Ted Kampbell - Professional Biography
Ted entered the financial planning profession in 1987 after a successful careeer as a Director of Religious Education and an adult education specialist at a large corporation. He was a rookie with a little experience in the financial field, but had a driving need to help clients. At the beginning, he worked in a captive insurance agency that also sold investments. There were only a limited number of products available and he had to try to make those limited products fit every client, but it never felt quite right.
His goal was to be a financial advisor, not a product peddler, and saw additional education as the means to that goal. He completed the Certified Life Underwriter (CLU) professional designation in 1996 which consisted of ten financial planning courses with an emphasis on insurance and investing followed by a two-hour test for each course. In 1998 he completed the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) which required additional testing. These two designations are an equivalent to the CFP.
In 1999 his entrepreneurial spirit finally broke through and he started his own firm where he now had available thousands of different investment products. He spends many hours winnowing and sifting those products to find the best tools for his clients. He finally felt that he had become the financial professional that he had envisioned with the right tools to craft and fund retirement plans that were customized to each client.
He also began working on a retirement planning concept that makes intuitive to most people. This approach looks at retirement dollars, not as a nest egg, but as a nest of eggs. Each egg represents a 5-year period to time. Investments are then made based on a given period of time of when the money is needed. For example, money needed in the first five years needs to be absolutely safe. Money needed in years 11+ can be invested to provide more return.
As a sole practitioner, he quickly realized that he wanted a team approach to planning. He did not want to be a "lone ranger," but wanted the synergy that comes from a group of people working together. In 2000 he brought in a young guy with little experience, but who was very good with people. After five years his son, Joshua, joined his staff and is now an integral part of the team. He is building a team at Savanna Financial Group that includes multiple financial planners and supporting staff. He has also created strategic alliances with a select group of accountants, attorneys, health and long term care professionals. "At the Savanna Financial Group we do not pretend to know everything, but the answers to your questions are just a phone call away."
Because of the market turmoil since 2000, Ted and Josh have restructured their approach to asset management . They now employ managers who can be in the market when it is advantageous and out of the market when it is declining. This approach helps clients avoid the heat wrenching declines of the stock market roller coaster.