Today we’d like to introduce you to Alonso Rodriguez Segarra.
Hi Alonso, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From a very young age, I’ve always been fascinated by how millionaires built their fortunes. I clearly remember starting to read about the life of John Rockefeller when I was 12 years old, and I always wanted to understand how these great magnates managed to create such empires. At 14, I watched the movie Wall Street and was utterly captivated by the stock market and the possibility of investing in company shares. From then on, I knew what I wanted to study. This led me to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance and later a Master’s degree in Finance, and to work for more than 18 years at an international financial group in Wealth Management. Throughout this time, I always made an effort to read every book I could find about how wealth is created and the strategies used by millionaires. However, there was something I didn’t like about our financial industry: investment advisors were seen by many as salespeople of high-commission financial products who only sought to benefit the financial group they worked for at the client’s expense, rather than acting in the client’s best interest. During my years working at the financial group, I developed professionally in the Trust Services area, where fulfilling the fiduciary duty—always seeking what’s best for the client—became part of my DNA. This became my life’s mantra. One day, purely by chance, I attended a conference of the Financial Planning Association, almost 20 years ago, where I discovered that client finances go far beyond simply investing their money. It was really about creating a financial plan to help clients achieve their financial goals and dreams, viewing their financial world holistically. That’s when I decided I wanted to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and my life completely changed. Now my childhood dream was becoming a reality: I wanted to use all this knowledge to create value for my clients. This led me to embark on the adventure of opening my own Financial Advisory company in the USA. Having worked my entire life in a large financial group that protected me and where I was a very high-level executive, I decided to become an entrepreneur, which, of course, was terrifying because I would no longer have my bonuses and regular paychecks. My daughters were young, and I would have to move to the United States and start from scratch, without connections, without friends, and with the simple desire to offer a service that truly provided what was best for the client, and where our clients would have the certainty that we would always act to provide them with what was best for them. In the first few years, I tried various ideas, none of which worked, which led me to invest in our company every day without receiving any income. This reinforced my greatest fears, the ones that all entrepreneurs have, where we are attacked by imposter syndrome, where we wonder if we can really succeed, if we are adding enough value. This led to countless sleepless nights, during which I often felt I wouldn’t be able to do it and that I should return to the corporate world. I also realized why large financial groups charge high commissions and why very few advisors—in fact, less than 4%—choose to be Fee-Only Financial Planners, where we don’t receive commissions or incentives from third parties. This means our clients know that our advice is completely unbiased because it is not clouded by the commission we would receive for selling a financial or insurance product. Throughout this time, I always had the support of my team, my wife, and my daughters, who gave me the strength to continue even though we weren’t making any money. Today, our firm is over 8 years old, with nearly 300 clients, and I have been named one of the top 100 financial advisors in the USA for two consecutive years, once by Investopedia and again by etf.com. Most recently, I was named among the Top 100 Money Experts by GoBankingRates. I continue to pursue my passion for adding value to clients so they can achieve their financial goals, demonstrating that while this industry is like a vineyard where you start by tilling the soil, it takes a long time for the grapes to ripen. Initially, your wine looks like everyone else’s, and there are the big companies with their enormous budgets. Time passes, and your resources dwindle, and when you think you won’t make it, your clients begin to recognize the value of your product, and you grow thanks to their recommendations to friends and acquaintances.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The journey has been so complex that if you asked me if I would do it again, I would have my doubts. Of course, we all think that, in an entrepreneur’s mind, there should never be any doubt about whether we would do it again, but the reality is that it wasn’t easy at all. Being an immigrant, opening a consulting firm where you compete with the giants of the industry with a tiny budget and in a language different from your own, after having worked in the corporate world for years and being recognized as a top executive, starting over without resources in a new country was anything but easy. I always remember a cartoon that explained what it’s like to be an entrepreneur: a person starts building a small airplane, and before it’s finished, he launches it from the top of a cliff. As he falls, he has to finish building the plane while the ground rushes up at great speed, knowing that if he fails, he won’t be able to recover. But there’s also no time to lose faith, because that’s all you have. And when you’re about to crash in the worst way, you manage to get your little plane to fly and avoid crashing. But now you have to keep it flying and make it climb higher and higher, because you’re not alone in the plane; your family and your team, who have always trusted you, are with you.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Advise Financial is a financial planning firm that prides itself on being one of the few truly fee-only firms, with a fundamental focus on adding real value to our clients to transform their finances and, in turn, their lives. We are also one of the few firms that offer hourly financial planning services for those who want a portfolio review, tax optimization advice, or help building a plan to achieve their financial goals. Under this service, we work as consultants; many of our clients are do-it-yourself investors or already have a financial advisor and are seeking an unbiased second opinion. We specialize in clients who are nearing retirement or are already retired and want to implement sophisticated Roth conversion or RMD strategies. While we primarily work on a consulting basis, if the client desires, we also provide investment portfolio management services along with financial and tax planning. We believe that in addition to all these differentiating factors, our clients value the personal and attentive service we provide, knowing they will always receive timely responses from us.
What matters most to you?
I believe the most important thing for me is to add real value to my clients’ finances and allow them, and even their beneficiaries, to experience greater financial well-being. I am passionate about making these changes in my clients’ lives, knowing I have positively influenced their financial world. Since I was young, this has been my driving force: to offer a service that always seeks the best for my clients and to share our expertise to transform their lives positively, understanding that money is a tool to help them achieve their goals.
Pricing:
- Hourly Price $300
Contact Info:
- Website: https://advise-financial.com/
- Instagram: @advisefinancialusa
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/advise-financial.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdviseFinancial
- Yelp: https://yelp.com/biz/advise-financial-boca-raton-2
Image Credits
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