We are very pleased to announce that Greg Vairo is our newest CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional at Marotta Wealth Management!
The CFP® certification is the recognized standard of excellence for competent and ethical personal financial planning. To use the certification, you have to meet the initial certification requirements (known as the four “Es”). They are Education, Examination, Experience, and Ethics.
The first requirement of Education, Greg satisfied through Virginia Tech’s Financial Planning program.
Greg attended Virginia Tech knowing that he was interested in Finance. In high school, he had the pleasure of taking a Personal Finance class. For that class, the final project was to develop a financial plan of what he would do if he had to support himself financially immediately after graduating high school. When developing his plan didn’t feel like work at all, Greg knew he’d found a good career path to pursue.
Virginia Tech has several options for a student interested in Finance. However, the Financial Planning degree and career path piqued Greg’s interest because it blended relational work with technical analysis.
He met Marotta Wealth Management for the first time when David Marotta was giving a presentation on Roth conversions to Virginia Tech’s FPA chapter. Greg enjoyed the deep-dive into a complex topic. While he didn’t understand it all after just one meeting, he was curious to learn more and excited to apply.
Greg Vairo
By his senior year, Marotta Wealth Management was actively looking for individuals with strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel to join our tax specialty team, and it was a perfect match. In 2021, Greg graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Financial Planning and started working for our firm a month later in June.
By November, he satisfied the Examination requirement, passing the six-hour CFP® exam on the first try.
After two years of mentoring under David John Marotta, CFP®, Greg satisfied the Experience requirement in June 2023. He submitted his final application and background check to the CFP Board and was accepted, passing the Ethics requirement and making him a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. For more information about this designation, see the CFP Board website.
At Marotta, Greg is part of our tax specialty team. He helps create our customized Roth conversion recommendations for Comprehensive clients and is also a relationship advisor to a select number of clients.
A Brief Interview with Greg
What is your favorite Marotta Wealth Management service?
My favorite Marotta Wealth Management service is our Tax Plan. Not only is it the service that I primarily get to work on, but it’s unique to our firm and often offers tremendous value for our clients. I also enjoy how comprehensive the tax plans are with integrating many of the different goals and financial planning areas in our client’s lives into one plan.
What is your favorite part of being with Marotta Wealth Management?
I love the variety of roles I get to take part in between our tax plans, trading, Portfolio Center, and working with clients. I like to learn new things and this makes every day interesting for me. I also love our team! Everyone is always happy to help when I reach out, and I love being able to talk to them whenever I get the chance.
What is your favorite Marotta Wealth Management article or series? Why?
My favorite article series on the website is the Account Funding Priorities series. I think these articles give a great overview of financial planning areas to begin focusing on, which many could benefit from reading. The article gives brief descriptions of the account funding priorities, and links to deeper dives into the finer details in different articles on the website.
What advice do you give to those who are just getting started with investing?
My advice for someone just getting started is to start funding your Roth IRA as early as possible! Being able to contribute to a Roth IRA when you’re just getting started and likely in a lower tax bracket than later in your life can result in significant tax-free growth across your lifetime. When it comes to investing the money in your Roth IRA, a great book to read when you’re just getting started is “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” by the late John Bogle, founder of Vanguard. “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing” was one I read when getting started which teaches about an investing strategy called indexing. Our Gone-Fishing Portfolio series is another helpful tool.
Greg’s Latest Articles
Q&A: Wash Sale: VFIAX and VOO?
The IRS has very limited case law on what constitutes a substantially different fund. However, here is what we do in our own trading.
How the Kiddie Tax is Calculated
Some investable assets in the name of the child can currently keep $2,300 of unearned income from the tax rate of the parents.
Can Taxable Life Insurance Benefits Contribute to an IRA?
If you have this fringe employer or former employer benefit, I hope you are able to take advantage of making small Roth IRA contributions throughout your retirement.
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