A Second Chance

June 30, 2011

You might be wondering who I am and what happened to Bruce. Well, Financial Finesse originally had a contest to determine which planners would write for our blog. Bruce didn’t really want to write (if you’ve ever seen him speak you’d know that’s his natural domain) but submitted an entry anyway. I actually wanted to write…but too much. My blog samples were way too long. So yes, I lost to a guy who didn’t even want to win.

However, I decided to come back and try again (which obviously worked since you’re reading this). Why? For the same reason that I wrote too much the first time. You see, financial planning is more than a just career for me. It’s a life-long passion.

It all started when my dad, who was a stockbroker at the time, gave me the “Dean Witter Guide to Personal Investing” when I was in the 4th grade and I actually read it! (Yes, I was always a nerd). I went on to study economics at NYU and graduated with a desire to help people make better financial decisions (I was always an idealist too).

Instead, I discovered that most of the financial services industry cares more about selling commissioned products than doing what’s really in the best interest of their clients. My job interviews were focused more on my sales skills (honed selling knives in people’s homes during college…yes, knives) than on my financial knowledge or counseling and teaching skills. Even fee-only planners were more interested in my ability to gather assets than provide real advice.

After 10 years of doing everything from running a branch office for Edward Jones, to advising members of Congress (please don’t hold that against me) as the dedicated financial advisor at the Congressional Federal Credit Union, to serving as a vice president in Charles Schwab’s exclusive private client division in Manhattan, to working for a boutique investment management firm, to earning a law degree (I’m not actually a lawyer so don’t hold that against me either) with a focus on tax and estate planning, I eventually found Financial Finesse. Rather than selling financial products or services, the company provides education and guidance as a benefit to employees and credit union members. That means we can be completely unbiased in helping people to achieve their financial goals not just ours. I found this to be so liberating!

The company also prizes independent thinking, innovation, and teamwork rather than the cut-throat corporate culture that too often characterizes the financial services industry. This has attracted some of the most honest, friendly, and talented group of people I’ve ever met. I couldn’t ask for a better place to work or a better group of people to work with and learn from.

At a time when individuals are becoming increasingly responsible for their own financial futures, this type of unbiased financial education and guidance is more important than ever. In my blog posts, I’ll be sharing various financial insights and tips, many of which are admittedly quite unconventional. A few of them will even likely sound downright crazy…at first. But after giving them a second thought, they just might start making some sense (It’s fitting considering that this blog wouldn’t even exist without second chances). In any case, I found a lot of these ideas to be quite helpful both in my own life and in the lives of people I’ve helped throughout the years so I hope you’ll find some of them to be useful in yours too.

Finally, as anyone who has attended my workshops can attest to, I love getting questions (partly because when I answer I know at least one person cares about what I’m saying) so feel free to post questions or comments and I’ll do my best to respond. But don’t worry…I won’t try to sell you anything.