How We Prepared to Meet with a Prudential Financial Professional #OwnMyFuture #AD

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks and Prudential.

The idea of meeting with a professional financial professional can be intimidating. You may think “I don’t have $1 million to invest” or “I don’t even have $1,000 to invest. What could they possibly do for me?” Those were some of the sentiments my husband and I had going into our initial meeting with a Prudential Financial Professional. As you’ll see from our experience, all of our concerns were in our heads. We left the conversation with a better perspective on what’s ahead for our family.

Our financial professional, Aiming Allen, told us many of their clients are young families who are making decisions on their future.

 INTRODUCE YOURSELF

If you can attend the meeting with your spouse, it’s preferred, but not a requirement. Having us both there allowed us to present the financial professional with information from both of us they requested at the same time.

We disclosed our ages, professional backgrounds, current job status, family size and financial obligations.

Essentially, a financial professional would like to know: where you are financially and where you would like to be.

How We Prepared to Meet with a Prudential Financial Professional #OwnMyFuture #AD

DISCUSS YOUR CONCERNS

I’ve shared here on my blog that while we are both still paying off my student loans, we are also concerned about saving for our son A.J.’s college tuition and expenses. When we discussed this topic with our financial professional they used the analogy of the safety message you hear on airplanes about the oxygen masks: “Secure your mask first – before you help others.”

Our financial professional recommended shifting the priority to tackling our debt and expenses, while increasing our income – before we stress over our son’s college savings.

Our car insurance went up when we moved to a new neighborhood. Our Prudential financial professional is helping us find a lower rate

How We Prepared to Meet with a Prudential Financial Professional #OwnMyFuture #AD

BRING DOCUMENTS

I had a brief phone conversation with our financial professional to set up the time of our appointment. She reminded us that if we could, bring some important documents to provide a snapshot of our financial outlook. Honestly, we forgot a few of these documents. If you do too, scan them later and email them to the financial professional.

Insurance policies: homeowners, car, renters etc.
Bank statements: checking, savings, investment, retirement accounts, etc.
Legal documents: wills, power of attorney, etc.

ASK QUESTIONS

When I think of how A.J. is less than 10 years away from starting college, it blows my mind. I still remember every moment of driving home with him as a newborn from Piedmont Hospital. I don’t think my husband went above 30 miles per hour the whole ride home.

How We Prepared to Meet with a Prudential Financial Professional #OwnMyFuture #AD

If we stay in Georgia, there are options to save on state tuition.

He’s a straight A student now and will prayerfully earn scholarships to cover the cost. But there’s still housing, food, travel and expenses of going to college.

We are looking into the best investment tools for savings and discussed scaling back tremendously even if it means skipping vacations or gifts.

TAKE NOTES

Keep track of what you learned and the follow-up questions the financial professionals would like you to answer as you move forward. I filled two pages in my notebook during our conversation.

LOOK AHEAD

You may be new here and missed my personal story. Look back at how I’m addressing How Has a Work-at-Home Mom Career Affected My Retirement Savings by talking to Prudential Financial Professionals.

We have life insurance for all three of us through my husband’s employer. I realized that many women might not have life insurance. Research from the 2016 LIMRA study, “Life Insurance Ownership in Focus, U.S. Person-Level Trends” shows that 44% of women have no life insurance and many others are under-insured.

How We Prepared to Meet with a Prudential Financial Professional #OwnMyFuture #AD

 

If your financial struggles include budgeting, retirement planning and college savings, I highly recommend that you make a no-obligation appointment with a Prudential Financial Professional. You can find one by filling out this form and someone will follow up with you about meeting locally.

Click to Tweet: See how @MommyTalkShow’s experience w/ a @Prudential Financial Professional influenced her financial outlook #OwnMyFuture #AD @SheSpeaksUp

About Joyce Brewer

Creator & Host of Mommy Talk Show. Emmy award-winning TV journalist.Wife & Mommy; Mom Blogger; Social Media Coach; Long Island, New York transplant living in Atlanta, GA. Follow Joyce on Twitter @MommyTalkShow Author of Use What You Know: A Business Idea Guide for Moms featuring interviews with mompreneurs who created businesses using their skills & backgrounds.

Check Also

[VIDEO] These Simple Kroger Fuel Point Hacks Will Save You Big Time

Even before the fuel prices started surging in the Spring & Summer of 2022, I’ve …

30 comments

  1. I think a financial professional from Prudential would be an absolutely massive help in financial planning. I mean, as much as I know, I’m not a professional.

  2. I loved how you went through the process and broke everything down for us. Very helpful information!

  3. Planning for the future is always a daunting task, I am lucky my husband is doing all this so far. It would help to have anorther pair of eyes so i will consider Prudential for us.

  4. We should all be looking to speak with Financial advisors! I know I will be, since I would love to leave a legacy and financial cushion for my children!

  5. I just reently started my career, so financial planning is one of my top priorities these days as I think about starting a family. Thank you for sharing! I will be sure to keep these things in mind when choosing a financial planner!

  6. I love that you mentioned asking questions. I think a lot of people don’t and that’s how they get into trouble.

  7. I’m always looking for financial advice. I want to learn as much as I can. We have college money for the kids but I want scholarships and save that for their first place.

  8. My husband and I were JUST talking about how we didn’t know what to expect. This was super helpful and put me at ease.

  9. This is such a great post topic. Being fin ancially responsible goes such a long way.

  10. I love seeing posts like this. I know how important finances can be.

  11. Being in control of your finances is so important. It sounds like Prudential can really help.

  12. You totally hit it on the nail with the ‘taking notes’ part. I so often have meetings with finance professionals and they always have great things to say – but I forget a lot of what we discussed in the meeting!

  13. Always great to have a good financial planner. I don’t think most people thing about their financial future

  14. When you put it that way (the less than ten years until college) it gives me a start. My son is 10, and you’re right, that time is flying! I wouldn’t mind sitting down with Prudential.

  15. These are really great points on what to expect when meeting with a financial professional. Thanks so much for this post, really helpful!

  16. This was a very informative read especially as we’re making plans to improve our finances and look into home ownership soon.

  17. Sounds like you learned a lot from the financial professional. Learning more about finances can always help especially when planning for the future.

  18. I think this is a good idea to get a professional for financial planning. So many people dont think about it but college and retirement money is important so doing things now can help put towards it in the future.

  19. Having a financial planner is huge and really puts your finances in perspective. I love that you said you don’t have to have a lot of money to start investing and thinking about the future.

  20. Planning for the future is so important. Thanks for the info and tips!

  21. This is a good way to help keep our finances in check. I would love to have someone to help explain and break down everything for me especially when it comes to buying insurance.

  22. Annemarie LeBlanc

    I believe it is important to speak with a professional when buying insurance. Not all we see online are suitable for our needs. Prudential is a very credible insurance provider and you will definitely find a plan that would give you that peace of mind you need.

  23. This definitely gave great insight into a meeting with prudential. I like that they said to worry about you r finances before college.

  24. I had a similar meeting with our financial advisor last year. It caused me to reassess how blogging isn’t bringing in enough money for me to sustain my lifestyle into retirement. In my heart I’m panicking, but because I love what I do I’ve been writing pitches to increase my earnings. If all goes well I will continue blogging, if not 2018 will be my last year.

  25. i’m with Prudential. I love their detailed customer service. They always speak to my needs and keep me informed.

  26. Man, we honestly have no idea what we are doing for retirement. We really need to stop playing and make something happen.

  27. This article was very informative to me. I will give Prudential Financial Professionals a call because I’m ready to retire soon. I need a great retirement plan with my 401k plan.

  28. This article was very informative to me, being that I am a young entrepreneur looking to build a business!

  29. Talking with a professional is always so helpful. Especially if you have specific concerns. Sounds like you made the right decision and have a great plan for the future .

  30. Great article on how to prepare for the initial meeting and what to expect from a financial professional. Well written, Thanks.