What if your financial plan looks good on paper, but your family cannot use it when life gets hard? That is where Craig and Kevin Smith spend the heart of this conversation: not on money as a scorecard, but on money as a tool for presence, meaning, clarity, and peace of mind.

Kevin brings more than 30 years of finance, accounting, and comprehensive planning experience to his work with Smith Wealth Advisory Group of Janney Montgomery Scott. But his definition of wealth reaches far beyond accounts and spreadsheets. Quoting Thoreau, Kevin frames wealth as the ability to fully experience life. That means retiring comfortably, educating children and grandchildren, supporting people and causes that matter, and not losing the things money cannot buy.

That idea gets personal fast. Craig talks about moving closer to his grandkids and trading a nicer house and neighborhood for more time with them. Kevin puts it plainly: children and grandchildren only grow up once. Being present for games, class activities, and ordinary family moments is not a side benefit of planning. It may be the point.

They also talk about the conversations families avoid until a crisis makes them unavoidable. Where are the documents? Who knows the passwords? Who should be called first? Craig shares his coma and password-manager story, where the plan assumed normal competence but his family was operating under stress. Kevin's answer is simple and heavy: talk about the uncomfortable things before a life event makes them real. Money comes later, after the why.

Want to learn more about Kevin Smith's work? Visit Smith Wealth Advisory Group of Janney Montgomery Scott at https://advisor.janney.com/smithwealthadvisory.

Want to learn more about Kindness Worldwide? Visit https://kindnessworldwide.org/.

Connect with Kevin Smith on LinkedIn at http://linkedin.com/in/kevin-smith-a0040a19.

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work? Check out https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/.

Kevin Smith is a Financial Advisor with Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Kindness Worldwide is an outside business activity of Kevin Smith and is separate from, and not affiliated with, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Janney does not sponsor, endorse, or provide financial services through Kindness Worldwide. The views expressed are those of the speakers and are for informational and educational purposes only. They are not intended as investment advice or as a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security or to adopt any investment strategy. Individual circumstances vary, and any financial planning or investment strategy should be considered in light of an individual's specific goals, financial situation, and risk tolerance. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, its affiliates, and its employees are not in the business of providing tax, regulatory, accounting, or legal advice. These materials and any tax-related statements are not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used or relied upon, by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties. Any such taxpayer should seek advice based on the taxpayer's particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor. Individuals should also consult their own legal counsel regarding legal or estate planning matters. For more information about Janney, please see Janney's Relationship Summary (Form CRS) at www.janney.com/crs which details all material facts about the scope and terms of our relationship with you and any potential conflicts of interest.

In this episode of Fiduciary Alchemy, Craig Andrews talks with Jeff Coons, Chief Risk Officer and Director of Institutional Services at High Probability Advisors, about how incentives shape decisions in business, investing, and client service. Jeff brings a risk-focused lens to the conversation, grounded in evidence-based investing and hard-earned lessons from watching incentive structures change inside firms that once seemed built to last.

Jeff and Craig dig into what happens when businesses are managed only from a spreadsheet. Whether the subject is private equity, compensation plans, customer service, or investment teams, Jeff argues that incentives quietly determine behavior. When those incentives drift away from clients, employees, and long-term value, the damage may not show up right away, but it shows up.

The conversation also turns personal and practical. Jeff explains why failure should be treated as a classroom, not an indictment, and why investors must keep asking questions until they get good answers. In uncertain environments, whether in healthcare or finance, the person making the decision has to understand the risks, the motivations behind the recommendation, and whether the answer actually fits their situation.

Jeff closes with a clear reminder: these are your assets, your wealth, and your future. A strong plan is not built on pretending storms will never come or trusting someone who claims they can avoid every one. It is built by understanding downside scenarios, refusing shame-based sales pressure, and walking away when the answers do not hold up.

Want to learn more about Jeff Coons' work? Visit High Probability Advisors at https://highprobabilityadvisors.com/.

Connect with Jeff Coons on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/jeffreyscoons.

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work? Check out https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/.

You do not control the future. You do not know when the future happens. And if you wait until life forces the conversation, you may have already lost the chance to make the cleanest, kindest, most protective choices available. That is where this conversation with Josh Wilson and Adriana Lopez-Ortiz begins: not with documents, but with the hard truth that families and businesses both suffer when successful people keep postponing the plan.

Josh and Adriana walk through the places where estate planning and business planning overlap, especially for entrepreneurs, family businesses, and owners whose wealth is tied up in relationships, operating agreements, and future expectations. Naming a fiduciary or trustee is not a popularity contest. The closest person is not always the right person. Familiarity does not equal fitness. As Josh puts it, a bear is still a bear, and some people are exactly who they have already shown you they are.

They also talk about the conversations families avoid: unequal distributions, vulnerable beneficiaries, addiction, and the danger of handing someone a sudden pile of money when that money may hurt them instead of help them. Planning around those realities is not cruelty. It can be protection. But it only works when you communicate clearly, think beyond hurt feelings, and build a plan that survives the moment when emotions are loud and judgment is thin.

On the business side, Adriana brings the same clarity to company agreements, buy-sell provisions, deadlock, divorce, disability, death, missing life insurance, hidden liabilities, and business breakups that get expensive fast. She compares strong business planning to a prenup: mature people negotiate protections while everyone still likes each other, and they learn a lot in the process. The warning is simple. People who are busy being successful often neglect their own planning. Eventually, later may not come.

Want to learn more about Joshua Wilson's work? Visit Grable Martin at https://grablemartin.com/gchub-attorneys/wilson-josh/.

Connect with Joshua Wilson on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-wilson-75b05a20/.

You can also reach Joshua directly at jwilson@grablemartin.com or 512-920-0318.

Want to learn more about Adriana Lopez-Ortiz's work? Visit Grable Martin at https://grablemartin.com/gchub-attorneys/lopez-ortiz-adriana/.

Connect with Adriana Lopez-Ortiz on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/adriana-lopez-ortiz.

You can also reach Adriana directly at alortiz@grablemartin.com or 512-541-4645.

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work? Check out https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/.