As Gary’s son, it’s easy to assume that he always knew he was destined to be part of the team at Madison Planning, but it wasn’t always clear to Andrew.

In high school, Andrew played football, and was the enthusiastic manager of the school business club which produced tee shirts and screen-printed clothing for school teams and events. He began his post high school education by attending Landmark College, a small college in South Vermont that features a highly innovative educational model. “The curriculum at Landmark changed everything for me,” says Andrew. “I learned a whole new way to learn—to ask the right questions, to really understand the content, and to solve problems in an entirely new way.” He earned his AA degree, made the Dean’s List, and went on to University of Denver where he earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing, focusing on finance and management.

But after graduating, Andrew still wasn’t ready to jump into working with his father. “By the time I graduated, I knew financial services and helping people was where I wanted to be. Not only did I love the pure financial aspects of it, but I’d seen first hand the impact Gary’s work had on his clients’ lives. But I wanted to learn more about the business first.” He joined Royal Alliance, Madison Planning’s broker-dealer, working in advisory services where he supported the firm’s independent advisors. The role taught him how to be a problem solver for the advisors and their clients. After two years, he’d earned the respect of both his colleagues and the advisors he served, and had learned the back office side of the business inside and out. Recognizing his growth and knowledge, Gary asked him to join the firm. “Madison Planning was growing fast, and Gary really needed my help, so the timing was perfect. I guess it was all part of the master plan.”

Today, Andrew supports Gary’s clients by providing policy analysis to ensure every policy is appropriate, and accurate, as well as tends to all areas of their financial planning. He is also working to meet the needs of the next generation of Madison Planning’s clients— the adult children of Gary’s existing clients. “I’m proud to say that we’re ‘a family helping families.’ I don’t know many people who get as much personal satisfaction out of providing support and solutions to their clients. I’m happy to be one of the few.”

When he’s not busy helping his clients with their financial planning needs, Andrew enjoys snowboarding, camping, hiking, and listening to great live music (jazz, blues, and classic rock top the list), and spending time with friends and family.

Adam learned firsthand how important wise financial planning can be to a family—and to the future of the next generation. When his mother was diagnosed with a chronic disability in her 30’s, his father was mid-career and busy saving everything he could for the future. When his father died prematurely from cancer in his 60’s, the situation could have been even more devastating to Adam if his father hadn’t been so fiscally prudent. “If he hadn’t made plans to take care of my mother, there would have been no choice but to have her move in with me—and my wife and our very young daughter. Taking care of an older parent who was immobile would have been nearly impossible for us at the time.” says Adam. “Knowing that my mom was well cared for made a huge difference in my life.”

That personal experience gave Adam a rich appreciation of financial planning and a desire to help others build a secure future for themselves and their families.  Coupled with his work experience, Adam brings unique knowledge and perspective to help people prepare for their future. He began in advertising and after a few years decided to pursue a career in planning and he took a position at AXA where he began to learn about comprehensive financial planning. “Back then, the idea of holistic planning was brand new. Until then, nobody was looking at each client’s financial big picture, so it was easy to make a difference in people’s lives.” When he was ready to move on, he met Gary Schwartz at Madison Planning Group, and his career took another step forward. “Gary was a great mentor to me early in my career.  He taught me new strategies, and I saw the value of being independent.”

Still, when a major bank offered him a position as a wealth management specialist, he couldn’t resist. “My goal was to learn as much as I could about every area of the business, and working at the bank gave me training and insight into estate planning and high net worth financial planning.” Four years later, he decided to return to being independent, working with American Business to focus on advanced life insurance and wealth transfer strategies.

Adam returned to Madison Planning's Westchester County branch in 2013, bringing with him a new breadth of experience and the ability to provide a unique level of guidance to his clients. By looking at every piece of the planning puzzle and working in concert with his client’s estate planners, attorneys, insurance providers, and more, He is certainly doing what he’d hoped all along: helping his clients build a secure future for themselves and their families.

A past board member of the Financial Planning Association in the Greater Hudson Valley,

Adam holds a bachelors degree in marketing and economics from SUNY Oswego and is a Certified Financial Planner^® (CFP^®). His course “Retirement Planning Today” is offered periodically at Rockland Community College and Westchester Community College. He currently lives in Hudson Valley with his wife and their two children.

When Saber moved from Morocco to the US as a young boy, the difference in living standards between the two countries was shocking. In Morocco, so many families lived in poverty. In the US, even those without wealth enjoyed a level of luxury he’d never seen. “That stark contrast made me wonder, ‘What caused some people to be financially secure? And what caused others not to be secure?’” He set a goal to find the answers by learning everything he could about finance.

As a student at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, Saber focused on finance and earned a bachelor’s degree in business management. After graduation, he researched the best way to break into the world of finance, and discovered that being sponsored by a company was step one toward a securities license. “I knocked on a lot of doors, but I ended up hitting dead ends.” That’s when Saber reached out to Gary. “I’d known Gary for a few years through his service work in my own community. He was always a great guy—very easy to talk to—and I knew he was in finance. Of course, being Gary, he welcomed me with open arms.” Gary invited Saber to spend time in the office to learn about the business, and soon after offered to sponsor him. With the help of Gary and Andrew Federico, Saber earned his Series 7 and Series 66 licenses, and he officially joined Madison Planning Group in October 2016.

In college, Saber learned the difference between good companies and bad companies, and he studied the nuts and bolts of finance and economics. Working with Gary has helped him bring all those pieces of the puzzle together and make sense of it all. Even more, in his role as a planning specialist, Saber has been able to realize his childhood dream of helping people make choices that lead to financial security. “My long-term goal is to follow in Gary’s footsteps and become the kind of financial advisor who has a powerful and positive impact on my clients’ lives. When I see the postcards from Gary’s clients thanking him for all he’s done for them, I know I’m in the right place and on the right path.”

In November, 2019 Saber became a financial advisor with Madison Planning Group.

While Ben has known Gary literally his whole life, he never saw himself working in his father’s business. In college, he began studying broadcast communication, then switched majors, and then switched again. But nothing really connected with him in the right way. Even after earning a degree in Marketing Management from Pace University, he was unsettled. When he pursued a career as a police officer and that also didn’t work out, he realized where he’d been headed all along. “Long ago, someone told me ‘when a door doesn’t open for you, it’s best not to push it open.’ I realized my own ‘open door’ had been there all along.”

Ben had worked with his dad on and off through college, but took the real plunge when he joined Madison full time in 2008. He’s never looked back. “I’d already invested a lot of myself into the business, and I’d always viewed the people here as my family—and not just because of my dad, but because of the whole team. What could be better than working with people you’ve known and cared about most of your life?”

In the beginning, Ben put his marketing degree to work, focusing primarily on marketing and communications, but over the years, his responsibilities have evolved to include a growing amount of operations planning. “Increasing our efficiency is important, especially as the firm grows.” And managing growth is vital as the firm completes its transition to a multi-generational business. “Our goal is to do a great job for every one of our clients—including our established clients, as well as their own children and grandchildren. It’s my job to be sure that continues to happen over the long term.”

What Ben loves most about the work Madison does is that every client seems to truly appreciate what the team does to help. “I used to think financial services was about making and losing money, but it’s so much more than that. When I know we’ve helped someone retire early or take that vacation they’ve always dreamed of, I see that it’s really about improving people’s lives and creating a better future. That’s a pretty great feeling.”

When he isn't working, Ben enjoys watching sports, reading about Presidential history, and spending time with his wife, Kathleen, their misbehaved beagle, Snoopy, and their newborn son Dylan!

When Nina finished an 18-month program in business administration back in 2003, she had no idea her next step would put her on a path toward her dream job. “I originally wanted to be a chef, but when I decided to take a more practical path, I was pretty sure I’d find myself number crunching in a job that didn’t bring me a whole lot of fulfillment.”

That all changed when Nina replied to a job posting at her college for Madison Planning Group and came on board to do what she’d expected: crunching numbers. But when an assistant position opened up 10 months later, a door opened. She was soon managing Gary’s schedule—and she began learning about new business management.

“Gary has always been there to guide me and help me find my path,” says Nina. “The fact is, everybody who’s here is here because of Gary and the fact that he treats us like family. We all joke around with each other, but we also have high respect for each other, and we know we all have each others’ backs.”  That sense of family has had a huge impact on her career. “Gary pushed me to be where I am today, and now I’m studying for the Life and Health Insurance exam.” It’s one more ‘next step’ in what’s become Nina’s dream career at Madison Planning Group. Currently Director of New Business, she is responsible for new and existing business for all advisors, processing applications, and servicing existing accounts and policies. Once she has her new license, she’ll be taking on life insurance responsibilities for the firm.

That’s a far cry from number crunching, and Nina couldn’t be happier.

Nina Occhino-Melito is not registered with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.

While everyone at Madison Planning Group talks about the company feeling like family, for Julie, it feels even more so. Gary has known Julie and her family for over 10 years, and their friendship has grown so much that it has now created an ultimate team to upkeep his growing book of business. “As Gary’s assistant, there’s always the possibility for chaos,” says Julie. “Of course, that’s true for any office, but when Gary offered me a position in 2014, I didn’t realize how much chaos I was actually leaving behind at my prior job at a local car dealership.”

Julie was happy to escape the noise of her old job. Since the start of her journey with Gary and his team, she’s proud to say she has a career that amplifies her true skills. Although she is the newest hire at Madison Planning Group, it wasn’t long before she really understood her new role and just how well she fit into the team. “I love coming to work in a happy environment – the atmosphere, my co-workers, the aura; it all comes together to make Madison Planning Group a great place to be.”

Julie Abato is not registered with Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.