Kyle Rasmussen, center-left, cuts the ribbon at Generational Wealth Partners in downtown Reinbeck on Thursday, Aug. 29. Rasmussen along with Nick Blasberg, center-right, founded their new financial planning firm this past March after both previously worked for Lincoln Savings Bank. The new office – recently remodeled from front to back – is located at 421 Main Street; the firm also has a satellite office in Waterloo. Also pictured, Hunter Bell (front row-fourth from right), a certified financial planner with the firm, Rasmussen’s wife Tiffany Rasmussen (front row-second from left) along with their two children, members of the Reinbeck Community Development Board, and several clients. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

REINBECK – Several generations of Iowans lined up in front of 421 Main Street in downtown Reinbeck last Thursday, Aug. 29, for a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of Kyle Rasmussen’s and Nick Blasberg’s new financial planning firm, Generational Wealth Partners.

“We offer comprehensive financial planning,” Rasmussen – a private wealth advisor and certified financial planner (CFP) – said following the ribbon-cutting as he sat inside his brand new office located at the back of the recently-remodeled building. As he spoke, his son Andrew, 5, played at a table nearby while his one-year-old son Asher sat in his lap. “Our belief system is we should simplify and empower [our clients] to make their own choices.”

It’s been a bit of musical chairs for the new practice this year. Rasmussen and Blasberg – who both previously worked for Lincoln Savings Bank – bought the Main Street building about a year and a half ago after the UnityPoint medical practice headed by Drs. Greg and James Selenke moved to Hudson.

And while Generational Wealth Partners officially opened this past March 1 in the new building, during the subsequent remodel – which was a complete gut, Rasmussen said – they chose to temporarily set up across the street in Reinbeck City Hall. Roughly two months ago, they moved the practice back across the street into the renovated building.

The building’s remodel is both modern and traditional, featuring gorgeous walnut woodwork and furniture created specifically for the space by local carpenter John Greiner from trees knocked down in the 2020 derecho.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

While Lucas Peter was the project’s contractor, Rasmussen himself designed the new space. Finally being able to show the community the finished product while also officially marking the firm’s founding has been a long time coming for Rasmussen who, along with his wife Tiffany (née Peterson) Rasmussen, a Reinbeck native, has lived and worked in the community for the past 15 years.

“I grew up as a child of serial entrepreneurs,” Rasmussen, a native of Sioux City and graduate of Buena Vista University, said. “I always knew that being an employee was not 100 percent where my heart was. … [I wanted to have] an impact on my community [by owning my own business] – that’s every person’s job.”

While Rasmussen and his family live in Reinbeck, his cofounder Nick Blasberg, a financial advisor, lives in Cedar Falls along with his wife and three children.

In addition to Rasmussen and Blasberg, Generational Wealth Partners also employs Hunter Bell, CFP, who lives in Cedar Falls along with his wife.

“Nick and I and Hunter all worked for Lincoln Savings Bank,” Rasmussen said. “We decided to make a change. I had previously worked for Ameriprise [Financial Services] for 12 years.”

Kyle Rasmussen, left, pictured with his baby son Asher in his new office in downtown Reinbeck on Thursday, Aug. 29. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

When asked why Ameriprise, Rasmussen said it boiled down to two main reasons.

“They’re the largest financial planning firm in the nation. We wanted to specifically be with a company that had the biggest breadth and depth of tools. Also, [Ameriprise] is one of the only financial firms that didn’t take TARP bailout.”

TARP is short for Troubled Asset Relief Program which was established by the U.S. Dept. of Treasury in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The program was implemented to stabilize the country’s financial system, to restart economic growth, and to prevent avoidable foreclosures, per the U.S. Treasury’s own website. Approximately $250 billion of TARP was originally committed to stabilize (or bailout) banking institutions of which $5 billion was ultimately canceled.

Rasmussen said he previously worked for Ameriprise in Minneapolis following his college graduation and has always been confident in the company’s investment support and tools.

“We think of ourselves as financial coaches,” Rasmussen said. “People are in different phases of life. … [but] for most people, they build wealth and they don’t spend it. How do we transition it? We help a lot of farmers and business owners. We want to [help people] with today, tomorrow, and the future. We want [wealth] to continue. Not be gobbled up by Uncle Sam. We want to create strong families.”

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

To that end, Rasmussen and his associates offer tax and estate planning strategies, as well as business retirement plans. For new clients, they offer a complimentary initial consultation.

“Almost all of our clients are word of mouth,” Rasmussen said when asked to describe his clientele. “We have been blessed to have a lot of new clients [since opening]. We have clients in 28 states. We do a lot of stuff [online] or we fly to see clients.”

Roughly half of their clients are from Reinbeck or the surrounding smaller communities, he added, including many who followed the trio when they left Lincoln Savings Bank.

“We brought all of our client base here.”

As he sat in a chair beside a window in his new office last Thursday – sunshine streaming in, walnut wood warmly glowing from practically every corner of the room, his baby boy bouncing on his knee – it seemed Rasmussen was truly ‘living the dream’ as one attendee at the open house commented as he stepped inside Rasmussen’s office for a peek.

“It’s a dream [fulfilled], yes,” Rasmussen said when asked by the newspaper if he truly was living out his dream. “To be my own boss and get to work with the people I love and to love where I work.”

Generational Wealth Partners is located in downtown Reinbeck at 421 Main Street next to the hardware store. To schedule an appointment with Rasmussen, Blasberg, or Bell, call 319-391-6533, or email kyle.rasmussen@ampf.com.

More information on Generational Wealth Partners can also be found through the firm’s website: https://www.ameripriseadvisors.com/team/generational-wealth-partners/.