WPU Financial Planning program featured as cover story in "Hispanic Outlook for Higher Education"

The success of William Paterson University's Financial Planning program in placing graduates of Latin origins into great career paths in financial planning was the feature of a cover story in the Hispanic Outlook for Higher Education magazine. To read the story, click here.

The story features inspiring examples of recent graduates Cindy Mota '12 (1st generation American from the Dominican Republic who was hired at Vanguard) and Andrea Vintimilla '10 (1st generation American from Ecuador who was hired at Quadrant Capital Management).

Our day with John Bogle (founder of former CEO of Vanguard)!

Today was a dream come true for me and the students at WPU's Cotsakos College of Business! We had the chance to meet with, interview, and have lunch with John Bogle. He is known as 1 of 5 most famous investors in the world (up there with Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, Benjamin Graham, etc.) He was named by Time Magazine as 1 of the 100 most influential people in the world (up there with the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and Oprah).

He is the founder & former CEO of Vanguard, which is the largest mutual fund company in the world. He is the father of indexed mutual funds, and we were thrilled that in his 9th decade of life -- he would travel up from Philly to speak to the students in our business school here at WPU.

I admire his character, determination, and relentless focus on cutting costs so that his clients could have more gains. He spoke about character, values, stewardship, and even gave some insight into how he was able to achieve 50 years of marriage with his wife Eve. This was a once in a lifetime event for our students to meet with him and have lunch with him. To see the press release we put out for the event, click here.

Wall Street Journal ranks Financial Planning as 1 of the best jobs of 2012

Once again, WSJ ranks Financial Planning as 1 of the best and hottest jobs of 2012.
Click here to see where it is ranked!

John Bogle to receive "Pioneer in Financial Services" Award at WPU

John C. Bogle will be on campus, Tuesday April 17th, 2012 to receive the "Pioneer in Financial Services" award presented by the Cotsakos College of Business and William Paterson University.

Mr. Bogle is known as "the father of indexed mutual funds", and he is the founder and former CEO of Vanguard, the largest mutual fund company in the U.S. with over $1.3 trillion in assets. Mr. Bogle's determination to offer mutual funds at the lowest possible cost to consumers has made him a hero amongst household investors, and a thorn in the side of those who prefer to extract rents and capitalize on information asymmetries that exist in the marketplace.

He will be speaking in the Valley Road auditorium from 11-12:15.

We are very proud and excited to have Mr. Bogle accept this award, and influence our students who are the next generation of business leaders in the financial services industry and the global marketplace.

Financial Planner listed as "Best Careers for Right Now" with high pay, job growth, and low unemployement

High Pay
Lots of Job Growth
Low Unemployment

Sounds like a winning combo! Yahoo Jobs used payscale.com data to identify careers with good pay, growth, and low levels of unemployment. Financial Planner was identified as 1 of the 6 "Best Careers for Right Now".

Click here to see article.

HIRED!!! Congrats to Cindy Mota!

Cindy Mota, a senior Financial Planning major graduating in May 2012 was recently hired by Vanguard (the largest mutual fund company in the U.S.)

Cindy was hired as a High Net Worth Client Service Specialist in the Vanguard headquarters at Valley Forge, PA starting this June 2012.

Cindy has been working with Bank of America while completing her education, and was ranked as the #1 teller in North Jersey. She is fluent in Spanish & English.

Financial Advisor: Listed as 1 of the top 10 jobs in 2012 by U.S. News

Financial Advisor/Financial Planner came in at #5 on the U.S. News list of the best jobs/careers in 2012!

To read list, click here.
To read their explanation about a career as a financial advisor, click here.
Financial Advisor was also listed at #23 overall in list of best jobs with opportunity, competitive salary, and job satisfaction.  Click here to see that article.

Financial Planning ranked as 2nd Fastest Growing job field by B.L.S.

CNN Money and Yahoo! Finance report that Financial Planning is tied for 2nd in terms of job growth over the next 10 years... with an astounding 30% job growth in the field!  For a career in financial planning they posit that you'll need to have BOTH financial competence as well as interpersonal relationship skills (i.e., be good with both money and people).

To see the full article, click here.

WPU wins silver at the 2011 National Financial Planning Challenge in San Diego

For the 2nd year in a row -- WPU placed in the National Financial Planning Challenge.  The students tied for 2nd with Kansas State, and placed ahead of VCU, Texas Tech, Missouri, Georgia, Metro State College of Denver.  

Congratulations to Claudia, Nick, and Mike for representing WPU well, and their success is well deserved after all the time and effort they put into preparing for this competition.

Claudia Capilla, Nick Bowman & Mike Walsh

The National Financial Planning Challenge is sponsored by the FPA, CFP(r) Board, Ameriprise, and the Academy of Financial Services (AFS).  Students compete in 3 events:  Creating a financial plan for a sample client, Presenting the case to the client, and a Knowledge Bowl.

Claudia, Nick & Mike placed 2nd in the Knowledge Bowl, as well as tying for 2nd place overall.  They earned $5,000 in scholarship money for the university.

Cindy Mota receives $1,000 scholarship from Arthur N. Caple Foundation

Congratulations to Cindy Mota who was awarded a $1,000 scholarship to attend the NAGDCA retirement industry conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Cindy was 1 of 5 students in the U.S. selected for this award.  The other recipients were from Texas Tech & the University of Georgia.

Cindy Mota of WPU receives $1,000 scholarship
from Arthur N. Caple Foundation

The ANC scholarship is awarded to students who demonstrate outstanding academic performance as well as an understanding of issues facing public sector retirement plans.  Info about the ANC scholarship 2011 winners can be found by clicking here.

WPU students attend NAGDCA 2011 conference in Albuquerque

Financial planning majors Cindy Mota & Natalie Manzi were selected to represent WPU at the 2011 National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) conference in Albuquerque.  Cindy & Natalie were able to learn firsthand about the retirement industry from DC plan administrators as well as from retirement industry representatives from companies like Fidelity, ING, T. Rowe Price, ICMA-RC, Great West, BlackRock, and Nationwide.

The students met with NAGDCA leadership, as well as the head DC plan administrators from the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Arizona and the Assistant Secretary of Employee Benefits for the Dept of Labor.  They had 2 professional mentors to guide them at the conference, and they were also able to take a quick hot air balloon ride, take a quick tour of Albuquerque.

WPU students meet with NAGDCA President, Gay Lynn Bath of Oregon

WPU students and faculty meet with Ed Lilly, Executive Director of New York State
Deferred Compensation plan.  The largest DC plan in the U.S.

WPU students enjoy a social event at Case Rondena Winery in Albuquerque 

8 things your financial planner won't tell you.

MSN Money's Liz Pulliam Weston recently posted a great article about how not all financial planners are created equal. Read it by clicking here:

The 8 items deal with:

1. Qualifications

2. Fiduciary status

3. Compensation types

4. Comprehensive/holistic approach vs narrow focus

5. "If the only took you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

6. Trying to time/beat the market.

7. Follow fundamentals or fads?

8. Disciplinary history?

William Paterson University encourages students in its financial planning degree program to become professionals who obtain professional designations and put the clients interests' first.

1st Place Overall in the National Financial Planning Challenge!!!!

Q: In 2010, if you invited every CFP(r) Board registered financial planning undergraduate degree program in the U.S. to compete in a 3-part Financial Planning Challenge where the students had to create a financial plan for a client, compete in a knowledge bowl, then adjust the plan in 36 hours to a change in the clients circumstances and present the new plan to the clients..... who would win????

A: William Paterson University.
William Paterson University students receiving their 1st place overall award w/ Marv Tuttle (FPA CEO) and Dr. Tom Potts (FPA President).
















Nick Scheibner of Stanhope, Nathan Phillips of Sparta, and Cagla Yildirim of Parsippany won the National Financial Planning Challenge at the FPA national conference in Denver, Colorado held Oct 7-12. They worked on the case all summer long without knowing if they'd get anything but a line on their resume saying they "participated" and they ended up with the following:
1st place overall
1st place in the Knowledge Bowl
1st place in the case presentation
$10,000 in scholarship money
Multiple job offers!

"This event demonstrated the work ethic of WPU students and their desire to get into the financial planning profession." -Luke Dean
WPU booth @ the FPA conference. Thanks to the judges & event sponsors: FPA, Ameriprise Financial, CFP(r) Board, Academy of Financial Services

I don't want the students to sit too high on their horse, but they asked me to send this message to Texas Tech, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Missouri, K-State, and the rest of the universities w/ financial planning degree programs.

WPU students attend FPA national conference in Denver, Colorado

WPU sent 8 students to the national conference of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) in Denver, Oct 7-12.
5 students earned free registration to the conference by working as volunteers at the conf.
3 students earned free everything (hotel, airfare, conf registration) by being selected as 1 of 8 finalists for the National Financial Planning Challenge.
This photo is of David Yeske & Elissa Buie of Yeske Buie stopping by the WPU booth. Yeske Buie is one of the largest RIA firms in the United States, with offices in Virginia & San Francisco.


WPU students attending an FPA social event for students attending the conference.


WPU students at the Denver Conference Center.

Executives from Prudential in NJ meeting with our students at the WPU booth.

QUICK HITS from WPU Campus in October

1) Our university President is cooler than yours.
(President Kathleen Waldron rode a Harley to the Homecoming football game)


2) The President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernandez, spoke on capmus @ WPU and signed an agreement for student/faculty exchange program. See story here. Any students prefer to take financial planning classes in the Carribbean?