Michael Stopera
Wealth Management Advisor|CFP®, MBA
Personal
Michael grew up in Scotia, NY and went on to pursue his undergraduate degree, as well as his MBA, at Alfred University. He returned to the Capital Region after graduating in 2012, where he soon began his career in financial planning. He is a role model and mentor to his younger brothers, both of whom followed in Michael's footsteps as basketball players – he is committed to not missing a single one of their games and regularly volunteers his time to help with the team.
Professional
Michael worked his way through both his undergraduate and Master’s program at Alfred University. He was a collegiate athlete, and Captain of the men’s basketball team – but spent his summers working and saving. He learned quickly the value of hard work and dedication, and also what it meant to be accountable and responsible. These skills and values enabled Michael to begin a successful business in financial planning with Northwestern Mutual soon after the completion of his MBA in 2012.
He continued his education after starting his business, and achieved his FINRA Series 6, Series 7, Series 63, Series 65, and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional designation to better serve his clients.
Michael holds a dual role at Northwestern Mutual as both a Financial Advisor, and also part of our agency's leadership team as a Field Director. Field Directors are responsible for recruiting as well as the development necessary to build a cohesive unit of productive full-time financial representatives. Michael’s responsibilities within his leadership role at Northwestern Mutual include coaching, team building, culture development, and training.
Lending a hand in my community.
As part of Northwestern Mutual, I'm proud to help accelerate the search for better childhood cancer treatments while supporting families undergoing treatment, and survivors from late effects. Here are some of the organizations we partner with:
Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)
ALSF funds cancer research, raises awareness, and supports the families of children with cancer. Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual, its employees, and financial professionals like me have donated more than $20 million to support ALSF and fund over 400,000 research hours.
Beads of Courage
Beads of Courage is an art-in-medicine program that helps kids with cancer tell their unique treatment story through colorful beads that are symbols of their courage.
Here are my areas of expertise
Financial Planning
Investment Planning & Strategies
Insurance Protection Strategies
Retirement Planning & Income Strategies
Education Planning & Funding
Wealth Management
Multigenerational Planning
Estate Planning
How Northwestern Mutual helps you live the life you want.
When people feel better about their money, good things happen—they become more confident and feel more secure. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has helped people achieve the financial flexibility they need to live more and worry less.
Being a mutual company means Northwestern Mutual reports to its clients, not Wall Street. They don't believe in chasing fads or taking undue risk for short-term gains. Instead, they take a long-term approach—both in the way we help people plan to reach their goals, and in the way they do business. This has served their clients (and mine) well through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including wars, recessions, even the recent pandemic.
It's why I'm happy to be part of a company that's in it for the long-haul and prioritizes clients over profit.
