Team Member Spotlight
Meet Chris Chai, our Lead Financial Planner. Chris has been with MFA since 2019 and he’s the architect behind many financial plans we designed for our clients.
Chris and his family strolling along Cherating Beach in Malaysia.
Why did you choose to become a financial advisor?
When I was studying for my MBA 15 years ago, my professor outlined a dilemma that was facing our country. On one hand, the baby boomers were fast approaching their retirement age and many needed professional guidance when it came to retirement and financial planning. On the other hand, the average age of a financial advisor was 55 years old and the population pyramid for financial advisors was an inverted triangle. Many of these financial advisors were in the twilight years of their career. The dilemma was that there would not be enough financial advisors to meet the demands from this influx of retirees. Many of these retirees would struggle to have a smooth transition into their retirement years.
This presented an opportunity and motivation for me to change my focus from business administration to wealth management. I wanted to become a financial advisor so that I could provide financial guidance and make a meaningful impact on someone’s life. I dropped my MBA classes and pivoted to majoring in wealth management soon after, and the rest is history.
What’s a memory from your client interactions that’s stayed with you?
An elderly client of mine requested a Roth conversion of his sizable IRA account. The converted amount would’ve been added to his gross income and that would’ve been taxed at the highest tax bracket, potentially resulting in a very large tax bill. During the conversion process, I noticed that he had a substantial amount of unused net operating losses on his tax returns. I was able to advise him and the netting of the two zeroed out the tax liability from the Roth conversion.
A year later, this client sadly passed away. Because of the Roth conversion we did the year prior, his only child inherited the Roth account and any distributions from it would be tax free. If it was left in the IRA account, his beneficiary would have to pay taxes every time money is withdrawn from it. Our financial plan effectively saved taxes for 2 generations. This experience reinforces the importance of holistic planning when it comes to optimizing our clients’ financial well-being. The diligence we exercise every day at work has a profound impact on our clients’ lives.
Why are you excited to be part of MFA?
MFA is hitting a growth spurt – we brought in 3 new team members over the last 12 months. I’m excited to be part of MFA because our increase in capacity means we can better service our clients while offering financial guidance to more people.
If you could change one thing in the financial advisory industry, what would it be?
I wish more people could have access to sound financial advice, instead of it being limited to the top 5% of the wealthy people in America.
You have 10 seconds to advise someone on how to stay financially healthy – go!
Staying financially healthy is a lot like staying physically healthy – it requires similar qualities eg setting up goals, being diligent and disciplined, and having a good (financial) coach by your side. I know sometimes it is hard to resist the temptation of splurging a little (like the Europe travel deals that keep showing up in my inbox) but living within your means and saving/investing as much as it is feasible are keys to reaching your financial independence goal sooner.