By Bill Petzold
Editor
CARO — When it comes to investing your hard-earned money, you definitely want a knowledgeable person in your corner helping you along the way.
Since Barry Cronin opened a second Edward Jones office in downtown Caro, this one at 451 N. State St., Cronin has seen plenty of business.
“It’s been great,” Cronin said. “Caro’s a very supportive community and a community that knows good values.”
Along with Jonathan Laundra’s office at 215 N. State St., Cronin said that there are plenty of clients for both Edward Jones offices — enough to necessitate a second office.
“(Having two offices) helps individually serve clients,” Cronin said. “Think of it like you’re a pizza shop and you can only produce 50 pizzas a day, because that’s your maximum output, but you’ve got 100 people out there who want pizza. So build a new shop, open a second store. That’s what’s going on here: We’ve ammassed such a quantity of clients that to serve them best, it’s best to have two offices.”
Cronin currently lives in Sanilac County but grew up in Maine. He graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Hotel Management and has managed resorts and hotels in Tennessee, Floria and Maine. He has also served as the Chief Operating Officer of a non-profit education organization.
He said a large portion of the clients he works with are farmers who are looking at estate planning, as well as a variety of other clients.
“I try to help them with their goals,” Cronin said. “(For example) a client might say, ‘I want to buy a big boat in five years’ or ‘We want to have a nest egg for retirement that we can live on’ or ‘We’re set, we’re fine, let’s pass (our money) on to our heirs, how do we do that?’ That’s estate planning, and we do a lot of that as well. Farmers are most concerned about transitional (money management), because the older farmer who is trying to retire, he’s worked a hard life and at whatever age it is he says ‘I’ve had enough, how do I transition the assets of my farm, the value, to my kids who want to pick up the tractor wheel and go with it?’ It’s not always just transitioning cash or investments to a child or an heir, it’s land value and potentials and futures.
“A lot of people don’t realize the tax implications. Now we are not tax advisors, let me make that point, but when they don’t consider the taxes, let’s say somebody inherits the farm, what’s the taxable value? The government’s going to want to have their hands on what’s been transitioned, so it can wipe somebody’s cash reserves right out and they have to sell because they can’t come up with the tax money. That’s a terrible situation.”
One advantage of being an Edward Jones financial advisor, Cronin said, is that he is plugged into Edward Jones national network of analysts.
“We have two home offices, one in St. Louis, Missouri and one in Tempe, Arizona,” Cronin said. “We have analysts there looking at every single aspect of the financial world, and all of those analysts will feed us information in a timely manner: What’s happening ahead, what are we looking out for? What are some good things to be looking at? We’re getting constant, terrific support from our home offices and we can take that to the individual client.”
Appointments are recommended, but those interested in financial advice may stop by between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information or to make an appointment call (989) 672-0142.