It took Paul Coldagelli six months to help his wife’s grandmother recover her life savings, which an insurance agent lost through an inappropriate investment in junk bonds. The tribulation helped convince Paul that the financial industry needed people of integrity.
“I saw the bad side of this business – guys who were in it just for themselves, looking only at commissions,” Paul says. “I knew I wanted to help people invest – but I wanted to do it the right way.”
At the time, Paul was developing and marketing investment products for a bank in Florida, a position he pursued after deciding against an academic career.
Paul was an economics standout at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and taught as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania.
He had been drawn to economics as a discipline that balanced his interests in mathematics and social science. But as he got closer to his doctoral dissertation, Paul felt the numbers taking greater priority over the personal aspect.
Wanting to move his family from Florida closer to his parents in the Milwaukee area, Paul heard about Landaas & Company through his father, who listened religiously to Bob’s radio show. Paul’s father started taping the show and sent the cassettes to Paul, urging him to give Bob a call.
In 1993, Paul joined Landaas & Company, where he combines his economics training, teaching skills and devotion to long-term financial planning.
Paul and his wife, Paula, have four sons. His community involvement includes mentoring economics students from UW-Milwaukee and assisting the Waukesha West High School Academic Decathlon team.