Garret is an Financial Planner at RTD Financial. Prior to joining RTD, Garret was a Wealth Management Consultant at Compass Financial Solutions in Bucks County, where he worked directly with clients, from onboarding and plan design, to implementation and ongoing service.
As the son of small business owners, Garret’s dedication to client service is a testament to his childhood in New Hampshire. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance. He went on to study through Bryant University, earning the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. An active member of the Financial Planning Association, Garret is passionate about deepening the impact of financial planning as a method of reducing stress and anxiety relating to money.
Garret and his wife Stephanie reside in Center City Philadelphia with their rescue-pup, Talula. In his spare time, he enjoys making slow, low backyard barbeque, keeping up with the thriving Philly restaurant scene, mornings at the dog park, working on his swing at the Union League Golf Club, and traveling abroad. As a native New Englander, he prefers not to discuss professional sports at work.
Getting to know Garret
What do you enjoy most about working at RTD?
As an ensemble firm, there’s an undeniable sense of “team” here at RTD, which I don’t think could be easily replicated elsewhere. Since we’re employee-owned, it’s reassuring that our leadership is aligned with our day-to-day operations and it’s a big reason why we’re able to be so nimble as an organization. I also heard we might be getting an espresso machine.
What makes you good at what you do?
First and foremost, I love a good story – and that’s what we’re all doing, right? Living out our autobiographies? I’ve yet to meet any two people with the exact same life story. It’s exciting learning what people want their next chapters to look like and helping determine how to make it happen.
Secondly, I’m a bona fide life-long math nerd. I was on a competitive math team in the fifth grade. I went to college and applied math to real world issues by studying finance and economics. I get jazzed whenever people bring up advanced MS Excel spreadsheets. Professionally, I get to work with people to help solve their financial planning equations. Since the variables of a financial plan never stop changing and they’re unique for every client, every day brings an exciting new challenge.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Fortunately, I’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of great advice. A recent favorite about how to deal with a big task was, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
My parents let me watch Saturday Night Live reruns at a pretty young age and I wanted to be a comedian through most of elementary school.
What’s the most exciting vacation you’ve taken?
My wife and I went to France for the first time in the summer of 2017. We both fell in love with Paris but the exciting part was renting a tiny car, driving through the aggressive traffic and perilous roundabouts out of the city and down to Burgundy. On our first night in Burgundy there was a torrential rainstorm. We were in our tiny car, driving through tiny dirt roads, cutting through vineyards on our way to dinner, thunder and lightning, no GPS, big maps opened-up, foggy windshield – totally lost. It had all the makings for the plot of a horror movie. Slowly, we eventually reached the town and located the restaurant. I’m sure the food there is normally quite excellent, but I’m positive our journey made it taste even better that night!
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