About Us
Mission
Silver Maple Financial exists to optimize the finances of people of all income levels.
Our drive is to provide expert, unbiased, personalized investment advice. We are especially pleased to serve those who can't seem to locate a trustworthy, knowledgeable advisor with no conflict of interest. Perhaps, you are one of these people. We believe strongly that everyone deserves access to this benefit and we're striving to help fill the void.
Many hard-working people often do not have the minimum investment portfolio size to work with most excellent-quality independent investment advisors. Many independent advisors will not consider working with people unless they have a minimum investment portfolio of $500,000 to $1 million. They often charge exorbitant fees. To the contrary, we believe that we can serve all investors and charge a fair, straight-forward fee consistent with serving their best interests. We know, first-hand, the difference good investment knowledge can make on a portfolio of any size.
We are a fee-only (not fee-based) advisor with a fiduciary responsibility to put our clients' needs above our own, and we wouldn't have it any other way!
Investment Philosophy
Keep Costs Low so Your Money Works Harder
Our investment philosophy favors what is commonly referred to as "passive investing," investing in high-quality, low-fee, no load (i.e. no sales charge) mutual funds and fixed investments that maximize income vs. risk. Keeping costs low means your hard-earned money works harder for you. We are free to work with any fund family, but prefer those consistent with this philosophy, especially ones such as Vanguard Group, which combine high-quality funds with low expense ratios and good customer service.
Skills and Experience
Thad J. Ackerman is an Independent Investment Advisor & Personal Financial Planner. He understands numbers fully—how to gather, analyze, present, and explain them. His main strength is mathematics and communicating mathematics with people. Conversely, some advisors’ main strength is sales, which does much more to benefit the advisor than the client.
Thad is a licensed financial advisor (since 2007) with a variety of different clients in three states. He taught personal finance and advanced-placement (AP) statistics to high-school juniors and seniors during the second half of a 27-year teaching career (retired in July, 2022). Thad taught many personal finance students about investing fundamentals and concepts such as dollar-cost averaging, compound interest, asset allocation, diversification, investing for retirement, and the impact of fund fees on investment performance.
In addition to classroom teaching, Thad has also tutored high school, college (undergraduate & graduate), and adult learners in mathematics, SAT & GRE test prep., and engineering. His vast experience working with a wide-variety of people demonstrates that he has the patience, ability, and will to listen, analyze, communicate, and explain. Many other advisors are either unable or unwilling to do the same.
Thad's communication style is structured, detail-oriented, but also relaxed. He works to focus and highlight relevant details, but not get too uptight about ones that are less important. He is a professional who sees a sense of humor as an invaluable asset to communicating. Thad is excited to put his experience along with his knowledge and passion to work to help you form and meet your financial goals.
History
How We Got Started
Thad J. Ackerman has had a passion for money and investments since he was a young child, with an intense interest in lemonade stands, vending machines, and cash registers. On October 19, 1987 (known as “Black Monday”), when the stock market crashed, Thad was a sophomore at The University of Michigan. He bought his first shares of stock, 10 shares of IBM, the very next day. Ever since, he has been fascinated with the market, and the power it has to transform one’s financial situation for the better.
After IBM internships in Chicago and Rochester, MN and a permanent position as a computer programming professional in the IBM Headquarters Region of NY, Thad left his job in 1992 to go back to school to become a high school mathematics teacher. His favorite subjects to teach were personal finance and statistics. For many years, he informally helped colleagues, friends, and family with investments, and steered them away from paying high fees for poor service and biased advice.
In 2007, Thad formalized his financial assistance to others by starting a new business. When considering a name for the new company, he noticed that silver maple trees are plentiful and grow very quickly, providing shade faster than most other trees. Accordingly, the company name, Silver Maple Financial, came from the idea that everyone should be able to prosper like the silver maple tree. He began serving clients of all walks of life – teachers, business & other professionals, tradespeople, and others.
Fifteen years later, in July, 2022, Thad retired from teaching after a 27-year career, putting his energy into having a more balanced life. This includes providing exceptional service to clients of Silver Maple Financial and continuing his own financial education and growth. It also includes speaking to students at local high schools, playing saxophone in the Seacoast Wind Ensemble (a community concert band that plays at senior living centers and various outdoor venues in the seacoast area of NH and Maine), and playing tennis.
Formal Education
Master of Education (interdisciplinary--technology) (2005), Cambridge College, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Master of Arts in Teaching, Secondary Education - Mathematics (1997), The University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
Bachelor of Science, Computer Engineering (1989), The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Honors/Awards/Distinctions
Distinguished Service Award from American Federation of Teachers, Massachusetts (state-level Election Committee Chair for more than a decade, local AFT Amesbury Treasurer from 2005 to 2023)
Perfect Score of 800 on Math Section of GRE (Graduate Record Exam) and Perfect Score of 800 on Math Section of SAT Exam
Lifetime Honorary Member of Tri-M Music Honor Society
"Cape Ann League Coach of the Year" for Boys Varsity Tennis, Amesbury High School
Full Tuition Graduate Student Scholarships, merit-based, University of New Hampshire
Member of Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society
McDonnell Douglas Engineering Scholarships, merit-based, University of Michigan
