There are some things in life you just don’t prepare for—so when they happen, you typically need lots of support and are at a loss for where to get it. Luckily, there are savvy financial advisors like Amy Weldele to help.
As a Senior Wealth Manager at Budros, Ruhlin & Roe based in Columbus, Ohio, Amy is an expert in helping individuals with financial management and planning. After recognizing a trend of clients in need with wealth management post-divorce, she decided to launch a new business line three years ago focused on assisting clients through the divorce process. “It’s one of the most stressful times you can go through so we provide clarity and education to clients,” says Amy. “Most attorneys are not financial experts, so we know that more education is more helpful.”
While the work is similar to traditional wealth management, Amy points out that supporting clients during one of the most difficult times of their lives comes with its own challenges. “It’s more challenging from the emotional side. One of the things I bring to the table is that I’ve been through it, so there’s a level of understanding of what they’re going through and that is so helpful,” she says.
Amy also helps to educate clients about their futures so they can be confident in their next steps. “We’ve been really modeling out for clients what life is going to look like in five or ten years,” she says. “Maybe it’s something as simple as ‘Can I afford to keep the house?’ It gives a lot of peace of mind and assurance when they’re signing the bottom line about assets.”
As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Amy has been collaborating with family law attorneys to spread the word about her unique services and slowly grow her business line. While she is currently focusing solely in the Columbus area, she hopes to eventually grow to become a premiere player for divorce financial planning locally and even nationally.
That’s good news for many potential clients, as divorce financial planning is hard to find. “Our services are very unique; there’s not many financial planners out there during the divorce stage. Most are forensic accountants and they don’t have the expertise in long-term planning,” Amy points out. “So not only can we do the specialized divorce financial analysis, but we can do the long-term planning and see what it’s all going to mean when it’s final.”
As she continues to grow her new business line, Amy notes that she’s found support and inspiration in the women of NAWBO. “To network with women who have their own businesses while I’m starting a business within the business has been incredible,” she says. “It’s starting with the same stressors and challenges.”
For more information on Amy and her services, please visit https://www.b-r-r.com.
How do you give back as a small business owner?
“As a firm as a whole, we do a lot of good work giving back with charity. We just won the Investment News Invest In Others 2016 Philanthropy Award, which is an industry publication. We also have community days where we give back in different ways, too.”