Loren Merkle is a man of many questions and has always found the challenge of finding the answers rewarding. With his years of experience and knowledge of financial services and financial planning management, Merkle has made a fulfilling career out of answering those questions for others.
Loren Merkle, CFP®, CFF, and founder of Merkle Retirement Planning, speaks about his journey from a library to managing a major firm that helps people have a well-deserved and comfortable life after work.
Listen to the full interview of Loren Merkle with Adam Torres on Mission Matters.
A Success Story that Starts in a Library
Coming from a middle-class background, Loren always found the concept of money elusive and mysterious. Starting with basic financial lessons, he chalked out a career in financial services and management.
However, the journey has not been a simple one. Loren talks about his time in college when he and his friend would discuss financial concepts like mutual funds endlessly and the days and nights he spent poring over books in the college library, trying to understand everything to do with money - how to get it, grow it, and keep it.
A Commitment to Learning
Straight out of college in 1998, Loren went to work for a small regional broker-dealer firm in the Midwest, where he began to understand the industry and what it takes to be a successful financial planner. He studied and earned the much-coveted Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Certified Financial Fiduciary (CFF) designations.
“These are important for two main reasons. One is that they represent a commitment from me to my clients. And secondly, it shows that I'm going to continuously learn about this industry,” says Loren. "The Certified Financial Planning designation helps me explain to my clients the types of decisions that one has to make at a certain stage in life."
His CFF designation has become a buzzword over the last couple of years, but Loren excelled with it. “There are two different ways an advisor can work in this industry. One is through a suitability way, and one is through the fiduciary way, which is what I do. In the first way, the advisor is not legally bound to pursue the client’s best interests, unlike the fiduciary way, which is more stringent,” explains Loren.
Loren also talks in detail about different types of planning, specifically accumulation planning and retirement planning. Accumulation planning is about the financial activities earlier in life. Loren’s focus is more about retirement planning, where he helps people with a host of decisions to plan their finances.
Merkle's retirement planning primarily focuses on people ten years out from retirement and the unique challenges they face. This allows special planning considerations to the retirees, such as the social security decisions one has to make at this stage, the long-term medical care one needs beyond the age of 65, incorporating an effective tax plan, and more.
Along with heading Merkle Retirement Planning, Loren also educates through his TV show, YouTube channel, and podcast.
About
Loren Merkle is the founder of Merkle Retirement Planning, an independent financial services firm helping people create written retirement plans using a variety of investments and insurance products to custom suit their needs and objectives. With so many financial decisions to make about retirement, Merkle Retirement Planning believes in being proactive and is invested in providing you with their time-tested Merkle Retirement Method.
You can learn more about them at Merkleplan.com and schedule a complimentary call today.
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