Interview with John L. Lackey

Intro: Born and raised in Weslaco, Texas, Mr. John L. Lackey is currently the President for Lackey Financial Management. He has served as vice president at J.S. McManus Co., Chairman of the Texas Pepper Foundation and served on the Texas Israeli Exchange Board. In addition, he is currently on the board at the Knapp Medical Center. His is married and has 3 boys.

John, you stated earlier, that you “served on the Texas Israeli Exchange Board set up by then Ag Commissioner Rick Perry”. Did you have a chance to work with and / or meet with Rick Perry? What was your impression about him back then? How has your impression changed since then?

I worked with Commissioner Perry numerous times.  We were involved in an exchange of ideas and technology with regards to the management and use of water in agriculture.  Israel was ahead of us in most ways when it came to water conservation and maximum usage of available resources.  Mr. Perry was the one that initiated this program which had numerous beneficial results for our agriculture industry.  

He was innovative and I thought he was proficient at bringing people and ideas together for the betterment of the community.  He loves Texas and has fought hard for maintaining our core principles and values.

I still believe Mr. Perry has good ideas and the ability to work with people from varied backgrounds to bring progress and cooperation to the state and the country.

You spend quite a few years in the agricultural industry. What advice would you give to new farmers dealing with the current drought?

Well, there is not much you can do at this point except pray for rain.  Here in the valley we are very fortunate to have a good supply of water yet, in our combined reservoirs.  Many parts of the state are desperate for water now.  It is times like this that the water saving technologies that have been advanced become so important.

Why did you change from helping to run a $40,000,000 a year produce company to financial planning?

Many things contributed to the demise of the produce industry in the valley, at least in comparison to what it once was.  The valley lost to a large extent the windows it had for being the major supplier of certain items at specific times of the year.  Our winter cabbage window has been filled by storage cabbage in the northern states and Canada, plus more acreage in the southeastern U.S.  Our Spring Onion window appears about 1 out of 6 years now due to northern storage increases and Mexican supplies.  The southwestern U.S. and Central America have basically taken our early cantaloupe window.

In addition to the profitability in question the capital requirements had increased significantly and it was getting more difficult to find lenders that understood the produce business.

I had a little background in the financial industry and I have always enjoyed studying the markets.

Tell us about your financial planning background.

I became interested in the markets and how best to have one’s money work for you when I was fresh out of college and working for the insurance company in San Antonio.  I always dabbled in the markets and studied different investment theories.  It just seemed a natural for me to open a financial planning business.

Why should someone use a financial planner? Can’t they just save money in the bank or use their company 401K?

There have been times when the investment part was pretty easy, like the 1990s when you could just invest in any company or mutual fund and get a 25% annual return.  Of course the investing is only part of what I work with and today the investing is a little trickier.  Lowering taxes, cost efficiencies, retirement projections and various qualified plans, estate planning, these are some of the additional issues we look at.  The other area people have trouble with is moving from the accumulation stage to the distribution stage.  The investment strategy changes significantly.

Most working adults are barely making enough to get buy. How can they afford a financial planner or are they only for people already well off?

Good question.  From the planners perspective, the client with larger portfolios are more attractive.  The way a planner charges varies from a flat fee for establishing a plan and annual or quarterly reviews to a percentage of the assets under management to straight commission based or some combination of those.  The ironic thing is that the more money one has to invest means the lower percentage cost he will pay, when it is the small investor that really needs the discount.

What is one mistake almost everyone makes when it comes to their finances? How can they avoid it?

They spend more than they make.  They “bet on the come” meaning they always figure things will get better and we will make up for our overspending now.  They follow the herd.  Which usually means they let their greed control them when things are going well and they let fear control them when it looks like the whole world is collapsing.  They buy high and sell low.

What should someone expect when meeting with you to discuss financial planning?

A lot of questions.

What are you goals over the next 10 years; for you and your business?

To have my clients look back over that period of time and say thank God John Lackey was my financial planner.  We avoided 80% of the bad and got 80% of the good.  He tailored a plan for me and it worked better than I had hoped for.  If I take really good care of my clients and I exceed their expectations then not only will they stick with me, but they will refer others to me.  That is the greatest compliment I receive when a client feels so confident in what I do for them that they want to tell their friends and associates about me.

Thank you for participating with our interview John. We were very impressed by the promptness in your responses to our initial contacts and follow up conversations.

More interviews available here for the Rio Grande Valley