Your Advisor – Jim Lorenzen, CFP®, AIF®

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Jim Lorenzen, CFP®, AIF®
THE INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL GROUP
Registered Investment Advisor

Phone: 805-265-5416
Fax: 805-830-1138
Toll Free: 800-257-6659
E-mail: info@indfin.com
California Insurance License #0C00742

Resized CFP_Logo_GoldCERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional specializing in retirement income planning. Jim began his wealth management career in 1991.

ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY™? (AIF®)

This is a course of study covering international standards of best practices for investment fiduciaries engaged in advising endowments, foundations, ERISA plans, and private clients. The curriculum is administered by The Center for Fiduciary Studies in association with the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh.

Arrange an introductory call with Jim by using our convenient scheduler!

Education

  • Emory & Henry (Virginia), B.A., Economics
  • The American College – Financial planning curriculum for CFP®
  • Center for Fiduciary Studies in association with the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh – Accredited Investment Fiduciary™ (AIF®)

Business  background:

Founded, built, and successfully sold five businesses  

Weekly entertainment magazines, shopping guides, and weekly papers—a business model combining a number of functions:  sales, materials sourcing, manufacturing, assembly, distribution, finance, human resource management, and service.    (Prior background had included broadcast news and advertising, as well as several national and international corporate positions in consumer and commercial finance.)

Professional speaker and management consultant

During the 1980s: headline speaker at more than 500 national and international conventions throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.K. for clients such as Hearst Corporation, CapCities/ABC, Foster Grant, Hobie Cat, Independence Bank, H.R. Textron, Orlando Sentinal, Val-Pak, The Los Angeles Daily News, The National Association of Advertising Publishers, National Association of General Merchandise Representatives, National Association of Music Merchants,  National Newspaper Association, National Management Association, Manufacturer’s Reps of America, California State University Northridge, New York State Publisher’s Council, Union Ice Company, Cox Communications, and many others. Articles published in scores of national trade and other publications of organizations cited above and others.

Media  coverage

As a financial advisor, published in NASDAQ , the Journal of Compensation and Benefits, and Profit Sharing Council of America’s Insights.  He has also appeared on American Airlines’ Sky Radio, heard on more than 19,000 flights.  Also has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal for Smart Money magazine.

What is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™?

To earn the CFP® certification from the CFP Board, candidates must meet requirements for education, work experience, and ethics. To fulfill the educational requirement, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university and also master a list of nearly 100 topics on integrated financial planning through a CFP Board-Registered program. Topics cover major planning areas, such as:

  • Estate Tax, Gift Tax, and Transfer Tax Planning
  • Asset Protection Planning
  • Retirement Planning
  • Estate Planning
  • General Principles of Finance and Financial Planning
  • Insurance Planning
  • Employee Benefits Planning
  • Investment and Securities Planning
  • State and Federal Income Tax Planning
  • Estate Tax, Gift Tax, and Transfer Tax Planning
  • Asset Protection Planning
  • Retirement Planning
  • Estate Planning

The time it takes to complete the requirements depends heavily on the candidates study schedule – two to three years is not uncommon. There are more than 300 colleges and universities offering a CFP Board-Registered course of study within their graduate MBA programs. Upon completion, CFP candidates must pass a ten-hour, 2-day, exam, conducted twice each year on the same dates at specific selected testing locations across the United States.

There’s a distinct difference between a certification and a designation, though many use the terms interchangeably.  Certification is accredited: it requires impartial, third-party validation from a credentialing program – the certifying body cannot be affiliated with the education provider and therefore conveys a higher standard of excellence.  It’s more sustainable than a designation because an accredited program must continually update their requirements to maintain relevance.

Putting this in perspective:  An advisor with a designation tailored to a specialty can’t effectively plan a client’s retirement unless s/he knows how it affects other areas of the financial plan.  An analogy:  If someone wants to become an anesthesiologist, s/he doesn’t simply go to anesthesiology school.  The first stop is medical school learn how each part of the body interacts with the others.  Once they have a medical degree, then they go to anesthesiology school.   So, if someone specializes in a narrow area and is not a board-certified CFP®, some unintended consequences may bring unhappy surprises down the road.

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20-Minute “Right Fit” Introductory Call Now!

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Jim Lorenzen is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and An Accredited Investment Fiduciary® in his 21st year of private practice as Founding Principal of The Independent Financial Group, a fee-based registered investment advisor. He is also licensed for insurance as an independent agent under California license 0C00742.

Schedule Your 20-Minute
“Right Fit” Introductory Call Now!