About CK FINANCIAL
Who We Are & Where we stand
We are independent financial contractors who have come together to share experience, product knowledge, and philosophy to help people create higher levels of economic value.
The process uses time-tested analytical techniques to develop solid solutions, which could redefine financial planning and provide new levels of security and peace of mind.
As financial professionals, we don't deceive, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do. This shared philosophy is what brings us together as independent financial advisors seeking the same common goal.
meet
OUR TEAM
Kerry McManus
Financial Professional
Charles Kerry McManus is a General Agent with access to some of the most top-rated financial service companies in the industry. He has provided financial services for over 50 years and, as such, is highly respected by his clients and has become a trusted resource to his professional network.
Kerry is a graduate of William Penn University, majoring in social science with a concentration in history, philosophy and economics. He served as a representative to the President of the United States, a founding director of United Educators, a special agent for Prudential, a Metropolitan Life Insurance Consultant, a General Agent and licensed securities representative for Minnesota
Mutual and MIMLIC before becoming an independent financial contractor.
He introduces his clients to a Descartian scientific method of personal financial analysis. “The truth is easily grasped when four rules are applied to even the most complex inquiry.” The method was created by Rene Descartes in 1637 but is, and has been used, by the foremost scientists in the world. Einstein and Stephen Hawking are among those who have followed his reasoning. The simple rules are as follows: 1. Accept nothing as true, which is not presented to the mind so clearly and distinctly that there is no reason to doubt it. 2. Break problems down to as many smaller problems as possible. 3. Begin with what is most simple and easily understood, and build on this by degrees to larger and more complex matters. 4. Review the entire chain of thinking to ensure nothing is omitted. These rules can be easily applied to one’s personal finances and should be used in an age of epidemic false information.
Kerry has lived in Vermont since 1979. He has served as president of the Essex Town Little League, Head Varsity football coach for Colchester High School, served as director of recreation in the town of Charlotte and is a rated chess player.
Kirk Shamberger
Financial Professional
Kirk Shamberger has always been a teacher at heart and he loves to share his knowledge. With over 35 years of experience in sales, technology and training, Kirk has worked in a consultative role with a vast group of clients. He has built a large client base and vast networks as a result of establishing himself as a trusted independent financial contractor.
In addition to being a business owner, Kirk has held a variety of positions with multi-national corporations, government agencies and small businesses. He was previously the Director of New Business Development and Sales with Hill Associates, a high-tech training company with clients at Fortune 500 companies. He is keenly aware of how customer satisfaction and experience is a key differentiator and the impact it has on driving revenue, margin, and profit share.
In the late 1990s, Kirk found the CK Financial Resources network. While working in the telecom industry during the DOTCOM era, Kirk saw many intelligent, hardworking people lose a majority of their life savings—mostly because they didn’t understand the ins-and-outs of the financial products they owned. At that point, Kirk made it his mission to help educate people about money, economics and the financial world. The need for education, or ‘financial literacy’, as Kirk says, has never been more critical. “When an individual or business owner understands how to manage their finances they begin to question why they are doing what they are doing. The mystery of money begins to unravel. How money works is not complicated, nor does it require unnecessary risk.”
Kirk was born in Ipswitch, England and grew up in Maryland, where he also attended college. He earned degrees in environmental chemistry and business. Kirk is a member of the Colchester-Milton Rotary. In his spare time, Kirk enjoys playing tennis and skiing.
Erik Kolomaznik
Financial Professional
Erik Kolomaznik is an entrepreneur with 26 years’ experience in management, sales, customer service, operations, and technology. He has developed a reputation among his clients and peers for strong integrity, transparent communication, and delivering a high level of understanding in financial and business concepts. Erik has operated a variety of establishments from boutique high end eateries to large resorts and multi-million-dollar retail outlets, both within the U.S. and abroad. He has developed valuable perspectives on the dynamic workings of owning, operating, and developing an array of business types. Erik recognized early on as a financial and insurance professional that operating as an independent contractor is vital to delivering the level of service and quality that his clients seek.
First introduced to the CK Financial Resources philosophy as a client, Erik was impressed by the commitment to strategy and reasoning over salesmanship. He has bridged his business acumen into the financial industry with intensive research and continuing education. Erik is mission-driven to bring financial and economic 'self defense' to his clients. He brings the mechanics of finances and the complex elements of rational decision making together in an understandable way that his clients have described as, "confusing on my own, yet obvious once you see it." Insurance and financial strategies are instruments that are certainly useful and many time superior. From there, he applies time tested techniques using insurance products to help reduce financial risk, lower taxes, improve growth potential, protect assets in retirement, and avoid costly probate in a systematic way.
Erik grew up in Vermont before traveling abroad only to return during the economic crisis in 2009. He was living in Australia and then Taiwan as he studied the causes and effects of the 2008 Financial Crisis. His office is in Burlington where he is a president alum of both the Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary and the Shelburne Business Network International Chapters. He serves individuals, families, workplace groups, and business owners seeking to elevate their financial game.