One City Built to Last

y peter suciu
GUIDING PEOPLE
THROUGH RETIREMENT
Understanding the need to prepare for retirement came to Patrick A. Strubbe when he turned 16
years old. That flash came when his grandfather offered to buy him a brand new car. For Strubbe,
owner and founder of Preservation Specialists, it was a magical moment – that is, until his
mother told him that his grandfather, who lived in a nursing home, simply couldn’t afford it.
While it made for
a disappointing
birthday, Strubbe said
that it was seeing the
stress his mother faced
worrying about her elderly
father which set
him on the path toward helping people
with their finances.
“That opened my eyes, and I understood
those circumstances,” Strubbe told
The Suit Magazine. “It would be nice to
help people avoid that kind of stress in
their lives.”
Strubbe’s career in financial planning
and investing began on the insurance
side with John Hancock, which he maintains
fit better with his personality than
working on the Wall Street side of things.
Founding Preservation Specialists in
2003, since then he has primarily worked
with people planning or close to retirement.
“The type of clients we seem to fit with
so well are neither rich nor poor – they’re
that hard-working, saving type,” said
Strubbe. “They’re either trying to figure
out when they can retire or they already
have retired and they’re genuinely interested
in finding someone or something
to help them along that path.”
Facing retirement can be as eye-opening
for many people today as it was for
that 16-year-old who was just promised
a car.
“These people go from receiving a paycheck
their whole lives to now living off
a 401K or a retirement plan of some kind.
That is a scary, daunting task for most
people. The people we fit with well are
those looking for guidance in that area.”
Making matters worse still, is that today
there are concepts which might seem
alien to many people, especially to those
who don’t understand the different approaches
to investing. The jargon can
only add to their confusion.
Strubbe said that he helps clients overcome
this confusion by asking whether
it is important for them to get rich, or to
never be poor. This is important, especially
since people are living longer and
inflation means constantly increasing expenses
over 30 years or more.
“I have never heard anyone tell me
they want to get rich at the risk of being
poor,” he noted, and added that it
is about “steady returns with consistent
income – so people can
enjoy their retirement and not
just worry about money.”
Today Preservation Specialists
has also moved away from traditional
advertising and market
methods to attract new clients
and has turned to client
appreciation events, which
Strubbe said includes four or
five such gatherings each year.
“It is a community. It is about
community. We hold wine tastings
and golf outings. Things they find
fun. It really is great because they get to
know you a little better. This way you
aren’t doing business with a business,
you’re doing business with people.”
www.scpreservation.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.71