VIP Introduction
The greatest compliment you can give us is an introduction to a loved one or friend.
Why Copia?
COPIA Wealth Management & Insurance Services and COPIA Wealth Management Advisors Inc., are organizations that combine comprehensive financial advising with education in order to best help our clients achieve their desired wealth goals.
We’d like to convey some of the unique services and ideas we have developed for use with individuals such as yourself.
We have worked with many people and have built a great relationship of trust with them and their families over time. Our practice is selective, and we work mostly with referrals from existing clients.
I would enjoy the opportunity to talk with you about some of the things we do at COPIA and how those services might positively impact your financial, retirement, and investment goals today, or potentially down the road. We want to educate and empower you to make strategic financial decisions to improve your standard of living and achieve financial success!
We look forward to hearing from you to reserve a time to meet in the very near future.
Author, Entrepreneur & Financial Coach
About
Elisabeth has been a financial adviser for over 26 years. She is a money coach, author, educator, financial coach, wife, mother, grandmother, and best friend to many. She is the founder of COPIA Wealth Management & Insurance Services and COPIA Wealth Management Advisors, Inc. organizations that provide comprehensive financial advising with education to help her clients achieve their desired wealth goals. She currently serves as one of the top financial planners in San Diego, CA.
Elisabeth has been named the Financial Adviser of the Year twice in the Finance Monthly Global Awards, and three years running for the “Face of Finance, Wealth Management” by San Diego Magazine.
She has also been featured on the cover of Discover magazine, and in U.S. News and World Report, and San Diego magazine. She is the author of the Wealth By Design book series. The latest in the series, released in 2023, is Retirement by Design.
Elisabeth's Story:
Finance Is In my Blood
Helping people with money is in my blood. My story begins with the longest most stressful month of my life in 1998, when my second child, Trevor, was born with severe complications and confined to the NICU. My whole life was about to change.
Suddenly I was facing the need for a new career to have the time flexibility I needed to care for my son. I thought I’d be in retail my entire life, but I needed to transition away from the very demanding and successful career I had as a fashion buyer for Nordstrom.
So in 1998, I ventured out looking
for what felt like a whole new life.
I had no idea what I wanted to do next.
A friend watched my son so I could interview with the GM of a local branch of Metlife.
I almost didn’t take the interview because, growing up, two things were off-limits:
Any talk about death or dying. And my mother’s purse!
My mother was from the “old country,” an immigrant from Vienna who lived through WWII. For her, conversations about death and money were secretive and fearful.
If you spoke about money, you’d be accused of wanting something when she died. And under NO circumstance… would you ever go into Mother’s purse! Never. You might get your hand cut off.
Financial planning was in direct conflict with the two things that were taboo in my family!
A job where you talk about money and death?
Not in my family!
But I took the interview,
and I loved it.
I felt I was born to help people with life’s most difficult subject: money!
I decided to go back to school at night to become licensed. I was 28 years old.
When I told my parents, they were my toughest critics.
But then, something wonderful happened.
At the same time, my father desired to retire early from the government at 55.
As a test of the value of a financial planner, I made an appointment for my parents with my newfound mentor in the industry.
So taboo were the subjects of money and death that my parents disallowed me from attending with them. So I waited nervously outside the closed office.
“Dear God,” I prayed, “If I am meant to be a financial advisor, please show me a sign. Show me even my parents can approve of it.”
When my parents emerged,
they were visibly happy.
My mom was ecstatic, and my Dad was thrilled that he could retire. Mom had always been my toughest critic, and her endorsement was the sign from God I needed to move into the best industry in the world, financial services, with my full commitment.
Since then, I’ve been blessed to have great mentors who helped me fast-track my career in many ways. But more deeply, I knew I was a woman in a profession full of men, and to succeed, I’d have to be the best. So I’ve always worked extra hard, and because of my children, failure was never an option. Through hard work and dedication, I became one of the top financial planners in San Diego, CA.
Author, Entrepreneur & Financial Coach
Today I am grateful to be in the Top 1%
of successful advisors in our country.
I couldn’t have accomplished this without our team – they are incredible.
I found my My Mission, My Passion, and My Purpose when I found my place in the financial services industry. I’m in my dream job.
There is one moment I’ll never forget. It took place just 7 months before my mother passed away. At a client appreciation dinner, my Mother surprised me with an unexpected toast.
“Elisabeth, your grandfather would be very proud of you.”
My grandfather was a minister. I didn’t know why she was
bringing him up.
“I would hope my grandfather would be proud of me, but why?” I asked.
“Your grandfather was the Minister of Finance for Vienna, Austria before WWII.”
I was stunned! Growing up,
I thought he was a church minister.
That unexpected toast privately confirmed something,
I’ve felt since my first interview at MetLife.
I was born to be a financial advisor -
it’s in my blood!
P.S. My son Trevor is doing amazing today!
He is thriving. We raised him to be incredibly adaptive to his health, and he lives his life like he never had any health concerns. Trevor is an amazing young man.
He graduated from college in 3 short years and started his career in real estate as a loan officer. His sister Nicolette is equally amazing.
She’s definitely the smartest one in the family!
Mama is very proud of them both.
Our Mission
Our Mission is to consciously analyze, strategize, find solutions and support people in avoiding the worry and emotional suffering that is commonly attached to the psychology of money.
Our Vision is to do great things for great people; to create an amazing life by design and not a life by casualties.
As a Certified Money Coach through the Money Coach Institute, we understand that money is the #1 cause for emotional distress in a person’s life as an individual, in their relationships, in families, in friendships, in business, in our country, and globally.
When there is lack of full clarity on the relationship with money, anxiety and stress overcome a life of quality and happiness. That is why we are passionate about simplifying the complexity of money and financial issues in all areas of life. We care, and take seriously, all coaching processes, in order to deliver a wide view of money, great possibilities and precise strategies. This creates clarity and gives back power over your finances, life and future.
In this society, it is a blessing when you have respect for money and you value how you earn it, how you manage it, and how you multiply it. It is our privilege and mission to support you on your financial journey and freedom.
At COPIA Wealth Management & Insurance Services and COPIA Wealth Management Advisors, Inc., we enjoy the challenge of finding customized solutions to all of your financial needs. Whether you’re looking to increase the returns of your portfolio while decreasing the risks of investing, decrease your tax burden, or just get your financial affairs into order, COPIA Wealth Management & Insurance Services and COPIA Wealth Management Advisors, Inc. are uniquely positioned to help you accomplish all of your financial goals. We’re proud to be some of the top financial planners in San Diego, CA.
We are a Fiduciary Firm
What does that mean for you?
- We work for and represent you (i.e. we don’t work for anyone telling us to “sell” any particular investment or product to you)
- We are transparent with all fees, costs and expenses
- We disclose and explain any and all conflicts of interest
- We do NOT push products
- We do NOT act like financial salespeople
- We take the time to understand your unique financial position before making any recommendations
- We take the time to create an individualized and customized comprehensive retirement financial plan that accomplishes your goals
- We are focused on what matters to you
Retirement By Design
How To Avoid Running Out of Money and Create the Income You Need, To Live the Way You Want!
In this book, you will learn:
- The top 5 enemies of your abundant retirement and how to combat them
-
The massive expense 1-in-5 retirees forget about until it’s too late…
will you be one of them? - The insanely important retirement step that only 2% of people handle… (failing to do this could cause years of grief for your entire family)
- How inflation will kill your retirement if you don’t take this one counterintuitive but easy action…
- What is the #1 investment you should make now to enjoy an abundant retirement?
- How NOT to run out of money in retirement
- How to reclaim $30,000+ a year in money you’re currently throwing away unnecessarily in tax mistakes and other “phantom” expenses
Wealth By Design
Ways to Love your Retirement
Money uncertainties and the financial distress they can cause leave many people feeling lost and unsure. Unfortunately, the effects of these uncertainties often transfer to a person’s personal relationships, families, friendships, and even their businesses!
Even though millions of people wake up feeling stuck in these routines, most do little to change them and, unsurprisingly, end up with the same results.
So how can one break the cycle and begin getting themselves out of this chaotic routine? I wrote Wealth By Design to address just that! As one of the top financial planners in San Diego, CA, I wrote this book to help guide you to achieving your retirement goals.
A Few Topics Covered Are:
• Costs of Traditional Thinking
• Inventing Your Ideal Future
• Success Formula
• Income Planning
• Accountability…and so much more!
FEATURED IN
A Rare Find
President, CEO and Founder of COPIA Wealth Management & Insurance Services. Leads her Team of 7 into their 22ND Year Of Successes.
By Jonathan Livingston
California born and raised?
California born and raised. I was born in Riverside and moved to San Diego at age 4.
Had you a career in mind as a teenager?
I was always drawn to math, numbers, money, and finance. There is a photo of me as an infant crawling over this large green adding machine. I played with it not as a toy, but to see how the various numbers could be arranged.
What was your first full paying job?
I was drawn to fashion and first began retail work at the age of 12 with a part time job at Sears, which was allowed in those days. I then moved on to work for a company called Contempo, which sold fashion, and I was doing very well in sales.
One day, at work, a woman came to the store and after discussing fashion, she recruited me to go to work for Nordstrom.
I did so and grew from sales into management, thereafter becoming a buyer at age 21.
Did you pursue higher education?
Certainly there was training as a growing member of the
Nordstrom team, a company I stayed with for some 10
years. When I transitioned into the finance industry, I had a mentor for on the job training and there were educational seminars to master within the finance industry. There are a number of licenses one must obtain, particularly since I am an independent investment advisor. Also, as a fiduciary, the qualifications and certifications are far more rigorous.
What led you to transition from fashion buyer to financial advisor?
I truly loved working at Nordstrom, however, I had given
birth and my son had some health issues, which required
my presence during his healthcare visits. My schedule
simply would not allow me to breakaway. I considered
various industries and took an assessment test at MetLife.
They reported back that I did very well and in their minds I was born for this profession.
And this with a husband and 2 children?
Yes, this was with a husband and family of 2 children. Multi-tasking is a trait that I have mastered, out
of necessity perhaps. However, once in place, it has its
own way of keeping you focused and on track.
So from fashion to finance?
Yes, indeed. I joined MetLife and stayed for one year and
thereafter chose to follow my manager at MetLife who
transitioned over to The Guardian where I was assigned a
new mentor and continued to learn the process. A large
part of the industry, as with other industries, is prospecting for new clients and then cultivating those leads. At that point I was not an investment adviser, rather learning how potential clients would be introduced to the process established by the firm.
Having worked for Nordstrom all those years, the first rule
of business was always customer service and that is what I
chose to bring with me into this new endeavor. Many
within the financial industry may have the technical
aspects well in hand. but fail to combine that with
customer care, which is where I believe the distinction lies.
The conversations about finances do reveal very personal
information and we strive to create a relationship with the
client that creates a trust in our abilities, and a confidence
to openly discuss their assets and their goals or as I prefer
to describe it as their Wish List should money not be an
issue.
What led you to decide to begin your own business?
It was my mentor who encouraged me to go
independent. Mind you, in those days, we might have an
educational seminar for advisors within the firm and
there would be 500 men in attendance with just 2
women, so stepping out to become an independent
advisor and fiduciary was certainly unique.
I began Copia Wealth Management and Insurance Services in 2009 and now have a team of 7, which is not common for an independent firm and I feel very blessed that I can provide my clients that degree of service.
Ninety-Eight percent of our
business is client referred, and we honor
that trust bestowed upon us.
What is the meaning of Copia?
The name is that of the Roman Goddess of
prosperity and wealth. That is why I chose the name
Copia! I wanted a strong female influence to be the
flagship of our business!
Did you structure your approach differently when
beginning your firm?
I had learned the processes developed at both
MetLife and The Guardian and expanded them to
where we can present a financial overlay on one sheet
of paper to show a client exactly where they stand
financially. We then focus on each of the components,
discussing cash flow management, their financial
behavior and their relationship with credit cards,
which through interest payments can be one of the
greater money losses.
The systems and procedures of the planning I do is based on personal economics. I have learned the majority of this through company called LEAP. LEAP stands for Lifetime Economic Acceleration Process. This was not from MetLife or Guardian. It is an outside educational system that I
engaged with for part of my education.
Was this not once a male dominated industry?
It is still male dominated, with very few women – there
likely are just a hand full of women that own their own
investment advisory firms. I also have been honored to
be the Chairwoman on the Board of a large insurance
company in service for 115 years. I am always encouraged
to see strong women in the role as a financial advisor.
Today more than ever, our world needs women to help
guide us!
Copia offers wealth management and insurance services – they seem like totally different entities?
They are and it evolved because we wanted to be
comprehensive financial planners. Our clients may be
single, married and beginning to grow their family, own a
business or near retirement. The analogy I use with
clients is to envision the shape of a triangle. Protection
forms the base – insurance and liability protection. The
center would be liquidity and savings. Upper level would
be those funds one is willing to risk in investment, such
as the stock market.
With 99% of wealth managers unsuccessful, what has made your business thrive?
Simply stated it is perseverance and tenacity over the
years. I am very proud of the fact that 98% of our new
clients come from client referrals. It reflects on the
confidence and trust that those clients place in our
efforts to assist them in maintaining and growing their
wealth.
We make the complicated seem
easy to implement and understand.
Does everyone who enters get to meet the owner?
Yes, they do, as this is my passion and I love doing what we do for our clients.
What 3 features or services distinguish you from others in the field?
Very comprehensive financial planning with the degree of
customer services that we provide. It is understanding the
sensitivity and vulnerability a client might feel when
sharing their personal finances with us as we strive to
establish a trust that we develop with our clients, and the
integrity that we adhere to within the firm. We make the
complicated seem easy to implement and understand.
Must a client possess a minimum amount of
liquidity to obtain services?
We work with a wide variety of income and asset levels
held by our clients. We strive to help as many people
as possible.
Do you find that many of your clients truly want to understand the nuances or simply have you point the way?
I wrote a book titled Wealth By Design, which I ask my
clients to read before we meet the first time. I know
immediately who has or has not read the book. It is a
very complicated, comprehensive design simplified. I
want to educate people to have a better relationship
with money.
Know what’s happening to their money before they
earn it.
Much of it is taken beforehand by the government,
banks, financial institutions, and their lifestyle. Credit
card interest is one of the worst. We can find money in
the household that is being lost to leakage. Our unique
approach is that we educate and we want our clients to
be actively involved – if they are actively involved it will
become a habit.
You seem to have a penchant for charitable causes.
I do have a soft spot for charitable causes – giving back to the causes that God draws me to is very important to me.
When not crunching the numbers, what is your most favorite diversion?
Spending time with my husband Carl, the family, and our two chocolate labs. Writing and creating.
What changes do you see forthcoming for Copia?
My passion is to truly unveil the possibilities of having a great relationship with money. So many of us have anxiety in regard to money. We work hard for it, we tell ourselves we have to have it, but no one has a great relationship with it. I want my commitment and passion to help people achieve true understanding and success with their relationship with money. I also want to continue to grow the team so eventually, they take the firm well beyond in the years to come. Continue to find more ways to educate on the importance of having a knowledgeable relationship with money.
Case Manager and Co-Advisor Case Manager | Fiduciary CA LIC # 0L77731
Meet the Team
When I first came to Elisabeth as a client when I was 26, I got two things out of it: a condo, and a job!
Starting with the condo: my husband and I always dreamed of owning our own property, but we assumed that was at least five years away. Elisabeth, in her genius, showed us a way we could make it happen, and within months, we owned a condo. Owning a condo in San Diego with my husband, while I was in my twenties, was such a huge deal for me!
As transformative as that was, something even more transformative came out of hiring Elisabeth as my financial advisor: she offered me a job. I loved working with her and her team as her client, and saw the power of her work-–so I said yes and decided to join the team!
At that time, I was working as a manager at a major retail chain, and while I loved many aspects of my job–particularly supporting the young people who worked for us–I was looking for a career shift. Elisabeth has a background in high-end retail at Nordstrom, so she saw and appreciated how detail-oriented and service-focused I was. She also liked my midwest work ethic! (I’m from Wisconsin).
Since then, I’ve gained my Series 65 investment advisor license. I am now Elisabeth’s Case Manager and Co-Advisor. I plan and prepare with Elisabeth for each client meeting, sit in with her in all of them, take notes, follow up, and make sure all deadlines are met on our side and the client’s side.
Now that people are more accustomed to working with financial advisors over video calls, we are starting to see clients from all over the country. Elisabeth and her book, Wealth By Design are starting to become a national brand in the financial advising industry. But as that happens, I’m going to be absolutely sure we never lose that boutique-firm personal touch. Since I work with all our clients personally, I’m well-positioned to keep our firm as personalized as always as we grow nationally.
“I want to meet with you and your husband to talk about this,” Elisabeth told me one day when I was working for her as an administrative assistant. I had walked into work extremely stressed out about an unexpected bill related to my car, and she saw how stressed I was. “I’m not doing my job if I don’t help you,” she reassured me.
I had been running restaurants for fifteen years as a general manager. When one restaurant I was managing closed, I realized I was burned out and needed a career shift, more in line with my bachelor’s in business administration and my master’s in human
Controller of Operations Fiduciary CA LIC # 0H63853
resources. I found myself in one of the most challenging financial periods I’d ever experienced: living in my parents’ home, with my husband and toddler, out of economic necessity. That’s when I saw an ad Elisabeth had placed, looking for an administrative assistant.
A month into the job, my husband and I had that meeting with Elisabeth, after she offered to help me with my financial planning. Filling out her advising intake questionnaire was the hardest thing I ever did. Seeing the reality of my financial life, all on one sheet, and then having to hand it over to someone else to look at in harsh light–I was completely full of shame. And on top of that, she was my boss! I was so worried she was going to tell me that I needed to claim bankruptcy and that she made a mistake hiring me.
Instead, Elisabeth said, “I have a dozen different ideas for you guys.” She showed us how to leverage the only asset in my life at the time, which was my car, and we wiped out a huge chunk of high-interest credit card debt with a low-interest loan using the car as collateral.
Then she showed us how to use a Wealth Recovery Account, which is a centerpiece of our planning for clients. It became a fun (and lucrative) game for us, to find ways to cut spending and get money into that account, which we used for paying off debt and building up a down payment for a condo.
How did we go from living in my parents’ basement as adults, to owning our own condo? Elisabeth taught us about VA loans, which we had never heard about. (My husband served in the Navy). These are the kinds of details Elisabeth knows about that completely change lives. They changed ours.
Now we’re completely out of debt, with a home and a growing investment portfolio. We sold our condo at a profit and bought our first single-family home in 2016. We’re looking to buy our next home this summer, and there’s no doubt in my mind we can do it.
I’ve been working for Elisabeth since 2012. When our clients tell us, “I wish I had met you a decade earlier,” I feel that sentiment on a gut level. Because, had I not met Elisabeth a decade ago, I might still be living with my family in my parents’ basement. Now I’m a homeowner with growing wealth. I owe it all to Elisabeth’s caring heart and brilliant mind.
My parents never thought they could retire abundantly. And guess what? Elisabeth helped them too; it’s come full circle in my family. Now they are living their dream retirement. My whole family’s financial life and wealth level have been transformed unrecognizably by Elisabeth. That’s why we’re loyal to her for the rest of our lives.
Director of Marketing
I started working in the retirement planning department of a Fortune 500 asset management company right after I graduated from college. I was fascinated by the retirement field, but at that big company I felt distant from clients: there was little personalization of the retirement plans, clients were basically treated as a collection of numbers, and it all felt very “cookie cutter.”
When I started working with Elisabeth, there was a night-and-day difference in how interactive we are with clients.
We take the time to get to know each client and their family, their unique circumstances, challenges, dreams, and goals. For that reason, no two plans we come up with for clients are identical.
One meaningful way I’ve come to know the personalized brilliance of Elisabeth’s works is from the advice she’s given me and my husband, which has been transformative. We have a real estate portfolio with rental income, and Elisabeth has helped us structure this side business legally in a way that brings us massive financial benefits, from reduced taxes and increased deductions, to health insurance and retirement plans.
The guidance Elisabeth has given my husband and I has made our financial life that much more abundant and free with our boys, ages five, seven, and nine. They’re on a year-round school schedule, which means they’re out for three weeks at a time every three months. Our big dream was to be able to travel with them during school breaks, and thanks to the abundance Elisabeth helped us create in our own investing and business structure, we’re able to enjoy new adventures with our boys year-round, and enjoy precious family time together.
I strive to be a positive financial role model for our boys and look forward to creating a meaningful legacy for our family, with Elisabeth’s help. I never knew work could be this fulfilling, and life could be this free!
