Free Consultation
Every visitor to www.ojmgroup.com, every purchaser of O'Dell Jarvis Mandell books, and every reader of our articles is invited to receive a free one-hour consultation with one or more of the founding partners of the firm.
On these consultation calls, we will answer your questions in any of the planning areas that we handle for clients. We will also determine how our firm may assist you in your particular circumstances.
The only prerequisite to this consultation is that you must complete a short data form so the principals can review your information in advance. This will make our consult most productive.
To learn how to arrange this no-obligation consultation, please click here.
National Firm
The OJM Group has principals in Ohio, New York, Florida, Texas, and Arizona. The Firm has over 1,000 clients, in more than 45 states and 3 foreign countries.
In addition, OJM has developed strong working relationships with our "collaborative firm" - attorneys and other experts in many areas across the country. These experts are brought in during the implementation phase for clients, so that local legal and tax issues are handled by experienced local advisors. This planning and implementation model gives clients the benefit of national expertise and local attention. Click here to see where OJM has clients and/or collaborative advisors.
To learn more about OJM's process, please refer to the Working with OJM section of our site.
Experts in the Field
Between the firm principals and staff, we have written 8 books, given hundreds of lectures at conferences, written over 50 articles in their areas of expertise, appeared on Bloomberg and Fox Television, been interviewed on over 100 radio programs, and have over 70 years of experience.
We encourage you to read our books and speak with us about how we can apply our expertise for you.
To learn more about our firm and how we can help you, review the Who We Are and Working With OJM sections of our website.
Multidisciplinary
In addition to our expertise, our multi-disciplinary approach sets us apart from our competitors.
At OJM, we have two attorneys, three MBAs, as well as insurance and securities designations as part of our team. This allows us to analyze our client's issues from different perspectives and provide sophisticated solutions.
Moreover, in providing advice in the area of asset protection, OJM has a standing engagement with The Law Offices of David B. Mandell, PC (www.mandellpc.com) to provide all asset protection analyses and recommendations.
Even with our internal capabilities, some client scenarios require us to call on outside expertise. We have developed an extensive network of "collaborative firms" who we call on for the appropriate client. This approach allows us to bring the best minds from a host of disciplines to bear for our clientele.
In these ways, our clients benefit from a true multi-disciplinary coordinated approach.
Focus on the Affluent
At OJM, we focus our energy on clients where we can add the most value. This does not mean that all our clients are rich. They may already be affluent or on their way to reaching affluence.
To elaborate, please read below a portion from the opening chapter from our book WEALTH SECRETS OF THE AFFLUENT, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2008.
WHO ARE THE AFFLUENT?
This is obviously an important question to answer, given the focus of this book. For the purpose of this book, we will make distinctions between different types of Affluent Americans. The differences between the groups are based on what makes them Affluent, how affluent they are, and how they achieved their level of affluence. In this book, you will regularly see the following terms:
i. The Affluent
ii. The Super Affluent
iii. The Working Affluent
iv. Wealthy Families
v. The Savvy Affluent
In some instances, a person or family may be categorized as both Working Affluent and a member of a Wealthy Family. That same family may be Affluent or Super Affluent. They also may or may not be considered part of a group we call the Savvy Affluent. Despite the ability to belong to a multiple categories, you will see from the discussions below that the groups can have very significant differences in characteristics, concerns and goals. Whether you are a member of any of these categories of the Affluent, hope to become one through lessons in this book, or plan to work with members of these groups as an advisor, you will find the philosophical and practical sections in this book apply almost universally. Of course, as with any lesson, some of the specific chapters within each of the ten sections of the book (The 10 Keys) may be more appropriate for one group than another and will be more or less valuable to different people within each group based on their personal circumstances.
The Working Affluent
For the purposes of Wealth Secrets, we define Working Affluent as families who earn over $150,000 per year. The strategies and philosophies offered in this book have come from individuals and families that earn $500,000 to $5,000,000 per year and can be applied to any household earning $150,000 or more. By definition, the Working Affluent earn considerably more than the Average American. This will be quantified later in this chapter. As a result, the Working Affluent have different challenges that require special attention. Generally, these challenges include business planning, tax planning, asset protection, retirement planning, wealth accumulation, investment and insurance concerns. These topics will be discussed in greater detail within the 10 Keys.
Wealthy Families
For the purpose of Wealth Secrets, we define Wealthy Families as those families with a net worth, or who may some day acquire a net worth, in excess of $2,000,000. Here we are simply calculating net worth as the sum of total assets less the total of liabilities (debts). Many of the authors' experiences have been with families who have a net worth between $5,000,000 and $50 million. Wealthy Families may have many similar concerns as the Working Affluent. In addition, Wealthy Families are also likely to have estate planning, charitable and business succession concerns. These unique concerns will be discussed in detail in The Sixth Key.
YOU CAN BE BOTH
We acknowledge that many people will fall into both categories, but that is not always the case. A first year neurosurgeon may earn $400,000 per year (according to www.mdsalaries.blogspot.com) but may not pay off all of his educational debt and begin to save money for a number of years. We did not think it accurate to categorize this person as Average. Similarly, a woman who sold her business for $5,000,000 and quit working shouldn't be considered Average because she doesn't have a job. Clearly, these two people have concerns that very different from those of the Average American. You can also see how the neurosurgeon may have very different concerns than the young retiree. This is why it is an either or scenario and why there are solutions in this book that are more appropriate for each group.
The Super Affluent
The last two categories describe why a person or family is considered Affluent. One is considered Affluent because of significant income. The other through a measure of assets accumulated. These two groups have different challenges and concerns. However, the type of affluence is not the only important planning factor. The amount of wealth also has an impact.
For this reason, we introduce another category, the Super Affluent. The Super Affluent can also earn their distinction through earnings or accumulation of wealth, albeit at higher levels. We consider the Super Affluent to be members of the Working Affluent who earn over $1,000,000 per year or members of Wealthy Families who have accumulated a net worth in excess of $10,000,000. You will find that many of the strategies in this book come from people who are members of this category and members of the next category, the Savvy Affluent.
The Savvy Affluent
The last three categories are based on the amount of income or net worth a person or family has. This category, the Savvy Affluent, is based on what people have done with their money. A member of the Super Affluent isn't necessarily someone you want to mimic (see: Hilton, Paris). Inheriting money or winning the lottery are not planning strategies we endorse. Luck should not be part of your long term financial plan.
The lessons in this book were learned from people and advisors who made great decisions and leveraged every opportunity they had to achieve a greater level of financial success. Turning a $100 investment into a $300,000 per year business and turning a $1,000,000 inheritance into a $50,000,000 fortune are both wonderful success stories worthy of inspection. These stories are those of the Savvy Affluent.
The Savvy Affluent are people who have made the most of their situation by utilizing the lessons in this book to either:
1. Improve their financial situation from Average American to Affluent American; or
2. Improve their financial situation from Affluent to Super Affluent
Throughout the book, we will refer to the Savvy Affluent as the ones who have wisely applied the lessons discussed to achieve greater wealth and peace of mind. Many of the tips from this book have come directly from interactions with thousands of Savvy & Super Affluent Americans who have successfully grown from Average to Affluent and then from Affluent to Super Affluent. The purpose of this book is to teach you what the Savvy Affluent have done to increase their levels of wealth and explain how you may be able to benefit from similar strategies.
If you have any interest in improving your financial situation by techniques that were previously used only by the Super Affluent, you have picked up the right book.
Important Note: The reason we use the terms Average, Affluent or Super Affluent American has nothing to do with nationality or citizenship. Many of the philosophies in this book are universal and could be applied in any city, state, province or country. In fact, many of these lessons have been passed down within wealthy families and empires for thousands of years. The only restriction is that many of the practical tips in the areas of asset protection, tax and estate planning will be based on the laws in the United States that will apply to anyone living in America. So, if you are not an American citizen but you live in the United States, this book should be very helpful. If you are not an American citizen and you live outside the United States, the philosophical lessons in this book should help you too, but you should work with local advisors to make sure the practical lessons apply in your country.
Consider this
Now that you understand what makes someone Affluent and what the different categories of affluence are, you are almost ready to begin your practical training. First, it is imperative you read the next segment on the Average American and then proceed to The Second Key: Leverage. These discussions will be the cornerstones of the important philosophies throughout this book.
Independence
OJM is not affiliated with any mutual fund, investment or insurance company. We can access nearly every major company, fund, and insurance product for our clients.
We are hired by our clients and our primary job is to help them, not provide services or clients to any vendor. This way, we can be independent in our analysis and recommend products and services that are in the clients' best interests.
