Feb. 11, 2008 at 2:27pm
Matthew Jarvis began working with his father, Nathaniel Jarvis of Jarvis Financial Services, four years ago. A junior partner and co-owner of the company, Jarvis said it is unlike many financial planning firms that work only with the wealthy. His favorite people to work with are the "salt of the earth" middle-class.
Jarvis Financial Services has been located in Federal Way for 18 years. In 2007, the company added more than $7 million in assets under its management, for a total of more than $50 million in assets.
Jarvis was a car dealership mechanic after high school and thought about doing that for many years.
"I was invited to join the family business," Jarvis said. "I declined the first few offers, but I later accepted. While I loved fixing cars, after three years I was ready for something new. Dad had been after me for a while to join his practice, and it finally seemed like a good idea."
Jarvis said he quickly learned to only work with people he liked.
"Life is far too short to deal with less-than-ideal clients," Jarvis said. "We will only work with people who are nice. We turn away a number of potential clients each year who don't feel like a good fit for our company."
Jarvis said the most surprising thing he's learned in his career is that most middle-class Americans entering retirement lack even basic financial and investing knowledge.
"In fairness, this isn't their fault," Jarvis said. "Most retirees were never taught about money in their homes and if they were, it was from great Depression-era parents. Very little school curriculum is dedicated to financial education and unfortunately the media and financial services companies create far too much hype and not enough substance."
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Posted in Banking/Financial Services, BE Daily, South King County by Steve Dunkelberger | Email Steve
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