Owner, Chief Compliance Officer, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional

(formerly Christina M. Cotten, CFP®) Christina has over 26 years of experience in financial services and is an owner of Andrews Advisory Associates, LLC, along with her partner Travis. She is the Chief Compliance Officer of the firm and leads business development. Christina was born in Hawaii and has lived on Oahu all her life, except for eight years spent in south Alabama during childhood. She often visits her family in Portland, Oregon, along with Alabama and Florida. When she is not working, Christina likes reading, writing, making jewelry, gardening, hiking, cooking, and entertaining. Before switching to Finance as a major, she studied fine art in college and hopes to once again find time to paint - one day! 

Professional Designations: 

CFP® CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Professional 

fi360 AIF® Accredited Investment Fiduciary® 

Educational Background: 

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance, Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu 

Registration: 

Series 65, Investment Adviser Representative, CRD #3178052 

Affiliations: 

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., #158797

Financial Planning Association (FPA®) 

FPA of Hawaii (Former Director) 

Center for Fiduciary StudiesTM (fi360) 

Hawaii Estate Planning Council

Get to know our team!  Questions & Answers

What got you started with a career in financial services?

Due to a strict religious upbringing and extreme poverty, I had no career goals. I spent my 20s as a temporary office worker, drifting from one low-paying job to another with no hope of improving my life. I randomly got an assignment as a temporary receptionist at a financial company, where I was encouraged to get my sales licenses in stocks, bonds and insurance. I supported myself financially on a low income while taking one or two classes after work. After many years of struggle, I completed a bachelor’s degree in finance from Hawaii Pacific University and earned the Certified Financial Planner® Professional Designation.

What motivates you to do your best every day?

I well remember the constant stress of being saddled with student loan and credit card debt while struggling to make ends meet in Hawaii. My whole life, I never had enough money to pay all the bills – let alone get ahead of crippling debt payments. It took years to pay off my student loans and credit cards entirely through my own efforts. I became debt-free and now never worry about bills getting paid. I started earning money on my own at age 14 and even tried – and failed – to start several businesses in my youth. I had the wrong mindset back then. I did not truly believe that breaking out of the cycle of poverty was possible for someone like me. My struggles have given me a passionate, burning desire to help other people understand that financial independence is possible for everyone who is able to work – and it’s actually easier than people think.

What is something you look forward to experiencing in the future?

Lately, I have really gotten into planning – everything from monthly meals to fabulous future vacations to the rest of my life, year-by-year. It’s satisfying to see dreams actually become reality with a little sweat. I now believe that anything is possible for those who are willing to work for it. I look forward to using the knowledge that I have learned the hard way, to help young people who do not have parental support to get an education and get started down the path to financial success. I want them to learn what I could not understand when I was a youth – that with a change of mindset a better life is  completely within their control – in spite of the most challenging of circumstances.

What is one thing you wish everyone knew about money?

I wish people understood that financial independence, success and wealth are not complicated. Start early, do something you love, work hard, and live frugally in the beginning. Save and invest every penny in stocks and real estate. Buy luxuries later with the earnings from your investments. Run your own business to make expenses tax-deductible when possible. Never buy luxuries with debt. Go online and look up “debt calculator” to see how much financing really costs.

Here are three books I recommend to get you started on the path to success:

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns by John C. Bogle (2007). John C. Bogle is the founder of The Vanguard Group, Inc. This small and easy-to-read book explains how “after deducting the cost of investing, beating the stock market is a loser’s game.” Successful investing maximizes your return by cutting out layers of fees  and investing in low-cost vehicles that simply follow a stock market index. “Don’t look for the needle – buy the haystack.” In addition, managing taxes puts more money in your pocket instead of handing it to Uncle Sam.

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason (1926). George S. Clason was born in 1874 in Missouri and served in the US Army during the Spanish-American war. He founded the Clason Map Company of Denver Colorado and published the first road atlas of the US and Canada. In 1926 he began issuing a series of pamphlets on financial success set in ancient Babylon to make his points more entertaining. The popular leaflets became this short book, which everyone should read. “Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals,” the book begins. The message is simple: “A part of all you earn is yours to keep.”

Innercise: The New Science to Unlock Your Brain's Hidden Power by John Assaraf (2018). I have read many books on changing your mindset and manifesting wealth. This one, by entrepreneur and motivational speaker John  Assaraf, was the most accessible and easy-to-understand. This book contains the moving story of how a few words from a mentor, Alan Brown, turned John’s life around when he was a wayward youth. You can also hear the story on YouTube in one of John’s many interviews. The book clearly explains how we are not stuck in the old mindset we developed in childhood – perhaps to cope with trauma. The brain can be completely reprogrammed to achieve success and feel happiness. “It’s time to break out of your mental prison!”