Talking Financial Planning, Family and Takoma Park

David Creekmore is President of Lifetime Financial. He previously worked for a variety of nonprofits and is a longtime Takoma Park resident.

This interview has been edited lightly.

Why did you create Lifetime Financial?

As a CFO/COO for nonprofits like Internews and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, I saw a need for nonprofit professionals to get quality financial planning and investment management. They typically earn less than they could at a for-profit company. Though their lifetime earnings will probably be adequate, they have less room to make mistakes and benefit more from financial optimization.

It’s not a big pivot from my CFO/COO roots. I’m just switching from organizations to individuals. I love people and I love optimizing and I think it’s important to contribute to a better future.

However, Lifetime Financial has morphed into something more important to me. My wife, the mother of my two daughters, died from breast cancer in 2012. We spent the years before she passed travelling to over 40 countries with our young girls. It was financially risky, but we did it anyway. I would have a larger 401(k) now if we hadn’t, but who cares? We have stellar memories and stories with her.