Spencer Financial Planning Turns 3!
Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash
Happy birthday to SFP!
We’re three years into this adventure now, and it has been amazing thus far.
Let’s reflect a bit.
By the way, if you’d like to see previous installments, check out these links:
A few facts
Spencer Financial Planning was “born” on June 26, 2020, with its registration with the State of Washington being finalized then.
That also happens to be the same day my family’s dog, Sky, was born. :-)
Our client relationships thus far:
We currently have 14 Comprehensive Financial Planning clients (our ongoing service covering all areas of personal financial planning).
3 clients signed up for a Financial Check-Up during the past 12 months.
5 clients signed up for a Jump Start Call during the past 12 months.
In total, we’ve served 35 clients/families during the past three years.
All of our current clients reside in either California or Washington.
A few NON-facts
Spencer Financial Planning broke the record for the fastest U.S. company to reach $1 trillion in monthly revenue.
Spencer Financial Planning is rumored to be considering acquiring Apple in an all-cash deal.
Spencer Financial Planning was voted as “most likely to succeed” in high school yearbooks across the nation, while also being asked to “keep in touch during the summer”.
A few cool accomplishments
I was quoted in the media a number of times over the past year. I’m still surprised they want to include input from a knucklehead like me. Here are the articles:
I contributed a few articles to publications:
I was invited to be on a panel of a few financial advisors to discuss the retirement income planning software Income Lab:
I “officially” completed around 30 hours of continuing education, which is an ongoing requirement to remain a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (60 hours every two years). Although, I’d say I’ve “unofficially” completely waaaaay more than that, through reading articles, listening to podcasts, etc. It’s important to me to keep growing, to keep learning, and to keep serving my clients better.
How it’s going
Financial planning is funner than fun. In fact, it’s the funnest. (Eat your heart out, English majors.)
I look back at my career and I’m very thankful.
I spent 18 years at Capital Group, working in a fantastic department in a fantastic company, reporting to fantastic managers.
About 3-4 years ago, we moved from Los Angeles, CA to Spokane, WA, and I took the opportunity to launch Spencer Financial Planning.
And here I am, once again working in a fantastic department (there’s only one department…) in a fantastic company (if I do say so myself…), reporting to a fantastic manager (my wife, if we’re being honest).
Seriously though, I’m very thankful for the journey so far. I love my job and I love helping people with their financial health.
I said this last year, but I’ll repeat, I feel extremely blessed to be able to do something I love, while making a living from it.
Is it all rainbows and unicorns?
No, there have definitely been challenges. As with anything else, there are good days and bad days.
For example, it’s not fun when a client is diagnosed with a serious illness or gets other bad news, or when a prospective client decides not to work with us, or when I’m knee-deep in working on compliance issues or administrative paperwork.
But these challenges come with the job. And, in the end, I’m thankful that I’m in the position of having the challenges in the first place.
So is it just me in the business?
Nope.
I hired a part-time employee last year (the amazing Nina Klein, also my sister-in-law). She has been working around 10 hours/week for Spencer Financial Planning since September, helping me get more organized, sorting out workflows, and generally making the company more efficient.
I’m the only financial advisor in the firm, but I also have quite a bit of support:
I’m a member of the Alliance of Comprehensive Planners (“ACP”), which is a national community of tax-focused, fee-only financial advisors committed to working in their clients' best interests. I’m able to lean on that community when I have questions or would like some input on tricky financial situations my clients are facing.
My ACP mentor has been wonderful. He’s been in the business for a long time, and I’ve learned so much from him.
I’m a member of three mastermind groups with other financial planners. This gives us a place to run ideas by one another, get input on client situations, and generally talk shop.
Plus, my phenomenal wife Melissa continues to support me and the business. It’s not in any sort of official capacity, but she definitely contributes. As a tangible example, she has written on this blog several times over the past year, writing a great five-part series on emergency kits / emergency planning (here’s Part 1).
What’s next?
I’m starting to more formally emphasize serving current or former Capital Group associates/retirees. More than half of my current clients fit this description, and I worked at Capital Group for 18 years, so it seems appropriate.
I’m hoping to continue to grow the business during the coming year. We have a long way to go before we’re at capacity, even though I don’t know right now where that point may be (my current guess is around 40 ongoing clients???).
On the operational front, we’re working on improving SFP’s efficiency and workflows. We have a lot to do in this area, but we’re making progress.
Thanks for a great 3 years
Finally, I’d like to say thank you. Yes, to you.
If you’re reading this, you’ve been part of this journey, and I’m very thankful for your support and attention.