Advisor Bio - Karen Melo Ticas, CFP®
When it comes with complexity... It's Gotta Be A CFP!
My name is Karen Melo Ticas, CFP®, RICP®, WMCP®. 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
I was honored with the Five Star Wealth Manager Award once again in 2024. 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.
*This award was issued on 12/01/2023 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 02/13/2023 through 08/31/2023. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 703 Rhode Island-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 120 (17% of candidates) were named 2024 Five Star Wealth Managers. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.