June 2, 2021

47. 7 Wealth Building Rules with Chris Calandra

47. 7 Wealth Building Rules with Chris Calandra

Chris Calandra is the Founder & Principal of Elliott Wealth Management Services, a Certified Financial Planner with over twenty-six years of experience helping entrepreneurs, retirees, & families achieve their financial goals & objectives,...

Chris Calandra is the Founder & Principal of Elliott Wealth Management Services, a Certified Financial Planner with over twenty-six years of experience helping entrepreneurs, retirees, & families achieve their financial goals & objectives, and the host of the Simply Financial podcast. On this episode of CFO at Home Chris and Vince discuss Chris’ 7 Wealth Building rules and more.

  • Key Takeaways:
    • Chris’ 7 Wealth Building Rules
      1. Setting Your Goals – Think short-term, mid-term & long- term.
        • Financial success is based on having both long-term, written goals, and a series of short and mid-term tactical plans to get you there 
      1. Be Prepared – Get educated & do your homework
        • Often falls to the “CFO at Home”
      1. Develop a Wealth Building Plan – Figure out how to position  assets & deploy income.
        • Figure out what resources/assets you have
        • Make sure those assets are positioned well positioned
        • How do those investments compare with alternatives?
        • Have a specific plan for your discretionary income
      1. You Need A Team – Building wealth is not a one-person task. We all need a little help. You need a team.
      1. Track Your Progress – Money is not the most important thing in life, but it is important. You need to track your progress by using tools like a personal net worth statement. 
        • Personal Net Worth Statement
          • Personal Equivalent of a Business Balance Sheet
          • Assets listed line by line (money in the bank, retirement accounts,etc) 
          • Debt listed line by line (Credit Cards, Student Loans, etc)
          • Net Worth = Total Assets - Total Debt
          • Regularly track your goals against your Net Worth
      1. Diversification – Spread your assets & your risks around.
        • Diversification can not only refer to the mixture of stocks and bonds in your portfolio, but also to things like having an emergency fund, having some exposure to real estate, avoiding having too much invested in a single stock, etc.    
      1. Be Careful With Debt – Avoid debt that comes from living above your needs. Be cautious about using debt to acquire assets
        • Avoid debt that comes from living above your means
        • Becoming debt-free can become more important as you approach retirement