Robert J Schumann
Robert J. Schumann, MA, MDIV, MBA, CFP®, PPC® AIFA® is a third generation academic. He holds an MBA from The Ohio State University with a major in capital markets, an MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a major in Hebrew & Semitic Studies and a minor in Linguistics and an MDiv from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. Bob’s interest in the behavioral sciences began at age 13 when his father asked him to help raise his six younger siblings while his mother was being treated for manic depression and borderline schizophrenia. His interest in economics and capital markets began in 1983 while studyingBiblical languages at the UW-Madison. His new insurance agent persuaded him to exchange an old policy for a new one. Two days later a Seminary classmate of his Dad’s helped him realize this was the fourth whole life policy he had exchanged for another whole life policy and that perhaps he should have just purchased term insurance in the first place. Then he changed Bob’s life by asking a great question “As a smart guy with no wife or children, i.e. no dependents, why in the world are you investing in life insurance?”
Not knowing who to trust, Bob decided to research investing at the same time he was researching his PhD thesis on the semantic field for “faith". To his astonishment he learned that money or credit (fr Latin credo = I believe) is anything people believe can hold or measure the exchange of value. Paper and digital currency are clear examples of money that has no intrinsic value. In April of 1984 he opened his first Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and deposited $4000 divided among four no-load mutual funds. His unknown funds with the Vanguard name became the most highly regarded and largest investment company in the world with $7.1 trillion under management at the end of 2020. His reputation for solid research and investment advice spread among family and clergy alike, until it finally became a new career when he retired from the ministry at age 42.
Bob’s graduate degrees in the three sciences of psychology, linguistics and finance merged in the new sciences of behavioral economics, neuro-linguistic programming and neuroplasticity. Today he maintains an active membership in the Robbins-Madanes Training Center for psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, social workers and life coaches. He is a Senior Advisor and founding partner of four companies: Cambridge Financial Advisors, LLC , Cambridge Pension Advisors, LLC , Plan&Act and The Bridge, a peak performance/life coaching business. As a Professional Plan Consultant® and Accredited Investment Fiduciary Analyst ® and he provides training to corporations, small business owners, foundations, endowments, non-profits, retirement plan sponsors and investment advisors who have been entrusted with the care or management of other peoples’ money (www.pension-advisors.com). He also provides assessments that can lead to CEFEX Certification, the most recognized seal of conformity to a global standard of fiduciary excellence (www.cefex.org). He is a Certified Financial Planner® practitioner. He is a retired Enrolled Agent. The Paladin Registry of Personal Financial Advisors has given him its highest rating of 5-stars. In 2009 Business Week listed him as one of the top 50 investment advisors in the nation as scored on a 100 point system.
His mission is to be the Henry Ford of Fee-Only financial planning and fiduciary investment advice. He and his clients have been quoted in numerous print and online publications including The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Smart Money, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Money Magazine, MSN Money, the Columbus Dispatch and Columbus Business First. TV appearances include the WCMH Channel 4 News and the NBC Today Show. He is a contributor to Tips from the Top--Targeted Advice from America's Top Money Minds, edited by Edie Milligan and published by Alpha, 2003.