Journal of Financial Planning: January 2022
FPA of Michigan
South Lyon, Mich.
Members: 455
Chapter Executive:
Mary Medonis, EMAIL
www.financialplanningassociation.org/chapter/fpa-michigan
On February 4, FPA of Michigan will host a one-day virtual event to introduce aspiring financial planners to financial planning topics beyond those of the typical university program. The Student Success Summit is “designed to just fill those gaps to bring students the heroes of the industry,” according to Stephanie Trexler, CFP®, CEO of Golden Goose Wealth Management, and 2022 president of the Michigan chapter.
The summit grew out of a mentorship program Trexler had been developing. About five years ago, she started enlisting contacts from Central Michigan University, her alma mater, to connect with financial planning students. She wanted to know “how do we help the next generation enter the profession? So many people graduate from these programs, and it’s like, ‘OK, figure it out.’”
“We sent board members to speak on campus, participated in career days, [and] built a job board,” Trexler explained, but as she expanded the mentor network, she saw an opportunity to provide aspiring financial planners with a new resource to set them on the path they wanted to follow.
“It had been in my head for a long time; I always thought it would be so cool if we could get all the students together on campus for a one-day event to bring those speakers that you don’t get in the classroom. So many students graduate who don’t know the difference between an RIA, wirehouse, independent broker-dealer, the whole thing. That would have been so helpful when I graduated,” she said.
Trexler put together a student committee to get their input on what a successful program would look like. The committee brainstorms the topics and speakers that are most interesting to students, “and then we just start tapping on the resources that we know in the industry. We’re super lucky that everyone is so gracious and donates their time.”
FPA of Michigan hosted the inaugural Student Success Summit in 2021. Trexler anticipated having 30 or 40 students from local Michigan chapters attend. As the event date neared, the team expanded marketing efforts to other chapters and “it just snowballed very quickly,” ultimately attracting more than 180 participants.
This year’s event includes presentations from Ian Bloom and David Frank, Ben Carlson and Michael Batnick, Justin Castelli and Colin Overweg, Daniel Crosby, Brett Danko, Wesley Grey, Megan McCoy, and Hannah Moore and Eric Roberge. A virtual career fair and networking opportunities will follow the presentations.
At the 2021 Student Success Summit, FPA of Michigan was able to raise $6,000 to be awarded in scholarships. The chapter set a fundraising goal of $12,000 in scholarship awards at the 2022 event.
In addition to Michigan, this year’s Summit is supported by FPA chapters of Central Ohio, Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Greater Indiana, Illinois, Orange County, South Carolina, Southwestern Ohio, and The Triangle.
“As we learned during COVID-19, we all don’t need to keep recreating the wheel. We already laid the framework; let’s just have other chapters plug in and come do this virtually with us,” Trexler said. “We don’t need 20 Students Success Summits across the country. We need one with all of our speakers on the same day where everybody can meet and network and get together.”
Trexler has been impressed by the commitment shown by students.
“These students are so proactive in wanting to make it better. They don’t get class credit for this. They don’t get anything other than bettering themselves,” she said. “They’ve taken it amongst themselves to set up calls where they all meet as student leaders together so they can combine resources and share tips and tricks. Everybody’s further along in [supporting] their student groups on campus. . . . They’re really self-starters.”
Chapters, partners, and students who want to get involved can view the agenda and register for the event at www.financialplanningassociation.org/fpa-mi-2022-student-success-summit.
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