Member of the Month - Once a Teacher, Always a Teacher

After David M. Boike, Chartered Financial Consultant, of Retirement Resources in Flint, Michigan, graduated from college, he became a business education teacher and coach. Today, some 30 years later, he’s still educating and coaching. But this time his audience isn’t high school students. It’s pre-retirees and retirees in the Genesee County area. “I see financial services as another teaching ministry for me,” he says. “I teach people to become better stewards of their money, to save money on taxes, and to protect their assets.”

Fortunately for Boike, there’s no shortage of demand for his knowledge. He finds there’s a tremendous amount of misinformation in the marketplace that not only confuses retirees, but also jeopardizes their retirement security. “People come into our office all the time not knowing what they’re paying in fees. They tell me their prior advisor said their
401(k) or variable annuity doesn’t have any fees or charges,” Boike says. “But then you pull out the prospectus and there are the fees and charges.

“So this is something we spend a lot of time on,” Boike says. “We explain how all of the products work and how the advisor and company get compensated.”

Explaning Risk

Risk is another area of misinformation. “I don’t think advisors are adequately explaining risk,” adds Boike. “We see retirees who are losing money because they thought their money was in safe investments. But it wasn’t.”

“It’s not wrong to pay fees or to have risk,” adds Boike, “But it has to be right for the client and the client has to understand the fees and risks involved.”

Boike is the perfect individual to explain these matters. He’s been in the business for 27 years, starting out with a major life insurance company in 1980, and then going independent two years later. He’s highly credentialed, holding the CLU, ChFC, and RFC designations, as well as being a Registered Representative. And he has a knack for explaining arcane financial concepts in easy-to understand language, a talent showcased in the book he co-authored, “21st Century Wealth.”

What’s more, Boike has a credible platform for educating the public: his “Money Mistakes Retirees Can’t Afford to Make in 2008” seminar. “We speak at senior citizen groups and at churches about six times a month,” Boike says. “We get a lot of the same questions over and over again. There’s so much misinformation out there.”

After attending one of his seminars, potential clients have the opportunity to meet with Boike to discuss their financial issues. Boike and his team provide a wide range of planning services to address estate, tax, health, investment, and retirement issues. He also does comprehensive family financial planning.

Assisting Boike are his two sons: DJ and Jake, both of whom are registered financial consultants, as well as his wife, Cherie, who serves as office manager, his office assistant, Bethany Baldwin, and his secretary, Sandy Arndt.  In addition to having an in-house tax preparer, Retirement Resources also has an elder law attorney who works out their office for wills, trusts, and related matters.

Ethical Commitment

Along with his passion for educating clients, Boike brings a commitment to ethics and integrity in every aspect of his business. “We believe in the Biblical principles,” Boike explains. “These would have you treat people the right way . . . to be honest, trustworthy, responsible, and credible at all times.

“It’s not harder to be ethical today,” Boike adds. “You just have to make a conscious choice every day to be ethical. Every morning I remind myself of that.”

But Boike acknowledges that something has changed since he got into the business nearly three decades ago. “I think professional standards have slipped badly,” he says. “Things that advisors wouldn’t have done 20 years ago, they go ahead and do today. They just don’t think it’s unethical. Unfortunately, there are a lot of folks whose standards just aren’t as high as they used to be.”

But there is a bright spot: the National Ethics Bureau (NEB). Boike says NEB is a great tool for the public to identify advisors with high standards. “We encourage all of our clients to go to NEB’s web site or to call them,” he says. “NEB membership is a powerful thing to be able to share with clients. That’s why in every meeting with new clients, I go over the NEB Client Brochure and make sure they know how to check us out.”

But that’s David Boike for you. Once a teacher, always a teacher.

Is your commitment to ethics and excellence noteworthy? And are you maximizing your NEB membership to grow your business? If you would like to be featured in our newsletter, click here. The National Ethics Bureau welcomes your input. Send your comments to: hlew@ethicscheck.com