Compass Retirement aims to put its clients to ease after they leave the workforce
Marvin Mitchell, president and CEO of Compass Retirement Solutions, LLC, never had any intention on going into the investment field and helping baby boomers avoid running out of money after retirement.
But when his hero – his grandmother – became ill right after he moved to Dallas to attend law school, everything changed.
“I grew up poor,” said Mitchell, a St. Louis native and a graduate of Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville. “My mom had to work three jobs to makes sure we had food on the table. Through that, she taught me determination and perseverance.”
Mitchell was the first person in his family to graduate from college. When he was at law school, his family found out that the “rock of the family,” his grandmother, had cancer. His mother became her main caregiver, and Mitchell said he wanted to spend his grandmother’s last moments with her and the family. He moved back to St. Louis before his semester began.
“She ran out of money before she passed away,” he said. “It inspired me. I found out finance was my calling. Because of my grandmother, my goal is to protect my clients, myself and my family and so they all have the peace of mind that they need to live a comfort retirement.”
Mitchell joined Edward Jones 10 years ago, and then branched off on his own five years later. He specializes in wealth and retirement planning, which may include the areas of 401K rollovers, IRA transfers and retirement income protection. He was recently selected as a top St. Louis professional for Economic Empowerment and is well known for his “Retire Now” education seminars.
Earlier in his career, he started going to seminars targeted at millionaires to learn how they planned for retirement.
“I gained millionaires as mentors,” he said. “For a lot of millionaires, what they are doing is they are getting different information that the bulk of people don’t receive.”
Many people are sold “market products” that are expensive and that don’t fit their needs, he said.
What makes him different as a financial advisor, he said, is that he takes what he’s learning from his millionaire mentors “and I take it back to the ordinary individual investor so they can have access to the same success that a millionaire has.”
He is the vice president of leadership development for Urban League Young Professionals of St. Louis. Being African-American, he said he understands some of the barriers to growing wealth that his community faces.
“Sometimes when we do accumulate the funds, we don’t have access to the same knowledge that other communities may have,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t want to do better; it’s that lack of expertise and intellectual resources.”
In building his business, he has always believed that employing a diverse workforce is key to succeeding.
“From a diversity standpoint, it’s important to gather ideas from a diverse workforce,” he said, noting that his team includes baby boomers and young professionals, who have diverse backgrounds.
In addition to his passion for finances, Marvin is a speaker, coach and trainer certified by the John Maxwell Company. He has also served as a board member for United4Children.
His advice to clients is to always seek knowledge.
“Knowledge isn’t power,” he said. “Applied knowledge is power. In my workshops at least once a month, I teach people about retirement. But I give them tips of how to apply that knowledge right away. Work with someone you trust. Don’t try to do it yourself.”
For more information, visit http://www.compassretirementsolutions.com/.