Wiregrass Investment helps people plan futures

Dec. 31--VALDOSTA -- Wiregrass Investment Management is an independent, full-service financial firm and has been around for about a year.

CEO and Founder Ben Jones started the company to be a local firm and to emphasize the importance of the advisers' clients, Jones said.

"My primary objective was to create a firm that would not lose sight of the client," he said.

"The second objective was to build a team with a variety of different backgrounds to offer our clients."

Jones didn't want to be just another firm, he said.

He wanted his clients to know they are important to the advisers and that everything is being done in the client's best interest.

"We wanted to build an atmosphere where (the clients) felt comfortable and give truly unbiased investment advice," he said. "Because we don't offer any proprietary products to ensure we give truly conflict-free advice."

When Jones brought Wiregrass Investment Management to Valdosta, he wanted to work with specific advisors.

"The reason we chose Valdosta is primarily because of the Shivers and McGahee partnership," Jones said. "Over the years I've gotten to know them and I greatly respect their investment opinions."

Jimmy and Todd Shiver and Jared McGahee are local financial advisors that now work at Wiregrass Investment Management.

Jones has plans to expand his year-old company and focus on hiring local advisors to service the new locations.

"We want it to be local because that is our target market," he said.

The emphasis on local advisors bleeds into the company's culture to be personable with clients and not put them into a box. The financial advice offered is process driven, not product driven, Todd Shiver said. "It's not cookie cutter."

The advisors try to help clients "meet and exceed their goals," he said.

"The exciting thing about this industry is getting to help people at all stages in life," financial advisor Greg Bright said. "You get to work with so many different people and situations."

Listening is important to the advisors, Service Manager Stephanie Whittington said.

They want to know their clients' goals and aspirations in life.

"You tell me where you want to be," Whittington said. "Not me tell you what to do."

The way the advisors build plans is not based on the age of the client but where he or she is in his or her life.

A 25-year-old may have the same needs as a 75-year-old, McGahee said.

The biggest thing the advisors suggest to do is to plan.

It is easier to plan at 25 or a 35 years old than it is at 62 years old, McGahee said.

Retirement may be the main goal when it comes to financial planning, but there are other factors to consider: death, divorce, moving, having a kid, buying a house, college funds for children, changes in tax laws and other needs down the line.

Wiregrass Investment Management can help clients plan for various situations in life, according to the advisors, and while a client may have a plan, the advisors can help find holes in plans as well.

Typically, clients have a plan of what they want, but don't know how to achieve his or her goals.

"You have the plan and we find the little steps," Whittington said.

Some of the little steps include insurance planning, investment management, estate planning and helping clients grow and distribute money.

When a new client arrives, the advisors learn what the client plans for retirement then helps the client discover if the goal is achievable.

Then, the advisors help the client learn how much he or she needs to live in retirement.

Advisors determine the assessment by looking at Social Security statements and looking at the client's assets. Advisors build a plan that shows the client how to reach the goal and what the advisors can do to help along the way.

Another part of the job is to look into the future and help plan for economic changes. Once clients enter into retirement, they are put onto a mostly fixed income.

"It is our job to explain when people retire that when you turn on that stream of income that's it." Todd Shiver said. "You have to plan for today and tomorrow."

If prices inflate and the cost of eggs go up, the advisors help plan for that, Whittington said.

The advisors also counsel clients to make wise, logical decisions, she said. Advisors act as a buffer against rash decisions by being one person removed from a situation that may influence a client.

The plans advisors help build aren't static.

"It's a fluid plan," Whittington said. "Life throws things at you."

Wiregrass Investment Management is located at 3321 North Valdosta Road and is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

More information: Call (229) 245-6022; or visit www.wiregrassinvest.com.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1256.

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