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| Investment Management Financial Planning Risk Protection If you are looking for confidence in how your comfort with the people who provide your advice, call us at 253.534.8888. |
MY UNIQUE PATH FROM SPORTS WRITER TO CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER
By Gary Brooks
My path to where I am today as a partner at Brooks, Hughes & Jones has not been a
typical career journey for someone in the field of financial advice.
Having started my first real job as a sports writer at The News Tribune in Tacoma in
1992, I had no sense that I would become a Certified Financial Planner helping
people align their money with their goals in pursuit of financial security.
As a sports writer, I lived a dream-like life for a 20-something. After covering the local
high schools and colleges for a few years, I advanced to do more writing from
Mariners, Huskies and Seahawks games. Eventually, I became the Major League
Baseball editor for what is now CBSSports.com. At the time we also produced MLB.
com. I traveled to baseball playoff and All-Star games. I also had the special
opportunity to be in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium when the champagne was
being sprayed after the Yankees swept the Braves to win the 1999 World Series.
A few years before that experience though, I spent occasional nights in the
Kingdome covering the Seattle Mariners. I usually sat next to Jim Cour of the
Associated Press. Jim was closing in on the end of a long career as a sports writer.
He encouraged me to think about doing something else. It wasn’t that I couldn’t craft
a decent story. His impression was that being a sports writer makes it very difficult to
do much else in life, like be a husband or a father.
It’s mostly a nights and weekends job. And if I were to continue to aspire to be a
Major League Baseball beat writer, it would mean five months of the year on the
road. While spending life in ballparks is appealing, another drawback was that
journalism doesn’t pay very well. Of course, the whole newspaper business is now
just a skeleton of what it was before the internet wiped out ad revenue.
Jim suggested that I get a subscription to Money magazine and learn about finances.
I did and began investing for my future by participating in The News Tribune
retirement plan and bought a couple mutual funds in an IRA. I also read The Wealthy
Barber by David Chilton upon the recommendation of a friend.
There was no degree in finance or family history of managing money decisions. But
then came the career turn.
Russell Investments had an opening for a writer. The company had a reputation as a
great place to work and a friend from college worked there so I applied without any
great expectation. While I was in Atlanta at the 2000 All-Star Game, I got a call to
interview. A month later, my life changed pretty dramatically.
Exposed to the Russell environment of managing money and helping people achieve
financial security, I quickly gained interest in investments and financial planning.
Russell provided great education benefits so I spent a year working through the
educational curriculum necessary to sit for the Certified Financial Planner exam. In
2004, I passed the CFP exam. I put in a lot of study time but was still surprised since
the pass rate is less than 60% and the great majority of the people taking the exam
had way more practical experience than I did.
At this point, without any specifics in mind, the seeds of my partnership in Brooks,
Hughes & Jones had been planted. With the CFP education and certification as
credentials, I began to focus on how I could prepare myself to serve people as an
advisor. At Russell, I was on the periphery of the advisory relationship being
exposed to investment management from the perspective of a mutual fund company.
I read a lot of advisor practice management material and surveyed the advisory
landscape thoroughly.
Along the way, Allyn Hughes had started at Russell. He had an extensive history of
working for mutual fund firms but also wanted to move to an advisory role working
with people to better manage their money.
By 2007, we started meeting for breakfast early on Saturday mornings to work on a
business plan. In March 2008 we opened Financial Life Design and in October 2009
had the opportunity to merge with Nancy Jones to create Brooks, Hughes & Jones.
WHAT BEING AN ADVISOR IS REALLY ABOUT
The technical aspects of financial planning and investment decisions have been
interesting to me for a long time. My initial expectation was that as an advisor, I
would interpret investment markets, the economy, tax and estate rules and
regulations and all the other aspects of finances that most people have never been
exposed to or just don’t have enough time to keep up with.
Of course, we add value by understanding and applying the technical aspects of our
profession, but what I’ve come to realize is that the role of an advisor is really about
dealing with human nature. It’s not so much people’s money that we have the
responsibility for managing, the bigger responsibility is helping them live their lives
through all kinds of transitions and changes, options and opportunities.
What delivers peace of mind to clients goes beyond how well we apply technical
expertise to build well-balanced investment strategies or time moves into our out of
certain investments. The best part of the business is that we can give clients
confidence by planning ahead so that they don’t have many lack-of-planning
emergencies as life happens.
It’s not until we understand the people, their goals and vision, that we can add
value by identifying options and opportunities that their financial resources make
possible.
In a way, it’s a lot like being a reporter. We research and investigate the best
options for each client’s situation and then help them work toward the life story they
want to create for themselves.
By Gary Brooks
My path to where I am today as a partner at Brooks, Hughes & Jones has not been a
typical career journey for someone in the field of financial advice.
Having started my first real job as a sports writer at The News Tribune in Tacoma in
1992, I had no sense that I would become a Certified Financial Planner helping
people align their money with their goals in pursuit of financial security.
As a sports writer, I lived a dream-like life for a 20-something. After covering the local
high schools and colleges for a few years, I advanced to do more writing from
Mariners, Huskies and Seahawks games. Eventually, I became the Major League
Baseball editor for what is now CBSSports.com. At the time we also produced MLB.
com. I traveled to baseball playoff and All-Star games. I also had the special
opportunity to be in the clubhouse at Yankee Stadium when the champagne was
being sprayed after the Yankees swept the Braves to win the 1999 World Series.
A few years before that experience though, I spent occasional nights in the
Kingdome covering the Seattle Mariners. I usually sat next to Jim Cour of the
Associated Press. Jim was closing in on the end of a long career as a sports writer.
He encouraged me to think about doing something else. It wasn’t that I couldn’t craft
a decent story. His impression was that being a sports writer makes it very difficult to
do much else in life, like be a husband or a father.
It’s mostly a nights and weekends job. And if I were to continue to aspire to be a
Major League Baseball beat writer, it would mean five months of the year on the
road. While spending life in ballparks is appealing, another drawback was that
journalism doesn’t pay very well. Of course, the whole newspaper business is now
just a skeleton of what it was before the internet wiped out ad revenue.
Jim suggested that I get a subscription to Money magazine and learn about finances.
I did and began investing for my future by participating in The News Tribune
retirement plan and bought a couple mutual funds in an IRA. I also read The Wealthy
Barber by David Chilton upon the recommendation of a friend.
There was no degree in finance or family history of managing money decisions. But
then came the career turn.
Russell Investments had an opening for a writer. The company had a reputation as a
great place to work and a friend from college worked there so I applied without any
great expectation. While I was in Atlanta at the 2000 All-Star Game, I got a call to
interview. A month later, my life changed pretty dramatically.
Exposed to the Russell environment of managing money and helping people achieve
financial security, I quickly gained interest in investments and financial planning.
Russell provided great education benefits so I spent a year working through the
educational curriculum necessary to sit for the Certified Financial Planner exam. In
2004, I passed the CFP exam. I put in a lot of study time but was still surprised since
the pass rate is less than 60% and the great majority of the people taking the exam
had way more practical experience than I did.
At this point, without any specifics in mind, the seeds of my partnership in Brooks,
Hughes & Jones had been planted. With the CFP education and certification as
credentials, I began to focus on how I could prepare myself to serve people as an
advisor. At Russell, I was on the periphery of the advisory relationship being
exposed to investment management from the perspective of a mutual fund company.
I read a lot of advisor practice management material and surveyed the advisory
landscape thoroughly.
Along the way, Allyn Hughes had started at Russell. He had an extensive history of
working for mutual fund firms but also wanted to move to an advisory role working
with people to better manage their money.
By 2007, we started meeting for breakfast early on Saturday mornings to work on a
business plan. In March 2008 we opened Financial Life Design and in October 2009
had the opportunity to merge with Nancy Jones to create Brooks, Hughes & Jones.
WHAT BEING AN ADVISOR IS REALLY ABOUT
The technical aspects of financial planning and investment decisions have been
interesting to me for a long time. My initial expectation was that as an advisor, I
would interpret investment markets, the economy, tax and estate rules and
regulations and all the other aspects of finances that most people have never been
exposed to or just don’t have enough time to keep up with.
Of course, we add value by understanding and applying the technical aspects of our
profession, but what I’ve come to realize is that the role of an advisor is really about
dealing with human nature. It’s not so much people’s money that we have the
responsibility for managing, the bigger responsibility is helping them live their lives
through all kinds of transitions and changes, options and opportunities.
What delivers peace of mind to clients goes beyond how well we apply technical
expertise to build well-balanced investment strategies or time moves into our out of
certain investments. The best part of the business is that we can give clients
confidence by planning ahead so that they don’t have many lack-of-planning
emergencies as life happens.
It’s not until we understand the people, their goals and vision, that we can add
value by identifying options and opportunities that their financial resources make
possible.
In a way, it’s a lot like being a reporter. We research and investigate the best
options for each client’s situation and then help them work toward the life story they
want to create for themselves.
TACOMA 2112 North 30th Street, Suite B | Tacoma, WA 98403
FRIDAY HARBOR 255 Harrison Street | PO Box 2965 | Friday Harbor, WA 98250
253.534.8888 info@BHJadvisors.com
FRIDAY HARBOR 255 Harrison Street | PO Box 2965 | Friday Harbor, WA 98250
253.534.8888 info@BHJadvisors.com
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Visit our blog
For recent investment and
planning insight, click on the
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For recent investment and
planning insight, click on the
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Brooks, Hughes & Jones, Inc. (BH&J) is a Washington state Registered Investment Adviser. BH&J and its representatives are in compliance with the current registration and notice
filing requirements imposed upon Registered Investment Advisers by the SEC and the states in which BH&J maintains clients.
BH&J's electronic communications via email newsletters, blog posts and its web site are limited to the dissemination of general information regarding its investment advisory services,
educational information or viewpoints. Published content should not be construed by any consumer and/or prospective client as personalized investment advice or a solicitation for
securities transactions. Individual clients investment strategies differ based on a variety of factors. Any subsequent, direct communication by BH&J representatives with a prospective
client regarding financial planning or investment advice shall be conducted by a partner that is registered, or exempt from registration, in the state where the prospective client resides.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee that the views and opinions expressed here will come to fruition.
For regulatory information pertaining to the registration status of BH&J, please see Form ADV Part II.
BH&J does not make any representations as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether
linked to BH&J's web site or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided for convenience purposes only.
filing requirements imposed upon Registered Investment Advisers by the SEC and the states in which BH&J maintains clients.
BH&J's electronic communications via email newsletters, blog posts and its web site are limited to the dissemination of general information regarding its investment advisory services,
educational information or viewpoints. Published content should not be construed by any consumer and/or prospective client as personalized investment advice or a solicitation for
securities transactions. Individual clients investment strategies differ based on a variety of factors. Any subsequent, direct communication by BH&J representatives with a prospective
client regarding financial planning or investment advice shall be conducted by a partner that is registered, or exempt from registration, in the state where the prospective client resides.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee that the views and opinions expressed here will come to fruition.
For regulatory information pertaining to the registration status of BH&J, please see Form ADV Part II.
BH&J does not make any representations as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether
linked to BH&J's web site or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided for convenience purposes only.
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