By John Jenkins
Like many people, I didn’t always know what I wanted to do with my career. I studied education in college, and while I liked helping people and educating them, I was still searching for the right career fit for me.
One evening, I attended a one-day introductory financial planning class at UCSD Extension. I came home that night after the class and announced to my wife that I knew what I was going to do professionally for the rest of my life. It was instantaneous. I hadn’t felt so drawn to a career and I knew I had found the right fit for me.
It’s now been nearly four decades and I know I made the right choice that fateful evening. I found my calling in educating people for financial well-being and helping them pursue it.
My Career
I first entered the financial services industry in the early 1980s, and in 1988 I founded my firm, Asset Preservation Strategies, Inc. with the goal of assembling a team of financial professionals to address all of the elements of successful wealth management.
My goal is to provide insight, a commitment to service excellence and a wealth of resources to help my clients simplify their life, shore up their money, and generate a deep sense of well-being – not just today but long into the future.
Infusing Education Into My Career
Education will always be part of my role as a financial advisor. With an education background and the soul of a teacher, I take pride in the level of guidance and advice I can offer my clients.
Beyond educating my clients, I enjoy conducting financial seminars and workshops every year, writing books, contributing to publications, and more. And as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, I am committed to maintaining a high level of knowledge and ethics to offer my clients more personalized and in-depth financial planning services.
The Hurdles and Triumphs
There are certainly challenges that come with being a financial advisor. It can be difficult dealing with the cycle of emotions, as humans are naturally emotional beings, especially when it comes to something as important as their hard-earned savings. We can’t help but react to events in our lives, be it positive or negative. Keeping clients invested when they want to sell due to the markets dropping or convincing them to buy when they want to avoid it is both the highest skill I can bring to the client experience and the least appreciated. It’s no easy task juggling this responsibility.
But despite the challenges, the triumphs far outweigh it. Every day, I’m driven by the care I have for my clients and desiring to continue to improve our services and client experience no matter the circumstances. I believe that we either grow and improve or we stagnate and die (a slow, professional death). The motto is: keep striving, keep improving, keep growing.
Ultimately, there is nothing more fulfilling than having long-term clients acknowledge that my advice has helped them live a better life and benefit the people and causes they care most about. My most precious work-related possessions are the many heartfelt thank-you notes clients have written expressing these very sentiments. These are much more valuable and fulfilling to me than my lifetime earnings as a financial planner.
Taking the First Steps
If you’re interested in learning more about how I work with my clients, I suggest you take the time to meet with me. You can learn how I may be able to help personalize a financial planning strategy and help you pursue your unique goals. There is never a fee, charge, or obligation for your first meeting. Call my office at (858) 455-1825 to take the first step.
About John
John Jenkins is the founder of Asset Preservation Strategies, Inc. and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with nearly 40 years of industry experience. He specializes in providing affluent individuals and families sophisticated distribution planning for large retirement accounts to protect, stretch and preserve them for future generations, investment management, wealth management and advanced estate and tax planning. A third generation San Diego native, he enjoys working with clients throughout his local county. Learn more about John by connecting with him on LinkedIn or visiting www.asset-preservation.com.