Beck BodeThe Company We Keep
What makes a community? For some it's a shared place, for others a shared purpose, and for many it's simply the people who keep showing up. As summer gives way to fall, we've been thinking about how much of what we build, in life and in planning, depends on the company we keep.
This month we spent time with clients and friends across two of our communities. We share a recap of our second annual Legacy Cup at Oakley Country Club, a day of golf, conversation and friendly competition. We also look back on a focused evening of Wine & Wealth at our Portsmouth office, where our advisors paired three wines with three chapters of a financial life. And with the school year underway, Jim Bode sits down with the college advisor who once guided him, to talk about why college planning starts earlier than most families expect.
As you settle into the rhythm of fall, we hope these stories remind you of the people who make the journey meaningful.
In This Issue
- The Legacy Cup: A second year of golf, community and remembering what matters
- Wine & Wealth: Three wines, three chapters and one focused evening in Portsmouth
- Planning Corner: What Nine Under Nine taught us about planning for college
The Legacy Cup: Golf, Community, and What Matters Most
Thank you to everyone who joined us on Monday, September 21 for our second annual Legacy Cup at Oakley Country Club. The rain held off, and the day turned out to be a beautiful one.
At dinner, Jim Bode came back to the question he asked at last year's inaugural event: how do you want to be remembered? It is the same question that sits beneath so many of our conversations with clients, and it is why the event carries the name it does. As Jim shared, part of our own legacy is bringing clients together and building a community that makes all of us better.
That community showed up in full. We are grateful to everyone who made time to be part of it. As Beck Bode approaches 15 years as an independent firm, days like this remind us how far we have come together.
The competition came down to the final scorecard. For the first time in the event's history, two teams finished tied at the top. With the winning team took home the Cup at 11 under, winning the tiebreaker with a 29 on the back nine.
Congratulations as well to Liam and Billy for closest to the pin, Kathy, John and Jamie for long drive, and Marty and Bob for the chipping and putting contests.
Wine & Wealth: Three Wines, Three Chapters
Last fall, we introduced An Evening of Wine & Wealth. On September 22, we brought it home to our Portsmouth office for a focused evening with a small group of clients, built around a simple idea: a financial life has chapters, and so does a good wine flight.
Ashley Cotler, our client success manager and a trained sommelier, guided the evening through a flight we called Wines Throughout Time. With each glass, she walked the group through how the wine was made and what to taste for. Then she passed the conversation to one of our advisors to share a story from their own life.
The Dreaming: Granbazán Etiqueta Verde Albariño, Rías Baixas, Spain. Brian Wickett opened with a story about his father, who worked hard for everything he had but was never taught how steady saving and compounding could change a family's future. Brian is doing things differently with his own children, starting early and teaching as he goes. In his words, "A legacy is not only what you leave them. It is what you teach them."
The Crunch: M de Minuty Rosé 2025, Côtes de Provence, France. A blend for the middle chapter of life, when so much changes at once. Erik Beck shared his own transition from firefighter to financial advisor, and what that change taught him about the value of having a plan and staying with it while everything else is shifting.
The Legacy: Carpineto Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva 2020, Tuscany, Italy. Karen O'Donoghue, CFP®, CDFA®, closed the evening with a wine that needed time to become what it is. She asked the group who was exactly where they expected to be at twenty-five, and no hands went up. The things that mattered to us then still matter, she reflected. They simply look different now. "The work, the consistency, the planning. It protects our peace, and it protects our people."
Before the final bottle was revealed, Ashley invited everyone to guess. One guest had an advantage, having grown up making wine in Italy as a child. It was a fitting moment, since the last pour came from Tuscany.
If you would like to recreate the evening at home, all three wines are widely available and are best enjoyed in the same order they were poured.
Planning Corner: Why College Planning Starts Earlier Than You Think
Last fall, Jim Bode shared the $50,000 college mistake his family almost made. This month, he took that conversation to the golf course.
In the second episode of Nine Under Nine, Jim is joined by Eric Simonelli of Academic Admissions Advisors, who was also Jim's own college advisor. Between shots, their conversation keeps returning to one idea: college planning and financial planning begin in the same place, and it is usually earlier than families expect. The choices made in the years before an application, from how a student explores their interests to how a family prepares to pay, can shape both the experience and the cost.
With the school year now underway, it is a timely conversation for any family with children on that path, whether they are just starting middle school or preparing for senior year. And for those who have been following along, Episode 2 improved on Episode 1's even par with a round of one under.
If college is on your family's horizon, maybe you're touring colleges over these next few weeks , your advisor is always glad to talk through how it fits into your broader plan.
A Final Thought
Communities are built the same way plans are: over time, through steady effort and the people who choose to show up.
Whether it was on the course at Oakley, around a table in Portsmouth or through a conversation about the years ahead, this month reminded us that the most meaningful parts of planning are shared.
Thank you for the trust you place in us, and for being part of this journey.
Wishing you a warm and wonderful start to the fall season,
— The Beck Bode Team