There is a lot to learn about a client before even beginning an analysis of their finances.

So believes Karen L. DeRose, president and managing partner of DeRose Financial Planning Group based out of Chicago. She is a Certified Financial Planner® and a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor® holding FINRA Series 6, 7, 63 and 66 registrations through her broker/dealer, Lincoln Financial. She is also a member of the Financial Planning Association of Chicago.

“I personally believe in taking the time to complete a full analysis and to understand what is important to the client in terms of what their goals and dreams are,” DeRose emphasized. “You really do not know how to help a client financially until you know what their interests and value are.”

She seeks individualized benchmarks for each of her clients rather than trying to fit a client’s investment needs into previously-determined cookie cutter portfolios. Strategizing occurs only after she has a solid understanding of a client’s behavior surrounding money matters. DeRose wants to know if they are completely adverse to risk or if they can emotionally tolerate temporary losses when working through the decades of time it takes to accumulate wealth via a long-term investment strategy.

Teaching clients the “ins” and “outs” of the stock market and other investment opportunities is part of her process of managing a client’s wealth.

“Getting a client to understand that one size does not fit all for investment plans – and that an investment plan is not just about what the market is doing at any given time, but is really more about looking at one’s financial situation, asking the question, ‘what do you need to have happen to make your goals?’ – is really what matters in financial planning,” DeRose said.

She founded her own firm in 1996 because, as her website states, DeRose wanted to put her client’s lives into their financial plans.
“Life happens – plan for it,” she said.

It is a notion dating from her early childhood years. When her mother died, DeRose was just seven years old and one of five children less than 10 years of age that her father suddenly had to care for without the help of his wife.

DeRose saw first-hand the value of the financial planning that her father, an insurance salesman, had done to protect his family in case of a tragedy. He had taken the appropriate steps to ensure that his wife’s life was properly insured. He had planned for the unexpected; he had planned for the unwanted in case it came to pass.

“You lose someone – and that is difficult enough emotionally – but to have financial challenges on top of that is just too hard,” DeRose said. “Fortunately, planning allowed my father to get the support he needed with five children.”

Today, DeRose says that her father’s legacy to her is that he taught her “why you plan.”

It is a big part of why she is such a proponent of planning – especially multigenerational planning – in which children are brought in as part of the process and are instructed in financial matters. She wants to see families protected and their wealth safeguarded, but she also wants them to have a clear cut understanding of the reasons supporting the decisions being made.

DeRose is bothered by the lack of financial literacy across all ages, but especially in children, who without some education are doomed to repeat their parent’s mistakes. Her firm is putting the finishing touches on an educational initiative aimed at teaching children (and their parents) the value of financial goal-setting and delayed gratification.

“I really do believe it needs to start at home, with parents modeling appropriate behaviors to their children,” DeRose said.

From the home, she would like to see an increase in school programs that range from teaching kids the basics of money to helping elementary age children develop saving skills at a young age. As children progress through middle and high school, DeRose believes continued financial education is key to reducing the nation’s indebtedness.

She likes some of the online financial literacy programs and thinks these are an excellent complement to the types of services a planner such as herself can provide.

But she does give this caution:

“The problem with these online tools is that they are fine as a baseline,” DeRose said. “But as your situation gets more and more complex, you really do need a human being with education and training who can help you interpret it. That need just never is going to go away, despite all of the advances in online tools.”

DeRose’s education of a client isn’t simply an academic matter. She believes educated clients improve her ability to help them.

This holistic approach to planning is what DeRose considers her greatest success.

“Nothing makes me feel better than watching a client reach retirement, ready to enjoy it because of the financial planning that has gone on. Or to be part of the process when a premature death or a long-term care event occurs and that family who has followed all of our advice gets to see the plan go into action and work for them,” DeRose said.

She admits that she still stays awake some nights asking herself if she’s done all she can to protect her clients.

“That is the one thing I worry about,” DeRose said. “But I have been blessed with a really great team – and I have excellent processes in place. We are keeping abreast of everything in this industry to make sure our clients have the best experience possible.”

Learn more about DeRose Financial Planning Group online at www.derosefpg.com