Why I Came To Financial Finesse

October 02, 2015

As a financial planner at Financial Finesse, I do a lot more than just financial planning. I write blog posts here, contribute to Forbes, participate in our Think Tank, am involved in recruiting and interviewing, and lots of other things. Our plates are always full.

It was during an interview this week (thanks JHK!) that I was asked about why I came to Financial Finesse. Given that I recently crossed the 5 year mark, I was already looking backward at those years, thinking about my decision to join the firm and looking forward to see what the future brings. So here’s why I’m here.

In the past, I’ve worked as a financial planner for a bank, for a brokerage firm and in the RIA world. I’ve had the opportunity to live in the three worlds where most financial planners work. Each world had pros and cons as far as I was concerned, but the constant throughout all three was the ability to meet face-to-face with clients and offer advice and guidance.

Regardless of the structure, what always appealed to me was the interactions I could have with clients. That’s where I found my joy. It’s what got me out of bed in the morning and into my car and onward to the office.

I loved seeing a client “get it” when we (I was usually involved as a part of a team) made our recommendations and they totally understood why, saw the wisdom in the path we advised and walked out of the meeting feeling more confident about their direction. There was always a sense of purpose and feeling of joy when I could see their expression go from “I’ll listen, but I’m not exactly sure why…” to “A-ha! That makes perfect sense!”  But eventually, that wasn’t enough to keep me feeling like I was making a difference.

Here’s why. Every client I worked with would be considered a high net worth investor. At various times, teams I worked with were targeting clients with a minimum level of investable assets of $1,000,000 or $2,000,000 or $5,000,000.  The simple reason is that’s where we could earn revenue by managing their money. And as a financial planner, one of the things I enjoyed was earning a nice income doing something that I felt mattered.

But the thought that went through my head after 15 years of doing that was “Everyone I’m working with is going to be just fine whether they implement our advice or not. They could totally disregard everything I say and because of their income and their wealth, they are going to live an awesome lifestyle. And the people who REALLY need our help can’t afford it and there is something fundamentally wrong with that.”  That became somewhat of a mantra to me. My coworkers could tell when I was thinking that and they knew to expect to see me ponder what I was going to do about it.

Then one day, my friends/coworkers, Eric and David, were at lunch and I joined them. They had each read about Financial Finesse right before lunch and I was having “one of those days.” They laughed and told me to check out this company because, in their words, they sounded “about as flaky as I am.”

Well…I did and what I learned is that Financial Finesse wasn’t exactly flaky but very much driven by the same mission and goals that were important to me. What they (now we) had solved was the part about people who really need help being able to have access to financial planners. The “investable assets” barrier was removed and I could now help someone who was living paycheck to paycheck and watching their credit card debt continue to grow find their way to financial security over the course of time through several conversations and small tweaks to their financial behaviors. To me, that is far more fulfilling than helping someone minimize the tax hit on their stock option grants. Although there is still fun and fulfillment in that type of situation, it’s nowhere near the same level as seeing someone go from stressed out and near hopeless to de-stressed, happy and looking optimistically toward a secure financial future.

My friends laugh at how often I say this, but I have been able to have a significant impact on people’s lives in this role. I feel like I’m not just a financial planner but a coach/counselor/therapist for people and their money and while I’m officially in the financial wellness industry, I feel like I’m in the business of changing lives. THAT is why I do what I do during the day…and some nights…and the occasional weekend too…