About Terri K. Echarte
Terri is the Founder and Owner of Terri K. Echarte Consulting, LLC and has over 30 years of experience in business, real estate finance, banking and client relations. She has held Senior Vice President and Managing Director positions at Bank of America and HFF (now JLL) in commercial real estate lending and investment banking arranging debt on behalf of private, corporate and institutional owners and sponsors of large commercial real estate projects. Terri was also a Senior Vice President and Private Banker serving high net worth clients, individuals and families and has experience managing complex financial relationships in her role as a fiduciary. She has extensive experience working in a regulated environment and dealing with compliance activities.
During the real estate downturn, Terri served as an Agent of the Receiver in court-appointed receiverships and worked on consulting assignments seeking to protect the collateral securing distressed commercial and residential real estate loans.
She is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Florida and serves as a member of the Budget Advisory Committee for the City of Miami Beach.
Giving back to the community is an important initiative for Terri. She is a co-founder of 100+ Women Who Care – Miami Beach Chapter and a former co-founder of 100+ Women Who Care Miami Chapter. These giving circles raise money to bestow grants to local non-profits providing much needed programs and services throughout Miami Dade County.
Terri obtained her MBA from the University of Miami and has a BS from the College of Business Management at Boston College.
Originally from New Jersey, Terri relocated to South Florida in the early 80’s. She and her husband are proud residents of Miami Beach, which has been home for more than 30 years and where they raised their two amazing sons.
Terri is a proud member of AADMM (the American Association of Daily Money Managers). She has been background checked and is insured as a Daily Money Manager.
My Story: Why Daily Money Management?
In 2017, after a 30+ year successful career in commercial real estate and banking, I stepped away to reassess how I wanted to spend my time and explore what opportunities might exist in this next phase of work and life.
Sadly, the prior year was marked by my dad developing dementia and his final passing. It was a difficult time for the whole family. It was a time of coming together and also of coming to a deeper understanding of aging, declination of a loved one’s health and wellbeing, and the toll it takes on those who are close. My parents were married for 58 years and it was my mom who became dad’s primary caregiver and was with him to the end.
My dad was 94 and lived a very full life. Even as his death was inevitable, when it did occur, something shifted in my life. In my case, maybe it was subtle at first, but profound nonetheless.
I am the oldest of six and as executor of the will, I helped my mom with settling the estate and all of the time consuming tasks involved in taking care of details that are difficult and painful, but necessary. She was a trooper and we worked through it all. Now, however, our mom was living alone. She was reluctant to leave a home where she had spent so many years with her soulmate, not to mention the memories of children and grandchildren. She thought about relocating but was not sure where to go. The thought of moving was daunting. And as it often happens to so many aging adults, they fall prey to a variety of scams. Unfortunately, mom became the target of numerous fraudulent financial schemes by perpetrators eager to take advantage.
I subsequently stepped in to take over our mom’s finances so that she no longer had to worry about the overwhelming tasks of managing checking and other accounts, paying bills, detecting credit card fraud, organizing paperwork, and other cumbersome tasks. In time, I was also able to help her relocate, finding a suitable new home so that she could remain active, be surrounded by friends and family, be safe, secure and well cared for while maintaining her independence.
In assisting my mom and others over the years, I have come to realize how many people truly need help. Some do not have family members or a trusted contact to assist them. Others have relatives far away who are unable to provide the help they need. And others are virtually all alone. I’ve also noted that every situation, every family and every individual is different in terms of how they can best be served. The first step is assessing the situation, developing a plan, and making sure the client is protected.
“My desire is to be that trusted professional who can be of service to you or your loved ones. Whether it be overseeing personal finances, creating a plan or facilitating a course of action, organizing key documents, or assisting with that important family conversation, you or your loved ones deserve to maintain dignity and independence and have peace of mind knowing that affairs are in order.”Terri K. Echarte
Whether it is providing personal bookkeeping, assessing needs, helping to organize a plan going forward, interfacing with family members and existing advisors such as a CPA, financial planner, or estate attorney – or getting important documents in order, finding a suitable living arrangement and assisting with relocation, I can help – onsite or remotely.
So many of us are dealing with raising a family, working, managing a business, traveling and we also have the responsibility of caring for an aging parent or parents.
I want to be of service to those who need it.