Local financial advisor is sharing her knowledge with citizens and advisors alike to drive financial freedom
Local Memphian Nancy Knous, CFP® and Founder and CEO of Benchmark Wealth Management and Managing Partner of 3rivers, has been in the financial advising business since 1985, but that doesn’t mean she was always a money expert. She had her fair share of hard times after the recession in the early 2000s, which forced her to shine a light on her own financial practices. She was in the business of financial advising, yet she didn’t have any savings of her own and her business was in financial trouble.
“It seems so simple, but I didn’t see it until then,” said Knous. “Step one is to sober up and take a hard look at what you are spending. Then the real work begins. Step two is to find any surplus you can or determine how you can make additional money to apply to debt repayment or add to savings.”
A loan from a close friend and a hard read of Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” got Knous and her business back on their feet. She began to practice what she preached and made it a personal goal to get as many people out of debt as would listen. In 2018, Knous and her team at Benchmark set a goal to share their get-out-of-debt strategy with 10,000 Memphians. By 2019 their goal had been met through hard work and a focus on getting spending under control and getting to a point of financial freedom. However, the work didn’t actually start or stop there.
Teaching What She Has Learned
Knous has taught Personal Finance at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy for over 25 years to help students strategize on how to pay off student loans once they graduate.
Keneko Claybon is a former pharmacy student at UT who is now a licensed pharmacist. She attempted to pay off her student loan and house debt on her own but wasn’t making the progress she had hoped for. She set a goal of becoming completely debt free by age 40. She turned to Knous and her team for help.
“I knew at the onset that I wanted to pay off everything as soon as I could. When I first graduated, I tried to do it on my own without any advice,” she said. “There were some things I did not know that I needed to be doing. I remembered Nancy (Knous) and met with her team, and they were able to help me change a few things and start seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
Financial Foundations
Knous also teaches free, open-to-the-public virtual “Financial Foundations” courses monthly, and most recently, she joined forces with two other female LPL advisors to create 3rivers, a training tool for financial planners and advisors to help run their practice as a business and become their best advisor self. The resources are there, Knous just wants people to take advantage of them!
“What if everyone we came into contact with became debt-free and no longer had to worry about money? What could we all do with the surplus for good? What could we all do with all the time and mental energy we’ve saved by no longer having to think about money?” asks Knous. “Financial freedom gives people choices. That’s my vision and we are working every day to offer it to as many folks who are willing to listen and to collaborate with other advisors to do their very best for their own clients.”
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