Confessions of a Financial Planner: How to Get Great Advice & Avoid Financial Scams

By David Holland

In Confessions of a Financial Planner: How to Get Great Advice & Avoid Financial Scams, author and adviser, David D. Holland, demystifies the process of choosing an investment adviser or planner. He also raises the red flag in an effort to expose those who could potentially bring financial harm. Filled with David’s practical insights from 20 years of financial services experience, this book provides plain English answers to critical questions, such as: How do I find the best adviser for me? What questions should I ask? How do I know an adviser has my best interests at heart? How can I lessen my chances of becoming the victim of a financial scam?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312562943

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Confessions of a Financial Planner: How to Get Great Advice & Avoid Financial Scams

Confessions of a Financial Planner: How to Get Great Advice & Avoid Financial Scams

David D. Holland

CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Certified Public Accountant

Personal Financial Specialist

Chartered Financial Consultant®

©Copyright 2014, 2012, 2011 Holland Productions, Inc.,

Ormond Beach, FL

All rights reserved.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Published 2011

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-0-9836907-0-2

This Book Is Whole-Heartedly Dedicated

To My Wife, Toni,

Whose Beauty and Intellect Are Only Surpassed by Her Patience,

To My Three Children, Zachary, Mary, and Grace,

Who, Each Day, Challenge Me to Be Better Than I Am,

To My Loving and Selfless Parents, Cary and Connie Holland,

Who Tirelessly Built My Moral Compass,

To My Entire Family,

Who Are Quick to Overlook My Shortcomings,

Yet Trumpet My Accomplishments,

And to My Dedicated Team at Holland Financial,

Who, Every Day, Help Retirees Plan Stronger.

Acknowledgements

Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow;

Praise Him, All Creatures Here Below;

Praise Him Above, Ye Heavenly Host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Let me now also thank a few mortals for their contributions to this book:

The Editors – Toni Holland (the patient, smart, and beautiful wife with a Masters Degree in Literature) who made sure the final version of this book is readable, Kalon M. Hoard (President and Chief Compliance Officer at Holland Advisory Services, Inc.) who made sure it is both fair and accurate, and Christina Kohl-Merklin (run-on-sentence wrangler, photographer, image enhancer, and Creative Director for Holland Productions, Inc.) who superbly managed the content.

The Illustrator – the very talented John Hambrock who turned my crude sketches into black-and-white masterpieces.  If you like what you see and need his help, call John at In-House Communications: 262-657-3777.

The Encourager – Pat Detweiler (my very dedicated assistant and personal confidant) kept me writing when I wanted to stop.

The Supporters – I thank the three hundred clients who made this book financially possible.  I humbly acknowledge that you probably already know how to get great advice!

Foreword

My name is Kalon Hoard and I am David Holland’s longest term employee.  I oversee the investment division of his company, Holland Advisory Services, Inc., but that wasn’t my original career plan.  In 1987, I graduated from college with an Electrical Engineering degree.  I was successfully employed in the field for six years.  In the early 90s, I became a victim of the cutbacks in the defense industry.

At a crossroads in my career, I decided to give the financial services industry a try.  I had always had an interest in the stock market and personal finance.  A friend of mine, who was working for an insurance firm, told me about openings at his company.  After I was hired, I passed the required licensing exams and went to their one-week training program in New Jersey.  Then the company told me to make out a list of my closest 100 friends and family members.  Why?  So I could call to introduce them to the company’s financial products, of course.  My employment lasted about three months.  I dreaded going to work with the sole purpose of calling people in an attempt to make appointments.  Well, I actually did have some success – thanks to a referral from my mom!

While all of this was going on in my life, my father had retired and was seeking advice on how to achieve financial security for his and my mom’s golden years. It just so happened that my parent’s CPA gave them a referral to meet with a bright and ambitious young adviser (David Holland) about their retirement planning.  During one of the initial meetings with my parents, David mentioned that he was looking for someone to help him with the financial and investment planning aspect of his business.  My mother, knowing that I was not happy in my current position, described my situation to David.  A few weeks later, in July of 2000, I had an interview with him.  David appreciated that I possessed an engineer’s attention to detail and hired me immediately. 

Reinvigorated by this new opportunity, I became immersed in the financial planning and financial services business.  I worked side by side with David as he developed financial plans for his clients.  Education is very important to David (which is very obvious given the number of credentials he has obtained) and so I was provided with the opportunity to pursue the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification.

My experience with David has been anything but boring!  As with