Speaker: David McAdams, Emergency Physician
How was the planning experience with a Principles-Based Financial Planner different than what you had expected or experienced before?
David McAdams: The major difference that I had with my principles based financial planner from other financial planners was that I didn't feel pressured into a lot of different services and that even if I didn't follow their recommendations to the T, they were happy to help and continue working with us to understand the principles and not just put a very expensive prospectus in front of us on what we should do.
How do you believe your knowledge of the Five Principles of Personal Finance will help you in your finances going forward?
David McAdams: Having the five principles of personal finance be the core of our financial planning is the only financial planning tool that I've ever found that I feel incredibly comfortable with every time I've met with a financial planner. Prior to this experience, I've felt pressured And the need to spend lots of money to get something that I wasn't 100% comfortable with. Having a principles based approach has made it so that as I gain the knowledge and the experience, I get to make some of those decisions, or all of those decisions myself,
What did you feel was most helpful or valuable about the planning process?
David McAdams: I think overall, the most valuable piece of the planning process was obtaining the education to understand financial planning and having that principles based approach going through each of the principles individually and understanding where they come from and why they're important, rather than just being handed a step by step guide on what somebody else thinks I should do with my finances.
Why do you believe others will benefit from going through the Principles-Based Planning Process?
David McAdams: I think that setting people up with principles in their finances is something that is not well taught and not well done generally in the market. Um, You know, we had some kind of scares this last year, nothing directly affecting my family, but seeing my friends and colleagues that I had gone to school with and worked with have significant life threatening issues and knowing that if something like that happened to me, that the principles that we had put in place had prepared us for that brought a lot of reassurance to me over the last few months, which is something that I had not experienced previously in my finances.
If you read the book, Principles-Based Planning, what value did you get from reading it and why do you feel others should read it?
David McAdams: I really more used the principles based planning book as a resource and a quick reference to make sure that my financial investments and my changes in my financial situation are in line with my principles and the plan that I've set forth.
