A Conversation With ... Stephen R. Spence

Village Financial Services opened in June 2005. We are the financial services department within Village Bank. We offer personal financial planning for individuals and businesses. Our services include comprehensive financial planning such as investments, insurance and financial counseling. We offer business resources as well, specifically, retirement plans and business insurance. I’m the primary financial planner, but I have an assistant now.

How did you get into this line of work?

I had an experience as an intern when I was in college at Evangel, with a local financial planning company, and was studying to be a business teacher, which I ended up pursuing for a couple of years. I was a high-school business teacher in Everton for two years, and after the second year, felt like … I had accomplished everything that teaching had for me. I’ve been in bank investments since 1999, and I find that most bank customers, especially today, need something other than just traditional bank products. Banks have the relationships, but not all banks used to carry nonbank investments.

What brought you back to Springfield, where you grew up?

I had the opportunity to start Village Financial Services (after) 10 years in the investment planning arena and six years in bank investments, from a small (institution), and then a major institution up in Oshkosh, Wis. I felt like I could pull from both directions and build something that worked well. I still have a fair amount of clients up in Wisconsin who have stayed with me.

What does your work entail?

Financial planning looks at current financial position, insurance, investments, tax, retirement and estate. Those are the six major principles of financial planning. My job, when I take on a client ... is to explore all of those issues and look for opportunities that clients are not aware of.

What are some of your biggest challenges?

My biggest challenge is changing the mindset of clients who are looking for conservative investments but think that insured deposits are the only conservative investment. … I try to create an open mind to other types of accounts that are still conservative but that offer a higher potential yield.

What other conservative investments might you recommend?

I highly recommend asset allocation or balanced types of mutual funds, and tax-deferred or tax-free accounts.

What year-end issues do businesses need to consider?

From a retirement planning point of view, the end of the year is a very appropriate time to be reviewing your plan, making sure that it’s in line with regulations, and (whether) there are new regulations or new additions to retirement plans that employers may want to consider adding. Also, and maybe equally important, would be reviewing the investment options within the plan to make sure that they are performing and that they’re still appropriate … options for employees.

What about year-end issues for individuals?

Specifically from an investment point of view, making sure that your investments have performed appropriately within their market, within their asset class. Looking at your overall portfolio to make sure that it still is within your risk tolerance, or within the asset allocation mix that was originally designed, if there was one. If there isn’t, it is very appropriate to design a plan – why have what you have in your portfolio. From a tax point of view – I don’t know if it’s ever too late to do tax planning – but sometimes it’s a little late to do current-year tax planning because the year’s almost over – aside from individual retirement account deductions and deductible contributions that can be done for prior years. It’s not too late to look for those options, but that’s where a relationship is really important with a financial adviser who knows you and knows your situation.

Tell us about your family and your spare-time interests.

My wife, Sandi, is an independent interior designer. We have a son, Michael, who will be 8 in January, and a daughter, Lauren, who is 3. We are remodeling our fourth home together – we’re still married after 11 years and four remodels. We’re very involved in our church. We go to James River Assembly, and that dominates a fair amount of our time. Sandi’s actually a part-time employee and works in the preschool department there, and does design work there. She’s decorating the church for Christmas. My family is here – including my father, Robert Spence, Evangel president, and my mother Anne Spence – and we enjoy spending time with family.[[In-content Ad]]