23 Oct The RU Story: RU financially strong?
by RU Financial
Muhammad Ali once said that “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.” Although Jeff Durr (Senior Vice President at Mass Mutual New Jersey – NYC and Senior Partner of RU Financial) will never come out and tell you that he is a champion; his desire, dreams and vision over the past 27 years in the financial services industry have helped him create a unique niche within the state of New Jersey. This niche is the financial planning team that Durr started 7 years ago called RU Financially Strong?
The RU Financial team, left to right: Mike Soroko, Dylan Hallahan, Desiree’ Kinney, Zach Zenda, Jeff Durr
Jeff was a starter on the University of Maine’s football team and naturally, he has always meshed well with student athletes. As a sales manager he continually interviewed and hired students and student-athletes for careers in the financial services industry. As his career progressed, he focused more and more of his time giving back to the local community and these student athletes. Having his main office in Bridgewater, NJ, made Rutgers University the perfect fit for student athletes and his firm. What Jeff found is that most student-athletes were coming out of school with very little education on how to manage their personal finances upon graduation. “There are always a few seminars here or there on campus, but most of the time student-athletes have such a full schedule that they did not attend,” Jeff said. For this reason Jeff created an entire curriculum on financial literacy to give back to Rutgers and to begin working with the student-athletes. This curriculum included how to prepare for the basic stages of financial life, how to prepare for a professional interview, the life stages of a student-athlete, resume building and numerous financial literacy courses. In this program he help student-athletes become fully aware of the challenges ahead of them once they receive their diplomas.
Over the last seven years, Jeff and his team have worked hand in hand with the athletic department, business school, communications school and school of pharmacy at Rutgers University. They have presented their literacy program multiple times to the incoming freshman student athletes and have been involved in many financial and career panels for the University and athletic department. The team has had the pleasure of being invited to work with the students and athletes on their interviewing skills and given them help with how to prepare for a professional setting. After a number of years working with the university and its student-athletes, Jeff decided to create a financial planning team called RU Financially Strong? (RU Financial) specifically designed to provide insight and knowledge to the New Jersey university’s students, alumni, faculty and staff. The team was initially established at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, but the team is now quickly growing at Rider University in Lawrenceville. The next stop for the RU Financial team is Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ.
The student population at Rutgers, Rider and Rowan University is huge and we want to continue to help prepare these students for their financial futures after college. What started with an idea and a vision has grown into a full team of advisors within the firm that specialize in working with in the New Jersey “RU” community.
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Securities, investment advisory and financial planning services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC (www.sipc.org). MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. Local sales agencies are not subsidiaries of MassMutual or its affiliated companies.RU Financial is not a subsidiary or affiliate of MML Investors Services, LLC or its affiliated companies.
RU Financial is not a subsidiary or affiliate of MML Investors Services, LLC or its affiliated companies.