The 5 Questions I Ask Every New Client Before We Do Anything Else

Nicholas St George |

Before I ever recommend an investment, I ask five questions.
Not about stocks.
Not about the market.
Not about what your neighbor is buying.

Because great retirement planning has very little to do with chasing returns—and everything to do with building a strategy around your actual life.

In this episode, I walk through the five questions I ask every new client to uncover:

  • What “work optional” really looks like for them
  • Where their retirement income will actually come from
  • The tax risks hiding inside their current accounts
  • What happens if life doesn’t go according to plan
  • What they’re truly optimizing for: lifestyle, legacy, flexibility, or something else

This episode pulls back the curtain on how I work, how real financial planning should feel, and why a portfolio alone is not a retirement plan.
If you can’t clearly answer these five questions… you may be guessing more than you think.