Intro: 00:00

Welcome to the You Can’t Take it With You show, where we feature stories around generosity designed to inspire and encourage others to do meaningful things in their communities. Now here’s your host, Jim Dunlop.

Jim Dunlop: 00:17

Hi, Jim Dunlop here, a wealth advisor and host of the show, where I sit down with people who get it when it comes to generosity. I’m excited to have guests who can give us stories on generosity, to not only inspire our listeners, but to give practical ideas on ways we can give. We’re featuring a series of episodes where the guests are teammates of mine at Advent Partners. Today’s guest is my business partner, Jamie French. Past guests include Peter Greer, Jim Langley, and Phil Cubeta.

But before we get to Jamie, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by Advent Partners. Ready for good. Advent is a financial planning team dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey at Advent Partners who are ready for good. Our bold ten year vision to help clients donate $100 million to transform lives through generosity and planning. United by generosity, relationship excellence, authenticity, and fun, we empower meaningful lives and lasting community impact. 

 To learn more about partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit readyforgood.com. And now to Jamie French. Jamie is a managing partner and wealth advisor at Advent Partners. He is a certified financial planner practitioner and has a master’s degree in financial planning. 

 He specializes in the areas of tax, estate and charitable planning on a personal level. He will soon be married 30 years and has four children, one college graduate, two college students, and one high schooler. He lives in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, and serves on the governing board of Daybreak Church. Jamie, welcome.

Jamie French: 01:46

Thanks, Jim. It’s good to be here. It’s you’ve had a lot of other guests. So for me to to sit in as a guest is kind of fun.

Jim Dunlop: 01:53

Well, good. So like all of our other guests, I would love for you to start by giving our listeners, a quick autobiography of Jamie French.

Jamie French: 02:03

Sure. Yeah. So I grew up in Binghamton, New York, which is just up over the Pennsylvania border and grew up in a family of five. My my dad was a property manager. He owned owned rental properties and, and flipped properties and worked with his hands a lot.

Did did a little of everything plumbing, electrical, carpentry. And my mom was a teacher in, in, in elementary school. And actually I attended the school that my mom taught at as a, it was a Christian school. I attended that through sixth grade before I moved to the, to the public school. And yeah, my, my childhood was a lot of a lot of sports, a lot of time at church. 

 We were there Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening participating in youth group, you know, as I mentioned, played a lot of sports, watched a lot of sports. And then I remember my childhood being a lot of freedom, like riding my bike around the park, playing in the woods, like swimming and doing all that kind of stuff. I was the middle child of three as I was growing up. I actually have five adopted siblings who all were adopted after I was out of high school. So kind of like a second family. 

 So that was that was kind of my younger years. I attended school at Cedarville University in Ohio, where I majored in accounting, and I also got a minor in Bible that was one of the requirements for all students at that school. So that was some good some good teaching. And then coming out of school, I. My first job was in a CPA firm, a small accounting firm here in the local area, and I was there for about three years. 

 And then I went to work for a small technology company. And I was I was the financial controller for that company. And that company was subsequently acquired by a larger telecommunications company. So I worked there for a little while and then got into financial planning. I guess it was 2006, almost 20 years ago. 

 And the story I always tell about how I got into financial planning, I actually was serving in my church. We had we had helped to start a financial ministry, counseling people on setting up their budget and managing debt. And I just really enjoyed sitting across the table from individuals or couples and helping them sort through that and, and then got, you know, an individual joined the ministry that that was in the financial planning field and got interested in, you know, a few other ways that I could help people and actually make a career out of it. So I actually got into this career by virtue of my church. So it’s kind of interesting.

Jim Dunlop: 05:06

Very good. So this is a show about generosity. And I always like to start with what’s your generosity origin story?

Jamie French: 05:20

Yeah. So I’m very grateful. I, you know, I grew up in a, what I would describe as a loving Christian family. I, I already mentioned we spent a lot of time at church, but in addition to that, I, I saw my parents, they always tithed. I remember seeing them, you know, write their checks and, and put their giving envelopes in every week.

And, and so that that habit was kind of something that was very normal to me. But I also saw how they were generous with their time in terms of their involvement in the church. They both were in the choir at one point. My dad served as a leader of the Awana clubs, which is, you know, where I learned a lot of Bible memorization, scripture and things like that. My mom led a kids choir and, and led the plays that the kids did in the church, like the Christmas, you know, kids Christmas musical. 

 And I remember participating in a group called the Joyful Sounds, a little kids choir that my mom led. So I just always saw them being generous, both with their resources and with their time. And I also saw them give generously to like specific needs that came up, you know, something that came up at the church or a project that they could give to. They were always looking for ways to do that. And then even just I remember I grew up our home had a swimming pool and it felt like there was always a group from church over, you know, the youth group or, or people from the church. 

 So they were they were generous with their home and hosting people as well. And even I remember there were times where people would live with us because they needed a spot, and my parents were sharing our home with them. So these are all things that I, I recall my parents doing. And I obviously at the time, I wasn’t thinking, oh, how generous they are, but certainly made an impact on me. And so, you know, when I got married, you know, tithing and, and having a regular habit of giving was very natural. 

 And we kind of started right, right from the start. That was a, that was a habit of ours. So yeah, I, I, I credit my, my parents and just being able to watch them and see the example they set.

Jim Dunlop: 07:40

So you, you have this evolution that starts with mom and dad and, and carries forward to you and to your, your marriage to Pam now for almost 30 years. Tell me about a story of generosity that’s important to you and near to you.

Jamie French: 08:00

Yeah. So I think the thing it’s actually timely because my, my, my church is, is currently in a growth phase. And, and we’re going through a campaign to raise money so we can continue to grow. And, and so I, you know, I think you mentioned I, I attended Daybreak Church and serve on the board there. And our church started with 35 families back in 1999.

And today there’s, I think we worship over a thousand every Sunday. And so, so obviously being there that long, we’ve seen a lot of evolution and growth. And at various times that has meant, you know, needing resources to kind of take the next step. And so we’ve been through multiple iterations of that. And I feel like every time that happens, there’s a. 

 There’s a leap of faith to be taken. There’s, there’s a, there’s a surrender kind of a relooking at our finances and, and saying, you know what, you know, how do we want to participate in this? And, you know, what is what is God asking us to do? And, and so I, I almost, I almost look at that we’ve been through multiple iterations of that and it’s almost like flexing a muscle like anything else, you know, you’re, you’re not sure what you can do when you go into something like that. You’re, you’re, you’re trying to make a commitment beyond what you have normally done. 

 And I know we’ve made commitments in the past, and we weren’t even quite sure when we made them how it was going to happen, but we just trusted that, you know, we kind of were listening for God’s leading and, and trusted that he would provide what we needed to, to do that. And so as I mentioned, we’re currently in that. And, you know, about a year ago, we made a commitment to give to that. And it was a it’s a stretch, you know, and we, we try to always stretch that giving muscle. And it’s not easy. 

 Like, you know, we have we have you mentioned we have two kids in college and, you know, that’s it’s not an easy time to, to think about being generous, but it’s just always been part of what we’ve tried to do. And, you know, even as a financial planner, we’ve made a commitment to try to, you know, meet that goal, even if it means at some point we have to pull some of our, you know, stored long term resources as a financial planner, you know, probably not something I’m often recommending to clients is to take money out of their retirement assets. But, you know, we just felt like we wanted to make that commitment and, and meet it in any way we could. So I’ve just really, you know, I think my wife and I collectively have grown from that. And that’s been a big part of kind of how I approach generosity and even on a. 

 I would say on a smaller scale. My wife and I both enjoy looking for opportunities to bless people. When we see a need just kind of instead of, you know, giving to an organization, but actually looking for ways to bless people with practical needs. I can think of a while back, a couple that was looking to adopt, and there were some significant expenses with that. And we just felt like that was a good opportunity for us to, to pitch in and provide some resources for. 

 So and that’s my story.

Jim Dunlop: 11:21

And, and. I, I don’t, I don’t want to pick on you, but like your parents, I know that you’ve welcomed people into your home. You had two college kids that weren’t your own living with you this summer.

Jamie French: 11:31

Yes, that is true. Yeah. And actually, we’ve had prior to that in our in our old house, we had multiple we had two people that lived with us for a period of time. And I never really made that connection. But yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s a good point.

Jim Dunlop: 11:46

Yeah. So thinking about our, our work and we’ve, we’ve talked a lot about generosity at Advent Partners. What are some things that you like to encourage clients to think about, particularly if they’re struggling, maybe whether who to give to or how to give or what that could look like, or if they have enough. How do you help clients think about that?

Jamie French: 12:11

Yeah. So I think part of that is, you know, we like to, especially when we’re meeting clients for the first time or, you know, if we haven’t done it in a while, we like to kind of sit down and, and identify their values because their values often drives where they’re, where they want their resources to go. And so that’s, that’s certainly something we, we spend some time on. A lot of times they have organizations that are already important to them. But I think what I’ve also seen is sometimes people are hesitant.

Hesitant to give because they’re not sure where they stand. Right. And, and so my, my encouragement to them is, is, you know, start somewhere. And, you know, start flexing that muscle, as I said earlier, because, you know, it’s, it, it’s not easy to, you know, look at your budget and take a significant portion of your budget and say, oh, we’re going to give this away. I don’t know a lot of people that have, you know, lots of money left over. 

 And so, you know, in some respects, it’s always a bit of a leap of faith. So that’s, that’s, that’s how I try to encourage people.

Jim Dunlop: 13:14

Besides your parents, are there people who have influenced you in your journey for generosity that you’ve witnessed?

Jamie French: 13:25

Yeah. I mean, there’s certainly clients that I have worked with who, you know, sometimes it’s organizations that their charitable with, sometimes it’s family, you know, they, they have significant resources they set aside to, to bless their family, you know, whether it’s taking them on a vacation or helping them out with a home purchase or a wedding or, you know, see a lot, a lot. A lot of our clients who are, are generous with their family and with charitable organizations. Actually, I get a lot of energy talking about like, hey, how do we give money away and save taxes? And, you know, I can get pretty excited about that because I’m a little nerdy when it comes to that area.

So we, we, we’ve talked with a lot of clients about, you know, qualified charitable distributions or, you know, strategy they can use to avoid taxes and benefit a charity. And I usually tell people, you know, we don’t, we don’t encourage people to give to get a tax benefit, but we do encourage them to figure out the most efficient way to give. So yeah, and in terms of I’ve had, I’ve had clients that have inspired me. I’ve also had, you know, people in my church or leadership in our church in conversations we’ve had over the years, I think have have also inspired that that that spirit of generosity.

Jim Dunlop: 14:51

Yeah. So. Some there’s, there’s some good news from our, our, our practice and our, our business together. And maybe you could share with our listeners a little bit about that. And what do you think when we look forward in our business, what that can mean with the, the latest change, I’ll let you unpack and talk a little bit about that.

Jamie French: 15:16

Yeah, hopefully I’m thinking of the same thing you are.

Jim Dunlop: 15:19

I can’t imagine you’re not.

Jamie French: 15:22

Yeah. So we recently completed a merger which allowed us to join forces with another team and bring five new people onto our team and a bunch of new clients. And, you know, in that, I think, you know, as we were processing that whole, you know, transition and as as we were talking with different people about that. I know a lot of people ask, well, why? Why do you do something like that? You know, why?

Why do you want to grow? And you know, for us, we’ve, you know, we’ve set goals to help our clients be generous. And, you know, the more people that we can serve and do good planning for, the more generosity we can unleash in our communities. And for me, that’s, that gives that gives me and our organization more purpose than just, you know, how do we help people accumulate resources and then, you know, spend them on themselves in retirement? So, I mean, it’s, we like, like people to be generous with themselves as well. 

 But that’s, I think that recent merger just gives us more opportunity to, to inspire people to give.

Jim Dunlop: 16:33

Yeah.

Jamie French: 16:34

And to, you know, help help in their communities and in the organizations that they care about.

Jim Dunlop: 16:40

Yeah, I think it. You know, because I’m in this with you. I, I look at this and think about the bold ten year vision that we’ve set for our practice and our team. And, you know, it’s going to be fun to have another group of clients on that journey with us, who, from the outside appear to be just as generous as our clients, based on the folks that have come over to work with us.

So, Jamie, as we wrap up a little bit here, I do have a final question for you. But before I ask it, I do want to let people know they can find out more about Jamie at Adventpartners.com and also can find him on LinkedIn. And if you want to connect with him and learn more. So my final question is this. If you had the attention of the whole world for five minutes, what would you say?

Jamie French: 17:40

Yeah, that that is a challenging question. First of all, I don’t I don’t know that I would like to be in on a stage in front of the whole world. But no, what I if I had the attention of the world for five minutes, I, I would challenge them to study what Jesus taught us in the Bible and to test to see if his teachings are true. A lot of the basic financial principles that are taught are rooted in Scripture, whether people realize it or not. And, and, you know, he, he talked a lot about generosity.

It was a big part of who he was. And in working in this business, I think people tend to think that the people that give the most are the ones that have already saved a lot or accumulated a lot. And, and to me, that’s actually backwards from what I’ve experienced. To me, the people that start early with not just the habit of saving, but the habit of giving, they’re the ones that tend to be the most financially secure. They’re the ones that tend to be the most at peace. 

 And that’s really like when we’re doing financial planning, that’s what we’re helping people try to, you know, get to the place where they can feel confident in their finances. And for many people, I think that starts with the generosity and it’s kind of the foundation of them having a good financial plan and feeling secure in their finances.

Jim Dunlop: 19:03

Well very good. Thank you so much for taking the time to share a little with us and our listeners today, and excited to see what lies ahead for us.

Jamie French: 19:13

Well, thanks for having me. It was fun.

Outro: 19:15

Thanks for joining us. To hear stories of generosity that remind us that you can’t take it with you. Visit our site at canttakeitwithyou.com for more details on today’s episode and to subscribe to future shows.

Disclosure: 19:33

Neither today’s guests nor their company are affiliated with or endorsed by Thrivent Advisor Network. The views expressed in this presentation by the guest are their own and not necessarily those of Thrivent or its affiliates.

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