After working in corporate finance, investment marketing, and insurance planning, Pam Pearson, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, realized there was a big gap in people’s financial lives that no one was confronting. In 1986, she founded her firm to address it.

 

By 1986, the pace and complexity of the financial markets had accelerated dramatically, making saving and investing more complicated than ever. Gone were the days when a household only needed an accountant, an attorney, and an insurance and stock broker to build their nest egg. Each of these disciplines had become increasingly complicated due to a wide array of new products, regulatory changes, and the ever-evolving tax code.

 

Pam saw people struggling to navigate the changing world of money. She watched as some people she knew succeeded, almost by accident, while others failed, often with the very best intentions. Pam knew there had to be a better way and she found it in a famous study by Harvard University Professor, Dr. Edward Banfield.

 

Banfield wanted to know why some people became financially independent while others didn’t. The answer didn’t lie in what he’d suspected (family background, wealth, intelligence, or education) but rather a simple “attitude” that he called the “long-term perspective.” The solution was goal setting. If you start each day with a goal of what you want to achieve in the future, you’re more likely not to be disturbed by the inevitable short-term bumps in the road. If you stick to a plan it helps you get where you’re going. 

 

In Pam Pearson’s view, financial planning ends up being just that hard - and just that simple.