I have been meaning to write a post outlining the role and the benefits that my virtual assistant, Kathy Watkins, brings to my practice and, most importantly, to my clients. But rather than writing it myself, I decided to ask Kathy to tackle this topic. So, today’s post is a guest post from Kathy….who by the way, is a real asset to my practice and to my clients!
Kathy Watkins: What I do!
I’ve already had the pleasure of communicating with many of you by phone and/or email over the past several months. And believe me, I do get that what I consider “communicating,” some of you may consider nagging, since I’m usually pestering you to send in documents of one kind or another.
I do all my pestering from my home office in Chicago, the city where I was born and raised. I also have southern ties via my mom (North Carolina) and dad (Alabama). I’ve been working with fee-only financial advisors as a Virtual Paraplanner for several years. I was certified as a Virtual Paraplanner by the Alliance of Cambridge Advisors and as a Registered ParaplannerSM by the College for Financial Planning.
As a paraplanner, I bridge the gap between a financial planner and an administrative assistant. I support Troy by handling tasks that are beyond the scope of a traditional administrative support person, so that he can focus on addressing your specific financial planning goals, questions and concerns.
My responsibilities include (but aren’t limited to):
- Requesting documents for upcoming meetings
- Meeting prep, e.g., tax planning, insurance review, estate planning, retirement, etc.
- Entering investment and tax data
- Updating financial profiles
- Drafting paperwork related to investment accounts (e.g., new accounts, transfers, distributions, rollovers etc.)
- Responding to your administrative requests (e.g., supplying a copy of a past tax return needed for a home refi)
The absolute favorite part of my job is making your life easier. Every job I’ve ever had has involved customer service. I love working with people…virtually or in person…and providing them with world-class service.
And just in case you’re wondering, I want to clarify that I’m not replacing Molly. I’m an additional resource on the Von Haefen Financial Management team.
You can reach me via email at kathy@vhfinancialmanagement.com . And if the need arises (or if you just want to put a voice to the person), you can reach me via phone at 773-224-6999.
In the meantime, if I haven’t reached out to you yet, I look forward to doing so in the near future.
