Bio - Karen Melo Ticas, CFP®

My name is Karen Melo Ticas, CFP®, RICP®. She/her (what's this?)

I am the founder and owner of Planning for Good®

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner, am I held to the fiduciary duty to put my clients' best interests first and always. While our team serves a diverse population, our practice specializes in retirement planning for busy professionals and the LGBTQ community.

I developed my passion for financial planning while in college, working for a large mutual fund company. Piecing together long-term strategies requires creativity, organization and forward-thinking... it was right up my alley! This was a career choice that allowed me to actively make a positive impact on people's lives, while affording me a great amount of independence and flexibility in my own life. 

I further made the commitment to become a CFP® professional early on in my career because I wanted to provide my clients with a holistic approach to financial planning, with broad training and the support of our industry's leading professional organization. 

You may learn more about my credentials below. Our team and I look forward to the opportunity to serve you!

Education & Designations

I love to learn! I grew up a bilingual child, and went on to teach myself some Spanish, enough that I now have an actively multilingual household. 

One of my proudest moments was being the first in my family to graduate from college, attaining a bachelor's degree in Finance, with a minor in Economics, from the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth. I then studied at Bentley University while working towards my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. 

• I have training in financial planning for unmarried couples, which is common not only among LGBTQ and blended families but also increasingly occurring among seniors.
• I have a Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP®) designation, so I can better serve clients headed into their golden years.  
• Most recently I obtained the Wealth Management Certified Professional (WMCP®) designation, mostly as a refresher to the CFP® courses I had taken over 15 years ago, because a lot has changed! The WMCP® also had the additional focus of teaching advisors how to build personalized investment portfolios that work in synergy with an overall financial plan.

When I'm not working with clients and building my practice, I enjoy traveling with my family. Find me on Facebook if you want to know about our recent adventures! 

FINANCIAL PLANNING WITH A CFP® PROFESSIONAL

Not all advisors are the same...

By choosing to work with a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, you can take comfort in knowing what comes with one of the industry's most prestigious certifications...

We must agree to abide by the CFP Board's Code of Ethics which requires certificants to practice financial planning with fairness and integrity, and to be held to the fiduciary standard of always putting the client's interests first.

The CFP^® designation is attained through a rigorous course of graduate-level study and a 10-hour exam testing all areas of the financial planning process.
Going forward, certificants are required to complete 30 hours of continuing education every 2 years.

CFP® practitioners agree to abide by a strict code of professional conduct, known as CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, that sets forth their ethical responsibilities to the public, clients and employers.

Learn more here; WHAT IS THE CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER CERTIFICATION?

Advisor Licensing, Compensation & ADV

Planning for Good offers planning services and wealth management, as well as investment and insurance products from various vendors. As such, I can be compensated in the form of set fees and/or sales commissions, depending on the services you choose. 

I hold the following licenses:

• Series 7 - General Securities Registered Representative, broker
• Series 65 - Investment Advisor Representative
• Life & Health Insurance

These licenses are held in my resident state of Massachusetts, as well as several other states, and additional states can be added to accommodate clients throughout the United States.

These licenses require that I be held to the fiduciary standard of care, that is, to provide advice and recommendations that are in the best interest of my clients. 

For a copy of my SEC Form ADV-Pt.2, please click here. The ADV form is a brochure required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to provide information such as: an adviser's education, work history, conflicts of interest and disciplinary information, if any. 

Awards

For the eighth consecutive year, I was honored with the Five Star Wealth Manager Award. The award is granted by Five Star Professional, an independent 3rd party firm. It is a national recognition based on criteria including: years of experience, retention rates, client assets administered, and a favorable regulatory / compliance history.

To receive the Five Star Wealth Manager award, individuals must satisfy a series of eligibility and evaluation criteria associated with wealth managers who provide services to clients. Recipients are identified through research conducted by industry peers and firms. Third party rankings and recognitions from rating services or publications are not indicative of past or future investment performance. For more information, go to www.fivestarprofessional.com.