Mark Allen Davids

David Grant is a CFP® at Retirement Matters, Inc. in Barrington, IL, where he has worked since 2013. He has 19 years of industry experience and operates as the sole advisor at his independent firm. Retirement Matters, Inc. manages approximately $30 million for about 24 clients, offering discretionary portfolio management, comprehensive financial planning, and ongoing wealth management services. The firm focuses on working with AbbVie executives, but Dave also has deep knowledge of the Illinois TRS pension system. Dave incorporates fundamental analysis and individualized investment policies in its approach.

John Nowak CFP® practitioner specializes in retirement planning for seasoned professionals; providing guidance to turn decades of saving into a Tax-Wise, Income-Smart, Experience-Rich retirement. He is a fiduciary who focuses on all aspects of your retirement journey: - turning savings into a retirement paycheck - reducing expected taxes over time - claiming Social Security and Medicare - aligning your portfolio with your lifestyle and bucket lists - enjoying your life while reducing regrets - leaving a legacy, not a burden and confusion for your family John works primarily with couples and single-women across the country who are looking for personalized planning and holistic advice for their retirement. Your ideas, vision, and concerns are our primary focus. John founded Alo Financial Planning in 2018 after becoming a planner in 2007, and following a career in accounting. He is a proud alum of the University of Illinois, graduating with honors in 1999 and a degree in Accountancy.

As a CFP® professional and founder of Illuminate Wealth Management, I work with business owners, executives, and professionals who are navigating complex financial decisions. My goal is to help you understand your options, avoid costly mistakes, and create a strategy that supports the life you're working so hard to build. Over the years, I've developed a particular passion for helping clients make smart decisions around equity compensation. Whether you're dealing with RSUs, ISOs, stock options, ESPPs, or a major liquidity event, I help clients think through the tax implications, manage concentration risk, and create a plan that connects today's decisions with their long-term goals. I also work closely with business owners who are balancing the demands of running a company while trying to make thoughtful decisions about growing and protecting their personal wealth. When your business, taxes, retirement goals, investments, and family finances are all connected, financial planning becomes about much more than investments alone. While equity compensation and business planning are often what bring people to me, my role is much larger than solving a single financial challenge. I help clients think through retirement, taxes, investments, cash flow, and long-term wealth planning so they can make decisions with confidence and stay focused on what matters most. My approach is simple: bring clarity to complexity and help people make confident financial decisions. I believe good planning should help you spend less time worrying about money and more time focusing on what matters most to you.

James Madl is a financial advisor at Hendricks Wealth and Estate Management with a Series 65 designation and four years of industry experience. Hendricks Wealth and Estate Management advises individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, pension and profit-sharing plans, and business entities, offering portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs a range of analytical approaches and integrates financial planning with tax, insurance, and corporate-structure considerations, providing coordinated legal, tax, and insurance services through affiliated professionals.

Nicky Amore is a CFP® with 10 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Parallel Advisors, LLC since 2025. Growing up, Nicky’s grandparents were an influential part of her life and she recalls, “My Papa always said that I should be a mechanic because I wanted to take things apart and discover how they work. He inspired me so much with his military service that I carry his dog tag with me to remind me that my first job is to serve others before I serve myself.” As a child with special needs in a family of six children, Nicky remembers, “Being in a wheelchair and having to learn resiliency and patience to overcome this struggle taught me to find a way to make it work.” She knew her special needs were temporary and she knew she would walk again one day. After struggling and relearning how to walk, she was determined to help others and to become a Chartered Special Needs Consultant®. After she healed from her injuries, she earned her second-degree black belt in karate, taught self defense to adults with special needs, participated in a triathlon for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the Chicago Marathon for Special Olympics, and an Ironman triathlon for the Wounded Warrior Project. Through her work for life, she finds that people remove their fear by connecting with and leaning on others. Prior to joining Parallel, Nicky worked at E*TRADE Capital Management, E*Trade Securities, and Morgan Stanley. Being a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® and managing competing priorities requires integrating moving pieces including attention to detail and knowing not only how to take the pieces apart, but to put them back together in a way that fits and makes sense. Working collaboratively with her clients, she makes what seems complex, simple to understand, she creates a work-optional lifestyle, and together with clients, they plan and organize so that the focus is not on just one challenge, but the entire family. Nicky's career in financial services includes advising veterans, business owners, and families with special needs or trauma and much like she did in her youth, “As a Certified Financial Therapist™, I know my clients are the experts in their own lives so I take apart the fragments of my expertise and put the pieces back together in a cohesive way that can best serve them.” Since earning her MBA, she is determined to share her passion and enthusiasm for finance with the next generation of the profession. She also serves as an adjunct professor of finance at multiple institutions, including Harper College, UCLA Extension, New York University, and John Carroll University. She teaches Introduction to Accounting, Decision-Making for Entrepreneurs, and CFP® courses in estate planning, insurance and risk management, tax planning and psychology of financial planning. Nicky’s time outside of work is spent with her alumni societies and volunteering with Savvy Ladies, an organization determined to reduce disparities in financial education, 3rd Decade, Hire Heroes, and Alpha Phi Omega. She and her wife, Lauren, enjoy training for triathlons with their rescue dogs. Parallel Advisors serves individuals, businesses, retirement plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations with discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting. The firm employs a diversified investment approach that includes fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis, and integrates held-away account management and adviser-only investment vehicles.

Eric Kirste, CFP®, CIMA®, AIF® is the Co-Founder, Principal Wealth Manager at Savvy Advisors, Inc. He has been featured in Barron's, The Wall Street Journal, InvestmentNews, Business Insider, GoBankingRates, and U.S. News & World Report. With a deep-rooted passion for service and enriching the lives of others, Eric found his calling as a wealth management professional early on. Eric brings over 24 years of deep experience working closely with individuals and families in transition, helping them navigate difficult changes. Compassion is important to Eric, and he helps clients who are going through a divorce or grieving the loss of a spouse or family member get through the transition to financial independence and overcome new challenges with confidence. He also helps business owners and individuals looking to retire early or nearing retirement ensure they are best prepared for their ideal retirement lifestyle. At Savvy, he strives to help his clients align their money with their values, provide integrated solutions to serve all of their needs and empower them to make a lifetime of smart financial decisions. Importantly, Eric is committed to keeping his clients’ best interests top of mind while offering ongoing guidance, encouragement and accountability. With a passion for helping others, Eric has volunteered for the Foundation for Financial Planning, AARP and is the Treasurer on the Board of Wings For Widows. Eric is a native of the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He is committed to giving back to his community and serves as the Treasurer for the Prospect Heights Park District Board of Commissioners and the Old Orchard Country Club. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Alisa, their two sons, Logan and Matthew, and their rescue dog, Bear.