Center Team Volunteers for South Oakland Lunch Program (10 years and counting….)

On Saturday, November 13^th The Center team gathered inside Genesis the Church (formerly 1^st Baptist Church of Royal Oak) kitchen ready to give back to the many less fortunate folks within our community.

In support of the Saturday Community Lunch Program, now in its 16^th year, the Center volunteered to prepare and serve a warm meal for 60 to 80 very eager patrons. These individuals are suffering severe financial hardships, elderly and homeless members of our community. Often this is the only hot nutritious meal they receive all week - ALL are in-need and no one is turned away!& To find out more about the Saturday Community Lunch Program or to volunteer, please click here to visit their Facebook page.

The Center team has served the Community Lunch Program at least annually for over 10 years. A special thanks to Jen Hackmann, who is the Center’s point person for this event each year.

Thanks also go out to our 2010 volunteers: Sandy Adams, Faith Adams, Matt Chope, Gregg Bloomfield, Jen Hackmann, Jaclyn Jackson, Arnold Levin, Marilynn Levin, Gerri Harmer, Corinne Parker, Dale Parker, Angela Palacios, Marilyn Gunther, Jennie Bauder and Troy Wyman.

Center Sponsored Education Event A Resounding Success for Seniors!!

Center for Financial Planning recently conducted 3 educational session aimed at helping our senior clients and friends navigate the many Medicare health insurance and prescription drug plans available today. Center planner, Sandy Adams, led a morning, afternoon, and evening session attended by over 100 curious and confused Medicare participants. Our guest speaker, Nat Towle, provide an hour of very informative and timely material that helped to reinforce or influence the health insurance decisions made by Medicare participants each and every year.

As Healthcare, and thus Medicare, costs continue to rise, studies estimate that a retired couple aged 65 will need over $240,000 to cover healthcare costs during their lifetimes. Thousands of seniors overpay for prescription drug plans, with millions overspent in Michigan alone.

It may be difficult to find a silver lining amongst all this news but thankfully some uplifting stories have emerged from all our efforts. Sandy Adams shares a recent client success story resulting from the workshop, "My client “Ann” called recently. Ann had attended one of the three Medicare sessions and had just finished a one-one-consultation with our presenter Nat Towle. Through tears of joy, Ann was calling to let us know that this was “the best thing you’ve ever done!” Nat helped Ann to analyze her Medicare choices and save over $200 a month in Medicare prescription costs. This is life-changing for Ann!"

We sometimes take for granted the impact these savings may have on our lives. Whether or not cost savings are available for all, one thing is for certain, plans are changing or are being eliminated on an ongoing basis. It is more important than ever to take advantage of the annual Medicare open enrollment period, which ends December 31^st for 2010. For more information, visit www.medicare.gov to review the many options available to you.

Don’t let the Medicare system frustrate you. If you feel that you, or someone you know, could benefit from the Center’s knowledge and resources in this area, please call or email Sandy Adams for additional information or to arrange an individual consultation with presenter Nat Towle.

The Center's Health and Wellness Committee Receives Community Innovation Award!

The Center is proud to announce that we reached our Health and Wellness group goal of achieving the Platinum Level Award with the American Heart Association.  We also received the Community Innovation Award for our “Souper Thursdays” program from over 70 companies that applied for this round.

The Community Innovation award is only given to one company each round. This award was achieved through healthy eating at lunchtime, team building through group participation, and charitable orientation by collecting a donation for “soup” which was disbursed to selected charities.

Special thanks to Gerri Harmer! We could not have achieved such heights without her leadership and motivation!

Matt attends 2010 FPA National Conference in Denver, Colorado.

Matt Chope recently attended the 2010 FPA National Conference in Denver, Colorado. As a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Matt and Center planners are dedicated to sharing ideas, knowledge and support within our financial planning profession. The Financial Planning Association is one of the largest, most active, and most sophisticated financial advisor groups in the country with over 24,000 members and over 100 active local chapters. Click here to find out more about the Financial Planning Association®

Over the years , Matt has attended dozens of similar conferences and retreats with the intention of cultivating the best practices within our industry. Topics range from technology and practice enhancements to exploring new portfolio building techniques; the common theme being to improve our client's overall financial planning and investment experience.

Matt shares, "In all, it was a great conference and I was able to bring some best practices back to share with our Center team. We are implementing some of those ideas and continue to strive to enhance The Center experience. While we realize we will never be perfect, especially in this profession where so much is uncertain we will continually to work toward one of our firm values which is our passion for excellence."

Sandra Adams re-elected as President for FPA of MI!

The Center is proud to announce Sandy Adams, CFP(r) will serve a second term as President of the FPA of Michigan. This a very special honor and illustrates Sandy's commitment to serving the financial planning industry and her clients.

The Financial Planning Association of Michigan (FPA MI) is an organization of financial planning practitioners and allied professionals throughout the State of Michigan sharing ideas, knowledge and support.

Click here to read Sandy's President's Message