Advisor Website Showcase: Branning Wealth Management

Every week we showcase a newly launched Advisor Website. This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason from Branning Wealth Management to learn a little bit more about him, his financial planning firm, and his new website. Check out his site and read on for more.

How did you become interested in a career as a financial planner?

I was a research intern the summer after I graduated college at a boutique wealth management firm. Near the end of my summer work, the owner of the company approached me and suggested I stay on and learn the business – in spite of the fact I was an English Major, History Minor. I had always assumed I would be a college administrator or professor.

I had the opportunity to learn the business from the ground up and spent time in various roles – client service, financial planning department, associate adviser, and finally full time adviser/business owner. I really struggled with my job for the first 10 years discerning if it was the right fit for me. As I began to apply the knowledge I had gained to individual clients, and was able to witness the power of the planning process, I started enjoying my work in new ways. This profession affords me the privilege and joy of being involved with helping people in various life circumstances with their finances. We walk through life with clients (births, college, retirement, deaths) and are a consultative sounding board for the biggest financial decisions they encounter.

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

I enjoy seeking to understand what clients are motivated by and need to do to accomplish their goals. We strive to understand the question beneath the questions they ask or the underlying assumptions about investing, etc. that they bring to us. Then, we seek to educate and apply critical thinking to their goals through a decision framework that makes accessible the ‘what/how’ we plan to do and the ‘why’ we recommend the specific solutions.

What do you find to be most challenging about your profession?

Wearing multiple hats as a financial advisor and business owner.

How do you stay up to date on the latest information and industry trends?

I read the Journal of Financial Planning, The Kitces Report, The Retirement Researcher (Dr. Wade Pfau), RIIA’s RMJ, various industry articles, participate in webinars and continuing education meetings. I also listen to various podcasts.

Your website turned out great!  How did you go about choosing your design and content?

We wanted to streamline our message through both the content we used and the layout of the site, to make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for. With the help of the Twenty Over Ten team, we edited our content to be more concise while still communicating the essentials; we also made the navigation more intuitive and streamlined.

Samantha told me that you were the founder of Modern Retirement Theory.  Can you tell me a little bit about what that is, how you came about developing it, and how it impacts the way you do business?

Modern Retirement Theory is the result of some client questions in 2007 and 2008. The issue was how to think about long term care and how to prepare if one party was not insurable. That led to many discussions with Dr. M. Ray Grubbs, a professor at the Else School of Management at Millsaps College.

Modern Retirement Theory is a comprehensive retirement planning process was created to offer customized solutions for each individual retiree. The goal is a retirement plan that is secure, stable, and sustainable for the retiree’s lifetime. MRT is the planning paradigm that I think in, so it affects how we advise and why we recommend specific courses of action for clients.

“Working with Twenty Over Ten was fantastic. Team members were pleasant to interact with, project perimeters and time frames were clearly explained and met and I am very pleased with the work.  I am finding the platform very easy to use and love the built in compliance features.”

Thanks to Jason for the great feedback! We’re happy to have helped and enjoyed working with you as well. Visit Branning Wealth Management to check out a great example of a site that effectively communicates the company message and is so easy to navigate!

Also: Email Marketing 101: Building and Segmenting Subscriber Lists and Blogging for Financial Advisors 101: Blogging Basics.