Shirley Wang

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Shirley Wang Working together, we will design a flexible, actionable financial plan to meet your needs today, and in the days to come.

As your life and priorities change, we will be there every step of the way, adjusting your plan to keep your goals on track

10/20/2026

I had a funny realization recently.

There was a time when standing all day at work was seen as a hardship. Factory workers, retail associates, and many frontline employees spent entire shifts on their feet, and the goal for many was to find a job where they could finally sit down.

Fast forward to today, and many office workers are raising their desks so they can stand more.

What changed?

Work changed.

As our jobs became more digital, productive, and automated, we also became more stationary. Now we're intentionally building movement back into our workdays through standing desks, walking meetings, and fitness reminders.

It makes me wonder: what we see as an advantage today might become something we'll try to compensate for tomorrow.

The evolution of work is full of these ironies.

Higher borrowing costs are raising questions about the artificial intelligence spending boom. Read this week’s market co...
10/20/2026

Higher borrowing costs are raising questions about the artificial intelligence spending boom. Read this week’s market commentary for a closer look at the risks to growth and why diversification remains important. http://spr.ly/6184BHrnAg

10/16/2026

I asked AI "What are the top 3 mistakes people who are self directing their financial plan often makes?"

AI said,

In my experience, the top 3 mistakes self-directed investors make aren't picking the wrong stock. They're usually mistakes in behavior and planning.

1. Confusing Investment Management with Financial Planning

Many people believe they're doing financial planning because they're managing investments.

They're not the same thing.

A self-directed investor may spend hours researching ETFs, stocks, and market forecasts while never addressing:

Retirement income strategy
Tax planning
Estate planning
Insurance needs
Social Security optimization
Healthcare and long-term care considerations

You can have an excellent portfolio and still have a poor financial plan.

The mistake: Focusing on growing assets without having a strategy for using those assets.

2. Letting Emotions Drive Decisions

Self-directed investors often believe they will remain rational during market volatility.

Then reality happens.

When markets fall 20%, 30%, or more, fear takes over. When markets are booming, greed takes over.

Common examples:

Selling after a market decline
Holding excess cash after a correction
Chasing last year's best-performing investments
Taking excessive risk during bull markets

The biggest threat to a retirement plan is often not the market.

It's the investor's reaction to the market.

3. Having No Written Strategy

Ask many self-directed investors:

"What would cause you to change your portfolio?"

Many don't have an answer.

Questions that should already be addressed include:

How much risk am I taking?
What's my target asset allocation?
When will I rebalance?
What is my withdrawal strategy in retirement?
How will I respond to a bear market?
What rate of return do I actually need?

Without a written framework, every financial decision becomes emotional and reactive.

The mistake: Making important decisions based on current events rather than a predetermined plan.

Honorable Mention: Underestimating the Tax Impact

I've seen many DIY investors do a fantastic job managing investments but leave thousands of dollars on the table through:

Inefficient withdrawals
Poor Roth conversion timing
Asset location mistakes
Social Security claiming errors
Ignoring tax brackets in retirement

Sometimes improving after-tax outcomes has a greater impact than finding a slightly better investment.

A Great Question to Ask

When someone says, "I manage my own money," I often wonder:

"Are you managing investments, or are you managing a financial plan?"

Most people are doing the first.

Far fewer are doing the second.

And that's where many of the costly mistakes occur.

10/15/2026

Wanting to work and having to work are two very different things.

A client recently told me:
"I love my job. Honestly, I think I'd work forever."

And my response was:
"That's great... as long as it's your choice."

Because let's be honest, most of us picture retirement as something we'll decide for ourselves.

We'll wake up one day, make a grand announcement, collect a cake, a gold watch, and ride off into the sunset.

Life, unfortunately, doesn't always follow the script.
Sometimes your knees retire before you do.
Sometimes your company decides that "restructuring" is the new corporate buzzword.
Sometimes technology changes, health changes, family needs change, or the position you've held for 20 years simply isn't there anymore.

That's why I don't think the goal should be to work forever.
The goal should be to become financially independent as early as possible.

Then, if you genuinely love what you do, keep working!

Work until you're 70.
Work until you're 80.
Work until your coworkers start asking if you were present when Microsoft launched Windows 95.

The difference is that you're showing up because you want to, not because missing a paycheck would cause stress.

That's what financial planning is really about.
Not escaping work.
Not chasing some beach retirement fantasy.

It's about creating options.

The option to keep working.
The option to cut back.
The option to switch careers.
The option to spend more time with family.
The option to retire early if life decides to make the decision for you.

Build the freedom first.
Then keep working as long as you enjoy it.

Because working longer can be a wonderful bonus.
Needing to work longer is a very different conversation.

Markets have continued to climb, but leadership has become more concentrated as investors weigh persistent inflation, hi...
10/15/2026

Markets have continued to climb, but leadership has become more concentrated as investors weigh persistent inflation, higher rates, and rising uncertainty. See Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Chief Investment Officer Brent Schutte’s take on what the shift from broad growth to narrower market leadership could mean for investors. http://spr.ly/6184BH8NNi

10/14/2026

I asked AI "What are the top 3 qualities people seek in a financial planner?"

1. Trust
2. Communication
3. Competence

Many advisors would put competence first.

Clients usually don't.

A client can tell if you return calls, listen, and care. They can't easily evaluate portfolio construction or retirement-income modeling.

That's why the advisors who build the biggest and most loyal practices are often not the smartest in the room. They're the ones who make clients feel understood while consistently delivering competent advice.

As Theodore Roosevelt famously said:

"People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

That principle applies remarkably well to financial planning.

10/13/2026

A CPA often helps explain what happened financially last year.
A financial planner helps you prepare for what happens next.

I was recently talking with someone about tax planning and asked whether they had ever worked with a financial planner.

Without missing a beat, they said:

"My CPA takes care of that."

Fair answer.

But it got me thinking about how often we lump CPAs and financial planners into the same bucket. They're both money people, so it seems logical. Kind of like assuming your dentist and your primary care doctor do the same thing because they both wear white coats.

They don't.

Your CPA is the person helping you make sense of what happened. They help file taxes, navigate tax rules, and hopefully prevent any unpleasant letters from the IRS.

Your financial planner is usually focused on questions like:

• Are you saving enough for retirement?
• Should you be using a Roth or Traditional account?
• How should you invest for your goals?
• When can you realistically retire?
• How do you build wealth in a tax-efficient way over time?

One is often looking at the results from last year.

The other is helping design the next 10, 20, or 30 years.

And honestly, the best outcomes happen when both professionals are involved.

I've never met a financial planner who wanted to prepare tax returns, and I've never met a CPA who woke up excited to rebalance someone's investment portfolio.

Different jobs. Different expertise. Same goal: helping people make smarter financial decisions.

So if your answer to financial planning is, "My CPA handles that," it may be worth asking:

Does your CPA help you file your taxes... or do you also have a strategy for everything that comes after?

10/13/2026

Financial planning is a lot like weight loss.

Most people already know what to do.
The value of a professional isn't information.
It's turning good intentions into lasting results.

10/13/2026

The market drops 10%.

Person A: ✅ Reads every headline ✅ Checks balances daily ✅ Worries constantly
Person B: ✅ Goes to work ✅ Takes the kids to soccer ✅ Lives life

Three months later, Person B checks their account and discovers the market already recovered.

The stock market doesn't always test your intelligence.

More often, it tests your patience.

Sometimes doing less is doing more.

Recent market moves showed how quickly sentiment around artificial intelligence can affect broader indexes. This week’s ...
10/13/2026

Recent market moves showed how quickly sentiment around artificial intelligence can affect broader indexes. This week’s market commentary explains why diversification remains important, even as AI continues to shape market leadership. http://spr.ly/6189BH8iYz

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