Waving Generosity Into Family, Work, and Community With Chris VanHart

Intro: 00:00
Welcome to the You Can’t Take it With You show, where we feature stories around generosity designed to inspire and encourage others to do meaningful things in their communities. Now, here’s your host, Jim Dunlop.

Jim Dunlop: 00:17
Hi, Jim Dunlop here, a wealth advisor and host of this show where I sit down with people who get it when it comes to generosity. I’m excited to have guests who can give us stories on generosity to not only inspire our listeners, but to give practical ideas on ways we can give. We are featuring a series of episodes where the guests are teammates of mine at Advent Partners. Today’s guest is Chris VanHart. Our past guests include Peter Greer, Jim Langley, and Phil Cubeta, among many others.

But before we get to Chris, I want to share that this episode is brought to you by Advent Partners. Ready for Good. Advent is a financial planning team dedicated to helping you make informed decisions that simplify your financial journey. At Advent Partners, we’re ready for good. Our bold, ten year vision is to help clients donate $100 million to transform lives through generosity and planning. United by generosity, relationship excellence, authenticity and fun, we empower meaningful lives and lasting community impact. To learn more about partners and how we can guide your financial success, visit readyforgood.com

And now Chris VanHart Chris joined Advent Partners in 2011 and serves as a wealth advisor originally from Binghamton, New York. He has called Central Pennsylvania home for the past 15 years. Chris is happily married to his wife, Leslie of 28 years, and they have two adult children. He is involved with trail life at his church and enjoys biking and cooking with his family. Chris, welcome.

Chris VanHart: 01:48
Thank you very much. It’s great to be here.

Jim Dunlop: 01:50
Chris, as we get started, could you share a brief autobiography of who Chris VanHart is for our listeners?

Chris VanHart: 01:59
Sure. As you mentioned, I grew up in Binghamton, New York. My parents were very heavily involved in our church. Both choir and Christmas pageants, and that was a big piece of my life. Even prior to college, than I went away to to Cedarville University, where I met where I met my wife, and we actually met on a missions trip to Jamaica, where we spent a month there ministering to different children and adults that were at a death camp there, a camp for the deaf.

Even though I have no very little sign language, they were looking for a guy to be there and participate with the campers. And again, that’s where I met my wife and we started dating and were engaged shortly thereafter. And like you said, been married for 28 years. I do have a sister that lives in Virginia with her family, and we continue to get together at my parents place in Binghamton for holidays and different events. So.

Jim Dunlop: 03:12
Well. Very good. Chris, this show, as you know, is a show about generosity. And I want to ask you what drives your own personal generosity and what is your I’ll call it your generosity origin story.

Chris VanHart: 03:26
Really, it started with my family. My parents with service and community. They were very heavily involved in our church even before I was born. And then once my sister and I came along, we were very involved in choirs and worship leading and had a number of different opportunities to minister. And really it was expected that we were going to church three times a week and but it was very much centered around, okay, we’re going to build a community here, and we’re going to give of our time and our talents and be able to establish a rhythm of doing that.

That really has continued through my adult life, even as we’ve moved here to central Pennsylvania, have been heavily involved in worship at West Shore Free Church in Mechanicsburg, and have really enjoyed that.

Jim Dunlop: 04:31
Well, very good. And so mom and dad were an important part of early generosity. But it probably to their great credit, it took and even to the point where you were on a missions trip when you met Leslie. Yes. Tell me in our biography, in our little biography of you, we mentioned of all the things you do very specifically called out trail life.

Tell me what trail life is and how that may have impacted you and taught you about generosity.

Chris VanHart: 05:08
Yeah, life came about about ten years ago. It’s a faith based scouting organization, and our church decided to start the first troop in Pennsylvania. And my son started attending, and this was when I was actually helping to lead worship at Westshore. And I was going on a hike, and God really wrestled with God about, okay, what should I be doing? And it became clear that I should be spending more time with him.

But not only God, but my son and really encouraged me to get involved in trail life. My wife encouraged me to do that as well, to spend some time with my son, and actually served as the troop chaplain for a number of years and helped lead our boys that we have a troop of about a hundred that have had opportunities to camp on a monthly basis. And so much of what I was doing was helping some student leaders lead worship and devotions on a regular basis, not only every week, but every campout. We would have multiple devotions. And so again, my generosity story is much around establishing relationships and community and living out our faith in a way that connects not only my family, my son in this instance, but also other boys and families.

Jim Dunlop: 06:52
Very good. So, you know, you had said this earlier, this generosity of time and talents that you were talking about your mom and dad and the church. And I have to think that’s a part of the reason why you found your way to the work that we do together, financial planning. And obviously we spend a lot of time talking about generosity. You know, tell me a little bit about how those conversations with your clients go.

Chris VanHart: 07:20
Yeah, I love to be able to have those conversations. Many times. What’s top of mind is, okay, we want to make sure that we’re going to have enough to live successfully and have an enjoyable retirement. But then once we’re able to, in essence, unlock that realization that, okay, we’re going to be fine, and we have a plan in place to make sure that we have the resources that we want and need, then talk about what’s important to them, whether it be their local church, whether it be different organizations that they’ve already volunteered for. Maybe it’s an alma mater, all sorts of different organizations that we’ve been able to have real, meaningful conversations around, okay, what does this look like while you’re living?

And then even beyond that, being able to have that be a portion of the estate that they leave behind. And because many times their families are in lock step with them and say, yeah, we want to continue this, this legacy of giving that mom and dad had walked through in their life.

Jim Dunlop: 08:38
Can you think about a specific story, Chris? Not to put you on the spot too much with a client where you were able to get them. You know, to that point of feeling confident and then what what what did that unlock for them?

Chris VanHart: 08:57
Sure. Sometimes that’s walking through. Many times our retirement analysis and being able to show them. What’s the probability of them having money left over. And then with that, it’s then a conversation of do we do this now?

Do we do this over time? And helped a number of folks be able to set aside funds. And whether it be a donor advised fund or being able to set aside money that they’ve used, even on their own, to give in unique ways. I think of a family that even though it’s very modest income, they have been able to be very generous and have realized that some of the savings that they’ve accumulated over time isn’t necessary for them to do the things in retirement that they want to. So they’ve been able to work with their family, work with their kids to be able to give on a regular basis and do that together.

Jim Dunlop: 10:06
I like it. You know, as we’re sitting here thinking about it, I want to take you back a little here. You know, your parents had a tremendous influence on you. And then you, you know, through trail life have probably, I think, in my estimation, had a pretty good influence on your son, who’s graduated college, getting married soon and starting his own family. We presume going forward.

And so it’s a it’s a great legacy in your family of teaching generosity and trail life when he was younger was helpful as a way to spend time. Tell me about what you’re doing today, to spend time together as a family. And what organizations are you involved with there?

Chris VanHart: 10:56
Yes, it’s been a unique journey even the last couple of years. My son, in the middle of college was introduced to a group at the Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg that hosts the annual Gettysburg reenactment. And so we’ve actually gotten involved with Civil War reenacting. And my son came to me a couple years ago and said, hey, would you do this with me? And how can you say no to your 21 year old who’s actually wanting to spend some additional time with you and be able to pursue something that he loves, which is history, and be able to build a new community of folks, whether they’re reenactors, whether they’re folks that volunteer at the at the farm.

And so it’s opened up another layer of being able to build that community as a family. My wife is very heavily involved in sewing, and so she actually alters all the uniforms that we purchase and things like that. So it’s really been great to be able to do that and, and really, quite frankly, be able to establish new relationships as adults. And his wife to be has been involved in some reenactments as well. And so I’m eager to do that as an extended family.

Being able to continue to do that with him and his fiance, soon to be wife.

Jim Dunlop: 12:30
So besides Mom and dad, who are some folks that have influenced you along the way in as you think about generosity?

Chris VanHart: 12:38
Sure. Again, being heavily involved in our church ministry. I think specifically about my youth pastor growing up, he gave a great example of serving and being generous. Generous not only with his time, but also with his resources. And even after he moved away, have continued to stay connected with him.

And he has been a tremendous and impactful leader, not only in my life, but in so many people’s lives that he led in that youth group setting. So now a pastor down in the Baltimore area and has been for years.

Jim Dunlop: 13:25
Well, that’s really neat. So, you know, your journey is grew up in Binghamton, ended up going to Cedarville, meet Leslie before you got into financial planning. Tell me a little bit about the work that you did and what led you to this work?

Chris VanHart: 13:45
Sure. My wife and I got married shortly after college, and we moved back to Binghamton, near my parents, and was reintroduced to a long time friend who was looking for someone to join his team at a local bank there, and I worked in human resources with employee compensation and benefits. My degree was in accounting and they were looking for someone with that background. And so I was able to step back in to that community and to our church home and be able and worked at the at the bank for 11 years. And I mentioned a lot of folks.

We endured seven mergers and acquisitions over that time and was heavily involved in those. And then on the seventh one was I didn’t have a position there any longer. So it really caused me to think, okay, what do I want to do now? And I remember praying the prayer, okay, Lord, just make it obvious, because if it’s up to me, I’m going to mess this up. And I started looking for opportunities.

Sent my resume to Jamie French, your business partner, who we went to college together and he passed my information on to Thrivent at the time and I did some interviews, and I was offered an opportunity to join Thrivent as a financial advisor. And it was the only offer that I got. And I started thinking, is this really the right thing? And then I had to think back to the prayer that I had that I said, okay, Lord, make it obvious where I should go. And I felt like it was sort of a slap across the face to say, well, I gave you what you asked for.

This is where I want you. And so we started that in the Binghamton area and then again moved here about 15 years ago, moved our family, our our kids were in fourth and second grade at the time and just have enjoyed being able to continue to build up our business, build the relationships not only with clients, but also with new church friends and with trail life. Over the years. And so it’s been it’s been a tremendous journey. And my kids are back home in in sort of transition, I thought I launched them.

But they’ve come back. My daughter is a third grade teacher at Harrisburg Christian. My son is just starting a new job that he will hopefully carry him for quite a while here with his new bride in January.

Jim Dunlop: 16:30
So you’ve raised two children who I believe are also a very generous spirit. And what would you tell a young parent? What advice would you give a young parent just starting out that ways that they can, things they can do and model for their children to, to, to, to pass that spirit of generosity along?

Chris VanHart: 16:52
Well, I think that’s just it is the modeling. And don’t get me wrong, this is a this was a struggle at times because quite frankly, volunteering the way we did, being involved in ministry the way we were. I didn’t always realize that I needed to do that with my family, and so I ended up participating in worship rehearsals and led the technology team and the sound team at our church for many years. And so there were many years where I wasn’t necessarily plugged in with my family. So I think the word of advice that I would give and the caution that I would give is, okay, find something that you can do together and model that and spend that time with your spouse, with your kids, with with the community that you’ve built and foster those relationships further.

Because I was doing some of that on an island without involving my family. And it wasn’t until I mentioned some of the wrestling with God after we moved here that my wife made it clear she’s like, I think you should spend time with Jason in real life. So it was a it was something that I didn’t do perfectly. And I would certainly encourage folks to consider that as they’re thinking about ways that they can minister together, that they can give together, whether that be through a church or a local ministry, whether that be at a soup kitchen or whatever. I think doing it alongside of your family, alongside the people that are important to you, really instills that and and models that for them. So take your family on the journey.

Jim Dunlop: 18:51
That’s right. So. Chris, thank you for taking some time today to share with us. I really appreciated the things that you’re sharing about yourself and your journey. And I have one final question. But before I get to that, I want to let people know where they can find you, and that is, they can find you at adventpartnersfp.com.

They can find you in LinkedIn as well. But as we wrap up, the final question that I like to ask is if there’s if you could share some advice or wisdom on a billboard where lots of people would see that message, what would that message be?

Chris VanHart: 19:30
I would say, give of your time and spend time with your community. And whether that’s your family, right. I’m paraphrasing above, what’s going to be able to be on the billboard.

Jim Dunlop: 19:44
But understood explanations are always welcome.

Chris VanHart: 19:47
But yeah, certainly spend time and your treasure with the community with the family that is important to you.

Jim Dunlop: 19:58
Absolutely. Well, Chris, thank you so much for taking time to visit with us today. And again, you can check out Chris at adventpartnersfp.com.

Outro: 20:11
Thanks for joining us to hear stories of generosity that remind us that you can’t take it with you. Visit our site at canttakeitwithyou.com for more details on today’s episode and to subscribe to future shows.

Disclosure:

Advisory persons of Thrivent Advisor Network provide advisory services under a “doing business as name” or may have their own legal business entities. However, advisory services are engaged exclusively through Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Advent Partners and Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC are not affiliated companies. Information in this message is for the intended recipients only. Please visit our website at AdventPartners.com for important disclosures. Securities offered through Thrivent Investment Management, Inc. (TIMI), Member FINRA and SIPC, and a subsidiary of Thrivent, the marketing name for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (thrivent.com/disclosures). TIMI and Advent are not affiliated companies.