ROSS SINGLETARY: Probably the first business book I ever read, interestingly, was How to Be Your Own Stockbroker, by Charles Schwab.
My wife's father started his own business when he was in his late twenties, and I always admired what he had done, but I admired the freedom that he had. I thought it would be very rewarding and fantastic to be an owner and a founder of a business. It's just incredibly rewarding and gratifying, and I firmly believe it's a better way to do business.
Freedom was a big part of driving this decision. We believed in the RIA model, and we really feel like it put us on the same side of the table with the client, and we are just unequivocally in a much better position to do that as being part of our own firm, without question.
We're not worried about face time in the office in front of management because we are the management, and we don't have to report to anyone. And we don't have to worry about a manager in some far-flung office who really doesn't understand at the core what we're doing in our business with clients. So we're immune from that, which is incredibly rewarding. You can't put a price on that.
It makes for a more enriching environment to work in when you like everybody you work with, and I would include everybody in our firm, people that we like to go to lunch with, people that we like to have a drink with after work, play golf with, socialize with. We've been very lucky in that regard, so it just makes it a lot more fun.
I hope what my children and my partners' children took from what we did is that just follow your dreams, and pursue them wholeheartedly, even if it's a risky thing to do. And if you do, I think it can be incredibly rewarding and successful.
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Ross Singletary is a client of Schwab and was not compensated for their comments. The experience described may not be the experience of all clients and is not a guarantee of future performance or success.
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