About Us
Jim Gaskins
Founder of United Financial Services
Jim Gaskins is a Registered Investment Advisor and Fiduciary, as well as the founder of United Financial Services, while working alongside the expert teams at Gradient Financial Group. He brings over 15 years of experience to the financial field, and has personally worked with over one thousand five hundred individuals and families employed through the state of Minnesota. Additionally, he has also worked with a variety of public and federal employees throughout the country. After working with teachers, professors, and law enforcement personnel, he realized that there was a gap in the help that public employees received with their retirement planning. The state HR departments know the pensions and options, but could not legally help with financial and insurance aspects, and other financial professionals don’t know how the state retirement plans work. Jim founded United Financial to help cover all the aspects of retirement planning for the people who keep us safe, teachers at all levels, and those who build our roads and take care of our beautiful state in every respect.
In his free time, Jim enjoys spending time at the family lake home, reading, writing articles, staying physically active, and having adventures with his daughter, Annika.
Jim Gaskins is a Registered Investment Advisor and Fiduciary, as well as the founder of United Financial Services, while working alongside the expert teams at Gradient Financial Group. He brings over 15 years of experience to the financial field, and has personally worked with over one thousand five hundred individuals and families employed through the state of Minnesota. Additionally, he has also worked with a variety of public and federal employees throughout the country. After working with teachers, professors, and law enforcement personnel, he realized that there was a gap in the help that public employees received with their retirement planning. The state HR departments know the pensions and options, but could not legally help with financial and insurance aspects, and other financial professionals don’t know how the state retirement plans work. Jim founded United Financial to help cover all the aspects of retirement planning for the people who keep us safe, teachers at all levels, and those who build our roads and take care of our beautiful state in every respect.
In his free time, Jim enjoys spending time at the family lake home, reading, writing articles, staying physically active, and having adventures with his daughter, Annika.
STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
MICHAEL BINGER CFA®
President of Gradient Investments, LLC
As President, Michael is the leader of Gradient Investments and has been with the firm since 2012. He brings more than 35 years of industry experience, including prior roles managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios for an institutional asset manager. Michael is a CFA® charter holder and is a frequent contributor on CNBC, Fox Business, Barron’s, and the Wall Street Journal.
KEITH GANGL CFA®
Senior Portfolio Manager of Gradient Investments, LLC
Keith joined Gradient Investments in 2018 and has more than 30 years of industry experience. Prior roles include senior portfolio manager for a large institutional asset management firm, managing a multi-billion-dollar portfolio. Keith is a CFA® charter holder, managed a Lipper Award-winning mutual fund, and has been featured in media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg, Investor’s Business Daily, Nasdaq and Reuters.
TYLER ELLEGARD CFA®
Senior Portfolio Manager of Gradient Investments, LLC
Tyler is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Gradient Investments, where he focuses on portfolio management, asset allocation, and investment research across multiple asset classes. He provides market insight and portfolio strategy to support client investment decisions. Tyler is a CFA® charterholder and has been featured in media outlets including Schwab Network, Reuters, and The Wall Street Journal.
TIM KALEY, AIF®
Investment Fiduciary
Tim Kaley works alongside Jim Gaskins to provide investment advisory services for United Financial clients. In addition to being an Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Tim has dedicated a great deal of time over the past years studying a variety of important retirement topics. Tim has presented educational workshops and spoken at events throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. In his spare time, Tim enjoys spending time with family and friends, hockey, skiing, hiking and being active in the community.
Tim Kaley is an investment advisor representative of Gradient Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered independent investment advisor serving customers in Minnesota, Western Wisconsin and Texas. His mission is to provide families and businesses with innovative financial strategies and planning to help lead to financial clarity and security.
*Tim Kaley owns and operates Kaley Financial Group. Jim Gaskins owns and operates United Financial Services. These entities do not share common ownership and are held as independent entities. Jim Gaskins and Tim Kaley partner to provide financial planning services and to jointly sell insurance products, including annuities. A conflict of interest exists as compensation may be exchanged for this arrangement in the form of shared commissions on insurance and annuity sales, and the splitting of financial planning services fees, including those collected for assets under management. Tim Kaley offers Investment Advisory Services through Gradient Advisors, LLC (Arden Hills, MN 877-885-0508), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Gradient Advisors, LLC and its advisors do not render tax, legal, or accounting advice. Kaley Financial Group, LLC is not a registered investment advisor and is independent of Gradient Advisors, LLC. Insurance products and services are offered through Timothy Kaley, independent agent.
*Kaley Financial Group, LLC, Timothy Kaley and Gradient Advisors, LLC are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any government agency.
CHAD LEVIS REBC®
Medicare Specialist
Chad Levis, REBC® has been helping clients meet their insurance needs since 1997. He launched CAL Financial in 2016 and partners with many of the leading insurance companies in the industry to deliver top quality insurance products to fit the unique needs of each individual and business client. Chad and his agency assist clients in areas of Medicare, health insurance and employee benefits, life and disability insurance programs for individuals and business owners, as well as personal insurance lines such as auto, home and personal liability.