By Kimberly Kramer, President, Legacy Wealth Solutions, Inc. and Westmoreland County WLC Member

Through my work as a financial professional, I have come to find I enjoy working with individuals with whom I can relate and for whom I can create strong outcomes. I like to work with people like me. My tribe are people who have lots of passion for what they do for a living; they love their families and communities; and they care deeply and give back.

Whether it be through my career, sitting on boards, or helping with events, giving back to my community is just a part of who I am.

As a financial professional with a long career, I often assist people with creating a plan for their financial futures. Most people don’t really think about how their money relates to causes that are important to them. Building a financial plan that matches what really matters to you is a great way to create a secure financial future.

Over the years, I have worked to help my clients protect their families, fund secure retirements, and make significant charitable gifts. Helping ordinary people create extraordinary outcomes is where I find the most passion.

When meeting with a client, the ultimate goal is to build a financial plan where they have a sense of peace around their financial future. One that allows them to continue to live the lives they love with confidence.

So I always start getting to know my prospective clients by asking them a few questions:

• Who are the people and causes that you hold dear?
• What keeps you up at night?
• How do you plan to spend the rest of your life through your retirement years?

Clients with a strong plan are able to be more generous with their money throughout their lives. For those clients who want to make that a priority, we begin to work that into their plan.

Here are the three steps to building an inspired philanthropic plan:

1. It is important to have a clear understanding of your personal and family life history, current financial situation, and goals – for yourself, for your family and for the community causes that are important to you.
2. From there, it is helpful to work with a qualified planning team to take you from dreams, through plans, to implementation, and to positive impact.
3. Finally, it is important to remember that plans are not all about legacies. They should be focused on how you want to invest your time and talents in activities and leadership roles that matter most to you.

I am a long time member of United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council of Westmoreland County, and recently joined the executive committee. It is wonderful when a group of dynamic, passionate women combine their financial resources, minds and talents to help others who are less fortunate.

I have found in my own personal financial planning that finding the balance between money, purpose and passion leads to a happier and fuller life of spending your time doing the things that matter most to you.

To learn more about Westmoreland County’s Women’s Leadership Council, consider attending our 11^th Annual Women of Influence Breakfast, October 5. For more information, please visit this web page.