The big five: The 2014 Advisor of the Year finalists

The company's tax planning services and the referrals it supplies bring in enough business that Hammer recently went more than five years without paying for any marketing. "It brings great value [to clients] and gives us name recognition out there," Hammer says. "But it's also our opportunity to introduce our other services. If the timing's right or the need's there, I just feel like they'll come to us. And they do."

Name: Jason Michael Jenkins

Years in industry: 15 years 

Company: Jenkins Wealth Management Group 

Location: Denver, Colorado 

2013 Total Sales: $44,000,000 

Designations: Series 65, life/health licensed, MBA

Guiding seniors into retirement is not only a career for Jason Michael Jenkins, MBA; it is also a passion. Jenkins, partner and co-founder of Denver, Co.-based Jenkins Wealth Management Group, has a knack for leadership and making an impact on his clientele, 90 percent of whom are seniors. He was drawn to the senior market by the opportunity to re-educate the generation on their ideas of risk, since the economic climate has changed dramatically during their lifetimes.

Jenkins gets to the heart of the many emotional issues surrounding money by asking what he believes are the two most important questions: How much risk can you afford, and how much risk are you willing to take? "Willingness is everything," Jenkins says, "and there is a big gap trying to connect these two answers."

While Jenkins enjoys leading seniors into a more comfortable retirement, he doesn't exactly agree with the notion that an advisor's role is to prevent the client from running out of money. "That's not the way to live our lives," he says. In addition to creating a secure retirement, Jenkins aims to empower his clients to buy nice things for their grandchildren or donate to their church. "Our clients should be in the position to spend with confidence, and to make an impact with confidence."

And Jenkins makes a big impact of his own. In 2007, Jenkins and his former MBA professor Dr. Senyo Abjibolosoo founded a non-profit school in the Volta region of Ghana, called the Human Factor Leadership Academy, devoted to implementing core principles of compassion and leadership from pre-school to fifth grade. "It's those human values — love, forgiveness, grace — that are being instilled in these young minds," he says. "All it takes is one person, one great leader to stand up and be a moral beacon." He and Abjibolosoo also refurbished a run-down British tobacco factory into the largest library in the area, a region housing 1.2 million people. Jenkins is an avid reader and is passionate about providing educational resources to the public. 

The return on his investment? Jenkins says the culture's fine-tuned awareness of nature and the simpler things in life has impacted the way he processes and views the world. "Imagine sitting around a campfire, under a full moon in the middle of the village with the chief and all the elders," he says. The chief spent two hours telling a 500-year-old story about a bird and the powerful life lessons it taught the people, which Jenkins recalls as a paradigm-shifting. He now shares those same stories with his two children. This broadened life perspective and shift in awareness, accompanied by his successful battle with a rare form of cancer, lends Jenkins a deep connection to seniors and their strong principles — something he believes creates a solid foundation for the advisor-client relationship.

Name: Jay LaMalfa

Years in industry: 30 years 

Company:  MACRO Consulting Group

Location:  Parsippany, New Jersey

2013 Total Sales: $25,300,000

Designations: CFP®, CLTC 

Jay LaMalfa, CFP®, CLTC entered the world of retirement advising by way of auto and homeowner claims. He was asked to come in and interview after handling the claim for a Prudential sales manager, who was impressed by his timeliness and courteous disposition. LaMalfa, partner of Parsippany, N.J.-based MACRO Consulting Group, has carried on for 30 years and has no plans to retire any time soon.

When LaMalfa was born, his father was over 40 and his mother not far behind. As the son of Depression-era parents, he has firsthand knowledge of the mature investor's needs and concerns associated with retirement — and how things can go wrong. LaMalfa's mother was diagnosed with polio at the age of three, and because of this disability, she could not qualify for long-term care insurance. Later in life, she needed care, and LaMalfa and his siblings supported her. "My mom was a wonderful person who would literally do anything for you," he says, "but she felt like she was a burden to people and psychologically. That was difficult for her and the whole family."

By the time LaMalfa's father was in his 60s, he was also suffering from health issues. At the time, LaMalfa was 19 years old, but he became the man of the house, helping his mother in every way he could. That experience helped him understand issues faced by seniors at a young age.

In LaMalfa's opinion, the quality of financial guidance given to his parents was less than adequate. He believes that if they had received proper advice, they could have lived more comfortably and had happier lives in retirement. Unfortunately, by the time he was in business, things were too far gone for him to intervene. "My parents didn't live into their 90s, which was sad, but also a blessing," he says, "because they would not have had the financial resources to do so."

Watching this happen to his parents gave LaMalfa the impetus to serve the senior market; he wanted to help prevent others from enduring what his family went through — both financially and physically. He now strives to marry retirement planning with education about living a healthy lifestyle. "It's not just about making sure people are financially secure," he says, "but making sure they can enjoy their life; otherwise, what's the point?"

He says that while longevity is increasing, there is also more uncertainty surrounding health care laws and Medicare. "It's more important now than ever to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses," he says, "since more expenses are being shifted to the average person." LaMalfa adds that if you can reduce your chances of many diet- and lifestyle-related diseases—diabetes, heart disease, cancer—then you can more fully enjoy your retirement years and also potentially eliminate thousands of dollars' worth of medical expenses. LaMalfa and his wife, who is certified by the Physician's Council on Responsible Medicine, plan to implement even more health education into his practice in the years to come.

Name: Philip Rousseaux

Years in industry: 19 years

Company: Everest Wealth Management 

Location: Towson, Maryland 

2013 Total Sales: $31,000,000 

Designations: ChFC®, CIMA®, RICP® 

Philip Rousseaux stumbled into his career as a retirement advisor by happy mistake while studying economics in college. After completing two internships with investment firms based on the advice of a professor, Rousseaux, ChFC®, CIMA®, RICP® fell in love with the entrepreneurial spirit of the industry. Twenty years later, he credits his tenacity for the success of his Towson, Md.-based retirement income planning firm.

Everest Wealth Management was deliberately named after the Earth's highest mountain, symbolizing everlasting strength and security — an image Rousseaux is passionate about when it comes to his clients' retirement income. "My core philosophy is to keep money safe," he says, "setting things up in income-paying investments, securitizing your income and not putting your money at risk." He believes that fixed indexed annuities are the only investment that can truly ensure that money won't run out.

Rousseaux says the lessons which shaped him were learned from his modest and hardworking parents. When he told his mother he wanted to attend space camp, she reminded him that he would have to pay for it himself, which he did after shoveling snow, cutting lawns and delivering newspapers. His father was the family's sole earner for many years as a salesman for a box company. "Talk about a tough sell," Rousseaux says. Later the company let his father go, but his parents were still able to send their children to private school and pay for their college education. "These are the lessons that really shaped me," he adds.

Rousseaux believes the responsibility of this industry is to teach retirees that it's not about how much money you have or what your return was last year; it's about whether or not your income is secure and whether you outlive your money. And there's a lot of misinformation out there, he says. If a client was sold a variable annuity before meeting with him for the first time, Rousseaux makes a point to ask, "Are you aware you're paying fees at 5 percent?" He is amazed that the answer he most often hears is: "My broker never told me that."

Education is responsible for his firm's high client-retention rate, he says. The process usually starts either from referrals or his popular radio and TV show, The Money Guys, and is continued throughout meetings in his office. But it's not just the clients who are enlightened; Rousseaux invests in education for his entire staff, even those in administration. "We spend 10 percent of our company's profit on continuing education and designations every year," he says, "so that we stay in the know."

The firm does more than learn together; they give back to the community together. They sponsor two Make-A-Wish Foundation projects a year and throw an elaborate send-off party for the child, with fun decorations and his or her favorite meal. "I feel it's important to not only see where the money is going," he says, "but that I am directly involved — and so is my whole staff. It's truly touching."