Episode 19: Beyond the Spreadsheet: How Meeting Clients Where They Are (Literally) Builds Lasting Trust
What if the secret to great financial advice isn't more data, but more trust?
For years, the industry treated every client the same: a spreadsheet, a return rate, and a handshake. Melissa Montalvo, Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at Atticus Wealth Management, breaks that mold. In this episode, she explains how blending technical expertise with real human connection changes the way families plan for their money and their legacy.
Listen in as Melissa shares what trends she has noticed in serving women, as well as how she has deepened trust with her clients. You’ll learn her philosophy on meeting clients where they are (sometimes even meeting them in their own homes!), what helps families feel confident about their financial futures, and more.
What You’ll Learn:
Why women want reassurance and clarity over jargon from a financial advisor.
How donor-advised funds let clients donate stock and avoid capital gains tax.
Why in-person visits and shared passions deepen advisor-client trust over time.
How proper trust planning prevents probate delays and preserves family wealth.
Why every dollar should be assigned a specific, purposeful financial goal.
Why removing fear and greed keeps clients aligned with their financial plan.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“Women just want to know that you are their biggest fan, and they're in it for the long run.” - Melissa Montalvo
“I feel like trust is just critical when it comes to alignment, and working with one person, one family, one household at a time.” - Melissa Montalvo
"I think there's a lion inside of everybody, and you have to get to the place where you're unleashing that, finding confidence in where you're at." - Melissa Montalvo
Resources:
Melissa Montalvo: LinkedIn | Atticus Wealth Management | Phone: 561-425-9500
About Our Guest:
Melissa Montalvo, CFP®, ChFC®, is a Partner and Senior Wealth Advisor at Atticus Wealth Management, with institutional experience from her early career as a hedge fund analyst and roles at Fidelity Investments and Raymond James. She specializes in empowering women through financial education, guiding clients through major life transitions like career changes, divorce, and loss of a spouse. A Lehigh University graduate and former Division I soccer athlete, Melissa is also passionate about mentoring the next generation of women in finance.
Connect with Us:
If you're ready to stop avoiding your finances and start building the future you deserve, schedule a free call with me at pelicanfinancialplanning.com and let’s create your personalized financial plan together.
And if you want ongoing guidance, clarity, and confidence as you grow your wealth, subscribe to our newsletter for financial insights delivered right to your inbox.
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Read the Transcript:
Melissa Montalvo: Women just want to know that you are their biggest fan and they're in it for the long run. And if you can break down the jargon, I've seen tears, I've seen joy, I've seen celebrations. I get asked to be on someone's trust documents now or estate planning documents, and we're going into the next generation in terms of wealth transfer.
Welcome to The Wealth Development Studio. I'm your host, Genevieve George, Senior Financial Advisor and Founder of Pelican Financial Planning & Wealth. Our goal for this episode is to provide clarity about today's financial topic, inspire you to be brave with your questions, and gain confidence in your financial future. So take a deep breath, grab your favorite cup of coffee, and step into the studio. Your dose of financial empowerment begins now.
Genevieve George: Money is one of the most personal things there is, and yet for a long time, the financial industry approached every client the same way: a spreadsheet, the rate of return, and a handshake.
Today I'm sitting down with Melissa Montalvo, a fellow advisor who has built her practice around something different. She meets clients where they are, sometimes literally, and she's here to talk about what it really looks like to serve women well in this industry. Melissa, thanks so much for being here.
Melissa Montalvo: Thank you for having me. It's an honor.
Genevieve George: So I'm just so curious. I think we align a lot on how we like to approach things, and I'd love to get your take on, in your practice, do you see a contrast with what men and women are looking for from their advisor in your meetings?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm always encouraged when men will ask me the question, "Should I bring my wife or my significant other?"
And I love it, of course. And so I think that the win is that every time the spouse and partner leaves the office, I ask, "How did you feel?" Or, "How do you feel?" And there's always this sense of comfort, a release, of just, "Aha," "I can just come here in the office. I can call you. I know how to reach you." And you end up turning into one of their best advocates.
And my world started in Wall Street. I was working as a hedge fund, analyzing a lot of different stocks and portfolios, and I love that side of the business, but I also over time realized, like, how much jargon there is. And being a coach at heart, an encourager, and even just a teacher naturally, I felt my passion get to the place where I want to be able to explain just the basics here.
Make something super complicated, break it down so it's easy to understand, and then all of a sudden more and more growth and confidence and empowerment happens on both the women's side and the men's side. I think a lot of spouses continue to work with me because their wives are now a part of the process.
So it's a win-win for everybody.
Genevieve George: Yeah. And I appreciate that so much in that you and I, as advisors, we need that detailed knowledge, right? But we need to recognize where our clients are as far as what information that they want to give. And I've had clients over the years that want to receive very detailed information, so I'm ready for that.
But the majority of my clients really wanna know, “Am I okay?” You're not just throwing numbers at them and not explaining what that means, and I think they appreciate that so much in their relationship with you as their advisor.
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah, and I think it's important right now to also continue to refine our practices.
So, leveraging technology, doing your best to use illustrative purposes to break down what a tax document is. Sometimes we just look at this number and, oh my goodness, look at all these line items. And I love accountants but their world is also overload, too. So for me, as that trusted advisor, I feel like it's fun for both of us to say, "Hey Gen, you're looking at this return. You can read it inside and out," but it's like, how do we make sure this makes sense to the everyday person who's not analyzing all the details?
So using technology has been such a win, I say. And it's a new thing for me. We have to become more adapting of AI, and in this space because it's a resource, and the world's growing so fast.
So it's nice to take a pause to say, "Okay, what resources should we be adding to our practice to tell our story better so that clients better understand where they financially are, where they're headed, and the advice that we're giving them to gain more confidence?"
Genevieve George: Yeah, I love that. I think that approach is so helpful in that you're trying to suss out, like, where people are at, right?
You're not waiting for them to say, "Hey, Melissa, explain that a different way," right? You're coming and you're proactively saying, "Let me illustrate this for you in a different way," rather than putting a tax return in front of you or a tax projection in front of you and just saying, ”Here are all the numbers," right?
'Cause we can get bogged down in the numbers. And how many meetings have you, prior to you being in charge of your own practice, how many meetings were you in where you watched other people just hammer numbers and the client just glazes over?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah, glazes over. And I also realize there's this level of respect of, if we get that tax return, that is, they're showing everything.
That's all the skeletons out in the closet. What an honor that we are able to understand what this document is and break it down. I feel like trust is just critical when it comes to alignment, and working with one person, one family, one household at a time. And most likely women just, they want to get a game plan going, and they want to know they're going to be okay.
And when I'm able to say, "You're going to be more than just okay." We walk through different seasons of life. So transitions, right? Whether it's a new job, unexpected or expected. Whether it's new relationships, kids, weddings. Beyond that, retirement. What does that even look like? I rephrase it now as refirement season because yeah, maybe they're not driving down 95 or the parkway and going to their corporate office anymore.
But they can really find another way to give back to the community and recognize that hobbies and different passions are still there. So I also sense that women just want to know that you are their biggest fan, and they're in it for the long run. And if you can break down the jargon, I've seen tears, I've seen joy, I've seen celebrations.
I get asked to be on someone's trust documents now, or estate planning documents, and we're going into the next generation in terms of wealth transfer. Jenny, you work with high net worth individuals, and you work with folks that are like, "Hey, I want to make a difference, be different than my parents, or different than the generation ahead of me. Help me understand now," and then should all these entities be structured?
So it just, it's fun when you're a holistic planner rather than just a money manager.
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: And I think the industry's changed over time. I've always held onto that invest— because I love the math, and I love the stocks, and I’m a big fan of seeing things grow.
But I'm also realizing women are earning it, they're saving it, and they're giving it, and you have to be able to talk about all of that, not just how did this stock perform in this quarter.
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yep. And you talked about something interesting in there that you and I have talked about offline, of course, is you're heavily passionate about giving, but you sort of incorporate that into your practice and into those client conversations.
Could you maybe speak to that a little bit or provide an example of, like, how you're bringing, and maybe not just giving, but your personal life and your personal experiences into your practice in those conversations?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah. I think over time you've realized you wanna be your whole self the place where you're spending the most time, and not just a quarter of yourself.
And I just think that happens over time and in maturity and gaining more confidence of, I love this and I'm proud of this. It's really fun to just be you. And whenever... We're all different. We have personalities and shapes and sizes.
Genevieve George: Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: And our clients are also uniquely gifted, and their passions can be buried in the treasure chest where we've never talked about in so much time.
And so I can give an example where I recently decided to go visit clients who live out in Holland, Michigan during tulip season, and it just happened. It was gorgeous, and we got to explore different gardens and so on, get outside of the office and the numbers. And I realized that as the numbers tend to make sense, and I give them permission to be more generous.
So, one organization that these clients are super proud of are, like, homeless shelters or how do I get involved in something. Maybe I can't open up my home right now, but there's a service that can do that. Helping veterans. Okay, fantastic. Folks, fallen soldiers, 9/11 happens, like, how do you provide a home for veterans who have served overseas, or dental work?
And so the more that I'm able to express the hands-on experiences that I'm having locally and sharing that and proud of those experiences, my clients want to invest in that. And so we're able to give through a donor-advised fund where, on the tax side of things, it's a very favorable to— our IRS law is very generous to givers.
And so you can donate an appreciated stock. You don't have to pay capital gains on that money. And what's beautiful is the charity wins as well. So it's a win-win for you on your return as well as the charity. And I just love, like in my personal life, finding opportunities. I played soccer in college, so I'm an athlete.
I do CrossFit. What fitness things can I get involved in? And an organization invited me to build a playground out in Panama, and it was combining government and school and different, and churches and a playground. We know in America the beauty of what a playground has to offer families, like unity and neighbors and communities and a break for parents.
And so to see that playground bring so much joy, and now being able to talk about it, folks want to be able to find ways to give in unique ways. And so building the playground was great, and then I brought a bunch of soccer balls and we did a soccer clinic at the same time. So it's just finding, I feel like I'm in a place where I'm flourishing.
I don't have to hide what I'm passionate about, and it's nice to be able to celebrate those wins with clients naturally.
Genevieve George: Well, and one of the things that you mentioned was you went to Holland, Michigan, to spend time with this client, right?
Melissa Montalvo: Yes.
Genevieve George: And so when we as advisors have the opportunity to spend time, more quality time, not just a one-hour meeting in the office, really spend quality time with somebody in their home or something like that, that leads to so much more in-depth conversations, right?
Where you had the actual opportunity to share that story with them and be able to feel out what are their passions and what are they looking, where do they like to spend their time? And then you can help them on the financial side to know how to do that. The strategy of a donor-advised fund isn't something everybody really knows, that isn't talking to somebody about it.
But if you have a relationship with an advisor where you're not talking about your charitable giving and they're not asking, because maybe they're only looking at one piece of the full picture, it's hard to just come and say, "Hey, you need this information. You need to know how that you can do this” 'cause you don't know that they're passionate about those things.
Melissa Montalvo: Yes. And it's also what an honor to get invited into someone's home.
Genevieve George: Yes.
Melissa Montalvo: Right? Wow. And especially with this story, they built the house, and it's wow, you can see all the sweat equity that was put towards this. So it is certainly a gift.
And not every relationship is like that, but that's what's beautiful. A transition can happen. A client may not know your value yet, but when something happens, 'cause something will happen, and how do we respond in times of chaos or in times of a need? And we are that voice of reason.
We're that voice of, "Aha, let's think about this a little bit more," and they just know that you're their trusted advocate. You're their trusted advisor, and they can end up coming to you a lot more. And there's times where you don't have all the answers, but over time, you and I, Gen, we've built resources.
We collaborate, right? And we're literally in the same room, and we're talking about these cases, and I feel like it's so important to have that dialogue and have an abundance mindset rather than competition or scarcity.
Genevieve George: Right.
Melissa Montalvo: ‘Cause you can find yourself on an island by yourself and just being siloed.
Genevieve George: That’s beneficial for your clients either, right? Your clients don't expect you to have every answer, but what you're attempting to do is be their main resource, and then you can connect them with the other people that are those that have those answers. And you spoke a little bit about the honor of somebody sharing their tax return with us, and I feel the same way about the estate planning documents, right?
There's so much trust that has to go into somebody having a conversation with you about what they want to happen if they are no longer here, right? And I know you have had plenty of examples of where you've worked through that with clients. So can you just talk through how you've seen that play out when you've been able to help them on the front end of coordinating those components and then potentially seeing them come to fruition?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah. That's a really good question. I feel like when you get to know, okay, the psychology of money and how these clients have earned that money today, right? And then you talk about their parents, and then maybe their parents ahead of time, and then you end up having conversations of the, of, okay, the next generation.
Who's the saver, and who's the spender, within your family? And they, I always kind of…
Genevieve George: My kids are 11 and 12, and I can tell you who those are.
Melissa Montalvo: Exactly. You already know it.
So I want them to know that I'll just be a reason, a sound of reason to perhaps their daughters or their sons. They may not know all the details, and that's okay. But I do, right? And my purpose of having this dialogue now is just to make sure when eternity comes, you get to kind of say what you want your dollars to do beyond later on.
And so it's a weird situation, but it's also you gotta prepare just in case. What if premature passings happen?
Genevieve George: Yes, it's something we're all gonna die. Nobody wants to talk about this, but we are all going to die. I like how you said when you find eternity, but like you're still going to cease to exist on this in this physical space, right?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah, on this earth. It's very short.
Genevieve George: And so having a plan is so important, and you're speaking to, okay, I helped mom and dad map out what that plan is, having a detailed conversation with them about their saver and their spender, and what protections they want to put in place. But then you've also had instances where you've had to work through that on the other end, right?
After somebody has passed, and maybe you can speak to the clarity that you had as the advisor, and that you were able to help provide to the family through that process.
Melissa Montalvo: I mean, right now I can think of an 80-plus-year-old woman who did pass away, and I was managing her revocable living trust, and I got to know the trustees.
Now, there's other siblings in the mix, and so because I gained the trust of some of the siblings who were more involved, I then, upon passing, like I had the opportunity to build rapport, make some connections with everybody who was a beneficiary. And it was just really beautiful to see the level of understanding that this money could have been spent a long time ago.
But it actually came about because the father had invested moons ago, like over 50 years ago, and just seeing the power of compounding of a dividend constantly getting reinvested, and how far that would go. And then it took care of Mom, right? And so then to see like folks in their 60s like, "Oh my gosh, now this is newfound money. What should I do with it?"
But it's making everybody think, "Am I okay? Am I on track with my financial plan? How aggressive should I be with this new money?" So I'm now here, and it's a valued resource, and so they're taking the opportunity to reassess with their own personal lives: are they at peace with...
What could they be doing also differently and better? And so I just feel like that's a full circle moment for me, because I can also honor the father from many years ago to say, "This was Dad's choice to defer gratification today so that investments could be allocated for the future. Is that something that is important to you to do?"
Genevieve George: Yeah, that's incredible. And multi-generational planning there, right? In that situation, you probably didn't meet the father, right?
Melissa Montalvo: No.
Genevieve George: No.
Melissa Montalvo: Never did.
Genevieve George: But you're honoring what was put in place and written on the father's behalf for now the daughter, and now the grandchildren, which is incredible.
And having the... Maybe use that to speak to the importance of having estate documents and having your ducks in a row on those things, because it could have gone different if it was just accounts, right? Not in a trust.
Melissa Montalvo: That's very true. It could have gone very different, but this was so seamless.
And one of the sibling's spouses actually told me of an inheritance situation where things are still caught up in probate, and it's been over two years. So just to get that, it was all private, it was seamless and streamlined. And again, it's just being a little bit more proactive than, "Okay, I got this investment account. What should we do?"
But it was also like, it's emotional. We had a lot of tears. And we're gonna go to celebrations of life. And just to get invited to go to that, I also feel like it's an honor. And I just think I'm impacting generations. It's just not one person. Yeah.
Genevieve George: And you're addressing both, obviously there is, there's still a data portion to what we do, right?
There is real financial data, but there is such an emotional piece to money, and I do think it's missed sometimes in our industry. It's easy to just come in, "Here's the data and here's the plan," right? But it's that connection and that conversation both with mom and now with the kids that really brings it all together so you can manage both of those pieces.
In a world where good advising sometimes is the rational, the data, the planning, how do you address that when you know that there's an emotional side to it and you need to, like create room for that?
Melissa Montalvo: It's so easy to measure yourself against the S&P 500, and does that define success, yes or no?
And I really think it has to do with who are you speaking to on the other side of the table. 'Cause some folks, we may be at bat, baseball analogy, and you're ready to swing and you wanna go for the home run, and that might be your objective for 90% of your investments. But that other 10%, if it's not about chasing returns or getting the best home, at bat home run.
The statistics come in play, and so we have to actually show when scenarios like sequence of returns weren't so great in the '90s going into the tech bubble, or even before that, the '87 crash. We had a blip during the whole pandemic. There are times when the data is showing, this is not fun. And I think we end up adding a lot more value if we run a financial plan and we solve for a specific need to then say that, “Listen, yes, we're down 40%, but the reality is we could be down a lot more if we were just chasing the S&P 500.”
So there is strategies around that, that we don't need to be uber aggressive with all the investments. And I do believe every dollar should have an assigned goal to it. 'Cause if you think about the investment vehicles, you've got tax-free ways to invest, tax-deferred ways to invest, and then taxable ways to invest.
And depending on everybody's income or work situation, some of those investments are available to you, some are not. And we don't know what the tax law's gonna be later on, and things may change. And so that's why I think working with someone like ourselves, it's let's just have that dialogue.
And just in case, the law changes, are we going to give ourself more power later on, and freedom to make decisions and choices around where we're gonna take distributions out? Or are we gonna be forced to then say, "Oh my goodness, we only have this bucket." Now what? What will the tax implications be?
And so you've got the economy that goes in ebbs and flows, and whether it's a trough, a peak, or just a slow cycle, and then you've got a lot going on politically, and you've got a lot going on geopolitically, that it's just... It's really critical to make sure you look past in terms of investment returns, the sequence returns, to say, "Okay, what would be the best probability of success in regards to my allocation today?
And then how do I remove emotions from all of this?" Because if I end up panicking and selling at a time where, all of a sudden, 18 months from now, things are double digits, you missed out. Or would I let fear... How about greed? What about pride and greed? And you think you're at the all-time highs and you never sell. You don't get out.
Genevieve George: Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: You don't sell a portion of your gains, right? That's happens, where you just think one specific industry is gonna continue to rise, and the multiples will be X, Y, Z, but it may not happen. So, 90% of returns will come from that asset allocation with US, and international, and fixed income exposure.
And I think we as advisors add the value for that extra 10%.
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I love many things that you said, but every dollar should have a goal assigned to it. That's huge. And then I like that you addressed the other emotions around it. Is it fear? Is it greed? What are we managing here?
Because it is our role to figure that out with the client and help guide them, right? And you used the example of having a stock that's highly appreciated and never wanting to sell it, and I run into that of course. We don't wanna sell it. Sometimes it's not because we think it's gonna keep going up.
They don't wanna sell for the taxes.
Melissa Montalvo: Yep. That's right.
Genevieve George: And I try to describe that as, okay, well, you have one. It was here, and now it, it was at a certain level, and now it is at a new level, and it's higher. Let's take some chips off the table. I'm not saying you have to sell the whole thing.
Let's sort of just scale that back. Is that your similar approach?
Melissa Montalvo: Oh, yeah.
Genevieve George: I mean, every person is different, of course, but like…
Melissa Montalvo: Everyone's different, and it's sometimes there's emotions that tie to that company. Whether it was a company they just worked for and the company was very good to them.
That could be. It's hard to convince someone, but I've learned over time that you can. So you could hold it forever, and then let's just have the conversation because if you're just gonna continue to ride it out, I mean, that's all right. But we also got to recognize tax law, tax loss harvesting is critical for clients to take advantage of.
Genevieve George: That's right.
Melissa Montalvo: And if in you're a lower tax bracket later on in retirement, it's $98,000 of long-term gains that you can realize at a 0% tax bracket. Guys, hello. That's a lot of money.
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's an interesting. And it's not a one-size-fits-all, right? It really depends on what the overall picture looks like.
But I'm thinking of client examples where they've had highly appreciated stock positions. And I'm sure I sound like a broken record, but I'm like, "Okay, this position is more than 10% of your portfolio, so that is a concentration. Let's talk about it." Again, same to your point, right? If they wanna keep it forever, that's fine.
But it's my job to just remind you of the risk.
Melissa Montalvo: Yes. Oh, there are risks associated with this.
Genevieve George: Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: And it's also, I've learned too, like when the clients have new ideas for stocks, I allow them to ride. I'm just like to the point where I'm never gonna hold someone back. If this is what you firmly believe and you wanna put in 10,000 or $100,000 into X, Y, Z, okay, great.
Now, you're responsible checking out the earnings and figuring out the management decisions and so on, and let's chat about it. There's been times where it's been amazing, and then there's times where it's, oh my gosh, client said…
Genevieve George: Well, and that's where you're managing the risk. At the end of the day, they're not your or my dollars, right?
It's somebody else's dollars. So I say you're coming to me and you have a stock selection that you're interested in, let's talk about it, and then what is the commitment? Am I worried if it's 50% of their portfolio? Absolutely. Yeah. But at the end of the day, they can tell me, "Sorry, Gen, like I don't care what you say."
Right. "We're gonna do that." And that's ultimately their decision. It's just my job to give them all the information so they're making well-informed decisions.
Melissa Montalvo: Exactly.
Genevieve George: Yeah. But it's, yeah, it's always interesting. But it's a little bit about what I love of what we do, is that no two clients are the same, no two days are the same.
Melissa Montalvo: No two days are the same.
Genevieve George: Somebody can walk in with the same amount of money, but their goals are completely different. And like your person didn't wanna spend any of it so that they could hand down generational wealth. Where somebody else is saying, "I'm gonna spend every penny. Like my kids can figure it out on their own.”
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, I do have a thinking about a family right now where that is it, and I said, "Okay, guys, so why don't we do this then? Let's create some buckets where we're gonna spend the most money over the next 7 to 10 years here."
And so it's like the fun bucket, and everyone wants to hear a vacation bucket most times. Right.
Genevieve George: Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: Everyone wants to hear a fun…
Genevieve George: Well, usually our buckets are taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free, so to have a vacation bucket in there sounds great.
Melissa Montalvo: Win-win, right? So I'm like, all right, here's our... And then I had clients like, "I wanna buy a boat."
And I'm like, "Eh, great. Well, this is gonna be another bucket."
Genevieve George: Yeah, a boat bucket. A whole different bucket.
Melissa Montalvo: A whole different bucket. So I think it's fun to illustrate those items. This is, I call it the go-go years. I'm like, all right, we're gonna go, and then wait till your grandkids come into the mix and you're gonna spend-spend.
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa Montalvo: So it's fun.
Genevieve George: Well, let's circle back to, what we talked about where when possible you're trying to meet people where they are, whether they, if they live in our area, they can come to your office, but you can also meet them in their home. But how did that develop, and how did that become sort of a part of your practice offering?
Melissa Montalvo: Sure, yeah. It's funny, I volunteered at a youth mentorship program called Young Life, and they always taught us, just meet kids where they're at. No expectations. And so I really adopted that for my practice because I felt like I really enjoy working with nice people. I love working with savers.
And I love folks who are, like, future-minded and holistic with their investments. However, not everyone's there. And so if you meet someone where they're at, and you can tell their heart is super serious, they know their cash flow, they know their excess savings, and they're like, "Melissa, I need to start somewhere," I'm willing to take them on because they want a game plan, they wanna listen, and they value feedback.
And so I've realized that whether someone's a homemaker or a high-income earner, change happens. An inheritance can happen. A new job can happen, and I just feel like I wanna be on the journey where someone is wanting to grow, and I wanna be their best advocate. So not every advisor's like that, but I've also have seen—
Genevieve George: At least two.
Melissa Montalvo: You and I, my friend. You and I, my friend. Yeah. Yeah, so that's what I've also noticed, and the world has shifted so much. I'm thinking of one client right now that I've worked with for over eight years, and we have never met in person because we've done everything by phone or through virtual meetings.
And so I'm gonna change that, 'cause I'm gonna go visit in July. She's a West Coast friend. But I also recognize, wow, guys, let's get on a plane and go see your people, because the honor of going into someone's house is truly a gift. And the world that we're accessible. But I also recognize that so much can get done on a virtual meeting today.
I have onboarded clients that I have never met. Right. And they're busy. Yeah. And that's okay. And so if we can do this kind of conversation, and they're serious, and we see each other, and all the onboarding stuff gets done…
Genevieve George: And if they feel like they're getting everything out of it, and that works, right, if that's what works for them.
But there's other clients where meeting in person and, I don't want to call it handholding because I enjoy it, but like coming alongside them and giving them a little bit more attention. They may enjoy that.
Melissa Montalvo: That's right. And I just also want them to know besides just being the financial advisor, let's partner with your accountant.
Yeah. Let's partner with your estate planner. And if you don't have that, then let's find those folks. We're a basket of resources, whether it's a mortgage lender or a realtor, special needs trust. There's so many other avenues that we can assist or handhold for clients' needs, both locally; so yes, I have an office here in Palm Beach Gardens.
Okay, fantastic. Everyone knows the area, but there's plenty. My practice started in New York and New Jersey, and so I studied finance at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, and then it's just grown. People migrate, and I want my people to know that no matter where they want to go, I will be there.
Genevieve George: That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah, I love that. Now, on the topic of working with women, 'cause obviously you work with both men and women, but being a female in the financial industry, I think we have a different approach to maybe how we're talking with everybody. But what do you do when you're talking with a woman, maybe she's a prospective client or could be a prospective client, and you can tell that she's not sure if she should engage an advisor or not?
I put that in the place of I think there's maybe fear there, or somebody else has been taking care of it for a long time and they just haven't been engaged. Like, how do you approach that to make that person feel confident and comfortable to have that conversation, which of course requires so much trust, right?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah. Because we have our expectations, too. We're fiduciaries, so we gotta know what's going on in someone's financial situation, because as we're giving advice, things will change. And you don't want to be calling and not getting calls back. So there is an expectation of make sure the person's not a market timer, or they're gonna call back within 48 hours, and they're referring you clients.
If they're nice and generous and they're growing, they're obviously surrounding similar people in their niche, and they would want you to succeed. So that's definitely something I would want to partner with. I really feel like there's so much to be learned in just an hour of a dialogue, and I tend to give educational resources to say, "These are actionable items that we need to take care of right now. And let's revisit in six months.”
And then that goes back, "Let's revisit in 18 months." And I did have a situation where a woman was going through a lot. She just lost her mother, and she had accounts. She had responsible for her mom's estate. The accounts were everywhere in a sense of that 1920s mindset with the Great Depression was really real, so you had over $250,000 in all these different banks.
And it was overwhelming. It was very overwhelming to get organized, and then she had her own job and her own kids, and things going on in her own personal life that we didn't engage in onboarding together. We didn't. And so I just kept in touch, and after a couple calls, just sent her some encouragement.
A year later, she said, "All right, I'm ready. Where are you?"
Genevieve George: Yeah. Yeah. That's great. So. Yeah, I feel like one of the things that I like to bring out, and I think that you do as well, is like it doesn't have to be perfect for you to sit down with somebody, right? Just like you need to understand what you have, how it is working, where you're trying to go, and like you have to just embrace that exercise.
And like you said, this woman came to you, and you sort of looked at everything together and had a little bit of a conversation. She wasn't ready.
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah.
Genevieve George: That's okay. That's okay. Right? But even just having that initial meeting and that go, kind of going through the initial exercise can be so powerful so that at least you come out of it with a little bit of knowledge of what are the next steps?
Melissa Montalvo: Exactly.
Genevieve George: And you can ultimately choose to take them when the time is right for you, but.
Melissa Montalvo: Exactly, and I feel like if you can give those tidbits for them to work on their own, that, that speaks value. You made a difference right there. And they'll remember you for that.
Genevieve George: So talk to me about, you, you mentioned it a little bit, but you started in the hedge fund space, and then you ended up in more financial planning and investment management. So maybe talk to me about that transition and how that played out.
Melissa Montalvo: Sure. Sure. I'd love to. Thanks for asking. This world is so… it’s just, life is just so funny, and sometimes you go into a university thinking you're gonna major one thing, and then you come out doing something completely different.
For me, I always had a passion regarding coaching and teaching and rallying people behind a specific goal, and I thought I would be, like, a secondary education teacher and a soccer coach, and then go to becoming an athletic director. But over time, there was a lot of value with having a woman, female, in the corporate space, that we see things a little differently and respond maybe a little differently.
And there were so many great mentors that I had that just took me under their wing and just spoke truth and value when corporate life was really hard. And so I felt like I loved reading the Star-Ledger and looking at different stocks and figuring out what the ticker symbols meant, and the power of compounding was really unique.
And someone taught me what a 401(k) was a long time ago, and recognizing the importance of taking a portion of your salary today and earmark it for goals later on, that just resonated. I cannot promise that Social Security is going to be there. Right. That system may not, that income benefit may not be there, so why depend on systems if we can kind of create our own strategy or cashflow later on.
So I just recognized that different people were having these conversations with me. As all my jobs landed, it was always within the financial industry. So I've been working since 2008, and…
Genevieve George: A great time to be looking for your first job. Excellent time to be looking for... First job in finance too, by the way.
Melissa Montalvo: First job in finance, and I had a job, and I'm glad it was '08 rather than '09, because '09, it was very difficult to find a job, right? Oh, my goodness. And you're like, "Oh, do you go to grad school now?" What's next?" Yeah. And so I think having a coachable heart also helped shaped me 'cause I kept studying.
I kept going for the next certification. I just always wanted to be a well-rounded, versatile person, and then professionally, I realized, wow, you're more than just a transaction person. You are cultivating deeper relationships. You're going into the weeds, and these are really qualitative conversations that I was able to build a life, I guess, off of all this, and realize I'm very passionate about it.
I want other people to succeed, and money means something. You don't have to be scared of it. You can conquer it. And ladies, we're earning it, and so I just feel we're calling a lot of the shots, and men really respect it, and they see the partnership.
And so it's like, how do you make sure as a team you're collaborating together? And I'm very thankful for all the men that I've worked with who cheered me on, 'cause there's times where you don't know your worth, and they've reminded me. And so, in good conversations and hard conversations. And so, yeah, so over time, I said yes to becoming a partner of a firm, and we're an investment boutique firm here in Palm Beach Gardens, and clients all over the country.
But I'm a Jersey girl at heart, so I will spend a lot of time at the Jersey Shore, as I love to do.
Genevieve George: I love it.
Melissa Montalvo: And for me, it's just one person at a time, one family member at a time, and every place I've worked, I can say thank you. It was a bridge to something else. And now being on this side of the business, you could take your time and just go deeper. Take your time.
Genevieve George: Right. Yep ...
Melissa Montalvo: So corporate America shapes you.
Genevieve George: And that's on your side, but that's on the client side too, right? You're not pushing them, "I have to have this. I have to have this." You're meeting them where they are.
Melissa Montalvo: Yes.
Genevieve George: And just helping them work through the process of planning or estate planning or whatever goals they're working towards.
You're coming alongside them and just trying to help them in the best way that you can.
Melissa Montalvo: Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Genevieve George: I love that.
Melissa Montalvo: It's been a great ride.
Genevieve George: That's awesome. And how can people find you to work with you, Melissa?
Melissa Montalvo: Oh my goodness. Yes. There's so many ways, right? I'm on LinkedIn; Atticus Wealth Management is the firm here, PGA Boulevard in Prosperity.
Obviously, I love to give our office line. It is 561-425-9900.
Genevieve George: Okay.
Melissa Montalvo: But honestly, guys, just reach out, personal cell phone number, send a text, shoot an email, all the things. Melissa Montalvo over here.
Genevieve George: Yes. Yeah, I love it. I love it. Anything that you want to share as a closing comment, if there's somebody out there listening, what do you want them to come out of this with?
Melissa Montalvo: Yeah. I mean, I think there's a lion inside of everybody, and you gotta have to get to the place where you're unleashing that, finding confidence in where you're at. And so we're all on a journey, and Gen, you’re a great example of just saying, "Hey, I want to serve people. I want to serve families."
And so I think being open to having collaboration with other folks is really important because we don't all know everything, and it's really important just to have that sounding board around you. You want to have folks that are cheering you on in every season of life that you're in, professionally and personally.
And so I think life is about relationships and not taking that for granted.
Genevieve George: Yeah. I love that. I love that. Thank you so much for being on.
That's it for today's episode of The Wealth Development Studio. Remember, financial clarity is powerful. Do you need help with your financial plan? Go to pelicanfinancialplanning.com to schedule a call with me. Until next time.
