Roopanand Rick Paray, LUTCF
Innovative Planning Services
82-01 Rockaway Blvd., Suite 110
Woodhaven, NY 11416


I proudly add LUTCF after my name. It is an acronym for Life Underwriting and Training Course Fellow. It is a professional designation conferred only upon those individuals who meet or exceed the exacting qualification standards determined by the two organizations that jointly sponsor the designation, The American College and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).

According to them, the designation marks an agent’s long-term commitment to professionalism on behalf of clients, establishes the agent’s competence and business experience, marks a commitment to The American College’s and NAIFA’s Code of Ethics and fosters additional professional development.

A Fellow has successfully completed five courses of the curriculum, in addition to an Ethics Course and be a member in good standing of NAIFA.

What is NAIFA?
The National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers is an association of professional real estate appraisers committed to the support of its members, for a service of trust and integrity, that benefits the members, the profession and the general public.

The Association's objectives are to raise the standards of the appraisal profession, to exchange experiences and ideas to the betterment of the profession and the public, to maintain and encourage a code of ethics of the highest standards for members, to gain recognition for its members as qualified professionals, to encourage educational pursuits for members in attaining a high standard of proficiency in their chosen specialty, and to promote fellowship among appraisers.

The Association was founded in 1961 as a non-profit association of professional real estate appraisers. Today, our Association has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, and we continue to expand our market outreach.

Roopanand Rick Paray, Roopanand Paray, Roopanand Paray

Today many consumers are faced with a tough choice when it comes to who will manage their money.

This choice is made harder with the plethora of financial advisors out there. Some of these people, posing as financial advisors, give you an overload of information as well as a sales pitch for a product that may not be for your benefit. These “self-serving” advisors that are out for their own interest is why NAPFA was created.

NAPFA, which stands for National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, is a professional association for fee-only financial advisors. Founded in 1983, NAPFA has sought to help consumers seek conflict-free financial advice.

What is a Fiduciary?

These fee-only advisors serve in a fiduciary manor. “What is a fiduciary?”, you may ask. A fiduciary is a person legally appointed and authorized to hold assets in trust for another person. The fiduciary manages the assets for the “benefit” of the other person rather than for his or her own profit (investopedia.com). This differs from a normal financial advisor in the fact that some advisers do not always invest for the benefit of the client. Most financial advisors are paid fully or partially by commissions, this means they have an incentive to promote products that maximize their income.

NAPFA prides itself in the fact that this association looks out for the best interest of the client. Saying this, NAPFA only takes advisors that meet their organizations highest standards. Those standards are:

They must meet stiff credentialing and educational requirements.
They must be primarily engaged as holistic financial advisors (rather than merely investment or tax advisors).
They must meet the most rigorous continuing education requirements in the industry.
They must submit to outside professional review, to ensure that they do not have the conflicts of interest that commissions bring.
They must submit a financial plan for review by peers, before they can be admitted.
It’s these high standards that NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisors adhere to that is making people take notice. These registered advisors do not sell any product on commission, and therefore have no outside conflict of interest. NAPFA advisors have one common goal, to look out for their clients best financial interest.

One thing that I’ve noticed about NAPFA advisors is that they are very proud of their organization and take it very seriously. A fellow blogger and CFP® professional, Roger Wohlner, is very active in the NAPFA community. I asked him to share why NAPFA membership is so important to him.

Roopanand Paray, Roopanand Rick Paray, Roopanand Paray

Roopanand Paray, Roopanand Rick Paray, Roopanand Rick Paray

Firms, especially small companies, who employ an independent financial advisor, find that they are a lot more useful than they expect them to be. Having someone experienced to advise them on financial products takes the pressure off and allows you to concentrate on running your business on a day to day basis.

As an independent advisor, they do not represent a particular bank or insurance company, but rather are employed by a business to impartially advise on the most suitable financial options for what may include banking, insurance, taxes and pensions. The right financial advisor will save you money, protect your assets and help you make your business more streamlined.

You can hire an independent financial advisor for many reasons. They can give you pension advice, advise on savings, investments and general business consultancy. If you need it they can give you insurance advise be it personal, house or business insurance. They also offer advice on taxes both personal and corporate.

Independent financial advice is crucial to the success of your business. Even if you only employ a financial advisor on a short term basis you will save yourself a lot of money and hassle. Plus you will learn a lot that will help you to make sound financial decisions for you and your business in the future.

Some independent financial advisors can even help you with planning for your business. They can show you how to put together a business plan and understand how much things like insurance, tax and pensions really cost your business. They can show you how to capitalise on your financial assets and use them to help your company to raise extra funds when you need them.

The right independent financial advisor will listen to you and make sure that they work within your comfort zone. If you are interested in high risk investments they will help you to find those kinds of investments, but if you only want to take low risks they will do that too. A good financial advisor can help you to plan for the future and ensure that you get a great return on your investments.

Roopanand Rick Paray, LUTCF
Innovative Planning Services
82-01 Rockaway Blvd., Suite 110
Woodhaven, NY 11416

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