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2021 Finance Awards Honoree: Craig Schneider

As Director of Business Development for LSIA Wealth, Craig Schneider helps individuals and families build and protect their wealth. By combining his 28 years of experience in the financial industry with his incredible ability to connect with people, Schneider forms deep relationships with clients and guides them through their own unique financial ecosystems to help them accomplish their goals and accumulate multi-generational wealth.

Favorite Quote: “You never fail until you quit trying.”

Fun Fact: I was only one strike away from being able to say I bowled a perfect game and made a hole-in-one in golf (nobody is perfect).

What challenges have you faced in your career, and how did you overcome them? From the Dot.com bubble to 9/11 to the 2008 financial crisis and now the current COVID-19 pandemic, my financial career has seen its fair share of challenges. While each event brought its own set of unique personal and professional difficulties, I learned very quickly that my ability to focus on only those variables that are within my control is essential to overcome fear and continue to move forward and make progress.

What has been the most monumental moment of your career thus far? The horrific shooting at my children’s high school, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, was the catalyst for me leaving the bond business after 25 years and deciding to dedicate myself to individuals and their wealth management needs. Like it did for so many others, the event led me to realize how precious relationships with friends and family are to me. I wanted to build deeper connections with all of those around me, both personally and professionally. So, I left the transaction-based business of bond trading and transitioned into the wealth management industry, where I now get to build lasting relationships with so many wonderful people.

What’s the one piece of financial advice you regret not taking? As Nick Murray put it in his book Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth, “Be an owner, not a loaner.” By owning stocks, owners grow wealth. As opposed to loaners, who simply maintain wealth through buying bonds. Knowing what I know now, I realize I’ve been far too conservative in the past and should have thought more like an owner.

What’s the biggest financial mistake most people make? Not making a comprehensive financial plan. Whether someone has a few hundred thousand dollars or a few hundred million, it never fails to surprise me how many individuals don’t have a detailed plan for building and protecting their wealth. Too often, people are only focused on their investments rather than the entire picture – insurance coverage, estate plan, tax minimization, charitable giving, personal legacy, educating the next generation, and so on. Ensuring that all aspects of one’s own personal financial ecosystem are working in harmony is a key to long-term financial success. As Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

How do you get first-time investors to alter their thinking on investing? Unless you win the lottery, fortunes generally aren’t made overnight. Building wealth takes time, commitment, and an experienced helping hand to guide you down the proper path. That’s why it’s imperative to start investing early and align yourself with an investment professional that cares about you, understands your unique financial concerns and is willing to walk alongside you throughout your lifelong financial journey.

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Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.