Can you tell us about your background and how you came to work at Milestone?

I joined Milestone at the end of 2021 when my practice, Mosaic Financial Advisors, was purchased. At the time, I was looking toward retirement and wanted to find a good home for all my clients. I had known Jennifer Climo and Jean Fullerton for many years, as they are both long-term friends and colleagues of mine. We’d maintained a very strong relationship over the years, and our practices had a lot of common ground in terms of practices and our approach to financial planning. It was an easy decision to join Milestone and assure my clients that they’d be in excellent hands with the move. 

What sparked your transition from running a CPA practice to becoming a CFP?

I started my career as a CPA at Price Waterhouse after getting my MBA. I worked there for a number of years, got my experience, then went to work for a client in the tech industry that was a startup. I worked as VP Finance for four years, during which time the company grew very substantially and went public. When we started a family, that job was up to 80 to 90 hours a week and was crazy busy. I decided to leave and go out on my own to start my own business. After I had my first child, I did part-time CFO (chief financial officer) work for a handful of startup companies. I also went back to school at Bentley University for a master’s in taxation; I knew I needed more tax expertise if I was going to be out on my own. I especially loved the course I took on the taxation of trusts and estates and one on personal financial planning. I knew I wanted to take these further, but I couldn’t find a suitable program. By then I had two little kids, so I just continued with part-time CFO work. It was lucrative, and it was flexible. Eventually, I heard that Bentley had started a master’s in financial planning. The kids were in school, I was getting kind of bored with the CFO work, and I was in a place where I felt I could commit to another degree program. I found I really enjoyed the course content and decided to transition my business from consulting with startup companies to financial planning for individuals.  

What were the biggest challenges you faced in this career change?

This was a very difficult transition at first. From compliance work to technology issues, it was a very comprehensive effort to get started. Obviously, it was also a shift to work with individuals rather than corporations and to find clients. I had the very good fortune early on of connecting with another member of NAFPA (National Association of Personal Financial Advisors) — Barbara Murdock — who was looking to retire. Barbara had a small practice with wonderful individuals and families as clients, quite a few of whom are still with us at Milestone today. The two of us formed Mosaic Financial Advisors, LLC. Barbara gradually retired over the next couple of years, and I grew the practice to about 50 client families.  I stopped taking on new clients at that point because, as a sole practitioner, I needed to be careful about spreading myself too thin.  I operated Mosaic from 2007 to 2022, when I joined Milestone. 

After all those years of growing your own practice, what’s been your favorite thing about now being at Milestone?

It’s definitely the team aspect and getting to work with such great professionals. I enjoyed working solo, but now I am nearing the end of my career. I really enjoy working with a team as well as participating in team training. To have a team where you can toss ideas out to get other people’s points of view and other ideas is always really helpful. Overall, I just really enjoy being able to be working with other people again. 

What will you miss most about your work, but what are you most looking forward to in your retirement?

That’s a good question and one that I’ve thought about quite a bit. I have worked all my life doing what I love, so I will definitely miss the work. That said, I’m still going to be doing it for my family accounts, so I’ll still be able to dabble in it. Most of all, I will miss interacting with my colleagues on a regular basis. And I’ll miss my clients. Oh, my gosh, my clients have been like extended family to me for so many years, and I’ll miss hearing the stories of how their lives develop. That has been very key to me throughout my career. I still hear from them from time to time, which is nice, but I will miss the daily interactions a lot. I will enjoy, of course, being with my grandchildren and the rest of my family and having more time to swim, be outdoors, and do the things that I love to do.  

What advice would you give to individuals considering seeking financial advice for the first time who might be nervous or hesitant to do so?

In my experience, a lot of people who’ve never worked with a financial advisor tend to approach the first meeting or the phone call with some trepidation. It’s not at all uncommon for people to be concerned about what the advisor will think about them, about what they have or haven’t done with their finances over the years. There can be anxiety about what the advisor might push them to do, especially with investing. A lot of people have complicated relationships with money born of values obtained in childhood or through their life experience. It can be a major stressor for them, and we respect that. Beyond the technical side, where we have enormous depth of knowledge, we understand how important a person’s goals and values are to their plan. At Milestone, we want people to feel like their plan is aimed at creating a sense of security, where people can meet their personal goals in a way that feels comfortable to them. 

What value do you believe Milestone adds that makes us worth it to clients?

Investment management is just part of what we do here at Milestone. I like to say that we act as the quarterback for your financial situation, helping with retirement planning, tax planning, education planning, insurance planning, and more. We also coordinate with other professionals in your life so that your planning is implemented properly. For example, we offer to attend meetings with you and your estate planning attorney. Out of that meeting, you might have a recommendation to do something to implement the plan, and the lawyer gives you the stuff and says, “Go do this.” Most people do not have the time or knowledge to do this on their own, so it can end up languishing, and then the estate plan isn’t implemented. We work closely with clients and their attorneys on the implementation. 

The same goes for the insurance side; we work with you and your insurance agent to make sure you investigate or acquire the appropriate insurance for your circumstances. I believe the all-encompassing approach to planning makes Milestone well worth it to our clients.  

Another critical part of our services is integrated tax planning throughout the year, working closely with your tax preparer to make sure you understand the tax consequences of your planning decisions. 

Are there any final thoughts you want to share with our audience?

I want to emphasize the team approach here at Milestone. It is a true team operation. Instead of having individual silos where advisors are competing with one another, we have a culture where team members can jump in and help whenever needed. We make sure that everyone is able to reach their true potential here. The client focus is primary, but everyone has to be in a good place with their job to keep that important focus.  

Kathy is an important part of the Milestone team, and we’re thankful to have her with us! Our team is committed to assisting clients in achieving their financial objectives while building personal connections.  If you need help with tax or retirement planning, please don’t hesitate to contact our team.