Wes Wright

Wes Wright Hey! My name is Wes Wright and I am a fully licensed Financial Advisor in Memphis TN

05/30/2026

Why I tell many clients to skip the 401k match (at first)

Most advisors tell you to grab your 401k match first.

"It's free money!"

I often disagree.

I teach my clients something I call The Wealth Ladder — 12 rungs, in order.

The 401k match isn't until rung 7.

Here it is:
Rungs 1–3: Save for emergencies and pay off debt
Rungs 4–6: Build your full storm fund, get insured, and start tithing
Rung 7: Employer 401k match

Why isn't the match first?

Because "free money" isn't free if you can't keep it.

You can't build a battleship while it's still taking on water.

You start at the bottom. You patch the leaks. Then you add the guns.

For me — and for most of the clients I sit with — the emotional weight of debt adds more stress than the math says it should.

Get free first.

Then build.

The match will be there when you get to it.

P.S. Where are you stuck?

05/29/2026

Stop asking your friends for financial advice.

I mean it.

Last week a client told me their buddy said "don't use a Roth or IRA. Just put your money directly in the market."
..That doesn't even make sense...

A Roth IRA isn't a separate thing from the market. It's just the container your investments sit in.

That's like saying "don't use a plate. Just eat food."

The food is the same. The plate just determines how it gets taxed.

But this guy almost listened. Almost skipped the Roth entirely because his buddy sounded confident.

That's the problem with friend advice.

It's not that your friends are dumb (although this one was).

It's that confidence and competence aren't the same thing.

Your buddy who takes his advice from TikTok and has a Robinhood account is not a financial advisor.

And look — talking about money with friends is great. We need more of that.

Money shouldn't be taboo.

But there's a difference between talking about money and taking advice about money.

Talk to your friends about your goals.

Talk to a professional about your strategy.

P.S. What's the worst financial advice a friend ever gave you?

05/28/2026

Once you make over $250k, the market becomes your best friend.

I know. I made a whole post telling people under $250k to ignore the market.

But once you cross that line the game changes.

You already built the skills. You already increased the income. That part worked.

Now the question is: are you going to live like you make $1M a year or invest in a way that takes a decade off your retirement age?

Here's where most high earners mess up:

Lifestyle creep.

The income went up. The spending went up with it. And somehow $300k feels the same as $150k felt.

Here's what I tell my clients once they cross $250k:

1. Lock in your lifestyle. You don't need a bigger house, a nicer car, or a more expensive vacation every year. You need discipline.

2. Max out every tax-advantaged account you can. IRA. Roth. Solo 401k or SEP. Fill them up. Every single year.

3. Brokerage the heck out of what's left. After the tax-advantaged accounts are full, everything else goes into a brokerage account.

4. Ask yourself one question. Do you think you'll stop working before 59½? If yes, that brokerage account needs to move way up on your priority list. Because you can't touch retirement accounts without penalty until then.

The skills got you here.

The discipline keeps you here.

The investing is what sets you free.

P.S. If you make over $250k, what's the hardest part — making the money or keeping it?

05/27/2026

NEVER EVER USE PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE!!

I see this take a lot on LinkedIn

Quick story

Buddy of mine bets on himself -> Quits multiple 6 figure job.

100% commission based role - he’s grinding working 70-80hr weeks

Makes practically no money first yr and lives off savings

Cuts expenses to

05/26/2026

Your 401k has been on autopilot since 2005.

Do you know what funds you're in?

Do you know what you're paying in fees?

Do you know if your allocation still makes sense for where you are today?

Do you know if you're on track to retire when you want to?

Do you know what happens to that money when you die?

Do you know if your 401k and your overall financial plan are even talking to each other?

Do you know if your advisor has looked at any of this in the last 5 years?

Do you have an advisor?

Most people set up their 401k on day one of the job, picked whatever sounded right, and haven't touched it since.

That was 20 years ago.

You're not the same person you were 20 years ago.

Your 401k shouldn't be either.

P.S. When's the last time you actually logged into your 401k?

05/25/2026

You're not broke. You just don't have a system.

I sit with families making $12k-$18k a month after taxes.

They look at me and say "we feel like we're living paycheck to paycheck."

Then we pull up the spending.

$1,000/month in subscriptions they forgot they had.

$2,000-$4,000/month in spending that feels "normal" but nobody can actually explain where it went.

None of it is crazy on its own.

All of it together is $3,500-$5,500 a month they didn't know they were spending.

They're not broke.

They just never looked.

Here's what we do.

We look at where the money is actually going.

We prioritize what matters.

We delete what doesn't.

Every single time it frees up cash they didn't know they had.

Not because they got a raise.

Not because they cut out coffee.

Because they finally looked.

That's the system. It's not sexy. It's not complicated.

It's just the truth about where your money is going.

Most people don't have an income problem.

They have an awareness problem.

P.S. If you need help doing something like this, lets talk

05/23/2026

The best financial plan is the one you actually follow.

Had a client pay five figures for a comprehensive plan.

Took 45 days to even start implementing it.

And honestly? I have my doubts they're following it now.

That's not a plan problem.

That's a people problem.

I can build you the perfect plan.

Account priority. Tax strategy. Insurance. Investments. Retirement timeline. The whole thing.

But if it sits in a folder on your desktop and you never look at it again, it's just an expensive PDF.

The best plan isn't the most sophisticated one.

It's the one you'll actually do.

I'd rather a client follow a simple plan every single month than pay for a perfect plan and ignore it.

Consistency beats complexity every time.

P.S. Be honest — do you have a plan you're not following right now?

05/22/2026

A couple came in 3 years from retirement.

I asked them what retirement actually looks like.

"Travel. Spend more time with family."

Cool. You're about to go from 50 hours a week at work to 50 hours a week of free time.

How much of that do you want to spend with family?

I always get a smirk when I ask that.

Because we all know the answer.

Not THAT much.

So what are you doing with the other 40 hours?

They didn't have an answer.

Most people don't.

We spend 30 years planning the money side of retirement and zero minutes planning the life side.

What's going to give you structure when your job doesn't?

Who are you going to spend time with when your work friends aren't around every day?

What are you building toward, not just relaxing from?

These aren't financial questions.

But they're the questions that determine whether retirement feels like freedom or feels like you're lost.

The money part is my job.

But I'd be a bad advisor if I didn't ask about the rest.

P.S. If you retired tomorrow, what would you actually do on a random Tuesday at 10am?

05/21/2026

A client's wife came home from maternity leave and told him she wanted to stay home with the kids.

He called me and said "what do I do?"

Here's the thing.

We had just built a comprehensive plan for this couple a few months earlier.

So I already knew their numbers.

His wife's income was about $1,000/month more than what they were paying to send both kids to daycare.

Let that sink in.

She was working full time to net $1,000 after childcare.

They also had about $500/month going to retirement contributions.

Here's what we did:

Paused the retirement contributions temporarily.

Cut back on some extra spending.

Gave them a couple months to adjust to one income.

That's it. No panic. No drama. No "you can't afford it."

They could afford it. We just had to move a few things around.

But here's the part that matters:

We could make that call in 15 minutes because we already had the plan built.

I already knew what came in. What went out. What was flexible. What wasn't.

If they didn't have a plan we'd be starting from scratch in a moment of stress trying to make the biggest decision of their family's life on vibes and guesswork.

That's the difference between having an advisor who knows your numbers and having one who just watches your account grow.

P.S. If your spouse came home tomorrow and said "I want to stay home with the kids" would you know your numbers well enough to answer?

05/21/2026

A client told me he's getting a 20% raise.

$75k to $90k.

Came in with a smile on his face and said "I'm finally getting that truck I've been wanting."

$750/month payment. Trading in his current vehicle for the down payment.

I said cool. Let's look at the math real quick.

A 20% raise sounds like $15,000.

After taxes it's about $880/month.

Your truck payment is $750.

That leaves you $130 a month.

That's a date night at Hog & Hominy. That's not breathing room.

He got quiet.

Look — if you want the truck, get the truck. I'm not your dad.

But a raise is not a finish line.

It's a head start.

And locking yourself into a 60-month loan the same week you get a raise is like getting a running start and immediately tripping over your own feet.

You just got handed $880/month that you didn't have yesterday.

That's a fully funded Roth IRA.

That's your Wealth Ladder moving up 2 rungs.

That's 5 years of compound growth that changes your life at 50.

Or it's a truck.

Your call.

P.S. What did you do with your last raise?

Address

2176 West Street, STE 100
Germantown, TN
38138

Telephone

+19013345998

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