Platinum Sponsor: Johanna Fox Turner of Fox & Company Wealth Management
As part of the Platinum Sponsor package, sponsors get to showcase their stuff in a Q&A format. This way, you, the reader, can get to know them a little more. Johanna was a CPA for many years before she became an FA giving her a unique and complete skill set. She is our financial advisor.
How did you decide to become a Financial Advisor?
I had been a CPA for about 25 years and got really tired of clients asking me to recommend an advisor. It’s embarrassing to recall, but I usually just said “Go see Edward Jones”. After awhile (about 25 years, I guess!) I got tired of seeing poor results and realized I had been doing our clients a disservice. So, at age 50, I passed the CFP exam, which I still believe was harder than the CPA exam. (Of course, I passed that at age 22!) I had no idea what I was getting into and had never heard of “fee-only” advisors or NAPFA.
How did you decide to work with physicians?
By answering questions on WCI and “accidentally” acquiring some really nice physician clients as a result. When the WCI forum started in January 2016, I knew it was a great opportunity because I enjoy giving advice (just ask my kids). I also didn’t know of any other FA’s who had the combination of Fee-Only CFP + CPA + experience and hardly anyone else was answering those questions on the forum. Plus, it’s a fun challenge to work with consistently “smart” people and I’ve really grown to love it.
What are the areas or action items that you’ve noticed that most clients miss?
1) Focusing on the cost of a financial advisor over the benefits to be gained
2) Not taking advantage of all retirement account opportunities
3) Emphasizing short term investing instead of having a plan for the long term
4) Not getting a LWT (Last Will & Testament) in place when the first baby is born
5) Not paying attention to cash flow – saving is important, but it’s what you spend that makes the most difference.
What’s your honest opinion – can folks really DIY? What are some caveats?
Of course, you can DIY. Starting out DIY is great because it forces you to learn a lot. The problem is, you don’t know what you don’t know. Sticking with DIY if you are making a high income without ever getting a second opinion or having a financial checkup is scary. If you’re ready to DIY and starting to learn, you should read The One Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards. In fact, reading TOPFP will help you to choose a better financial advisor when you’re ready to.
Tell us 3 things you wish your clients knew:
1) For every planning meeting we have one-on-one with you, we’re working 4 – 6 hours behind the scenes
2) I rate listening skills higher than being able to calculate future value or compound returns
3) I make a lot less money than you probably think I do!
Anything else you’d like to tell us?
I’m a sucker for giving free advice. Give me your bad luck story and I’ll try to get it fixed. I hope to see you all at the WCI conference next year!
I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Johanna!]]>
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