I have always dreamed of becoming an educator

-Miyoko Segawa, Partner

For the first half of my life, I grew up in Japan where I was taught the importance of saving from a young age. My parents have always been strong believers of budgeting and would keep track of their cash inflow and outflow daily. So, naturally, budgeting and saving became a part of my routine. Until I moved to America, the idea of taking financial risk as part of long term planning was completely foreign to me.

I began working as an assistant for Linda Paxton hoping to gain some knowledge about personal finance. This happened to be the year of the stock market downturn of 2002, and I learned quickly that emotions can play a large role in investing. Since then, I have experienced many stock market fluctuations and as I studied to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, I have found that having a long-term plan can make a big difference in personal finance.

Being a financial advisor has given me the opportunity to keep learning, to share my knowledge and to help my clients to pursue their financial goals.  Following in the footsteps of my parents, I have always dreamed of becoming an educator.  It's been joyful and meaningful to be able to educate my clients in all aspects of personal finances.  

Money should not be the most important thing in a person's life, but it becomes that way when you don't have enough to cover basic needs.

- Tina Brannan, Partner

Childhood experiences can heavily influence our choices as adults, this was definitely true for me.  I grew up in a small logging community on the South coast of Oregon, a few miles from my pioneer family’s 1850 donation land claim.  While rich in history and life lessons, there were times when food was scarce.  Money should not be the most important thing in a person’s life, but it becomes that way when you don’t have enough to cover basic needs.  These difficulties shaped my desire to learn how to properly manage money.

Being the youngest of ten children my fight or flight response leans strongly toward “fight”, therefore I see boredom as the worst kind of torture.  My job as a financial advisor is a ton of fun because of the high-stress environment, daily problem-solving and above all the never ending education.  In fact, at many points over the past 27 years I have thought, “I know a lot more now than I did five years ago.”  The thing is, this has become an on-going realization.  There is so much to know, the global economy and investment industry continue to grow in complexity.  

The evolution within our industry in recent years has created a need for higher education and accountability requirements for financial advisors.  Miyoko and I both feel that as CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™  professionals, our greater depth of knowledge and fiduciary obligation are critical to the financial success of our clients.  Obtaining a CFP® designation is voluntary and very difficult to earn, as such only 20% of advisors have this higher level credential.  Within the state of Oregon you will find fewer than 1,000 certificate holders, only 23% of which are women.  It is a distinction that gives clients the assurance of competent and ethical financial planning services.