Spokane-based financial planner Loran Graham says he approaches the retirement and wealth management goals of his clients by asking them what they value most.

Common themes are time with family and community service, he says.

“You can tell what’s important to people by looking at their calendar and their checkbook,” Graham says. “We try hard to understand what is important to our clients. That’s the key, and from there, helping them develop financial strategies to reflect those values.”

    In fact, Graham says family motivated his and his wife's move here from Los Angeles in 2007, and his launching of Loran Graham Co., an investment and financial planning service, in January 2008.

    Within six months of opening an office on Spokane's North Side, he moved the company to a purchased 450-square-foot business suite on the fifth floor of the Flour Mill, located at 621 W. Mallon, to be centrally located for clients.

    "My wife is a third-generation Spokane native," he says. "Her great grandparents emigrated here from Sweden. I sort of married into the Spokane legacy."

    His wife, Kjirstin, is an estate attorney at the Spokane office of K&L Gates LLP law firm, and the couple has two children who are twins, age 3.

    Despite impacts from the Great Recession since 2008, Graham says his practice today has a solid base of clients seeking financial advice and retirement asset management services. He and one employee, office assistant Kristi Tuomala, are the only people working at the firm, which serves clients in Spokane and outside of Washington in states including Idaho, Oregon, California, Texas, and North Carolina.

    "I'm very thankful that we've grown every year since we've been in practice," Graham says. "We helped clients navigate that difficult time with diversification."

    He adds, "The trends that we're seeing in the industry, now that the markets have healed, include a focus on some of the lessons that came out of the Great Recession. Those lessons are to not allow ourselves to get caught up in emotions, don't spend more than you make, avoid debt, maintain liquidity in some cash savings, and think long term."

    Graham says Loran Graham Co.'s wealth management and retirement guidance is rooted in biblical principles, including passages referring to a person being a good steward of resources.

    "These principles are added to clients' values, helping people think of their legacy," he says.

    Graham, 36, didn't walk into the investment and retirement planning industry here cold. He previously worked as a certified public accountant, including for an LA office of the national CPA firm Ernst & Young, and he has kept his CPA certification, though his company doesn't offer accounting services.

    "I maintain the CPA license so I can continue to speak the language, and so that our work is better coordinated with a client's CPA and attorney, so everyone's on board with the plan," he adds. "With investment and financial services, I see myself as one of many professionals providing expertise."

    While in LA, Graham also worked for a firm that handled institutional money management, including investments for endowments and corporations. He grew up in Southern California and graduated from UCLA in 2000.

    Graham is certified by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc., in Washington D.C.

    He says Loran Graham Co. provides investment securities offered through LPL Financial, which is a national independent broker-dealer that also provides industry compliance and supervision in licensing requirements for independent financial advisers across the U.S.

    LPL Financial is a member of two industry organizations for investment securities oversight and protection, including the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA), an independent securities regulator in the U.S., and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, Graham says.

    The majority of Loran Graham Co. clients have retirement accounts with the company, although the firm also has some individual wealth management accounts. Graham says Fidelity Investments is the primary custodian of accounts as a third-party manager.

    The average account size at Loran Graham Co. is about $500,000, he says.

    "We have some clients who have come into success early in life and others who were frugal and saved for 30 years, built a nest egg, and are looking to make wise choices to protect what they've worked hard for," he says.

    He says that despite recent healing in the national economy, some clients remain concerned.

    "I sense a lot of anxiety out there about what's happening to the economy, politics, and the national debt," he says. "My job is to remind clients of timeless principles."

    He adds that the company helped clients get past tough financial news and market lows in recent years by helping them focus on long-term financial goals and investment strategies.

     "Is the investment for retirement, for charity, for inheritance, or all of the above?" he says. "If work at a job has become optional for someone, we're helping them think about retirement beyond what they see on commercials as the perpetual beach vacation. Really, life is more purposeful. It's helping them understand what they're passionate about. That's going to look different for each person."

    He adds, "If someone is successful, a high-capacity earner or has higher net worth, how do they want their funds stewarded to make a positive impact in the lives of others and their community, and in preserving healthy relationships in a family? How do you have a lasting impact on relationships?"

    Graham says that while the root of keeping a long-term perspective is based on values, sometimes a big financial decision here and now is important, too. He says an example might include a mother or grandmother feeling strongly about paying for a special one-time family vacation.

    "I would meet with them and go over the numbers, and I might say, 'You can afford this. Think about the memories and impact on your family,'" he says. "Sometimes, I'm affirming decisions."

    He adds, "People say I'm a financial planner, and that's true, but I'm primarily in the relationship business."

    He says one of the company's specialties is researching and helping clients consider investment in companies that positively impact others and are socially responsible, which include avoiding investments in addiction-based products such as alcohol, tobacco, and gambling.

    "There is a trend beginning to form to where people are paying more attention to investing in companies that are socially and morally responsible," Graham says. "It's not looking down on companies or individuals in a judgmental way, but having compassion on the end-user of products and not participating in what would be harmful to others."  

    Graham says he also talks to clients about values as part of inheritance or family business succession plans, involving what the older generation wants to pass on to younger generations. The plan may include philanthropic goals to support a community nonprofit.

    He says he also requests that clients write what he calls legacy letters, in addition to wills.

    "We advise all of our clients to update their estate planning," he says. "I do refer clients to my wife, but I add in a couple of other attorney referrals as well. I fully disclose that she is my wife, and she does great work."

    Once they have wills updated, he says the company offers tools for a legacy package, comprised of a love letter to immediate family and the actual legacy documents, which might include a note, memoir, a list of influential books, and information about what shaped a person's life.

    "They can be very broad in the form of memoirs, letters, and a list of books that were of influence in their lives, including journals," he says. "We ask, 'What would you want your great grandchildren to know about you because they won't really have chance to know you?'"

    He adds, "Sometimes when people find success, life becomes more complicated. My hope is to help people navigate the financial aspects but also reflect their values in the midst of that success. I say the same thing to a 50-year-old as I do an 80-year-old, that every day is a gift."