Rudy Merl Thomas

David Brooks Sr. is a financial advisor with SMART Wealth, LLC in Omaha, NE, holding Series 63, 65, and 66 licenses and bringing 18 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at AE Wealth Management, LLC, Verus Wealth Management, LLC, and Morgan Stanley & Co., Incorporated. Brooks is president of Tax SMART, LLC, which provides tax preparation and planning services, and also leads Mid-West Learning, Inc., offering marketing, education, and classroom space. SMART Wealth serves individual and high-net-worth households with retirement income strategies, investment advisory, portfolio management, and financial planning. The firm manages discretionary portfolios through in-house models and sub-advisers, sponsors the SMARTWay ETFs, and operates affiliated firms providing insurance, tax, and marketing services.

Tyler Petersen is a Partner & Wealth Advisor with RetirePath Advisors partnered with the Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 13 years of industry experience. He has worked with various Thrivent entities since 2012, including Thrivent Investment Management Inc and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Petersen serves as a director for the Dana College Foundation and is a board member of Relational Tithe, an organization focused on community support through relationship-based resource distribution. Thrivent Advisor Network, LLC provides investment advisory services to individuals, families, trusts, businesses, and charitable organizations. The firm emphasizes a long-term investment approach with customized asset allocations, using low-cost mutual funds, ETFs, fixed-income securities, and alternative investments, while offering clients access to independent managers and integrated services within the broader Thrivent group.

Bruce Aken Jr. is a financial advisor at Commonwealth Financial Network with nine years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has worked with firms including Securities America Advisors and Ameritas Investment Partners. He is also co-owner of Nelson Murphy Insurance & Investments, LLC, a private entity facilitating securities, advisory, and insurance business. Commonwealth Financial Network serves a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients, providing a range of advisory programs and services alongside operational, trading, technology, compliance, and practice-management support. The firm offers various investment program structures and manages discretionary model portfolios through its Investment Management and Research team.

Chad Burger is a financial advisor at Reserve Wealth Planning in Omaha, NE, holding a Series 65 credential with two years of industry experience. Prior to his current role, he spent ten years at Precision Lens and concurrently works as a Senior Account Executive at Johnson & Johnson Vision, where he provides ophthalmic advice and sells medical products. Reserve Wealth Planning offers comprehensive wealth management services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and charitable organizations, combining investment management with financial planning. The firm employs a holistic, goal-based planning process and primarily uses passive, low-turnover portfolios while accommodating socially responsible investing preferences.

Joseph Hearn is the sole advisor at Intentional Retirement, LLC in Omaha, NE, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 30 years of industry experience. He has worked at Intentional Retirement (formerly Provisio Publishing) since 2004 and previously at Teckmeyer Financial Services, L.L.C. He also operates as an independent insurance agent, spending a small portion of his time on this activity. Intentional Retirement provides advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients, as well as retirement plan sponsors and participants, focusing on asset management, written financial planning, and retirement-plan fiduciary consulting and education. The firm manages over $131 million in client assets on a non-discretionary basis and offers pension consulting for plan assets exceeding $9 million.

Eric Horne is a CFP® with 21 years of industry experience, currently serving as the sole advisor at ARC Element Wealth Design in Papillion, NE. His prior experience includes roles at Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade, where he worked for over 18 years. ARC Element Wealth Design is an independent advisory firm serving individuals, high-net-worth clients, and fiduciary entities such as trusts and estates. The firm manages approximately $29.5 million across about two dozen clients, providing portfolio management, financial planning, and educational communications like newsletters and seminars. The investment approach focuses on strategic asset allocation using ETFs, mutual funds, selective individual securities, option strategies, and active management, with portfolios implemented through model portfolios, automated tax-management tools, and occasional sub-advisers.