Melone Private Wealth Family Wealth Planners Press Kit
Reasons to Contact Melone Private Wealth Family Wealth Planners
- Request an interview (print, tv, radio, podcast, blog)
- Request to quote Lou, Branden or the website
- Request a speaking appearance
Financial Planning Topics for Your Audience
- Financial Planning
- Behavioral Investing
- Retirement Planning
- How to Choose an Advisor
- Why are people hardwired to fail when it comes to investing?
- Secrets the financial planning industry doesn’t want you to know.
- What is investor behavior? And what does the latest research tell us about human nature and
investments? - How to prepare for the next Bear Market.
- The 8 Behavioral Investment Mistakes People Will Make & How They Can Avoid Them
- Dividends vs Interest: Defining Retirement Income for Your Clients.
- Are Your Clients Afraid of Market Volatility or Market Risk? Do they know the Difference?
- Innovation and Transformation in Financial Planning: What’s New & Why it Matters
- Understanding the Types of Retirement Plans for Closely Held Businesses
Contact Melone Private Wealth Family Wealth Planners
- Email: lmelone@melonewealth.com
- Phone: 248-499-8704
Thought Leadership
The Book: Unpack Your Financial Baggage by Lou Melone, CFP®, CEPA®
For up to sixty years you have been packing your suitcases—unconsciously— with inaccurate and unclear financial strategies and decisions. As you visualize your next thirty years, you have finally come to a realization that hits almost everyone at this point in life: it is time to repack my financial baggage to ensure our future; otherwise, my family and the generations thereafter will never get to where they want to go.
The Podcast: Unpack Your Financial Baggage, Conversations with Lou Melone, CFP®, CEPA®
DBusiness editor RJ King and Lou Melone, CFP® discuss the fundamentals of behavioral investing in episode one.
This new financial planning podcast helps answer a fundamental two part question ‘will you outlive your money, or will your money outlive you? …And the answer comes down to having a plan and understanding behavioral investing.
Authority Magazine
5 Things To Look For When Hiring a Financial Planner or Financial Adviser with Lou Melone and Tyler Gallagher
Authority Magazine
The 5 Essentials of Smart Investing: With Lou Melone of Budd, Melone & Company - an Interview With Jason Hartman
Authority Magazine
5 Things Retirees Say They Wish They Were Told Before They Began Retirement, with Lou Melone - an interview with Beau Henderson
Civic Center TV Interview
Finance Expert Discusses The Increasing Financial Challenges of COVID-19
Civic Center TV Interview
Years of experience have prepared us to guide you through your life transitions.
Civic Center TV Interview
Trust. Honesty. Integrity. We believe values matter, and we live by ours every day.
Sales & Cigars: Building Trust with Branden Carney, CFP®
Branden has appeared on the Walter Crosby Podcast Sales and Cigars. His episode is Building Trust with Branden Carney. During the podcast Branden covered:
- Building trust with your clients.
- The variables that might affect your retirement plans.
- The financial industry is all about planning.
Links to Podcast
Authority Magazine
Jason Hartman's Investing During the Pandemic Series
Excerpt from Branden's Interview:
My first piece of advice to everyone is turn off the news, especially as it relates to the financial markets. Unfortunately, there is never anything good that comes from the ongoing news cycle today. Most of the time, especially as it relates to the financial industry, they are just feeding you the next apocalypse “de jure” that is going to “take down the markets”.
Clients trust Melone Private Wealth Family Wealth Planners because they provide peace of mind while protecting and growing wealth
Audiences Who Listen to Our Financial Planners
Accountants
Michigan Association of CPAs (MICPA) featured speaker
High-Net-Worth Families
Develops financial plans for their retirement, desired charitable gifting, and legacy planning for heirs
Businesses
Lou helps with retirement plans for teams and owner operator's financial plans
The Planning Team
Lou Melone CFP®, CEPA®
Lou helps clients answer two questions: 1) Will I have enough money to retire and 2) will I have enough money to retire comfortably?
Branden Carney, CFP®
Branden helps clients answer two questions: 1) Will I have enough money to retire and 2) will I have enough money to retire comfortably?
*This award was issued on 05/01/2026 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 09/10/2025 through 03/03/2026. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 3902 Detroit-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 262 (7 % of candidates) were named 2026 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2025: 3,715, 289, 8%, 5/1/25, 8/21/24 - 2/28/25; 2024: 3,651, 278, 8%, 5/1/24, 9/5/23 - 2/29/24; 2023: 3,550, 312, 8.7%, 5/1/23, 9/5/22 - 3/3/23; 2022: 3273, 304, 9%, 5/1/22, 9/3/21 - 3/11/22; 2021: 3260, 275, 8%, 5/1/21, 8/10/20 - 3/19/21; 2020: 3105, 284, 9%, 5/1/20, 8/1/19 - 3/20/20; 2019: 2987, 347, 12%, 5/1/19, 8/21/18 - 3/19/19; 2018: 3069, 322, 10%, 5/1/18, 8/30/17 - 3/19/18; 2017: 1836, 356, 19%, 5/1/17, 8/24/16 - 2/24/17; 2016: 1961, 630, 32%, 4/1/16, 10/22/15 - 3/9/16; 2015: 2238, 627, 28%, 5/1/15, 10/22/14 - 3/9/15; 2014: 3448, 658, 19%, 5/1/14, 10/22/13 - 3/9/14; 2013: 2762, 749, 27%, 5/1/13, 10/22/12 - 3/9/13; 2012: 2658, 745, 28%, 5/1/12, 10/22/11 - 3/9/12. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.