A New CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) Professional, Loyd Now Associate Financial Advisor

Days after his daughter was born, Loyd drove over 11 hours, braving winter road conditions at the start of the Covid pandemic, to interview at our office in Snoqualmie. His commitment to the financial planning profession and his desire to serve our clients was a clear standout among the candidates we interviewed back then. Now three years later, please join us in congratulating Loyd for becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional! Financial Freedom for Dentists will only continue to reach new levels of service as Loyd becomes an Associate Financial Advisor.

For Loyd, this achievement is not only a milestone in his career, but the promotion also fulfills Loyd’s passion for helping clients with financial planning and investment management. “I studied very hard for the test, and I’m grateful I passed it the first time,” says Loyd. Studying for the exam wasn’t easy. With a busy work schedule, two young children, including a newborn son, and volunteering at his church, ―studying at night and early in the morning was a challenge. However, Loyd attributes a huge part of his success to his wife Katie who supported and encouraged him to take the extra time studying while she cared for their children.

Loyd's wife Katie has been a tremendous support while raising their two young children & studying after work hours.

What it Takes

Like dentists who commit to professional ethics and standards, to be a financial advisor here at Financial Freedom for Dentists, it is essential that someone be a CFP® professional. See Dentists & Financial Advisors: The Fiduciary Standard article to learn more about the connection of rigorous standards both dentists and our financial advisors meet when meeting the needs of clients/patients.

“We are unconditionally committed to being a fiduciary, which means that we act in the best interest of our clients. Loyd becoming a CFP® Professional gives us greater opportunity to grow and serve more dentists. Loyd will now be taking on more responsibilities including leading new client meetings and advising more clients himself," says financial advisor Nate Ricks, CFP® at Financial Freedom for Dentists.

While many people may call themselves a “financial planner,” not all financial planners are certified by the rigorous qualifications and requirements independently certified by the CFP Board to call themselves “a CFP® professional.” As stated on the CFP Board website:

“As part of their certification, CFP® professionals commit to high ethical standards. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can call themselves a CFP® professional.”

The following video further explains what sets CFP® professionals apart when looking for financial planning and investment advice:

What it Means for Clients & to Loyd

“Helping clients by always acting in the client’s best interest at all times when providing financial advice was a non-negotiable for me when deciding on a career and where I wanted to work,” says Loyd.

The commitment to act as a fiduciary is part of the certification, and includes the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct and the CFP Board’s Standards of three duties: the duty of loyalty, the duty of care and the duty to follow client instructions. Loyd says that the designation means “that someone has put in the work and study to understand the ‘big picture’ when it comes to personal finance. Although advisors may specialize in a certain area (investments, tax, etc.), the coursework covers a breadth of topics that round out the financial advisor’s knowledge (insurance, estate planning, retirement planning, etc.).”

What it Took to Get Here

Loyd appreciates the mentoring experience he has gleaned as a Client Service Specialist then Paraplanner working to support Nate the past three years. “Over the last three years, I have sat in on hundreds of client meetings to take notes and run the financial projection software to present portions of financial plans,” says Loyd. He particularly values getting to see how Nate handles all sorts of client situations, an experience he says has been “impactful in learning the tools for how I could potentially handle those same types of situations when I am the one leading relationships with clients.”

“Working with Nate has been amazing. I am constantly impressed with his dedication to help everyone from the retired dentist to the newest member of a client’s office staff. He has a true passion for financial planning that is contagious, and he inspires me to be a better advisor.”

Why Here?

Why did Loyd drive so far on his own nickel to interview at Financial Freedom for Dentists? The drive started long before for him when he was growing up, and he would track his money and wonder how to live the life he wanted. He noticed how some people worked their whole lives but had little to show for it or how others had accumulated money but didn’t seem to be fulfilled. In college, Loyd began listening to personal finance podcasts and even changed his major in college to finance. Then after talking to a trusted mentor about his job as a financial advisor, he became intrigued about the idea of helping people and knowing more about how money worked.

The family pizza business where Loyd first learned to work & about money.

About making the career shift, Loyd says: “I had been on track to help my dad with the family pizza business, but I was so intrigued by the idea of becoming a financial advisor, that I altered my career path, joined the Wealth Management Society at BYU-Idaho, and started to learn about the financial services industry.”

As Loyd prepared to graduate and looked at available positions at the start of the Covid pandemic, he realized that many entry positions in the financial services industry involved being a cog in a huge organization or starting off by selling financial products. Despite other opportunities, Loyd says “When I met Nate during a Wealth Management Society Meeting and he talked about helping clients use their money as a resource to achieve their financial goals, it clicked for me. Money is a resource! I instantly applied for their open position and was lucky enough to land with them.”

As part of our growing team here at Financial Freedom for Dentists, we're thrilled to meet the needs of more clients with Loyd serving as our newest CFP® professional financial advisor!