July 30, 2025 • 17 mins
What happens when life's hardest financial lessons become your professional mission? For Edward Jones advisor Eric Tibbs, watching his grandfather's $700,000 farm inheritance vanish through bad financial advice created a powerful purpose—ensuring others never face similar hardships.
From his first taste of Fort Myers Beach at Dog Beach after leaving the Air Force, Eric recognized something special in our community. Rather than choosing the "hoity-toity" atmosphere of Naples, he planted roots here in 2008, establishing his Edward Jones office in Santini Plaza. Following his regional leader's advice to "live where you work," Eric committed fully to island life, spending half his salary on a Lazy Way rental to become a true beach local.
Eric's approach to financial advising stands apart through his willingness to meet clients in their homes—"like an old-fashioned doc making house calls." This personal touch allows him to understand clients' lives more deeply, seeing their travel photos and family mementos while helping create strategies for what he calls "financial freedom"—having enough recurring monthly income to cover essential expenses regardless of market conditions.
Hurricane Ian forced Eric to relocate his practice to Estero's Miromar Design Center in 2023, but his beach connections remain strong. Alongside his professional work, Eric has poured himself into community service through Kiwanis Club, where he met his wife Melody and served as president during both COVID and post-hurricane recovery efforts. The club contributes $120,000-$150,000 annually to children's programs, exemplifying the giving spirit that makes our beach community special.
Drawing from personal experience with family members battling Alzheimer's, Eric emphasizes long-term care planning in his practice, noting that 70% of people over 65 will need extended care. His father's wisdom—"teach a man to fish" and "problem solvers rule the world"—continues to guide his approach to helping clients navigate retirement, healthcare, and legacy planning.
Discover how Eric's journey from building a plywood fishing boat with his dad to helping clients weather financial storms reflects the resilience and community spirit that defines Fort Myers Beach. Contact Eric at 239-463-0164 or erictibbs@edwardjones.com to learn how he might help you "finish well" financially.
Eric Tibbs from Edward Jones
10800 Corkscrew Rd Suite 304, Estero, FL 33928
(239) 463-0164
eric.tibbs@edwardjones.com
edwardjones.com
#EricTibbs
#FinancialAdvisor
#edwardjones
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
Podcast, where the sun's alwaysshining and the stories are even
brighter.
Each episode we bring youcloser to the neighbors, local
legends and beachside businessesthat make Fort Myers Beach the
slice of paradise we all love.
Pull up a beach chair, grab adrink and let's meet the people
who make this island feel likehome.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
(00:21):
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
They are the businesses that allow us to
share the soul of our WelcomeGood Neighbors to the Fort Myers
Beach Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborEric Tibbs from Edward Jones.
Welcome hey.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Jim, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, no, I appreciate you being part of
this and helping us get off theground with this and being a
sponsor.
It really is appreciated.
We got a lot of good things todo for Fort Myers Beach and I'm
happy to have you as part ofthat.
Things to do for Fort.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Myers Beach and I'm happy to have you as part of
that.
Absolutely, it's a community.
You know I moved to back in2008 and have grown to love and
so I'm glad to give and shareback Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
It's a great community and it's changing, but
changing for the better.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So let's start off first.
But why don't you share alittle bit about what you do
work-wise at Edward Jones?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So at Edward Jones I get the privilege of helping
people manage their money to getto retirement or achieve their
goals really, and make sure thatthey get to finish well really.
And you know, make sure thatthey get to finish well right.
The reason I get to do that, orthe reason I really love doing
(01:53):
that, is because, you know, inour family my grandpa retired
back in 1987 and got his firstthousand dollar pension check
from public service power inDenver, colorado.
In the same year he and hisfive brothers sold the family
farm in Iowa and they each gotabout $700,000.
And they ran into somebody inmy business that was amazing at
(02:14):
turning a dollar into a dime,and so it should have been a
tremendous family legacy turnedinto other than that.
And so my grandparents had todownsize their home.
They had to move to a smallcondo, they had to do things
that you know they shouldn'thave had to do had they had
somebody in my business who wasactually looking out for their
(02:35):
best interest.
And so my goal in life is tomake sure that nobody ever has
to go through that, and sowhoever you know I can help
finish well.
That's really what my missionis to do.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And that's great because you know so many people
work so hard and then when theyfinally get a chance to enjoy
and relax in life a little bit,they find themselves in a bad
situation which you can helpprevent, which I love.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So yeah, and I really like to focus on making sure
people are financially free, andthe way I define that is having
enough recurring income comingin every month to cover all your
base bills so that when thingslike hurricanes happen or COVID
happens or whatever happens, youhave enough money so that I
(03:21):
don't have to worry about what'sgoing on with the stock market
or any of that sort of stuff.
But every month I've got moremoney coming in than to cover my
base bills, and so we reallytry and focus in our office on
providing financial freedom toeverybody who walks through our
doors.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Perfect, perfect.
A lot of people need some helpand guidance, you know,
especially with a lot of peoplemoving down here and especially
with a lot that's gone over inthe past couple of years.
But you used to have an officeon Fort Myers Beach, right, I
did.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
So, I started that office back in 2008, 2009, down
in Santini Plaza and MrAlderette, who has since passed
away.
I met him on my first day onFort Myers Beach and wandered
into his shop at Fishtail Marinaand said, hey, I'm going to
open a business here on theisland.
(04:14):
Do you have any space for me?
And he said, no, but when I do,I will gladly let you know.
And so about three months later, in September of 2008, he said,
hey, the old florist is movingout.
I've got the corner you know onthe edge there for you.
And so you know, I was in thatcorner spot on Santini Plaza up
(04:37):
until September of 22.
And the last remaining thingthat was part of that office is
right behind me.
That's the sign that hung overmy door when we started that
office back in 2008.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That is crazy.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It is, and so I still love the people of the beach
and I'm down there about once aweek helping service clients and
meet with clients, and so it'sa wonderful privilege.
And I'm like an old-fashioneddoc Since the beginning's a
wonderful privilege.
And you know, I'm like anold-fashioned doc Since the
beginning.
I've made house calls right,and so I love meeting with
people around their dining roomtable and just really getting a
(05:13):
sense to know who they are and,you know, get to see their
pictures and the places they'vetraveled and all those sort of
fun things right, so I can helpcontinue that family legacy for
them.
So, let's back up that story alittle bit.
Why Fort Myers Beach, of allplaces?
Well, but when I transitionedout of the Air Force, I worked
(05:41):
in a small company developingchemical and explosive detection
equipment and I had a friend ofthe family that lived in Cape
Coral At the time.
I had two dogs and so I camedown to Dog Beach after I left
that and joined Edward Jones andI said, hey, where do you want
to start an office?
And I said I don't know Naples.
And I got down to Naples and itwas a little too hoity-toity
for me.
I took my dogs to Dog Beach andcame back up through Fort Myers
(06:07):
Beach.
I'm like this is a cool littleplace.
So I called my regional leaderat the time, jim Koinis, and
said hey, can I put an officeout there?
He's like I don't know, callhome office.
So I did and they gave me, youknow, said hey, choose one of
these locations.
And Santini Plaza was one ofthose locations, and I said OK.
(06:27):
And so then Jim, my regionalleader, said hey, if you're
going to live and work on anisland, you need to live on that
island.
So I rent a little place onLazy Way.
It took half of my salary atthe time, a thousand dollars a
month to rent a place on LazyWay, half of my salary at the
time, a thousand dollars a monthto rent a place on lazy way.
And we were off to the races.
(06:47):
I spent the next, you know, twoyears out knocking on people's
doors, meeting my neighbors,letting them know I was opening
an office, and from there ourbusiness has just flourished.
God has just, you know,tremendously blessed our
business.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So yeah, and you really embraced the community
and submerged yourself into thecommunity on top of that.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I did.
You know, the Little Beachcommunity is such a fantastic
close knit community and my wifeI met my wife Melody there
through Kiwanis, and so we'vebeen part of the Kiwanis Club
for a long, long time Help themfind the location that they're
at now, helped them, you know, Iwas the president of the club
(07:29):
through COVID and through thestorm I was the president of the
club and helped us get it backon our feet.
And it's amazing.
Kiwanis is like one of the, youknow, little gems of the giving
world.
You know all the Kiwanis clubsin Lee County combined to give
about a million dollars a yearback to kids in the community,
(07:51):
and so the Fort Myer BeachKiwanis is a tremendous part of
that.
And you know we were able togive about one hundred and
twenty to one hundred fiftythousand dollars a year back,
and in about three years, whenthat building is paid off, we'll
be able to almost double that.
So we're going to have thatmortgage hang overhead.
It's just tremendous, right.
And the people of the beachmake it happen because they're
(08:14):
generous donors.
They give us the furniture,they give us all this sort of
things and we turn that you knowtrash into treasure, right.
And so it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
And that's right on the corner of what?
Pine Island?
Right yeah, pine Ridge.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Pine Ridge, yep, and so it's right there on the
corner of Pine Ridge andSummerlin.
You know we're open Mondaythrough Saturday, and so what a
great group of folks, and it's,you know, almost all staffed by
volunteers right, I love it.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
See, that's what community is all about.
So obviously running a businessat the beach sounds like a
dream, right, right?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
But we all deal with storms, obviously the big one.
What's been your biggestchallenge since then?
Really, the biggest challengewas not having a location for
people to really come to, so itwas kind of like getting thrown
back to where I started in 08,where I was working out of the
trunk of my car or my house andreally meeting people.
And so we finally we searchedand searched and really wanted
(09:22):
to open another location back onthe beach, but I had to make a
business decision in 2023.
And so we opened an office overhere in the Miramar Design
Center, right off of 75 andCorkscrew in Estero.
That's where we could actuallyfind some commercial space that
would really suit us.
So we're a little bit off thebeach, but you know, I either go
(09:46):
to my beach clients or theycome to me and it's really.
You know, it's been really,really good since the storm.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
So that was my biggest challenge.
Yeah, and you've got a lot ofhistory here, so you've got a
lot of connections, so you'restill close enough, you know,
and, like you said, you get overhere quite frequently as well,
so that is great.
So, talking about business, arethere certain things that are
changing, trending, peopleshould be aware of?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Well, you know there are.
There are certain things thatare changing and trending, and
so you've got you know the riseof cryptocurrencies.
You've got you know differentways to invest those sort of
things, but the fundamentalprinciples really still hold
true of buying, holding for thelong term, letting things work
for you and then finding thingsthat really spit off good income
(10:35):
.
You can look at different formsof bonds, and down here in the
state of Florida we do a lot oftax-free bond business, which
means if you lend your money toa municipality like Fort Myers
Beach or Lee County Airport, allthe interest income you get is
tax-free, which is a tremendousthing, right?
(10:56):
You don't owe Uncle Sugar anymore money than you need to,
right?
And so we love working withthose sort of things.
Cryptocurrencies you knowthat's going to be something
that the government has justsigned some legislation on and
will continue to evolve as thosecontinue to grow bigger and you
know governments and orinstitutions put some of the
(11:19):
reserves in those currencies aswell, and so that's something
that Edward Jones is currentlyexploring.
So that's something that EdwardJones is currently exploring.
I don't know that we actuallydo that right now, but you know
the fundamentals of investinghave pretty much stayed the same
.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, buy good quality stuff and hold it and it
will do you well for a lifetime.
There we go, just got to keepup with all the changes.
So is there something that ourlisteners should know about Eric
Tibbs and Edward Jones thatmaybe they wouldn't be too aware
of?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know, one of the things that really has impacted
me and the reason I get to dowhat I do, is my dad was my
greatest mentor in life, right,and so I just remember, every
Friday night he would take meand my mom, my sis, in our
pumpkin orange BW pop top campervan, and he took us to this
(12:12):
thousand acre ranch called theBox T and he taught me two
really big lessons.
He taught me to teach AmandaFish, right, that principle.
And then problem solvers rulethe world, right.
And so one of the things thatwe do is we try and pass that on
, right.
He was kind enough as a youngboy to teach me how to go, how
(12:33):
to provide for a family and huntand fish, but he always knew
the best fishing was in themiddle of the lakes and we
didn't have a boat.
But dad found some plans fromhis dad in our garage and so we
(13:05):
built a plywood fishing boat inour garage and, man, we tooled
that thing.
And retirement, or giving alegacy, or taking care of health
care and retirement, all thosedifferent buckets we really look
at and say, ok, hey, you massthis big pile of stuff.
Now how do we use it in theright way, in the right order,
to get you to ultimately work tofinish well, right and to if
(13:25):
you want to ultimately work tofinish well, right and to if you
want to leave a tremendouslegacy for your family Right.
Because one of the biggestthings that I've dealt with in
our family is, you know,long-term care.
That's the goal, but both of mygrandparents, my grandmas, have
had Alzheimer's.
You know we're dealing withthat with another member of our
(13:47):
family right now and so tryingto help people protect from that
, because when you look atstatistics, 70 percent of people
over 65 will have a long termcare event that lasts longer
than 90 days, and so making surethat you have a good plan of
how you're going to fund that isreally another focus in our
practice, jim.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I love that because it's not just, like you
mentioned, taking care ofyourself, but it's taking care
of your loved ones as you age,you know, and people around you,
so something I definitely thinkabout.
So you live by the beach.
What do you love doing outside?
You mentioned dogs, but what doyou love doing outside of work?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So so my son Zeke and I who's now, which is kind of
crazy, it was almost 12, it'llbe 12 next in September we like
going to shore casting from, youknow, old Hickory, you know
beach.
We like, you know, just goingand spending time on the beach.
We've got a four-year-oldgranddaughter now and she likes
going.
So we get our paddle boards outand we inflate them and just go
(14:53):
around.
We just have a great time.
We enjoy the outdoors in thisbeautiful spot that God has
allowed us to live in.
So that's what we really enjoydoing.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We got to get outside and enjoy the paradise.
Like you mentioned, it's here.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Why be inside?
Get out and enjoy it.
There's plenty to see.
Even for people that have livedhere for a long time, there's
still plenty to see.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So how would our listeners go about contacting
you if they had some questionsor just wanted to learn more?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
So they could.
They could look us up onlineEdwardJonescom slash Eric Tibbs,
and then they could call ouroffice 239-463-0164.
We still have one of those oldbeach exchange telephone numbers
.
You know, when you've had itfor 17 years, you kind of stick
(15:48):
with what still works, right.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Don't give it up.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Or they can shoot me an email at erictibbs, at
edwardjonescom, right, and sowe'd be glad to help people.
However, you know we can Verygood Any last words for our
listeners today I just hope theyenjoy this, the the beautiful
beach right, I mean it's, it'stremendous right now and, um, I
hope they get out and, um, youknow it would be our privilege
(16:15):
to help, you know, serve andguide, uh, anybody who needs
help with their finances.
So I love it and the beach hasbeen great.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I've been there the last couple of weekends and the
water is the clearest I've seenit in.
A who needs help with theirfinances.
I love it and the beach hasbeen great.
I've been there the last coupleof weekends and the water is
the clearest I've seen it in along time, so get out there and
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Absolutely.
Yeah, we were out the other dayand sometimes you have the
little fish that nibble at yourankles when you're walking in
the sand man, and you see themall around you.
It's really kind of cool.
So get out and enjoy it.
Get out and enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Eric, I want to thank you again for being such a good
neighbor.
Thank you for your sponsorshipand what you're doing to help
get this off the ground andshare it with the community here
locally and we're going to haveyou on on a regular basis, so
we look forward to our nextpodcast with you.
Sounds great.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Thanks, jim, take care podcast with you Sounds
great.
Thanks, jim, take care Allright.
Thanks for tuning in to theFort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
Podcast, where community meetsparadise.
If you love what you heard,share it with a friend and keep
the good vibes going Until nexttime.
Stay sunny, stay salty and keepbeing a good neighbor.
Also, to nominate your favoriteneighbors, local legends,
heroes or island businesses tobe on the show, go to
(17:22):
CaboWaboGymcom.
That's CaboWaboGymcom.
Or call 239-427-4100.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
They are the businesses thatallow us to share the soul of
our community with everylistener, from local stories to
the positive vibe of island life.
(17:43):
Here's to celebrating all thatmakes Fort Myers.
Welcome to the Fort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
Podcast, where the sun's alwaysshining and the stories are even
brighter.
Each episode we bring youcloser to the neighbors, local
legends and beachside businessesthat make Fort Myers Beach the
slice of paradise we all love.
Pull up a beach chair, grab adrink and let's meet the people
who make this island feel likehome.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
(00:21):
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
They are the businesses that allow us to
share the soul of our WelcomeGood Neighbors to the Fort Myers
Beach Good Neighbor podcast.
Today we have Good NeighborEric Tibbs from Edward Jones.
Welcome hey.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Jim, thank you so much, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, no, I appreciate you being part of
this and helping us get off theground with this and being a
sponsor.
It really is appreciated.
We got a lot of good things todo for Fort Myers Beach and I'm
happy to have you as part ofthat.
Things to do for Fort.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Myers Beach and I'm happy to have you as part of
that.
Absolutely, it's a community.
You know I moved to back in2008 and have grown to love and
so I'm glad to give and shareback Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
It's a great community and it's changing, but
changing for the better.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
So let's start off first.
But why don't you share alittle bit about what you do
work-wise at Edward Jones?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So at Edward Jones I get the privilege of helping
people manage their money to getto retirement or achieve their
goals really, and make sure thatthey get to finish well really.
And you know, make sure thatthey get to finish well right.
The reason I get to do that, orthe reason I really love doing
(01:53):
that, is because, you know, inour family my grandpa retired
back in 1987 and got his firstthousand dollar pension check
from public service power inDenver, colorado.
In the same year he and hisfive brothers sold the family
farm in Iowa and they each gotabout $700,000.
And they ran into somebody inmy business that was amazing at
(02:14):
turning a dollar into a dime,and so it should have been a
tremendous family legacy turnedinto other than that.
And so my grandparents had todownsize their home.
They had to move to a smallcondo, they had to do things
that you know they shouldn'thave had to do had they had
somebody in my business who wasactually looking out for their
(02:35):
best interest.
And so my goal in life is tomake sure that nobody ever has
to go through that, and sowhoever you know I can help
finish well.
That's really what my missionis to do.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And that's great because you know so many people
work so hard and then when theyfinally get a chance to enjoy
and relax in life a little bit,they find themselves in a bad
situation which you can helpprevent, which I love.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
So yeah, and I really like to focus on making sure
people are financially free, andthe way I define that is having
enough recurring income comingin every month to cover all your
base bills so that when thingslike hurricanes happen or COVID
happens or whatever happens, youhave enough money so that I
(03:21):
don't have to worry about what'sgoing on with the stock market
or any of that sort of stuff.
But every month I've got moremoney coming in than to cover my
base bills, and so we reallytry and focus in our office on
providing financial freedom toeverybody who walks through our
doors.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Perfect, perfect.
A lot of people need some helpand guidance, you know,
especially with a lot of peoplemoving down here and especially
with a lot that's gone over inthe past couple of years.
But you used to have an officeon Fort Myers Beach, right, I
did.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
So, I started that office back in 2008, 2009, down
in Santini Plaza and MrAlderette, who has since passed
away.
I met him on my first day onFort Myers Beach and wandered
into his shop at Fishtail Marinaand said, hey, I'm going to
open a business here on theisland.
(04:14):
Do you have any space for me?
And he said, no, but when I do,I will gladly let you know.
And so about three months later, in September of 2008, he said,
hey, the old florist is movingout.
I've got the corner you know onthe edge there for you.
And so you know, I was in thatcorner spot on Santini Plaza up
(04:37):
until September of 22.
And the last remaining thingthat was part of that office is
right behind me.
That's the sign that hung overmy door when we started that
office back in 2008.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That is crazy.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
It is, and so I still love the people of the beach
and I'm down there about once aweek helping service clients and
meet with clients, and so it'sa wonderful privilege.
And I'm like an old-fashioneddoc Since the beginning's a
wonderful privilege.
And you know, I'm like anold-fashioned doc Since the
beginning.
I've made house calls right,and so I love meeting with
people around their dining roomtable and just really getting a
(05:13):
sense to know who they are and,you know, get to see their
pictures and the places they'vetraveled and all those sort of
fun things right, so I can helpcontinue that family legacy for
them.
So, let's back up that story alittle bit.
Why Fort Myers Beach, of allplaces?
Well, but when I transitionedout of the Air Force, I worked
(05:41):
in a small company developingchemical and explosive detection
equipment and I had a friend ofthe family that lived in Cape
Coral At the time.
I had two dogs and so I camedown to Dog Beach after I left
that and joined Edward Jones andI said, hey, where do you want
to start an office?
And I said I don't know Naples.
And I got down to Naples and itwas a little too hoity-toity
for me.
I took my dogs to Dog Beach andcame back up through Fort Myers
(06:07):
Beach.
I'm like this is a cool littleplace.
So I called my regional leaderat the time, jim Koinis, and
said hey, can I put an officeout there?
He's like I don't know, callhome office.
So I did and they gave me, youknow, said hey, choose one of
these locations.
And Santini Plaza was one ofthose locations, and I said OK.
(06:27):
And so then Jim, my regionalleader, said hey, if you're
going to live and work on anisland, you need to live on that
island.
So I rent a little place onLazy Way.
It took half of my salary atthe time, a thousand dollars a
month to rent a place on LazyWay, half of my salary at the
time, a thousand dollars a monthto rent a place on lazy way.
And we were off to the races.
(06:47):
I spent the next, you know, twoyears out knocking on people's
doors, meeting my neighbors,letting them know I was opening
an office, and from there ourbusiness has just flourished.
God has just, you know,tremendously blessed our
business.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So yeah, and you really embraced the community
and submerged yourself into thecommunity on top of that.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
I did.
You know, the Little Beachcommunity is such a fantastic
close knit community and my wifeI met my wife Melody there
through Kiwanis, and so we'vebeen part of the Kiwanis Club
for a long, long time Help themfind the location that they're
at now, helped them, you know, Iwas the president of the club
(07:29):
through COVID and through thestorm I was the president of the
club and helped us get it backon our feet.
And it's amazing.
Kiwanis is like one of the, youknow, little gems of the giving
world.
You know all the Kiwanis clubsin Lee County combined to give
about a million dollars a yearback to kids in the community,
(07:51):
and so the Fort Myer BeachKiwanis is a tremendous part of
that.
And you know we were able togive about one hundred and
twenty to one hundred fiftythousand dollars a year back,
and in about three years, whenthat building is paid off, we'll
be able to almost double that.
So we're going to have thatmortgage hang overhead.
It's just tremendous, right.
And the people of the beachmake it happen because they're
(08:14):
generous donors.
They give us the furniture,they give us all this sort of
things and we turn that you knowtrash into treasure, right.
And so it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
And that's right on the corner of what?
Pine Island?
Right yeah, pine Ridge.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
Pine Ridge, yep, and so it's right there on the
corner of Pine Ridge andSummerlin.
You know we're open Mondaythrough Saturday, and so what a
great group of folks, and it's,you know, almost all staffed by
volunteers right, I love it.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
See, that's what community is all about.
So obviously running a businessat the beach sounds like a
dream, right, right?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
But we all deal with storms, obviously the big one.
What's been your biggestchallenge since then?
Really, the biggest challengewas not having a location for
people to really come to, so itwas kind of like getting thrown
back to where I started in 08,where I was working out of the
trunk of my car or my house andreally meeting people.
And so we finally we searchedand searched and really wanted
(09:22):
to open another location back onthe beach, but I had to make a
business decision in 2023.
And so we opened an office overhere in the Miramar Design
Center, right off of 75 andCorkscrew in Estero.
That's where we could actuallyfind some commercial space that
would really suit us.
So we're a little bit off thebeach, but you know, I either go
(09:46):
to my beach clients or theycome to me and it's really.
You know, it's been really,really good since the storm.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
So that was my biggest challenge.
Yeah, and you've got a lot ofhistory here, so you've got a
lot of connections, so you'restill close enough, you know,
and, like you said, you get overhere quite frequently as well,
so that is great.
So, talking about business, arethere certain things that are
changing, trending, peopleshould be aware of?
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Well, you know there are.
There are certain things thatare changing and trending, and
so you've got you know the riseof cryptocurrencies.
You've got you know differentways to invest those sort of
things, but the fundamentalprinciples really still hold
true of buying, holding for thelong term, letting things work
for you and then finding thingsthat really spit off good income
(10:35):
.
You can look at different formsof bonds, and down here in the
state of Florida we do a lot oftax-free bond business, which
means if you lend your money toa municipality like Fort Myers
Beach or Lee County Airport, allthe interest income you get is
tax-free, which is a tremendousthing, right?
(10:56):
You don't owe Uncle Sugar anymore money than you need to,
right?
And so we love working withthose sort of things.
Cryptocurrencies you knowthat's going to be something
that the government has justsigned some legislation on and
will continue to evolve as thosecontinue to grow bigger and you
know governments and orinstitutions put some of the
(11:19):
reserves in those currencies aswell, and so that's something
that Edward Jones is currentlyexploring.
So that's something that EdwardJones is currently exploring.
I don't know that we actuallydo that right now, but you know
the fundamentals of investinghave pretty much stayed the same
.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
You know, buy good quality stuff and hold it and it
will do you well for a lifetime.
There we go, just got to keepup with all the changes.
So is there something that ourlisteners should know about Eric
Tibbs and Edward Jones thatmaybe they wouldn't be too aware
of?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
You know, one of the things that really has impacted
me and the reason I get to dowhat I do, is my dad was my
greatest mentor in life, right,and so I just remember, every
Friday night he would take meand my mom, my sis, in our
pumpkin orange BW pop top campervan, and he took us to this
(12:12):
thousand acre ranch called theBox T and he taught me two
really big lessons.
He taught me to teach AmandaFish, right, that principle.
And then problem solvers rulethe world, right.
And so one of the things thatwe do is we try and pass that on
, right.
He was kind enough as a youngboy to teach me how to go, how
(12:33):
to provide for a family and huntand fish, but he always knew
the best fishing was in themiddle of the lakes and we
didn't have a boat.
But dad found some plans fromhis dad in our garage and so we
(13:05):
built a plywood fishing boat inour garage and, man, we tooled
that thing.
And retirement, or giving alegacy, or taking care of health
care and retirement, all thosedifferent buckets we really look
at and say, ok, hey, you massthis big pile of stuff.
Now how do we use it in theright way, in the right order,
to get you to ultimately work tofinish well, right and to if
(13:25):
you want to ultimately work tofinish well, right and to if you
want to leave a tremendouslegacy for your family Right.
Because one of the biggestthings that I've dealt with in
our family is, you know,long-term care.
That's the goal, but both of mygrandparents, my grandmas, have
had Alzheimer's.
You know we're dealing withthat with another member of our
(13:47):
family right now and so tryingto help people protect from that
, because when you look atstatistics, 70 percent of people
over 65 will have a long termcare event that lasts longer
than 90 days, and so making surethat you have a good plan of
how you're going to fund that isreally another focus in our
practice, jim.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
I love that because it's not just, like you
mentioned, taking care ofyourself, but it's taking care
of your loved ones as you age,you know, and people around you,
so something I definitely thinkabout.
So you live by the beach.
What do you love doing outside?
You mentioned dogs, but what doyou love doing outside of work?
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So so my son Zeke and I who's now, which is kind of
crazy, it was almost 12, it'llbe 12 next in September we like
going to shore casting from, youknow, old Hickory, you know
beach.
We like, you know, just goingand spending time on the beach.
We've got a four-year-oldgranddaughter now and she likes
going.
So we get our paddle boards outand we inflate them and just go
(14:53):
around.
We just have a great time.
We enjoy the outdoors in thisbeautiful spot that God has
allowed us to live in.
So that's what we really enjoydoing.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
We got to get outside and enjoy the paradise.
Like you mentioned, it's here.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Why be inside?
Get out and enjoy it.
There's plenty to see.
Even for people that have livedhere for a long time, there's
still plenty to see.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So how would our listeners go about contacting
you if they had some questionsor just wanted to learn more?
Speaker 3 (15:27):
So they could.
They could look us up onlineEdwardJonescom slash Eric Tibbs,
and then they could call ouroffice 239-463-0164.
We still have one of those oldbeach exchange telephone numbers
.
You know, when you've had itfor 17 years, you kind of stick
(15:48):
with what still works, right.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Don't give it up.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Or they can shoot me an email at erictibbs, at
edwardjonescom, right, and sowe'd be glad to help people.
However, you know we can Verygood Any last words for our
listeners today I just hope theyenjoy this, the the beautiful
beach right, I mean it's, it'stremendous right now and, um, I
hope they get out and, um, youknow it would be our privilege
(16:15):
to help, you know, serve andguide, uh, anybody who needs
help with their finances.
So I love it and the beach hasbeen great.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I've been there the last couple of weekends and the
water is the clearest I've seenit in.
A who needs help with theirfinances.
I love it and the beach hasbeen great.
I've been there the last coupleof weekends and the water is
the clearest I've seen it in along time, so get out there and
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Absolutely.
Yeah, we were out the other dayand sometimes you have the
little fish that nibble at yourankles when you're walking in
the sand man, and you see themall around you.
It's really kind of cool.
So get out and enjoy it.
Get out and enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Eric, I want to thank you again for being such a good
neighbor.
Thank you for your sponsorshipand what you're doing to help
get this off the ground andshare it with the community here
locally and we're going to haveyou on on a regular basis, so
we look forward to our nextpodcast with you.
Sounds great.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Thanks, jim, take care podcast with you Sounds
great.
Thanks, jim, take care Allright.
Thanks for tuning in to theFort Myers Beach Good Neighbor
Podcast, where community meetsparadise.
If you love what you heard,share it with a friend and keep
the good vibes going Until nexttime.
Stay sunny, stay salty and keepbeing a good neighbor.
Also, to nominate your favoriteneighbors, local legends,
heroes or island businesses tobe on the show, go to
(17:22):
CaboWaboGymcom.
That's CaboWaboGymcom.
Or call 239-427-4100.
We want to send out some islandlove to Eric Tibbs from Edward
Jones State Insurance USA andHome Well Care Services Fort
Myers.
They are the businesses thatallow us to share the soul of
our community with everylistener, from local stories to
the positive vibe of island life.
(17:43):
Here's to celebrating all thatmakes Fort Myers.
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