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BY JOHN L. SMALLWOOD Designing Your Financial Future Luxury is never an accident. It is the result of intention, detail, and design—whether you are talking about a coastal home, a perfectly tailored suit, or a carefully curated restaurant experience. In the same way, a great financial life is not something that simply "happens"; it is something you design with as much care as the finest brands in this magazine design their products and experiences. Money, Obstacles and Design In a recent feature with VUE, actor and recording artist 50 Cent shared a perspective on money that every successful reader should hear. Early in his rise, money felt like the ultimate solution— "the answer to all your problems"—until real wealth arrived and he discovered that "you find a new obstacle" on the other side of each financial breakthrough. is captures a truth most high achievers eventually learn; income and assets can change quickly. e underlying design of your financial life oen does not. Luxury, in other words, is not just about having more—it is about having structure, intention, and durability beneath the surface. A well- designed wealth plan anticipates the "new obstacles" that come with greater success and quietly absorbs them, so your life remains as thoughtfully constructed as the brands you admire in these pages. Wealth Is Not an Accident In more than three decades of wealth management, one truth keeps repeating: two people can have almost identical careers, businesses, and income, yet produce radically different outcomes. One creates abundant, enduring wealth, the other arrives at the same age with anxiety, fragility, and a portfolio that does not match the effort of a lifetime. e difference is rarely effort alone, and it is almost never luck; it is design. Every day, whether consciously or not, you are designing your financial outcome. You are designing how much of your income is consumed versus saved, how much is exposed to taxes versus protected, how much risk your assets carry, and how resilient your lifestyle is to the unexpected. Wealth happens over time when it is designed, not assumed. Designing a Business, Designing a Life If you are a business owner, you already live in a world of design. You design your revenue model, your pricing, your cost of goods, your gross profit targets, your team, the overall client experience, and when this is done well, revenue and enterprise value grow exponentially—not accidentally. e same is true of your personal wealth plan. You are designing how much income flows to current lifestyle versus future capital, how efficiently you reduce your tax burden within the rules, how you structure ownership and liability protection, and how you balance current enjoyment with future security. When these elements are thoughtfully designed, your financial life starts to feel like a well-run business: intentional, resilient, and scalable. VUE ON | FINANCE 90 VUENJ.COM

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