Nicole L. Brucker
Financial Planner
Nicole began her career in 2005 at LPL Financial, the largest independent broker/dealer in the nation. She is now affiliated with Associated Securities Corp., a smaller boutique firm affiliated with LPL, whose personalized service and great number of resources allows her to better serve her clients. Not ever thinking she would find herself in finance, she was at first skeptical of the industry.
However, after working with two amazing mentors, she realized that financial advising could be about more than the bottom-line. She was determined to help her clients empower themselves by taking ownership of their wealth and financial decisions. She has since built a successful financial advisory firm focusing on comprehensive financial plans for small business owners, entrepreneurs, families and those contemplating or going through a divorce.
In addition to holding the Series 7, 63, and 65 FINRA Registered Representative licenses, Nicole is licensed by the State of Illinois to sell investment-related insurance products. In 2007, Nicole completed her certification as a Certified Financial Divorce Practitioner® and is a member of the Academy of Financial Divorce Practitioners and Divorce Illinois. She has also been a contributor to Divorce Magazine as well as a guest speaker at a number of local organizations, including Whole Foods and the Lilac Tree's Divorce University.
Certified Financial Divorce Practitioner®, Certified Divorce Mediator
At the time she was transitioning to LPL, Nicole was going through a divorce. She found, even in her position within the financial industry, that she did not have the resources necessary to make the financial decisions inherent in the divorce process. Her attorney knew the law, but Nicole was not getting expert guidance on the financial aspects. Nicole found she was not alone. Many people she spoke with had faced the same dilemma in their own divorces. At that point Nicole decided to pursue the Certified Financial Divorce Practitioner® certification in order to guide clients through the divorce process and help them plan for their new lives.
In 2009, Nicole became a Certified Divorce Mediator. Nicole has enjoyed helping couples going through divorce take ownership of the process and make decisions that work for their situation. She facilitates conversations regarding not only the financial decisions of divorce, but also joint parenting agreements. Clients are able to take the agreement generated from the mediation, called the Memorandum of Understanding, to their attorneys to review and process. Nicole provides a low-cost and empowering alternative to traditional divorce litigation.
Education
Nicole earned her MA in International Studies with an Economics Concentration from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. Her graduate work analyzed Corporate Social Responsibility by focusing on one indigenous Ecuadorian tribe's struggle against multi-national oil companies destroying their ancestral lands in the Amazon.
Her passion for helping those who otherwise are ignored is represented in Nicole's work in the area of socially-responsible investing. The compassion necessary to give voice to the under-represented can easily be seen in the personalized service Nicole gives her clients and in the relationships she has built with them. As she frequently says "It's about more than the numbers".
Interests
Nicole lives in Evanston, IL. She currently enjoys studying the German language, traveling and volunteering with several local organizations. She is a proud Board Member of The Musical Offering in Evanston, IL as well as on the Empowering Women's Network (EWN) Leadership Team. Nicole is active in the Woman's Club of Evanston and her local Delta Delta Delta Alumni Chapter. She is also involved with the Lilac Tree of Evanston, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is "to provide education, support and guidance to women in the divorce process, so that they can move confidently towards independence".