Hi, I’m Alan Nelson, Founder of Measured Money Maneuvers. My “money” story began many years ago with my decision to enlist in the Navy. At the time, I was independent and living on my own, attending community college and working full-time to make ends meet, but was not really sure what I wanted to do with my life, and didn’t want to get shackled into a ton of student loan debt and paying it off into my 30s and 40s. So, I raised my right hand and took the oath with the goals to serve our country, learn valuable skills, hopefully figure out what I wanted to pursue in life, and get my college education paid for…or at least get the GI Bill to assist with college later.
Like many young enlisted starting out, in the first two years, my two roommates and I were fooled by the predatory insurance salesman and purchased a whole life policy as an “investment” with the promise of the “guaranteed” 7% rate of return. Thankfully, we had some senior enlisted leaders that knew better and told us to get out of it immediately before the 30-day window closed and we’d have had to pay a huge surrender fee to get out. This was my initial wake-up call that I needed to learn more about personal finance and investing.
I was fortunate to earn a commissioning program within a couple years and while I initially thought I’d transition out in 6-8 years, I went on to serve a 25-year career as a submarine officer. As a young junior officer, I wanted to help my Sailors holistically – professionally, personally and of course, financially. Many young service members make poor early financial decisions that can take them years to recover from due to: 1) lack of financial literacy, 2)having their own paycheck for the first time in many cases and, 3) being the target for many unprincipled salespeople.
Initially, I would bring in outside personnel in an attempt to “train” my department on investing but realized 1) they were not very good 2) they didn’t really care about my people and 3) did not provide actionable steps for my team – it became apparent that I needed to know this subject material well enough to teach them myself. Through years of self-study and my own personal mistakes, I’d learned a great deal and started teaching my crew to help put them on the right path early, and hopefully avoid making the same mistakes I did.
I considered financial advising when I was transitioning to the private sector, but I didn’t like what I saw in too much of the industry. Too many high fee models serving only rich people to protect their assets, and still too many salespeople working on commission under a “suitability” standard vice being fiduciaries who must act in clients’ best interests.
Instead, I went into Program Management in the high-tech industry. Despite working at an innovative high-tech company with brilliant engineers, I realized quickly these highly-educated people still didn’t know much about personal finance. People asked how I knew so much about personal finance and investing, so I offered an initial lunch and learn. The feedback was so positive that it turned into a recurring monthly Financial Fitness Friday seminar. By the second seminar, it became undeniably clear that helping people with money to live their best life was my passion and I knew I needed to earn my credentials as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional. While I will always continue to educate my clients and the public, I realized that I could truly help more people by starting my own fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisor (RIA) firm, Measured Money Maneuvers LLC.
Mission, Vision and Values
Our Mission is to help people live their best and full rich lives by eliminating financial distress, building financial discipline, and creating financial freedom.
Our Vision is a community educated and confident in their financial life plan, living by their values, to enjoy their lives today while confidently navigating to a wealthy and secure retirement on their own terms.
Values - On submarines our crew was a family and everyone, both officer and enlisted, had to rely on and trust each other in the most hazardous conditions to ensure we completed the mission successfully and returned home safely. These people and relationships are cherished throughout our lifetimes. While it is like a family, we are more of a Tribe. We humans have a strong instinct to belong to groups defined by clear purpose and understanding, a “Tribe”.
Our Values at Measured Money Maneuvers are based on creating the same type of tribal community with our clients and the firm.
Trust – Assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth on one another.
Respect – Always having due regard for the feelings, views and traditions of others, and embracing our differences.
Integrity – Doing the right thing even when nobody is looking, and practicing what we preach.
Betterment – Constantly working to better ourselves and others – a rising tide lifts all ships.
Excellence – We are technically competent and provide the highest level of service, but always striving to learn and improve.