May 2007
Jim LaFontaine on your DFS
Jim LaFontaine (DRT Member) of Compass Bank presented a very interesting overview of what commercial banks consider important when evaluating funding options. He focused his presentation on your “DFS” score or Demonstrative Financial Strength.
Using a combination of your Current Ratio, FICO, Quick Ratio, banks can usually gauge your DFS by seeing how you balance your corporate assets and your personal assets. He made note of the fact that you do want to show income in your business and strong assets in your personal portfolio to achieve a balance picture of how you and your company are performing.
One of the unique aspects of Compass Bank and Jim in particular is the fact that at his level (loans $10M and below), funding answers can usually be answered within 1 to 2 weeks. Jim’s analyst and relationship with the credit review group is very strong and he can move very quickly with tailored loan products.
In the event of death…
I want to make sure that all of you have access to the documents that I went over on Being Prepared a few weeks ago. Since most of you have had trouble receiving this via email, we have decided to post it to the DRT website.
Please take a moment to download this material and review it. If you have not completed what is covered in the material, please schedule time to get it done! I am here to help if needed and obviously can help with any life or disability insurance needs you have.
Important Note: If you or anyone you know (ie parents or friends) has divorced and remarried, please make sure that they have changed the beneficiary on their retirement accounts, pension plans, life insurance and annuities.
Regarding attorney’s, Bill Houser is a Certified Estate Attorney that I have used a number of times to draft my Wills and Trusts. You can reach him at
469-698-4300 wk
bhouser@jhflegal.com
Bill Johnson is an Attorney that specializes in trusts for Asset Protection and I have used for a number of my clients. You can reach him at
(214) 922-8884 work
(214) 641-7183 cell
TaxAtty@wejohnsoniii.com
Please let me know if you have any question or I can help you in any way.
Sincerely,
David L. Goodrich, LUTCF
Goodrich Financial Services
33 Lochleven
Suite 100
Richardson, TX 75082
972.470.0332 wk
972.470.0167 fx
817.988.2889 mbl
david@goodrichfinancial.com
www.goodrichfinancial.com
List_of_Accounts_and_Assets_Example.doc
Instruction_in_the_Event_of_My_Death_EXAMPLE.doc
Happy Hour at the Foundation Room at the House of Blues
Dallas Roundtable Happy Hour
Thursday, May 17, 2007
5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
House of Blues - The Foundation Room
2200 N. Lamar Street
Dallas, TX 75202
Dinner Reservations to follow a block away at Kenichi at Victory Park. 8:00 p.m.
Brian Fiese on Motivated By Death
Brian Fiese presented to the DRT an overview of his documentary “Motivated by Death”, available at http://www.getumotivated.com/.
In this compelling work Brian interviewed survivors of the Holocaust, near death experiences and people within the last six months of their lives, to find the key of life. In all of his research, Brian concluded that the single thread that permeated all of these people’s experiences was the fact that life has a purpose.
At times sad and other times compelling, his DVD highlights how people changed their life after these dramatic events and kept a positive and almost surreal up-beat perspective on what their life meant and means.
He pointed out how often we can loose perspective dealing with the daily tasks and concerns and how we can easily forget the big picture items that truly define our life. Key to this point is the fact that people often find the most meaning in their life from the relationships they form with others. Brian’s point is that by focusing on our relationships and doing those things that bring strength to those relationships, makes life more enjoyable and interesting.
You can learn more about Brian and his work at http://www.getumotivated.com/
Big Win at 1st Annual Game Night
23 members and guests of the DRT met at Rick Sapio’s downtown condominium for the First Annual DRT Game Night. For over three hours every contestant was in a heated race to win. Many of the “big players” where knocked out early, leaving the final table of 8 to hash out the final prizes. With a lot of luck and a little skill, Sean Jackson took home the grand prize, beating out fellow DRT member Brian Bishop.
David Goodrich on preparing for the worst
David Goodrich (member) conducted a presentation on how to prepare your estate for death or disability. This excellent presentation focused on addressing key issues related to leaving detailed instructions to your estate on what steps should be taken upon your death or disability.
For many business owners, these issues can be complex. However anyone who has had to handle an estate for the deceased will immediately appreciate the value of how detailed instructions on life insurance, online access to financial accounts and basic directions on the location of files and other material. The burden placed on those that handle estate issue can be immense. David gave a very detailed way of documenting estate information that is the baseline for anyone to follow.
He also addressed issues related to partnerships. It is paramount for any business partnership to have not only “buy/sell” agreements, but also detailed plans to address the disability of a partner over the course of a year.
In all of this David truly showed his expertise and knowledge in how he has helped others in this same situation; both from the purchase of insurance and other financial products, to helping his customers prepare and document for the worst.
Don Williams at the DRT
Don Williams, Chairman Emeritus of Trammell Crow gave an excellent presentation to the DRT on the state of the Dallas ISD and his work in improving the school system through Dallas Achieves.
Don Williams is Dallas’ social conscience.
In the last 12 years, the 65-year-old has led five major community task forces, including his current assignment to fix the Dallas Independent School District.
The former chief executive of Trammell Crow Co. started the Foundation for Community Empowerment in 1995. Its mission is to help Dallas’ forgotten low-income neighborhoods better themselves.
“I’m a real oddball in Dallas: a Democrat in the business community,” he says with a laugh.
He’s also an establishment guy who often sounds anti-establishment.
An example: “The North Dallas voyeurism of taking a turkey to ‘po’ folk’ at Thanksgiving and then going to a cocktail party at the Dallas Country Club to talk about it is profoundly offensive to the poor.”
Yet I’ve never heard anyone speak disparagingly about the guy.
“When it comes to altruism, I’ll put Don Williams up to anyone,” says social entrepreneur Todd Wagner.
Mr. Williams grew up in a lower-middle-class family in the multicultural community of Roswell, N.M.
“I don’t know if this qualifies as an epiphany, but I remember it as clearly as the day it happened,” Mr. Williams says.
His All-Star Little League team stopped at a roadside diner on its way to the playoffs. The sixth-grade rainbow coalition of Anglos, Hispanics and blacks was thrilled to be eating out. Nearly everybody ordered chicken-fried steak.
But as the owner was about to serve the meals, he told the coach that the black boys had to eat in the kitchen.
A heated argument ensued, and the hungry group got back on the bus. “We found a restaurant where the whole team could eat,” Mr. Williams says.
“From an early age, I was sensitive to discrimination against ethnic minorities and to women’s issues. That has shaped my whole life and career.”
Early in his nonprofit life, he made “every mistake conceivable of a well-intentioned white boy going into the ‘hood. I got off on the wrong foot, with the wrong ideas and the wrong people – which is a bad mix.”
That’s because he tried to tackle it like a business problem, from the outside in.
“The long-term sustainable answer is community empowerment.
“Every community has the most remarkable, heroic people who know the problems and are already doing good work, but they lack resources. We identify those people and help them do their thing.
“You ask me deep in my heart what motivates me. That’s what it is.”
