I tell my prospects I will be the most conservative advisor they may find. I will help them earn money on their investments while minimizing their losses when possible.
Eight months after the sudden death at 58 of my father, a blue collar worker with $10,000 of life insurance, I became an insurance agent. I didn't want that financial tragedy to follow on anyone, and I have dedicated my career to trying to help people avoid a similar fate.
While serving in the Navy in 1971, I broke my back and spent 90 days in 100% bed rest in Newport Naval Hospital. This experience afforded me lots of time to think about what I was going to do next, and I decided then and there to go to college and make something out of myself. Because of my disability I went to college full time for seven years, paid for by the VA. I met my wife, Cindy, at Syracuse University, which is something I never could have paid for.
I feel like Lou Gehrig, the luckiest guy in the world. I have a great family, wonderful children, and a super wife. I spend four months of each year on a third-generation family home on Cape Cod. I love what I do.