Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Dover.
Hi Jay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
About 20 years ago after graduating with a BBA in Finance, I began my first gig with Lincoln Financial Advisors helping public educators save and invest toward their retirement utilizing their 403(b) retirement plan (essentially an educator’s version of the 401(k)). I found the job (and I emphasize “job”) very rewarding and energizing on a daily basis as I knew I was providing a valuable service to educators in helping them accumulate wealth toward their retirement but also the freedom to create my own schedule and really operate on my own terms to a great degree. I didn’t realize it then, but I would never look back in regard to working for myself. However, from the very start, their was also a lot of pressure from my company emphasizing the importance of gaining additional skills, credentials and business capabilities to embrace holistic financial planning beyond the limited role in which I was operating.
After 6 years of this role, I gave in to the pressure from the overall trend of the financial advising industry and began to stack up all the licenses and credentials that are expected of a respected financial planner. Between 2014-2019, I methodically widened my skillset as a financial advisor while still serving various public school systems around Atlanta. I certainly began working deeper with existing clients but I wouldn’t quite say I had a Financial Planning “practice”; not one that I was proud of by today’s standards anyways. I had gained the skills and accolades but I really hadn’t embraced the profession as my IDENTITY. When I look back at that 10-Year mark of working in the role of a traveling 403(b) salesman, I was fairly content being able to wear two different “hats” where I’d put on a suit and tie daily while working within my 403(b) plan cases during the day and living out my rockstar fantasies on the weekend mingling with the service industry and playing in my hard rock cover band. I had a job Monday – Friday and then I had my playtime on the weekend and that bifurcation was just how I understood and embraced life up to that point in time. And yet, something was still lacking for me…
The irony of finally gaining my CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation in 2019, which is the gold standard as far as a financial planning credential goes, is that I decided to join up with a buddy in Atlanta to start a small group travel company as a side project that was “The BucketList Club”. In just the first eight months of operation, we led (and somehow pulled off) four epic trips around the world with motley groups of younger travelers that included:
1. Oktoberfest/La Merce Festival in Munich/Spain respectively
2. Day of The Dead in Mexico City
3. A New Years trip we called “Two Years Eve” in New Zealand where we celebrated New Years Eve two times in 24 hours by flying over the international date line from New Zealand to the Cook Islands
4. Carnaval in Brazil (Sao Paolo + Rio De Janeiro)
The final trip that was a week-long adventure of Carnaval culminated in February of 2020. I can still remember the day I was flying home from Brazil when the Covid news had started to become very serious and little did I know at the time that would put a nail right through the heart of our small group travel operation and bookend another chapter of my life.
Covid was an era that affected all of us differently and yet, for me it provided an opportunity to pause and reflect in a so-called moment of silence. In the very beginnings of Covid, I found myself talking many of my clients off a cliff when it came to making poor decisions with their investments as the stock market crashed hard in March of 2020. It was the first time where I started to feel the fabric of this financial planning service I had always performed start to wrap around me like a uniform. I discovered during that long, awkward stretch of 2020 that what I really was passionate about from a career-standpoint was truly serving people in an impactful, tangible way. The gratitude that came from clients when I was serving them at this higher capacity was infectious. The holistic financial planning acumen I had gained over the past 12 years had entered a renaissance of such and yet I didn’t feel I was in the right environment to really flourish.
By 2021, I knew I needed to start a new chapter with an exodus out of Atlanta where I had essentially lived for the past 37 years. I had visited Austin for the first time in 2018 and could never really shake how much I was drawn to it. Even on a short visit there, it felt like the home I never had. I won’t tell you making that leap of faith to move to the Lone Star state was easy but after cleaning out my entire townhome to rent out, I loaded up my car with whatever I hadn’t given away or thrown away and embarked on my first drive beyond the eastern Texas border. I still can’t believe I met my wife (and best friend) after only two months of crossing that border in March of 2022.
This was almost immediately when I established my own independent financial planning brand “Dover Financial Planning” outside of my broker/dealer: Lincoln Financial Advisors, expanding my business along with my existing, supportive Georgia clientele into Texas (my FAVORITE part of the South). I transformed my role as a financial advisor into both a buttoned up business and an independent holistic planning practice. I sharpened the skills I had gained over the years to begin serving new clients in a fulfilling place that felt like it was always home but in a way that I knew was the most impactful of which I was capable. None of that would’ve been possible without discovering where I could truly be the best version of myself. I couldn’t be more proud of what it’s evolved into today and yet, with any independent financial planning practice, you must always continue the search to get better. I’m loving the journey and life as much as I ever have.
My core focus is now serving local middle class households here in Greater Austin in financially preparing for a successful and sustainable transition into retirement. In the world of financial planning, we simply call this reaching “financial independence”. My hope is for clients to see me as their “Personal CFO” who can be their trusted resource and advocate for every aspect that impacts their financial health; not the least of which is how to transition sustainably into retirement, how to properly manage their investments and assets and finally ensuring they have the proper estate planning done to most optimally benefit those they care about the most.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
When I look back at the past 20 years, it’s been a journey that’s hard to sum up as either easy or difficult. There are chapters of growth that felt downright depressing and fruitless and yet other pockets of time where things felt too good to be true. I think that sums up life itself for most of us. But an interesting ride, it has NO DOUBT been. I can’t help but smirk when I look back at my first day on the job to what life and my career have evolved into. It’s been messy, rewarding, humbling, beautiful and most of all…purposeful.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At this point in time, the clients I am looking to take on are primarily those that are 1-5 years away from retirement and they’re essentially asking themselves: “Am I gonna be able to do this?” (Actually retire on their own terms). Between coordinating one’s pension plan with social security, and accumulated investment accounts, it can be hard to get a pulse on whether you’ll have enough sustainable income to live comfortably for 30 years (or more) based on your standard of living. It’s even more of a challenge when a financial advisor starts to shine a light on other blind spot-type risks you’ll encounter over that 30+ years such as how you’ll manage inflation, taxes, an unpredictable stock market, healthcare expenses, long-term care and outliving your resources with advances in modern medicine.
Walking clients through a dedicated financial planning process to address all of the above is the very first step in helping someone make that transition. From there, I assist my clients with creating customized investment strategies for their assets, maximizing their cost-savings with insurance coverages, tax savings and putting together a proper estate plan. While most middle class households generally have a least one advisor or more that assists in one or more of these different subject areas, rarely have I found that they have a true personal CFO that can be their trusted resource for all things that impact their financial health. That doesn’t mean I prepare their taxes or write insurance on their home and automobiles, but it does mean they can rely on me to ensure those items are optimized and handled by the best people I have in my network.
My source of pride in regard to my independent practice revolves around my level of service and camaraderie that my clients will find working with me in addition to being their trusted holistic financial planner. I’ve spent many years not only learning the skills that are necessary to be an all-encompassing financial planning practitioner but have always worked in very humbling environments where I understand what’s at stake when it comes to one’s resources being managed with the utmost care and diligence.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Networking is quite a journey in and of itself. I’m a current member of “Networking In Action” and the Kyle Chamber of Commerce. I have embraced the networking world ever since I moved to Austin as I was very much drawn to the community oriented aspect of it. It’s remarkable to see all of the acquaintances and colleagues I’ve gained in so many different trades and professions over these years and how much I’ve learned about those respective trades and professions that impact our neighbors. So many of these people are now trusted professionals to whom I’m able to refer my clients. Atlanta really lacked that community vibe that I love so much about living here. I can’t imagine trying to grow your business in a meaningful way in this city without fully embracing that community activism on some level. I’ve found that to be one of the more gratifying aspects of having my life and business grounded here.
Pricing:
- all of my pricing is on my website under “client service packages”
- www.dover-financial.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dover-financial.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doverfinancial/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dover-Financial
Image Credits
Michael Beltran
