Who We Are

Peggy McGillin, Principal

Peggy McGillin is a fee-only (not fee-based) independent Registered Investment Advisor and the Principal of Journey Financial Planners in Concord, Massachusetts. Ms. McGillin's desire to assist individuals & business owners maximize their hard earned capital began smoldering during her entrepreneurial career and was subsequently ignited during her tenure at innovative wealth management firms in New York City, Bellevue, Wash. and Melrose, Mass.

Ms. McGillin:

Is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
Has a Certificate of Financial Planning from Boston University.
Passed the broker Series 7 and Series 66 exams but decided against working at Wall Street and commission-driven brokerage firms despite attractive offers.
Is a member of The Massachusetts Financial Planning Association, The Concord Chamber of Commerce and serves on the steering committee of the Concord Independent Business Alliance.
Sold WOWFactor, Inc., an Internet firm she founded in 1995, to publicly traded Frontline Communications in 1998.
Has extensive product management and development experience with AT&T and business development with venture backed and closely held firms.
Earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at New York University's Stern School of Business
Earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration (BS) with majors in Finance and Insurance & International Business at Northeastern University.

The Genesis of Journey

Not happy with the financial planning and investment options or commissioned fee structures available after the successful sale of WOWFactor, and particularly unhappy with her expensive, unrewarding experience with a Wall St. broker, Peggy vowed to find a better way of financial planning and investing. After extensive research, passing the Series 7, 66, and Certified Financial Planner exams and working for three firms on both coasts, it became clear that the only way to provide objective advice was to establish a new type of entity, a fee-only independent advisory firm that did not rely on sales commissions but rather truly helped clients make better financial decisions and obtain more value from advice and their investments. Journey Financial Planners was born one year prior to the call for financial regulatory reform, in March of 2008.

A Better Business Model for Investors

Journey Financial Planners is a fee-only firm which means it receives all its compensation from its clients in easy to understand, competitive and transparent fees. Fee-based planners (easily mistaken for fee-only), charge their clients fees and receive compensation from the products they sell them, often without their client's knowledge.

In 2009, the vast majority of CFP® advisors are compensated via commissions or fee-based, only one fourth being fee-only.
According to the June 16, 2009 SmartMoney article, Ten Things Financial Planners Won't Tell You, more than 40% of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ call themselves fee-based.
As late as 2006, 80 percent of the advisors associated with independent broker dealers were fee-based, per the Cerulli Associates 2006 Advisor Survey.

Journey Financial Planners is devoted to putting the client first and this means eliminating the inherent, conflict common at other firms of doing what's best for the client vs. selecting products that pay the firm the highest commission. Learn more about our transparent and competitive fee schedule.

There is an opportunity to build a better mousetrap in delivering financial services. History has proven that organizations profiting from the status quo are never the ones to promote change. Journey Financial Planners' business model is to provide objective, transparent financial advice and charge a fair price for excellent service. Journey has the experience & commitment to make this compelling new approach work for you. Review Why Journey to learn more.

Experienced at Putting the Pieces Together and Creating Value

Journey develops objective strategies and solutions for individuals and plan sponsors. Having identified best in class suppliers, who commit to fiduciary standards, backed up by recognized industry certifications and adhering to Journey's rational and efficient investment philosophy, we are delivering significant value to individual investors and plan sponsors alike.

Most "seasoned" advisors have years of experience earning commissions. People successful in the old model are skilled sales people. Journey Financial Planners experience in creating value is unique, more relevant and more important than ever in meeting clients' needs. Journey Financial Planners approach is validated by the firm's growth and client satisfaction of high net worth individuals, business owners and plan sponsors. References are available upon request.

To meet a client's needs we first identify the expertise required and then choose from the industry experts providing those services. This is one significant way Journey Financial Planners is different from other Registered Investment Advisory Firms, many still create portfolios of individual securities in house. (See Why Journey for the other meaningful ways we differ.) This approach brings service providers to the table that best fit the goals of the client. To execute on this strategy, we maintain rigorous standards for who is invited to work with us and our clients. We work with our clients' other advisors such as attorneys, CPAs, third party administrators and insurance providers to minimize change where it is not necessary.

Our Partners' Principles

Journey Financial Planners has assembled a network of providers who are all setting the accountability bar higher for the retirement industry. Our partners are the companies leading the way in delivering financial services in the best interest of the investor, with no conflicts of interest or hidden revenue sharing arrangements. The partners we work with all meet our rigorous selection criteria. The most important criteria includes, fee transparency, no revenue sharing arrangements or commissions, competitive pricing, an excellent customer service track record and industry leadership recognition or client endorsements.

Sub Advisors must have low expenses, rational and efficient investment options that meet the Qualified Default Investment Alternative requirements for plan sponsors and participant needs. We value the AIF® Accredited Investment Fiduciary designation for our investment management partners. The investments we recommend have low internal expenses, consist of pure asset classes, are passively managed and actively executed.

Plan Sponsors will appreciate that our Third Party Administrator and Record Keeper partners are CEFEX (Center for Fiduciary Excellence) certified and offer open architecture solutions allowing plan sponsors more control over each of the components of their plan—the advisor, the investments, the administrator, record keeper and custodian.

If you would like more specific information regarding our list of preferred service providers please contact us.

To learn how we can put the pieces together for you, read about our Investment Philosophy and the Investment Facts which provide our foundation.

Take control. Schedule a no-obligation discovery meeting today.

Make an appointment using our convenient online calendar.