Financial Planning Implications of Declining Interest Rates

By Mike Switzer

Published September 16, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT

Garet Strange, certified financial planner with Hobbs Group Advisors in Columbia, S.C.

Interest rates have risen in recent years because of inflation, but now the economy is expected to slow down and maybe even slide into recession, which should lead to lower interest rates. What does this mean for your financial plan? Mike Switzer interviews Garet Strange, a certified financial planner with Hobbs Group Advisors in Columbia, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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