Edward Jones agent Casey Loper relocates Sand Springs office to new building

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The South Side of Sand Springs is seeing new construction as Edward Jones Investment agent Casey Loper relocates his offices next month. Loper has been in business in Sand Springs for over a year now, but is moving closer to town with a new building on 113th West Avenue. 

"We're excited about it," says Loper. It's kind of unique. I was going for the old bank look from the 1930s. We really wanted to be a part of the community, part of the old Prattville area. We wanted to be a little bit more noticeable, a little easier to find. A lot of our clients have a hard time finding us and seeing us."

The existing office is located off Highway 97 just outside of City limits in South Sand Springs. The highway traffic flows at a 65 m.p.h. speed limit, but the intersection is a 90 degree turn with no exit lane. According to Loper, this has created problems in the past with impatient drivers honking at elderly clients. 

Typically Edward Jones offices have one financial adviser and one assistant per office. Loper shares his current office with Kelly Scott and his assistant. Scott's team is also planning on relocating offices in August of 2018, also within the South Sand Springs area.

Loper has been with Edward Jones for twelve years. He graduated Northeastern State University in Tahlequah where he majored in financial planning, and started with Edward Jones at only 22 years of age. While working with Bank of America, he began to build his first office from the bottom up in the Lake Eufala area while finishing his degree in night school.

Ten years later, it became time to look for the best possible schooling for his children, which led Loper to the Tulsa area a little over a year ago. His office currently serves 293 households and manages more than $100 million in assets. 

Edward Jones handles everything from college savings accounts for children to major savings for homes and retirement. Loper is particularly skilled as a Retirement Income Specialist. "Most of our clients are really low-risk. We're really diversified. Our average client has something like sixteen investments." They also handle retirement plans for several local businesses.  

"We work as the quarterback of a team," says Loper. "You have an attorney for estate planning, and you have your accountant that does your taxes. A lot of times if you go see an accountant, they're really good at telling you what you owe on your taxes, but they're not really good at telling you how to proactively avoid taxes going forward, or how to plan your investments to generate the most tax-efficient income stream. So a lot of the time CPAs will refer clients to us."

"Since interest rates have dropped in the past ten years, CDs (certificates of deposit) just don't generate income like they used to. We use a lot of municipal bonds. The same bonds that they build schools with, we use those to generate tax-free income for our clients. Unlike CDs, you don't have to pay taxes on a municipal bond. They're typically pretty safe because they're backed by the taxing power of the city or state that issues them."

On Thursday, October 5th, Loper will be hosting an open house celebration with a coffee truck and breakfast pastries, free for visitors. The public is invited to stop by for a free snack and information on Edward Jones services. The new office is located 3901 South 113th West Avenue between Coldwell Banker and Braum's Ice Cream Shop & Burger Restaurant.