Michael Freemire, BFA • Thornton, CO
Full Circle Financial of Colorado LLC • Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.
I’m a serial entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience across a variety of industries—including public office, having served as mayor of Bettendorf, Iowa. I know the stress and uncertainty of managing cash flow, payrolls, plan sponsorship for retirement accounts, and the emotional ups and downs of being your own boss.
Today, I’m an investment advisor and hold the Behavioral Financial Advisor designation. I’ve had a lifelong interest in studying financial markets. My college education in business and sociology helped me build a solid understanding of both how the economy and markets work and how people tend to respond—psychologically and socially—to those and other forces.
What does this all mean for clients? It means that when we talk about their financial future, they benefit from my educational background, business experience, and professional training.
I believe you need two tools as an investor—and as an advisor—to effectively plan for retirement. First, you need a guiding philosophy that explains why being proactive is better than being reactive when it comes to life and investing. That’s where the Smart Money Philosophy, introduced in my BFA coursework, comes in. It says, “Diversifying assets and understanding the greatest probability of making money in the future through smart principles is how we aim to manage uncertainty.” At the core of this is diversifying retirement assets and income streams, pulling money from the time-appropriate resource, and having flexibility as market and economic conditions change.
Second, you need a specific plan to apply that philosophy. That’s the idea behind what we call the Full Financial Framework: a logic-guided perspective for helping clients make the best possible financial decisions for their future.
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Our model combines traditional finance with psychology and neuroscience. It takes into account how each person is wired to think and react when it comes to money. I love working with interesting people to explore the cognitive biases and emotional responses that may be influencing their financial behaviors.
Over the years, these ideas have shaped not only how I work with clients but also how I’ve built my advisory practice. Here are a few of the most important lessons I’ve learned along the way:
- Treat every client and prospect like a multimillion-dollar client. Exceed their expectations without assumptions or inconsistencies. Through the Full Financial Framework, I aim to create contextual congruency—a consistent experience and strong point of reference—as we grow together.
- Entrepreneurial experience is an asset. Over the years, I’ve navigated recessions, market disruptions, geopolitical crises, legislative shifts, and the usual daily challenges of leading a business. That experience has taught me to prepare for one of the rare guarantees we face as advisors: the certainty of uncertainty in the markets.
- Invest in tools that help you serve better. Technology has changed the game. Dashboards, alerts, and metrics help me track progress, celebrate even small milestones, and identify areas for improvement. That data gives me a lens for greater gratitude toward our clients. Clients entrust their assets and future—and often their dreams—to our care. That’s a responsibility no advisor should take lightly.
- Tell the truth, warts and all. I won’t always pick the best investment, and not every outcome will be positive. But I own my mistakes, tell clients at the first opportunity, ask for their understanding, and share what I’ve learned—along with what we’ll do differently going forward.
- Build trust above all else. Trust is the foundation of every great advisor-client relationship. If clients know you’re putting their interests first and have a plan for whatever life—or the markets—might bring, they’re more likely to be engaged and committed to the process. I aim to work as hard—if not harder—in helping grow and protect their wealth as they did in building it.
Disclosure: Advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc., a registered investment advisor. Full Circle Financial of Colorado and Cambridge are not affiliated.
Photography by Jason Sinn
