John Bell is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with 21 years of industry experience. He is currently the sole advisor at Free State Financial Planning, LLC, having previously worked at Charles Schwab and Ameritrade, Inc. Beyond his advisory work, he serves as a FINRA arbitrator and acts as the financial secretary and council member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, where he manages donation tracking and budgeting. Free State Financial Planning LLC provides fee-only financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and businesses. The firm’s guidance is based on Modern Portfolio Theory, emphasizing passive investments through low-cost ETFs and no-load mutual funds, and focuses on delivering educational resources without discretionary investment management.

Michael Hoffman is a CFP® with 18 years of industry experience, currently serving as Co-Managing Director of Forty W Advisors. He previously worked at Verdence Capital Advisors and held roles at Hightower Securities and Hightower Advisors. Forty W Advisors delivers comprehensive wealth management across three critical areas: financial administration, proactive tax-aware planning, and investment management with institutional access. Together, these services help align your personal wealth, family priorities, and business strategy into one coordinated plan, with the goal of reducing complexity and maximizing post-tax wealth.

Ben Arie is a Series 66-licensed financial advisor with Independent Financial Group, LLC, based in North Bethesda, MD. He has two years of industry experience and previously worked at Plotkin Financial Advisors and APEX Home Loans. Outside of advising, he is involved in selling life and health insurance. Independent Financial Group, LLC is a dual-registered broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, charities, corporations, and plan sponsors. The firm offers a variety of advisory programs through its AccessPoint platform and third-party asset managers, providing both discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management.

Simeon’s role is to help clients create a coordinated financial strategy that aligns their investments, taxes, retirement income, and long-term goals into one cohesive plan. A big part of his approach is helping clients simplify complexity and make confident decisions during periods of uncertainty.

Jessica Horner is a CFP® professional at Tender Wealth with experience that includes roles at Chevy Chase Trust and JMH Financial LLC. She also runs an after-school program combining ultimate-frisbee instruction with basic financial literacy lessons. Tender Wealth provides financial planning and consulting services to individuals and high-net-worth clients, offering educational seminars and workshops on financial literacy, budgeting, and retirement planning. The firm focuses on comprehensive planning and supports clients in implementing recommendations through custodians or brokers of their choice.

Alexander Levy is a CFA® charterholder and holds a Series 63 license, currently serving as the sole advisor at Noordzee Capital LLC with one year of industry experience. He has held management roles at Jetway Intel LLC, a news media and market intelligence firm focused on the airline and aerospace industries, and at Noordzee Consulting LLC, which provides research and consulting services. Noordzee Capital offers advisory services mainly to institutional clients, employer retirement plans, family offices, and high- and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, including a significant non-U.S. client base. The firm’s investment approach centers on fundamental analysis supported by economic and technical tools, providing portfolio management, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and sector-specific research.

Christopher Rhim is a CFP® with 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is the principal of Green View Advisors LLC, where he has worked since 2008. The firm provides discretionary asset management, ongoing financial planning, and specialized divorce financial analysis for individual and trust clients. Green View Advisors manages approximately $25.2 million for a small roster of clients, using active management across multiple asset classes tailored through model portfolios and client risk assessments. The firm offers a formal divorce financial analysis service and focuses on individualized client service through a deliberately small client base.

Oliver Fratzscher is the principal of EM Leaders, LLC, an independent advisory firm based in Bethesda, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has 13 years of industry experience. Since founding EM Leaders in 2012, he has focused on providing investment advisory services related to emerging markets. EM Leaders serves institutional investors seeking exposure to emerging markets by selecting and monitoring local investment managers across multiple jurisdictions. The firm offers multi-manager and fund-of-fund supervisory services, emphasizing thorough local due diligence and customized investment policy implementation.

Kathleen McQuade is a Certified Financial Planner® with three years of industry experience, operating as the sole advisor at her independent firm in Laurel, MD. She has been managing her practice since 2010 and holds a Series 65 license. Her firm provides fee-only financial planning and consulting services to individual clients, focusing on investment, retirement, insurance, education, and estate planning. The practice employs a long-term, buy-and-hold investment approach, primarily recommending no-load, low-cost, tax-efficient mutual funds with asset allocation as the key factor in portfolio returns.

Katrina Riddick is the sole advisor at People First Financial Advisors in Landover, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses with 30 years of industry experience. She has served as a financial advisor consultant to state and local governments on debt issuances and leads a related minority business advisory effort. Riddick previously worked at Percival Financial Partners, Ltd and has longstanding ties to Faim Group Strategic Solutions Center, LLC. People First Financial Advisors is an independent firm specializing in municipal financial advisory services, primarily for Maryland state and local government issuers. The firm focuses on structuring bond transactions, reviewing documentation, and acting as a bidding agent for bond proceeds investments, typically providing non-discretionary advisory support rather than primary asset management.

Hi, I’m Matt. My job as a financial planner is to make your life simpler. To help you efficiently and effectively narrow down your options, so you can make the right decisions. And be confident in those decisions for the long-term. Financial planning and investment management are often muddied by unnecessary complexity (usually in an effort to sell you something). It doesn’t need to be this way. I began my career in the financial services industry in 2003 as an analyst with the due diligence law firm Snyder Kearney, LLC (Columbia, MD). At Snyder Kearney, I reviewed public and private securities offerings and evaluated national securities sponsoring companies, focusing on real estate investments and non-traditional investment products. It was there that I realized that I wanted to know more about the practice of law and a lot more about the pretty co-worker in the cubicle next to me, Sylvie. I earned my law degree in 2007 from the University of Baltimore School of Law and married Sylvie in 2008; further proof that education and personal relationships are the investments that produce the best returns. After law school, I practiced law with the firm David Albert & Associates, LLC (Bethesda, MD), focusing in estate planning and administration, guardianship administration, taxation of estates and trusts, and business formations. There, I recognized that helping clients through complicated and often stressful issues was intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling. In 2010, I opened Patuxent Financial Partners, LLC, registered as an Investment Adviser with the State of Maryland in 2017. Here, I leverage my legal background to provide clients with value-added insight in the overlapping areas of estate and financial planning. More importantly, as a personal financial planner and small business owner, I can build lasting relationships with clients and their families; these connections make my work fulfilling, because client success becomes intertwined with my own. I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and hold the FINRA Series 65 securities registration. Raised in Columbia, Maryland, I graduated from McDaniel College with a bachelor's degree in English. Outside of the office, I enjoy running, reading, and hiking with my wife, son, and our mutt hound, Kodi.

Gabriel Trasatti is a financial advisor at Trasatti Wealth Planning, LLC in Baltimore, MD, with 15 years of industry experience. He holds the PFS™ and Series 66 designations and has led his independent firm since 2004. His background includes advanced financial planning and accounting credentials. Trasatti Wealth Planning provides comprehensive financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, charitable institutions, foundations, and corporate pension or profit-sharing plans. The firm offers customized investment strategies with continuous monitoring and formal quarterly reviews, integrating holistic planning across retirement, tax, estate, and cash-flow matters.

Jeff Mitchell is the principal of JRM Capital Management Inc., an independent advisory firm based in Mitchellville, MD. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 27 years of industry experience. Prior to founding JRM Capital Management in 2003, he has been associated with Lifemark Securities Corp. since 2009. JRM Capital Management provides investment advisory and financial planning services to individual and institutional clients, including pension plans, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm employs both fundamental and quantitative analysis to manage portfolios across various asset classes and offers specialized pension consulting services alongside unique engagement models such as performance-based fees and subscription publications.

Veska Kita is a financial advisor at ACI Group with 24 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been associated with Arete Wealth Management since 2011 and AFC Asset Management Services, Inc. since 2010. Outside of her advisory work, she serves as the treasurer for the nonprofit City Wildlife and is a board member and shareholder of Accustrata, Inc., a company specializing in thin film technology. ACI Group provides investment advisory services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, and corporations. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management, comprehensive financial and business planning, and corporate retirement-plan advisory, employing a range of strategies that include fundamental and technical analysis, with a formal communications and education program for clients.

Christopher Mamunes is a financial advisor at Railroad Street Wealth Management, LLC with 29 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has led his independent firm since 2014. Railroad Street Wealth Management provides customized investment management and periodic financial planning to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm manages approximately $20.4 million across 55 client relationships, using a tactical, rules-based investment process that combines technical analysis with a relative-strength framework to guide portfolio construction and risk management.

Samuel Asare is a financial advisor at Laser Wealth Management, LLC in Kensington, MD, holding a ChFC® designation along with Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. He has 13 years of industry experience, previously affiliated with Laser Financial Group. Outside of advisory services, he is a licensed insurance agent and provides tax planning and filing services as an enrolled agent and bookkeeper. Laser Wealth Management serves individual clients and business owners by offering investment advice, financial planning, and consulting. The firm uses a third-party manager to implement investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory, focusing on asset allocation and periodic rebalancing, while providing clients with plan development, reviews, and educational seminars.

Donald Wright is the principal of Wright Wealth Management LLC in Chevy Chase, MD, with 23 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and previously worked at Wells Fargo Clearing and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. Wright Wealth Management provides discretionary investment management, financial planning, and consulting services primarily to individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, and estates. The firm constructs customized portfolios using ETFs, mutual funds, individual stocks, and bonds, employing both fundamental and technical analysis within a fiduciary framework and generally following a long-term investment approach.

Christopher Leader is the sole advisor at Leader Investments LLC in Silver Spring, MD. He holds a Series 65 credential and has two years of industry experience. Prior to founding his firm, he worked in various roles at Twilio, SendGrid, and Stack Labs. He currently works as a product manager with Preply outside of his advisory activities. Leader Investments LLC provides personalized financial guidance to individual investors without managing client accounts or custody of assets. The firm focuses on diversification and value-oriented recommendations, primarily utilizing indices and publicly traded vehicles, with advice tailored to client suitability factors.

Sara Cavendish is a financial advisor at Plein Air Capital Advisers, LLC with 26 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at Windward Asset Management, LLC since 2008. Plein Air Capital Advisers provides discretionary investment management and advisory services to individuals, trusts, corporations, and institutional clients. The firm employs a fundamentally driven, long-term, value-oriented investment approach with concentrated portfolios typically holding 15–20 stocks selected below their view of intrinsic value.

Jonathan Mathews is a CFP® professional with four years of experience in financial planning. He is the sole advisor at Nautical Financial Planning, an independent firm he has led since 2018. Mathews also works as a tax advisor with Block Advisors, providing personal and business tax preparation and planning. Nautical Financial Planning offers fee-only, hourly and project-based financial planning and consultation to individuals, couples, families, and business entities. The firm focuses on globally diversified, low-cost, tax-efficient passive investments and provides clients with guidance on asset allocation, custodial setup, and periodic portfolio reviews without managing assets directly.