Three generations, one commitment to helping families plan more effectively

Rick Leidal • Novi, MI
Insight Financial Group • Sigma Financial Corporation

W​​hen I look back at the history of Insight Financial Group, I do not see it only as the story of a company. I see it as the story of a family, a profession, and a commitment to helping people make better financial decisions.

Our family’s work in financial services began in 1966, when my father, William “Bill” Leidal, entered the business with the Aid Association for Lutherans. He started by providing insurance services to the church community and later became a general agent with General American Life. Over time, he became more involved in employee benefits, executive planning, and financial planning. He eventually joined me in the business, and we worked together for many years.

My father remained active until he was 92. That says a lot about who he was. He was a mentor, a business partner, and a dad. I have many good memories of the years we spent together, both as family and as colleagues. He helped teach me that this business is built on trust, service, and the willingness to stay with people over time.

I entered the financial-services industry at a very young age. Before that, I had already learned some lessons about work and responsibility. As a teenager, I started a painting business in my neighborhood. I learned how to knock on doors, explain what I could do, show up on time, and complete the work. That experience taught me something that has stayed with me for my entire career: credibility is earned.

When I came into this business, I was young and looked even younger. I knew I had to earn people’s confidence in a different way. I could not rely on age or appearance. I had to rely on preparation, knowledge, and communication. I wanted to understand more, study harder, and explain things more clearly. That became a major part of my approach.

In 1987, I founded Corporate Fringe Benefits Consultants Inc., now known as Insight Financial Group, in Novi, Michigan. For many years, our firm provided executive and employee financial services, employee benefits, retirement planning, and related work for individuals, families, business owners, employers, and employees. As the industry evolved, my own passion moved more deeply toward financial and retirement planning.

In 2016, we developed The Insight Plan, our proprietary planning process. The purpose was to help clients organize their financial lives in a format that is easy to understand. I have always believed that experience is only valuable to a client if it can be communicated clearly. I may bring many years of industry experience to the conversation, but if the client does not understand what I am saying, that experience does not help them.

That is why communication is so central to our firm. We want clients to see their full financial picture, not just a stack of accounts or a long report they may never read. We want them to understand what they have, what they are trying to accomplish, what risks they face, and how the different parts of their plan work together.

Over time, the next generation of our family has become part of our mission. My sons Chris and Alex are both involved in the firm, and they bring their own experience and perspective. That is important because our clients’ needs continue to evolve, and families are often trying to plan across generations.

Chris founded Medicare Services in 2020 to help clients understand the transition from health insurance to Medicare. That transition can be confusing for many people. There are supplement plans, prescription drug plans, dental and vision coverage, annual reviews, and claims issues. We do not want clients to feel they have to figure all of that out alone or buy coverage from someone who is simply trying to sell a product. The goal is ongoing, personalized service throughout the Medicare years.

Chris also brings broader industry experience to the firm. He worked in banking and later spent five years with Sigma Financial, first in operations and then on the trading desk. That gave him exposure to client account servicing, deposits, transfers, representative service issues, trade execution, stocks, options, mutual funds, bonds, and the operational side of the investment business. Those experiences helped prepare him to work with clients and understand the many moving parts behind the scenes.

Alex worked for several years in the insurance industry and has helped us expand our focus on long-term care and broader risk planning. We believe long-term care is one of the most under-addressed risks in retirement planning. A serious illness or injury can change everything. It can affect income, assets, caregivers, family roles, and estate goals.

Our family has also been heavily involved in helping others build strategies for funding college. For many years, we conducted educational workshops at local public and private schools. The purpose was to help college-bound students and their families organize the process, from college selection and applications to scholarships, FAFSA, CSS support, loans, and funding strategies. For parents, the question is not only how to pay for college but how to do it in a way that also protects their retirement goals.

When I think about all of these areas—financial planning, planning for retirement income, investments, Medicare, long-term care, college funding, estate planning, tax planning, and generational planning—I see one common theme: Families need coordination. Too often, they have different professionals handling different pieces of their financial lives, but no one helping them see how those pieces fit together.

That is the problem we have tried to solve. We want to help clients connect the pieces. We work alongside other professionals, including attorneys and CPAs, and try to help clients understand how decisions in one area may affect another.

For me, the significance of three generations is not simply that our family has been in the business for a long time. Longevity is meaningful, but continuity is the bigger point. Clients want to know who will be there for them, who understands their history, and who can help their family when life changes.

My father helped establish that foundation. I have spent my career building on it. Chris and Alex are helping carry it forward. Across three generations, the mission has remained consistent: help families understand and manage what they have worked hard to build and to prepare for the future with greater clarity.

Disclosure: Investment advisory services offered through Sigma Planning Corporation, a registered investment advisor. Securities offered through Sigma Financial Corporation; Member FINRA/SIPC. Insight Financial Group is not affiliated with Sigma Financial Corporation or Sigma Planning Corporation.

Photography by Hugh Anderson