The Financial Foghorn is a fourth generation securities investor, a recovering lawyer, a former stockbroker, and a former trust department portfolio manager from Santa Barbara, California. He has been investing in securities since 1957, and teaching investor education since 1979.

Mr. McGowan does not sell investment products, only education.  As a Dean Witter stockbroker, Mr. McGowan won the President’s Merit Award in 1983, given to fewer than 5% of rookie stockbrokers.  During his brokerage career, he wrote financial book reviews for a local newspaper, appeared on television, and answered questions on a local financial radio call in show.  As a trust portfolio manager in Santa Barbara, California, Mr. McGowan managed more than $145 million dollars of other people’s money.

In 1993, he began offering financial workshops for Fortune 500 companies including Goodyear, Bank of America, Money Magazine, Los Angeles Bar Association, The National Committee on Planned Giving, The Aspen Institute, and the Chautauqua Institution.

He currently offers Wall Street and gold investing workshops to CPA’s and lawyers all over the United States.

Mr. McGowan wrote for his college humor magazine, his law school newspaper, his local bar association newspaper, and for the American Bar Association Journal.

He has served as a securities industry arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers since 1988.  As the Director of Training for an independent broker-dealer, he helped train more than 500 financial advisors to deliver investment education to 401(k) participants.

Having graduated from Penn State as an unemployable philosophy major, Mr. McGowan moved to San Francisco to attend law school.  He parlayed that advanced degree into a baccarat croupier job in Lake Tahoe (He was rookie of the year).  He later found gainful legal employment as a Deputy District Attorney.  He lectured overseas for the University of Maryland European and Asian Divisions for four years.

Mr. McGowan is one of fewer than a thousand lawyer/Certified Financial Planners® on earth.  He is also possessed by a Lifetime Instructor Credential from the California Community Colleges.

Mr. McGowan is a co-author of the 2004 book, Terror-Proof Your Mind and Money, in the Forbes book club;  also available at  www.amazon.com.