Planner looks ahead with crystal bowl

July 09--GLENS FALLS -- Not having enough money is a common problem, but having too much can be trouble, too, if happiness is your goal.

Glens Falls-based financial planner Don Tenne says it like this: "Buy the big scallops."

That motto has become a running joke between Tenne and some of his clients who attained financial independence in their later years through their sensible habits, but can't let go of their frugality enough to enjoy their success.

Here's a real-life scenario: The client is 70, drawing on a pension and Social Security (which Tenne said many millenials view as about as real as the "Easter Bunny") and has saved $800,000 in a 401K and IRA.

"For crying out loud, you've got $800,000, which at 5 percent is generating $40,000 of income. You're not spending any of it, and you're buying the small scallops. Don't buy the small scallops. Buy the big scallops because you can afford it. Let's not be ridiculous," Tenne said in a recent interview at The Tenne Financial Group, a MetLife office on the first floor of the Traveler's building.

Tenne's style -- honed by a decade in radio -- has made him MetLife's top financial planner in the U.S. for the last three consecutive years. That means the 31-year financial planner and his clients outperformed 700 other financial planners, many in much larger markets.

A MetLife vice president, Lori Epstein, called Tenne a "pioneer" in the industry with his "comprehensive, holistic financial planning" approach.

"Don's passion and dedication for financial planning is unparalleled, and it shows in the quality of work with his clients," Epstein said in a news release.

The winner is chosen based on a point system that measures the number, and complexity, of an advisor's plans as well as the advice given and total planning fees.

Tenne also was chosen to host this year's MetLife Premier Client Group Platinum Conference in May at Dana Point, California. The financial planner of the year is given a large Waterford crystal bowl mounted on a wooden stand, so Tenne has three of them now.

While he doesn't have a crystal ball, some of his clients say their success is helped by his ability to "look around corners," he said.

"It's never the stuff you know that gets you. It's always the stuff you didn't know," Tenne said.

The office's goal-centered approach to financial planning -- which looks at "the six parts of money" and other tools like wills, durable power of attorney and life insurance -- plays a part.

Getting the award three times in a row "is a great honor" and validates his clients' decisions to work with him, Tenne said, but also means that people from small towns can do big things.

"It shows that financial planning is all about how you practice, not where you practice," said Tenne, who has lived in the area for 40 years. "I'm here because I want to be here. The most successful people in the world have the freedom to behave how they like."

Tenne grew up in the Bronx and moved to the area to attend SUNY Adirondack. He had a 10-year career on the radio, mainly at two local stations -- WWSC and WBZA.

When he was 10, his father died; and when he was 16, his mother died.

Because of his parents' deaths, he learned at a young age about money and about the fear, insecurity and frustration that accompanies poverty.

Until he turned 25, he received a monthly sum -- about $67 -- from a life insurance policy his father had bought through MetLife.

When he wanted to take the leap from radio to sales, he joined MetLife to sell life insurance. He failed the aptitude test, but his persistence paid off. He took the test again as soon as he was able -- months later -- and passed. He started in financial planning in the 1980s, when MetLife first offered a program.

Strategy

Tenne's goal-centered approach to financial planning means it's not about getting more, but getting enough.

"It seems like everybody is pursuing more when they should be pursuing enough. Meanwhile, nobody ever does a check to see if they have enough. So everybody knows what they have, but nobody knows if it's enough," Tenne said.

"Enough" depends on the client's goals. The other piece is accountability. Tenne, a 31-year financial planner, meets with his roughly 70 clients on a quarterly basis to make sure they're taking necessary steps to meet their financial goals. The office also takes a "holistic approach" dealing with all six parts to money: cash flow, risk management (insurance), retirement planning, income tax planning, investment planning and estate planning.

"What most people do is they deal with somebody who addresses one or two of those pieces. We do the entire six parts, so, for example, the biggest threat to your retirement security could be a car accident without enough auto insurance," Tenne said. "You can have the greatest investment program and if you have a car accident where you have $100,000 of auto insurance and you lose a $1 million judgment, it's going to put a crimp in your style."

Regulations

The 2008 subprime mortgage and financial crisis lead to a reformed and more regulated financial services environment. As a fee-based financial planner who gives advice, Tenne has fiduciary responsibility to his clients, a very high standard.

The new regulations have created more paperwork and made the job more time-consuming.

"It's not that it's hard to comply, it's that you have to show your work constantly," Tenne said.

But the regulations have had good elements, scaring amateurs out of the business, he said.

"That's why I think, now more than ever, you want to deal with somebody who can demonstrate a record of integrity because the stakes are higher than they've ever been," he said.

Ultimately, there are two major lessons Tenne has learned about money: "it's really, really important" and it "isn't everything."

Editor's note: This is a regular series focusing on interesting local businesses and the ways they survive, thrive and innovate. Local business owners are invited to contact The Post-Star.

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