Building a solid financial plan is like designing your dream home, according to Eric Kittner. "Sometimes you have to move a door or a wall to accommodate changes in your needs or vision," he says. "A financial plan is also a working document and changes, driven by a client’s goals and objectives, may be necessary. Even when the plan is complete—just like that dream home—events that have a material impact on a client's future have to be taken into consideration."
Discovering what is most important for each client's blueprint is Eric's first goal. "It depends on where an individual is in his or her life. Age, earning capacity, retirement goals—all those variables impact how we construct the plan." And each client is unique, he says. "I want to educate clients so they have realistic goals and understand their options; I want to simplify the complexities of their situation—provide the 'executive summary,' if you will—so they don't worry about the minutiae. And I want to provide the tools they need to make decisions and go forward."
Eric began his career at Arthur Andersen, later becoming a tax associate at RubinBrown, LLP. "In that world, my work was all about the past." He wanted to have a more proactive role. "I wanted to have relationships with clients and advise them based on a holistic approach, one that looked at all the financial implications that could affect their lives and families."
Eric joined Moneta Group in 2003 as a professional consultant with Joe Sheehan. "The scope of what we do for our clients is outside anything I imagined. As long as I am helping my clients reach their goals, I'm willing to redesign the dream home," Eric says. "But if changing things is likely to make the walls tumble in—well, I don't want that to happen and will work very hard to prevent it."
Eric enjoys golf, reading, football, skiing and spending time with his family.