We live in a day and age in which information is so prevalent, we rarely find ourselves lacking for data. If anything, we have so much information at our disposal, it often leads to analysis paralysis. Information overload has made it even more important that we find a way to connect applicable information to our lives in a way that is personal. The realm of personal finance is one of the most fraught with an overabundance of info. That’s where I come in.
Personal finance is more personal than it is finance.
While there are many complex areas of financial planning that require extensive experience and education to understand and put into practice, most of the benefit to be derived from planning is not about knowing what to do, but doing what we know. For that reason, my presentations are geared as much toward foundational wisdom, personal stories and even entertainment as they are information. My goal is to help your audience reach a “light bulb moment,” then inspire them to action and give some accessible, practical steps to apply it so that their positive experience doesn’t end with the presentation.
Types of Events
Thanks to a background of varied experience, I am able to aid you whether you’re looking for someone to conduct a presentation to your non-profit’s board to rollout a planned giving initiative, an hour-long seminar for your company’s employees now glimpsing retirement, a keynote presentation at your conference on the intersection of money and life or a two-day workshop for couples interested in developing a deeper understanding of their personal finances.
Bringing Money to Life…or Life to Money
I enjoy doing presentations for companies, non-profits and associations filled with people whose interest and knowledge in the area of personal finance ranges from nothing to professional. For architects, teachers or doctors, I can bring a financial perspective that is desperately needed in these days shadowed by the Great Recession; while to experienced financial planners, I can provide guidance on client interaction or media communications.
Testimonials
Tim is one of the most uniquely gifted people I know when it comes to seamlessly talking about life and money. Not only is he an engaging communicator, but he is highly competent in his field of study. I recently had the privilege of participating in a workshop Tim did with a large group of men. I was overwhelmed not only with the command he had of his subject matter, but with the way he served those he taught. Men left that workshop with a new paradigm of how money can be utilized to reach your life goals, without neglecting what is most important to you in trying to obtain it. When it comes to money concerns Tim is the person I looked to!
Pat Goodman — Senior Pastor, Community Development, Grace Fellowship Church
After hearing Tim speak and seeing how well prepared he was to handle the audience, we came to the conclusion that we made a mistake—Tim should have been either our opening or closing speaker. Tim displayed both a high level of enthusiasm in his presentation as well as command over the audience. I would recommend Tim and his presentation (The Next Level of the Financial Planning Process) to other chapters across the country because of both his delivery and the timeliness of his topic.
William B. Bissett, CFP® — 2010 President-Elect, FPA Maryland
Tim has an amazing story to tell! And he tells it beautifully, keeping the audience fully engaged the whole time—which is rare among speakers these days. I know if I need a timely, interesting, thought provoking, humorous, yet real, professionally delivered presentation Tim will come through and that is why he is on my short list for any programs I am involved with.
Caleb Brown, MBA, CFP® — Partner, New Planner Recruiting
Tim spoke at a Continuing Legal Education session at the 2011 Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP) Conference entitled Home Economics 101-Financial and Legal Planning for Busy People Doing Well. The attendees at the session expressed that he did a great job and was very knowledgeable on the subject.
Ajay Gohil — Conference Organizer, 2011 NetIP
For Non-Financial Audiences:
The Ultimate Financial Plan — This is a presentation designed as a comprehensive overview of one’s personal finances for a seminar or workshop setting in a half- or full-day format, although it can be adapted to a fast-paced hour-long survey session. The session is tailored to your audience, and each attendee receives a copy of the book I co-authored with best-selling author, Jim Stovall, The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing Money and Life to allow a deeper review of everything discussed. The session begins addressing our underlying beliefs about money and the importance of articulating our values and goals to begin the financial planning process and increase our probability of success. Then refreshingly new looks at cash flow management, investing, insurance, income taxes, education planning, estate planning and retirement planning are addressed. Longer sessions include break-out sessions and working through individual and group exercises.
The Ultimate Retirement Plan — If you represent a company, association or organization with concentrations of loyal employees now glimpsing retirement, this presentation is designed to help prepare them for that new phase of life. Following the Ultimate Financial Plan methodology, the session ranges a comprehensive spectrum, but with a more specific focus on the myriad of transitional decisions facing retirees. This presentation can also be adapted to an hour survey format, but takes on a fuller form in a half-or full-day session.
The Action Plan — The Action Plan is a presentation still grounded in the broad context of money and life, but more focused towards the issues specifically facing your audience. For example, The Action Plan: Young Couples and Money. Other focuses could be on other specific demographics, professions or areas of common interest.
Giving and Planned Giving for Non-Profits — I have a heart for the work of those individuals and organizations dedicated to education and serving the underserved. I’ve designed sessions specific to the concept of giving and planned giving, in which I simplify the concept, making it tangible for your board or giving base. I also conduct educational sessions for your relationship management team to help them better understand the inner workings of some primary planned giving strategies to better prepare them for conversations with major donors.
Money and Faith — Who said we’re not supposed to talk about money and religion? In this session, I take on both of them. Money is one of the most common influences in our lives because it is involved in nearly every decision we make; and faith is often an integral part of our values and the principles we live by. But reconciling the two is a challenge for many of us. Any of the above sessions can be adapted within the context of a faith setting for your church or ministry, or we can design a unique presentation for your youth, men’s or other group.
For Financial Audiences:
The Next Level of the Financial Planning Process (Is Actually the Second Step) — With the Certified Financial Planner™ planning process as its backdrop, I examine one of those formative steps—gathering data—with a client-centric focus designed to derive more and better information while engendering a greater level of trust. In this session, I also provide a survey of the leading “life planning” tools and how advisors can integrate them into their process to enhance the data gathering process while encouraging planners to develop their own tools to best suit their practice and their clients.
Financial Advisors and Media Communication — In this presentation, I explore the role of media interaction in the profession of financial planning and how one can effectively communicate through various traditional and social media outlets. We live in a world in which methods of personal and media communication are evolving at an ever-quickening pace, but we’re in an industry notorious for clinging to antiquated methods of, well, everything…including communication and interaction with the media. More importantly, we serve a diverse clientele—spanning many generations, each more and/or less interested in various forms of communication and media consumption. Backed by my experience in radio, TV, print, publishing and social media, I help advisors discover whether media interaction should be a part of their practice and if so, how.
Keynote Presentations:
The Timeless and Timely Nature of Your Story: Understanding Your Story and Helping Your Clients Find Theirs — I have had the very unique and special experience of working with one of the great speakers of our generation, Jim Stovall. Jim is probably most well-known for the amazing success of his book, The Ultimate Gift, which has sold over four million copies and was turned into a movie by Twentieth Century Fox. But Jim’s success in writing and movies was really a product of his success as a platform speaker. Through my work with Jim in our co-authored sequel to The Ultimate Gift, The Ultimate Financial Plan, Jim and I are also collaborating to create an unforgettable keynote presentation for your next conference. There are many more details on this concept, and I look forward to sharing them with you upon your request.
Flat Speaking Fees are individually negotiated for each event and are dependent on length of presentation, number of attendees, materials requested, opportunity for book sales, travel expenses and whether or not the sponsor is corporate or non-profit.
I was visiting a friend of mine at his office in downtown Baltimore, and prior to lunching, he introduced me to a few folks at his office. When we poked our head into the first office, he turned to me and said, “Well, you’re involved in so many different things…how do you introduce yourself?” I answered with the first thing that came to mind. “I’m a husband and a father.”
Isn’t it interesting that when most people ask who we are, we answer with what we do?
My vocation—as a financial planner, educator and author—is to help clients, students and readers connect who you are to what you do…with your life, in your family, in your career and through the commodity with which you interact the most, your money. It is this personal approach that I bring to your event and your audience.
I love the art of communication, and I’ve had the privilege to work on mine it in a number of forums. I’ve been put under the hot lights of a television studio hoping something other than gibberish would come out, including appearances on CNBC, ABC’s Nightline, WUSA Channel 9 (CBS in DC), WBAL-TV (NBC in Baltimore) and Fox 45 (in Baltimore). Some of the most fun I have each week is joining my friend and colleague, Drew Tignanelli, as the co-host of Money, Riches & Wealth, a financial radio program on WCBM 680 AM in Baltimore each Wednesday at 6:00pm, and I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to one of my other favorite financial shows, the NPR program, Marketplace. In the most traditional of media forums, I’ve been humbled to see my name in papers and periodicals I’ve admired for years, like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, U.S. News & World Report and Money magazine, among others.
But nothing has prepared me for public speaking as well as teaching my Fundamentals of Financial Planning course for aspiring business students at my alma mater, Towson University. Twice per week, every semester, I’m faced with 30-40 blank stares begging for something more interesting than a pre-fab Power Point presentation from a publisher. Instead, we bring class to life! And in this case, I actually did “write the book.” Co-authored with the best-selling author of The Ultimate Gift, Jim Stovall, our book The Ultimate Financial Plan (John Wiley & Sons, 2011) is written for the consumer, but approved by the Certified Financial Planner™ Board for use in the classroom.
The company I am proud to call my vocational home is the Financial Consulate. We’re a fee-only, comprehensive financial management company. I am a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) practitioner working with individuals, families and organizations. I also benefit immensely from my affiliations with some great industry associations andcommunities of interest: The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), The Financial Planning Association (FPA), NexGen and Nazrudin.
Although it took me several years to get on board, I’m now totally smitten with the realm of social media. Yes, I’m now Tweeting, Facebooking and active on LinkedIn. (By the way, if you’re having trouble seeing the value in social media, I understand and would be happy to give you a couple of the tips that helped me see its value. Shoot me an email…) And after a friend of mine challenged me to summarize a bunch of complex financial topics in under 90 seconds (if you haven’t noticed, I’m a little wordy), the 90 Second Finance YouTube series was born.
The central home for all of my communication is my blog, www.TimMaurer.com. I try to post something new each week—often enough to maintain a relationship, but not so often I’m clogging your information pipeline.
As I mentioned at the very beginning of this bio turned book, my primary aim in life is improve who I am as a person, a husband and a father. It is those responsibilities with which I am charged, first and foremost, and it is to them who I owe my very best. My wife, Andrea, and I are the proud parents of two boys, Kieran and Connor, and attempt to be positively active members of our community. Outside of personal finance, my favorite pursuit is music, and I’m lucky to play the drums and sing in the indie-bluesy-jazzy-rock band, the Jon Maurer Band. I also serve on the board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Maryland chapter, a cause near and dear to me, and on the advisory board of the charitably inclined ice cream company, Taharka Bros., whose Honey Graham ice cream you must try.
Welcome! 