ICON in the News

• ICON's Co-Founder, Matt McKellar, CFP^®  has just been chosen to receive the "2008 Five Star Wealth Manager: Best in Client Satisfaction” award that will be featured in Seattle Magazine.  The award is given to Seattle area financial planners who have been evaluated on nine different levels of service.  He will be listed in the Bellevue "Financial Planner" or "Financial Planning" section of the piece, and it should run in Seattle Magazine's April 2008 issue highlighting the area's "Best Wealth Managers".  We will have additional materials up on our site as soon as they are available.
  
  
• ICON was recently featured in a personal financial planning article on the front page of the Seattle Times' Sunday Business section on personal finance titled "Can you have your cake and retire too?"  The Times was doing a "Financial Makeover" series and was looking to feature a financial planner with the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ^TM designation.  They profiled one of ICON's Founders (Matt McKellar, CFP^®) during the initial stages of a financial planning and wealth management relationship with a local couple.  Here are a few excerpts from the interview series:
  
  "Saving is important to this young couple, but they also dream of traveling to South American next year.  Smart planning can help them enjoy life now while providing for the future.  ‘Lauren likes to travel, and I like to do things that make her happy’ . . . Would it be wiser to invest that amount in a retirement plan, put the money toward home renovation projects, or save it in case they decide to have children?"
  
  "Certified financial planner Matt McKellar analyzed what he called (their) financial DNA.  McKellar, who is President and Co-Founder of ICON Consulting in Bellevue, said Joe and Lauren are underfunding their retirement savings . . . 'Planning is a process of trying to bring the future into the present so we can do something about it,' McKellar said.  'They are doing great with short and midrange financial goals.  Now they need to focus on long-term investments."
  
  "The biggest asset they have right now is their ability to earn a paycheck,' McKellar said.  'If that goes away for an extended period of time, all their hard work saving money is undone and they might never recover."
  
  "Both were surprised McKellar was supportive of their Argentina plans . . . 'He kept telling us life doesn't start at 55 or 60 and we've worked hard for our money so we should take a vacation and have fun,' Joe added.  'That was unexpected.  I'm kind of getting excited about going."
  
  For the full article in PDF reprint format, please click here.  For an archived link to the Seattle Times website, you will want to click here.
  
  
• ICON was also featured in a related article in the Seattle Times about personal financial planning titled "Love, marriage and baking: 1 account or 2?"  Here are a few excerpts from the piece:
  
  "I shouldn't have to ask for permission to get my hair done,' she said.  (They) are like a growing number of couples who keep their finances separate . . . Are separate savings and checking accounts a good idea?  Matt McKellar, President of ICON Consulting in Bellevue and a member of the Financial Planning Association, recommends a joint account."  
  
  "From what I've seen through working with hundreds of families, it's more efficient to run all income and expenses from one account,' McKellar said.  'The most common problem with separate accounts is that one partner doesn't know what the other is spending or saving.'  Another advantage is many banks and brokerages offer better interest rates for higher balances, which are easier to maintain through a joint account."
  
  For the full article, please click here.  For an archived link to the Seattle Times website, you will want to click here. 
  
  In addition, please visit us here for a demo of ICON's offerings.  For inquiries, questions, or to schedule a complimentary review, please click here.