My Story
How did a Dentist become a Financial Planner??
For almost 20 years, I practiced Dentistry. It was a great
career in a thriving practice and I miss many aspects
of it. In 1999, life threw me a curveball in the form
of ruptured disks in my neck that ended my ability to
practice dentistry. This could have been catastrophic,
but instead it has turned out to be one of the best things
that ever happened to me.
Without intending to, I’d been preparing for
this career change for a long time. Dentists are the
target of all sorts of “financial advisors.”
It seemed like every stock broker and insurance agent
was trying to sell me something. As I did the research,
more often than not, the products were inappropriate.
Sometimes, they were downright awful. The more that
I was offered poor advice, the more I learned how the
financial industry operated, and the more I studied
financial and investment planning in order to do it
myself. Eventually, friends and family were coming to
me for financial advice. Even investment/financial professionals
were questioning me. For fun, I decided to take the
CFP course. As I was finishing up 2 years of study and
was about to sit for the two-day CFP board exam, the
ruptured disks reared their ugly head and I could no
longer practice Dentistry.
The good news was that I had done great planning for
myself; my disability insurance meant I didn’t
need to work. The bad news is that sitting at home was
no fun. So rather than consult/manage dental offices,
work for a dental insurance company, or teach in a dental
school, I went to work as a financial planner. First
I worked for a Goldman Sachs subsidiary (Ayco).
Now I'm with Robert Hockett, Neil Mahoney, Carol Berger,
Brandy Tindell, Tana Flores, and Cheryl Leeper at Cambridge
Southern Financial Advisors. Robert, who was formerly
my private banker, and was one of the few financial
industry people to give me decent advise (Cambridge
Southern Financial Advisors).
I was born in The Bronx, NY and raised Lakewood, NJ.
I've been a resident of Metro Atlanta since attending
Emory University in 1973. I'm proud to say that I've
been married for over 30 years to the former Beverley
Szeftel. Beverley, an Emory grad, was a CPA and Real
Estate Broker but is now retired. Our son, Adam, a graduate
of the University of Arizona, lives and works in Manhattan.
Our daughter Joelle is a recent graduate of the University
of North Carolina.
While not working, Barry enjoys travel, reading (financial
and investment books and publications), mountain and
road bicycling, and spending time with his family and
dogs at home and in Santa Rosa Beach, FL.
If you're interested in my formal qualifications please
check out my
profile at Cambridge Southern Financial Advisors.
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