I started my career as a financial advisor in the year 2000—the same year the stock market crashed and stayed down for three long years. I was only 24, and many of the clients I inherited were retirees holding mutual funds who were devastated by the losses. I hadn’t sold most of them those investments, but I felt their pain deeply and wanted to help them find stability again. That experience taught me something lasting: most people don’t truly want risk—they want security.