I had the opportunity to learn firsthand about how important it is for a family to have wise financial planning – and to the future of the next generation. When my mother was diagnosed with a chronic disability in her 30s, my father was mid-career and saving everything he could for the future. When my father died prematurely from cancer in his 60s, the situation would have been even more devastating to me if my 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, 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. Knowing that my mother was well cared for made a huge difference in my life.
That personal experience gave me a rich appreciation for financial planning and a desire to help others build a secure future for themselves and their families. Coupled with my previous work experience, I bring a unique knowledge and perspective of financial planning to help people prepare for their future. I began in advertising, but after a few years in that industry, I decided to make a switch to a career in planning. I secured a position at AXA, where I began learning about comprehensive financial planning. When I first started, the idea of holistic planning was brand new. Until then, nobody had been looking at each client’s financial big picture, so it was easy to make a difference in people’s lives. When I was ready to move on, I had the opportunity to meet Gary Schwartz at Madison Planning Group, and my career took another step forward. Gary was a great mentor to me early in my career. He taught me new strategies and showed me the value of being independent.
Still, when a major bank offered me a position as a wealth management specialist, I couldn’t resist the call. My goal was to learn as much as I could about every area of the business, and working at the bank gave me the training and the insight into estate planning and high net worth financial planning. Four years later, I decided to return to being independent, so I worked with American Business to focus on advanced life insurance and wealth transfer strategies.
I returned to Madison Planning Group’s Westchester County branch in 2013 and brought with me a new breadth of experience and the ability to provide a unique level of guidance to my clients. By looking at every piece of the planning puzzle and working in concert with my clients’ estate planners, attorneys, insurance providers, and more, I am certainly doing what I’d hoped to all along: helping clients build a secure future for themselves and their families.
As a past board member of the Financial Planning Association in the Greater Hudson Valley, Adam holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and economics from SUNY Oswego and is also a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®). My course, “Retirement Planning Today”, is offered periodically at Rockland Community College and Westchester Community College. I currently live in Hudson Valley with my wife and our two children.