Eight years ago I made a commitment that would end up shaping everything I’ve done since. I called it March to the Million — a commitment to help one million people prepare for the future. Eight years in, four to go.

Mark came into our office in his mid-50s with a line I keep hearing from professionals like him. “I don’t want products — I want to understand the strategy.” He’s a long-tenured W-2 professional stepping into a consulting-and-entrepreneurship phase, mid-six-figures in his 401(k), meaningful after-tax assets across whole-life cash value, real-estate equity, and a modest brokerage, 10 to 15 years from full retirement. Sophisticated. Reads pro/con literature. Brings articulate skepticism into...

The single most expensive mistake on the list isn’t a portfolio choice or a tax election. It’s the absence of a financial quarterback coordinating across the investment advisor, the CPA, the estate attorney, and the insurance professional. Each is optimizing within their own lane. Nobody is integrating across lanes.