Dedicated Financial Services: “Our clients are our inspiration!”

Dale Immekus and his son, Charles Immekus, are, above all else, in the business of helping people. The first tip-off is their assurance that investing and wealth management aren’t exclusively for the very wealthy echelons.

Dale, who owns Dedicated Financial Services with his wife, Karen, explains, “Investment management and financial planning can mean different things to different people. Here we take it on a holistic basis, assessing the client’s entire situation, their taxes, income and what their goals are. We take all the different moving parts in the client’s financial life and put them all together, including their healthcare.” In addition to financial planning and investment management, Dedicated Financial Services also has a Medicare insurance agency in which they do only healthcare through Medicare programs, with six agents representing numerous insurance carriers handling Medicare Advantage, stand-alone prescription drug and Medicare supplement plans.

When it comes to investments, Dale said, “We make sure our clients understand exactly what they are investing in, the risk versus reward of that investment, and the cost.” Charles concurred, “Yes, there is no surprise billing about anything; it’s very transparent. We ensure that the scope of our guidance is always way above and beyond just selling a stock.” Dale added, “I call it empathy-driven advice.” Dedicated Financial Services’ team lives by the motto “Our goal is your success,” a guiding principle that the company has printed on all of its business materials.

A Sacred Duty
Charles, an accomplished army veteran, is also a CHFC, or Chartered Financial Consultant, an advanced designation specializing in tax planning, estate planning, and insurance. “People are sometimes surprised by the breadth of what we do, for example, our knowledge of the tax consequences and legal outcomes of an investment,” he affirmed. “It’s a pretty sacred duty when people are going to entrust you with their life savings; it’s a huge responsibility, one that we take very, very seriously. Our services are based on their needs, not ours, as we guide them toward what they want to achieve.”

Guiding clients is no small task. It usually takes a couple of meetings to establish what their goals are, managing risk, building their wealth and legacy planning. “There’s a lot involved,” said Charles, “including helping families with special needs members, or estate planning for blended families. Without proper guidance, you can make really small mistakes that have really large impacts. Or you might leave money to somebody who can’t manage the money, and inadvertently disqualify them from their state benefits. So, there are ways to avoid those problems. We also work with certain trusted CPAs and attorneys as needed.”

Sometimes it’s simpler than that. “Sometimes people come in and they want to retire, but they don’t really know what that looks like, so we help them figure that out,” Dale explained. “One of our jobs is to take the emotion out of the decision making. Emotional decisions are normally bad decisions, so we take the emotion out and help them make objective decisions.”

Looking Back, Looking Forward
Dale said that when he was very young, he struggled with financial decisions but was extremely interested in understanding investment and financial planning. Ten years ago, having achieved success and holding both his insurance and securities licenses, he opened Dedicated Financial Services because it combined his expertise with his great passion for helping others.
Today his clients are his inspiration. “I love it when I can help somebody who is confused, and I get them to that point where they get it,” he said with a smile. “I love it when I see that lightbulb go on over the client’s head, whether it’s on the Medicare side or the financial side. We teach people and it’s so rewarding.

“This business is a way that I can help people and I only wish I’d started when I was a lot younger because we really enjoy this. That’s really what drove me into this field. I learned to navigate the financial world and knew that I could, in turn, help others and, at the same time, make a living,” he continued.

“We are always going to drive the highest and best values wherever we can,” Dale reiterated. “We treat everybody the way we would want to be treated.” Charles nodded and added, “It’s important and we truly mean it.”

Contact Dedicated Financial Services, 301 South Ham Lane, Suite C, Lodi, California, (209) 625-8755, dedicatedfinancialservices.net.