Edward Jones Aims to Make Financial Freedom an Easier Target for Clients

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Even though the Hacienda location of Edward Jones is one of over 14,000 in the United States, financial advisor Jeff Bohn makes sure that each and every one of his clients gets the personally-tailored attention they deserve.

"I really took this position so that I can make a difference in people's lives," he says. "I've been with Edward Jones for over 11 years now and I've grown a lot in those years, but that is still my goal."

Making a difference is particularly important in planning for retirement but there are additional benefits to working with Edward Jones, Bohn notes.

"In helping people get their finances in order, I've found that takes a lot of pressure and a lot of stress off of them, which means they're enjoying life a lot more," he says. "Having their money working for them rather than them working for money is really the ultimate goal, so the first thing I do is sit down with them and we'll talk about what some of the goals might be and what we have to do to attain them. Once those guidelines are established, we put a plan together so the investment side of it is a means to an end. My approach has always been goal oriented."

Bohn's hands-on approach means that he is willing to focus on details that might otherwise go unnoticed. "I have no problem going over monthly budgets with people - sometimes it's a big surprise for them to find where all their money is going," he says. "Once we have that information, instead of their budget controlling them, now they have control over their budget and they can determine what they want to do with that extra money. What we find is even while they're attaining their goals, typically their quality of life gets better because they're saving for vacations and those types of things that maybe they didn't know they had the money for."

What almost all of Bohn's clients have in common is planning for retirement. "I think the biggest goal for everybody is retirement. It's actually bigger than buying a house," he says. "It probably takes the most amount of energy to make sure that we achieve that goal. The biggest question is, 'Where do you want to retire?' Some people feel that they will want to retire in the Bay Area but they can't afford to, so we address that issue. If you don't want to retire here then where do you want to retire? And so we take a look at that as well. Ultimately, I try to make sure that they have enough income to cover their basic expense needs so that their portfolio can take care of their wants."

Overall, his approach can be characterized by his willingness to teach clients about how to make informed decisions about managing their money. "A lot of people don't understand investments, so I try to educate everyone before we go into the different types of investments. Many people really appreciate the fact that they're getting a lot more education that they've never gotten anywhere else, but it is important because everyone has different goals," he says. "We have an enormous amount of software that allows us to approach education goals, working towards retirement, living in retirement, and other scenarios."

Bohn's attention does not end at investments, however. "People are looking for protection from catastrophic risk. If a spouse dies is the plan going to stay intact? Do we have enough life insurance? If they need some kind of long term care facility, or if they need some kind of long term care, are we covering that avenue of it? We try to put together a plan and then we try to protect it as well."

For additional information, contact Jeff Bohn at call (925) 225-1055 or email jeff.bohn@edwardjones.com. Additional information on Edward Jones can be found at www.edwardjones.com.

Photo: Financial advisor Jeff Bohn, left, and office administrator Cheryl Rose

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