Chester County Leadership: Fred Hubler, Chief Wealth Strategist & Financial Planner

By

Fred Hubler

Fred Hubler MBA, Chief Wealth Strategist and President of Creative Wealth Management Group from Phoenixville, PA, recently sat down with VISTA Today and discussed his love of football, role as father to twins, and support for the LGBT community. Hubler is also a prior Chair of the Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce and a NFL Players Association Registered Player Financial Advisor.

Where did you grow up?

I lived in a small twin in Delaware County until age fifteen. It was during this time that I met three of my closest friends who are still in my life over 30 years later. At age 15, my sister’s husband was killed in a car accident and her and my nephew moved in with us. The twin was way too small for a Brady Bunch-type family, so we moved into a larger home in Broomall, Pa.

Share a favorite story about your youth.

I went to Catholic grade school where they organized every processional line by size order. Being the smallest kid in the grade meant that I was in the front of every procession. One year, John Cardinal Kroll visited and I was asked to lead a 500-person processional to the church, then meet with him and welcome him to the parish. At age seven, I was overwhelmed and nervous. Ever since then, when I’m faced with a large responsibility, I think back to those times and think, “I got this!”

Why did you go into financial planning?

At one point in my early career I worked in finance at Unisys and realized that I never saw my clients (i.e. the shareholders). I felt that I wasn’t directly making a difference, something that I always valued, so I changed careers to work one-on-one with people to help them pursue their dreams.

Today, I am proud to say that I live by our mission statement: “Make a meaningful, positive financial impact so our clients can live a life of significance.”

Where do you go to school?

I graduated Magna Cum Laude from West Chester University and proceeded to earn an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. I obtained a series of financial certifications between 2001 and 2011, then received the Certified Wealth Strategist (CWS®) designation in February 2014.

What is your favorite part about helping people manage their finances?

Knowing I made a difference.

Share a client story that stands out to you.

There are so many. I love working with my clients. I get to know them on a personal level to best handle their financial future. I help them change their lives and redirect the course of their future. In turn, they often have a large impact on my life.

I think I realized how special our office was when my wife and I had our twins. As new parents of two newborns, we received a tremendous about amount of support from our clients. It was incredible. Clients made baby booties by hand, visits to our home, and meals so we didn’t have to cook. Everyone was so supportive that I didn’t feel bad spending time with family and less time in the office. While clients helped us, I was able to be a good father and spend more time managing the team in the office who “kept the lights on” and clients taken care of.

What is your favorite thing to do when you aren’t managing financial plans?

I love Eagles football and attend games as a season ticket holder. I also play the drums and keyboard and involve myself in all things tech. In addition, I’m always busy with my twins and wife. When I retire, I will have no problem keeping occupied. No worries – I’m not going anywhere anytime soon!

How do you get involved in your community?

I’ve always believed in giving back. We are part of the local Phoenixville community and even though we are in eleven other states, we call the Phoenixville area home.

Over the last 15 years I have given back personally, and as a business, in time and money to many of the great non-profits in our area. Our community partnerships include:

You recently signed on at an OUTWORD.Today affiliate Partner. Why is supporting the LGBT community so important to you?

At one of our company retreats we discussed how/where we could focus our philanthropy efforts. During an evening discussion it was mentioned that the LGBT community is still under pressure and discriminated against in many areas of our world, especially here in the United States.

There currently aren’t any statewide protections for LGBT community members in housing, employment, and public accommodations in Pennsylvania. This needs to change. People should love whom they love and identify however they choose to identify. It is not my place, nor anyone else’s, to infringe on basic human rights.

As an individual and as a company, we chose not to stand on the sidelines. I want to look my children in the eyes when they are older, however they choose to live their lives, and say, “I worked to fix this injustice.”

Why did you decide to partner with OUTWORD.Today?

As founding partner of a new venture, I like the excitement of being part of an unknown, but exciting project. I see the potential this project has. Rachel is the Energizer Bunny in terms of energy and momentum, and I trust that OUTWORD today will be extremely successful. I am honored to be a founding affiliate partner and I hope to be so for years to come.

What are some of the financial planning situations that may arise for LGBT couples?

Now that same sex marriage is legal nationwide, some of the original issues LGBT individuals faced are now resolved. As long as new laws don’t trend backwards, we work with LGBT couples just as we would with heterosexual couples.

Interestingly, we often find same sex couples to have larger age differences than we might find with heterosexual couples. This provides various challenges when creating lifetime income streams and solutions, but we have worked with enough couples to understand the challenges and provide much needed financial security.

Sadly, many LGBT individuals are unfairly underpaid. Since there is little we can do to right that wrong from our business, we can help to make sure that these individuals have a strong plan for the future.

Finally, there are still many legal issues that can arise for same-sex couples with kids who may not have legal rights to their children. We help advise on financial protections needed.

Do you have a tip you can share about financial planning during the holiday season?

Take a hard look at your portfolio. Heading into the election and end of year, the market may get very volatile. Most people only rebalance their portfolio after something bad happens.

We offer a free service to help individuals understand their risk and assess whether their current portfolio matches their expectations for risk and returns. We call it an SOS meeting (second opinion service) and we would be happy to provide this free service to VISTA.Today readers as well. Just call the office to setup a time for a virtual (or in office) session.

It’s important to note that planning should involve both the accumulation and distribution phases of your financial life. Does your current plan account for both long-term income and tax efficiency?

Whether the result is a confirmation that you are on the right path or a recommendation that adjustments are needed, receiving a second opinion can help you gain confidence in your long term financial plan.

Remember, it is simply not possible to get a reliable second opinion from the same person that gave you the first one.

Describe your typical client.

We work with a variety of individuals, but our primary client is a business owner, working executive, high-net-worth retiree, or professional athlete.

Why should people work with you?

No matter where you are in life, whether you are a young professional or winding down a successful career, you have goals and dreams. CCWMG engages clients in an ongoing conversation about needs, goals, and objectives to create the holistic life plan that’s right for each individual. We also act as a head coach, coordinating with other trusted advisors such as an individual’s legal team and certified public accountant (CPA) to ensure everything in the comprehensive plan works cohesively.

One of the services we offer, which is unique to our industry, is our flat fee retainer-based Wealth Management Planning Services. While there are a lot of companies that offer wealth management and financial planning, we take pride in what makes us stand out from the crowd.

We offer flexibility.

Your life is busy and sometimes it is hard to find time to devote to planning; we understand and respect that. Or maybe you’ve decided to spend your winter somewhere warmer and don’t want to put your planning on hold while you’re gone. We have leveraged some of the latest technology to offer the option of having your meetings with us virtually. You can be anywhere in the world and as long as you have an internet connection and a smart phone, tablet, or computer, we can work together on your plan. We can even coordinate multiple people in multiple locations to feel as if we’re in the room together.

We also offer appointment times outside of the regular 9:00-5:00 business hours. Whether it’s meeting virtually on your lunch hour or sitting down together in the evening after you get off work, we are willing to work with what fits your schedule to achieve success.

Those meetings with your other trusted advisors? We can coordinate on their schedules – virtually or in person – and have those consultations without you having to be involved in the back and forth or take the time off work to attend. We call those “meetings about you, without you”, after which you would receive a full summary of everything covered in the meeting.

We have a GPS to guide us.

We develop with you a customized two-year plan to cover all of the various aspects of your wealth management planning journey. We call this our GPS. It is a layout of quarterly meetings and specific milestones that lead you to your long term planning goals. You can easily monitor progress and manage expectations.

Retainer Based Wealth Management Planning Models

Our planning engagement models are the basis for your customized GPS. Each model begins with the same base areas: insurance review, tax mitigation strategy review, investment allocation and selection review, a wealth and estate transfer discussion, and retirement planning. In addition, all planning models include access to our online planning and aggregation portal LIFE Vision, which allows you to see your overall financial picture in one location.

To learn more about Fred Hubler and Creative Capital Wealth Management Group, visit their website.

To schedule a FREE second opinion service, call 610-560-2003.

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