Financial Essentials was born out of the passion of Cheryl Bernstein, CFP, and Wendy Morgan, CPA, to give their clients a haven for learning about finances.  This safe environment would offer candid, unbiased information, where nobody would have to worry if the information they were getting was tainted by the desire of the "educator" to line their own pockets.

Both Ms. Bernstein and Ms. Morgan are licensed, certified financial professionals, each with over 15 years experience in the financial industry.  Throughout their careers, they have seen the tragic consequences of bad financial advice, as well as the disastrous results of the uneducated trying to handle their own financial planning.

One such tragedy was that of a young mother whose financial adviser recommend she purchase stocks, without making sure her family was financially protected.  When her husband died suddenly, she and her 6-month-old child not only had to sell the stocks at a loss, but they also lost their home and most of their belonging as she was unemployed, grieving, and had no income for more than a year. 

Then, there was the widow whose husband was talked into taking a lump sum retirement distribution in order to buy dozens of small life insurance policies to protect his wife upon his death.  What he was never told was that the policies wouldn't cover him unless he died as a result of an accident.  When he died as a result of a long, costly illness, his bride of over 50 years was almost destitute.

Another heartbreaking story is that of a teacher who was sold an over-priced annuity in her retirement account, only to discover that despite faithfully depositing money into the account for over 10-years, her retirement account was virtually worthless.

Those stories are just a sampling of the many "bad advice" stories we have heard throughout the years.  The stories are equally heartbreaking of the people that never sought advice. There were countless clients who came to us in tears due to overwhelming debt, poor investments, and lack of planning.

These painful stories gave us the fuel to take a risk, give up our public and private practices, and teach people about finances in a candid and unbiased manner.  This financial education will help you make better financial decisions, and work better with financial professionals.