Ana Trujillo Limon

Ana Trujillo Limon (Ana Maria Trujillo) has worked in the communications and media industry for more than a decade. She chose this field to tell peoples’ stories and make information understandable to the community. Her career started as a reporter at the Santa Fe New Mexican before taking a job as an editor in an outdoor industry trade magazine in Colorado. She is currently editor-in-chief of the Financial Planning Association's publications, which includes the APEX Award-winning Journal of Financial Planning, the FPA Next Generation Planner, and the FPA Practice Management Blog. In the community, she volunteers with Conejos Clean Water, an environmental non-profit organization based in the San Luis Valley in Colorado, where she grew up. Ana is a member of the American Copy Editors Society and the Association of Latino Professionals for America. She lives in Wheat Ridge, Colorado with her husband Jamie Limon. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Miami. She holds a certificate in leadership from the Latino Leadership Institute at the University of Denver, a Poynter and ACES Certificate in Editing and is currently pursuing and MBA in finance from the University of Colorado, Denver. 

Lessons from journalism: Pay your diverse talent so they can build wealth

I recently saw a tweet pleading, “We need more minorities in journalism.” As a minority former journalist, this struck a nerve. I remembered when I was five years into the business working in Boulder, Colorado, one of the state’s more expensive cities. At that time, SalaryList.com reported the average salary for an associate editor was $43,975. I was making just shy of $30,000 with a similar title. I worked long, odd hours. I traveled extensively. I couldn’t afford anything but rent, leading

To improve diversity, sponsors must have skin in the game

Jacqueline “Jaq” Campbell’s first mentor in the financial industry was a middle-aged white man. He showed her the ropes, he introduced her to high-net-worth individuals, he helped her study for her Series 7, and when she passed it, he presented her with a briefcase at a celebratory dinner. Campbell, a Black woman who’s CEO and president of Alexander Legacy Private Wealth Management in Detroit, said her mentor even took the time to get to know her family and told her father, “If I don’t have her

From reactive to proactive: Ramp up your diversity and inclusion efforts

On June 17, President Joe Biden signed a law making Juneteenth, which falls on June 19, a national holiday. This recent trend of powerful people taking a proactive role in promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is also happening in the advisory profession, with programs and profession-specific courses to help you on your own DEIB journey popping up more over the last year. Brookings reported that the U.S. is diversifying faster than predicted, with the most recent census data...

FPA CEO Patrick Mahoney on the Value of Planning, Putting Members First, and Telling FPA’s Story

WHAT'S ON HIS MIND: “There has never been a more important and critical time for financial planning than there is now.” VIDEO: Click or tap below for a YouTube video with additional questions and answers with Patrick Mahoney. How has financial planning impacted your life? A little story about me that goes back to my childhood when I was introduced to financial planning early on: My father was a child of the Great Depression. His family grew up in very modest circumstances, so he was very thr

Addressing the Realities Facing Diverse Employees in the Financial Planning Profession

Financial planning is a tough profession for anybody to navigate, says John Eing, CPA, CFP®. But it’s a bit tougher for diverse professionals to navigate. The Journal of Financial Planning surveyed diverse members in the profession across diverse sectors—women, Black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), disabled, and LGBTQ+—to learn about their experiences and identify common problems they’ve faced in navigating the profession. We then interviewed diversity and inclusion experts on ways to address those common problems.

Taking Care of Your Community—Physically, Financially, and Mentally

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about challenges for you, your employees, and your clients alike. In a recent call in FPA’s Planner-to-Planner conversation series, powered by TD Ameritrade Institutional and Vanguard, host and past FPA President Elizabeth Jetton, M.Ed., CFP®, led a discussion with FPA members on how they’ve been taking care of their community of clients and employees.

Cannabis: The Investment of the Future?

There’s a dispensary at the corner of Wolff Street and 38th Avenue in North Denver. When recreational marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2014, the boomer husband-and-wife duo who owned the joint (pun heavily intended) ran it out of a tiny, slightly dilapidated white house. Today, that small white house is no longer. It is now a sleek, stucco, dark gray house with lime-green accents. The business swiftly expanded to include the large neighboring brick building, which had been abandoned for m

Why Knowing Your Client Is Key to Success

There’s a hairdresser in Arvada, Colo., who likely knows more about her clients than their doctors. She listens to them and makes them feel valued. She’s honest with them when pixie cuts aren’t right for their face frame and her referral business is booming. Getting to know your clients and making them feel you are in tune with their needs is key to more referrals and more business growth, according to a 2018 study. Also key is being comfortable with tension. The “Know Your Client” benchmarkin

5 Tips to Up Your Marketing Game

You’re a financial planning expert. Marketing might not be your thing. But here are some relatively easy goals you could potentially achieve before 2019 is over. 1.) Get out in your community. Among the top marketing tips on Business.com is to get involved in the community. Donate prizes to local competitions and contests. Connect with people. Attend local events, volunteer, network, and create awareness about your business. “Participating with community members this way can help you make str

Investing Differences Across Generations

The three generations currently being served by the financial planning profession—boomers, Gen X, and millennials—have similarities, according to the Commonwealth Financial Network article, “Uncovering Investing Trends Across Generations.” Those similarities include retirement as a top reason to invest, an overallocation to cash, and a preference for equities. But the differences between these generations are important to keep in mind when effectively serving them. According to Commonwealth, t

Are You and Your Clients Making These Estate Planning Mistakes?

A recent survey by Caring.com found that only 42 percent of U.S. adults have estate planning documents in place. The survey asked participants why estate planning documents hadn’t been established yet. Twenty-nine percent said they have no one to leave assets to, and 47 percent said they simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet, according to the AARP article, “Haven’t Done A Will Yet?” Not Having a Will “The biggest estate planning mistake I see people make is not having a plan at all,” Eric Rob

Don't Forget Clients' Pets in Estate Planning

When Karl Lagerfeld passed away a few months ago, it brought renewed attention to estate planning for pets. The fashion designer left a chunk of his estimated $300 million net worth to Choupette, his beloved Birman cat. Lagerfeld kept his furry companion in mind during estate planning, which other planners recommend your clients do, too. “I have definitely recommended people taking certain steps planning for how their assets pass to make sure they take care of their pets,” Roger Ma, CFP® profe

Building Client Trust in a Bear Market

Clients come to you for help and they want to know that you always have their back, and they won’t feel that way if they don’t trust you. Here are some ways to build client trust that will help keep your clients calm during a bear market: Of course, you need to keep your professional relationship professional, but you can’t connect with a current or potential client if you start talking numbers and processes right away. While that may feel like client communication 101, it’s a fundamental step

Volunteers, Event-Goers Happy Festival Italiano is Going Zero Waste

by Ana Trujillo Limón ​Jeff and Monica Gallegos like to take their twins out for a fun, outdoor activity on the weekends. This weekend they chose Festival Italiano at Belmar. Mostly because they were intrigued by our Facebook posts about the festival and how this year is the first the festival has made a commitment toward generating less waste. “I always think—especially having children—that it is important to help the environment,” Gallegos told us. “We’ve attended a lot of events lik

ZWS Wins City of Lakewood Sustainability Award; Asks for Volunteers

by Ana Trujillo LimónIt was a cold December night. A cozy home in Lakewood was transformed from a space for a family to a space for shopping. The lights were dim. Various garment racks were set up in true boutique fashion close to a giant mirror.But it wasn’t shopping that took place that night—it was swapping old clothes. Ladies from all around the Denver Metro area soon filled the room, bringing their old clothing treasures and some snacks to share. This event was the Zero Waste Services’ inau

In Estate Planning, Encourage Clients to Be Open With Adult Children

It was the morning I was to return to Denver after a weekend trip to my small Southern Colorado hometown. My mom and I were having coffee when she said, “Anita, we have to discuss some things.” She got up from the table and went over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a manila folder full of papers. I realized what the papers were as soon as she’d sat back down. Apparently, she’d devoured the book I’d given her called The Other Talk A Guide to Talking to Your Adult Children About the Rest of Yo

Help Your Clients Fund College with Less Debt

Perhaps some of your clients aren’t able to set aside money in 529 plans to fund their child’s education. In that case, they themselves or their children may have to take on debt to pay for college. The following tips can help clients in this situation take on a minimal amount of debt. “It may not seem easy to graduate debt-free, but it can be done,” said Stuart Ritter, a financial planner and vice-president of Baltimore-based T. Rowe Price Investment Services in the Money magazine article, “4

Equifax Was Hacked. Now What?

In early September, America learned that the credit reporting agency Equifax was hacked and 143 million consumers may have been affected. That means that the personal information—Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, addresses, driver’s license numbers and birth dates—of roughly half of the U.S. population was likely compromised. “Many if not most of our clients have likely been impacted by this breach,” Melissa Joy, CFP®, CDFA®, wrote in a post titled “Equifax Data Breach and Your Mon
Load More Articles