Photo/Nancy Brumback
By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer
Worcester—“I like to call our financial business problem solving. We help people make decisions that will serve them well in bad times as well as good times,” said Rosemarie Boyd, founder and president of Boyd Financial Strategies and its principal financial planner.
Boyd Financial Strategies provides basic and advanced financial planning assistance to clients and also can advise on investments.
Rosemarie Boyd started with the predecessor firm in 1983, and she and her husband, John, bought the firm in 1985. John is treasurer and investment advisor. Their son, Peter, joined the family business in 2008, is a financial associate and manages daily operations.
“When a client first comes in, we start with the financial planning side,” said Peter. “We’ll come up with a budget after going through their financial situation, including cash flow and college and retirement planning, plus a review of all life, disability and long-term care insurance coverage.”
Once that planning step is done and goals are set, the company can also help clients with investments.
“We work with them on a fee-only basis to point them in the right direction” on investments, said John. “Or if they want someone to handle the investments for them, we offer an investment management service.”
“One of the reasons financial planning is so important is that investments should start with a plan to help determine what is appropriate for a client’s goals,” Rosemarie said. The person who comes to Boyd for financial planning services “is the person who wants to map out their life as they move through its stages rather than wing it.”
A key and ongoing part of financial planning, she noted, is helping clients think through major life decisions.
“If a client wants to start his own business, we can help walk through the things that need to be considered in that decision. If an older client is considering downsizing, we can ask why they feel they need to sell their house, do they want to move, can they hire people to do the tasks they can no longer do and can they modify their home?”
On the investment side, “we take the goals that come out of the financial planning process and see how the client is doing in meeting those goals. We customize their investment goals and provide performance tracking. It a very individualized process,” John said.
“We put together an investment plan based on their goals and their tolerance for risk,” added Peter.
“In 2008, not one of our clients had to postpone retirement because of the stock market drop. As they approached retirement age, their portfolios were shifted into more conservative investments,” said Rosemarie.
Boyd Financial Strategies is an independent, fee-for-services company, not affiliated with any brokerage firm. “We are a fiduciary advisor. All decisions are made with our client’s best interest in mind,” Peter said.
“Our independence is a key factor. When you come to us for financial planning, you are going to get financial planning. We are working for our clients,” added Rosemarie.
The company serves “the middle class, schoolteachers to physicians,” not just higher net-worth individuals, said John, people with some money built up in a 401(k) perhaps, who need assistance in long-range planning.
“People come to us primarily when they see they need to make tradeoffs, even when they make good money. How to balance educating their children with planning for retirement. Tradeoffs between shorter-term needs and having enough for retirement,” he added.
Boyd Financial Strategies is located at 255 Park Ave. in Worcester. For additional information, visit www.boydstrategy.com, or call 508-754-3226.
