The future is promised to no one, but it pays to create plans despite the uncertainty. As a Financial Advisor and Relationship Manager for the past 20 years, Carla Garcia understands the necessity of creating plans to increase one’s income, protect that income, minimize taxes during retirement, or even plan a legacy you never thought possible. Seeing that more needs to be done to uplift the lives of the clients she serves, she boldly stepped out of her comfort zone and started her own unique retirement company, known as My Plan Keeper. That is why this new retirement solutions company is geared to providing safe money solutions and protection strategies against areas of uncertainty in the financial world.
There are strategies geared toward helping clients protect their plans against longevity risk, sequence of returns risk, market risk, and extended healthcare costs, to name a few. Unfortunately, when clients invest their assets with financial institutions, the typical investment portfolio is not protected or structured to combat, which is why clients come to an Aha moment when they consult with My Plan Keeper. Carla is growing her social media exposure to touch as many people as possible, hoping to encourage the generations to share and seek wisdom, and what better way than social media?
Throughout the course of her career, Carla has served a wide array of clients, from entrepreneurs to professional athletes, healthcare professionals, government employees, and regular people trying to get by in life. Carla has worked for Merrill Lynch and Citi Personal Wealth Management in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale markets. She understands how unique each client can be regardless of their background and the amount of money in the bank.
My Plan Keeper intends to give clients empowerment. The goal is to help her clients make smart decisions and reach financial wellness regardless of their age and status in life by making positive changes, and to help them take action to advance and protect their plans from failing. After all, for Carla Garcia, financial wellness is not just about budgeting and planning. It is about managing your thoughts and emotions around your money.
“The retirement planning community is very large, and there is a lot of competition, a lot of misinformation, and, unfortunately, we are all built to believe in what we believe, so we get a lot of mixed opinions. People will seek guidance from financial keepers because we are independent fiduciaries working for them and with them. We can provide you access to the solutions that the big financial institutions do not have access to, and you will know the recommendation is unbiased,” Carla explains.
Carla was candid enough to reveal that she had no plans of developing the company and leaving her career with one of the most prestigious wealth management firms. What compelled her to develop the brand was nothing short of divine intervention. Seeing the pressing need of people she encountered every day, she knew something should be done immediately to help and rescue a target group both mixed between the Boomers and Gen X and to leave a legacy mark for the other generations by empowering and educating people through social media.
“I am still developing what will be known as the brand that will make people feel good about their future. If people start to reframe their mindset about money and focus on what they want their second life to look like, the accomplishments and legacy they want to leave behind, we will have a higher population of active and happier retirees. The retirement community is quite unique, I already knew what I stood for, and the moment I realized the impact I could have on clients, that was all I needed,” Carla further explained.
Carla decided to take the leap of faith because of her experience witnessing how many clients were struggling with misinformation, procrastination, lack of basic understanding of the systems and processes, and lack of support from a neutral person. With her extensive involvement with the retirement community over the years, Carla has gathered all of her wisdom and used it to become the foundation of My Plan Keeper. To date, her approach is set to change the lives of many.
“I have sat down with countless of the very high net-worth individuals and ultra-high net-worth, and I can count with one hand the few that were truly happy and enjoying their lives. They worked, focused on making money, building companies and missed family time and had no purpose for their money or retirement,” Carla shared. “With this company, I want to empower people to find their purpose and transform their retirement in order to bring happiness and fulfillment to their lives, and then financial planning and money management will be the easiest part,” she added.
Ultimately, Carla wants to see more and more people reduce their anxiety and uncertainty about their financial plans and give them a better way of living their “new life” in retirement. What to expect when you add My Plan Keeper to your financial plan? As someone with an independent perspective, your financial keeper will be on your side of the table, supporting you with the tools you need to succeed. By this year, Carla will also launch her first tool, gearing to revolutionize the retirement community.
