John Marcheso: Smart money

John Marcheso knows how to plan for the future.

No, he doesn't use a crystal ball, but as Marcheso and Associates celebrates its 30th anniversary in business in Coeur d'Alene, he understands what it takes to achieve financial success today and security for tomorrow.

Sure, money is involved, but it's about more than stocks, bonds and investments.

"Our business is client focused. We've always developed relationships," he said. "People refer us to their friends and relatives, but it's relationship, relationship, relationship."

Marcheso, an avid hunter and traveler, heads up the independent firm that serves about 350 families. Their goal, simply, is to bring "financial peace of mind to our clients."

John, with 34 years experience in finance, can talk securities, taxes, monetary policies and economic outlooks with the best of Wall Street. He knows numbers. But it is family - he and wife Beverly have been married 37 years and have two children - that is priceless.

"Family is the most important ingredient in life, I think," he said.

Son Tucker is following in dad's footsteps and works at Marcheso and Associates.

"About three years ago he opted to join us," John said. "I'm really happy and proud about that."

Marcheso and Associates just celebrated 30 years in business. What's your reaction?

It went by way too quick. I remember when we first came here from Florida, actually, my wife and I, son and daughter. We drove across the country in a 30-foot travel trailer. It was quite a trip coming across the country with the family. Came in May 1981 and it rained almost 30 days straight. My wife thought it was something biblical. June began to clear up nice and she fell in love with it. She wasn't sure where I was taking her when we first started.

So, what exactly do you do?

We are a financial services firm. We specialize in different areas. Basically, we are a brokerage firm. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, direct investments, insurance, anything having to do with money. Loans and deeds, we broker those on occasion. We focus around the client's needs, trying to help them manage portfolios and develop a financial plan for retirement. We manage assets for our clients, basically, is the bottom line.

How's business?

We've seen a lot of cycles. Back in the early '80s, we had some economic issues we all went through. When I got here, Jimmy Carter was president and interest rates were 14, 15 percent. When you go through business cycles, you experience a lot of different things. You learn to live with what's dealt to you. You try to figure out a way to make money for your clients and survive.

Back in '81, home prices were very low, silver mines were closing up, the timber industry was going through bad times, it was in some ways worse than today. There are a lot more economic tools we have now than we had back in the early '80s.

Is the economy in recovery?

That's a tough question. I think the federal government really has taken a position that is somewhat dubious. Bernake has basically gambled on what they call QE1 QE2, which is the quantitative easement policy that they've adopted, and basically ended up printing more money. We're subject to the world buying our debt. As you know, we have over a $14 trillion debt. So it's very disturbing to me as an adviser. I can't see how we can possibly avoid inflation. The thing about inflation that most people don't know, the government says it's low, 2 1/2 to 3 percent, but they keep on fooling with the basket of goods. We take energy and food out of the inflation factor. Well, what are the two things we use most? You fuel your car, you fuel your home. Energy is a big issue, and of course, food. When you factor those back in, the real rate of inflation is probably around 10 percent. And you can see in that in the price of gas and food when you go to the store. Interest rates are soon to follow, in my opinion.

So, are we recovering? I think we've seen some recovery in the stock market, but we have not seen a recovery in housing or employment. That worries me. As an adviser, you have to look for opportunities, sometimes what we call noncorrelated opportunities. Not necessarily equity related to the stock market but what else can you invest in that's going to track the market.

What about people on a fixed income?

People on fixed income is a big issue. How do you keep and maintain income level? You would normally go to the bank and buy a CD at 4 and 5 percent. In today's market you can get maybe 1 1/2, 2 percent at the max if you go way out, too hard for people on a fixed income.

There wasn't much management needed when you could go to the bank and get a good return on your money. You have to remember, inflation was also very high. I hope we don't see those days again, but there's a possibility that we might.

After 30 years in business, what have you found to be your keys to success?

You have to know your client, you have to understand what it is they're trying to accomplish, and what is in the best interest of the client. If you focus on that, the business becomes relatively easy because you're trying to deliver constantly what your clients want and need.

Now, that's not always possible, given the marketplace, but that's the goal. Perfection is something we all strive for. You never achieve it, but that's the goal. You always strive to do your best, be as perfect as you can in your advice and your work.

What's the best part of what you do?

The people. Now, it's generations of people. I've developed clients over 13 different states now, so that's a rewarding experience. I've worked with people, their relatives and families all over the country. It's exciting.

What about challenges?

We're in a challenge right now. It's trying to maintain incomes that people need, especially in a marketplace like this. Dealing with all the uncontrollable things, regulatory issues, for example. Those are always challenging. They change the landscape and you have to be able to respond. You have to figure out a way to get through that. Clients rely on us to guide them, to help them figure out what to do. We don't have a crystal ball. You have to really understand a lot of things about the economy, about taxes and law, really to help your clients.

When did you consider a career in finance?

My experience in education was business and finance. I always thought about being a stockbroker so I started my career as a bond trader, I used to trade bonds for a living. I didn't like it very much. I didn't have a lot of face to face contact, it was mostly phone contact. I decided I wanted to get out of that portion of it and wanted to be adviser, and we made the move to Idaho.

What's ahead for Marcheso and Associates?

Our business is growing. We do a lot of marketing. We do our lunch and learn sessions, which we're really proud of. It's an educational forum, we do it on a different subject matter each week. We get anywhere from 5 to 35 people. Part of our goal is to educate our clients, as well as people interested in getting information.

We want to make people aware of what we do, here we are. I see more opportunity in the business for helping our community at large. We really have grown significantly, and we're proud of that.

How would you describe Marcheso and Associates?

We're independent advisers and we work for an independent broker, dealer. In the financial world, a lot of people don't understand what that is. What we really do, as independent advisers, we have no ax to grind, no particular company or mutual fund or stock or bond that we need to sell or someone tells us we need to sell. It's really an approach where we have an incredible amount of opportunity out there to offer an incredible amount of products that better serve our clients at large. You can't begin to understand the things that are available when you are only shown a few things. It's a holistic approach to helping clients achieve financial success. We really manage an asset for clients that would be something they couldn't do on their own. I always say to people, we make it easy for them to do what they always wanted to do but they didn't know it before they met me. That's the kind of approach we take. If you don't understand how to get something done, my goal is to show you how to get that done using products and services that you didn't know were available to you. That's what independent status is all about.

How can someone get started with financial planning?

We have a place for everybody in our practice. We can sit down with a young man, find out what your financial future looks like, what do you want for yourself. Do you want to set aside money for an IRA, that type of thing, get them started on a saving plan. Most people today have 401(k) if they work with an employer, but they've been greatly cut back or employers are not funding them. It's important for people to take care of their financial future. We try to impress that upon our clients and prospects. They need to take action. Things like Social Security, retirement plans at work, they're not what they used to be, so it's a big wake-up call.

You have to take responsibility. We tell our clients, 'Let's find a way to budget savings, retirement plan, a rainy day fund.' Most of our clients, when they come to see us, they're serious about trying to develop a plan. We can do a sophisticated plan for our clients, if necessary, but it doesn't have to start out that way. It starts out with setting aside some money.

Date of birth: Dec. 20, 1946

College: Ricker College in Holton, Maine, Rutgers University, MBA.

Family: Wife, Beverly, married 37 years. One son, Tucker, and one daughter, Brittany.

Number of hours on average you work in a week: 50

Number of hours on average you sleep in a night: 6-7

Hobbies: Hunting, fishing, golf, traveling.

Favorite movie: "The Godfather"

Favorite book: I like to read novels that are historical, like Stephen Ambrose, "Undaunted Courage."

Favorite type of music: Contemporary

Favorite spectator sport: Football

Quality you admire most in a person: Integrity

One thing you consider your greatest accomplishment: My family

Person who most influenced your life: My parents.

Best advice you ever received: Do what you say you're going to do and how you're going to do it.