We feel that Laura’s warm, open-minded and down-to-earth style is one reason that clients are drawn to her, and one of many reasons why they stay. She runs a tight ship—no loose threads running amok here—but it’s her absolute dedication to her craft and, by extension, to the livelihood of her clients, that inspires this loyalty.
Her progressive and strong work ethic was instilled at a young age, along with a sense of money. As the second oldest of nine on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, Laura got to see the business side as much as she did the day-to-day working side, thanks to her diligent and creative parents.
Instead of receiving an hourly wage, she got to pick a calf and purchase it with an interest-accruing note. Every month as the milk was produced, she had to figure out the expenses and revenue, make a payment on the note and reinvest the profit. It’s not hard to see where her pragmatic and thoughtful approach to financial planning began.
Laura initially planned on going to law school, but after receiving her Bachelor’s in Economics with highest academic honors, she decided she was tired of tests. Instead, she moved to Minnesota and entered the workforce during the difficult national recession of 1981. She spent three years working for a local hospital, working her way up from a temporary secretary to a management engineer.
Then an article in Forbes magazine changed everything. It told of a new profession called financial planning, which combined the technical aspects of money management with the overlay of personal connections. Laura knew immediately it was what she wanted to do.
Laura with blue ribbon heifer, Lulu, at the county fair, 1973.
She began working as a financial advisor for a large firm, but quickly realized it was just sales by another name, rife with conflicts of interest. After heading back to school to obtain a CPA and a Master in Taxation, Laura worked first with Fortune 500 executives, then with multi-millionaire business owners. She loved providing sophisticated planning advice and climbed the ranks from analyst to manager to director.
When that job was eliminated years later, it served as the final push for her to start her own firm. She always felt that’s where she’d end up anyway. That was 1998. By then the market for financial planners had matured; the job had become more of a profession.
Laura was ready to take a chance that people would be willing to pay for objective advice – someone free of proprietary products who could take a look at the complete financial picture and fit the right tools with the right job.
That risk paid off. And her goals today are the same as they were then: to help people build and maintain financial independence in a way that promoted honor and decency – the Laurel Wealth Planning way.
Laura with her husband, Tom, and children Annie, Rachel, and John, and son-in-law, Erik.
Laura with her first grandchild, Anthony.
“Once you know the technical stuff in your profession, then you get to focus on how best to match that to the person. A lot of experience and desire goes into helping people, especially when a significant life transition, like death or divorce, uproots their foundation. Keeping the person supported is just as important as keeping the money strong.”
Laura Kuntz, Senior Wealth Manager and Shareholder
When it comes to financial planning and wealth management, Laura has always been as strategic as she is human. It stems from the day when, as a child, she stood in the corner store with two nickels in her hand, analyzing the candy choices before her. Stuck between two worthy options, she had to decide which would be the better investment. After all, Pixy Stix might be more interesting, but the Tootsie Pop… well, that had staying power.
Laura is honored to have received awards over the years and been invited by her peers in law and accounting to address them on the complex issues of financial planning and wealth management. See details on Laura’s speaking engagements and awards for Laura and Laurel Wealth Planning.
Laura is a board member at NPH USA, an organization that supports orphaned and abandoned children in Central and South America. Laura’s involvement in NPH builds on her college experience as an exchange student in Mexico, where she deeply appreciated the culture and language. Laura also helps direct the Father Wasson Legacy Endowment, which creates long-term financial stability for ongoing support of NPH children.
