Financial advisor Bill Kramer has gotten threats of violence, even death threats, from people across the nation. But none were for the financial advice he has given. The threats instead stemmed from his work as a state legislator in Wisconsin, where economic issues have generated some heated national political debates in the last couple of years.
Besides drawing threats, his work in the state Assembly has also lost him planning clients who disagree with his positions.
But that hasn’t made Kramer sorry. He feels shaping public policy as a lawmaker is an important job, even though it takes time away from his career as an advisor and founder of his own firm.
In fact, Kramer, a Republican, feels more financial planners are needed in public office. And he’s not alone.
Paul H. Auslander, chairman of the national Financial Planning Association, agrees more financial advisors are needed in the U.S. Congress to help avert the kinds of financial standoffs that have bogged down the federal government. “You would not be facing fiscal cliffs and patching monetary policy on the short term, rather than thinking about the long term, if there were more CFPs and financial advisors in office,” says Auslander, who has also considered running for Congress from his home state of Florida.
Kramer was always interested in public issues, but says he did not grow up thinking about running for public office. After graduating from Duke University School of Law in 1994, he tried a short stint as a lawyer but did not like it. He also worked as an accountant for a while after becoming a CPA, but found that it did not fit his tastes. Finally, he became a CFP and went into financial planning, which he liked because he got to work with people.
He started financial planning with a friend in 2002 and went out on his own as a sole practitioner two years later. His firm, Kramer Financial Management in Waukesha, has $10 million in assets under management and caters to mostly middle-class clients saving for retirement or other needs, though a few clients have around $500,000. He lets the clients choose how to be billed—by the hour or by annual fee, retainer or commission.
Still, even that career didn’t totally satisfy him after a while. He wanted more.
“I have a lot of interests, and I think I have a strong set of personal skills,” he says. “I also really want to help people. Being a legislator lets me put a hand in a lot of different things, and I get to help people solve their problems. When you help a person get an unemployment check or get some state records for a woman who needs them to get a job, you have helped a real person with an immediate problem. Those are some of the kind of issues I work with.”
He first threw his hat in the political ring when he ran for the Waukesha County Board. It was the only election he ever lost. A Republican in a highly Republican district, he won election to the board on his next try. He was later elected to the Assembly in 2006—and re-elected three times.