“One of the most important things I’ve learned in my 25 years in the business is that a great life is supported by three areas, Health, Relationships, and Money. My job is to make sure that a family’s money is working effectively to accomplish that job.”
Hard work and integrity is what brings success. Kerry Morris, CFP® understands the most important work he does for his clients goes far beyond financial planning. Yes, he ensures that those he works with can easily implement and monitor their cash flow through plans that include protection and growth. But more to the point, he has worked tirelessly for over fifteen years, helping families in pre or early retirement to ensure that the lives they want to lead can actually happen. The life he chooses to lead is filled with God’s grace, with kindness and compassion for those he seeks to help, and always with a level of responsibility to do his level best for everyone he serves.
His life work shows how he brings the elements of success to everything that he endeavors to do for himself and his family of clients:
Graduated with a BS in Aerospace Administration and Management and a minor in psychology.
After several years in sales and management, he started in the insurance business in 1997, always independent and in control of his schedule so he could maintain his priorities.
He helped found Assurance Financial Partners, LLC (AFP) and then made the move to comprehensive planning, passing the Series 65 Investment Advisor exam in 2008. The mission at AFP was to help families retire with confidence knowing that their income and nest egg would last longer than them regardless of what the journey might throw at them.
AFP joined the Better Business Bureau in 2008, and Kerry went beyond merely attending meetings. He served on his local advisory board for several years, helping lead and guide the work of the bureau to bring more value to members and the community.
In 2009, he satisfied the Education, Examination, Experience, and Ethics requirements for the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. after completing 2 years of coursework in 9 months and passing the 10 hour, 2 day exam. This credential is seen as the premier certification for financial planning in the country and is seen as a formal recognition of expertise in the areas of financial planning, taxes, insurance, estate planning, and retirement. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cfp.asp
He promptly joined the Financial Planning Association, then served on the board of his local chapter for several years as the programs chair, helping to train his area’s best financial planners with the guest presenters he helped schedule.
In 2009, he helped found a sister company, the Estate and Elder Planning Center LLC, to formalize the volunteer work he had been doing with war-time veterans and other families sent to him from the Care Community around Nashville. From 2009 to 2012, Kerry met with over 700 families face-to-face to help them find the best way to provide the highest quality of life for the older person while making their money last as long as possible. Through a diverse team of professionals of which Kerry was the point person, they helped unlock millions of dollars from the VA to help wartime veterans and widows pay for home health, assisted living, and nursing- home care.
Combining what he learned from the work at both ends of the retirement spectrum, Kerry released his first book in 2022: When Retirement Goes Bad, Life Sucks: The Hidden Defect in Your Retirement Portfolio that Everyone Wants to Ignore. (https://hugohousebookstore.com)
Also in 2022, he launched HonorShield LLC. It is the next step in Kerry’s mission to move forward with everyone he helps using what he learned from all the families he’s worked with so far. His hope is that empowered with Longevity Care Allocation Planning (LCAP), families can avoid being wiped out by the high cost of aging, stay in more control, and maintain their lifestyle. This positions them to continue their relationships, work, and missions more effectively.
“One of the most important things I’ve learned in my 25 years in the business is that a great life is supported by three areas, Health, Relationships, and Money. My job is to make sure that a family’s money is working effectively to accomplish that job.”
-Kerry Morris
God, family, clients, and country. That’s the order of importance that informs how Kerry Morris lives his life.
His faith in God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is firm. He spent a year in Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, studying to be a Chaplin, but he was called to help others in different ways.
In 1988, Kerry started doing volunteer Prison Ministry work. Over the next several years, he had the opportunity to minister in every level of correctional institution from the county jail to the Maximum-Security Prison. His goal was to bring hope and grace to the hopeless while they served their time, believing that but for that grace, any of us could have wound up on that path.
He loves baseball, having played and coached through his high school years. He plays the drums, started when he was ten, formed a band “Teen Country,” and then played with his Church band for several years. He still has his kit and plays at home whenever he can find the time.
The Tennessee National Guard and Army Reserve formed a huge part of his life from 1986 to 1996. He held leadership positions from the start in basic training and received great leadership training from the Army.
On New Year’s Eve, 2000, Kerry met the girl who would become the love of his life at a swing dance New Year’s Eve party. They married shortly after and then traveled all over the country until they started having kids in 2010. They competed, taught dance, and appeared in several shows including a country music video along the way. They now have a household of five in what they affectionately call the “Morris Nut House,” and none of them would want it any other way. He says, looking affectionately at his wife, “Jill and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage. My parents just celebrated 69 years of marriage. I plan to live long enough to do that too. I will be 105.”
He has served as an elder and teacher at his church, and in 2017, Kerry became an approved presenter for the National Center of Biblical Parenting. He says, “I’m qualified because I’ve made about every mistake there is to make as a parent. I believe that families are the backbone of our society, and the children are its future. How a child is raised can make a great impact on our world. It’s amazing how even a few wise tips or habits can help our parenting so much.”
Over the years, Kerry’s company Assurance Financial Partners has helped support numerous charities such as Rescue 1 Global, Freedom’s Promise, One Generation Away, BBB Integrity Foundation, and Benchmark Adventure Ministries.
“Faith, Family, and my service to clients are where I spend my time. I hope to make a difference in this world and most days, I feel like I’m just getting started.”
-Kerry Morris
