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The Big Question

Deeper looks at the decisions that shape a financial life: retirement, legacy, and the trade-offs in between.

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21 episodes

Every episode of The Big Question

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#20: Where do you add the most value?

In this Big Question episode, Presilium answers where a financial advisor adds the most value. Beyond picking investments, the firm points to comprehensive planning, behavioral coaching during volatility, tax-aware decisions, and coordinating the many moving parts of a family's financial life over time.

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#19: How much cash should I maintain in my emergency or rainy-day fund?

In this Big Question episode, Presilium answers how much cash to keep in an emergency or rainy-day fund. The general guidance centers on covering several months of essential expenses, adjusted for income stability, fixed costs, and personal comfort, so cash is available without holding so much that it drags on long-term growth.

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#18: How Should I Invest?

In this Big Question episode, Presilium answers how to invest by starting with your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance rather than chasing hot picks. It outlines a disciplined, diversified, long-term approach built on owning quality businesses and staying invested through market cycles.

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#17: When should I become more conservative?

In this Big Question episode, Presilium answers when to become more conservative with investments. The decision should be driven by your time horizon and when you'll need the money, especially nearing or in retirement, rather than by age alone, balancing the need for stability with the need for ongoing growth.

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#16: What if we…?

This Big Question episode explores how thoughtful financial planning prepares families for life's 'what if' scenarios, so that unexpected events are met with a plan already in place rather than reactive decisions.

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#15: What if this time is different?

This Big Question episode addresses the recurring investor fear that the current market environment is uniquely dangerous. While details always differ, history shows markets have repeatedly recovered, and abandoning a long-term plan because 'this time is different' has historically been costly.

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#14: What do we do if the Market keeps going up?

This Big Question episode addresses the anxiety of investing while markets keep climbing to new highs. Because markets spend much of their time near record levels, waiting for a pullback often means missing growth; a disciplined plan guides how to stay invested responsibly even at all-time highs.

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#13: What is the Presilium Difference?

This video explains what distinguishes Presilium Private Wealth: a fiduciary, planning-first relationship rather than product sales. The firm combines investment management with comprehensive financial, tax, and estate planning, putting client interests first and coordinating every part of a household's financial life under one roof.

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#12: How Much Should I Be Saving?

This episode answers a common question: how much should I be saving? Rather than a single magic number, it explains that the right savings rate depends on your income, goals, and timeline, and that consistent saving, started early and tied to a written plan, is what builds long-term financial security.

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#11: How Are You So Optimistic?

This episode answers why the team stays optimistic about markets despite constant negative news. The case rests on a long-term belief that the world keeps improving and that owning stocks captures that progress, so patient, disciplined investors are rewarded over time even when headlines are grim.

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#10: When Do We Get Out?

This episode answers a frequent client question: when do we get out of the market? The answer is that reliably timing an exit and re-entry is nearly impossible, and attempting it usually costs investors more than it saves. A disciplined long-term plan, not market timing, is the better path through volatility.

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#9: What’s Your Minimum?

This Big Question episode addresses a common prospective-client concern: account minimums. It explains how investment minimums typically work at wealth management firms and how Presilium thinks about fit and the value a planning relationship provides, helping prospects understand whether the firm is right for them.

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#8: Am I Okay?

This Big Question episode tackles one of the most common worries clients bring: am I okay? It explains how a comprehensive financial plan answers that question with clarity, replacing anxiety with a concrete picture of whether you are on pace to reach your goals.

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#7: Does Presilium Help With That?

This Big Question episode answers a frequent client question, does Presilium help with that?, by outlining the breadth of financial planning needs the firm coordinates beyond investment management, from planning and tax to estate and everyday financial decisions, as a single integrated team.

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#6: Why Doesn’t Everyone Do It That Way?

This Big Question episode addresses why a planning-first, fiduciary approach isn't the industry norm. It contrasts Presilium's method, starting every relationship with a financial plan, against more product- or sales-driven models common across the wealth management industry.

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#5: How’s my return?

How is my return? The honest answer is that a single period's number means little on its own. This episode explains why investment performance should be measured against your personal financial plan and long-term goals, not market headlines or a friend's results, and why the right benchmark is whether you are on track.

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#4: What’s My Number?

What's my number? There is no universal figure for how much you need to retire. This episode explains that your retirement number is driven by your planned spending, income sources, and goals, and is best determined through a personalized financial plan rather than a generic rule of thumb.

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#3: Will social security exist, for me, in the future, as it stands today?

Will Social Security exist for me in the future as it stands today? This episode addresses the common fear of disappearing benefits, explaining how the program is funded, what the projected trust-fund shortfall actually means, and why most planners assume benefits will continue, possibly in modified form, for future retirees.

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#2: What will the Fed do from here?

What will the Fed do from here? This episode explains why predicting Federal Reserve rate decisions is difficult even for professionals, how the Fed weighs inflation and employment, and why investors are better served focusing on their long-term plan than trying to position around each policy move.

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#1: Where do you see the market going from here?

Where do you see the market going from here? This episode explains why no one, including professionals, can reliably predict short-term market direction, and why investors are better served by a disciplined, long-term plan than by chasing forecasts about where the market is headed next.

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The Big Question Special Edition: Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)

This special edition explains restricted stock units (RSUs): how they vest, why vested shares are taxed as ordinary income, and how to decide whether to hold or sell. It addresses the concentration risk of holding large amounts of one employer's stock and how RSUs fit into a broader financial and tax plan.

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