Thirty years ago this month, I sat down at the kitchen table and went to work—Day One—in Leibman Financial Services. I’d had the idea for more than a decade that I could assemble a group of clients, who, if I took care of them, they would take care of me. At age 40, it was time to test the theory. 

The stakes were high. My life in financial services had been transactional up to that point. I knew if I did not change, I might wake up at sixty years old, needing to run up and down the highway to make a deal to pay for groceries. A sales mindset was not sustainable. 

Getting serious about managing portfolios for people meant that my business objective could be simplified into this: grow the clients’ buckets. 

It was hard, starting from scratch. We struggled and juggled for years. But business began to compound. Investment returns grew client balances, which grew revenue. Four years in, the quaint office building at 228 Main in beautiful downtown Louisville came available. I could neither afford it, nor afford to pass it up, so you know what I did! 

Business doubled. And doubled. And doubled. And doubled. It turns out people like it when the focus is on growing their buckets. 

The one-man band became a team of eight, eventually. I’m well down the path of working to age 92, with the enterprise around me that makes it possible. (Hey, Dylan is touring at age 85! I’m only 70.)  

In this 30th anniversary month, I’m thinking of you, clients, grateful for your part in this glorious journey. Here’s to the next 30.  

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All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. 

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