Personal Profile
Harold Holcombe, Ph.D.
Harold grew up in Alabama and in Southeast Missouri, son of itinerant farmers and sharecroppers — not a particularly unusual situation in that time and place.
The experience of working with his hands and his back taught Harold quickly that working with the head is better, and he used the GI bill to go to college, following a three-year stint as an electronics technician in the Navy.
After earning a BA in English and history from the University of North Alabama, Harold worked in the security clearance office for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, followed by a year as a public relations officer in the office of Wernher von Braun, who was director of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and generally regarded as the founder of the U.S. space program.
Returning to school, Harold earned his Ph.D. in history from the University of Alabama, and went on to teach history at several colleges and universities, including Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina.
Harold left academia and moved into the business sector in 1978, working as a real estate and insurance agent. Both experiences reaffirmed his conviction that he was not suited for a career in a structured environment. Independence was what he valued, along with the freedom to research and arrive at his own conclusions.
So, in 1984, he decided that he would be better fitted to advising people on how to use the financial system to achieve their personal goals rather than trying to sell them products of that system. He earned his certificate as a Certified Financial Planner in 1985 and started doing business as a fee-only, independent financial advisor — which he felt was the only way to maintain objectivity in the investment arena.
Harold grew his business by giving his clients personal attention, and focusing on their needs and goals. He still has the first client who was so courageous as to hire him in 1985.