Paris Cluff – Financial Advisor & Financial Literacy Advocate

Personal Notes

They say that you shouldn’t talk about money. I completely disagree. We need to talk about money. We need to have conversations about how to use it more effectively. We need to understand it, not fear it.

Money cannot buy happiness, however the lack of it causes stress and anxiety. And stress is at the root of all illness and disease.

The number one cause of divorce, which is a serious tragedy to a family, is financial problems. If I can save even one family by helping to eliminate financial stresses due to lack of education on financial issues, then I will have done a great work for the world.

Bio

Paris Cluff was born in East Los Angeles, CA and grew up in Costa Mesa, CA, and is an NFEC certified financial education instructor. He was born the oldest of five children to a middle-class family. Although his family was and still is close, he remembers watching his parents discuss money and finances and realized what a strain it had on the family. Thankfully his parents didn’t end up as a statistic.

Paris later moved to the Central Valley where he met his wife and started his family. Shortly after he got married, he started working for the local utility company. Within a few years, he had qualified for the company match on the 401(k) program. So he decided it was time to start investing for the future. At that time, all Paris knew about money was that it was green and he wanted more. He barely knew what a 401(k) was, so he started to ask coworkers for advice. That is when he realized the lack of information that his coworkers had about investing and money.

When he asked some of the more experienced workers what they did with their 401(k), he would get answers like, “I just flipped a coin to pick the investments,” or, “I just put it all in the company stock.” Realizing he wasn’t going to get great advice from coworkers, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He read every book he could get his hands on about investing and money. Retirement, for Paris, was one of those major life events that needed wise planning. Life events, like who to marry and what house to buy, shouldn’t be left the chance.

One day while at work, a coworker, who had watched him reading all the books and asking questions about the company 401(k), came and asked him for advice on what she should do with her 401(k). After sharing what he learned from the books, she turned to him and said, “I finally understand what to do with my investments in my 401(k). You have made it very easy for me to understand. You have a gift. You should do this for a living.”

That comment sent Paris on a whole new course. He obtained his degree from the local college and went on to get his professional licenses in Life and Health Insurance, and his Investment licenses.

After over 15 years as a financial professional and having helped hundreds of clients and trained dozens of financial professionals and agents, Paris was introduced to the National Financial Educator Council through the Transamerica Financial Educators Academy. His philosophy on money and finance fit perfectly with the objectives and missions of these two organizations. Paris decided immediately to become a Certified Financial Educator and to join the Personal Finance Speakers Association.

Paris’ passion to educate, and his ‘gift’ to take complex financial concepts and make them easy to understand has proven to be a great blessing to him and his clients.

Paris still lives in the Central Valley, in Fresno, California, with his wife of nineteen years and his five children. He is active in his church and in his community and is passionate about helping people become financially literate and accomplish their financial goals and dreams!