Peggy McGillin, CFP®
Principal
Peggy McGillin, CFP® is a fee-only (not fee-based) independent Registered Investment Advisor and the Principal of Journey Financial Planners in Concord, Massachusetts. Ms. McGillin’s desire to assist individuals & business owners maximize their hard earned capital began smoldering during her entrepreneurial career and was subsequently ignited during her tenure at innovative wealth management firms in New York City, Bellevue, Wash. and Melrose, Mass.
Ms. McGillin:
- Is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
- Has a Certificate of Financial Planning from Boston University.
- Passed the broker Series 7 and Series 66 exams but decided against working at Wall Street and commission-driven brokerage firms despite attractive offers.
- Is a member of The Massachusetts Financial Planning Association, The Concord Chamber of Commerce and serves on the steering committee of the Concord Independent Business Alliance.
- Sold WOWFactor, Inc., an Internet firm she founded in 1995, to publicly traded Frontline Communications in 1998.
- Has extensive product management and development experience with AT&T and business development with venture backed and closely held firms.
- Earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at New York University’s Stern School of Business
- Earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration (BS) with majors in Finance and Insurance & International Business at Northeastern University.
The Genesis of Journey
Not happy with the financial planning and investment options or commissioned fee structures available after the successful sale of WOWFactor, and particularly unhappy with her expensive, unrewarding experience with a Wall St. broker, Peggy vowed to find a better way of financial planning and investing. After extensive research, passing the Series 7, 66, and Certified Financial Planner exams and working for three firms on both coasts, it became clear that the only way to provide objective advice was to establish a new type of entity, a fee-only independent advisory firm that did not rely on sales commissions but rather truly helped clients make better financial decisions and obtain more value from advice and their investments. Journey Financial Planners was born one year prior to the call for financial regulatory reform, in March of 2008.
A Better Business Model for Investors
Journey Financial Planners is a fee-only firm which means it receives all its compensation from its clients in easy to understand, competitive and transparent fees. Fee-based planners (easily mistaken for fee-only), charge their clients fees and receive compensation from the products they sell them, often without their client’s knowledge.
- In 2009, the vast majority of CFP® advisors are compensated via commissions or fee-based, only one fourth being fee-only.
- According to the June 16, 2009 SmartMoney article, Ten Things Financial Planners Won’t Tell You, more than 40% of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ call themselves fee-based.
- As late as 2006, 80 percent of the advisors associated with independent broker dealers were fee-based, per the Cerulli Associates 2006 Advisor Survey.
Journey Financial Planners is devoted to putting the client first and this means eliminating the inherent, conflict common at other firms of doing what’s best for the client vs. selecting products that pay the firm the highest commission.
There is an opportunity to build a better mousetrap in delivering financial services. History has proven that organizations profiting from the status quo are never the ones to promote change. Journey Financial Planners’ business model is to provide objective, transparent financial advice and charge a fair price for excellent service. Journey has the experience & commitment to make this compelling new approach work for you. Review Our Approach to learn more.
Experienced at Putting the Pieces Together and Creating Value
Journey develops objective strategies and solutions for individuals and families. Having identified best in class suppliers, who commit to fiduciary standards, backed up by recognized industry certifications and adhering to Journey’s rational and efficient investment philosophy, we are delivering significant value to both individual investors and families.
Most “seasoned” advisors have years of experience earning commissions. People successful in the old model are skilled sales people. Journey Financial Planners experience in creating value is unique, more relevant and more important than ever in meeting clients’ needs. Journey Financial Planners approach is validated by the firm’s growth and client satisfaction of high net worth individuals, families and business owners. References are available upon request.
To meet a client’s needs we first identify the expertise required and then choose from the industry experts providing those services. This is one significant way Journey Financial Planners is different from other Registered Investment Advisory Firms, many still create portfolios of individual securities in house. (See Our Approach for the other meaningful ways we differ.) This approach brings service providers to the table that best fit the goals of the client. To execute on this strategy, we maintain rigorous standards for who is invited to work with us and our clients. We work with our clients’ other advisors such as attorneys, CPAs, third party administrators and insurance providers to minimize change where it is not necessary.
To learn how we can put the pieces together for you, read about Our Approach which provides the foundation of our business.
