Warren Barrett

Warren Barrett comes by his decades-long career in the financial services industry naturally. Both of his parents were CFP®s. His older sister was a CFP®. (CFP stands for Certified Financial Planner, a prestigious designation in the financial industry.) In fact, ever since he was 10 years old, family conversations around the dinner table always revolved around finance. “It was planted in my brain,” Warren says. “At that time in my life, I wished they would all talk about something else, but now I realize that these conversations formed the foundation of my philosophy.”

Due to his family background, Warren learned early how to have a healthy instead of negative relationship with money, and a long-term rather than short-term relationship with investments. He learned not to keep any debt, because when you are in debt, your money is working for a bank instead of being invested and working for you. His education and financial knowledge is grounded “in the real world” and he offers practical advice tailored to each individual client’s situation.

Warren’s father, Wes Barrett, started Barrett Financial Services over 40 years ago. Warren joined the firm in 2008 after the housing crisis hit; at the time he had been a mortgage broker since 2000. He still retains his mortgage license and has used it to help select clients find innovative ways to create income and stay in their homes through retirement. He also attained and holds his Series 65 registration, making him a fiduciary.

“It was so gratifying to take call after call when I first joined the company. During that difficult time of financial crisis in 2008, when so many were losing their retirement savings, the phone was ringing off the hook at Barrett Financial Services. But for us, those were the nicest conversations to have. Our firm’s approach is like the tortoise and the hare. We have always believed in the slow and steady approach and we are risk-averse. Most of our retirement clients utilize annuities in their portfolios to minimize the risk of market declines. They were fine and didn’t need to panic,” Warren says.

Warren retains the firm’s focus on helping reduce portfolio risk. He works with many people to develop financial as well as retirement plans, with the goal of creating reliable income. “My attitude toward investing is that I am naturally financially conservative with an overarching objective to protect assets,” Warren says. “People have worked hard to save their money, and I want to be very careful about that. My dad always said ‘this job is not about selling and making a commission—you just do the right thing for people over and over again.’ He was right. It’s all about helping people and trying to change people’s lives for the better.”

For those clients who still have a lot of years until retirement, Warren helps analyze their work situation, overall debt (in some cases recommending consolidation for faster payoff), family makeup in terms of life insurance needs, college planning options and much more. Estate planning is always a part of what he helps people do. “I know how important it is to plan for your legacy to protect your family, especially since I recently lost my father,” he says.

Warren has been a professional musician and songwriter since the age of 13, “I definitely put in my 10,000 hours on the guitar.” Every morning he walks to the beach with his dog and guitar. In his free time, it is rare to see Warren without a guitar in his hands.