Raining Professors

2018 is raining ASU professors for FSI

2018 has been an interesting year for FSI and a little strange. Through July, I have interfaced with 3 retired professors from Arizona State University. I won't describe their former positions to hide their identities. It started in April when the first contacted me by email and asked if I was interested in joining him in a round of seminars for continued education he was doing for CPA's in the valley. Though that particular event has not happened, our Legacy Trust Portfolio was recognized by the Professor as a great product he chose to promote with his insurance clients (his new occupation). 

The second contact with an ASU professor was from the grave. Those who know me personally understand I like to go to thrift shops and hunt for hidden treasures. In May, I picked up a Steven King Novel at Goodwill because of it's unusual cover (Kennedy survived 1963) and discovered a hidden metal book safe inside. Locked. I brought it home and after failing to open the lock with small keys laying around, I just pried it open. I was shocked to see cash sticking out along with a valid debit card and even a Chase pin code letter. There was also estate papers for his aunt who is in her 90's, most likely the professor was Personal Representative of her estate. Both my wife and I agreed we had to give the contents back which included over $200 in cash! Research to find the surviving family found the professor's home was owned in fee simple and no beneficiary deed had been recorded. (Probate was required) The most interesting thing is that someone going through his books in his home tossed them out just a few days after his funeral and never checked for hidden items they may contain. Sad.

The third interface is in process, a call from a retired ASU professor discovered he had a specific need to plan his estate a certain way which included drafting a beneficiary IRA trust so his spendthrift son will have continuous income from his share of a large retirement money account being left to him. (via the trust).  This third interface is the opposite of the second. The professor wrote his own draft and sent to the custodian of the account who agreed to become his Trustee for the funds upon his death. The effort was admirable (for his age now), but some negative connotations resulted. So I was hired to draft a professional version that they will accept as Trustee when he passes away.

So, the year still isn't over and odds of another interface from a retired (or active) ASU professor are very low I am sure. But the list of doctorate degree clients over the years is quite long for Financial Strategies, Inc. Perhaps another will discover us and ask for help before the year ends.

M.D. Anderson