Center Welcomes New Partner Nick Defenthaler, CFP®, RICP®

Contributed by: Center for Financial Planning, Inc.®

We are excited to announce Nick Defenthaler, CFP®, RICP® as the newest Partner at The Center! He will continue to lead the firm’s Financial Planning Department and contribute to the Operations Committee in addition to his primary role as Senior Financial Planner. We look forward to working with Nick in his new leadership role.

Growing with the Firm

Nick has been involved in the financial planning profession for over 12 years and joined The Center in 2013. In addition to being a Senior Financial Planner, he is Director of The Center’s Financial Planning Department and a member of the firm’s Investment and Operations Committees. Now, he takes on even more duties as he advances to Partner.

“Soon after joining The Center, I knew that I wanted to be a partner one day. The Center walks the walk when it comes to comprehensive financial planning”.

An Offer of Partnership

The current leadership team invited Nick to become a Partner. Managing Partner Tim Wyman CFP®, JD says that Nick is a tremendous leader at The Center.

“He is a highly technical practitioner who cares about the success of our clients and team members. But most importantly, Nick is a model for our Center Values. Nick’s energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to the financial planning process for the benefit of our clients and the entire Center team is inspiring.”

A Bright Future

Over the firm’s 35 year history, Defenthaler is the tenth employee to advance to Partner. He is a role model for The Center’s mission and values. As we begin our 35th year in business, the partnership couldn’t come at a more exciting time.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Taking Security Seriously

Contributed by: Angela Palacios, CFP®, AIF®

Ever wonder what steps we take to ensure the security of your information?

This is a topic we take very seriously here at The Center. There are a variety of ways we work to ensure the privacy of your data. One of the steps we took was to hire our IT Manager, James Brown. James brought with him not only an in-depth knowledge of networks, hardware, and software but also an eye for security best practices. A core value of our firm is to seek continuous learning. While we have a large number of individuals on staff who seek new certifications on the topics of investment management and financial planning, it is also just as important in the world of technology and security. While James possessed a large amount of knowledge on the topic of security, he felt it is important to remain on top of the latest threats. This is why he sought to obtain the CompTIA Security+ certification.

In “non-geek speak” CompTIA Security+ certification is an assessment of an IT professional’s cybersecurity skills in risk management, disaster recovery and computer security best practices.

CompTIA Security+ is a vendor-independent global cybersecurity certification for IT Security professionals. Security+ certified professionals have proven competency in:

• Network security

• Threats and vulnerabilities

• Compliance and operational security

• Cryptography

• Access control/identity management

• Application, data and host security

This is not an easy test to pass, let alone on your first try! So join us in congratulating
James on achieving this! We know he spent countless hours for the benefit of you, our
client, studying to pass.

In addition to James, we also have an excellent resource available to us in security through
our relationship with Raymond James. James requested that Raymond James perform a
scan of our externally facing addresses and ports. This is a vulnerability assessment that
checks for a variety of ways a hacker could make their way into our system and gain access
to your data. After their threat assessment, we were found to have no vulnerabilities, a
clean bill of health so to speak.

James will be sharing some of what he has learned in his upcoming webinar on “Staying
Safe with Computer Best Practices”

Angela Palacios, CFP®, AIF® is the Director of Investments at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® Angela specializes in Investment and Macro economic research. She is a frequent contributor The Center blog.

A Webinar in Review: Cyber Security and How to Keep Your Information Safe

Contributed by: Clare Lilek

As more and more of our personal information makes its way onto the web or into our devices, cyber security is a growing concern. Did you know that there are 12 victims of cybercrime per second?! That’s over 1 million victims per day, and 378 million per year! The numbers are staggering and the threat is all too real. That’s why Nick Defenthaler, CFP®, hosted a webinar on cyber security with guest presenter Andy Zopler to help us combat these prevalent fears. Andy Zopler, Chief IT Security Officer with Raymond James, has been doing IT work for over three decades and has been focusing on the financial services for the past 15 years. Over an hour’s time, he explained the growing epidemic of cyber fraud and not only told us how Raymond James combats such attacks, but also gave the attendees tips for practicing cyber safety in their daily lives.

Let’s set the scene: we are currently living the second technology revolution (the first being the industrial revolution). The advancements and growing pervasiveness throughout society has made technology extremely influential in how we live our lives. The technology explosion has changed the way we interact with and conduct our finances, and how criminals can access our personal, financial information. Andy Zopler addressed these concerns by first identifying the threat actors.

Knowing who the threat actors, or bad guys, are is crucial to understanding our own fear and the reality of what type of attacks are most likely to be perpetrated. Andy talked about how external factors such as criminals, spies, and hacktivists are what make up most of our concerns. Of course there are also insider and partner threat actors as well; but of the five mentioned, criminal threat actors are the most common concern. Criminal threat actors want your money, which makes them scary, but also, quite predictable. Raymond James screens about 1.5 million spam and fraudulent emails every day that are sent to their financial advisors across the United States.

The sheer amount of attempts can be worrisome, but Andy explained how Raymond James defends the company and its financial advisors (including The Center) every day. The strategy includes:

• Protect – using creative solutions to stop attacks from happening.

• Detect – assume that all protections will fail, so remain vigilant for fraud.

• Develop – invest in the training employees to cultivate the highest talent.

• Partner – Raymond James only partners with trusted and well vetted third party vendors.

This is all done at the Raymond James Cyber Threat Center, which is a key component to the cyber security strategy. Andy then explained to all attendees the different layers of defensive measures Raymond James uses to protect financial information.

Finally, Andy gave concrete actions and best practices that all of us can use individually to keep our sensitive and private information safe and out of the hands of criminals. Those tips include:

• Secure your computers (with Antivirus, firewalls, and software updates).

• Restrict your browsing behavior.

• Strongly encrypt the files on your PC.

• Change your passwords frequently and don’t share passwords among sites. When saving passwords, it’s best to use an application on your phone or put it on a piece of paper – don’t save it as a word file on your computer! Also, when possible, opt for “two factor authorization.”

• Use multiple personal emails.

• Use a separate computer for online banking.

• Insist on having verbal/phone confirmation for “high risk” transactions.

• Back up your data! On a hard drive or in a secure cloud.

Raymond James and everyone here at The Center work diligently to protect your financial information and to stop fraud and cybercrime from affecting clients. We encourage you to watch the video and rethink your own personal practices. Don’t be one of the victims of cybercrime, instead invest in your cyber security just as you invest in your future.

Clare Lilek is a Challenge Detroit Fellow / Client Service Associate at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.

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This material is being provided for information purposes only. Any opinions are those of Clare Lilek and not necessarily those of Raymond James.

How The Center Spends the Holidays

Contributed by: Center for Financial Planning, Inc.

Once Halloween passes, the shift in the atmosphere is palpable, the holiday season approaches! Families gather together after time apart or spend special time together. No matter what holiday you and your family celebrate together, this time of year is filled with traditions. Whether it’s decorating your house, eating certain kinds of food, traveling, baking, or singing, holiday traditions bring people together and help foster cherished memories. The Center team is no different. We have holiday traditions we share with our families each year. Here are some of our favorites:

Sandy Adams keeps her family on the same traditions path that she and her brother shared as children. No Christmas decorations are put up until AFTER Sandy’s birthday on the 14th of December, that’s when the season can officially begin in her household! Her kids exchange presents on Christmas Eve, just as Sandy and her brother did growing up.

Do you love Christmas cookies? How about 600 of them?! Jennie Bauder and her family (kids included!) hone their baking skills each year and make a varied sort of delicious cookies to give as gifts to extended families, teachers, neighbors, and the mailman.

Speaking of cookies, Melissa Parkins and her family have a cookie-decorating contest each year. Nothing like a good ‘ol competition to start off the Holiday! Her family also celebrates Christmas Eve with a Mexican twist, including enchiladas galore!

Jennie Bauder

Melissa Parkins

Gerri Harmer and her extended family have taken Christmas celebration to a whole new level! They get together mid-Summer and celebrate Christmas in July - and they love it! Gerri shares, “Our family has grown so large we can’t fit in the house and weather always tends to be an issue for those that travel.  Our family has a great sense of humor so Christmas in July was perfect for us. We hang out at the lake with travelers camping nearby arriving by car or boat.” This year they even had t-shirts made.

Kimberly Wyman describes her tradition with her children as including, “Grabbing a hot chocolate with the kids and preparing our holiday gift list! Beyond gifts for grandmas and grandpas, our list includes baking cookies for fire fighters and police officers, toys for local families, tamale baskets for families in Guatemala & live stock for Ethiopian families. Involving the children and fostering a love of giving worldwide is a passion of ours.”

Gerri Harmer

Kimberly Wyman

Partner Matt Chope, and girlfriend Kim Schultes, started a new tradition this year during Thanksgiving. They donned red noses and makeup and joined the Clown Corps in the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade in downtown Detroit.

New member to our team, Clare Lilek, describes her family tradition: “Every Christmas, since moving from our hometown of Chicago, my family and I travel back to Chicago to see our extended family. On Christmas Eve we go to church at Holy Name Cathedral, have dinner at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab (it’s amazing!), and spend the rest of the evening watching a movie in our hotel. It’s wonderful!”

Matt Chope

Clare Lilek

For your viewing enjoyment, Raya Chope and her family get together each year and sing Christmas songs and carols in both English AND German! Raya claims in her family, there’s never a dull moment. From the video, that seems about right!

What are some of the traditions that you and your family will share together this holiday season? Whatever your traditions, all of us here at The Center wish you and your family a Happy Holiday!

From Founding Partner to Client of The Center

Contributed by: Daniel Boyce, CFP®

As I move into my new life in retirement from the profession I've loved for the past 35 years, I'm looking forward to a more leisurely pace of life and continuing to pursue my other abiding passions--making music, philanthropy, working with non-profits to build capacity and effectiveness in education and the arts, as well as pursuing leisure activities such as working on my tennis game, playing bridge, and hiking around the Prescott area.  More than anything, I'm looking forward to being available for Sue and family activities with my children and grandchildren.

As with Estelle Wade and Marilyn Gunther, the other Founding Partners of Center for Financial Planning who both retired before me, I will now become a client of The Center, like many of you.  I will have my Annual Review meeting and take advantage of the integrity I find throughout the firm and the planners' enormous capacity to handle whatever issues might arise in my future.  And so I move into territory unknown yet to me; but with great hope and confidence and anticipation. 

The short video shares a few more thoughts with you about my retirement:

Daniel Boyce, CFP® is a Founding Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.

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Using Women’s Leadership as an Investing Concept

Contributed by: Angela Palacios, CFP®

Did you know 3 of the 6 partners at The Center are women? We know the value of gender diversity in the ownership and leadership of our firm, which is why we invited Kathleen McQuiggan of Pax funds to join us for a roundtable discussion. We wanted to give clients and friends of The Center the chance to discuss the importance of having women in executive roles, their impact on businesses, and the opportunities they provide for investing. Kathleen is the Senior Vice President of Global Women’s Strategies and Managing Director of Pax Ellevate Mgt. LLC. 

Top 3 roundtable takeaways

1. Women’s leadership can and should be understood as an investment concept.  Many studies have shown that women bring a unique perspective to senior and executive management roles within firms.  According to Kathleen, this “secret ingredient” adds profitability, better risk preparedness, more collaboration and more innovation to companies. 
2. There is an emerging consensus that the status and role of women may be an excellent clue to a company’s growth potential.  Despite this, there continues to be a large wage gap between women and equivalent men in the workforce and very little gender diversity among senior management and corporate boards.
3. There are many barriers to female participation in management and the boardroom.  One of the most easily understood barriers is time out of the workforce.

Women spend an average of 12.6 of their working years out of the workforce to care for children or parents whereas a man only spends 10 months outside the workforce!

This pulling in two directions between work and family responsibilities likely has a lot to do with the disparities that still exist.  As I read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, I’m discovering there are also barriers within ourselves to prevent women from climbing the corporate ladder. 

Whatever the reasons, the time for change is now.  Having discussions like our roundtable and sharing ideas is part of the solution.  Another potential solution developed by Pax is using your investments to express your viewpoint with your dollars.  If you would like to learn more please contact your financial planner!

Angela Palacios, CFP® is the Portfolio Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Angela specializes in Investment and Macro economic research. She is a frequent contributor to Money Centered as well as investment updates at The Center.

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Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse the opinions or services of Kathleen McQuiggan or Pax funds. This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Angela Palacios, CFP® and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or a loss regardless of strategy selected. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

The Secret to Our 30-year Success

Contributed by: Timothy Wyman, CFP®, JD

So where were you in 1985? You may have been in high school or college. You may not have even been born yet. Like our Center founders, you may have been starting your own business or career and sought out a financial planner to help in financing higher education for your kids and planning for a successful retirement. It was in the mid-80s that Center for Financial Planning got started.

Our 3 Secrets to Success

A professional services firm can’t survive, let alone thrive, over 30 years without at least three key ingredients:

1. The loyalty and support of clients. Many of The Center’s clients have been with us from the start. Our success is based of their continued relationships and the introductions they’ve made to others we can help.
2. The loyalty and hard work of our staff. It has been said that great performance can never come without great people and culture.  Our current staff is filled with a deep bench of top-notch technicians.
3. The hard work, vision and generosity of founding partners Estelle Wade (retired 2003), Marilyn Gunther (retired 2014), and Dan Boyce (retiring at the end of 2015).

Building a sustainable business requires lots of hours. Not 9-5 and no weekends kind of hours. There were sacrifices, and rewards, and I am sure our founders would agree that their success was in large part due to the support of at least 3 special people - their spouses: Gene Wade, Ron Gunther, and Sue Boyce.

Building a Foundation

Estelle, Marilyn and Dan didn’t set out to create a company. Financial planning was more like a calling. You see, in 1985, much like today, financial advice was often the pretense to selling a high commissioned investment or insurance product.  Our founders saw a new & better way to help people achieve their financial goals. The new (back then) process was called financial planning – and they quickly experienced that the financial planning process had the power to improve lives and make a difference for people. So, The Center really started with a purpose – a calling – to make a difference in people’s lives.

Estelle, Marilyn and Dan also lead by example. They always put clients’ interests first. They were always first to lend a hand around the office, no matter the task. And they were always committed to lifetime learning and personal growth. Our founders also invested in people and relationships – both clients and team members. The three are some of the most generous folks I have ever met with their time, talent, and financially. Over the years they have mentored folks both inside The Center as well as outside.  They had the foresight to begin transitioning leadership to others such as current partners Matt Chope, Sandy Adams, Laurie Renchik, Melissa Joy and me as long as 10 years ago. The foundation they provided has given our current team a platform to take The Center to new heights and further strengthen the firm for the next 30 years.

Timothy Wyman, CFP®, JD is the Managing Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and is a contributor to national media and publications such as Forbes and The Wall Street Journal and has appeared on Good Morning America Weekend Edition and WDIV Channel 4. A leader in his profession, Tim served on the National Board of Directors for the 28,000 member Financial Planning Association™ (FPA®), mentored many CFP® practitioners and is a frequent speaker to organizations and businesses on various financial planning topics.

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Any opinions are those of Timothy Wyman, CFP® and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or a loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Happy Centerversary!

Bringing a combined 37 years of experience to The Center, we are grateful for the contributions of Tim Wyman, Matthew Chope and Amanda Toia. While we wanted to give them a little recognition as they reach their Centerversaries, we also wanted to know what the anniversaries meant to them.

Fifteen years ago now Managing Partner Tim Wyman joined our team. He not only brings leadership to The Center, but he keeps our team laughing. When we asked him about hitting the 15 year mark, he called it a wonderful milestone:

Joining The Center in 1999 was clearly the best professional decision I have made. I am very grateful and thankful for what we have collectively built here at The Center for the benefit of clients and the great team that serves them. My work is extremely rewarding and important in my life and it is a true pleasure and privileged to be a member of The Center!  

Center partner Matthew Chope joined Center for Financial Planning, Inc. in 1996. Of his 18 years with The Center he says:

“It’s been like a dream career for the most part. The only thing better than these choices, as I look back, was the staff that found a home here over that time and the clients that gave us an opportunity to serve them.  I feel lucky and privileged each and every day.”

And 4 years ago, Client Service Manager Amanda Toia joined our team. Now that we have her, we can’t imagine how we ever managed without her!

“I work at the greatest firm with the greatest co-workers and clients! I have learned somuch in the last four years.”

A Message for Marilyn Gunther

Described as a steel hand in a velvet glove, Center for Financial Planning founding partner Marilyn Gunther, CFP® has officially transitioned into the retired life. But the mark she left on The Center is almost tangible. In this tribute video, team members call Marilyn professional, committed, passionate and inspirational. And Marilyn’s daughters Lisa and Karen Gunther share their perspective on growing up with a woman who was establishing what would become a nationally recognized business in a very male-dominated field.

Marilyn set an example for The Center team that we are dedicated to upholding. Her success, her impact on the financial planning community, and her trail blazing attitude continue to inspire us daily. We miss seeing Marilyn in the office, and we hear the same from her clients, but the principles she established will follow us into the future.

State of The Center: 2014

Since 1985, The Center has been a passionate advocate for the clients we serve. We take great pride in the success of our clients and are equally proud that so many clients take an interest in our firm.  In that spirit, we are excited to share some of our happenings & successes in 2014.

Growing The Center

As in the past, providing world-class service to our existing clients is priority number one.  We now serve roughly 820 individuals and families representing assets under our management of $897M as of December 31, 2014.

Moving The Center

To better serve clients and team members, we moved into larger and more collaborative space in July 2014.  Many of you have had the opportunity to visit and the feedback has been positive.  Thanks to changes in the commercial real estate market, we were able to make substantial changes to our space in a cost effective manner.  Technology has been enhanced to improve client annual review meetings and the new Center Café provides a generous space for team collaboration.

Changes at The Center

As shared last year, 2013 was a year of goodbyes as three long term team members began their retirement (fortunately we see them all….just now as clients of the firm). Our new team members stepped in, up and then some.  Associate Financial Planners Nick Defenthaler and Matt Trujillo have added a level of planning capability for clients. Office Manager Nancy Sechrist hit the ground running in a variety of areas – not the least of which was with our office move.  Additionally, several team members increased their knowledge and training to serve clients by completing the Certified Financial Planner™ program, completing securities licensing, as well as specialized training through the Sudden Money Institute. In 2014 we were fortunate to attract three valuable interns, and one of them, Nick Boguth, will be joining us midyear after graduating from the University of Michigan.

Making our Mark

The Center and our team members continue to be leaders in our communities and profession.

• Center recognized in Crain’s 2014 Cool Places to Work Award Program! To see what helped us make the cut, watch this cool video.

• Our co-founder Marilyn Gunther received the Raymond James 2014 Women of Distinction Award. The award is given to women advisors who are exceptional in both their professional and personal contributions.

• Daniel Boyce received an Honorable Mention Lifetime Achievement Award from Investment News. He was recognized for his ongoing contributions to the Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings.

• We’re not just focused on financial health at The Center. Our core value of leading healthy, balanced lives was recognized with three different awards. We were named a finalist for the 2014 Governor's Fitness Awards, the American Heart Association picked us as a Fit-Friendly Worksite for the 7th year running, and Corp! Magazine chose us as one of Michigan's Best & Brightest in Wellness.

• For the second consecutive year, The Center was recognized as one of the Detroit area’s largest money managers by Crain's list.

See a full listing of our Awards & Recognition by clicking here.

Educating our Clients

We continued our efforts to provide meaningful education in a variety of areas impacting our clients’ lives. In addition to our ongoing commitment to provide relevant, timely blogs and videos, we held sessions on Medicare & Investment Planning.

Unforgettable 2014 Moments

Many of our Center team members attended the Raymond James National Conference in Washington DC to improve their skills, engage in team building, and witness the First Annual (?) bull riding contest between Kali Hassinger & Matt Trujillo. Watch our video to see more about the best things we learned at the conference.

Melissa Cyrus became Melissa Parkins after her wedding to Kevin Parkins in October (the photos are wonderful!).

And lastly, 2014 will be remembered as the year it snowed a lot in Michigan! Perhaps that’s why we now serve clients living in 37 different states?

From all of us at Center for Financial Planning, we thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your loved ones.  We appreciate your continued confidence and trust and will work diligently each day in 2015 to provide world-class service.  Congratulations to all on a successful 2014 and here’s to 2015!

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