September 29, 2025 • 29 mins
What if your money was managed by people who see you at the Saturday game and care enough to call before the storm hits? We sit down with Christine Cox-West and Christopher Kenneally of Christopher Edwards Financial Associates to explore how true independence, fiduciary duty, and a rules-based, active process can reshape outcomes—especially when markets get loud and confusing.
The conversation starts with a rare origin story: lifelong friendships that became a firm, forged by a decision to go independent right before the 2008 crisis. That timing shaped everything. Chris breaks down their research-driven approach—outsourced analytics distilled by an in-house head of research—to tilt toward favorable asset classes and reduce downside in rough markets. No product quotas. No captive list. Just a clear mandate to protect capital, compound steadily, and avoid the “ride it out” trap that punishes investors nearing retirement. Christine brings a human lens, showing how full-spectrum planning—marrying insurance with investments, coordinating with tax pros and attorneys—turns confusion into clarity. From smart RMD guidance that relieved a retiree overnight to business-owner strategies that align entity structure, tax efficiency, and estate goals, the focus stays on real lives, not hype.
Across the episode, you’ll hear practical insights on active portfolio management, risk mitigation, and advanced planning that reduces taxes legally and transparently. You’ll also hear what makes a local, multigenerational practice durable: follow-through, straight talk, and an obsession with client peace of mind. If you’ve wondered whether an independent fiduciary, open-architecture model can both capture growth and soften drawdowns, this is your roadmap—crafted by neighbors who measure success in outcomes and trust, not headlines.
Subscribe for more conversations with leaders who put people first, share this with a friend who needs a calmer plan, and leave a review to help more neighbors find us.
Christopher Kenneally & Christine Cox-West
Christopher Edwards Financial Associates
Colts Neck Address
Colts Neck, NJ
9 Professional Circle, Suite 204
Colts Neck, NJ 07722
Office: (732)409-2644
Fax: (732)409-6731
Westwood Address
Westwood, NJ
345 Kinderkamack Road, Suite B, Westwood, NJ 07675
Office: (201) 383-0630
Fax: (201) 383-0633
christopheredwardsfinancial.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 00 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 04 (00:11):
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcast,brought to you by the Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
I am your host, Doug Drohan.
Today we have a very, very cooluh discussion and guests on the
show from Christopher EdwardsFinancial Associates.
Please welcome to the showChristine Cox- West and her
colleague, who's our star of uhof Northern Valley Living this
(00:33):
month.
And it's Christopher Kenneally.
Uh, welcome, guys, to the show,or ladies and guys.
Uh, welcome to the show.
Speaker 01 (00:39):
Thank you for having us, Doug.
Speaker 04 (00:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you know, ChristopherEdwards Financial Associates,
it, you know, what you do issomewhat buried in the name, but
um, I think, you know, there'san interesting story about uh,
you know, how your firm wasbuilt because it's not like most
financial services firms ormost companies.
I mean, I guess there's a lotof partnerships and family
businesses, but what's you know,what's the story of how your
(01:04):
your uh company was uh started?
Speaker 01 (01:08):
Uh so the abridged version, because it's it goes
back quite away, was that uh myfather, Chris Keneally Sr.
and his late partner Ed Naparwere high school friends.
Um they stayed in touch, butyou know, you lost a little bit
of that through college, throughearly adulthood, having you
know families and stuff.
And then one day reached out tomy dad to have dinner.
(01:32):
He had recently started in thefinancial services uh business,
and my dad basically said tohim, and this is the story they
tell all the time, listen, youcan come over for dinner, but
I'm not buying life insurancefrom you.
But uh fast forward, I mean,probably three months after
that, not only did he buy lifeinsurance from him, Ed recruited
my dad into the financialservice business.
(01:53):
He was previously in you know,office supply technology sales
or something like that.
Um, back back then when peoplewere going door to door to sell
selling printers and copiers tobig businesses in the city.
unknown (02:07):
Right.
Speaker 01 (02:07):
Um, that's kind of how it got started.
Um, if you fast forward againanother 10 years, roughly, they
were top producers in that largecap insurance financial
services model for that companyfor year in and year out.
And as the you know the companystarted to put more, I wouldn't
(02:27):
call it necessarilyrestrictions, but they were
pretty clear in terms of whatthe products and solutions they
wanted them to use.
They pivoted and decided we'regonna go out on our own so we
could provide um the bestsolution for our clients without
being captive to any one onesolution, one product, one idea.
(02:48):
Um and that's when they createdChristopher Edwards Financial
Associates, and I believe thatwas the beginning of 2008.
Speaker 04 (02:54):
Okay.
Oh, so you know, nothing muchgoing on in 2008.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 01 (02:58):
I don't think they expected quite what they were
was on the horizon uh over thenext six months to two to three
years, but they weathered thestorm.
Um, I came into the business inI started in the insurance
business as well, which is tiedheavily into our practice in
terms of full financialplanning, but I started
(03:19):
basically selling long-term careinsurance in like 2011.
Um, migrated over to workingout of my dad's office in 2012,
and then by 2014, I waslicensed, uh, working with the
firm.
Uh, you know, Christine went toschool for finance.
She started in the business.
I'll let her tell a little bitabout that, but before she does,
(03:41):
basically Christine's husband,Dave, was my college roommate.
So we went from, you know, mydad is best buddy starting the
company to me and my collegeroommate, one of my best friends
in the world, beginning a refwhat started as a referral
relationship, um, andtransitioned to a full-blown, at
(04:02):
this point, partnership betweenus.
Speaker 04 (04:05):
Well, that's great.
Yes, why don't we segue to you,Christine?
So um, 2018 you joined thefirm.
Like, why why a finance major?
Speaker 02 (04:13):
Like what like what so uh I'm the only non-engineer
in my family, and I havesomewhat of that brain, but my
dad said you're great at math,you should be an accountant.
So that's what I did.
I went to the College of NewJersey um for management and tax
accounting, uh, actually thesame college that Chris Sr.
(04:34):
went to back when it was TrentState.
So there's you know that littlenice tie as well.
And uh during one of myinternships, we were auditing a
uh very popular, you would knowthem, New York uh NFL football
team.
And I still didn't enjoy it.
So I said, it's not gonna getmore exciting than this.
Um, I'm gonna have to, youknow, find another uh career
(04:57):
path for myself.
And that's when financialplanning sort of came into uh
the picture from you know acollege recruiter.
And I think the educationsystem does a much better job of
it now.
But back when I went to school,you know, being a financial
advisor wasn't really one of thecareer options or career paths.
Uh so you know, I found itintriguing.
(05:19):
I thought it would be reallycool working on Wall Street,
doing all these, you know, allthe trading.
And then when you actually getinto the job, you realize that a
lot of it does start withinsurance planning and and you
know, the basic layer offoundation of someone's
financial plan and working uptowards helping them grow their
wealth.
So, you know, there was so muchmore to it that I didn't know
about.
And uh, so I started in 2011again at just like uh Chris's
(05:45):
dad at a large insurance firmwith a broker dealer model.
And uh about you know, whenDave, my husband, started doing
more referral business withChris uh in 2017 and 2018, we
decided to leave and becomeindependent and form a
relationship with ChristopherEdwards much more uh formally,
(06:07):
and that's sort of where thisall you know really blossomed.
Speaker 04 (06:11):
So I I thought a role uh a career in Wall Street
was like you know, JordanBelfort and uh scene with Mac
and McClane.
Speaker 02 (06:18):
Well, I was not bad, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 04 (06:21):
Um my dad worked on Wall Street and um as a kid in
high school, I used to work withhim in the summer.
And I I grew up in Long Island,so I'd get on the railroad and
we'd go into Brooklyn and takethe uh two or the four train to
downtown Manhattan.
And um it was interestingbecause uh he wasn't a trader,
but um, you know, I used to goto the New York Stock Exchange
(06:42):
to my first job when I was 15, Iwas a runner, so I would go to
the to the trading floors andpick up whatever it was I was
picking up.
I had no idea what they told meto pick up.
You know, I guess the tradinguh back then it was everything
was paper for the most part.
Um but it was interestingbecause I used to sit in the
trading room and see these guyswith the you know the ticker
going and everybody just yellingthings out and had no idea what
(07:03):
they were doing.
Uh that firm was more intoarbitrage and um when truck
stocks were still traded in inuh fractions rather than
decimals.
So I guess there was more of aspread.
But um, you know, one of thethings when I watch these
movies, whether it's the boilerroom or it's Wolf of Wall
Street, or it's you know,obviously they never paint a
good it's entertaining though.
It's entertaining, but you'relike, is it really like that?
(07:25):
And I made the mistake of goingto see Wolf of Wall Street with
my dad because he actually knewJordan Belfort, not personally,
but he worked uh at one pointat the end of his career.
He worked for a firm out inLong Island, and I guess they
did some of the trade theclearing for uh Stratford.
And uh when we're watching themovie, all he kept saying to his
me to me was like, It's a goodthing your mother didn't come
(07:47):
with us.
It's a good thing.
Speaker 03 (07:49):
That's funny.
Speaker 04 (07:50):
You know, my father was um he goes to church every
day.
He's you know, uh we were youknow pretty religious uh
Catholics growing up, and it waslike, oh god, I you know the
movie was I I enjoyed it muchbetter the second time I saw it
without my dad.
Um but but with that saidthough, you know, when you you
know when you say I'm a you knowfinancial advisor, I mean
(08:10):
you're not saying you're atrader, I guess there are
certain uh preconceptions andstereotypes.
And um, what is it about yourfirm and about the approach that
you guys take to managing moneythat might be different from
traditional, like you mentioned,you know, I I know there's
certain firms like Edward Jonesand others where they can only
(08:31):
trade certain uh products,right?
If you come to if you go toyour Edward Jones broker and
say, hey, I want to buy thisstock, what do you think that
well they don't they're notallowed to buy that, right?
Um so what is it about likewhat you guys do that's
different?
And I also want to touch umgoing back to 2008, because I,
you know, there's a great umkind of mindset of the question
(08:52):
of how do you face uh how do youreact in the storm when you're
facing the storm?
How do you react to it?
And a lot of businesses thatI've interviewed on this show
started during COVID or as aresult of COVID, right?
They either lost their jobs orthey're working from home and
they decided they wanted topivot and try something else,
and they decided during a youknow a shutdown that that was
the best time or the right timefor them to start a business.
(09:15):
But if you got through it, itjust made you stronger.
So uh just going back to myoriginal question.
So, what is it about whatChristopher Edwards does that
might be different from you knowa stereotypical financial
advisor firm?
Speaker 01 (09:30):
I think first and foremost, we're truly
independent.
Again, touching on what yousaid, what I said earlier, we're
we're true fiduciaries, meaningour responsibility is truly in
line with what we believe to bein the best interest of the
client.
So we could recommend any fund,individual security based on
(09:51):
what we think would help getthat client to their specific
goals, right?
We have we're not captive, wedon't have to hit any quotas.
Um, we have no trade costs,nothing like that.
Um, so we're in line with theclients in terms of how we get
how we treat them and how we getcompensated.
Um and I think the other thing,it's a true relationship
business.
(10:11):
Um, I mean, that sounds cliche,you'll probably hear that
across the board from anyone,but the you know, we have a lot
of third, fourth generationclients.
My dad, Ed, uh did a great jobof maintaining those
relationships.
Christine and I have kind ofbackfilled that with getting
really to get there, no, uhgetting to know their children,
their grandchildren.
So we have clients that havebeen with us for 25-30 years,
(10:34):
um, since prior to before my dadand I even going independent.
Um, and we continue to maintainand grow those relationships
with each generation that comes.
And I think that says just saysa lot about us you know doing
the right thing.
We're, you know, it's we're notperfect, but we follow through
on the things we say we're gonnado.
And I think in the world today,you see less and less of that.
(10:55):
Um, and and people trulyappreciate it.
Speaker 04 (10:58):
Well, I think I think also in the article,
sorry, Christine, uh, inNorthern Valley of Living, you
guys talk about how a lot ofyour neighbors might be your
clients, right?
Um, something I experience asbeing a business owner in
Harrington Park.
And uh I have a 12-year-oldson, and uh I coach a lot of the
sports, and there are peoplethat I see at sporting events
(11:19):
who are advertised with me, youknow, and it's my reputation,
it's my brand.
It's you know, I have to, I'mnot a fiduciary, but I I take
that same approach that youknow, I want you to succeed.
Now, certainly, somewhat likethe stock market, I can't
promise, you know, uh results,but I could do my best based on
past experience of of deliveringuh, you know, the results that
(11:43):
you're looking for.
But you have like this, I don'tknow, deeper responsibility
when they're you want yourneighbors or your clients.
Um sorry, Kristen, what wereyou saying?
Speaker 02 (11:52):
Yeah, no, that that's a great point.
Um, what I was gonna add tothat is, you know, there's a uh
carve out of advisors that arefiduciaries with an RAA, sort of
like our setup is, um, andthey're already, I believe, you
know, taking that next step ofresponsibility to their clients.
Um, obviously, not allfinancial advisors are
(12:14):
fiduciaries, so there's a pointin that.
And then there's um, you know,on the other side, the
independent uh planner or personthat focuses more on the risk
management side, call itinsurances across the board.
And I think what we've done areally great job is of is
marrying the two so that youknow we're truly independent
(12:35):
from all areas of financialplanning.
My um husband Dave, whosupports a lot of the advanced
uh strategies that incorporateinsurance or business planning,
uh, along with I believe myexpertise as well, coming from
an insurance carrier that youknow was very high quality and
we do a lot of sophisticatedplanning there.
(12:57):
And alongside completelyindependent wealth management
arm or uh organization, I thinkthat's really unique, where
someone can go and get unbiasedinformation at a high level in
all areas, especially for a firmour size.
You know, a lot of times ifyou're getting that kind of
advice, you have to go to a verylarge firm, it may be costly.
(13:18):
Uh, I think that you know,we're we're doing something
special.
And I believe the model thatwe've created really will be
more of the model for the futureas regulation comes down and on
on the industry because theywant everyone to be more on the
best interest side of things.
So I think we're a little aheadof the curve on in that arena.
Speaker 04 (13:39):
Nice.
So aside from from that, youalso um offer something called
advanced business planningservices and strategies.
So uh what you know, what doesthat uh entail?
Speaker 02 (13:52):
So a lot of that is alongside attorneys and trusted
uh tax professionals using thetax code and and the business
structures that people um haveto maximize their income tax,
capital gains tax exposures, um,create legacies, uh, along with
(14:13):
an attorney, create a reallygreat estate plan that passes
the money to either the nextgeneration or charities that
people are inclined to give to.
Uh, and not handing so muchover to the federal government
or the state government.
Obviously, we're all goodAmericans.
We want to pay our fair share.
Um but it's not necessary topay more than you have to.
(14:34):
And with great planning, youknow, you can leverage
solutions, whether, you know,obviously there's some products
that sometimes need to be usedfor those solutions, but the
goal is the the strategy and thesolution, and then you know,
backfilling it with okay, whatwhat uh tool, what financial
tool are we going to use to makethis happen?
So uh my husband Dave does alot of that advanced planning um
(14:55):
on that side, but there's youknow I think a high level of
sophistication across the boardand in areas that most advisors
may not be utilizing.
Speaker 04 (15:04):
Right, right.
No, that makes sense.
Um yeah, like you said,nobody's looking to cheat, but
you certainly don't.
You want to find the no, welive in the black and white.
Speaker 02 (15:12):
We're not we're not gray advisors, no.
Speaker 04 (15:14):
Yeah, no, but but there's so many, you know, tax
laws change all the time.
I mean, there's new bills andand different things that happen
all the time when it comes tonot only business strategy, but
retirement planning and how muchyou can um you know countr
contribute to your 401k or solo401k and things like that,
depending on on your age.
(15:34):
And and a lot of these thingschange so often.
And and me as a you know, as alay person, you know, you can't
keep up with that.
So I get it.
Now, let me ask you guys this.
Now, we've obviously since youknow, for a long time now, uh
since 2010, really, when we cameout of the financial crisis,
the market has just been goingup and up and up and up and up,
and we're breaking records likeevery year with the SP or the
(15:56):
Dow or the NASDAQ.
Um, and my father, I mentioned,you know, he's been in, you
know, he started in Wall Streetin the 60s.
Uh, he's seen it all, right?
And you know, the saying whatgoes up must come down.
And, you know, back in 2007, wethought housing was definitely
the place to be, and you know,real estate, and then it all
(16:16):
crashed.
Um, you know, certainly the um,you know, COVID was different,
and luckily that wasn't too biga an issue economically um after
a while for most companies, noteverybody.
So, where do you see likeshould you be worried that a
correction's coming?
Because I've been hearing aboutthis correction for years.
Uh, recession's coming,recession's coming, and it's
(16:38):
never come.
And despite some statistics,the market seems to just ignore
a lot of these things and itkeeps going up.
So if you were conservative thelast three or four years,
thinking, ah, you know, I don'twant to be caught in the
downturn, you've lost out, youknow.
But it is I know you can'tpredict anything, but what do
(17:01):
you say to um your clients nowthat uh you know that may think
that the good times are runningforever and then nothing's, you
know, it's always going to be anupward trajectory.
Speaker 01 (17:13):
That's a good question, Doug.
So I I guess I'd start bysaying I think clients and
people in general have obviouslyare exposed to a lot more
information nowadays than theyused to be.
Well, my dad and his partner,late partner, had started this
business, right?
So my experience in it is I geta lot more what I guess sounds
like sophisticated questionsfrom I read Barons to I was
(17:36):
watching N MSNBC today, andthere's just so much information
out there that it's hard for aclient or someone who's not
particularly familiar withmarkets, how they work, how they
operate, um, to reallyunderstand.
So within that, we try to justguide people again.
I can't predict when and if themarket is going to correct over
(17:59):
the next three, six, twelvemonths.
I mean, but to your pointearlier, generally speaking,
what goes up does go down.
Now, does it go down and and dowe have another 2008?
I don't know.
I don't foresee something likethat severe happening anytime
soon.
But again, the way we do it isrules-based.
(18:20):
So we have uh we have anoutsourced research team that we
use, and then we have anin-house research head of
research, we call him.
And what our in-house researchperson does is he gathers all
that really sophisticatedinformation that we get from our
outsource team.
He's a calculus professor bytrade, he gets the math, he gets
(18:41):
the real numbers behind it.
He comes back to myself andChristine and kind of breaks it
all down, and then we make ourinvestment decisions based off
of that, right?
So um we're actively managedportfolios, meaning we don't
believe in a traditional um buyand hold model.
You know, I'm I'm 30, I want toretire at 65, I'm moderately
(19:05):
aggressive.
Okay, so we're gonna go 70%stocks, 30% bonds, and then
we'll, you know, we'll adjustthat when you hit 50.
Um, we don't do it that waybecause of the prior experience
that my dad and Ed went throughgoing independent and then being
faced with the 2008 financialcrisis right away.
(19:25):
Um, that's kind of how our firmhit the initial, I'll call it
for boom, because weoutperformed significantly
during that time.
They had a different researchpartner at the time, but they
were able to mitigate a lot ofthe losses that happened in the
market.
So we had clients coming in atthat point from a lot of the,
you know, nothing wrong withthese places, but from a lot of
(19:47):
the big wire houses you hearabout Morgan, Merrill, because
those are a lot of those peoplewere told just ride it out, just
ride it out.
Whoa, when you're 50 and yousay if you lose, if you lose 50%
of your money, you need ahundred percent to get even.
So the math doesn't math.
It could take quite a while toget a hundred percent just to
get even, right?
Speaker 04 (20:06):
Right.
Speaker 01 (20:07):
So we're not day traders, but we are active
managers.
We take all the data that weget, um, we have numerous
signaling processes, and I'm notgonna get get into all the
nuances behind the math and thenumbers, but we use that as a
guide, and basically the endresult of that is just trying to
give our clients the highestprobability of success within
(20:28):
whatever that data is tellingus.
So we look at the economy, welook at the market signals
within each type of economy,within each type of market,
certain asset classes are gonnahistorically outperform others.
Again, it's not perfect, butwe're we're setting it up as a
looking at probabilisticoutcomes.
Right from a probabilitystandpoint, if we're using our
(20:51):
process, we're sticking to therules more times than not, our
clients are gonna benefit fromthat.
Yeah.
Speaker 02 (20:59):
I think I think your dad always said it great.
You know, we're risk managersfirst, money managers second.
So affecting that downside umrisk that a client may take on,
you know, if we can performsimilarly to other advisors and
do it with a lot less exposure,yeah.
Well, that's you know, that's ahuge difference.
(21:19):
And I think that's you know,one of our goals is to never
have to have that conversationwith a client that they lost a
significant amount of theirmoney.
It's not worth that risk if wecan do it a better way.
Speaker 01 (21:30):
Yeah, if if the SP is up 25% and we did 22% that
year, and these are just made-upnumbers, right?
Speaker 04 (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, I got it.
Speaker 01 (21:38):
Not many people are gonna get mad at us, right?
But if the market is down 50and we're down 50, we're gonna
get a lot of unhappy customers.
So we're very um cognizant ofthat.
Um and that's how we ended upwhere we are now.
You know, in 2000, my dad wasat you know, the large cap
insurance carrier, but he wasdealing with a whole bunch of
(21:59):
mutual funds, you know, best ofbreed funds is what they call,
and they would screen all thefunds, but when you're doing
that, you're still outsourcingthe management to those mutual
fund managers, right?
Speaker 03 (22:08):
Right.
Speaker 01 (22:08):
Um, the market was down roughly 50% in 2000.
My dad's clients were downroughly 25.
So, relative, that's still agood job.
But guess what?
They still weren't very happy,and that was kind of the line of
line where they were like,we're gonna take on more of this
management ourselves.
So either way, it's on us.
(22:28):
I don't have to go out and thensay, Well, I picked a fund
who's being managed by XYZ, andthe performance isn't reflecting
what you expected, but it's outof my hands, you know.
Speaker 04 (22:38):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 01 (22:39):
That's why we do all of our, you know, our portfolio
management in-house.
Um, that same head of researchI mentioned, he kind of
spearheads that.
Him and I sit together on adaily basis and we go through
where we're at, where we thinkwe're going, what we hold, what
we're looking to increase,decrease, add, remove entirely.
And uh, it's a very, you know,very nuanced process with a lot
(23:02):
of moving parts, but we kind ofhave it down where it's just him
and I could sit for an hour andwe know boom, boom, boom, boom.
Okay, yeah, let's, you know,let's get to work, let's go get
on the phone with the clients.
Speaker 04 (23:11):
Yeah.
So I want to pivot a littlebit.
Uh, we're running out of time.
So uh, you know, non-businesswise, well, I mean it is
business wise, but what is it?
I'll start with you, Christine.
Like, what is it that you loveabout what you do?
Speaker 02 (23:25):
I think it's as simple as helping people.
Obviously, I you know, lovewhat I do.
I think it's very interesting.
Um, but my biggest wins arewhen a client is moved or really
appreciates the work I did.
And, you know, I I a couplecomes to mind, they came in and
they were they were great, youknow, had a great life
(23:48):
financially, pretty good.
Um, but it was the financesthat was the one problem in
their marriage.
Um, and it was a very emotionalfirst meeting.
I felt like I was almost atherapist.
And you know, at the end of theday, one spouse was taking on
the burden and the other spousewas in the dark.
And that was hard.
Neither one was wrong, but itwas, you know, a tremendous
(24:09):
amount of stress.
And um, we had a recent reviewwith them, and they walk in like
they're like floating on oncloud nine, you know, like
lovebirds, and it's just likehearing, I think they spent the
first 20 minutes, you know,appreciative and telling us
telling us how it changed theirmarriage.
And you know, that that wasreally special to me.
I another client two weeks ago,um he hit an older gentleman
(24:30):
retired, and he's telling me howhis RMDs are gonna really, you
know, crush him in retirement.
And I stopped him and I said,What do you what do you think
RMDs are?
And you know, he had totallymisunderstood it from his past
advisor that all the money hetook from his required minimum
distribution was money for thegovernment.
And I explained that no, it'sjust the money that you're gonna
(24:51):
take out of your qualifiedplan, and that's gonna get
taxed, but that's not all gonnabe handed over to them.
And I I could hear like this,you know, the the weight of an
elephant's leg lift off hischest, and he, you know, he was
my god, the relief I I know hegave me and I gave him, and he
was so grateful.
And you know, it's littlethings like that, you know, it
(25:11):
doesn't really matter what kindof client they are, you know,
big or small, you know, for us,hearing that is like the the
biggest reward I can get um inthis business.
So that's what I love aboutthis.
Speaker 04 (25:24):
That's great.
And what about you, Chris?
Speaker 01 (25:26):
Hard to top that answer.
Uh it's a yeah, it at the endof the day, it's always about
the clients and relationship.
I personally, and this is why Ithink Christine and I um and
the rest of our team complimenteach other so well.
Like, if you asked me 10 yearsago, my answer would be
different than what it is now.
I spend a lot of my time now,like dealing with the nuances of
(25:46):
the market and portfolio uhstrategy, which I that wouldn't,
I would have said more on theclient side if you asked me 10
years ago.
Now, I have you know, we have afairly large legacy book,
Buying the Business from My Dad,that we service, we talk to.
I'm on the phone all day withthese clients.
But I do enjoy, I find it veryinteresting how the market, how
(26:07):
the economy, how all that stuffmoves together, and again coming
to those probabilisticoutcomes.
But at the end of the day, thisbusiness was created on
relationships and all that stuffis cool and it's fun, you know,
and it's like engaging.
And I feel like I just, youknow, but when you see the
lights go on your clients' facesand they worked so hard for 25,
(26:29):
30 years, yeah, and they'recomfortable and don't have to
worry about taking their kidsand grandkids on a vacation to,
I don't know, to Europe for 10days, right?
And like you helped them getthere just with a little bit of
strategy, a little bit of movingand shaking here and there, and
they could say thank you,because if you if you're not,
you know, if you didn't hadn'tadvised me to do this 10 years
(26:50):
ago, I wouldn't have had thisextra $25,000, $30,000 to take
my whole family away.
And that's just one of manyexamples when you're like, all
right, I'm doing something thatis meaningful.
It's you know, you hearfinance, you you think Wall
Street, right?
You think fast moving money,this money.
But we're dealing with realpeople.
Most of our, you know, we havedo we have some high net worth
clients?
Of course.
(27:11):
But most of our clients arefamilies, individuals, small
businesses.
You know, they started point A,maybe they just got married,
maybe they just had their firstkid, bought their first home,
they want to get to point B topoint C, and they want to feel
comfortable and just have apeace of mind.
And that's really when I breakit down, the most important
thing, giving my clients afinancial peace of mind that
(27:31):
they could enjoy what they'veworked so hard for.
Speaker 04 (27:34):
Yeah, that's great.
So, what's what's the best wayto get in touch with you if
somebody's listening to this andthey want to have a
conversation?
Speaker 01 (27:44):
Good question.
I mean, my our Westwood officephone number is probably the
best.
Um, I don't know, should I givethe number?
I don't want to do a201-383-0630.
I mean, you know, it's 2025,most of us using our cell phones
a lot, too, but but someone isalways here, at least while the
market's open.
(28:04):
So if if Christine or I aren'tin the office, one of our staff
will get back to us.
It's probably the easiest, youknow, neutral point to get to
someone.
Um you can check out ourwebsite,
ChristopherEvertsfinancial.com.
We're on Facebook and LinkedInum right now.
And we're just really startingwith any kind of marketing
(28:26):
efforts.
I think when we talked aboutfor the magazine, I told you
that we're we're that's onething we're behind the curve on.
We don't have a big name likethe Morgan's, the Merrills, the
Edward Jones.
So, like a lot of ourbusinesses is referral-based.
And that's the best complimentsomeone can give, you know, when
a family or friends or neighborrefers you someone that means
something to them.
Speaker 04 (28:45):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, this was great.
Thank you, uh, Christine andChristopher.
This is a great talk, and I,you know, I could pick your
brain some more about stocks andthings and ETS, but uh kick out
on that.
So we're just gonna have um aguy I call Chuck is just gonna
take us out, and you and I willbe right back.
Speaker 00 (29:05):
All right.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpbergen.com.
That's gnpbergen.com or call201 298 8325.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 04 (00:11):
Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of
the Good Neighbor Podcast,brought to you by the Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
I am your host, Doug Drohan.
Today we have a very, very cooluh discussion and guests on the
show from Christopher EdwardsFinancial Associates.
Please welcome to the showChristine Cox- West and her
colleague, who's our star of uhof Northern Valley Living this
(00:33):
month.
And it's Christopher Kenneally.
Uh, welcome, guys, to the show,or ladies and guys.
Uh, welcome to the show.
Speaker 01 (00:39):
Thank you for having us, Doug.
Speaker 04 (00:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you know, ChristopherEdwards Financial Associates,
it, you know, what you do issomewhat buried in the name, but
um, I think, you know, there'san interesting story about uh,
you know, how your firm wasbuilt because it's not like most
financial services firms ormost companies.
I mean, I guess there's a lotof partnerships and family
businesses, but what's you know,what's the story of how your
(01:04):
your uh company was uh started?
Speaker 01 (01:08):
Uh so the abridged version, because it's it goes
back quite away, was that uh myfather, Chris Keneally Sr.
and his late partner Ed Naparwere high school friends.
Um they stayed in touch, butyou know, you lost a little bit
of that through college, throughearly adulthood, having you
know families and stuff.
And then one day reached out tomy dad to have dinner.
(01:32):
He had recently started in thefinancial services uh business,
and my dad basically said tohim, and this is the story they
tell all the time, listen, youcan come over for dinner, but
I'm not buying life insurancefrom you.
But uh fast forward, I mean,probably three months after
that, not only did he buy lifeinsurance from him, Ed recruited
my dad into the financialservice business.
(01:53):
He was previously in you know,office supply technology sales
or something like that.
Um, back back then when peoplewere going door to door to sell
selling printers and copiers tobig businesses in the city.
unknown (02:07):
Right.
Speaker 01 (02:07):
Um, that's kind of how it got started.
Um, if you fast forward againanother 10 years, roughly, they
were top producers in that largecap insurance financial
services model for that companyfor year in and year out.
And as the you know the companystarted to put more, I wouldn't
(02:27):
call it necessarilyrestrictions, but they were
pretty clear in terms of whatthe products and solutions they
wanted them to use.
They pivoted and decided we'regonna go out on our own so we
could provide um the bestsolution for our clients without
being captive to any one onesolution, one product, one idea.
(02:48):
Um and that's when they createdChristopher Edwards Financial
Associates, and I believe thatwas the beginning of 2008.
Speaker 04 (02:54):
Okay.
Oh, so you know, nothing muchgoing on in 2008.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 01 (02:58):
I don't think they expected quite what they were
was on the horizon uh over thenext six months to two to three
years, but they weathered thestorm.
Um, I came into the business inI started in the insurance
business as well, which is tiedheavily into our practice in
terms of full financialplanning, but I started
(03:19):
basically selling long-term careinsurance in like 2011.
Um, migrated over to workingout of my dad's office in 2012,
and then by 2014, I waslicensed, uh, working with the
firm.
Uh, you know, Christine went toschool for finance.
She started in the business.
I'll let her tell a little bitabout that, but before she does,
(03:41):
basically Christine's husband,Dave, was my college roommate.
So we went from, you know, mydad is best buddy starting the
company to me and my collegeroommate, one of my best friends
in the world, beginning a refwhat started as a referral
relationship, um, andtransitioned to a full-blown, at
(04:02):
this point, partnership betweenus.
Speaker 04 (04:05):
Well, that's great.
Yes, why don't we segue to you,Christine?
So um, 2018 you joined thefirm.
Like, why why a finance major?
Speaker 02 (04:13):
Like what like what so uh I'm the only non-engineer
in my family, and I havesomewhat of that brain, but my
dad said you're great at math,you should be an accountant.
So that's what I did.
I went to the College of NewJersey um for management and tax
accounting, uh, actually thesame college that Chris Sr.
(04:34):
went to back when it was TrentState.
So there's you know that littlenice tie as well.
And uh during one of myinternships, we were auditing a
uh very popular, you would knowthem, New York uh NFL football
team.
And I still didn't enjoy it.
So I said, it's not gonna getmore exciting than this.
Um, I'm gonna have to, youknow, find another uh career
(04:57):
path for myself.
And that's when financialplanning sort of came into uh
the picture from you know acollege recruiter.
And I think the educationsystem does a much better job of
it now.
But back when I went to school,you know, being a financial
advisor wasn't really one of thecareer options or career paths.
Uh so you know, I found itintriguing.
(05:19):
I thought it would be reallycool working on Wall Street,
doing all these, you know, allthe trading.
And then when you actually getinto the job, you realize that a
lot of it does start withinsurance planning and and you
know, the basic layer offoundation of someone's
financial plan and working uptowards helping them grow their
wealth.
So, you know, there was so muchmore to it that I didn't know
about.
And uh, so I started in 2011again at just like uh Chris's
(05:45):
dad at a large insurance firmwith a broker dealer model.
And uh about you know, whenDave, my husband, started doing
more referral business withChris uh in 2017 and 2018, we
decided to leave and becomeindependent and form a
relationship with ChristopherEdwards much more uh formally,
(06:07):
and that's sort of where thisall you know really blossomed.
Speaker 04 (06:11):
So I I thought a role uh a career in Wall Street
was like you know, JordanBelfort and uh scene with Mac
and McClane.
Speaker 02 (06:18):
Well, I was not bad, but yeah, yeah.
Speaker 04 (06:21):
Um my dad worked on Wall Street and um as a kid in
high school, I used to work withhim in the summer.
And I I grew up in Long Island,so I'd get on the railroad and
we'd go into Brooklyn and takethe uh two or the four train to
downtown Manhattan.
And um it was interestingbecause uh he wasn't a trader,
but um, you know, I used to goto the New York Stock Exchange
(06:42):
to my first job when I was 15, Iwas a runner, so I would go to
the to the trading floors andpick up whatever it was I was
picking up.
I had no idea what they told meto pick up.
You know, I guess the tradinguh back then it was everything
was paper for the most part.
Um but it was interestingbecause I used to sit in the
trading room and see these guyswith the you know the ticker
going and everybody just yellingthings out and had no idea what
(07:03):
they were doing.
Uh that firm was more intoarbitrage and um when truck
stocks were still traded in inuh fractions rather than
decimals.
So I guess there was more of aspread.
But um, you know, one of thethings when I watch these
movies, whether it's the boilerroom or it's Wolf of Wall
Street, or it's you know,obviously they never paint a
good it's entertaining though.
It's entertaining, but you'relike, is it really like that?
(07:25):
And I made the mistake of goingto see Wolf of Wall Street with
my dad because he actually knewJordan Belfort, not personally,
but he worked uh at one pointat the end of his career.
He worked for a firm out inLong Island, and I guess they
did some of the trade theclearing for uh Stratford.
And uh when we're watching themovie, all he kept saying to his
me to me was like, It's a goodthing your mother didn't come
(07:47):
with us.
It's a good thing.
Speaker 03 (07:49):
That's funny.
Speaker 04 (07:50):
You know, my father was um he goes to church every
day.
He's you know, uh we were youknow pretty religious uh
Catholics growing up, and it waslike, oh god, I you know the
movie was I I enjoyed it muchbetter the second time I saw it
without my dad.
Um but but with that saidthough, you know, when you you
know when you say I'm a you knowfinancial advisor, I mean
(08:10):
you're not saying you're atrader, I guess there are
certain uh preconceptions andstereotypes.
And um, what is it about yourfirm and about the approach that
you guys take to managing moneythat might be different from
traditional, like you mentioned,you know, I I know there's
certain firms like Edward Jonesand others where they can only
(08:31):
trade certain uh products,right?
If you come to if you go toyour Edward Jones broker and
say, hey, I want to buy thisstock, what do you think that
well they don't they're notallowed to buy that, right?
Um so what is it about likewhat you guys do that's
different?
And I also want to touch umgoing back to 2008, because I,
you know, there's a great umkind of mindset of the question
(08:52):
of how do you face uh how do youreact in the storm when you're
facing the storm?
How do you react to it?
And a lot of businesses thatI've interviewed on this show
started during COVID or as aresult of COVID, right?
They either lost their jobs orthey're working from home and
they decided they wanted topivot and try something else,
and they decided during a youknow a shutdown that that was
the best time or the right timefor them to start a business.
(09:15):
But if you got through it, itjust made you stronger.
So uh just going back to myoriginal question.
So, what is it about whatChristopher Edwards does that
might be different from you knowa stereotypical financial
advisor firm?
Speaker 01 (09:30):
I think first and foremost, we're truly
independent.
Again, touching on what yousaid, what I said earlier, we're
we're true fiduciaries, meaningour responsibility is truly in
line with what we believe to bein the best interest of the
client.
So we could recommend any fund,individual security based on
(09:51):
what we think would help getthat client to their specific
goals, right?
We have we're not captive, wedon't have to hit any quotas.
Um, we have no trade costs,nothing like that.
Um, so we're in line with theclients in terms of how we get
how we treat them and how we getcompensated.
Um and I think the other thing,it's a true relationship
business.
(10:11):
Um, I mean, that sounds cliche,you'll probably hear that
across the board from anyone,but the you know, we have a lot
of third, fourth generationclients.
My dad, Ed, uh did a great jobof maintaining those
relationships.
Christine and I have kind ofbackfilled that with getting
really to get there, no, uhgetting to know their children,
their grandchildren.
So we have clients that havebeen with us for 25-30 years,
(10:34):
um, since prior to before my dadand I even going independent.
Um, and we continue to maintainand grow those relationships
with each generation that comes.
And I think that says just saysa lot about us you know doing
the right thing.
We're, you know, it's we're notperfect, but we follow through
on the things we say we're gonnado.
And I think in the world today,you see less and less of that.
(10:55):
Um, and and people trulyappreciate it.
Speaker 04 (10:58):
Well, I think I think also in the article,
sorry, Christine, uh, inNorthern Valley of Living, you
guys talk about how a lot ofyour neighbors might be your
clients, right?
Um, something I experience asbeing a business owner in
Harrington Park.
And uh I have a 12-year-oldson, and uh I coach a lot of the
sports, and there are peoplethat I see at sporting events
(11:19):
who are advertised with me, youknow, and it's my reputation,
it's my brand.
It's you know, I have to, I'mnot a fiduciary, but I I take
that same approach that youknow, I want you to succeed.
Now, certainly, somewhat likethe stock market, I can't
promise, you know, uh results,but I could do my best based on
past experience of of deliveringuh, you know, the results that
(11:43):
you're looking for.
But you have like this, I don'tknow, deeper responsibility
when they're you want yourneighbors or your clients.
Um sorry, Kristen, what wereyou saying?
Speaker 02 (11:52):
Yeah, no, that that's a great point.
Um, what I was gonna add tothat is, you know, there's a uh
carve out of advisors that arefiduciaries with an RAA, sort of
like our setup is, um, andthey're already, I believe, you
know, taking that next step ofresponsibility to their clients.
Um, obviously, not allfinancial advisors are
(12:14):
fiduciaries, so there's a pointin that.
And then there's um, you know,on the other side, the
independent uh planner or personthat focuses more on the risk
management side, call itinsurances across the board.
And I think what we've done areally great job is of is
marrying the two so that youknow we're truly independent
(12:35):
from all areas of financialplanning.
My um husband Dave, whosupports a lot of the advanced
uh strategies that incorporateinsurance or business planning,
uh, along with I believe myexpertise as well, coming from
an insurance carrier that youknow was very high quality and
we do a lot of sophisticatedplanning there.
(12:57):
And alongside completelyindependent wealth management
arm or uh organization, I thinkthat's really unique, where
someone can go and get unbiasedinformation at a high level in
all areas, especially for a firmour size.
You know, a lot of times ifyou're getting that kind of
advice, you have to go to a verylarge firm, it may be costly.
(13:18):
Uh, I think that you know,we're we're doing something
special.
And I believe the model thatwe've created really will be
more of the model for the futureas regulation comes down and on
on the industry because theywant everyone to be more on the
best interest side of things.
So I think we're a little aheadof the curve on in that arena.
Speaker 04 (13:39):
Nice.
So aside from from that, youalso um offer something called
advanced business planningservices and strategies.
So uh what you know, what doesthat uh entail?
Speaker 02 (13:52):
So a lot of that is alongside attorneys and trusted
uh tax professionals using thetax code and and the business
structures that people um haveto maximize their income tax,
capital gains tax exposures, um,create legacies, uh, along with
(14:13):
an attorney, create a reallygreat estate plan that passes
the money to either the nextgeneration or charities that
people are inclined to give to.
Uh, and not handing so muchover to the federal government
or the state government.
Obviously, we're all goodAmericans.
We want to pay our fair share.
Um but it's not necessary topay more than you have to.
(14:34):
And with great planning, youknow, you can leverage
solutions, whether, you know,obviously there's some products
that sometimes need to be usedfor those solutions, but the
goal is the the strategy and thesolution, and then you know,
backfilling it with okay, whatwhat uh tool, what financial
tool are we going to use to makethis happen?
So uh my husband Dave does alot of that advanced planning um
(14:55):
on that side, but there's youknow I think a high level of
sophistication across the boardand in areas that most advisors
may not be utilizing.
Speaker 04 (15:04):
Right, right.
No, that makes sense.
Um yeah, like you said,nobody's looking to cheat, but
you certainly don't.
You want to find the no, welive in the black and white.
Speaker 02 (15:12):
We're not we're not gray advisors, no.
Speaker 04 (15:14):
Yeah, no, but but there's so many, you know, tax
laws change all the time.
I mean, there's new bills andand different things that happen
all the time when it comes tonot only business strategy, but
retirement planning and how muchyou can um you know countr
contribute to your 401k or solo401k and things like that,
depending on on your age.
(15:34):
And and a lot of these thingschange so often.
And and me as a you know, as alay person, you know, you can't
keep up with that.
So I get it.
Now, let me ask you guys this.
Now, we've obviously since youknow, for a long time now, uh
since 2010, really, when we cameout of the financial crisis,
the market has just been goingup and up and up and up and up,
and we're breaking records likeevery year with the SP or the
(15:56):
Dow or the NASDAQ.
Um, and my father, I mentioned,you know, he's been in, you
know, he started in Wall Streetin the 60s.
Uh, he's seen it all, right?
And you know, the saying whatgoes up must come down.
And, you know, back in 2007, wethought housing was definitely
the place to be, and you know,real estate, and then it all
(16:16):
crashed.
Um, you know, certainly the um,you know, COVID was different,
and luckily that wasn't too biga an issue economically um after
a while for most companies, noteverybody.
So, where do you see likeshould you be worried that a
correction's coming?
Because I've been hearing aboutthis correction for years.
Uh, recession's coming,recession's coming, and it's
(16:38):
never come.
And despite some statistics,the market seems to just ignore
a lot of these things and itkeeps going up.
So if you were conservative thelast three or four years,
thinking, ah, you know, I don'twant to be caught in the
downturn, you've lost out, youknow.
But it is I know you can'tpredict anything, but what do
(17:01):
you say to um your clients nowthat uh you know that may think
that the good times are runningforever and then nothing's, you
know, it's always going to be anupward trajectory.
Speaker 01 (17:13):
That's a good question, Doug.
So I I guess I'd start bysaying I think clients and
people in general have obviouslyare exposed to a lot more
information nowadays than theyused to be.
Well, my dad and his partner,late partner, had started this
business, right?
So my experience in it is I geta lot more what I guess sounds
like sophisticated questionsfrom I read Barons to I was
(17:36):
watching N MSNBC today, andthere's just so much information
out there that it's hard for aclient or someone who's not
particularly familiar withmarkets, how they work, how they
operate, um, to reallyunderstand.
So within that, we try to justguide people again.
I can't predict when and if themarket is going to correct over
(17:59):
the next three, six, twelvemonths.
I mean, but to your pointearlier, generally speaking,
what goes up does go down.
Now, does it go down and and dowe have another 2008?
I don't know.
I don't foresee something likethat severe happening anytime
soon.
But again, the way we do it isrules-based.
(18:20):
So we have uh we have anoutsourced research team that we
use, and then we have anin-house research head of
research, we call him.
And what our in-house researchperson does is he gathers all
that really sophisticatedinformation that we get from our
outsource team.
He's a calculus professor bytrade, he gets the math, he gets
(18:41):
the real numbers behind it.
He comes back to myself andChristine and kind of breaks it
all down, and then we make ourinvestment decisions based off
of that, right?
So um we're actively managedportfolios, meaning we don't
believe in a traditional um buyand hold model.
You know, I'm I'm 30, I want toretire at 65, I'm moderately
(19:05):
aggressive.
Okay, so we're gonna go 70%stocks, 30% bonds, and then
we'll, you know, we'll adjustthat when you hit 50.
Um, we don't do it that waybecause of the prior experience
that my dad and Ed went throughgoing independent and then being
faced with the 2008 financialcrisis right away.
(19:25):
Um, that's kind of how our firmhit the initial, I'll call it
for boom, because weoutperformed significantly
during that time.
They had a different researchpartner at the time, but they
were able to mitigate a lot ofthe losses that happened in the
market.
So we had clients coming in atthat point from a lot of the,
you know, nothing wrong withthese places, but from a lot of
(19:47):
the big wire houses you hearabout Morgan, Merrill, because
those are a lot of those peoplewere told just ride it out, just
ride it out.
Whoa, when you're 50 and yousay if you lose, if you lose 50%
of your money, you need ahundred percent to get even.
So the math doesn't math.
It could take quite a while toget a hundred percent just to
get even, right?
Speaker 04 (20:06):
Right.
Speaker 01 (20:07):
So we're not day traders, but we are active
managers.
We take all the data that weget, um, we have numerous
signaling processes, and I'm notgonna get get into all the
nuances behind the math and thenumbers, but we use that as a
guide, and basically the endresult of that is just trying to
give our clients the highestprobability of success within
(20:28):
whatever that data is tellingus.
So we look at the economy, welook at the market signals
within each type of economy,within each type of market,
certain asset classes are gonnahistorically outperform others.
Again, it's not perfect, butwe're we're setting it up as a
looking at probabilisticoutcomes.
Right from a probabilitystandpoint, if we're using our
(20:51):
process, we're sticking to therules more times than not, our
clients are gonna benefit fromthat.
Yeah.
Speaker 02 (20:59):
I think I think your dad always said it great.
You know, we're risk managersfirst, money managers second.
So affecting that downside umrisk that a client may take on,
you know, if we can performsimilarly to other advisors and
do it with a lot less exposure,yeah.
Well, that's you know, that's ahuge difference.
(21:19):
And I think that's you know,one of our goals is to never
have to have that conversationwith a client that they lost a
significant amount of theirmoney.
It's not worth that risk if wecan do it a better way.
Speaker 01 (21:30):
Yeah, if if the SP is up 25% and we did 22% that
year, and these are just made-upnumbers, right?
Speaker 04 (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, I got it.
Speaker 01 (21:38):
Not many people are gonna get mad at us, right?
But if the market is down 50and we're down 50, we're gonna
get a lot of unhappy customers.
So we're very um cognizant ofthat.
Um and that's how we ended upwhere we are now.
You know, in 2000, my dad wasat you know, the large cap
insurance carrier, but he wasdealing with a whole bunch of
(21:59):
mutual funds, you know, best ofbreed funds is what they call,
and they would screen all thefunds, but when you're doing
that, you're still outsourcingthe management to those mutual
fund managers, right?
Speaker 03 (22:08):
Right.
Speaker 01 (22:08):
Um, the market was down roughly 50% in 2000.
My dad's clients were downroughly 25.
So, relative, that's still agood job.
But guess what?
They still weren't very happy,and that was kind of the line of
line where they were like,we're gonna take on more of this
management ourselves.
So either way, it's on us.
(22:28):
I don't have to go out and thensay, Well, I picked a fund
who's being managed by XYZ, andthe performance isn't reflecting
what you expected, but it's outof my hands, you know.
Speaker 04 (22:38):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 01 (22:39):
That's why we do all of our, you know, our portfolio
management in-house.
Um, that same head of researchI mentioned, he kind of
spearheads that.
Him and I sit together on adaily basis and we go through
where we're at, where we thinkwe're going, what we hold, what
we're looking to increase,decrease, add, remove entirely.
And uh, it's a very, you know,very nuanced process with a lot
(23:02):
of moving parts, but we kind ofhave it down where it's just him
and I could sit for an hour andwe know boom, boom, boom, boom.
Okay, yeah, let's, you know,let's get to work, let's go get
on the phone with the clients.
Speaker 04 (23:11):
Yeah.
So I want to pivot a littlebit.
Uh, we're running out of time.
So uh, you know, non-businesswise, well, I mean it is
business wise, but what is it?
I'll start with you, Christine.
Like, what is it that you loveabout what you do?
Speaker 02 (23:25):
I think it's as simple as helping people.
Obviously, I you know, lovewhat I do.
I think it's very interesting.
Um, but my biggest wins arewhen a client is moved or really
appreciates the work I did.
And, you know, I I a couplecomes to mind, they came in and
they were they were great, youknow, had a great life
(23:48):
financially, pretty good.
Um, but it was the financesthat was the one problem in
their marriage.
Um, and it was a very emotionalfirst meeting.
I felt like I was almost atherapist.
And you know, at the end of theday, one spouse was taking on
the burden and the other spousewas in the dark.
And that was hard.
Neither one was wrong, but itwas, you know, a tremendous
(24:09):
amount of stress.
And um, we had a recent reviewwith them, and they walk in like
they're like floating on oncloud nine, you know, like
lovebirds, and it's just likehearing, I think they spent the
first 20 minutes, you know,appreciative and telling us
telling us how it changed theirmarriage.
And you know, that that wasreally special to me.
I another client two weeks ago,um he hit an older gentleman
(24:30):
retired, and he's telling me howhis RMDs are gonna really, you
know, crush him in retirement.
And I stopped him and I said,What do you what do you think
RMDs are?
And you know, he had totallymisunderstood it from his past
advisor that all the money hetook from his required minimum
distribution was money for thegovernment.
And I explained that no, it'sjust the money that you're gonna
(24:51):
take out of your qualifiedplan, and that's gonna get
taxed, but that's not all gonnabe handed over to them.
And I I could hear like this,you know, the the weight of an
elephant's leg lift off hischest, and he, you know, he was
my god, the relief I I know hegave me and I gave him, and he
was so grateful.
And you know, it's littlethings like that, you know, it
(25:11):
doesn't really matter what kindof client they are, you know,
big or small, you know, for us,hearing that is like the the
biggest reward I can get um inthis business.
So that's what I love aboutthis.
Speaker 04 (25:24):
That's great.
And what about you, Chris?
Speaker 01 (25:26):
Hard to top that answer.
Uh it's a yeah, it at the endof the day, it's always about
the clients and relationship.
I personally, and this is why Ithink Christine and I um and
the rest of our team complimenteach other so well.
Like, if you asked me 10 yearsago, my answer would be
different than what it is now.
I spend a lot of my time now,like dealing with the nuances of
(25:46):
the market and portfolio uhstrategy, which I that wouldn't,
I would have said more on theclient side if you asked me 10
years ago.
Now, I have you know, we have afairly large legacy book,
Buying the Business from My Dad,that we service, we talk to.
I'm on the phone all day withthese clients.
But I do enjoy, I find it veryinteresting how the market, how
(26:07):
the economy, how all that stuffmoves together, and again coming
to those probabilisticoutcomes.
But at the end of the day, thisbusiness was created on
relationships and all that stuffis cool and it's fun, you know,
and it's like engaging.
And I feel like I just, youknow, but when you see the
lights go on your clients' facesand they worked so hard for 25,
(26:29):
30 years, yeah, and they'recomfortable and don't have to
worry about taking their kidsand grandkids on a vacation to,
I don't know, to Europe for 10days, right?
And like you helped them getthere just with a little bit of
strategy, a little bit of movingand shaking here and there, and
they could say thank you,because if you if you're not,
you know, if you didn't hadn'tadvised me to do this 10 years
(26:50):
ago, I wouldn't have had thisextra $25,000, $30,000 to take
my whole family away.
And that's just one of manyexamples when you're like, all
right, I'm doing something thatis meaningful.
It's you know, you hearfinance, you you think Wall
Street, right?
You think fast moving money,this money.
But we're dealing with realpeople.
Most of our, you know, we havedo we have some high net worth
clients?
Of course.
(27:11):
But most of our clients arefamilies, individuals, small
businesses.
You know, they started point A,maybe they just got married,
maybe they just had their firstkid, bought their first home,
they want to get to point B topoint C, and they want to feel
comfortable and just have apeace of mind.
And that's really when I breakit down, the most important
thing, giving my clients afinancial peace of mind that
(27:31):
they could enjoy what they'veworked so hard for.
Speaker 04 (27:34):
Yeah, that's great.
So, what's what's the best wayto get in touch with you if
somebody's listening to this andthey want to have a
conversation?
Speaker 01 (27:44):
Good question.
I mean, my our Westwood officephone number is probably the
best.
Um, I don't know, should I givethe number?
I don't want to do a201-383-0630.
I mean, you know, it's 2025,most of us using our cell phones
a lot, too, but but someone isalways here, at least while the
market's open.
(28:04):
So if if Christine or I aren'tin the office, one of our staff
will get back to us.
It's probably the easiest, youknow, neutral point to get to
someone.
Um you can check out ourwebsite,
ChristopherEvertsfinancial.com.
We're on Facebook and LinkedInum right now.
And we're just really startingwith any kind of marketing
(28:26):
efforts.
I think when we talked aboutfor the magazine, I told you
that we're we're that's onething we're behind the curve on.
We don't have a big name likethe Morgan's, the Merrills, the
Edward Jones.
So, like a lot of ourbusinesses is referral-based.
And that's the best complimentsomeone can give, you know, when
a family or friends or neighborrefers you someone that means
something to them.
Speaker 04 (28:45):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Well, this was great.
Thank you, uh, Christine andChristopher.
This is a great talk, and I,you know, I could pick your
brain some more about stocks andthings and ETS, but uh kick out
on that.
So we're just gonna have um aguy I call Chuck is just gonna
take us out, and you and I willbe right back.
Speaker 00 (29:05):
All right.
Thank you for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpbergen.com.
That's gnpbergen.com or call201 298 8325.
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