You might be scared or embarrassed to work with a financial advisor. Some people feel awkward talking to someone about their personal finances or debt. Now it’s easier than ever to get professional help without the embarrassment.
“It’s actually almost embarrassing the fact that I was raised in a household with a dad as a financial advisor,” said Brenton Thurman.
That still didn’t stop him from making some money mistakes. In fact, he recently found himself in a pickle you could say...a money pickle.
“I bought a car and got a loan for it and I just wasn’t completely sure that I was doing everything correct,” said Thurman. “I called my dad and told him how excited I was for it but his financial advisor alarms kind of went off a little bit. He asked me what the interest rate was and I didn’t exactly know what it was and I was kind of embarrassed at the time. I was super embarrassed and when I found out the interest rate I got at the time was way too high!”
Thurman realized he should have asked his dad for financial advice before making the purchase. That’s when the idea hit him.
“You were in a pickle!” said Local 4′s Evrod Cassimy.
“I was in a “money pickle,” replied Thurman. “I knew that having a financial advisor as a dad I was super fortunate to be able to ask him at any time certain questions whenever I wanted but a lot of my friends they couldn’t do that. They didn’t have that resource that I had.”
With help from his dad, tech savvy friends and others, Thurman created the appropriately named Money Pickle app complete with a human sized pickle mascot. It gives users with money questions direct access to ask a financial advisor, or “Pickle Pro” questions in a video chat within seconds. It’s simple and easy to use. Users are charged $1.50 per minute to talk with the Pickle Pro on the other end for as long as they want.
“It can be any small or big question,” said Thurman. “A lot of the questions that we’ve seen—”Should I buy or lease a car? How can I refinance my home, my kitchen? Where does that money come from? How should I allocate my 401k? When should I start saving for retirement? How should I do that? What age?”
A Pickle Pro is always available. Based right here in Metro Detroit, they can take video calls from all across the country and users can even remain anonymous. The only question they won’t answer...
“So who wears this costume?” asked Cassimy.
“Well we’d like to keep the identity of the pickle uhhh a secret!”
Thurman adds that getting help from a financial advisor or is important at any age. You can download Money Pickle for free in your app store and talk to someone live and get help within 15 seconds of hitting that video call button. Thurman created the app about seven months ago and they’re finally ready to fully launch it nationwide.
They’re official app launch party is Saturday April 23rd where you can come see what the big “dill” is while enjoying complimentary food and drinks.