Most people think better financial decisions come from better math.

Ross Powell sees it differently.

In this episode of Fiduciary Alchemy Podcast, Craig Andrews sits down with Ross Powell, Wealth Manager, to talk about the emotional side of money decisions, why technically smart people still make painful financial mistakes, and how shame keeps people from fixing the problems that are already costing them.

Ross shares an early-career story about getting into $45,000 of vehicle debt even though he had the accounting education to know better. That story becomes the doorway into a bigger conversation: money mistakes are rarely just math mistakes. They are usually identity, pressure, fear, and psychology showing up in financial form.

Craig and Ross also dig into estate planning paralysis. Families often stall because they believe every decision has to be perfect forever. Ross explains how shrinking the timeline can help people make responsible decisions now instead of leaving their family exposed while they wait for certainty.

They also cover why tax planning can be one of the most direct ways to increase net worth. Market gains are never guaranteed, but reducing unnecessary tax drag can create real, permanent gains that stay working for the client.

This conversation is about getting past shame, making the next responsible move, and treating wealth as something to steward instead of something to perform with.

Learn more about Ross Powell: http://rosspowellcpa.com

Connect with Ross on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rosspowellcpa

Think you’d be a great guest on Fiduciary Alchemy Podcast? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews and Fiduciary Alchemy? Visit https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/

The papers were signed.

The estate documents existed. The legal work was done. On the surface, the client had handled the responsible part.

Then he asked William Bissett a better question: what happens when I am gone and my wife and daughters do not know where anything is, who to call, or what to do first?

In this episode of Fiduciary Alchemy, Craig Andrews talks with William Bissett, President and Senior Client Advisor at Portus Wealth Advisors, about the planning work that begins after the obvious boxes are checked. William works with business owners, especially blue-collar and trades business owners doing roughly $10M-$50M in revenue, and he sees a pattern many people miss. A business can look simple from the outside while carrying real financial, family, and succession complexity underneath.

William shares how he started in insurance and annuities, rejected product-pushing, learned planning from the back office, wrote 160-200 financial plans, worked under Michael Kitces, and eventually founded his own firm in 2019. That path shaped how he thinks about advice. Planning is not a product. It is a process that has to make sense when life stops cooperating.

The conversation turns practical when William tells the story of building a detailed organizer for a client whose family would have been lost even with proper estate documents in place. The lesson is blunt. Documents matter, but they do not help much if the surviving family cannot act on them.

Craig and William also talk about why clients often want simple, fast solutions to complex planning problems, why William starts with what is on fire before returning to the broader plan, and why educated clients ask better questions. They also dig into AI in wealth management, from note takers and agents to the risk that vendors and custodians wall off data to protect their turf.

Near the end, William pushes back on a future where bots do everything and people sit idle. Work still gives people purpose. Human connection still matters. And in a world chasing automation, crafted human experiences may become more valuable, not less.

Connect with William Bissett on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/williambissett/.

Want to learn more about William Bissett’s work at Portus Wealth Advisors? Visit https://www.portusadvisors.com.

You can also reach William Bissett directly at william@portusadvisors.com.

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work? Check out https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/.

Financial advisory growth can expose every weak spot in the business.

In this episode of Fiduciary Alchemy, Craig talks with Sean Kuttin, Business Development Manager with Kuttin Wealth Management, about what it takes to build a firm that can serve 27,000+ clients, support 250+ team members, and steward more than $18B in assets without losing the human work at the center of advice.

Sean shares how Kuttin Wealth became a safe haven for retiring advisors, why leadership has to multiply through other leaders, and why the future of financial advice will not be won by stock picking alone. The conversation moves from family legacy to tax strategy, faith-based portfolios, advisor training, AI, emotional intelligence, and the 53-step process Kuttin uses to prepare advisors before they ever sit in front of clients.

The through-line is simple: better planning starts with better questions.

Including one Sean learned to ask often: what do you want for yourself?

Learn more about Kuttin Wealth Management: https://www.kuttinwealthmanagement.com/

Connect with Sean Kuttin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-kuttin-ba931b1bb/

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply at https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/podcast/apply/.

Want to learn more about Craig Andrews' work? Check out https://fiduciaryalchemy.com/.