Written by: Nicholas J. Miazek, Consultant & Manager Financial Planning, CFP

Financial planning as a profession is one open to a wide swath of interpretation, filled with practitioners of different stripes, varying degrees of education and, unfortunately, with minimal standardization and regulation. We are often referred to as Financial Advisers and perceived primarily as investment product providers. In pursuit of your assets. There are many consequences to this perception of our profession, one being that many people do not experience the benefits of genuine financial planning and its resultant advice, separate and detached from any investment advice they could receive.

Written by: Nicholas J. Miazek, Consultant & Manager Financial Planning, CFP

Joe called one day, a day no more unusual than many of the others before it; markets were swinging, headlines were screaming of calamity, impending doom. The media seemed to be competing for who could come up with a worse case scenario. Joe was not sure his asset mix was appropriate at this time; he felt that something, possibly something big, was coming over the horizon. He wanted to get out of the markets, not for long, but just until he felt the markets were going to be less risky, a month or maybe three. He was worried his retirement may be at risk, the income stream he draws from his portfolio in jeopardy.