Joe Graziano began his career over 25 years ago and became interested in financial services at an early age. “When I was just 16 my father passed away. While my mother did a wonderful job running the household, it was not long before I realized the critical importance of planning. My parents had worked with a so-called “advisor” who was actually more of an insurance salesman and did no serious planning for them.” Early in his career, Joe’s brother John invited him to join the firm. It was then that Joe became very interested in the concept of true, long-term financial planning. For the last 10 years he has been a partner with the firm which now has over 100 advisors and two billion in client assets under advisement. Today he looks forward to staying current in this ever-changing field and meeting with clients to help them achieve their long-term financial goals. Joe enjoys seeing financial plans evolve to help clients reach such goals as a comfortable retirement or being able to send their children to college. Joe has an accounting degree from St. Peter’s College and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®), each of which has helped him to fully understand clients’ financial pictures. Joe is also very passionate about the planning business and prides himself on keeping abreast of industry trends and the latest planning techniques. He typically reviews about 10 financial-planning periodicals monthly and personally attends several industry conferences a year. As a member of the Financial Planning Association, Joe’s expertise includes professional money management, investment planning, retirement planning, educational planning, estate planning, and business planning. He’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Financial Planning magazine. Joe, like his firm, remains “completely independent.” It is not owned by a bank, brokerage firm, or insurance company. “This independence allows us to work in a conflict-free environment and do what we feel is best for each client. We also follow a regular review schedule to make certain clients’ portfolios and plans are properly maintained.” As Joe firmly believes in obtaining an understanding of where the client is and where he would like to be, he relies on a unique process The Wealth Maximizer. This thoroughly analyzes a client’s situation before building a cohesive, long-term financial plan. “We take a collaborative approach. At our weekly planning meetings several advisors collaborate on each client’s plan, providing clients with several options. We also work closely with each client’s financial team which may include an accountant and attorney to make sure their financial lives are completely aligned with each aspect of their personal goals and objectives.” On the personal level, Joe enjoys spending time with his wife, Gabrielle. Attending the theater and traveling with their children, Luca and Olivia, are favorite pastimes. Joe also coaches his son’s baseball team and plays competitive tennis. Being a former Division One collegiate tennis player has enabled Joe to meet great people all over the world.