About Buckhead reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2020)
APRIL 2020 ■ www.ReporterNewspapers.net Commentary | 5 Linscomb & Williams is not an accounting firm. Subsidiary of Cadence Bank. Investment Products: Not insured by FDIC. Not bank guaranteed. May lose value. Not insured by any Federal Government Agency. Not a bank deposit. Worfk, /Cnowuta Carol Niemi is a marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoody-Sandy Springs line and writes about people whose lives inspire others. Contact her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. Almost overnight, our world has changed. But in the midst of our dystopian night mare, examples of compassion are all around us - proof that that caring for one an other is in our American DNA. Here are but a few examples. In Dunwoody, a group of moms, one of whom is Mayor Lynn Deutsch, have formed “Lunch-4-Our Bunch” to feed Dunwoody school children who might go hungry while not in school. Every Tuesday through the end of the month, the moms come together to make 1,000 bag lunches for distribution on Wednesdays outside at Malachi’s Store house at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church at 4755 North Peachtree Road in Dunwoody. Malachi’s Storehouse also accepts donations. You can drop off groceries and pan try items on Tuesdays, 4:00-7:00 pm, or donate them without leaving home by or dering them and having them shipped directly to Malachi’s. Details are on Deutsch’s Faceboolc page. You can also donate money at “Lunch-4-Our Bunch” at gofundme. com. Teens in Dunwoody are helping too. Recently, Jackson Moore, a Dunwoody High School sophomore who runs Rent-a-Teen Dunwoody, received a desperate request to move an elderly man and his furniture into an assisted living facility before visita tion was shut down. He and fellow DHS sophomore, Matthew Moss, immediately got their team together, moved the man and all of his possessions and beat the deadline. That same day, another Dunwoody resident, Lynn Johnston, a school teacher, post ed on Nextdoor.com under the simple headline “Here to Help,” volunteering to run er rands “for anyone who needs help.” “I wanted to volunteer because I am hearing too much negativity in the media,” she said. “You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution.” At press time, her post had received 53 likes and 30 comments from others offer ing their support. In pandemic nightmare, acts of kindness abound One of those comments was from Chryse Wayman, a healthcare IT consultant, who started a Nextdoor.com group called Project Dunwoody Food Delivery to enable neighbors to shop for groceries and necessities and deliver them to people who can’t leave home. “Literally, an hour after I created the group,” Wayman said, “more than 50 people had signed up.” For those who don’t access social media, where the group is hosted, Wayman plans to get the word out by creating a digital flyer volunteers can download and print out for local teens to distribute to neighbors’ mailboxes. To join, go to nextdoor.com, then to the Groups tab, select Project Dunwoody Food Delivery and request an invitation. What I saw while writing this article were people fighting fear and anxiety with kindness. They came from every walk of life - from business and education to the TV and film industry. One of them, Miles Henley, a film location manager, attracted my attention with his sense of humor. “I will put on my bio hazardous chemical warfare suit and pick up and deliver your supplies to your door step,” he wrote, adding that he had plenty of time to help be cause his wife was stranded in Vietnam and his profession, TV and film production in Georgia, had shut down. Of course, I had to hear his story. During our phone call, I learned his wife had gone to visit her parents in Ho Chi Minh City, where he said COVID-19 had become rampant. She wanted to come home, but since the trip required a stopover in Seoul, Korea, with a two-weelc quarantine, they opted instead for her to go stay with an aunt in the countryside. While we were discussing the scarcity of everything from hand sanitizer to rub bing alcohol, neither of which I could find, he said he had an extra bottle of alcohol to give me. Later that night, there it was, all neatly wrapped, on my doorstep. A seemingly small gesture, but very much appreciated. WORTHWHILE CONVERSATIONS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR WEALTH- LISTENING TO INEXPERIENCED VOICES “INEXPERIENCED VOICES?” The media obsesses over financial credentials, as if finding an advisor with the right credential ensures credible, well-conceived advice. Credentials are good, and we have plenty at Linscomb & Williams, including CPAs, JDs, CFA® charterholders and other advanced designations. List all our credentials for the entire team -- you have enough letters to equal four alphabets. However, credentials measure only a threshold level of competence. The soundest advice draws upon a deep reservoir of actual wealth management experience. WHERE IS LIMITED “ACTUAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE” LIKELYTOSHOWUP? First, firms with less experience gravitate to a "standard prescription" or template in addressing clients' needs. Tried and true is great. However, only the experience of seeing the ultimate outcome of recommendations made to families develops creativity to refine problem-solving so clients get results that are tailored to their unique goals. Second, experience provides the advisor with (borrowing the famous book title) "What They DON'T Teach You at Harvard Business School." Experience refines book theory into practical execution. HOW BIG A CHALLENGE IS THIS FOR FAMILIES NEEDING WEALTH ADVICE? The challenge is multi-dimensional. Many advisors with deep experience work in firms associated with the big Wall Street banks, and are conflicted by business models that involve the sale of financial products. They do not Sam Tortorici, CEO & Director, Cadence Bank, N.A., and President, Cadence Bancorporation discusses the importance of having a team of experienced individuals to offer sage advice with MaryJane LeCroy, CFP®, and Bill Kring, CFP® adhere 100% to the fiduciary legal standard of placing the clients' interests first. Even in fiduciary firms, experienced investment managers may decide to market themselves as holistic wealth managers by adding young credentialed financial planners to their staff. That may be a team, but the experience is limited to a single area. PRESUMABLY, LINSCOMB & WILLIAMS IS DIFFERENT... Our team has plenty of energy from young and mid-career professionals, but they collaborate with our 49-year veterans in all areas of wealth management. Imagine how such a combination can redefine the client experience. For the family looking to redefine their wealth management experience, we are ready to meet at our convenient local office in Atlanta. LINSCOMB WILLIAMS WEALTH MANAGEMENT SINCE 1971 2727 Paces Ferry Road SE Building Two, Suite 1475 Atlanta, Georgia 30339 770 333 0113 www.linscomb-williams.com CADENCE„„ Atlanta Wealth dr Pension Team
