Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my new blog. I am excited to be starting this blog because I hope to use it as an additional communication tool for my clients.

First, a little bit about myself....I live in Columbia, Maryland, with my wife, Rani, and our 1-year-old daughter, McKenna. My wife and I have been married a little over 2 years, and we enjoy getting outside and spending quality time with our little one. I currently work in Washington DC as a senior financial analyst at a federal agency that deals with benefit issues at private sector companies.

As for my financial credentials, I am working on obtaining a certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). The process of obtaining the CFA charter is at least a three-year process that involves taking some grueling exams in June of each year. I have passed the Level I and Level II exams, and I hope to pass the Level III exam in the near future. If I pass the Level III exam in June 2010, I will likely obtain the charter at the end of that year (I already have the required years of experience in the profession).

In addition, I am a member of the Association of Insolvency Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and I am in the final stages of obtaining my CIRA certification. Finally, I am also a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI).

I think the certifications and memberships above provide me with specialized experience that many financial advisers do not have, and that leads me to a significant point I would like to make about why I decided to become a financial adviser.

When the stock market collapsed in October 2008, I heard many stories about individuals losing a significant amount of funds they had saved for retirement. During that month, I would see news reports where journalists would interview financial advisers for advice on what investors should do in this difficult market. Most of these advisers told their clients to "stick with the plan", and to "buy and hold" their stock holdings because "you don't want to miss the eventual runup once the market hits bottom".

I found such advice to be appalling. There were many signs that the state of the economy was going in the wrong direction for much of 2008. I was analyzing a lot of this information at my federal agency job, and the data was not encouraging. It seemed clear that investors should begin taking a more conservative asset allocation, at least in the short term, until the economy regained its strength. However, many financial advisers did not see the macroeconomic problems on the horizon, and advised their clients to "stick with the plan" without any sense of flexibility. The problem, it turned out, what that the "plan" was the wrong kind of plan. I felt that a lot of financial advisers not only exposed their clients to too much risk, but when the financial crisis hit full steam, these advisers "towed the party line" without caring enough about the well-being of their clients.

Meanwhile, I invested my family's assets in a more conservative allocation starting in July 2008, and I advised my parents that they should do the same. While we haven't been completely immune from the economic downturn, we mitigated much of the risk.

With my clients, I intend to incorporate some flexibility in their plans so assets can be shifted when certain economic circumstances arise. Granted, we may never have another crisis like this in our lifetimes, but we shouldn't rule out such a possibility.

I believe I have the financial and economic analysis skills needed to help my clients achieve financial freedom. Therefore, I encourage you to be my partner to help you achieve that freedom and achieve your financial goals.