James Gallagher

Founder and President

James Gallagher has nearly a decade of experience in the wealth management industry. With his background in mathematics and engineering, and a passion to help others achieve their retirement goals, he created the foundation for opening Waterstone Financial. He has an innovative, intellectual and intuitive approach.

James graduated at the top of his class from the University of Western Ontario and went on to become a Director of Engineering at General Motors. Among his many accomplishments, James was named “GM’s Engineer of the Year” for the launch of the award winning Chevy Trailblazer and he holds the engineering patents to the popular Chevy Avalanche. 

With a Minor in Economics and Finance, James was also responsible for massive budgets and was instrumental in leading many successful, cost-effective programs, as well as introducing many efficiencies that ultimately saved GM millions of dollars.

As the economic tides changed and the automotive industry faced a crisis in 2008, James and his family were caught in the resulting downward slide felt by so many. 

Although James loved engineering, this presented him with an opportunity to follow his dreams, start his own business, and relocate to Southwest Florida where he has since been actively involved as a retirement planner and financial advisor in Fort Myers. 

Today, James is on a mission to help change the face of the financial services industry. Utilizing his talents and expertise as an engineer, James conducted a critical analysis of the financial industry and began to apply engineering principles to financial planning. 

Applying many of the same engineering principles to financial services, James strives to design, build and test retirement plans with precision and thoughtfulness.

James and his wife Amy, a native of Southwest Floridian, married in 1982 and have two wonderful adult children, Jeremy and Abby. James believes in working hard and playing hard and particularly enjoys sailing, cycling, recording music in his home and spending time with family and friends.