Brandon Allen Zaro

Based in Olympia, Washington. Serving clients statewide. Seth Deal is a CPA and fee-only fiduciary financial advisor who helps Washington State public employees retire with confidence. He holds the PFS credential, the financial planning designation built for CPAs. That makes him a tax expert first, with full financial planning on top. In retirement, where every pension and Social Security choice carries a tax bill, that order matters. Seth understands public sector retirement because he lived it. He worked in municipal finance with the City of Olympia before serving public employees as a CPA since 2018. He joined LifeFocus as an advisor in July 2024, working alongside his father and firm founder, Bob Deal, CPA/PFS. They keep the practice small and high-touch.

John Zerba is a Certified Public Accountant and financial advisor with 15 years of experience at 5 Star Investing, an independent registered investment adviser based in Milton Freewater, Oregon. He has maintained a parallel public accounting practice providing accounting, bookkeeping, and income tax preparation services. 5 Star Investing offers discretionary portfolio management, investment advice, and financial planning to individuals, corporate pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm employs an actively managed approach that combines concentrated stock positions with broader market diversification, utilizing fundamental and technical analysis with a value-oriented, multi-cap focus across equities and fixed income.

Joseph Fondahn is the principal of Fondahn Financial in Walla Walla, WA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with one year of industry experience. He has worked at Advantus Group, LLC dba Fondahn CPA since 2016 and previously at Baker Boyer National Bank from 2013 to 2016. In addition to financial advising, he owns and operates a public accounting practice through Advantus Group, LLC. Fondahn Financial provides investment management and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, families, and small businesses. The firm’s investment approach is based on Modern Portfolio Theory, emphasizing diversification, asset allocation, and tax-efficient strategies, while financial planning includes retirement, estate, tax, insurance, and education-funding planning.

Robert Deal is a financial advisor at LifeFocus Financial Advisors, LLC with 26 years of industry experience. He has been with LifeFocus since 2005 and holds a Series 63 designation. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Deal is a CPA and dedicates a significant portion of his time to tax and accounting work within the firm. LifeFocus Financial Advisors serves individuals, small businesses, trusts, estates, and charities by providing asset management, financial planning, and retirement-plan services. The firm employs a combination of fundamental, technical, and quantitative analysis within a modern portfolio theory framework, integrating tax-reduction and estate-preservation strategies alongside investment advice.

Brian Bruggeman is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with five years of industry experience. He is a partner at Block Maughan & Associates, PLLC, DBA Walla Walla Tax Advisors, where he provides tax preparation and planning services. Brian has worked at Walla Walla Wealth Advisors, LLC since 2025 and previously held positions at Baker Boyer Bank and Cetera. Walla Walla Wealth Advisors serves a small group of individual and employer-sponsored retirement plan clients, managing approximately $16 million in discretionary assets. The firm offers comprehensive financial planning and investment management using both passive and active strategies, third-party platforms, and AI tools with human oversight. Its combined ownership with a tax preparation practice is a notable aspect of its service model.

Andrew Block is a Series 65-licensed advisor with Walla Walla Wealth Advisors in Walla Walla, WA, where he has worked since 2025. He has over 16 years of experience as the managing partner of Block Maughan & Associates, PLLC, an accounting firm also known as Walla Walla Tax Advisors. Walla Walla Wealth Advisors provides wealth management, investment management, and comprehensive financial planning to a small roster of individual and employer-sponsored retirement plan clients. The firm employs a combination of passive and active strategies, utilizes third-party platforms and sub-advisers, and integrates AI tools with human oversight in its investment approach.