November 21, 2011
Living the Dream: Frank Riggio ’80CBA Helps Alumni Retire with
Confidence
Everyone’s story is unique, and no one knows that better than
Frank Riggio ’80CBA.
As a
Partner and Wealth Management Advisor at Renaissance Wealth
Management, he works with a diverse group of clients, helping each
of them to establish an entirely distinct retirement plan that
suits their particular lifestyle.
“I’m very much like a psychologist, asking my clients, ‘How do
you live?’, ‘What are your values?’ and, ‘What makes you tick?’”
Riggio explained. “Everyone gives me a different response: golf,
travel and so on, so there’s no easy answer regarding retirement.
Each client is unique and you have to build a plan individually ad
hoc each time to help fulfill their wishes. For me, assisting
people in that way is a tremendously rewarding experience.”
This knowledgeable alumnus is especially glad to share his
financial advice with the St. John’s University community,
frequently serving as a Moderator and Panelist at the Office of
Gift Planning’s Meet the Experts events. These programs feature a
panel of well-informed and accomplished alumni financial planners,
providing information and guidance to the St. John’s community free
of charge. Riggio – an outspoken advocate of alumni engagement – is
glad to help his fellow graduates.
“Meet the Experts is always fun and I truly enjoy staying
connected to the University in that way,” he said. “Providing
financial-planning information is very important, especially
considering how many challenges our retirees will be facing down
the line.”
These challenges include rising healthcare costs, an unstable
Social Security system, an economic recession and a turbulent
political landscape.
“There’s so much uncertainty, and a lot of the old paradigms
that we once held true are deviating a bit,” he noted. “Keep in
mind that there are 70 million or so Baby Boomers going into
retirement, so it’s going to be very difficult for all of them to
manage their income for the next 30 to 40 years.”
One of Riggio’s most essential pieces of advice is to plan
ahead, to anticipate your expenses and assess how much money you
will need in order to support the type of lifestyle you want to
live while retired.
“Unfortunately, we’re still a country of non-savers – that
paradigm hasn’t shifted,” he joked. “I always recommend that you
take a look at your life from a value-based perspective to
understand what you want and what you need, and hopefully we can
help you take care of some of your wishes. You need to really
examine where you’re spending your money and, after that, establish
a budget. A lot of people do this at their business, but they don’t
practice it in their personal lives.”
Riggio first got involved in Wealth Management after spending
over 10 years as a banker. He finds the Financial Planning field
particularly meaningful because it allows him to get to know
clients on a personal level and directly impact their lives.
He reconnected with St. John’s in 1998, when he became an active
board member of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business Alumni
Association, and he’s remained involved in the University community
ever since.
“It’s vastly unbelievable how the University has grown in the
last five to 10 years,” Riggio said. “We’re no longer just a
commuter school, and that’s been very beneficial. I’ve had about
five St. John’s interns in the last eight years – one was a student
from Bulgaria, another from California. Drawing such a diverse
student body from around the world is quite remarkable and is a
great asset for the University.”
It’s Riggio’s hope that more and more graduates will reconnect
with St. John’s and help create an even more vibrant and connected
alumni community.
“The passion I have is for our alumni culture to grow even
more,” he said. “Staying connected allows graduates to enrich
themselves and, ultimately, enrich St. John’s in the
process.”