BUSINESS: Wilshire Pennington

Wilshire Pennington Wealth Advisors is a financial planning firm that focuses on financial planning exclusively for doctors. The company’s founder, Benjamin D. Kennedy III, having over 25 years experience as a financial advisor, realized that doctors get a late start in life, have large student loans, little experience in practice management and often a target on their back for lawsuits. Kennedy understands the financial needs of doctors because most of his family members are doctors, including his wife. The firm’s goal is to walk doctors through a step-by-step process with the end result being retirement on current lifestyle and not outliving their money.

Kennedy shared several stories where previous clients wanted to give back to the community. One doctor wanted to invest in order to finance free dental services in South Africa upon retirement. Another moved to Oklahoma from China wanting to give back to people in his home country by building a hospital. Wilshire Pennington worked with both doctors to set up foundations, making these dreams a reality while building personal retirement portfolios.

In addition to managing custom portfolios and retirement plans, they also offer college savings plans, tax planning, estate planning and help with setting up corporations. One of the strategies Wilshire Pennington utilizes is “Lifestyle” planning. They begin by assessing one’s monthly living expenses and income sources to find tax strategies that can increase savings without altering lifestyle. The client pays taxes on the portion of their income needed to finance their lifestyle and the rest is put into the client’s pension plan as pre-tax dollars. Kennedy explained, “This strategy is also great for the economy because all of that pre-tax money is invested into the American infrastructure, helping the economy grow while funding municipal bonds. For Oklahoma, that means updated roads and schools.”

Today, Wilshire Pennington has over 200 clients in several states. As the company expands, Kennedy plans on hiring additional financial advisors, giving them specialized training in understanding the unique needs of doctors and placing them in new branch offices around the country.

Not only does Wilshire Pennington work with doctors, but they also partner with the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University offering scholarships for medical students and arranging “lunch and learn” workshops to educate them on their financial options.

Whatever your goals or dreams for retirement may be, if you’re a doctor, dentist or veterinarian, Wilshire Pennington wants to help you achieve them. For more information, call (405) 751-8600 or visit www.wilshire-pennington.com.