Today we talk to Michael J. Garry founder of Yardley Wealth Management. Michael has written a book – The Smart Person’s Guide to Financial Planning & Investments: A Simple and Straightforward Approach to Understanding Your Personal Finances.
For most of us, financial planning is an intimidating and overwhelming subject. There are so many elements to consider and so much information from a seemingly endless sea of voices. And with advancements like Robo-advisors, cryptocurrency, and investment apps added to the mix, it can feel impossible to keep up.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if you could cut through the confusion to finally feel confident and in control of your finances? It’s time to get smart about your money management. Take a look at our conversation:
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Michael J. Garry CEO of Yardley Wealth Management LLC.
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What are the advantages of insured investment savings accounts?
Your money is safe even if the bank fails because it is insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000 per person per account.
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What are the advantages of insured investments over regular bank investment options?
With insured investments like savings accounts and CDs, you don’t need to worry about loss from losing the principal and you don’t have to worry about market volatility. Of course, your expected returns are less.
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What tips can you give investors who want to take the leap of faith into this new niche?
Stick with savings and CD accounts, best to avoid insurance products like annuities from banks.
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How did you get into the investment industry?
I met a recruiter from Merrill Lynch who told me my law degree and MBA would be very marketable as a financial advisor. I was hating every day working as a lawyer, so it wasn’t a hard sell -except for the fact that I had $70,000 in student loans from getting my law degree.
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Please, can you tell us about your new book? What is the book’s mission and what kind of expectations do you have about it?
My book is called The Smart Person’s Guide to Financial Planning & Investments: A Simple and Straightforward Approach to Understanding Your Personal Finances and its mission is to teach people the basics of personal finance and investments, and to help people feel confident and in control of their finances.
I expect to foster communication and dialog about financial planning and investments and get people to a place where they don’t feel bad about prior missteps. So far our clients have really liked it and asked for copies for their loved ones.
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Please, can you give us some insights from your new book?
All debt isn’t bad and you don’t have to feel shame about growing up without money or not knowing about it, but know that there are tools, resources, and help you can lean on to learn about it and take the steps necessary to improve your situation.
Couples need to have tough conversations about money. Avoiding them only leads to long-term pain and problems.
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How has your career as an investment advisor shaped your daily decisions?
Tremendously! I am so lucky in my job that I get to see the long-term ramifications of people’s decisions and how they affect their lives later good and bad. Most of my clients are older than me and so many of them have gone through things and told me about them before I went through them myself.
As impactful as a book or a web page can be, having a person sit at a table with you and talk about their achievements and regrets is a really powerful motivator.
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What are the best search terms for insured investment savings accounts?
“best-insured savings accounts” “Nerdwallet”
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What is the backstory behind Yardley Wealth Management LLC?
I was working for another advisor, and we were trying to figure out an agreement whereby I would buy him out over time, and I found out he was always looking to sell to an external party. I called my wife and told her we needed another plan.
I didn’t want to go back to a brokerage firm, and I didn’t think anyone would hire me as a lawyer, so I scrambled trying to put together a business plan and figure everything out. It made for some very difficult years, but now I am happy it happened that way. I felt like I had to make the move. If he had just made my life incrementally better every year I probably would have stayed.
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What role do financial planners play when it comes to investment choices?
It depends on your relationship with them. We make investment decisions for our clients and manage their accounts for them. Of course, before we do that we decide on the framework and Investment Policy Statement for the client which guides us in what we can and can’t do.
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Apart from proper compliance, what are the other benefits of hiring a certified financial planner?
There can be a lot if you hire a good one. They should have a lot of knowledge and experience about things most clients don’t. They can also be objective and explain things in a way that most people can’t be objective about their own situation. They also have the experience of working with all sorts of people and can use those experiences to shape the advice and guidance they give.
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What role does the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors play in protecting institutional and retail investors?
NAPFA has been the standard-bearer for fee-only, fiduciary financial advisors advocating for high professional and ethical standards. Working in a strict fee-only, fiduciary capacity, NAPFA-affiliated financial planners are committed to maintaining the highest level of competency with a client-centered focus which means aligning solely with their client’s interests.
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How does Yardley Wealth Management LLC help investors make optimal decisions?
We perform a lot of due diligence regarding the investments in the marketplace and we use our experience in working with clients to guide people to make the best decisions for their situations.
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Please, can you tell us about fee-only advisors within the United States and their benefits over non-fee advisors?
Fee-only advisors are financial advisors who don’t ever make commissions. They charge either by a percentage of the investments they manage, by the hour, by a retainer or by whatever the client and advisor agree upon. The difference for the client is that the advisor makes money based on your agreement, not based on what you buy from him or what he buys in your account.
It is an advisory relationship where the client and advisor sit on the same side of the table, as opposed to a sales relationship where the client always has to have their guard up worried about being sold something that isn’t in their best interests. Fee-only advisors are always fiduciaries and therefore must always act in their clients’ best interests and have duties of loyalty and good faith.
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Are you considering new investment options such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) metaverse applications, and so on? Please, can you tell us the reasons for your answer?
I am always considering new investments such as cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and metaverse applications. Those things are changing the world. I still don’t think we all understand the investment opportunities and ramifications in them. They probably lie somewhere between the biggest promotors and the biggest naysayers, I guess like every other investment.
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What questions should investors be asking when searching for a wealth management firm?
Investors should be looking for firms that always act in a fiduciary manner, are independent and objective, and have relevant experience for their situation. So investors should ask if they are always fiduciaries? Who owns the firm? Who will I be working with? What experience, education, and credentials do have that are relevant to my situation? Can I see your Disclosure Brochure? Do you have any complaints against you from clients or regulatory bodies?
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How have millennials fared in the current investment landscape? Please, can you provide us with numbers?
According to this Broadridge study, Millennials have gone from 9% of investing households to 15% from the end of 2017 to the end of 2020 and they are part of the democratization of finance and investing. They are also buying more low-cost index funds which are generally considered a good thing.
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How can America maintain its lead in the global financial services sector?
By continued innovation and leading the world in promoting free and fair markets, with the SEC enforces rules so people don’t get the perception that it is a rigged game.
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Do you have any plans for Yardley Wealth Management LLC this summer? Care to tell us about it?
We are going to continue to promote the book and our mission of spreading financial security and peace of mind by providing leading-edge wealth management and education. We are going to start to speak on corporate campuses and spread our message and we will kick off the summer with a client appreciation event at The Continental Tavern in Yardley on June 9th. We are all very excited about that!
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How do you think investments will change over the next decade? Please, can you provide us with clues?
Hopefully, the market correction and recent volatility in the crypto markets don’t scare investors away from the markets forever. Direct indexing will continue to grow in market share as will independent advice and advisors. Thank you!
