Sarasota Local Brings Experience & Trust to Siesta Key
Growing up in Sarasota from age 6, Joe St. Onge has seen many changes throughout the area. Bee Ridge and Fruitville used to be two-lanes, and I-75 was “way out east,” Joe recalls. “It seemed as though my dad would have to fill up the gas tank and pack sandwiches just to go to the interstate,” he reminisces. Now I-75 is the central artery in this booming town. During these changes to this once small town, Joe circled back to his roots on Siesta Key, where he moved his financial practice in March of 2013, with Edward Jones Investments.
As a teenager, Joe and his friends would bike out to Siesta, get sandwiches from the market in The Village and head out to the beach for hours of volleyball. Twenty-five years later, he drives to work, goes to the same market to get lunch (now Morton’s), and then heads back to the office to help his clients.
A graduate from Riverview High School, St. Onge lettered in football, track and soccer, the latter which provided him an athletic scholarship to Mercer University in Georgia, where he earned degrees in both Accounting and Finance. He laughs recalling a funny story about his father (a Marine), “I remember telling my dad that my scholarship saved him $60k, so he should buy me a car” (Mercer was ONLY $15k/year back then). “He said he didn’t have $60k, so I didn’t save him anything!” Joe was born on the Marine base in Yuma, AZ and appreciates his “military-like” upbringing, which taught him to finish what he started, to push himself and most importantly to treat everyone with equal respect.
Losing his mom in a fatal auto accident when he was only 2 years old, Joe has a real appreciation for life and always seems to find the good in people. Joe believes good things can come out of bad situations. Losing his mom engrained in him the necessary skills to become a successful financial advisor. He helps his clients invest prudently in the event they live a long life, but also helps families plan for an unforeseen situation, as he experienced. A Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Joe has been advising and assisting clients for more than 2 decades now. He feels the unique combination of “youth” (47 years old) and 25+ years’ experience is a big difference maker.
His clients would say the biggest difference maker is TRUST. Retired federal judge and long-time Siesta Key resident, Raymond Byrne is one of Joe’s biggest advocates. Says Byrne, “In all my years of investing, Joe is the first financial advisor that I’ve completely trusted and depended on, for my family’s financial well-being.” This is a common sentiment throughout St. Onge’s client base, as his Client Experience Index score consistently ranks among the best within the firm.
What can’t be measured by any index is the love he has for his wife, Maureen, and their 3 kids, Joey (18), Will (15) and Kate (13). While he is client-centered from 9 AM-5 PM each day, Joe is family-centered the rest of his days, previously coaching his kids’ soccer and baseball teams, attending any/all practices & games, and watching his daughter graceful and athletic dance competitions. While you’ll hear Joe talk about the family’s crazy sports schedule, it’s never as a complaint, but an excitement for watching his kids play sports. He feels sports, especially team sports, are great for kids in developing social skills, discipline and commitment.
Joe will be the first to tell you that he “married up” as Maureen is the ultimate wife & mom, sacrificing her career for the benefit of the family, just as Joe believes his mom would have been. His love and affection for his wife is very evident and can also make one understand how he appreciates the little things. The zest for life carries over to his clients as he treats everyone as if they were his parent, grandparent, or sibling. Joe’s dad instilled in him the notion that if you treat enough people the right way, everything will eventually work out. It’s simply not hard to do the right thing.
Now everything has come full circle from his early Siesta days, as Joe tries to get his kids to understand that it’s just as easy to do the right thing and to be honest. He loves Mark Twain’s quote: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything”. As he tries to instill all the positive qualities of being a good person to his kids, Joe is showing them by example, as he continues to do the right thing for his clients.
Joe believes he received the ultimate compliment when a client told him about a former colleague, who was trying to take over the client’s account, a few years ago. While he respected Joe’s professionalism and knowledge, the other advisor didn’t think Joe would have enough time for the client, since he considered Joe too family oriented. Knowing Joe for 10+ years, the client just smiled and said, “if the worst thing I need to worry about is my advisor loving his family too much, we’re doing pretty well”.
Located in The Siesta Key Village, at 5112 Ocean Blvd., Joe’s Edward Jones office, and accommodating Office Administrator Donna Hindman, is very convenient to the residents of Siesta Key. Whether you have a local advisor or not, stop in to say hello and introduce yourself. It’s hard to find experienced advisors of 25+ years who aren’t getting ready to retire themselves. Fortunately, for Siesta Key residents, they don’t have to look too far.
Edward Jones, the only Jones you want to keep up with!
Author: Siesta Sand
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