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WBD State of the Union - October 2021

Since early 2020, the world looks a lot different and the same can be said about Wealth by Design! The way we work, the way we meet our clients, how we deliver financial planning. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to our clients and the planning process we guide our clients through every day.
 
While some things have stayed the same, many others have changed and evolved over the past 18 months here at Wealth by Design.
 
We've added new team members, family members, degrees & designations. We went to an all-virtual workplace and have gotten (almost) completely away from paper!
 
In March 2020, like many others, we were forced to start working from home. Many of us with limited home office set ups or even a portable computer! We embraced that challenge and quickly ensured everyone had everything they needed for success while working remotely. For some that meant just a new laptop on their kitchen table. For others, it was printers, scanners, desks and shredders! Craig even put his wood working skills on display and made Bryan a stand for his monitors.
 
Besides just the physical aspects, we also implemented a variety of new technology. As many of you have experienced, Zoom became our new home and continued connection with you. We not only used this for our external meetings with clients but also for our internal weekly team meetings, trainings and even virtual events like the comedy and economist show we hosted! We've also added other timesaving tools (for both you & us) like Calendly, that gives you access to our full calendars when you're ready to meet us. Then implementing e-signing capabilities using DocuSign with (almost) everything we do. From new investment accounts, insurance policies, or financial planning engagements, we have an e-solution that has helped us to do away with a lot of paper and accelerate both the speed and efficiency in which we're able to get things done for you!
 
Through those tools and many others, we were able to continue the financial planning, investment and risk management advice that you have come to rely upon, want, need and deserve; and in many ways, improve the service, timeliness and experience you receive as well.
 
This has led to new introductions and opportunities to add value as we have for the past 25 years. It has also allowed the WBD network to expand. While most of us are still local to our Paramus, NJ office, our Financial Planning Manager, Paul Lee, has migrated his residence to Naples, Florida! Our client reach has also continued to grow outside of the tri-state area with several clients in places like DC, LA, San Francisco, Washington state, FL, AZ, Wisconsin and the Carolinas to just name a few.
 
Because of these added efficiencies and growth that we've experienced, the team has also expanded. Since the start of the pandemic, WBD has added 4 new members to the team. Believe it or not, there's now 14 members of the WBD family! For those of you that have been with us from our humble beginnings, it's quite the growth!
 
This growth in talent has allowed us to build more specialized dedicated support for you across all areas of financial planning in which we serve you. We have added specialists in 401k plans, investment management and processing, insurance specialists and expanded our business owner planning capabilities.
 
While we plan on remaining mostly virtual, we look forward to getting back to certain things in-person. Some of the WBD team was together in July for Craig's wedding that took place in Walla Walla, Washington then again in August for a BBQ at Craig's home in Morristown, NJ, which featured some of Cheryl's famous empanadas and where some team members met in person for the first time after working together for almost a year! Going forward, our New Jersey and Washington state offices are open and ready for us to work and meet with clients in a responsible and cautious manner.
 
We appreciate the trust that you've all placed in us and look forward to our continued partnership for many years and generations to come!
 
For those of you who do not yet follow us on social media, here are a few of the many highlights of the last year!

  • New team members
    • Anthony Sambrato - October 2020
    • Deandrea Forbes - April 2021
    • Kacey Lyzell - May 2021
    • Mike Jason - September 2021
  • Bryan's wedding - October 2020
  • Craig's wedding - July 2021
  • Anthony completing financial planning certificate - June 2021
  • Juliet Brito is born - February 2021
  • Darby earned her Paraplanner designation – April 2021
  • Bryan's Masters Degree in Taxation - May 2021

If you don’t want to keep missing out on all of the new things going on with WBD, take a second to follow us on social media. Every week, we post updates about WBD and your team at WBD, along with timely information about the markets, tax changes and everything in-between. Heck, you may even learn a thing or two from one of our quizzes!

Take a second and connect with us here:

  

Craig Bartlett and Jason Brito are registered representatives of Lincoln Financial Advisors.
Securities and advisory services offered through Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., a broker/dealer and registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Lincoln affiliates and other fine companies. Wealth By Design is not an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Advisors. CRN-3799189-092921