November 10, 2016 | Jennifer Rios | Broomfield Enterprise
Troy West, former Broomfield resident and CEO of Lifestyle Financial Planning, is gaining attention for challenging the concept of retirement.
As a lifestyle entrepreneur, the biggest problem he’s seeing is something he calls the “retirement myth.”
In late September, Troy received several awards — the Quilly Award for being inducted into The National Academy of Bestselling Authors and the Expy Award for being named one of America’s Premier Experts in 2016.
“Really at the at the end of the day I’d say my skill sets are social sciences, which is my degree in college, personal development and financial planning with a focus on lifestyle,” West said.
Over the past year West worked with Jack Canfield, best know for the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, to co-author a book that was released in September.
The book “The Road to Success Volume 2: Today’s Leading Entrepreneurs and Professionals Reveal Their Step-By-Step Systems To Help You Achieve The Health, Wealth and Lifestyle You Deserve,” was written along with a group of experts and professionals.
By the end of next year, West plans to publish a full book based on the “Retirement Myth,” he said.
“We really want people to be able to share their stories,” he said. “That’s actually what we’re going to do with the programs — showcase people with inspiring stories and where they got just by going through the programs.”
When he was a freshman in high school, West was diagnosed with a medical condition that slowed him down when he traveled and played sports, he said. At the time he lived in a smaller community and needed to be around doctors, so he moved to live with his grandmother in Broomfield. His parents ran a business that prevented them from moving.
West graduated Broomfield High School and went on to San Diego State University.
Since then he’s studied and written about the concept of retirement.
“Large companies, financial institutions and Uncle Sam are influencing the economy and specifically we hear things are pretty much taken for granted, like the word retirement,” West said. “It’s branded to help those institutions maximize their profits.”
His company, he said, reverses the cycle in people’s favor.
“It starts with something as simple as being able to save money,” he said, “how people are looking at debts, taxes, what they’re paying.”
More than money, he said, it is also about fulfilling passions and finding happiness.