Thomas J. Lally

As you might expect from the son of an accountant, I’ve always been pretty financially savvy.  Before I was even a teenager, I had my parents open a custodial investment account for me. But I didn’t always know this is what I wanted to do for a career.  At Stonehill College I majored in English and minored in Political Science, two subjects about which I have a great personal and intellectual interest. I briefly considered a career as a professor because I thought I would enjoy teaching at the college level.  But professors – yes, even English professors – are expected to publish original research. And after a summer job assisting an English professor with their research, that career path was significantly less appealing.

It was only about a year before graduation that I decided I wanted to get into financial services.  As a recent college graduate with no industry experience, good jobs were not so plentiful. I ended up at a big insurance company, where I learned I was a terrible salesman.  But the training was good and I ended up attaining several insurance and securities licenses, which were necessary for the next step in my career.

That next step was U.S. Wealth Management, which I joined in 2011.  At first I handled a lot of back-office duties – operations, compliance, marketing, administrative work.  I eventually took on more client service responsibilities and found that I really enjoyed the client-facing side of this profession.  So I got more securities licenses, and began preparing for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ exam.

Some might think of studying for that exam as a necessary box to check, but, proud nerd that I am, I actually enjoyed it.  The material is incredibly wide ranging, from investments and retirement, to tax and estate planning. I passed the exam, but more importantly, I learned a lot along the way.  In 2015, after completing the other requirements for education, experience, and ethics, I had earned my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ mark.

When I’m not in the office, I enjoy working out, traveling, and reading.  Here are a few other ‘Favorites’ to help you get to know me a little better.

Favorite Food: Oreos, pretty much any kind.  I try very hard not to buy them because I know that if I have them in the kitchen, it will be really hard to stop myself from eating them all much too quickly.

Favorite Drink: I’m pretty boring here, in that I don’t drink coffee, soda, or much of anything besides water.  But I do enjoy craft beer and will almost never pass up the chance to try one I haven’t had before.

Favorite Book: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Favorite Sports Team: I love all the Boston teams, with top spots going to the Patriots and Red Sox.

Favorite Place: Paris, though in college I spent a semester in Dublin, so it will always be very special to me.