SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — When Tod Lenhoff stepped off the 727 airplane in Kotzebue, Alaska, he looked around the town of brick, ice and corrugated metal and wondered, "Why would anyone live here?"
As a young financial advisor in Los Angeles, he had served the entertainment industry and top level executives, advising them on tax strategies, investment choices, insurance options, and retirement planning. He was excited to be flown north of the Arctic Circle by the Alaskan government to teach the local Inupiat Eskimos how to better run the finances of their small businesses.
His students arrived by snowmobile from their villages in the tundra, and between lessons on money management, Tod Lenhoff couldn't resist asking what made them stay. They replied, "It's our home – this is where our family is." It was his first major lesson in discovering people's real priorities. Comforts – and warm climates – may be nice, but family is what counts.
Now in the fourth decade of his career, Lenhoff's breadth of knowledge is wider than many financial advisors. He's a CPA, an Elder Planner, Securities Registered and Insurance Licensed, in addition to being a Certified Financial Trainer. In 1998, he founded Lenhoff Tax and Financial Services in San Diego, California where he uses his tax knowledge with his investment and financial planning background to act as an investment advisory representative for retirees.
It's a job that requires him to pay close attention to his clients' real priorities. In fact, the first thing he does when sitting down with new clients is to chat about their families, long before talking through prudent investments, tax saving strategies, estate legacies, and planning for long term care. Rather than bombarding potential clients with pressure sales tactics, his goal for that first meeting is to "make it valuable time for them. I am happy to share my knowledge because it builds trust," he says.
In Southern California, an area known for its high cost of living, retirees have to be especially careful to ensure their retirement savings last as long as they do. The key to helping them meet that challenge, Lenhoff says, is "to be very straightforward about their financial situation and help them prioritize their needs and objectives." He sees the time it takes to do that as a necessary cost of doing business – or at least doing business the right way.
Most of Lenhoff's business comes from happy clients referring him to their friends and relatives, proving that doing good leads to doing well. And for Tod Lenhoff, doing good is what counts.