By Nino Pavan, J.D., CFP®
Sometimes you don’t choose your career, your career chooses you. It’s often the difficult experiences in life that shape us and inform our choices. That’s my story, at least. Out of a difficult season when my family experienced financial hardship, came a passion and a commitment that has led me to where I am today.
At the beginning of my senior year of high school, I made the difficult decision to drop out and work for the family business to help with our finances. My parents didn’t have a lot of money or education, which led to my father making some unwise investment decisions. He was taken advantage of and ultimately lost a lot of money. Fortunately, we were able to make ends meet and I later finished high school and pursued higher education. But my family’s financial struggles motivated me to become a financial advisor to help others make better, wiser financial decisions and enjoy their retirement years to the fullest.
Starting My Career
After going back to complete high school, I continued my education with a bachelor’s degree and then a law degree. During my second year in law school at USC, I interned at Financial Designs and began working for them full-time after graduating and passing the bar exam. While working there, I practiced estate planning law for many of Financial Designs’ clients as well as clients from other firms. Over the years I reduced my estate planning work as the financial advisory work took up more of my time. For the past 10 years or so, I have not practiced law and instead have focused on running the business of our firm and working with clients in an advisory role.
My Career Today
My father-in-law, Ron Bilecki, started Financial Designs in 1981, and I learned everything I know about the financial business from him. He was a man of integrity who loved our clients and always did what was in their best interest. Sadly, he passed away in 2016, and through a buy-sell agreement I had established with him, my wife and I purchased the company from my mother-in-law.
As President of Financial Designs, I do my best to continue Ron’s legacy by always putting clients’ interests first and maintaining a family-oriented focus in all we do. I enjoy helping the many families we serve, some of which have been with our firm longer than I have! It is also our firm’s goal to educate our clients and the community so they can feel more empowered in their financial decisions. That is why I conduct retirement and estate planning workshops for employees of major California companies and am a contributing advisor to Kiplinger.
The Best Part
I enjoy most aspects of my job, but one of the most fulfilling experiences is witnessing clients achieving their goals, enjoying life, and blessing their families. Helping these families feels like I have come full circle. I am driven to work hard at my profession to bring my best to every client interaction and to give them confidence that they’ve wisely placed their trust in our firm.
Another thing I love about my job is that we truly are a family-based firm; many people on our team include members of my own family. My sister Maria has been with our firm for 25 years, my brother-in-law Greg has been here for 13 years, my nephew Brandon for 14 years, and our Vice President, Vaughn (my wife’s cousin), has been working with Financial Designs for 15 years. Most of our other employees have also been with us for years and feel like family. Our clients also feel like part of our extended family, which is why we are passionate about helping them. We truly care and feel blessed to have the opportunity to help them confidently pursue their long-term goals and enjoy the retirement life they’ve been dreaming of.
Are You Ready to Stop Worrying About Your Retirement?
Some difficult experiences in life can’t be avoided. We will all go through seasons of hard times, but the impact of those challenging situations can be minimized when you make wise choices, especially with your finances. At Financial Designs, our purpose is to enable individuals and families to financially prepare for and confidently enjoy their retirement years through goal-centered planning. If you don’t already have an advisor helping you, schedule a no-obligation consultation by calling us at (909) 626 1642 or emailing fdc@fdcadvisors.com today. You can also download our free self-assessment survey to determine if, and when, you will be ready to retire. We look forward to hearing from you!
About Nino
Nino Pavan is President and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional at Financial Designs, a financial planning firm in Claremont, California, with the mission of enabling individuals and families to financially prepare for and confidently enjoy their retirement years through goal-centered planning. With more than 25 years in the financial services industry helping families navigate the retirement process, Nino is thankful for the opportunity to serve his clients by making the retirement process a stress-free process; he worries about their money so they don’t have to.
Nino holds a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications Management from DeVry Institute of Technology and a law degree from the University of Southern California and is a contributing advisor to Kiplinger. In addition to being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and Investment Advisor Representative, Nino has passed the Series 7, 24, and 63 securities exams and holds life and disability insurance licenses in the state of California. He also conducts retirement and estate planning workshops for employees of major California companies. Outside of the office, Nino enjoys sports (regular and fantasy), traveling (specifically tropical destinations), walking, tennis, pickleball, church activities, and spending time with his wife, Sherry, and their two children, Derek and Sara. To learn more about Nino, connect with him on LinkedIn.
