Edward Jones Otto Wealth Management has gained a new Financial Advisor, Morgan Wills, who is ready to help people with their financial goals.
Wills joined the team in May, and has been working with Rich Otto, CFP, Charlie Otto, Financial Advisor and Josie Shelmadine, CFP.
“We’re expanding to better serve our clients,” Rich said. “Our goal is always to have two financial advisors meet with our clients at all times; so the idea is just making sure we can help more people. More importantly, two brains are better than one. We’re just excited for the expansion and to be able to help generations. We can help a family for many years to come.”
Wills was born and raised in Alliance. He explained that before joining Edward Jones, he worked in insurance, focusing on property and casualty insurance.
“My roots run deep here,” said Wills. “The opportunity came to join both a firm and a team that has, since the early ‘90s with Rich, been a pillar in our community. That’s just what has been a passion of mine is serving people. I think community is coming alongside people and walking with them through the highs and the lows, the good and the bad. Just being able to find what’s most important to them and helping them achieve the goals they have. It’s just a really neat opportunity to be able to serve people in a way of meeting those needs.”
Wills said his first couple of months on the team have been fast paced, but rewarding to be able to work with positive mentors.
“It’s been a great resource to not only have the local team but the firm,” Wills said.
Charlie said since Wills joined the team, they have been able to help more people with their financial goals.
“Once we start getting the full swing of things here soon, we’re going to be able to help a lot more people in our community,” Charlie said.
Shelmadine said Wills has put his passion on full display since he began working with Edward Jones.
“With each person, he puts his full self in,” said Shelmadine. “He’s completely present, and I think that’s a great addition to our team and our community.”
Rich said Wills has become another member of the family since joining. Wills is involved in the community, and is also kept busy with raising three young children.
“We’re part of a church in Alliance, and it’s important to us to serve our church,” Wills said. “Outside of the church in the community, we’re big Alliance Recreation Center fans. Before it was the ARC it was the YMCA, and I was a YMCA kid. If we’re not busy with work or kids, we’re out at the ARC or you might find us at Laing Lake doing Frisbee golf, or enjoying the outdoors. This is a strong agricultural community, and we have family that have both farming and ranching backgrounds, so we like to share our time as much as we can. Within Alliance, I’ve served on different boards, and currently, I only have a few I’m working with now, with the Newblom Foundation and our church board. There’s always good organizations that need a hand.”
Shelmadine and Charlie have also been working to get more involved in the community. Shelmadine is getting acquainted with married life and Charlie just got engaged.
“Josie and I have had a few awesome opportunities to serve on the United Way board and help make decisions that impact our community directly,” said Charlie.
Rich explained that since he came to the community in 1994, the Edward Jones model has expanded. He said Otto Wealth Management is still part of a pilot program with Edward Jones.
“In a teaming branch we work collectively with our clients together as a team,” said Rich. “So, that is something relatively new with our firm. That’s what excites me is, one being able to work with some great people in the community but also around the table that are serving those people. That’s something that’s evolved and gets me excited every day to come to work, just that idea of being able to help people in a team effect. It has a lot of impact, and I feel we can improve people’s lives even more. People are going to look at things through different lenses, and having that input, we debrief and have post- and pre-meetings with our clients. So, we have that information we can share. Just having that collaboration is something I’m excited about.”
Rich said it is crucial to find out what is important to people to determine a path forward in financial planning and offering goals-based advice.
“It’s not so much about what we have,” Rich said. “It’s about what they need. That’s really what the focus is about. Sometimes it’s helping people road map their plan for their future, or their kid’s education, or whatever that specific goal is, but having the tools and more specifically the resources to help people have a road map to help them be successful.”
Rich said he has no intentions of retiring, but he is grateful to be able to work with the team at Otto Wealth Management because he knows that people will be taken care of if something ever happened to him.
Wills said he will judge his success based on how impactful his days are in building and strengthening relationships with people.
“I hope that every interaction that I have, I’m able to bring value to those interactions,” said Wills. “I have goals to contact multiple people, but also to be consistent and make myself available. I think it’s a great opportunity to be able to do that.”
Shelmadine said her goal is to continue learning new things all the time.
“This industry is constantly changing,” Shelmadine said. “There’s new things coming out, new opportunities and there’s things I don’t know. So, being able to learn something new regularly is my goal as I continue to move forward.”
Charlie explained his goals are similar to Wills’ and Shelmadine’s, but emphasizing the relationships that are built each and every day.
“You’re not just a number to us, you’re a human being, and we care about you,” said Charlie. “We want to make sure we never stray away from that.”
Rich said his goal for the team is to continue to have a meaningful impact on the community and to be there to support it.
“My love is the downtown,” Rich said. “It always has been. We made a major capital expenditure by building a building in the downtown, and that’s important. Continuing to give back for the next generation, and continue to expand the community to be the best place it can be for people who want to live here. There’s trade offs wherever you live, and I’ll take the trade offs in Alliance, Nebraska, compared to any other places. We want to make a place where people are happy. Our family wants to help other families. We enjoy being with each other, but more importantly, we enjoy helping people, and that’s something I want to continue for generations to come.”
Rich explained creating opportunities is important in the community.
“I’d just like to see creating opportunities for younger people to come to town,” said Rich. “I think we have a great school system, we have a great hospital system; the railroad gives a lot of opportunities for young people; so having opportunities for young people to come to town and make this their home. We need to embrace that and encourage that. So, I’m excited that Morgan is part of our team. Charlie and Josie, everybody made the decision to live here, including myself. That’s not for the job, it’s because we want to live here. We want to make this community better because we live here, but also because somebody else gave that to us, as well.”