To meet Steve for the first time is to feel like you’ve been reunited with an old friend. Whether he’s taking you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Fort Worth Stockyards, explaining the ins and outs of local politics or quickly throwing on SCUBA gear to retrieve a client’s wallet from the bottom of a lake, “service” is a word that accurately sums him up in one word. While he’s served in the financial services industry since 1997, his primary profession for 28 years was firefighting. Visit him at his office, and you’ll sit in physical proof of those years, as he has the unique opportunity to work out of a building he once personally helped save from a fire – the fire hydrant he used is even the centerpiece of a water feature in the back yard.

His financial services career began after watching an entire one of his classes of firefighter trainees get signed up for an inadequate life insurance policy payroll deduction. His complaint to the provider resulted in an offer for him to take over their services to fire and police departments in the area, which he accepted. As a result, most of Steve’s clients are firefighters, police officers and their extended families. The fact that Steve understands their pension system, 457 plans and Deferred Retirement Option Plans (DROP plans) and doesn’t speak to them in “financialese” makes him a natural fit to partner with in their financial journeys. Firefighters and police officers serve the public in their worst of moments – not for the money, but for the sense of pride and intrinsic reward. As a financial advisor, Steve is able to get that same sense when he is able to help his client avoid financial pitfalls.

Like Ernest Hemingway’s famous fisherman from The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago, Steve realizes that success is not just a measure of the value of a person, but more a reflection of the journey he took to get there with integrity. He was named Firefighter of the Year for Battalion 3 in 1990, and then Firefighter of the Year citywide for Fort Worth in 1991. He was also later awarded the first ever Fire Department Visionary Award for developing and implementing a Total Quality Management initiative mandated by the mayor and city council. Steve is a Certified Estate Planner^® (CEP^®). He holds a degree in education from North Texas State University, and an MBA from the University of Dallas.

SPECIALTIES

Retirement Income Planning
Investment Management
Long-Term Care