So Karen, not Lew, heads the marketing department in their 15-employee firm, which serves 230 clients. She got her CFP in the early 90s, and is now the primary contact for many of the firm's clients. But that's just the start of her personal growth story. In 2001, Wiley published her book, Keeping Clients for Life, and she is the president-elect of the Financial Planning Association's New York chapter. Meanwhile, Lew's contribution remains what it's always been: Head Investment Strategist. "We have an investment committee to formulate changes to client portfolios," says Karen, "but Lew's vote equals that of all the other committee members." Investments are Lew's passion, and what he does best.


Like the working mother of today who earns a salary and still comes home to take care of the family, is Karen responsible for maintaining the "infrastructure" of L.J. Altfest & Company? "Lew does investing, I head up marketing, we're both financial planners, and we both do the administrative things [that need our attention], like compliance," says Karen. In other words, they share both the rewarding and the not-so-rewarding tasks. But who's really bringing in the new clients?

Says Lew, "When we started out together, it was true that I was bringing in the clients and Karen was holding the office together, but that's no longer the case. Karen has her own niche, which is women's issues. She does speaking, as do I. We both get quoted in the press, so we're both doing the rainmaking."

"This firm definitely has two rainmakers," says Karen. In fact, some types of rainmaking are probably easier for Karen than for Lew. "I love speaking," she says, "which isn't the kind of thing Lew takes to naturally."

Expanding on these differences, Lew says, "I'm more opinionated than Karen, and she may be more sociable than I am. None of this has anything to do with brainpower, but rather with personalities. Karen tends to be more optimistic and a greater risk-taker than I am. In our home life, Karen's more likely to be the one who sets up our social activities, while I'm more likely to be thinking about our strategy for the future. And that's what we do in the business, too."

"I evolved in my role over time, which is healthy," says Karen. "I wasn't doing the same job all the time."

Ron And Suzzette Rutherford

At Rutherford Asset Planning Inc., recently transplanted from New York to Naples, Fla., Ron's name isn't prominent because this husband and wife started the business together in 1986. In the early 1980s, Ron and Suzzette Rutherford prepared for their CFPs together and, in 1983, they both earned their CFPs and got married. Today, they maintain an intentionally smaller firm with one full-time employee and about 60 ongoing clients.

Unlike either the Kabarecs or the Altfests, the Rutherfords work as a team on each client right from the beginning, each carrying out their specialty. "I tend to focus on the investments, Suzzette on the financial planning," says Ron.

However, "Ron does the business development," says Suzzette, "because he's better at screening prospects. I'm the bleeding heart who would take almost any prospect. If Ron interviews a prospect and isn't sure [he or she would be a good client], I'll step in and do a second interview."

Like Karen Kabarec, Suzzette Rutherford reviews the company's books and oversees certain office duties, like making sure the rent gets paid and office supplies are topped off. But less similar to the Kabarecs' situation is the Rutherfords' versatility. "When I was getting my law degree a few years after we started the firm, Ron handled jobs that are now my responsibility, like getting out our newsletter, overseeing the books and other office management tasks," says Suzzette.

Nonetheless, Ron is the first point of contact for new clients, with certain exceptions. "We get some calls where obviously it should be me who makes the initial contact," says Suzzette. "It might be a prospect looking for a woman advisor, or it could be a family or couple." Adds Ron, "They may have seen an article about Suzzette in a magazine, so they ask for her."