ELEVATOR PITCH
Milestone Wealth Management helps people retire well. Founded by advisors Dan Hernandez and Ron Sala, this financial planning organization manages the retirement investments of individuals as well as small to medium size 401(k) and 403(b) accounts.
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OUR STORY
Dan Hernandez’s mother was a schoolteacher. When he was twenty-three years old, he was just starting out as a financial advisor, and he saw how low quality the retirement options his mother’s school was offering her were. He contacted the school and told them so. “I asked, ‘Can I be a vendor?’” says Hernandez. They said they’d love to take him on, but they currently worked with Lincoln Investment. That led Hernandez to join up with Lincoln, where he has been working for the last 32 years. In 2017, together with Ron Sala, who joined Lincoln in 1996, Hernandez took the step of founding their own office, Milestone Wealth Management.a
Having worked with the same company for 32 years means something in the retirement planning business. It’s not every day you come across that level of consistency. Plus, Hernandez and Sala have been working together since the early nineties – a feat in itself.
The ethos of the company is partly informed by Hernandez’s education-oriented family. Whereas a larger firm will really only communicate with the business owner, the financial advisors at Milestone Wealth Management will take the time to discuss what they’re doing with the participants of the plan themselves: the staff.
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“We educate our clients as we manage their wealth,” says Hernandez.
Sala adds, “People don’t necessarily know what their money can do. They come to us asking ‘Here’s what I have. Can I retire? Can I have the lifestyle I want?’ We help them understand exactly what they’re capable of.” To do that, says Sala, they work backward with the client from where they want to be, and then, together, build a plan.
And there’s a lot to understand, especially these days. New financial products and opportunities are constantly being introduced, and a lay investor, if they choose, can have almost infinitely more information than they would have had even a decade ago.
“Twenty-five years ago if you had a retirement plan, you were lucky to get a statement twice a year,” says Hernandez. “Now you can check the numbers whenever you want on your phone.”
With this explosion of information previously only available to stockbrokers and financial advisors, analysis and interpretation become more important than ever. So while Milestone Wealth Management does give you access to all the relevant information, they pride themselves on helping you understand what you’re looking at.
Indeed, Milestone Wealth Management has gotten a reputation for analysis. Hernandez has become a regular financial commentator for Fox News and has often been a resource for the Courier Post and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“All the data in the world won’t help you if you don’t understand how to read it,” says Sala.
In a constantly changing world, Milestone Wealth Management stands out for its consistency and proven track record. Hernandez talks about clients he’s had for 25 years, and plans to have for many more years to come.