Local business Elder Wealth Management has welcomed three new faces to its office on Public Square in Leitchfield.
Certified Financial Planners Mike Kretz, Tim Jenkins and Toby Jenkins are excited to join the Grayson County community and have been working diligently to get to know their new clients as well as other community members.
Kretz said that Leitchfield’s small-town feel and friendly citizens were a huge draw for the three business partners, who each hail from small towns in Kentucky and Ohio.
“We are really excited to be here,” he said, adding that they have been “blown away” by the positive reception they have received.
“I am so excited to become a part of a growing community like Leitchfield,” Toby Jenkins said. “It didn’t take long to realize how special this place is, and I am honored to have the opportunity to be here.”
Kretz put a significant focus on the trio’s commitment to the community.
Tim Jenkins agreed, saying, “This is a long-term decision for us. The office will always be in Leitchfield, and we will employ local residents, work for local investors and savers, and be involved in the community.”
“That’s what being a business owner is: creating opportunity and making a meaningful difference in the lives and communities you are invested in,” he said. “If our clients are successful and the communities we are part of are successful, then in the end, we see ourselves as successful.”
The group was introduced to Grayson County by Elder Wealth founder Steven Elder, a local financial planner and City Councilman who, along with his wife, Chamber of Commerce Director Tara Elder, has decided to move his family back to their hometown of Mayfield.
“Steven had a great opportunity to move back to Mayfield,” Kretz said, “He loves Leitchfield and adores his clients, so he reached out to us and insisted we’d love them, too.”
Kretz said that Elder spoke to other financial planners to see whom he felt would be the best fit for his clients, and ultimately decided to invite the three, whom he has known for years, to take over the company.
“Steve believed us to be the best fit for his clients and this community,” Tim Jenkins said.
“We want to make sure our clients don’t skip a beat,” Kretz said, “We do what we say we’ll do and time will prove that. If we’re going to do something, then we’re going to do it right.”
Local client Katie McGhee said of the switch, “It’s really a good change and it’ll be good for Steven. I think he did a really good job in picking these young men to take his place.”
McGhee went on to add, “I’m very pleased. It seems to be running really smoothly, just like it always has.”
Another Grayson County client, Mac Ragland, said, “I hate to lose Steve, but he spent a lot of time looking for these people, and he’s known them a long time. I think they know what they’re doing, and I think it’s going real good.”
Elder said of his time in the community, “Simply put, my clients were my best friends. We didn’t just talk about money, it was how to build a better community, state and nation.”
Kretz echoed that approach, saying that his goal is to invest in people, not just their money.
Tim Jenkins summed up his view by saying, “My mother taught me right when she taught me to live by faith, family, work. I believe it and live by it, which is why every business decision I make is based on my faith and every hour I work is important because it is for my wife and kids.”
Kretz said that he and his partners are looking forward to spending time in Grayson County along with their families.
“We’ll definitely be at the lakes this summer,” he said of himself and his wife, Lindsey, along with their three-year-old daughter, Tatum and five-month old son, Henry.
Tim Jenkins and his wife, Lisa, also have a young daughter, Annalise, “and I hope four or five more on the way,” he said.
Toby Jenkins, who is Tim’s brother, has two children, Zachary and Silas, with his wife, Stephanie.
Kretz, Jenkins and Jenkins own Keystone Financial Group, a Lexington-based company which they began in 2008, and will continue to serve their existing clients there as well as their new clients in Leitchfield, dividing their time between the two locations.
In the five years they have owned Keystone, they have become the largest LPL office in Lexington and manage over $300 million dollars. Tim Jenkins said that they have become one of the one of the largest LPL offices in central Kentucky and are in the top percentile in the entire country.
Kretz explained that one of the three will be in the Leitchfield office Monday through Thursday every week, “and Valerie [Farris, Office Manager] will be in the office on Fridays as well.”
Kretz stressed that the group is “diligent about same day service,” and is never more than a phone call away.
“Rumors can get started, but if you have any questions, call and ask or stop in and see us.” Kretz said, “Our door is always open and we love to hear from people.”
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