This summer I traveled to the beautiful country of Italy. The tour group I went with traveled almost the entire country, North to South, so I saw almost every iconic building, piece of art, or landscape to see. It was a fun filled 10 days that I’ll never forget.
One of my favorite cities my tour visited in Italy was Rome. We saw the typical sites you’d want to see in Rome: the coliseum, the Trevi fountain, and the Vatican.
Of all the sights, the Vatican impressed me the most. Whether you are religious or not, the artwork and the artists that the Popes brought to the Vatican throughout the centuries provides a tour of genius level talent that left me in awe.
The room that stood out to me the most was the Sistine Chapel. The back-breaking work Michelangelo put in to make one of the most iconic works of art was astounding, truly a masterpiece.
Although I probably should have kept my mind off of work, I started thinking, Pope Julius the II had a chapel that was essentially a blank canvas. He clearly wanted to create a masterpiece to be seen for the ages and needed to decide how to get that done.
He could either do it on his own, knowing it may fall short of his expectations or never get done at all, or he could hire someone to do it. He eventually chose Michelangelo to create his masterpiece because he knew Michelangelo would do a spectacular job, after all he devoted his life to sculpting and painting.
I think it is safe to say Michelangelo delivered on the Pope’s lofty expectations, and probably even exceeded them with a masterpiece the Pope likely could never have even dreamed of himself.
We, as retirement planners do a similar thing.
Retirees and people approaching retirement come in with a vision or vague idea of what they want retirement to look like, but they have a blank canvas. They have the tools, the money, the goals, the idea of what retirement should look like for them, but they may not have the expertise to make sure all the parts come together perfectly.
After all, they want every facet and detail taken into consideration and all the tools they have used appropriately. This is their masterpiece. No room for sloppy work, carelessness, or inexperience.
That’s where we come in, we are the Michelangelo for them, we make sure that their blank canvas comes to life. A canvas full of color, experiences, memories that can’t be erased from time. Something they can look back at and think, “Wow! Look at all we did!”
I know, comparing ourselves to Michelangelo may sound silly at best, arrogant at worst, but if you look at the very core of what we do, we do similar things. We both create masterpieces – one’s artistic, one’s financial.
To me there’s nothing more beautiful than seeing a client of 30-plus years following an ongoing plan we put together at the beginning of retirement and achieving more than they ever set out to achieve.
Leaving this earth doing everything you ever wanted, staying financially independent, and making the most of the one life you get, that is the ultimate masterpiece and I believe we are making that happen for people every day.
