Michael Slaggie, a financial advisor of Slaggie Capital Group, visited Winona State to talk with finance students and faculty about the world of financial planning and his journey to becoming a financial planner.
Path
Mr. Slaggie has been a financial planner since 2000 and his path is extraordinary. In 1987 his father and family became involved with Fastenal. His father was a co-founder of the company. In 1991 he opened up his first investment account and met his mentor, Dan Hampton. In 2000, the President of Town and Country Bank approached him and he started at Barron’s in La Crosse shortly after. In 2010 he opened his own branch of Raymond James Financial Services, Slaggie Capital Group, and hired his brother, Matt Slaggie, and their assistant, Victoria Trouten.
Why did you become a Financial Planner?
Slaggie has always had an interest in investments and stocks. He liked that he could be independent from others and he could be in control of himself. There is plenty of flexibility that comes with running your own branch, which peaked his interest in the field.
Then vs. Now: Financial Planning
Financial planning, according to Mr. Slaggie, wasn’t as popular as it is now. Today, financial planning is more relationship-based and is viewed from a holistic approach. Financial planning also used to be more exclusive and difficult to find, but now it is more accessible. In the current era, there are robot-advisors and the market is more of a do-it-yourself market.
Working with Clients
Mr. Slaggie mentioned the use of the three buckets principle. This principle consists of: emergency funds, goals and retirement. Slaggie wants his clients to set aside three to six months’ worth of living expenses in cash for emergencies, to be debt-free and to work on implementing employee-sponsored retirement plans. He also wants to work on engaging with his clients as an advisor, as well as relying on walk-ins and seminars.
It was an honor to have Mr. Slaggie talk to the College of Business’s finance students and faculty and give insight on what financial planning is all about and talk about his journey.