Navigating the world of finance can feel overwhelming, especially for first-time investors and young professionals. The complexity of investment options, financial planning, and future security can seem daunting without expert guidance.
This is where a trusted, certified financial advisor comes in. Entrusting your future to a professional could offer you a sense of financial confidence, personalized strategies, and a pathway to achieving your financial goals.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the top five reasons you can confidently trust us with your life, financially speaking.
Context: What Do Certified Financial Planners Do?
In Greg Liszka’s (IPF’s President) words,
“Here’s our job: our job is never to tell you you can’t do something (unless it’s so obviously unattainable); our job is to figure out how to make it happen for you.
We’re not going to rain on your dreams… We’re here to fix problems. If you ask, “How do we do it? How do we get there…?” It’s our job to move the pieces around on the chess board, and to figure it out for you.”
What Does Trust Have to Do with It?
We understand that when entrusting the management of your finances to a financial professional could feel like a big deal. To quote Greg again,
“The level of trust that clients like ‘Mr Steel’ are conveying when they work with us is huge. Let’s say you’re in the younger age bracket: you don’t have a million bucks yet, but you really want to retire someday.
Mr Steel is essentially telling me, “Greg, I’m trusting you with the next thirty years of my life to guide me in an honest and measured way so that, at some point, I can scale back, and have the next thirty years of my life after that.”
It’s about as long-term of an investment as you can possible make, when you think about it like that.
Living Your Best Life as a Good Steward
Not only is working with a financial planner a long-term investment, but it’s a commitment to good financial stewardship, too: a way of saying, “I need help making the most of what I have, in the time I have left.”
Whatever your life goals are, we want to help you be the best steward of your gifts possible, and to celebrate you every step of the way:
“If “Mr. Steel” gets a nice contract, I am so happy for him: that’s fantastic! Most people fight jealousy — a very easy trap to fall into, especially in the materialistic American society we live in.
But to be genuinely happy when others succeed: that’s important. I want people to succeed. It’s not about the money you have in the end; it’s about the fact that you did it, you achieved your goals.”
The best financial planners will champion you and walk with you for years, helping you stay accountable to your goals, whatever they may be, and whoever they may be for. They’ll work to achieve your financial ambitions while you put in the hard work of seeing your other dreams come to pass. But what separates Iron Point Financial from a standard financial planner? Well…
Reason 1: True Individualization
At the heart of our service is a client-centric approach that prioritizes your individual needs and aspirations. We firmly believe that one-size-fits-all solutions do not work in financial planning. Instead, we take the time to understand your personal circumstances, financial goals, and risk tolerance.
Greg explains that what makes Iron Point stand out from the rest as follows:
“We try to do it a little different. Your typical advisor (a lot of the people out there) doesn’t want to think outside the box. They’ll just tell you, “Buy this mutual fund.” Everybody gets the same thing. Now, each person might have it a little different, but when they are only giving you twenty funds to choose from, how different can they really be?
That’s what we fight against with every part of our being. Is that the right solution for some people at some times? Yes. Will we employ that solution if so? Yes. But there are so many avenues out there that just take a lot more research and time to understand, once you can grasp them.”
By fostering open and honest communication, we make sure to build a strong relationship with you, so that our advice is not just generic but deeply personalized to your situation. This tailored approach is meant to help you navigate the complexities of the financial world with confidence, knowing that every recommendation we offer comes after hours of hard work and research, with your best interests in mind.
We also know that financial planning is not a one-time event but an ongoing process that could take decades, or even entire lifetimes, to see through to completion (as we alluded to in the previous section).
We understand that your financial needs and goals may evolve over time, and we are here to support you every step of the way, and adjust where necessary, so that your wishes remain central to our work. Beyond that, our commitment to accessibility ensures that you can reach out to us whenever you need advice or have questions.
Reason 2: Expertise, Experience and Education
Unlike a lot of other people in our industry, we’re not interested in throwing confusing words at you to make you buy a specific investment product. Like we said, we want to put your needs and priorities first, which means you need to understand us just as much as we understand you.
In Greg’s view,
“The financial industry we’re in has its own language. It’s a bit like the law, which is written in Latin. There’s a whole different way of thinking in our world, a way of communicating, which boggles most people’s minds.
People are busy doing their job in engineering, nursing, or whatever else it is they do. That’s their life, and they’re excellent at it, and I would suck at it. So we’ll trade: you be my nurse, and I’ll be your finance guy, because I couldn’t tell you anything about nursing.
In that exchange, I’ve seen a desire for honest help: a desire to feel like you’re not being sold something. People want an education to the extent they know you’re going to be capable at your job. They want to know that you know what you’re doing. And once they can trust you to do the job, they just want you to get on with it.”
So although we’ve got the track record and qualifications to look after your financial needs, we understand that the most important thing is helping you feel confident that we’re going to work in your best interests. That’s why we’ll always dialogue with you to make sure we’re implementing the course of action you want.
We’ll leverage our expertise on your behalf, of course, but we’re never going to push you into a corner. When you work with a financial planning team like ours, you’re going to stay in the driving seat. What you understand, and what you tell us to do, is what we’re going to do.
Reason 3: Fiduciary Duty (Transparency & Ethical Business Practices)
How do you know that Reason 2 isn’t just our home-brewed version of sales talk? Because at Iron Point Financial, we have a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. That means we have a legal responsibility — following clear statutory requirements — to work for you, not for a commission. Practically speaking, Greg describes this duty as follows,
“It’s all about communication. It’s about showing clients like you the math and providing different avenues to fulfil your needs. And at the end of the day, if you, the client, give an order, that’s it. You can make whatever decision you want.
It’s our job to educate people as to the consequences of their decisions, and then ultimately you are the boss. If you give an order, it has to be executed.”
Translating the Latin
The root for “fiduciary” is actually the Latin word, fidere, which translates as, “to trust.” That’s what a fiduciary duty is all about: inspiring trust in the client-planner relationship. Trust is built on transparency and ethical behavior, and we hold ourselves to the highest standards in both areas.
Our business practices are designed to be clear and straightforward, ensuring that you are fully informed at every step of your financial journey. When you choose to partner with us, we provide detailed explanations of our services, fees, and any associated risks, leaving no room for ambiguity.
Reason 4: Commitment to Empathy — Clients Come First
Let’s be clear, though, “no room for ambiguity” does not mean we will take a hardline, black-and-white approach to your life. You are a whole, living, breathing human being, and getting your financial future sorted out is a profound and weighty part of your time on this earth.
That’s another reason we will put you first, and another way we try to serve our clients, practically speaking. It might surprise you to hear this, but in Greg’s experience,
“The biggest part of my job is as a counsellor more than anything. Especially in times of turmoil. It’s not the math; it’s the holding of hands. My clients’ worries and stress weigh on me…”
No matter what you’re going through, or where you’re at in life, we will treat you with empathy and compassion, so that we can work with you and plan together how to get your goals back on track. And once they are heading in the right direction, we’ll celebrate with you:
“…on the other end, when you come in and you do the math for someone who’s like, “I don’t know how we’re ever going to retire…” And I’m asking some questions, and looking through their numbers, and I respond, “Why are you going to work, again? Because I think you should just put in your notice! You’re OK! You should retire today. Today! Let’s go!
And seeing them just well up and cry, and tell me, “I’ve done nothing but work since I was ten years old! How is this possible? I’ve never even considered what it means to retire. Are you serious? I can do it?” It’s my joy to say, “Yeah! You need to do this today!”
Those conversations happen a couple of times a year, and they are fantastic. Those are awesome. It’s hard not to cry with them! That’s why this is an amazing job, because you can make a tangible impact in someone’s life.”
At the end of the day, that’s what we’re here for: to make an impact, so that you feel empowered to impact others.
Reason 5: We Practice What We Preach
It’s that same intention — prioritising long-term impact over rushed outcomes — that brings us to the last reason you might trust us with your life: practical authenticity and congruence. You can trust us with your life because more often than not, what we recommend you do is exactly what we do ourselves.
Greg will often share candidly with clients:
“I used to pick all my own funds, stocks and bonds, but now I have an investment team. And what I have found is that: 1) it’s less stress; 2) you get better results when you’re a team that has the tools and resources that I could never have. It’s their job.
My job is to meet with the client, listen to their story, understand what makes them tick, then develop a big plan. And then I have the team implement the strategy. So they’re the ones doing the daily, weekly, monthly math, and making the moves behind the scenes, communicating back with me, so that I can sit down, review, and have conversations with you.
They manage my money too. I often tell people, “What you have right here, what we’re reviewing, this is the exact portfolio I have.” So that’s a whole other level of win-win: I’m offering you the exact same thing.
I’ve always thought that was a fair question to ask: “What are you doing? Are you doing this thing?” And I get to say, “Yeah, actually, I am!” It increases the trust level, big-time.
Now, to be clear: aligning your stock portfolio’s with someone else’s is no guarantee of returns (though we believe it is likely to grow your wealth, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it ourselves) — but that’s not the point we’re trying to make here. The real point is: what you see is what you get. That’s the Iron Point difference.
Conclusion: Why You Should Trust Us with Your Life
Trusting a financial advisor with your financial future is a significant decision, and we are constantly humbled by the trust our clients have placed in us over the years.
We hope that our expertise, personalized advice, transparent practices, and ongoing support make us the ideal partner for your financial journey. By choosing us, we believe that you are taking a confident step towards securing your financial future.
Ready to take control of your financial future? Trust us with your life, financially speaking, by scheduling an appointment or call with us at your earliest convenience.
Or, if you don’t feel ready to talk to an adviser just yet, but you enjoyed this content, why not sign up for regular email updates from our blog, so that you don’t miss future posts?
Iron Point Financial is here to empower you to secure a brighter tomorrow. We operate physical offices in Grove City, PA and Greenville, PA.
We primarily serve residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida but we also have security registrations for 22 other states across the continental USA.
