RYAN REYNA, EQUITABLE ADVISORS

Photography by Brianna Cortez Photography Written by Roland Rodriguez

Ryan Reyna, an associate wealth advisor at Equitable Advisors, understands there’s more to financial planning than helping clients decide how to invest for their present and future benefit. Decisions about investing aren’t just about what a person will do with their money. It’s about what that money can do for each person, their family, and their community.

Ryan didn’t grow up having a knack for managing money. He grew up in a lower-middle-class family, and the only financial advice he remembers receiving included, ‘If you want to spend your money, you need to save to get it. You have to earn it.’ “The work ethic was always there,” smiled Ryan, “but the actual strategic planning was not, and that carried on with me to my early adult life.”

Through college, Reyna worked at a series of jobs that brought him income. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University but was unable to find a job that utilized his new skills when the market crashed in 2016. Ryan found himself working in real estate and property management.

He enjoyed helping people in this way for several years, but he wasn’t managing his money wisely. Family members were also having financial struggles, and it was negatively impacting their marriage. Ryan realized that if he didn’t manage his money more wisely now, he could be grappling with the same thing in his future. Ryan started doing some research on financial principles and came across author, speaker, and radio talk show host Dave Ramsey. Reyna listened to Ramsey’s podcasts and talk shows for hours. What Ryan learned about giving, saving, and spending revolutionized Reyna’s mindset and how he managed his money. Ryan wanted to share what he had learned with others so they could experience financial freedom and healthier relationships.

Reyna had a burning desire to teach a nine-week Financial Peace University course at his church, but the schedule was already full for the room he would need to use, and there was no other space available. He didn’t set aside his passion because of this closed door.

Reyna said that by the grace of God, there was a nine-week opening for the room he needed. He gave a short, informational speech to about 1,100 people, sharing what the course would be about. He hoped to get at least five families to sign up. The day of his first Saturday course, twenty-seven families had signed up!

Nine weeks later, those twenty-seven families paid off $293,000 in non-mortgage debt! Ryan said the average family pays off about $8,000 of debt when they work the principles that they learn in the Financial Peace University program. The families who attended Ryan’s sessions paid off an average of almost $11,000. “I didn’t have any intention to be a financial advisor,” recalled Ryan with a smile. “I just wanted to help others with what

I had learned.”

Reyna was thrilled for the families!

He was also surprised that he, a 23-year-old, was helping 40- and 50-year-old couples with their finances. “I realized that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” said Reyna. “I wanted to help as many people as I could.”

He knew that he would have to be licensed to be able to give financial advice, so he earned his financial advisor and registered representative designation.

Ryan prepared for a change in careers that allowed him to utilize his education, quantitative training, and interpersonal strengths in the field of finance. As a financial planner, Reyna also holds multiple security and insurance licenses as well.

I realized that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I wanted to help as many people as I could.

Ryan Reyna believes there are two main purposes in life. First, find what your talent is. Second, give it away. “If you have the ability to provide value in somebody else’s life, and you feel those are the gifts and the interests that you have been given, I think it is very important to pass them on to somebody else,” he said passionately.

“My mission is to be able to give people confidence in their financial plans,” shared Reyna. He knows how easy it is to get into a routine, lose track of time, and never put an emphasis on making a financial plan. He said that people, even doers and go-getters, like to delegate the stress of financial planning.

With a skilled advisor, such as Ryan, managing financial plans on behalf of people, they have financial freedom, more options, and great peace. “We take the stress out of their hands when they let us handle their financial planning,” said Reyna. “Then they are free to spend their time and energy doing what they want, when they want to, and with whom they want to. I think that is when they have won in life.”

The 27-year-old Portland, TX native is living out his passion, helping people “make sense” of global markets and their own personal financial planning. Ryan says the clients he serves have learned from him, but he has learned volumes from them as well.

He has yet to meet a client, regardless of their net worth, who is completely comfortable with their situation in life. Potential clients may have some fears about the cost or motivation of a financial advisor. Some may have had a negative experience in the past. Others may think it’s taboo to discuss money. Perhaps they don’t have financial conversations among their friends, and can’t imagine being open with a complete stranger.

Reyna has refined the skill of putting others at ease, and establishing trust is of utmost importance to him. He strives to build trust with his clients simply by being trustworthy. That involves being honest and showing compassion. He will offer the best navigation he is capable of providing, based on the information and data the client has shared with him.

What Ryan Reyna does is called “financial planning,” but in reality, he deals with so much more than finances. Ryan helps clients deal with life transitions and quality-of-life issues, regardless of what stage of life they are currently in. Good, trusted advisors, like Ryan, have a passion for helping people, and for giving them the confidence to act on a plan

Why should people hire an advisor? For many of the same reasons they should hire a REALTOR®. In Real Producer terms, REALTORS® are qualified to help because they have the knowledge and training, they see the contracts every day, they know what is going on in the market, and they can market and negotiate better than anyone else. Financial advisors keep up with the market, construct portfolios, and do holistic planning. Sellers who use a REALTOR®, and clients who use a financial advisor, leave the table with less stress and more money than those who try to do it on their own.

Equitable Advisors focuses on two levels: the institutional side and the personal side. The institutional, or business side, includes helping facilitate employer-sponsored plans and helping business owners find ways to access their finances. The business side also relates to those who want to divest a portion of their business, strategically.

Financial counsel for the personal side of things includes, but is not limited to asset management. Ryan can help make your money grow, but he can do much more than that. Ryan can facilitate advanced planning, which involves working with a team of financial experts such as CPAs and lawyers, to make sure that each client’s longterm plans are executed to their greatest advantage.

Reyna is also skilled at insurance planning. “We can write down the greatest plan on paper, but, of course, life never happens perfectly,” said Reyna. “There are always things that arise, so we make sure we plan for any type of scenario.”

REALTORS®, like other entrepreneurs and 1099 contractors he serves, can find it difficult to navigate the investment side of things

I am here to help REALTORS® and others learn how to accumulate assets and be able to access them when they need them. That is why I love to work with REALTORS® .

and maintain a basic feel for personal cash flow. Real estate can be feast or famine. This is one of the reasons Equitable Advisors teamed up with Corpus Christi Real Producers to help give REALTORS® power over their finances and their future. There are times REALTORS® hold on tight to the finances they have, and then when they have that huge influx of cash into their account, they want to spend loosely. Without financial guidance, it can become an ebb and flow of being very tight with finances and then overspending.

Some REALTORS® may think it is most wise, and most safe, to have an investment portfolio consisting only of real estate. Real estate is a very liquid asset and can cause a problem for some investors. The money made in real estate is actually not the ‘passive income’ made between what the tenant is paying in rent minus the mortgage. The true value of real estate is made on the appreciation of the home, and the deal the investor received on the initial end of that sale. Ryan and Equitable Advisors know how to diversify a REALTOR’S® portfolio.

Ryan can also help REALTORS® access funds if they want to invest in real estate. Equitable Advisors is not trying to compete with their real estate clients. They are encouraging clients to invest through a financial advisor and invest in real estate. “I am here,” said Ryan Reyna, “to help REALTORS® and others learn how to accumulate assets and be able to access them when they need them. That is why I love to work with REALTORS®.”

Too many people make financial, and life, decisions with tunnel vision. They never look at it from a 20,000-foot view. Ryan Reyna and Equitable Advisors will show people how to plan for not just the next five to ten years, but how to plan for their whole life. “Ready or not, your future is coming,” said Ryan. Be ready!