Aaron Buczek – Certified to Serve You At the Highest Level

When Westwood Living was launching, the first person I called to become a potential sponsor was a financial planner, a stranger to me by the name of Aaron Buczek. After a number of attempts to connect, we finally got something on the schedule and spent about 45 minutes together, getting to know each other and learning a bit about each other’s businesses.

 

As I walked out of Aaron’s office, it turns out I was the one closer to making a commitment. During our conversation, he told me about the work he does as president of the Rotary Club of Westwood and asked if I would be interested in joining the organization. That’s how the friendship began.

 

For almost two years now, I’ve been able to watch Aaron lead the Rotary Club, effectively delegating duties while organizing meetings and events. We’ve worked together with a small, but mighty, team to bring a number of initiatives that benefit Westwooders to life. It’s been a pleasure.

 

Meanwhile, Aaron’s day job has kept him quite busy. Since we first met, his team at Edward Jones moved into a brand new office on Washington Street in Islington, nestled between The Muffin House and Neroli Ristorante, which has been a boon to his visibility and ability to directly connect with Westwood residents.

 

“You don’t think in this field of financial planning that people just pop in or stop by,” said Aaron as we sat in his office. “But believe it or not, I have had more than a handful of clients walk by and just stop in. I’ve had some people reach out and say, ‘You know, I drive by your office every dayon my way to work. I think it’s a sign. Let’s get together.'”

 

When you do get together with Aaron, you immediately notice his engaging personality and ability to connect. Relationship is the most important word in financial planning, and Aaron has a knack for connecting with people. He also understood the importance of becoming a
Certified Financial Planner® and dedicated a good portion of his life over the last year to getting that done.

 

“I started studying in August of, of 2023, and I passed the exam in March of 2024. It was eight months of intense focus and studying,” he said. “Knowledge is so important in this industry, especially with the world of the internet and social media. People have the tools and resources. You can be your own financial planner, right? Heck, you can be your own accountant, you can be your own lawyer, you can be your own doctor if you really want to be. So showing folks the value of the knowledge that I have and the CFP® to me going through that process. It was a 1000% improvement and increase in the knowledge I have.”

 And while being a CFP® is a huge difference-maker, that doesn’t mean the average person truly understands its importance and value.

 “A question I get a lot is, ‘What does that mean?'” said Aaron. “I got my CFP® and that didn’t change anything in terms of my salary or income. What it allows me to do is serve my clients at such a higher level and have a more broad understanding of the different components of true planning. Everybody thinks we just manage assets and manage investments and quite frankly, that’s a very important part of what we do, but it’s the least important part in the grand scheme of things. Now I have a lot more knowledge about estate planning, about taxes, and I can have conversations with my clients that I couldn’t have before. So hopefully that opens the door for me to serve them better and serve new clients. When people see that designation, they recognize I’ve taken the time to really build my knowledge. This industry is about relationships. You have no shortage of options when it comes to picking a firm to work with and an individual person across all of those areas. Ultimately, people will work with individuals they get along with and they enjoy being around.”

 

Away from the office, Aaron stays very engaged in the busy lives of his daughters, Saxin and Ilex and his wife, Allary. They love to camp together and enjoy some of the amazing baked sensations Allary creates through her company, Al Runs On Cake – macarons, truffles, muffins, bread, cake and more. A coop full of chickens also keeps them busy, and yes, I stop by the Edward Jones office each week to pick up my fresh dozen eggs. Really, it’s just a nice guaranteed way for me to see Aaron and his assistant, Susan, who warmly greets me at the door – but the eggs are incredible.

 

Listen to my full conversation with Aaron on the Westwood Living Podcast Network, available on SoundCloud, Spotify, Amazon, Buzzsprout, YouTube and Facebook.