WHY JERRY CHOSE TO BE A FINANCIAL PLANNER: His lack of financial literacy was not by choice. It was because personal finance was not taught in school or in his community. As a first-generation wealth builder, Jerry's money journey has been shaped by a profound understanding of both cultural and financial expectations. His experiences have uniquely positioned him to empathize with the challenges faced by first-generation families, inspiring a distinctive approach to financial guidance. His moment of profound solitude occurred during his transition from the Marine Corps back to civilian life. In uniform, Jerry felt in control, with camaraderie, financial stability, and a consistent salary. However, the day he left, all that stability vanished giving way to a cascade of emotions - depression, anxiety, and fear. Jerry, who had grown up facing financial hardships, relying on food stamps, and public aid, knew it was time to stop merely talking about wanting to build wealth and start acting. The realization struck deep: He needed to make a difference not just for himself, but for others facing similar issues. Motivated by a desire to help his family and friends, Jerry decided to be the guide he wished he'd had. He obtained his license, college degree, and joined a firm not only to enhance his life but the lives of other 1st-time wealth builders. After a few years of helping high net worth individuals grow their assets, Jerry felt the firm wasn't built to help families like his. In 2024, Jerry took the leap and launched Confianza Wealth Management as a guide for aspiring wealth builders. Jerry is on a mission to empower 1st-time wealth building families. Jerry wants to bridge the financial planning accessibility gap by helping these millennial families take control of their financial futures.

Scott Weber is a financial advisor with WealthLynk, Inc. in Fallbrook, CA, holding a Series 66 designation and 20 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at J.P. Morgan Securities, Tollminder, UBS Financial Services, Chase Investment Services Corp., and Morgan Stanley. He is also an independent insurance agent. WealthLynk serves individual and high-net-worth clients by providing ongoing portfolio management, financial planning, and recommendations of third-party investment managers via the Altruist platform. The firm operates primarily on a non-discretionary basis, focusing on client-approved trades and long-term investment strategies.

Rick Alvarado is a CFP®-designated financial advisor with 36 years of industry experience. He has been with Wealth One Advisors since 2000 and has a prior affiliation with LPL Financial dating back to 1993. Rick is based in Fallbrook, CA, and holds the Series 63 license. Wealth One Advisors provides financial planning and consulting services to individuals, high-net-worth households, trusts, estates, and certain pension or profit-sharing plans, with a focus on retirement, estate, and protection planning. The firm offers written plans and consulting engagements without managing client assets, using both fundamental and technical analysis to tailor investment strategies that emphasize long-term asset allocation and periodic rebalancing.

Darren Schuringa is a CFA® charterholder and the sole advisor at Yorkville Capital Management LLC, where he has worked since 2006. He has 20 years of industry experience. Yorkville Capital Management provides discretionary portfolio management and investment supervisory services to high-net-worth individuals and various institutional and household accounts. The firm employs proprietary risk models and asset-allocation algorithms, tactical hedging, and short selling as part of its risk-management strategy.

Amy Sharp is a CFP® professional with over 30 years of experience in financial advising. She is the founder of Amy T. Sharp, CFP, LLC, an independent firm based in Valley Center, CA. Her prior roles include positions at CS Planning Corp, Investacorp Advisory Services Inc, PRUCO Securities, USAA Financial Planning Services, and MSI Financial Services. Outside of advising, she co-owns a family chocolate business producing sugar-free confections. Her firm provides financial planning and portfolio management services to individuals, businesses, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm constructs diversified, actively managed portfolios with a systematic approach and offers educational resources including a monthly newsletter and online articles.

Ahmet Turken is a financial advisor with Turken Investments LLC in San Marcos, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and has six years of industry experience. Prior to founding Turken Investments, he worked at Thermo Fisher Scientific and is currently a Senior Finance Manager at Becton Dickinson, focusing on financial planning and budgeting for their Biosciences division. Turken Investments provides investment management and financial planning services to individuals and legal entities, including executives, retirees, and business owners. The firm emphasizes diversified portfolios based on written Investment Policies and client risk questionnaires, operating on a non-discretionary basis with client approval for trades.

John Goodrich is a CFP® and ChFC® with 25 years of experience in financial advising. He has been the principal of Goodrich Financial Group, LLC in Escondido, CA since 2006. Outside of advising, he owns a single-family townhouse rental property in San Diego. Goodrich Financial Group provides discretionary investment supervisory services to individuals, high-net-worth individuals, and select corporate clients. The firm employs a blend of asset allocation and multiple analytical methods, using both long- and short-term strategies and active instruments such as options and margin transactions.

Jake Pezzi is a financial advisor at Pezzi Wealth Management LLC in San Marcos, CA, holding a Series 66 designation with two years of industry experience. He previously worked at LPL Enterprise, Prudential Financial Planning Services, and Pruco Securities, LLC. Outside of advisory services, he is a licensed insurance agent. Pezzi Wealth Management LLC provides discretionary investment management and comprehensive financial planning to individual and high-net-worth clients, focusing on portfolios built with exchange-traded funds and low-cost mutual funds. The firm employs a fundamental analysis-based investment process with a long-term orientation, incorporates independent managers without receiving direct compensation, and offers retirement and other planning services.

Christopher Ward is a financial advisor with Ward Capital Management LLC in Escondido, CA. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has 27 years of industry experience. Prior to founding Ward Capital Management in 2014, he worked at Chronos Corporation, FFEC Wealth Partners LLC, Banc Of America Investment Services, Inc., Quick & Reilly, Inc., and A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. Ward Capital Management provides investment advisory and retirement plan services to individual investors, including high-net-worth clients, trusts and estates, institutional retirement plans, nonprofits, foundations, corporations, small businesses, and churches. The firm manages portfolios using a single stock model supplemented by bonds and employs both fundamental and technical analysis, while also offering fiduciary consulting and participant education for plan clients.

Merrit Strunk is a financial advisor at Momentum Financial and Insurance Services LLC with seven years of industry experience. She holds a Series 65 designation and has worked at Momentum Financial and Insurance Services since 2017, including prior roles at Foundations Investment Advisors and Asset Marketing Systems. In addition to advisory services, she is active as an insurance agent, focusing on insurance sales and tax mitigation strategies. Momentum Financial and Insurance Services LLC provides discretionary asset management, financial planning, and consulting to individuals, high-net-worth clients, foundations, and business entities, and also offers insurance products. The firm uses an open-architecture platform with third-party model strategies and conducts seminars and webinars for client education.

Born and raised in Saigon, I moved to the U.S. alone at 16. Shortly after, my family’s business collapsed, and I became financially independent when I was still a teenager. That experience lit a fire in me—a desire to understand how money works, and how to use it to protect and empower the people we love. As I went deeper into the world of finance, spent over a decade working with leading private wealth management firms in California, I realized wealth isn't just about income or investments. It's about peace. It's about having choices. And it's about living a life that reflects who you are—not just what you’ve earned. Too often, we’re taught to chase someone else’s version of success. I’ve seen people climb hard, high, and fast—only to realize they were on the wrong mountain. That’s why I started Anora Wealth: to help people like you pause, get clear on your “why,” and build a financial life rooted in intention, not pressure. Today, I work with first-generation wealth builders, content creators, and women in transition to align their money with what matters most—so they can stop surviving, and start designing a life of clarity, calm, and confidence. Outside of work, I love learning new things, listening to podcasts, crafting, and spending time in nature. I stay active through boxing, cycling, hiking, tennis, and yoga. I’m fluent in Vietnamese, currently learning Mandarin, and know a bit of French.

Tommy Wadsworth is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with three years of industry experience. He operates Safe Harbor Assets, an independent registered investment adviser based in Fallbrook, CA. Prior to founding Safe Harbor Assets, Wadsworth worked at Voice by the Sea Inc. for over a decade. Safe Harbor Assets serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, and business entities by offering discretionary and non-discretionary asset management along with financial planning and consulting. The firm tailors portfolios to client goals and risk tolerance using various analysis methods and investment strategies, and it does not impose a minimum account size.

Shane Kochon is a financial advisor at Harvestwise Wealth Planning with 18 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has previously worked at Ameriprise Financial Services and Merrill. He serves as Treasurer on the board of directors for a local organization and holds a real estate license. Harvestwise Wealth Planning is an independent advisory firm that serves individuals, small businesses, trusts, estates, high-net-worth clients, charitable organizations, and other institutional clients. The firm provides comprehensive portfolio management and financial planning services, including estate-document facilitation and donor-advised fund oversight, while coordinating with clients’ tax, legal, and other professionals.

Darren Devries is the principal of De Vries Asset Management, LLC, with 11 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has a background that includes roles at Tweet Management Services and ownership of a CPA and tax preparation practice, FleetRidge Financial, Inc., which he continues to operate. De Vries Asset Management serves individuals, businesses, endowments, and nonprofit organizations primarily by acting as a promoter and referral source to third-party asset managers, while also providing direct wealth management, discretionary portfolio management, and financial planning services tailored to client objectives. The firm is affiliated with an accounting practice, reflecting Mr. Devries's dual role as a licensed CPA offering tax and accounting services separate from advisory offerings.

James Reyes is a financial advisor with Allen James Financial LLC in San Marcos, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and 18 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at First Advisors National, LLC and JCG Investments, LLC. He is also an insurance agent specializing in fixed indexed insurance contracts, a business he has been involved with since 1985. Allen James Financial LLC provides portfolio management and investment advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients, focusing on tailored strategies based on technical analysis and long-term trading principles. The firm advises on insurance products, ETFs, hedge funds, and private placements, with client permissions required for trade execution.

Christopher Lis is a Series 65-registered advisor with FOX Wealth Strategies in Claremont, California. He has no prior experience in the financial advisory industry but has worked in commercial real estate, recruiting, and currently at John Paul the Great Catholic University. FOX Wealth Strategies serves individuals and families in Southern California by providing fee-based financial planning and standalone investment advice. The firm emphasizes customized, non-discretionary recommendations using fundamental analysis and offers services on an hourly or flat-fee basis rather than a percentage of assets under management.

Lucille Shaw is the sole advisor at Finances for Life, LLC, an independent firm based in Carlsbad, CA. She holds Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and has 23 years of industry experience. In addition to her advisory role, Shaw is president of FFL Insurance Agency, LLC, where she is involved in life, health, long-term care, and disability insurance sales. Finances for Life, LLC provides investment management and comprehensive financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, retirement plans, trusts, and business entities. The firm emphasizes client-specific investment strategies, primarily manages accounts on a non-discretionary basis, and integrates advisory services with an affiliated insurance agency.

I’m on a mission to inspire women to be more intentional with their financial choices and provide a place where they can learn and share – without judgment. I’ve been through divorce and death of loved ones, I’ve worked with hundreds of clients with unique financial situations. One thing hasn’t changed throughout my career – my commitment to providing personalized services to my clients to inspire their financial journeys. You’re a busy professional woman in the middle to later stages of your career (or maybe you’ve already retired!). You have a lot going on, but you want to make sure you’re making smart financial moves. Whether you’re the family CFO or not, you want to be treated with respect. You won’t be afraid to ask questions and learn what you don’t know. You’d like to find someone you can bounce ideas off of, to get help making financial decisions, or to delegate to an expert. Finances don’t have to be a drag. You probably are already in the habit of saving. You may be making a lot of money, but haven’t been intentional about what you’re doing with it. Throughout my career, I’ve been inspired by so many women who are doing amazing things in their professional lives. However, the traditional financial advice industry does not serve us well. ➡️Our plans need to account for income shortfalls due to the gender pay gap – leading to a lifetime of reduced savings opportunities. ➡️We may need to plan around periods of income plateaus due to caregiving responsibilities for children or parents – it’s important to be intentional about career choices. ➡️Women live longer than men and are often entering or experiencing retirement solo – this impacts all aspects of retirement income, taxes, and leaving a legacy.

Michael Cortina is the sole advisor at Cortina Capital, LLC in Fallbrook, CA, holding Series 65 and Series 66 licenses with 11 years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Fisher Investments, TD Ameritrade, and Citigroup Global Markets. Cortina Capital, LLC provides discretionary portfolio management to individual and high-net-worth clients, creating written Investment Policy Statements tailored to each account. The firm applies a blended investment approach using charting, fundamental, and technical analysis, focusing on concentrated positions in mid- and large-cap technology stocks with strategies that include margin and various levels of options trading.

James Heczko is the principal advisor at Opus Investment Advisors, LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials with 18 years of industry experience. He has worked at Opus since 2002. Outside of his advisory role, he owns and manages a small avocado farm and is involved in developing a consumer appliance startup. Opus serves institutional clients and family offices, focusing on pension trusts, corporations, and ultra-high-net-worth family offices. The firm provides consulting services including performance reviews, manager evaluations, and pension consulting, operating solely on a fee-for-service basis without managing client assets or exercising investment discretion.