Toby Goostree, CFP® CeFT®

Our clients feel encouraged because they’re making progress. That’s what matters to me.

When it comes to your financial future, do you think you’re ahead, on track, or behind?  I’ve been in this business for 15 years and I’m always surprised by how a simple question can get someone thinking and how the ensuing discussion can lead to change and progress.  

While not all progress is steady, much of mine has been. Describing my background to an adult friend, I once noted that I attended the same school from Kindergarten through high school, that my wife, Amy, and I married in 2004 when we were still young, and that I’ve been with Goostree Financial Group for the last 15 years, the entirety of my working life.  My friend’s response?  That’s who I want as my financial advisor, someone steady.

Maybe so, but it hasn’t always felt steady.  I remember managing money and financial plans through the Great Financial Crisis in 2008, riding the rebound of the decade that followed, and working as a veteran advisor through Covid.  My training as a CFP and a Certified Financial Transitionist has helped me bring technical skill through good and bad times.

In terms of experience, it hasn’t hurt that my father, our firm’s founder, included me in meetings with all our clients from day 1 back in 2006. Most starting advisors wait years to be able to work meaningfully with clients on their investment, insurance, and estate planning plans, but I’ve been doing that for more than a decade with clients in their 60s, 70s, and 80s as well as my peers. This has been particularly important to my peers who benefit from my knowledge of what does, and doesn’t, tend to work out in the long run.  

In 2017 I became a father and, as all parents know, my life changed. It took time to realize the extent of it, but I’ve come to understand, as one novelist put it, it’s not my turn anymore.  Without trying, my son reminds me of that every day, though I confess—and I’m surprised to say this—I’m happy for the lesson. He’s just so fun!

Getting my CFP was foundational, and working with mature clients has been a blessing, but I would argue that my character traits of paying attention, learning from mistakes, and examining the reasons behind our clients’ success, have been the real drivers of my progress.  I’m thankful every day for the opportunity our clients give me to share what I’ve learned and know.