Andrew Rice: Transforming Financial Planning with Fee-Only Advice at Money Management Services
Jul 07, 2024
Patricia
Discover the transformative journey of Andrew Rice, the president of Money Management Services in Homewood, and how his family-based, fee-only advisory firm could revolutionize your financial planning. Andrew breaks down the differences between fee-only, fee-based, and commission-based services, offering invaluable insights into the advantages of a client-centered approach. His inspiring story from aspiring medical professional to a leader in the financial industry, sparked by a simple college elective, will captivate and motivate you to rethink your own career possibilities.
In a heartwarming segment, we chat with Andy, a down-to-earth country boy with a passion for deer hunting and coaching high school sports. Andy shares his wisdom on the significance of early financial education and the critical role of trusted advisors in navigating the complexities of the market. With a focus on making financial advice accessible and relatable, Andy's practical tips and approachable demeanor make this conversation a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their financial health, whether you're a seasoned investor or just getting started. #GNPBIrmingham #MoneyManagementServices #BirminghamWealth #BirminghamWealthManagement #BirminghamRetirement #BirminghamFinancialPlanning #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #FeeOnly #ClientCentered
Discover the transformative journey of Andrew Rice, the president of Money Management Services in Homewood, and how his family-based, fee-only advisory firm could revolutionize your financial planning. Andrew breaks down the differences between fee-only, fee-based, and commission-based services, offering invaluable insights into the advantages of a client-centered approach. His inspiring story from aspiring medical professional to a leader in the financial industry, sparked by a simple college elective, will captivate and motivate you to rethink your own career possibilities.
In a heartwarming segment, we chat with Andy, a down-to-earth country boy with a passion for deer hunting and coaching high school sports. Andy shares his wisdom on the significance of early financial education and the critical role of trusted advisors in navigating the complexities of the market. With a focus on making financial advice accessible and relatable, Andy's practical tips and approachable demeanor make this conversation a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their financial health, whether you're a seasoned investor or just getting started. #GNPBIrmingham #MoneyManagementServices #BirminghamWealth #BirminghamWealthManagement #BirminghamRetirement #BirminghamFinancialPlanning #WealthManagement #FinancialPlanning #FeeOnly #ClientCentered
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Patricia Blondheim.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, patricia Blondheim, and today we have good neighbor Andrew Rice, and Andrew is the president of Money Management Services in Homewood. Andrew, how are you today? I'm fine, patricia, andrew Rice and Andrew is the president of money management services in Homewood. Andrew, how are you today?
Speaker 3:
I'm fine, ms Patricia, how are you?
Speaker 2:
I'm doing great, thank you. I'm eager to learn more about money management services. Tell me what makes it special.
Speaker 3:
Well, ms Patricia, I mean we're just a family-based business here in Birmingham. We're a fee-only registered investment advisory firm. We're a boutique shop where we kind of take care of a lot of areas for clients and their financial needs. We have an attorney in office for estate planning, we have two CPAs in office here, but the majority of what we do is manage money.
Speaker 2:
But we're kind of a one-stop shop, fee-only registered investment advisory firm for the middle-class, middle-class millionaires investment advisory firm for the middle class, middle class millionaires, for people who don't understand financial management and I think there's more of us out there than most people think what is a fee-only structure?
Speaker 3:
Well, a fee-only structure is to where someone as a client comes in and the investable assets they call them AUM assets under management and there is a fee charged to that. Usually it's a percentage, so it's like a 1% fee of your AUM up to a certain limit and then it starts getting cheaper. So that's how that operates. There's no sales commission. I'm not selling a client anything other than that they can trust us and we try to earn that. So that's how a fee-only structure operates, different from a fee-based or a commission-based. Fee-based can be a mixture of fee-only and commission-based products, whereas a commission-based is all commission, more like a kind of like a salesperson or more like a real estate agent that sells a product and gets paid a commission.
Speaker 2:
So there's a whole spectrum and I'm expecting over on the commission side your advisor gets paid only if he buys or sells from your portfolio. Is that true?
Speaker 3:
That's correct On the commission side of a business which we don't operate in that way, that person would only get compensated on the sale of a transaction sale of a business which we don't operate in that way, that person would only get compensated on the sale of a transaction, sale of a product like an annuity or a stock or something like that. There would be a commission paid to that advisor on that structure, whereas on our side we're a fee only. My advice, my recommendation for investments or the choice of how we sit down with a client and choose a portfolio structure, has no differential to my investment. Compensation by the products or by the investment stocks bonds or mutual funds or ETFs that's, within the portfolio, those decisions inside has no effect on our income here at the firm.
Speaker 2:
Those decisions inside has no effect on my, on our income here at the firm Right, and a commission-based brokerage is not likely to have the concierge service that you have developed inside of your own firm. Money management services will hold your hand from the beginning to the end, from cradle to grave, and it seems to me it's like the kind of town. It seems to me it's like the kind of town, financial town that you never have to leave because all of your needs are satisfied inside of your own little town.
Speaker 3:
I would agree with you there. I mean, for us we like it this way just because our big thing within our firm is that we consider you family. So when you become a client, you don't just become a client of money management, you become a family member is the way we look at it and we're just an extension of your family. So when you become a client, you don't just become a client of money management, you become a family member is the way we look at it and we're just an extension of your family. Of course, if you had the ability to do all of this on your own the investment side, the tax prep, as well as your wheels and estate planning and all that you wouldn't need us. So we're just an extension and we're just like.
Speaker 3:
You know, we're no different than anybody else. You know, if I need a mechanic, you know I have. I got a certain person I go to for that. You know I don't know how to do that on my own vehicle. So so that's just kind of our role. We just try to take care of family like we'd expect other people to take care of us.
Speaker 2:
Well, you didn't become a mechanic, you became a financial professional, and our listeners would love. What was your journey. How did you get there?
Speaker 3:
Well, my journey was kind of interesting. So my mother and father actually started the firm back in out of college or so. My dad's been in business since 1971. He's had a bunch of different avenues, but money management actually became money management in 1992. I kind of got here around 2001, 2002, straight out of college.
Speaker 3:
You know, I was actually going to be a doctor, you know, and my mom and dad told me how you need to go take an accounting class to make sure you understand the books and you know things about your medical practice and that kind of stuff. And when I went and took an accounting class as an elective I said, hey, you know, I really like this. What do y'all do for a living? And so dad brought me in. He never really pushed me, never really told me I had to do what he did. And he said, hey, okay, well, since you've asked, I'll show you. And so he started sitting down and explaining things and I've always been a really good math person and I said, well, I just think I want to do this. I don't know that I want to go in the medical field anymore. And so I pretty much changed my major. He said get an accounting degree. I got an accounting degree come out, got my CPA exam, took it and kind of.
Speaker 3:
The rest has been history. I've been here for 22 years I guess, and my mom and dad are still vibrant within the business, but they're 75. They're kind of working their way, not necessarily working their way out. I want them to be here for as long as they can, but they've kind of put me I'm in a position as president. I also have a sister in the office that's been here. She does a great job. She actually, I mean she makes everybody in here look good. You know, she does all the things that the empathetic, the very feely good things that we forget to do as guys sometimes with our clients. She makes that relationship stick. So I have those two, you know, I've got my parents as well as my older sister in the office, and so that's kind of been our journey. You know, here's a firm.
Speaker 2:
Well, it sounds like it's been a pretty smooth journey. Have you ever, you know, encountered a hurdle that maybe you know changed? Maybe didn't change your trajectory, because you've been on this quite successfully since you were young, but has it changed your point of view?
Speaker 3:
Well, I would say there's a lot of things you experience in life along your journey, especially if you let it affect you and let it change you and let it grow you. You know I played in the sports world, played college basketball, so I had a lot of perseverance, a lot of trials in those areas or so, and of course, then when you evolve in the personal world, you know everyone has some personal issues at some point in their life. You know whether it's health related, family related or what it is. So definitely some of those. I've had some of those issues and they've definitely given me more perspective.
Speaker 3:
I've chose to grow and make myself better through those processes the best way I can, and I think it's something that it gives you a lot of if you allow it to change and allow it to grow. It gives you a lot better view of life, your faith, as well as just how to take care of other people, especially empathetically. You see people differently and I would say that's probably been a journey of mine over. Especially empathetically. You see people differently and I would say that's probably been a journey of mine over the last 25 years, both you know, probably 30 years counting sports world. Yeah, that would be kind of my journey and it's, it's uh. I look back now and say, hey, yeah, I'm a better person today than I was back then.
Speaker 2:
Well, what do you do when you're not working? Do you have something that you do? That that?
Speaker 3:
fills your cup. Yes, well, my, my sister's going. She's going to kill me when I say this, but I mean I just really am. I mean I'm a country boy, redneck type guy. So you know, to be honest with you, I mean I love to deer hunt, love to fish. So we, we, we as a family, we, we, we're big deer hunters. We even have some land and we, we, we name our own deer and our bucks that we're chasing, and our kids and my nephews and stuff, we all get involved in that. So so that's something that we really do as a family and have a lot of fun with that. But also on the side, just to be a little more real, um, I actually am a high school girls basketball coach. I coach at a small private school where my, my kids go to school, uh, in the edge of walker county, called uh, sumpton christian and um, and then I also coach the golf team there for my son. So so I kind of have, uh, I kind of do a lot of things for fun.
Speaker 2:
Where do you find time, Andrew?
Speaker 3:
It's tough, it's tough. Luckily, I can do a lot of things remotely here as a business, which helps me Within our system and our structure. We're a business that I can remotely access, talk to clients on the move, trade things, do things that I need to at multiple locations, so I pretty much have my laptop with me at all times. As long as I've got an internet connection, I can really get to things and get to anyone at the office to help them take care of things for me.
Speaker 2:
What would you say to people who have not gotten into financial management? Maybe they think they're too young, maybe they think they're too old.
Speaker 3:
What, what message would you give them? Well, I guess the message that I would probably think about giving someone is is it's never too early to start. Never too early to start. You definitely need to start earlier than not. You know time's the one thing we can't get back.
Speaker 3:
You know, in the investment world, most people you know they're more worried about the returns and more worried about how much money they make and those type of things. Everything's relative. You can save a little bit. The more you save on a front end, start putting some money away out of sight, out of mind, the more time that you have, the larger chance you're going to be successful in the investment world.
Speaker 3:
Then, on top of that, education, education is paramount. I would definitely say we try to educate our clients and educate people a lot, because there's a lot of misperceptions about how the investment world really works and how you really get to your goals. To achieve those goals of later retirement, retiring comfortably, buying a house, late house, whatever it is those objectives, they're sacrificial in nature. I mean you've got to sacrifice to have those opportunities and you've got to trust whether you can't do it yourself and you've got to find someone that you really trust to help navigate you through those, those areas. But education, understanding that the fear aspect of the market is not really and shouldn't be really that fearful if you really understand the basics.
Speaker 2:
But it helps to have a great guide. It definitely does. Yeah, it's pretty dense what you're talking about for someone who's never been in it before.
Speaker 3:
I would agree. Yeah, I would definitely agree.
Speaker 2:
What would you like our listeners to take away about money management services?
Speaker 3:
Well, I guess what I would like for people to take away from us is that we're ordinary people. I mean, we're just normal people. We try to take care of people. We're here to serve. That's where we really call ourselves financial servants. We're here to serve families, serve people that need someone like us. That's what we look at. We're not really worried about how big of a business we are. We're just not worried about that. We're worried about taking care of people. How many people can we serve? That's our main objective.
Speaker 2:
Now, how can listeners learn more about money?
Speaker 3:
management services. Yeah, a couple different ways. Moneymanagementservicecom that's moneymanagementservicecom is our website. They can also call us. Our main line is 205-871-PLAN P-L-A-N. That's our direct line. And then we're also located in Homewood, Alabama, on Highway 31. You're welcome to just stop by and say hey, Andy, I just want to say hello. We heard you on the Good Neighbor podcast with Ms Patricia and we'll be glad to help you.
Speaker 2:
I encourage all of our listeners to do that. Thank you, Andy. It's been so great speaking to you. Thank you for sharing money management services with us and it's been a delight.
Speaker 3:
Well, thank you, Ms Patricia Well.
Speaker 1:
It's been a delight. Well, thank you, ms Patricia. Well, I feel honored that I was able to speak with you and be on this podcast with you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpbirminghamcom. That's gnpbirminghamcom, or call 205-952-0148.
