Our Process

The Decision Lab.

A proprietary process for transforming wealth to significance. Five key decisions that help you make the most of what you've built — and who you've built it for.

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The Problem

Most advisors focus on your goals.
We focus on your decisions.

The financial industry is built around goals. Retire at 65. Save a million dollars. Beat the market. But goals are just benchmarks — aiming points. They're not the reason you're building wealth in the first place.

The reason you want to retire isn't just to be retired. It's so you can spend more time with your family, travel, serve your community, or sleep in on a Tuesday. There's always something deeper.

We designed the Decision Lab to help you find it. Because the best investors aren't the ones who pick the best stocks. They're the ones who make the best decisions.

The best investors are the best decision makers. If you make good decisions, you'll inherently have good investment results — because investments over the long term prove to work. The reason people struggle is because they make bad decisions.
— Sanger Smith, "A Life Rich with Significance"
The Framework

Five key decisions.

The five most important decisions you will make in your financial life. Each one creates opportunities for other decisions that help you make the most of your wealth.

1

Decide who you are.

Take time to understand your values and priorities. What makes you who you are? We start with a personality assessment and values exercise to understand how you make decisions — because that shapes everything that follows. Figure out what matters most to you and what you want your wealth to accomplish.

2

Decide where you are.

Gain understanding of your current financial situation — all your income, all your expenses, all your assets, all your liabilities. We're trying to answer one question: can you accomplish what you want without running out of money? Know where you stand and which tools you have at your disposal.

3

Decide where you're going.

Set clear financial objectives and develop a plan to achieve them. But we don't stop at "goals" — because the reason you want to retire isn't just to be retired. It's so you can spend more time with your family, travel, serve your community. We help you define what significance looks like for you, in the short term, the long term, and beyond.

4

Decide how to get there.

Choose the right financial strategies and tools to help you reach your objectives. What investments are we going to use? What types of accounts? What savings rate do you need? What return profile? What level of risk are you comfortable with? This is where we build the actual plan — but only after the first three decisions give it purpose.

5

Decide who matters.

If we do our job and you do yours, you're probably going to die with something left over. This is where we have the conversation about who are the people and organizations you want it to go to. Identify the people and causes most important to you and determine how your wealth can support them. Decide whom you want to leave a legacy for — and how it can positively impact the world.

Your First Meeting

It starts with a conversation.

The Decision Lab is also the name of our first meeting. It's a complimentary 30-minute conversation where we get to know each other.

You get to learn about us. We get to learn about you. And together, we determine whether this might be a good fit — no pressure, no pitch, no commitment.

If it feels right, we'll schedule a second meeting to go deeper. If it doesn't, you'll walk away with clarity you didn't have before. Either way, it's worth 30 minutes.

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Go Deeper

Read the full framework.

The Decision Lab process is detailed in Chapter 5 of Sanger's book, including real stories of how the five key decisions helped a bakery owner build her dream business and a tech founder find significance after selling his company.

A Life Rich with Significance

A Life Rich with Significance

By Sanger D. Smith · BFA, APMA, CEPA

Transforming Your Wealth to Meaningful Impact. For family business owners who've built the wealth and now want it to mean something beyond the balance sheet.

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Take the First Step

Five decisions.
One conversation.

The Decision Lab starts with a complimentary 30-minute session. No cost, no commitment — just a conversation about what matters most to you and your family.

Start Your Decision Lab
Complimentary · 30 minutes · No obligation