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 Katherine@MDFinancialAdvisors.com

As an attorney and one of the country’s leading financial advisors for doctors, Katherine Vessenes, JD, CFP®, is uniquely qualified to help physicians and dentists across the country with their numerous complicated financial issues.

 Katherine was born into a medical family. Her mother was a CRNA and her stepfather was one of the first bariatric physicians in the country. “I learned first-hand, what doctors shouldn’t be doing with their money,” she said. “It was not unusual to come home from law school and find a new sports car in the driveway or a swimming pool in the backyard. My mom and stepdad spent money on cruises and other goodies as if they had an unlimited source of revenue. Unfortunately, all of this came to an end when my stepdad was unexpectedly forced to close his business overnight. They went from flying high to almost bankrupt within a few weeks. My stepdad was forced to take a job cleaning swimming pools—it was the only job he could find—at minimum wage!”

“It was incredibly painful to watch this happen to my own parents,” Katherine explained. “I didn’t want any of my doctor clients to ever suffer the same financial horrors we went through.”

In 2010 Katherine left a successful career as a coach and business advisor to financial advisors to take a VP position with a firm that specialized in financial planning for doctors. “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, within a few short weeks, I learned the bitter truth: this firm was only interested in making high profits—at the doctors’ expense,” Katherine stated. “I watched the president lie to doctors, make up answers, and only recommend products with high commissions, whether it was good for the doctor or not.” As an experienced financial advisor and coach to other financial advisors, Katherine found this was a conflict she couldn’t stomach.

After six months of watching this unethical advisor in action, Katherine made a difficult decision. She came home and shared it with her husband and business partner: “I told him we may go bankrupt, but I no longer cared. I couldn’t tolerate working for such scummy, unethical people another minute. I quit!” Fortunately, he supported her decision as both her husband and business partner.

In 2011, Katherine launched MD Financial in Rhode Island. She did not know a single doctor in the entire state. “I had no idea if this would work or not,” she said. “I only knew one thing: my clients would get ethical advice that was in their best interests!”

Today, she works with over 600 doctors from Hawaii to New York. The number she is most proud of is her referrals: “Over 80% of all of our new clients come to us from referrals—happy, satisfied clients,” Katherine explained. She attributes the high number of referrals to the level of service MD Financial provides for their clients and their unwavering adherence to doing business ethically and endeavoring to make recommendations that are in their clients’ best interest.

Katherine details how she helps physicians and dentists: “We work with busy, successful doctors who are so overwhelmed with their financial options, that they don’t know where to start or who to believe. They are worried about saving enough, how they will pay down debt, and who they can trust so they can make good financial decisions. Acting as their fiduciaries, we make sure our doctors have a clear money map to their ideal future, save precious time, and have a sense of peace about their financial choices. In short, we help doctors, plan for the future, protect their lifestyle, and prosper.

“Preparing a personal financial plan that includes a solid tax reduction strategy, while building and protecting their assets, is key to our physicians,” Katherine  further describes. “Our doctors want to know they can survive a prolonged market downturn and increasing taxes while we help them accumulate and preserve their wealth.”

In 1989 Katherine became Vice President and Officer of the IDS Mutual Fund Group, at the time the 9th largest mutual fund complex. There she was legal counsel to the independent directors, including President Gerald Ford, the CEO of Pepsi, the CEO of General Mills, and the CEO of 3M.

 Later, she created two ethics programs for American Express. Her previous business development clients include: American Express, ING, Merrill Lynch, H and R Block, Financial Planning Association, Northwestern Mutual, Charles Schwab, State Farm, John Hancock, Thrivent, Riversource, and many others.

Today she also serves as “of-counsel” to the law firm of Messerli and Kramer in downtown Minneapolis. Katherine and her husband/business partner, Peter, have three adult children.Katherine has recently taken up kettlebells to stay in shape.