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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, and Neil Mahoney, Carol Berger,
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 27 years to the former Beverley Szeftel. Beverley,
an Emory grad, was a CPA but is now a Real Estate Broker.
Our son, Adam, a recent graduate of the University of
Arizona, lives and works in Manhattan. Our daughter Joelle
is a junior at 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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