Neal Frankle found himself in a financially fragile situation at the age of 17. Both his parents passed away while he was still in high school, leaving behind a small insurance settlement. Neal sought out a financial advisor to help him invest his nest egg so that it would help put him through college. Instead, the advisor charted a self-serving course and was on the verge of burning through the money when Neal realized what was happened and fired him just in time to avoid losing everything.
The experience had a deep impact on Neal and formed in him a lifelong desire to help people learn to make smart financial decisions. He has been in the financial services industry for more than 25 years.
Often people know what action to take, but for some reason, they fail to do so. Neal believes our emotions play a huge part in how we make financial decisions.
In order to address that roadblock, Neal looked for other powerful ideas that could help individuals overcome this hurdle.
He’d seen how 12-Step programs transform many people’s lives. Neal began using the principles of recovery in his work as a financial advisor and found that it achieved impressive results with clients who would never have identified themselves as “addicts,” yet whose financial lives were imbalanced and out of control.
“I have spent countless hours talking to thousands of people about their money,” says Neal. “I’ve known people who earned over $1 million per month and were miserable because they didn’t feel they had enough—and I’ve known garbage collectors who were delighted with and grateful for everything they had.”
Neal has a Bachelor’s in Accounting from the California State University San Diego, where he graduated with highest honors. He holds the Certified Financial Planner designation (CFP®), and is registered with the SEC.
Neal has lectured widely on financial topics at Mission College and College of the Canyons, and his Retirement Investing class has been widely attended in the Los Angeles area. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Financial Planning magazine, Investment Advisor magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Consumer Reports, Fit Body, Home & Garden, the New York Post, CNN and Registered Rep magazine. He is a featured columnist for Recovery Living magazine, a mainstream lifestyle magazine for all people in recovery launching in early 2009.
“I have spent countless hours talking to thousands of people about their money,” says Neal. “I’ve known people who earned over $1 million per month and were miserable because they didn’t feel they had enough—and I’ve known garbage collectors who were delighted with and grateful for everything they had.”