Q&A with Alyse Ehrmantrout, Edward Jones Financial Advisor
- Like-Media
- Sep 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 5
By Like Media Team
For Alyse Ehrmantrout, CFP®, financial advising is about more than managing numbers—it’s about guiding people through life’s milestones with clarity and confidence. From growing up in her father’s financial planning practice to building her career helping clients refine complex strategies, Alyse has dedicated her work to ensuring others can achieve a secure and meaningful retirement. In this Q&A, she shares what inspired her career, how she tailors strategies for each client, and the values that guide her work in Sandpoint.
Q. What inspired you to become a financial advisor, and how has your career evolved since you first started in the industry?
A. Growing up, I worked in my father's financial planning practice. From an early age, I got to see individuals and couples who either had or hadn't planned for their retirement. It was heartbreaking when someone close to retirement age would call to get started on their retirement planning, with nothing done over their lifetime toward that goal. From that experience, I decided to dedicate my life's work to helping others fulfill their financial goals. Since I first started, my practice has evolved from trying to help everyone to being very specific with whom I work. Now, I work with clients who have complex financial situations to help them refine their financial strategy, so they can spend their time focusing on what they love while still working toward the goal of getting to and through a comfortable retirement.
Q. You work with a wide range of clients. How do you tailor your financial strategies to meet the unique needs of each individual or family?
A. Over time, I've narrowed the scope of clients with whom I work, and while the details of every client's needs, goals, and strategies are different, the process I use to develop those personalized strategies remains the same. I start by getting to know the family, what their goals are, and what their current situation is (condensed into a single sentence that seems so simple, but trust me, it's much more comprehensive than it sounds!). This step is really the key to tailoring a strategy to meet their unique needs, since the little details that could easily be missed often can have dramatic impacts. From there, I build out personalized strategies based on their individual situation to help them achieve their goals.
Q. For people who feel intimidated by financial planning, what advice would you offer to help them take the first step?
A. I would encourage them to interview multiple financial advisors and not be afraid to ask questions. Every advisor's process, practice, and personality are different, and investors need to find one that clicks with them and the type of relationship for which they are looking.
Q. What aspects of your work do you find most fulfilling, and how do you hope to make a lasting impact in your clients' lives?
A. The big client wins, like being able to retire, are obviously awesome. But it's the interactions that you don’t immediately associate with financial advising that I would say are the most fulfilling. It's being there through a client's entire lifetime, celebrating the births of new family members or marriages, and holding their hand through a cancer diagnosis or the death of a loved one. Throughout a client's life, they may experience several life events that may have a dramatic impact on the success or failure of their financial goals. I would love nothing more than to be able to offer education and guidance to help them make an intentional decision at those pivotal moments.
Q. How do you stay informed and ahead of changes in the financial industry to ensure your clients are always positioned for success?
A. Alongside over 30 hours a year of continuing education and spending time weekly with industry reports, since starting with Edward Jones in 2016, I've obtained my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification and my master's degree in personal financial planning. I've also built a small national network of financial advisors where we meet monthly to further develop our skillset.
Q. If you could offer one financial tip that everyone should consider—regardless of age or income—what would it be and why?
A. Know your cash flow. I'd say budget, but I'm sure everyone would stop reading after that word! It's nearly impossible to do any planning (even knowing how much you need for an emergency fund) without knowing what money you have coming in and where it's being spent.
Q. Financial advising is often about more than numbers. How do you define success for the clients you serve?
A. It's important to remember that each client will have a different version of what success looks like for them. And that's what I am trying to help them reach; I'm here to enhance the quality of goal achievement.
I'll use a common client goal: retirement. They may define success as having enough retirement income to maintain their current lifestyle without having to go back to work. That's a great goal. I'm going to make sure their strategy has all the things they aren't thinking about, like taxes, inflation, market volatility planning, health, and long-term care costs incorporated into it so they have a better chance for success.
Q. What do you love most about working in Sandpoint, and how does your business reflect the values of this community?
A. I can't imagine being anywhere other than Sandpoint. I love the strong sense of community and support for local businesses; it's unmatched. My team loves to spend time in the community giving back during our volunteer days. We're able to fall even more in love with Sandpoint with each of those interactions.
Alyse Ehrmantrout, CFP®
1305 Highway 2, Suite B
Sandpoint, ID
208.263.0346
The content of this article was sponsored by the local Edward Jones office of Alyse Ehrmantrout.
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