Ep #73: Transitioning from the Military to Financial Planning with Stephen Maggard

Stephen Maggard is a Financial Planner with Abacus Planning Group based out of Columbia, SC. He joins the show today to discuss his background and how he made the transition to financial planning from the military. If you are serving our country and eventually want to transition to the financial planning profession, then this episode is for you!

Listen in as Stephen describes why he became interested in financial planning, as well as how he got his foot in the door. You'll learn why he was drawn to the fee-only model and how he has found his right-fit firm. He also opens up about how his military experiences and skills have carried over to add value in a financial planning firm, which has accelerated his success after only a few short years in the business.

What You'll Learn In Today's Episode:

Stephen’s military background and how he entered the financial planning world. (2:27)
The biggest lessons he learned and brought with him from the military. (7:38)
How to get people to do what they need to do. (9:10)
How he transitioned into a financial career. (13:17)
How he got his foot in the door and found the right fit. (16:53)
How Abacus structures their teams and what the associate planner role means. (22:00)
How military benefits have helped get Stephen get to where he is. (25:12)
The skills that have helped him most in his transition to financial planning. (29:34)
Why networking and making strong connections is so important. (32:29)

Ideas Worth Sharing:

“The only money knowledge passed on by my parents was pretty much, 'stay out of debt.' That was my baseline. - Stephen Maggard Share on X “One of the biggest things I learned in the military was how to interact with people.” - Stephen Maggard Share on X “The mentality of, 'it’s not about me' was beat into my head pretty early on. It’s not about you, it’s your soldiers. It’s not about you, it’s the mission.” - Stephen Maggard Share on X

Resources In Today's Episode:

Download your free copy of the New Planner Career Roadmap!

In this roadmap, you'll be guided through the details of various stages of your financial planner career, including position descriptions, licensing, skill and experience level requirements, and compensation ranges.