In episode #06 of NAPFA Nation, Lydia Sheckels, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, of Wescott Financial Advisory Group, shares highlights from her career in financial services, including how she became fee-only financial planner, and why she decided to eventually join NAPFA and raise her hand for service/leadership roles within the fiduciary community that would come back to help her in unexpected ways. While she set out to simply be of service, the surprise to her was that she learned new things and became a better financial planning practitioner and leader within Wescott, the Registered Investment Advisor and wealth management firm that would eventually become her beloved career home base.

Sheckels shares:

How participating in the fee-only community helped shape her career and created a profound sense of purpose

How fellow NAPFA pioneers such as Michael Joyce, Judy Lau, and Marjorie Fox – among others – lead the charge in NAPFA’s early days

Why she is so encouraged by the fiduciary movement and the growth of commission-free wealth management and financial planning firms nationwide

How established firms can help the next generation of financial planners as they eagerly seek to join the fiduciary community

Key points: When Sheckles joined Wescott, it was “a tiny firm” and the term “fiduciary” was hardly used in financial planning circles. Today, Wescott is one of the larger wealth management firms in the fiduciary community and now the terms “fee-only” and “fiduciary” are used widely in financial planning circles, by personal financial journalists, and professors who are training up the next generation of financial planners, investment advisors, and wealth managers. In addition to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the fiduciary standard is now the “mother standard” for an array of professional organizations such as Alliance of Comprehensive Planners, XY Planning Network, and the Garrett Planning Network. As NAPFA celebrates its 40th anniversary, this podcast with Sheckels is one you won’t want to miss.

Lydia Sheckels is Partner, CIO Emeritus and Senior Financial Advisor of Wescott.  With a professional background in financial planning and investment management, she practices in the areas of insurance analysis and planning, tax and cash flow management, and estate planning.  She is a Certified Financial Planner™, Chartered Life Underwriter® and Chartered Financial Consultant®.

Lydia serves on the firm’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Committee and Portfolio Strategy Group, which oversees the firm’s dynamic investment strategies, ongoing due diligence of Wescott’s investment managers and asset allocation design.  She is also a member of the Investment and Management Committees.

A recipient of the Five Star Wealth Manager of Philadelphia distinction from Philadelphia Magazine, Lydia has been a featured speaker at many professional and civic organizations on a number of topics.  Her advice has been regularly featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, Financial Planning Magazine, Financial Advisor, Mutual Fund Magazine, Investment News, CNNfn, thewhiz.com, Fidelity.com, Society of Financial Service Professionals’ Focus Magazine, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, The Philadelphia Inquirer and many other national and local publications.

A member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), Lydia joined NAPFA’s National Board in September 2017.  She proudly served as the Immediate Past Chair of NAPFA’s National Board of Directors for their 2021-2022 term and is a member of the NAPFA Public Policy Committee.  In addition, she is the past chair of the organization’s Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Region Board, was a member of NAPFA’s Leadership Development Committee, has served on the NAPFA University School of Practice Management, and was a member of the organization’s Speakers Bureau Content Review Committee.

Lydia served as a member of the Financial Planning Association’s (FPA) National Ethics Committee, charged with investigating complaints and enforcing the FPA Code of Ethics.  She also served on the Practitioner Advisory Council and the Public Awareness Advisers of the International Association for Financial Planning.  She is past president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the International Association for Financial Planning and past president of the Estate and Financial Planning Council of Southern New Jersey.  Former president of the South Jersey Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, she has served as an instructor for the Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®) designation courses sponsored by the Society.

Lydia earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Providence College.  She resides in Moorestown, New Jersey with her husband Tom Sheckels.  They have two adult children.