As a financial advisor, Wade Chessman has dedicated his career to guiding his clients toward making wise financial decisions, both for themselves and for those on the receiving end of their generosity. As President of Chessman Wealth Strategies and host of The Money Knight Podcast, his goal is twofold: to help clients apply wisdom to their wealth and make an impact with their giving.
We sat down with Wade to learn more about his work and how he encourages his clients toward greater giving.
How did generosity become part of your business?
It’s grown over time. I started the firm back in 2004, and, as I learned more through study and going through Kingdom Advisors, I started integrating faith into the practice of what we do to advise our clients. It was just a natural outpouring of what God was teaching me.
Why is generosity so important to your work?
One of the best ways to free ourselves from our concerns about money and the hold they can have on us is to be generous. That’s really where we come from at our firm. If you’re living with a biblical worldview about money, then promoting generosity, helping clients with generosity, and being generous on your own is an important part of what you do.
What have you seen generosity do for your clients?
Well, I think we’re all called to generosity. It’s as simple as that for me. But we also know that money can have a hold on us. It seems like the more we have, the more we hold on to it. Generosity is the cure for that. I’ve seen people find more freedom because they understand there are more important things than building up bigger storehouses and bigger barns to hold all their assets.
Why do you think some advisors opt not to talk about generosity with their clients?
I’d guess maybe they don’t believe in it themselves, and that could be a big reason they don’t prioritize it with their clients. Maybe they’re afraid to broach the subject because they don’t feel confident about it themselves. Whatever the reason, I think it’s a real miss when advisors don’t talk about generosity and giving. Even if you’re not a believer, there are still plenty of people who are altruistic and want to give, and it’s our job as advisors to help everybody we can to be a smart giver.
Why did you decide to work with NCF?
The biggest thing is the shared worldview, but you still want excellence. It wouldn’t really work if a company had the same worldview but didn’t do a good job executing on what they offer. I like working with NCF because we’re aligned in our beliefs, and they do a great job. They’re constantly coming up with ideas that help our clients be more generous in different ways.
Specifically, we’ve partnered with NCF a couple of times and invited clients to a meeting where we talked to them about asset-based giving from a biblical worldview. That’s been powerful for both our team and the clients we serve. And what I’ve seen time and again with our clients who give through NCF is just how much easier it is do with their Giving Fund.
Why is giving stock beneficial?
Most people’s wealth isn’t in their checking account; it’s in their assets. Even high-net-worth earners sometimes don’t realize the benefit of giving away appreciated securities and other assets. For us, it’s about helping people understand how they can use some of their assets to be a smarter giver. NCF does that really well. We’ve got a system now that’s easy for us to use. So, when it’s time to do a stock gift, we almost have it on autopilot thanks to their help.
What’s it like to help someone become more generous?
I had one client who had a bunch of stock that she held on to for a long time. So, we said, “Why don’t you give this away?” It was great because she was able to help a small church in Arkansas with a monthly gift, and those gifts have made a huge difference to that church. There’s enough money in her fund to pay it out for three or four more years, and she feels great about that plan. It’s been done in a slow and thoughtful way so the church can manage it well.
How do conversations about giving impact your relationships with clients?
A lot of times, the giving comes after you build a relationship. Over time, they see that you’ve thought things through, that you’re knowledgeable, that you can be trusted. And then, they feel more comfortable opening the door to conversations about bigger giving.
