Ed Langford takes a no-nonsense approach to providing his clients with honest, friendly and knowledgeable financial recommendations for their retirement. He has been working with residents in Iowa and surrounding states in the Midwest for more than 30 years and is a member of the National Ethics Association and the Society of Certified Senior Advisors.

If you are a local in the Davenport, Iowa area then you probably know Ed or his family members. For years, the Langfords owned and operated the neighborhood Meat & Grocery Store in Bettendorf, Iowa. The store was called Langford’s Royal Blue. Ed started working when he was seven-years-old for 10 cents an hour. By the time he had finished there at age 23, he was earning $3.00 an hour.

Through his experience in the retirement planning business Ed has seen, firsthand, the financial loss that people can experience without the proper strategies in place.

He advises, for example, that people take control of any retirement savings plan they have with former employers because just about anything can happen to that money. Leaving your funds on autopilot, perhaps with too much of a concentration in company stock or a volatile portfolio of stocks, may not be the appropriate investment mix when you’re getting ready to retire.

Take the example of one of Ed’s friends who retired with about $380,000 that he still kept at former employer Qwest Communications. Over the next three years, Qwest’s stock crashed as a multi-faceted accounting and financial fraud came to light. Ed says his friend’s retirement savings dwindled to $30,000, forcing him to reassess his retirement goals and dreams.

Among Ed’s greatest passions in life is football. A former Iowa Hawkeye great, Ed played free safety for the team from 1980 through 1982 and for St. Ambrose University (SAU) in 1983 and 1984. He was named second-team All-American defensive back in 1984 when SAU made the postseason for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football National Championship.

Not only is Ed a former player, he is also a coach. For more than 20 years, Ed has been a part of young men’s lives and development through football, coaching at the grade-school level and Freshman, Junior Varsity and Varsity high-school levels, as well as the collegiate level. “The thing I enjoy the most is helping to make the kids better people, especially when you can make a life changing direction in a player’s life that will follow them for the rest of their lives.”

In addition, from 2003 to 2005, Ed was part of the coaching staff of the Quad City Steamwheelers, a former professional arena football team. While there, he developed the “Life Lessons” program. Ed and QC Steamwheelers’ players would visit surrounding and inner-city high schools in the area, speaking about the benefits of teamwork, discipline and goals as a foundation for their journey in life.

Married to his wife, Judy, for 35 years, the couple resides in Davenport, IA, and have three children: Ryan, Ava and Alissa, who is married to Dillon, their son-in-law. Alissa and Dillon have blessed them with three grandchildren whom they adore: Korrah, Lola and Violet Alissa.