What happens when a Dow Chemical employee turned real estate investor can't find a financial planner willing to look at his whole picture? He becomes one himself.

In this episode of Only Fee Only, Peter and Broc talk with Ethan Kok, owner of Sage Wealth Planning. Ethan shares how his search for real financial advice as a young investor in Midland, Michigan opened his eyes to the fee-only model — and ultimately pulled him out of a corporate career and into financial planning. He breaks down how he built his early client base by mastering Dow's complex employee benefits, why offering flat-fee planning to clients without big portfolios is an opportunity most advisors miss, and what he learned from purchasing Sage from its founder, including why the transition plan matters just as much as the purchase price.

Ethan also talks about his team's shared passion for tax planning, how his appreciation for insurance planning has grown over the years, the "downer meeting" his firm uses to help clients get real about life insurance and estate planning, and his advice for anyone at a big company thinking about a career change into this profession.

Ethan's Social:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-kok/

Music in this episode was obtained from Bensound.