encourage and help you start the journey today, to help you start taking action, we've developed a downloadable, printable exercise. Bill and Kristin, you were both essential to the development of this tool. Can you share with our audience, high level, about what we're offering?

Bill Lyons (30:23):

It's a really great exercise to think about and highlights the 12 different categories we talked about, in terms of wealth objectives, that objectives often fall into. So, it might be helpful for clarifying and thinking about which ones stand out to you. It highlights some of those questions that Kristin mentioned earlier around prioritization, what's bringing you anxiety or joy, paying attention to those. So, some really great questions to think about prioritization and then gets to action. And there's a little chart for taking action steps, near term and intermediate and long term. And I just encourage folks to be easy on themselves and think about what is really clear next steps, action you can take. So, there might be something you're worried about of, a daughter with special needs and how you care for her. That can be a big, complicated thing, but maybe the action is just calling to make an appointment with the lawyer.

(31:15):

So, thinking about fine-tuning, what's the next step you need to take? If you thought about, if this brought up ideas about travel, you've always wanted to travel, maybe "Talk with my spouse” is the action. So, being really clear about how you make very clear actionable steps for figuring out what you can do next on your journey.

Kristin Beard (31:35):

Yeah, Bill, I think you're right. It doesn't have to be complicated and elaborate. Those simple steps, like we mentioned earlier, can build the momentum that's needed. And the purpose of this is to provide clarity and direction and help you understand what you might need to do next. Like you said, that next step. So, part of the tool or exercise of writing it down really enables us, I think, to be able to take those actions and share those back with friends and family, as we've talked about, is so important. And it helps to provide some accountability as well, because you've got it written down, now you're really starting to think about what needs to be done, and it's something you can refer back to, to check your progress.

Oscarlyn Elder (32:16):

Thank you both very much for that information. And so, I'm going to encourage our listeners to go find that exercise and pair with it the exercise from episodes one and two. So, in those episodes, we encouraged you to write down what brings you joy. We also provided an exercise that listed 30 values that you could use to begin to shape your purpose. So, if you can bring that information to the table and combine it with this exercise, you're really starting the journey towards building your financial plan that's aligned with your purpose.

(33:06):

Thank you to Kristin and Bill, for your insight and wisdom, for listening and caring for our clients, and for wanting to help all of our listeners find their purpose-driven wealth experience. All right. So, I need you to hang in there with me, because every episode I ask each guest for one thing they've been meaning to do that they haven't done yet, and that they're willing to publicly commit to doing on this podcast. All right. So, Kristin, I'm going to turn to you first. What have you been meaning to do?

Kristin Beard (33:39):

Well, mine is related to naming a new guardian for my son. When my son was born, we had older siblings who were caring for children of their own. And so, it was relatively easy to pick a good candidate for that important decision. But now those children have grown and in some cases they're having children of their own. And so, as we think about asking some of our empty-nester siblings, if they would want to care for a teenager, suddenly, we're thinking maybe a new alternative could be to engage the next generation in our legacy. So, we've been meaning to update our estate documents.

Oscarlyn Elder (34:14):

All right. That sounds familiar to me, and I will share a little bit about my personal journey after I turn to Bill. So, Bill, what have you been meaning to do?

Bill Lyons (34:26):

Well, one of the things I've been meaning to do is related to a life insurance policy that I have and who the beneficiaries are, and I think my siblings are all secure. And so, thinking about my nephews, I have five nephews, and how I might include them in that plan. So, there's the operational piece of that. But the real part that I've been meaning to do, is to have a conversation with my two brothers about how I might operationalize my hopes for how this money could be helpful and enhance the lives of my nephews. So, it's really that conversation piece that I need to make a priority and commit to doing. So, that's something I've been meaning to do.

Oscarlyn Elder (35:04):

So, Bill, your next step is going to be to either text or call your brothers and have that family meeting. It sounds like it's all about communication at this point.

Bill Lyons (35:13):

Absolutely.

Oscarlyn Elder (35:14):

Yeah. Well, I will update our listeners on my journey. So, I think I let folks in during our episode number two, that I needed to update my revocable trust. In essence, my estate plan. And thoughts have been swirling around my brain for some time around this update, and I have not called the attorney yet. There were pieces and parts that I needed to work out before I took that next step. And I'm really pleased to say that through conversations with you, Bill, and conversations with you, Kristin, and some other folks who were really important in my life, I had an aha moment in the last few days where I saw the solution and I know what to go ask for when I meet with the attorney. So, I'm very excited that I have an answer to the puzzle that I was looking for.

(36:10):

And my next step is to actually call the attorney and to make an appointment, and go sit with her and have an update to this particular document. So, that is my commitment. I'm going to follow through on that and we'll keep our listeners updated as that very important to-do progresses.

(36:32):

Thank you to Kristin Beard and Bill Lyons for your insight and wisdom, for listening and caring for our clients, and for wanting to help all of our listeners find their purpose-driven wealth experience. Kristin, it's been great having you on the call.

Kristin Beard (36:47):

Oscarlyn, Bill, thank you for having me. It has certainly been a pleasure.

Oscarlyn Elder (36:52):

Thank you, Kristin. And Bill, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom.

Bill Lyons (36:56):

Thank you. It's such a privilege to get to do this work and to be in this conversation with you. So, thanks so much.

Oscarlyn Elder (37:01):

Thank you both. Multiple times today, we've mentioned a downloadable, printable exercise to help you define your objectives and build your wealth priorities. You can find it on the webpage for this podcast at Truist.com/DoThat. We've also provided a link to this exercise in the description of this episode. Again, my thanks to Kristin Beard and Bill Lyons for joining me today to explore wealth objectives and priorities. Thank you, our listeners, for joining me today. If you liked this episode, please be sure to subscribe and tell friends and family about it. If you have a question for me or a suggestion for the podcast, email us at DoThat@truist.com. That's DoThat@truist.com. I'll be back soon for another episode of "I've Been Meaning To Do That," the podcast that gets you moving toward fulfilling your purpose and achieving your financial goals. Take care, everyone. Talk to you soon.