#communityovereverything: Adam Prewett

Our CityCentral community is home to all kinds of business professionals, one of which is Adam Prewett. Adam started his career in financial services with American Funds based in San Antonio, Texas. He joined Voya Financial Advisers in 2004, where he began his work in planning and advice. In 2015, Mr. Prewett joined Level Four Advisors, a wealth management firm owned by Carr, Riggs & Ingram, a top 20 national CPA firm. He began working with CPAs to help businesses setup retirement plans for themselves and their employees. We sat down with Adam and got to know his background and how he got started in the financial industry.

Tell us a little bit about you and your business:

Well first thanks for having me! It is fun to be here with you – my name is Adam Prewett, I’ve been in Dallas-Fort Worth for about 20 years, and I’ve been a financial adviser helping individuals and businesses. I have a wife, Susan, and 2 children. We live in Lewisville, so we are close to the area, and I love being part of the CityCentral family! 

What led you to becoming a financial adviser?

My background and growing up; I had a mom who was a teacher and a dad who was also a financial adviser. Through the years and growing up I saw how much fulfillment came from helping other people with their finances. I remember as a young adult growing up learning how to invest, learning about the stock market and mutual funds just from being in the house with my dad. So, it has been a good career for me I really enjoy it and love serving my clients. 

Did you attend any colleges or universities?

I did, I went to a little school, just kidding, in College Station called Texas A&M. I studied engineering there and liked it so much I decided to stay for 5 years… then I went to SMU, here in Dallas, and studied financial planning.

What sets your business apart from other companies?

We have a focus on making the complex simple. Finances and investments can all be very, very complicated for people so I thrive on making those complex topics easy for people to understand. I think a lot of that comes from my upbringing, being in a house with a financial adviser and a teacher.  My practice revolves around educating my clients and making sure they understand what it is that they are doing.

What advice would you have for someone who is starting to think more about their finances?

Two things: number one – get rid of debt as quickly as humanly possible. Because debt will prevent you from moving forward with your finances. So, whether its credit card debt, student loans, car loans – we want to get rid of that as quickly as possible. The second thing is, we want to start saving as early as possible. And that means putting money into a savings account or an emergency fund. It also means saving into a retirement account. The retirement account is a long-term investment, but if you start early and if you start young, then over time those investments are going to grow nicely for you. So, I encourage people to get rid of debt and start saving as early as possible.

What is something you wish you would have known before starting your business?

One of the things I have learned over the last 20 years is that clients like rather than being told specific things to do, they appreciate having a coach relationship. In other words, it’s one thing to tell people to save money but it’s a completely different thing to show someone how to do it and give them ways to do it. Over the years I have moved into more of a coach role with my clients and it seems like it works much better. I think about the fitness instructor who says, “Do this, do this, but we don’t work out – we don’t go to the gym.” Then you have that coach who walks alongside you and says, “Do it this way or why don’t you try it this way.” That’s what I do with my clients. It’s not a business where I give people explicit instructions without showing them how to do it. So, I pride myself with on being a coach with my clients.

How do you navigate your work/life balance?

You know with 2 children it’s a busy work/life balance, and it can be challenging. What I’ve done is I have made family a priority. So, there is a lot of times where on Friday afternoons, if the kids have activities, I’ll try to take of work a little bit early. Fortunately, being in financial advising there is not a set schedule from 8 -5. So typically, I will try to make as much time during the week to spend time with family and doing activities with them. It’s a constant struggle and a challenge of course, but family is so important – I really to make time. And I think overall clients understand that and can appreciate it.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

I would have to say the most rewarding part of my job is the ability to help clients achieve their goals and once clients meet those goals, them coming back to me and saying, “Adam, we really appreciate how you have helped us save for retirement or able to retire comfortably. You’ve helped us save for college and now our child is going off to school.” That feedback that I get from clients on a regular basis and how I have helped them get to their goals, that’s the most rewarding part of the job.

How has becoming a member of CityCentral helped your business?

Getting started with Mosaic Financial Advisers and having the ability to not only have phone, internet, printing etc., but a place where I can easily meet with clients has been fantastic. One thing I like about CityCentral is the fact that we have got associates and managers that are rockstars. Everybody on the CityCentral team is great in terms of mail, making sure that we get our messages, greeting clients – one of the things that is unique about my business is that I need to meet clients and different locations and CityCentral allows me to meet with my clients at a nice, private location that is convenient to them. So rather than having clients always coming to meet me at my main office in Plano, I can go to a CityCentral office that is closer to them and that’s been fantastic. It’s super easy for me to reserve offices around the metroplex and be more convenient to clients. 

If you had a friend in town and wanted to take them to one your fav restaurants/spots, where would you take them?

Whiskey Cake

More casual good American food

Sixty Vines

Farm to table; great wine choices