Member of the Month - A Focus on Faith and Family

An Interview with NEB Member Ron Roberts

Ron Roberts, President of Roberts Retirement Group and an NEB member since 2003, believes that success in financial services depends on having the right foundation; his foundation rests on two bedrock elements: faith and family.

The Jackson, California-based estate planner has built his entire firm upon those values. In return, he has seen an unanticipated benefit: He’s been able to attract clients with similar values, who have no interest in ethically questionable strategies or products. “It’s just not worth going into shady areas,” he says.

“We attract family-oriented clients and people with religious convictions,” Roberts adds. “They believe in giving of their time and money, instead of always taking. I really try to avoid working with day traders and other aggressive individuals. I simply don’t want to work with them.”

In addition to faith and family, Roberts also focuses on the needs of his 750 strong pre-retiree and retiree client base. He and his staff help clients plan their estates in order to eliminate or reduce estate taxes. They also do a lot of charitable planning work, helping clients fulfill their philanthropic passions, while saving taxes.

Not surprisingly retirement planning is key for Roberts, especially tax strategies involving stretch IRAs and multigenerational planning. Finally, the firm does a lot of real estate work, helping clients use tax strategies to eliminate capital gain taxes through Section 1031 exchanges and charitable remainder trusts.

A constant theme in Roberts’ client work is effective tax planning. “We review tax returns in order to find strategies for reducing taxes. For example, clients with taxable financial instruments who aren’t using them for income can quickly benefit by converting them to tax-favored products such as life insurance and annuities,” Roberts says.

He also focuses on helping his clients avoid probate and increasing their income and avoiding Medi-Cal spend-down if they need long-term care.

“By zeroing in on our clients’ tax returns, we can really add value quickly,” Roberts notes. “And once our clients trust us with their safe money, we can talk to them about their taxable money.”

Roberts has a way of making technical strategies like these sound simple. In part, that’s because he’s paid his dues with years of hard work, study, and perseverance. But a strong technical bent comes wrapped with a passion for entrepreneurship. As a kid, he delivered newspapers and worked on farms in Littlerock, California, including his family’s fruit farm. By the time he was in high school, he was running his own commercial greenhouse, selling annual and perennial flowers and fruit and shade trees to community members.

After he married his wife, Julie, the couple operated a retail telephone business. They later closed the business, and Roberts joined a friend in a local group insurance agency.  A couple years of selling health, dental, life, and cafeteria plans paved the way to a transition into the estate planning business with the Sacramento Beneficial Life agency. When his Beneficial mentor, Wade Brown, left the agency to start his own firm, Roberts left with him. When Brown retired a few years later, Ron hung his own shingle.

Fast-forward six years to today. Roberts has grown his practice substantially. He credits the help of every single mentor he’s had over the years:  Wade Brown of Beneficial Life, Matthew Rettick of Covenant Reliance Producers, Norm Trainer of The Covenant Group, and his current coach Bill Johnson.

But he also credits membership in the National Ethics Bureau as a key factor in his success. Roberts always encourages his prospects to verify his background by calling NEB or visiting its web site. “Just like they should check out their building contractor with their state licensing agency, they should also check out their financial advisors with NEB,” Roberts says.

How are you maximizing your NEB membership to grow your business? Would you like to be featured in our newsletter? The National Ethics Bureau welcomes your input. Send your comments to: hlew@ethicscheck.com