Mark Cecchini, CFP®

Personal CFO for 7-8 figure tech employees & SMB owners @ Quadrant Capital • Advisor Educator • Dad x2 • Tweets ≠ Advice • Book a discovery call ↓

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

The response to my equity compensation visuals deck has been overwhelming (thank you)

I quickly realized it needed to be reformatted/improved as a standalone artifact

Link below:

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

brick oven pizza + my 2nd child tax credit

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@AndyPanko @Eric_M_Courage Not at all and not what we're going for at all

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

....@Eric_M_Courage and I are starting a 6-seat mastermind for RIA advisors.

Everyone in this industry charges basis points.

Virtually nobody becomes one.

We're assembling a group of 6 advisors who are building top 1/100th of 1% practices.

This might be for you if:

-You are an RIA advisor doing $500K – $1.25M in personal revenue, systematizing toward $2.0M +

-You're building the machine: AI, staff, SOPs, a marketing flywheel

-You run real margins and don't compete on price

-You have a life outside the office you'd protect at all costs

This is not for you if:

-Wirehouse/IBD reps, coaches, anyone selling anything

The format:

-90 min every 2 weeks, cameras on
-Annual 2-day in-person retreat

Applications close Aug 31. Cohort starts Oct 1.

Apply using the Google Form link below.

We'll follow up if we think it's a good potential fit.

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@pavy14 @Eric_M_Courage need consistency in setup across the board for it to be most relevant / effective

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@Eric_M_Courage Applications:

https://t.co/gdBdSrPSeI

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

3 clients closing on houses or sending in earnest money just this week alone

who do you have in your camp when the rubber meets the road for a home buy?

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

Buying our house last year was a dream come true

We saved for years, strategized, and surrounded ourselves with an amazing team to out bid 9 other offers

Here's everything you need to know about buying a home or condo:

First, your maximum home budget should always be a reflection of your financial situation, cash flow, and other goals (including life goals and geographic moves)

Not just the maximum amount a lender is willing to provide via pre-qualification

^^The two numbers can often differ by a fairly wide margin

Here's a thread breaking that down with specific numbers

https://t.co/BHG9SVkwUm

With today's interest rates, it takes much longer to "break even" from a financial standpoint on a property

New homebuyers in certain locations can expect to spend between 8-14 years in their house before breaking even on their investment

→ Down Payment: Typically 20% of the purchase price (doesn't have to be 20%)

20% is required if you want to avoid "PMI" or Primary Mortgage Insurance -- this makes your monthly payment higher until you achieve 20% equity in the home

The current mortgage deduction under TCJA legislation allows you to take a tax deduction for interest payments on the first $750k of debt (i.e. If you have a $1M mortgage, you can only deduct 75% of your interest costs)

→ Monthly Payment: PITI = Principal, Interest, Taxes, Insurance

Amortization of the Loan = Principal & Interest

Taxes = Real Estate Taxes

Insurance = Monthly Homeowners Insurance

All else equal, try to keep the percentage of your income going to housing (PITI for mortgage or Rent amount) to <30% of your gross monthly income

→ Interest Rate: Fixed-rate keeps payments steady; adjustable-rate (ARMs) might start low but fluctuate with market trends

30 year mortgages are still between 6.0%-7.0% for borrowers with great credit, but they could come down with rate cuts

→ Loan Period: Ranging from 5 to 30 years, with most opting for the latter for predictability

→ Amortization: The norm, blending principal and interest in monthly payments. Some opt for interest-only loans to lower initial outlays, betting on future refinancing or property sale before steeper payments kick in

→ Conforming vs. Non-Conforming: Conforming loans adhere to federal limits and offer lower rates; surpass these, and you're in jumbo loan territory, requiring heftier down payments but eliminating mortgage insurance need

The 2024 conforming loan limit for single-family homes is $766,550 in most areas, but it can be higher in some expensive housing markets

Conforming loan limits can top out at $1,149,825 in Alaska, Hawaii, D.C and in some counties, such as San Francisco

→ Calculating Affordability: Consider the full monthly cost, not just the mortgage but also taxes, insurance, and maintenance (see thread above)

Don't forget about all the costs that come with home ownership:

→ Utilities, Cable, Internet
→ Furniture
→ Repairs, projects, and painting
→ Landscaping
→ Unforeseen problems
→ Security system

→ Pre-Approval: Essential for gauging what you can borrow and at what rate, with the opportunity to shop around for the best deal

You will need to provide W-2s, bank statements, investment statements, paystubs, and tax returns

You will then get a letter from the lender saying you are pre-approved -- then you can go shopping with confidence

→Technical Refinancing: Buying with all cash up front then refinancing can offer tax deductions on interest as an investment expense

→Cash-Out Refinancing: Convert home equity into cash for various needs, from remodeling to debt consolidation

→ Home Sale Exclusion: Capital gain from your home's sale can be tax-exempt up to a limit, provided you've lived there for enough time

You can exclude up to $250K ($500K married) of capital gain from selling in the future as long as it has been your primary residence for at least 2 years out of the 5 years prior to date of sale

→Tax Implications: Buying a house will create certain tax deductions (RE taxes, investment interest)

Keep in mind, you can only truly benefit from these deductions if you itemize your deductions (vs taking the standard deduction)

→Your Home Buying Team:

We could not have successfully closed on our new home without an all star team behind us

IMO, this includes:

→ Financial advisor
→ Real estate agent
→ Mortgage broker
→ Homeowners insurance broker

With the right team, a solid understanding of mortgage types, and strategic planning, you can navigate the complexities and find a pathway to homeownership that aligns with your financial landscape and future aspirations

My wife and I decided to skip the starter home and go right for a 5B / 5BA with a yard and a pool last year

Why? Because we both…

—Want ~3 kids
—WFH (need 2 offices)
—Love entertaining
—Wanted more space for the pup
—Will likely be here for decades

Ultimately you should let your life goals dictate your financial goals, including buying a house

~~This is intended for educational purposes only~~

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[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@Greiser @FranWalsh73 lol, not one time did it cross my mind either

next time 🤙🏼

onward.

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

spent more time with Fran and Ryan yesterday in person

a couple of rock solid dudes from the great state of PA who said “why not us” and “why not do it our way”

Congrats on 9 figures under management 🚀

@FranWalsh73 @Greiser

[Ryan Greiser, CFP® @Greiser]

7 years ago today, Fran and I walked away from our broker-dealer to start Opulus.

No mahogany office. No sales scripts. No suit-and-tie culture.

We didn't have a plan so much as a conviction: we could build something better if we just stopped asking permission.

A handful of clients said yes. So did some friends and family. About 50 people trusted us with roughly $12M.

That was the whole company.

Today we work with close to 200 families across 32 states. Median age 41. We're closing in on $115M under management.

And somewhere along the way, the thing that used to get us in trouble became the thing that built the business. We went from being banned from social media at our old firm to sharing our thinking every single day, for free, so people can either use it themselves or bring us in to do it with them.

Between me and Fran, that's grown into about 27,000 followers on here and 4,750 people who subscribe to our newsletter.

I believed in 2019 that we were building something worth building. I did not believe it would look like this.

I'm grateful for every client who bet on two guys with no track record and who didn't want to wear a suit and tie to the office. I'm grateful for the supporters, and honestly the critics too. You sharpen us whether you mean to or not.

Most of all: my wife and our three kids gave me the room to take this risk in the first place. None of this happens without that.

And Fran. Seven years in, he's not a business partner anymore. He's family.

If you're an advisor, or really anyone, sitting on the idea that you could do this differently, betting on yourself is still the best decision I've ever made.

Thank you 𝕏.

— Ryan

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

random thought…this is such an unbelievable time for hard-charging people who get to work on something they genuinely care about AND also happens to carry real financial upside

it’s like a limitless pill gets dropped into the morning glass of water

honestly the hardest part is knowing when to cut yourself off and go to bed

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@d_lamle Yes.

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

I’ll admit it

I’m wildly unbalanced right now

&gt;Family = 11/10
&gt;Work/content/teaching = 11/10
&gt;Fitness = 0/10
&gt;Social = 1/10

I can live with that for a while

you have to choose to be unbalanced for a while if you want to achieve anything great

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@AtkinsonFinance Good call!

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@detwiler_lucy Sounds good Lucy! Hope it's helpful to you in some way.

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

The response to my equity compensation visuals deck has been overwhelming (thank you)

I quickly realized it needed to be reformatted/improved as a standalone artifact

Link below:

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@ModernTaxLaw thanks! several threads in common, which is what makes it fun

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

only 6% of my clients are retired (!)

the rest are in the messy middle of life, kids, building, stacking capital

I don’t just work with tech founders and employees either…

1/3 of clients are SMB owners and high earning W-2 employees

70% of clients have equity ownership of some kind

100% have bought into the process and show up when it’s time to put the work

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@patefortworth needed to hear this from someone who has been through it

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@justnblock tell me you don't have kids without telling me

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@Eric_M_Courage Ride the wave sir, you've earned it several times over

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@rrhoover @Codie_Sanchez good ones are

some are lazy

others constrained by big box compliance

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@Codie_Sanchez real earners know to hire both and make sure they talk to each other

+ estate lawyer and legitimate insurance agent

[Mark Cecchini, CFP® @markcecchini]

@NoBSRecruiter for sure