New advisor helps others through financial services

Mark Vernon is in his 27th year in the financial services business, and since the beginning he’s been dedicated to helping others. The financial advisor, who lives in Brighton with his family, joined the Edward Jones team in April 2020 and came to Tecumseh’s Edward Jones office at 140 W. Chicago Blvd. in July, to transition into handling local clients for when Financial Advisor Mike Savoia officially retires.

Vernon grew up in a blue-collar family in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in economics and finance. Instead of going to law school, which was his original plan, he became a financial advisor and started his career working for a firm called Olde, now called Ameriprise, in 1994. In 2005 he moved to Michigan for good with his wife, Elizabeth, a baby, and toddler, and they have raised their family in Brighton. 

He was working for Van Kampen Investments as an advisor to the financial advisor before he made the switch to Edward Jones, and said the chance to help individuals with their retirement plans was something he looked forward to doing. His many roles have included 15 years of guiding financial advisors in helping clients prepare for their financial future. 

Savoia is in the process of transferring his existing clients to Vernon. “He’s built a great business here in Tecumseh,” said Vernon. “I think it’s a great little town. The people are real here. Everyone has been very welcoming, which has been great.” He said he hopes clients know that he cares about what’s going on in their lives, and sometimes that involves a box of tissues. “Getting to retirement is a very emotional experience for some people, because they just can’t figure out the transition between growing their assets and the other side, which is the distribution side of their assets. It can be very scary when you officially want to retire,” he said.

“My biggest thing is being able to help people make informed decisions and team with them,” Vernon said. “Being in this industry for 27 years, I felt a void the last several years being the advisor to the advisor, and I’m trying to make sure that people make good, informed decisions and have a plan. I think Ben Franklin said it best, ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’ I think the biggest thing for our clients is to set a game plan, save, invest, and have accountability.”

He is proud of his family members, who have well-rounded interests and are dedicated to health. Vernon was a bodybuilder and personal fitness trainer in college, but said he has learned to be more balanced and now participates in road and mountain biking as well as yoga and meditation. His wife, Elizabeth, was a marathon runner. Daughter Maddie is a freshman at Saginaw Valley and wants to be a doctor. She was an athlete involved in track and gymnastics until she had a career-ending injury and went to the University of Michigan for rehabilitation, and decided to go into a career that would help others. “She’s got the determination and the smarts to do it, so that’s the key thing,” he said. And son Christopher, who just turned 16, is a sophomore at Brighton High School and plays on the high school soccer team as well as on a traveling soccer team, the Michigan Jaguars. “He was named All-Livingston team and All-State, which was a nice accomplishment for a freshman,” Vernon said.

It’s important to him to bring kindness and the ability to be an educator to his work with people planning their future. “I feel like I can transfer all those skills I’ve had for 27 years to helping people in our community. That’s what I’m most excited about, just giving back and helping,” he said. 

The Chicago Boulevard office of Edward Jones is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and by appointment on Saturday. Call 423.6967 for more information or to make an appointment.