Jeffrey Elfont is the sole advisor at Pinnacle Capital Management in Walnut Creek, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials with nine years of industry experience. He has been with Pinnacle Capital Management since 2001 and has prior experience in accounting, taxation, and auditing from his career in CPA firms. Pinnacle Capital Management serves institutional clients and pooled investment vehicles while also working with a small number of individual, non-high-net-worth clients. The firm emphasizes transparent custodian selection and explicit conflict-management policies in its investment management and advisory services.

Paul Cordero is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with 14 years of industry experience, currently practicing at Attune Financial Planning, LLC in San Rafael, CA. He has been with Attune Financial Planning since 2011 and previously was involved with the Financial Planning Association of San Francisco from 2020 to 2023. Attune Financial Planning is a fee-only registered investment adviser that serves individuals, families, and business owners, particularly those nearing or in retirement. The firm offers comprehensive financial planning and wealth management using a passive, asset-class investment approach focused on tax efficiency, and provides both discretionary and non-discretionary advice tailored to each client’s tax situation, risk tolerance, and goals.

Lewis Gridley is a CFP® professional with 23 years of experience, serving as the sole advisor at Gridley Associates Inc since 1999. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. Gridley Associates provides comprehensive financial planning and discretionary investment management for individuals, trusts, estates, and charitable foundations. The firm focuses on broadly diversified portfolios guided by asset allocation and investment policy statements, emphasizing long-term total return through fundamental and cyclical analysis.

Eric Hull is a CFA® charterholder with 20 years of industry experience. He has been with Evergreen Wealth Advisors, Inc. since 2005, serving as the firm's sole advisor. Evergreen Wealth Advisors, Inc. is a fee-only independent registered investment adviser offering discretionary investment management and consulting services to individuals, families, trusts, estates, corporations, and retirement plans. The firm’s investment approach combines strategic and tactical asset allocation with economic trend analysis, emphasizing risk assessment and portfolio volatility control.

Thomas Porta is the sole advisor at Porta Investment Management in Vallejo, CA. He holds the CFP® and CFA® designations, has 2 years of industry experience, and has operated his firm as a DBA since 1990. In addition to financial advising, he is a CPA and a licensed real estate broker. Porta Investment Management provides financial planning, retirement planning, and discretionary investment management to individuals, trusts, pension plans, corporations, and other business entities. The firm’s investment approach emphasizes core portfolios of exchange-traded funds combined with a non-core sleeve of individually selected stocks, diversified across multiple asset classes with regular rebalancing. The firm also offers access to legal, real estate brokerage, and tax/accounting services through the advisor’s professional qualifications.

John Knolle is a CFP® professional with 10 years of experience, serving as the principal of Saranap Wealth Advisors since 2016. He operates as the sole advisor at the independent firm based in Walnut Creek, CA. Outside of his advisory practice, he maintains involvement in rental real estate. Saranap Wealth Advisors provides portfolio management integrated with financial planning and investment consultation to individual and high-net-worth clients, small businesses, and retirement plan sponsors. The firm employs a blend of fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis with strategies such as active asset management and core-plus-satellite construction, and it is known for serving pension and profit-sharing plan clients as well as offering employer-facing workshops and employee benefit analysis.

Patricia Fata is a CFP® and holds a Series 66 license with 23 years of industry experience. She has been the sole advisor and owner of Fata Financial since 2002. Fata Financial provides discretionary investment management and financial planning services to individuals, families, and trusts, focusing on retirement planning. The firm employs a broadly diversified, low-cost investment approach tailored to client-specific factors and emphasizes daily portfolio monitoring and quarterly performance reporting.

Patrick Beresh is a financial advisor at PMB Advisors with 25 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has been with PMB Advisors since 2002. In addition to his advisory role, he is a Certified Public Accountant and occasionally prepares individual tax returns. PMB Advisors serves individual and high-net-worth clients along with their trusts and estates, providing portfolio management and financial planning services. The firm builds personalized investment policies using fundamental and cyclical analysis and typically implements strategies with ETFs, mutual funds, and individual securities.

Jonathan Firestein is a financial advisor at Purpose Capital Advisors with five years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 credential and has worked previously at Uplifting Capital, Inc. and Ascent Capital Management (U.S. Bank). Purpose Capital Advisors provides investment consulting to mission-driven organizations, wealth management firms, family offices, and foundations, focusing on impact investing and private capital. The firm offers services including investment research, manager selection, and business consulting, emphasizing bespoke impact frameworks that integrate financial analysis with social and environmental objectives.

Stephanie Fenster is a financial advisor at Itero Capital, LLC with eight years of industry experience. She holds the Series 63 and Series 65 designations and operates as the sole advisor at the independent firm based in Tiburon, California. Itero Capital provides discretionary portfolio management services primarily to high-net-worth and some non-U.S. individual clients. The firm employs a concentrated, research-driven investment approach focused on consumer-centric public equities worldwide, using both long and short positions to pursue long-term capital appreciation and absolute returns.

John Cha is a financial advisor at KLESIS Advisors, LLC with 20 years of industry experience. He previously worked at VBL Advisors LLC for five years and TLA Capital Management, LLC / Twin Lakes Capital Management, LLC for 17 years. He holds a Series 63 designation. KLESIS Advisors, LLC is an independent investment adviser serving individuals and high-net-worth clients with investment advisory services, managed accounts, and financial planning. The firm customizes advice based on clients’ objectives, time horizons, and risk tolerances, employing various investment approaches and offering both discretionary and non-discretionary management.

Quincy Hall is a CFP®-designated financial advisor with 14 years of industry experience. He founded Hall Financial Services, Inc. in 2018 after prior roles at Cetera Advisor Networks and Mass Mutual Investors Services. In addition to his advisory work, Hall teaches financial planning concepts as a lecturer at the College of Marin Community Education and publishes educational books and courses under his Advice Only business. Hall Financial Services, Inc. provides personalized financial planning and advisory services to individual and high-net-worth clients. The firm offers Advice-Only™ standalone planning engagements that are separate from asset management, recommending third-party managers when ongoing portfolio management is desired, and provides educational content through its Advice Only program.

Sammy Sung is a financial advisor with ALE LLC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 24 years of industry experience. He has been affiliated with ALE LLC since 2015 and is also involved in real estate brokerage through Exit Excel Realty and Exit Realty Team. In addition to his advisory role, he acts as a trustee for a family trust established in 1997. ALE LLC provides portfolio management, financial planning, and pension consulting services to individuals, pension plans, pooled investment vehicles, and business entities. The firm manages primarily non-discretionary accounts using a range of analytical methods and investment strategies, and is notable for its involvement in real estate brokerage, insurance distribution, and pension consulting.

Jake Birnberg is a financial advisor at Empowering Financial with nine years of industry experience. He previously worked at Portsmouth Financial Investment Advisory and has been involved in real estate and self-employment for over two decades. Birnberg operates a tax planning and preparation business, Deduction Detectives, and holds real estate and insurance licenses. Empowering Financial provides discretionary and non-discretionary investment management and financial planning services to individuals, small business owners, trustees, and fiduciaries. The firm employs a tailored investment approach combining fundamental, quantitative, qualitative, and cyclical analysis, and offers tax planning and IRS representation through its related tax business.

Randy Benning is a CFP®-certified financial advisor with 33 years of industry experience. He is the principal of Benning Financial Group, LLC, an independent firm he has led since 2002. Prior to founding his firm, he worked at Triad Advisors, Inc. for nine years. In addition to his advisory work, he is also an insurance broker and owner, licensed with several carriers. Benning Financial Group provides discretionary portfolio management for individual investors, corporate entities, charitable organizations, and pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm employs a combination of fundamental and cyclical analysis and utilizes long-term, short-term, and trading strategies, including derivatives and option strategies, tailored to client objectives.

Much like you don't wait to join a gym until you're healthy, you shouldn't wait to work with a financial planner until you're wealthy. Unfortunately, the financial industry historically only wants to work with clients who have -insert any seven-digit-minimum amount of assets-. The good news is there are now plenty of financial planners who will gladly work with clients regardless of how much they have already saved. I am one of those planners. ;) I've been a financial planner for over a decade now, and I've worked lots of different clients from all walks of life. I've come to learn that sticking to the basics and keeping things simple is the best approach when helping clients develop a financial plan. My role is to help guide you on your path to financial freedom. New clients start with a financial plan. This is where we talk about your goals, time horizon, and all the numbers. We’ll review different scenarios so you can see what’s possible. By the end of the initial plan, you should be up and running, moving in the general direction of your goals. From there, we move to ongoing financial planning in which we meet semi-annually to monitor your plan and make adjustments when needed.

Bruce Ritter is the sole advisor at Ritter Wealth Counsel, an independent fee-only wealth management firm based in San Rafael, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and has over 36 years of experience in the industry. Ritter Wealth Counsel serves primarily high-net-worth individuals and families, as well as trusts, estates, pension, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment programs implemented mainly with passive index funds or ETFs, maintaining predominantly non-discretionary client relationships and a small, concentrated client roster.

John Dowling is a CFA® charterholder and principal advisor at JFD Capital, LLC, with nine years of industry experience. He previously worked at Fairview Capital and the Golub Group (now Summitry) before founding his current independent advisory firm. JFD Capital is a small independent registered investment adviser that provides ongoing, tailored portfolio management primarily to high-net-worth individuals. The firm employs a bottom-up, fundamental research approach focusing on undervalued equities and fixed-income securities, offering discretionary management and performance-based fee arrangements to qualified clients.

Matthew Wright is the principal of Wright Financial, LLC in Pleasant Hill, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 26 years of industry experience. His career includes roles at Geneos Wealth Management Inc, Independent Financial Group, LLC, NPB Financial Group, LLC, and Seel & Wright, LLC. He also serves as a trustee for a family trust. Wright Financial, LLC provides investment management and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, and small businesses. The firm manages approximately $74 million for around 118 clients, using a non-discretionary advisory approach based on Modern Portfolio Theory and a core-and-satellite investment strategy.

James Koch is the principal advisor at Koch Capital Management LLC, an independent firm based in Alamo, CA. He holds a Series 65 designation and has 17 years of industry experience. Koch also operates the Informed Household financial-education platform. Koch Capital Management LLC provides investment management and retirement-planning services to individuals, families, and trusts. The firm uses a structured retirement planning approach, offering discretionary portfolios and a fixed-fee retirement program, with a focus on active risk management techniques and integrated client collaboration tools.