Today we’d like to introduce you to Benjamin Conteh.
Benjamin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My work, and my life journey, in general, are anchored to a cardinal aspiration, namely: making sure my talents, my abilities, my passions and my work redound to other people’s benefit.
I have always nurtured a passion for public service.
A distinguishing aspect of American sociopolitical organization is the promise of protection of political freedoms as a tool for availing people economic rights. In short, the United States’ political framework grants individuals basic political freedoms… The individual must then use these basic freedoms to secure economic rights… With such economic rights, one can then defend his or her standing in society. Compared to economic and political realities in other countries, the United States’ promise of defense of political rights has been relatively more successful. Such success has inadvertently encouraged complacency to a degree in which many Americans do not fully appreciate the urgency of the need to set themselves and their families on a path to solid financial balance. As a result of such complacency, financial revolutionary cycles routinely leave behind many people, therewith forcing a gradual, but ever more directionless saunter into the quicksand of financial disaster. And political rights, sadly, sink in the mud of perennial financial disadvantage.
My commitment to serving others encouraged my volunteering over one thousand hours even before beginning college. My passion for making a positive difference in other people’s lives conditioned my committed engagement with the social services non-profit, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health, following conclusion of my undergraduate study.
My desire to work with people in the course of helping people and business pursue and attain financial balance encouraged my jumping into the financial services industry following conclusion of my graduate study.
In my current role as (an) Investment Adviser Representative, the Pennsylvania-Registered Investment Adviser, Bargeld Financial, gives me the extraordinary privilege of working with individuals, families and business in the course of better understanding people’s everyday needs, and working to set people on a path to financial flexibility.
I am, hence, a financial professional who helps people get from ‘Point A’ to ‘Point B’ on the journey to financial flexibility and financial balance.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
When people do not see smoke, its is difficult convincing them there is (a) fire, which they must work to put out. In the context of people dealing with chronic financial disadvantage masquerading as everyday inconveniences, it is even more difficult convincing people that the fire that is long-term financial distress must be urgently addressed. Because of this, I am on a path of immense challenge working to make clear to people that the cost of inaction—vis-à-vis decisions needed to improve a person’s financial position—is prohibitive in the long run.
As a financial professional who is immersed in encouraging people to think, plan, and act strategically on all matters relating short-term, medium-term and long-term financial wellbeing, I have the impossible task of convincing people that accepting the premise of remaining poor (by taking no action) is infinitely more expensive that taking the difficult—and many time seemingly impossible—task of taking concrete steps to spring oneself out to the “Poverty Trap.”
We’ve been impressed with BARGELD FINANCIAL, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bargeld Financial is a registered investment adviser, which provides Financial Planning, Investment, Asset Management, Advanced Tax Planning, Tax Preparation, Tax Filing, Insurance and Fractional CFO services to helps individuals, families and small businesses secure and maintain financial balance.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I believe every active, living individual takes risks every day. The verity of this proposition rests on the simple fact that people live, and function, in interdependent ecosystems. Because outcomes in a person’s life depend on both personal exertions and inputs from other, sovereign, persons, processes and systems, an individual endeavor always carries a risk—however small—of failure, given influences from sovereign persons, processes and systems.
There are, fundamentally, two types of risks. The first type of risk is that, which is associated with the factors described above. This type of risk is defined by an absence of resource and/or outcome optimality… So that, however one invests in a given endeavor, a desired outcome is never assured… either because of a dearth of resources, or influences by sovereign persons, processes and systems triggering an undesired outcome.
The second form of risk is willful blindness. This is the type in which blind pursuit of an outcome flouts both reason and reasonableness. In its strongest form, this form of risk-taking is plain stupidity.
A reasoned engagement with a given initiative still carries risk, especially if such initiative has not been engaged in a similar context. Such endeavor may still fail, but an approach taking into account all of the possible means of failure could possible help one ‘fail forward,’ and learn valuable lessons.
In the context of my everyday professional engagements, working for an established investment firm would have carried less risk. I do, however, know that there may be cogent reasons for financial professionals who work for investment wire houses searching for “the exits.” I believe that managing an independent RIA puts me in a position to never auction-off my core values. And, the chance to help people without compromising my core values is worth the heft of managing an independent RIA.
Pricing:
- Asset Management: Negotiable AUM Fees
- Financial Planning: $1,000
- Tax Preparation: $185
- Fractional CFO Service: Fees Negotiable
- Business Management Consulting, Bookkeeping & Fractional CFO Services: Fees Negotiable
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bargeldfinancial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bargeld.financial.llc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BARGELDFINANCIAL/
