Financial sense and public service
Longtime wealth adviser appointed by governor to the board of MdTA
Kathy Armstrong had always been a numbers person.
She majored in economics in college and earned her master’s degree in finance. She worked in wealth management at a bank. She even taught college courses on financial planning.
So when an unexpected divorce threw Armstrong’s life and bank account into tumult in the mid-1990s, she did the only thing that made sense.
“You have to do some quick assessment of where you are and where you want to be,” Armstrong said. “I did that. I mapped out a road map, and it worked because very clear planning was done and I followed the course.”
Soon, friends were asking her for help with laying out their retirement strategies and other financial goals. “Come on over Saturday night, and we’ll open a bottle of wine,” she would reply — and they would get to work.
Armstrong eventually opened a financial planning practice at Heritage Financial Consultants. Last month, she was appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan to the governing board of the Maryland Transportation Authority.
She brings her finance experience to the agency that owns and operates the state’s eight tolled bridges, tunnels and highways. Armstrong, 62, will sit on the board’s finance and human resources committees.
“Overall, my goal is for transportation for the state of Maryland to be the best it can be for our citizens,” she said.
Originally from Shreveport, La., Armstrong attended Roanoake College in Virginia and moved to the Baltimore area in 1975 for a management training program at First National Bank (now M&T Bank).
She’d grown up idolizing Marlo Thomas’ character in the ABC sitcom “That Girl,” a working woman who walks the streets of New York with a briefcase in hand. Armstrong didn’t think that would be possible for her as a child in Louisiana.
“I came up here, took that job and never looked back,” Armstrong said.
She became the bank’s vice president of wealth management and taught financial planning at Towson, Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame of Maryland universities during separate stints between 1978 and 2012.
Armstrong said her priorities are her family, clients and community.
She has volunteered on the boards of a variety of charities, including Network 2000, the Junior League of Baltimore, the Howard Community College Educational Foundation and Maryland Women in Philanthropy.
Armstrong, who lives in Howard County, said she loves the area’s proximity to Baltimore, Washington, New York and Bethany Beach, Del., where she vacations with her second husband, Don, and their golden retriever, Molly.
After her divorce, Armstrong said, she drilled the value of financial planning into her five children.
“When I was in school and younger, my parents never talked about finances,” she said. “I didn’t even know the questions to ask. Had I known, I would’ve started saving earlier.”
Kathy Armstrong
Job title: Certified financial planner, Heritage Financial Consultants Age: 62 Born: Shreveport, La. Resides: Howard County Education: Roanoke College (B.A., economics), Loyola University (MBA) Family: Married to Don Armstrong; five children: Skip Paal, Ryan Paal, Elizabeth Paal, Jim Armstrong, Matt Armstrong; four grandchildren; golden retriever, Molly Hobbies: Travel, cooking, exploring new adventures, and having fun with family and friends