The Guiding Wealth Difference with Hannah Moore

How secure is your business, really?
 

As an entrepreneur, you get that risk plays a huge factor in building a business. There are always those unexpected, unforeseen expenses when you’re growing your dream and achieving success.

Guys, I’d be lying if I said that I’ve never experienced those nerve-wracking moments when I think, Damn, that was a close one!

One great example of this happened in my first year of growing my e-commerce business. My cash flow was great. And when my husband and I looked at our finances, we thought it would be the perfect time to invest in ourselves and install a pool — so we diverted a bit of the business’s money to make that happen.

Little did I know my credit card processor was going to drop, and I would be unable to bill clients for a few days. Luckily, the break in service only lasted a short period, and we had enough set aside. But it definitely got me thinking about how much more secure I would have felt if that pool money was still in my account!

If you’ve ever been in a situation like mine that makes you think you need a more secure financial plan, you need to stick around and meet today’s guest on The Burnout to All Out Podcast.

I’m so excited to have Hannah Moore as today’s guest on the show! Hannah is a certified financial planner and owner of Guiding Wealth — a unique financial planning firm focused on simplifying investment. Barron’s has named her in the Top 10 People to Watch in Wealth Management in 2022, she’s been on Investopedia’s list of Top 100 Advisors three years in a row, and she was included in Investment News’ 40 under 40 in 2017.

In this article, we’ll get into why you need an emergency fund, how you should invest in your future as an entrepreneur, and how Hannah is changing the paradigm of financial planning.

Let’s get started! 

Who Is Hannah Moore?

I recently met Hannah at a live event, and she has a truly amazing story. She’s been on the financial planning career path since she was young, but getting to that point took some problem-solving for Hannah.

“I grew up not knowing anybody who needed a professional degree to do their job except for teachers, so this whole career path thing was just very ambiguous. I didn’t know what that meant.” – Hannah Moore

Hannah graduated from college with a degree in financial services, but she was still learning what that would look like for her life. Then, she went to an interview that would solidify her path in financial planning.

“I graduated with a degree in financial services and planning, and [I] interviewed for this woman. In that interview she asked me if I was interested in being her succession plan. I had no idea what that meant. So I’m 22, interviewing for a job, being asked if I’d be open to buying this practice.” – Hannah Moore

From day one, Hannah jumped into the deep end of financial planning to learn as much as possible from her new boss. Over the next four years, she realized a significant difference between what you learn in the classroom and what you actually need to know when helping others light their path financially.

When the time came for Hannah to purchase this legacy practice at only 26, she said one of the key things she learned was to ask this question — how do you serve clients well?

That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter if you’re in financial planning, coaching others, or selling consumer packaged goods. You need to learn how to serve your clients well. Excellent service paired with a great plan will lead you to success.

The Guiding Wealth Difference: A Unique Financial Planning Approach

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many people who have life figured out at 26. Even fewer are ready to jump into the deep end of entrepreneurship and guide other people on managing wealth.

So it’s safe to say that Hannah had some considerable hurdles to leap from the get-go, but she was willing to face that challenge head-on and keep driving toward success. That time she spent learning more about her industry and actually building her practice let her take an out-of-the-box approach to financial planning. 

“Yeah, so I’m 26 and learning the ropes and just doing everything the way I’d been told to do. And I realized, Wait a minute. Is this the best way to do it? So I took about six months, and I asked every single client I met with, ‘What was the most valuable thing from this meeting?’” – Hannah Moore

When Hannah took that step back to reevaluate her process, she says her view of financial planning changed radically. She realized that clients didn’t care about the behind-the-scenes processes and the nuts and bolts of financial planning — clients wanted to know she was taking care of them.

Instead of explaining the complexities of investing for the future, Hannah discovered that clients want simplicity. They want to know everything is being done well, but they don’t need to know the process. 

“Clients really want to know how they can apply [the technical side of financial planning] to their life? What does that look like? … I really discovered that clients want simplicity. So much of financial services ask, ‘How do we make it complex, so clients feel like they need us?’ And I have found the exact opposite to be true. [I ask] ‘How can I make it so simple that clients immediately understand their financial plan?’” – Hannah Moore

What’s cool about Hannah’s approach is that she now looks at so much more than a client’s financial future when she works with people at Guiding Wealth. Instead, she gets to know them as an entire person so that she can guide them better financially.

Hannah believes that you’re an expert on your life and that she’s an expert in finances. By combining those two things, Hannah makes magic happen for her clients.

Hannah Moore’s Financial Planning Solutions for Entrepreneurs

We should be on top of our finances as entrepreneurs. After all, you can have the best vision for your business, but your entrepreneurial ventures will if you aren’t paying attention to your financials.

As an entrepreneur herself, Hannah was the perfect person to ask about financial planning while pursuing entrepreneurship, and she had some tremendous insight! One key thing she pointed out is that you can’t let your business be your only financial focus.

“We have CFO meetings for businesses, and that’s very common. … It’s a best practice for running your business. But are you doing that for your personal side of the business or the personal side of your life as well?” – Hannah Moore

Accounting for your personal financial future and separating it from your business’ finances are easy things to lose sight of in the moment — all you have to do is refer back to my swimming pool story to know that’s true. We think that if our business is making money, we’re achieving personal financial success.

But that’s not always the case. If you’re not prioritizing your personal finances on the same level as your business finances, you could actually be risking your personal financial security. Building a business comes with inherent risks, and you need a great financial plan to prepare for the future as an entrepreneur. Here’s how Hannah does it:

“My husband and I came up with a financial plan for ourselves. We basically ran all the numbers we needed to find a set amount to save every month, so we don’t have to worry about money after the age of 65. So now what we do is what people do in their 401ks. We have a set amount that we actually pull from the business that we’re not seeing in our personal accounts.” – Hannah Moore

Hannah said that when she and her husband finished building their financial plan together, it removed some of the built-in stress that comes from being an entrepreneur. She’s still growing her practice and fully invested in its success, but that extra money she sets aside for retirement provides peace of mind for her family’s financial future.

I like Hannah’s approach to tackling retirement a lot. You gain a sense of clarity when you simplify your saving process and ask yourself, “How would I be saving for my future if I weren’t an entrepreneur?” 

Why You Need a Safety Net Account as an Entrepreneur

Now that we’ve talked about why you need to prioritize personal financial planning as an entrepreneur, I want to circle back to the question I asked at the beginning of this article.

How secure is your business, really?

At the end of the day, if you don’t have a financial safety net when shit hits the fan, you’re going to have a bad time. The typical number people point to when building a safety net is six months' worth of liquid assets. Still, that number varies depending on your willingness to take risks, according to Hannah. 

“[Your safety net amount] is gonna come down to your risk tolerance. … The one question that I always come back to is, ‘What does security look like to you?’ It’s one of the most powerful questions we can ask as a financial planner because as an entrepreneur, if you have that baseline of security, you are able to take the risks, you are able to do the things.” – Hannah Moore

I know we all want to be able to do all of the things as entrepreneurs, so take a second to ask yourself that question — what does security look like to me?

Maybe you don’t need six months' worth of assets set aside. It could possibly look like the next month’s bills for you and your family, or maybe that number is built to cover an entire year if things go sideways. Because of Hannah’s diverse client base, she’s heard many different definitions.

“I have one client. She has to keep $5,000 of cash in her freezer. That’s what security means to her. I don’t know why, but that’s what it means for her. I have other people where it can just mean something drastically different. One client wants $95,000 in cash in their account. Not a hundred thousand, ninety-five. And that’s great.” – Hannah Moore

Whatever your number may be, and whether it’s cash in the freezer or an actual bank account, it’s essential to have that money set aside. When you’ve got that extra security, you gain the freedom to take risks you wouldn’t otherwise and go bigger than ever before! 

Why You Should Listen to This Burnout to All Out Podcast Episode Right Now! 

Friends, Hannah and I covered so much more than what I could cover in this episode than I can fit in this article. If this article has inspired you to take action with your financial planning, do yourself a favor and listen to the entire podcast episode!

In the episode, we dive deeper into where you should invest your money as an entrepreneur, the importance of having a plan if you suffer an unexpected injury, and what Hannah is doing to change the future for young adults looking to get into finance.

If you’d like to connect with Hannah on a deeper level and find out more about the services she provides, visit the Guiding Wealth website today. 

As always, thanks for carving some time out of your busy schedule to recharge with me. If you’re looking for more ways to live your All Out life, visit livethefreelife.co. There, you’ll be able to learn more about how you can be more empowered on your entrepreneurial journey and grow your business to the next level!

Dr. Melissa Henault

Connect with Hannah:

 Amplifyplanning.com

 Guidingwealth.com

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