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.

Scott Latshaw is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors, LLC in Baltimore, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and bringing 33 years of industry experience. He has worked at Stifel Independent Advisors since 2011. Equitable Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, corporations, trusts, and municipal entities, offering brokerage and investment advisory services. The firm uses a collaborative planning process with proprietary market models to develop tailored asset allocation recommendations and provides a range of services under both brokerage and fiduciary agreements. Latshaw Wealth Management's low fee framework utilizes a flat 0.50% fee based on assets under management. A simple low fee designed to maximize long-term return potential.

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.

Stanley Liu is the principal of DocEmpowered, LLC, a fee-only financial advisory firm based in Baltimore, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has one year of industry experience. Prior to founding DocEmpowered in 2023, he worked for eight years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In addition to his advisory role, Mr. Liu practices part-time as a non-invasive cardiologist. DocEmpowered, LLC provides comprehensive financial planning and consulting primarily for physicians and their adult household family members. The firm emphasizes long-term, passive investment strategies based on Modern Portfolio Theory and behavioral finance, offering project-based and ongoing services without discretionary management or custody of assets.

Robert Clark is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in the financial advisory industry. He founded Clark Company in 2017 after 12 years at National Planning Corporation. Clark also provides tax preparation and fixed insurance services as part of his practice. Clark Company advises individual clients as well as pension and profit-sharing plans, offering portfolio management and financial planning services. The firm primarily manages client accounts on a non-discretionary basis, focusing on client-approved strategies, and combines advisory and insurance brokerage services.

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.

Jeffery Holmes is a financial advisor at Investream with seven years of industry experience. He holds a Series 66 designation and has worked at firms including Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Holmes is also a licensed real estate agent. Investream is a single-advisor independent investment adviser serving individual and high-net-worth clients, providing portfolio management and customized Investment Policy Statements. The firm utilizes a multi-method investment approach, including fundamental and technical analysis, options strategies, and both discretionary and non-discretionary account management.

William Tilghman is the sole advisor at Tilghman Wealth Management, LLC in Arnold, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has four years of industry experience, including time at Markin Asset Management, LP. Prior to his financial career, he worked in several roles including at Annapolis Yacht Sales and Compass Languages. Tilghman Wealth Management offers personalized financial planning and investment management to individuals, families, trusts, estates, and family-owned businesses. The firm employs a fee-only advisory model and utilizes tailored investment strategies that include individual securities, mutual funds, ETFs, and separately managed accounts with risk management techniques such as dynamic asset allocation and the use of derivatives.

Gregory Fridley is a financial advisor at Society Investment Management in Baltimore, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 65 designations with three years of industry experience. He has worked at Financial First Advisors since 1991 and has managed his own business, Taxbusters, since 1990. Society Investment Management provides personalized financial planning and discretionary investment management to individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and small businesses. The firm operates on a fee-only basis, emphasizing growth and income investment strategies while incorporating tax preparation and electronic filing as part of its advisory services.

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.

Anvar Izbakiev is a CFP® professional with seven years of industry experience. He is the principal of Serenity Wealth Advisors LLC in Baltimore, MD, and has prior experience with National Accounting Services Inc. In addition to his advisory work, he owns and operates Ameritax Accounting and Finance, Inc., an accounting and tax preparation business. Serenity Wealth Advisors provides financial planning and employee benefit plan services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, corporations, and employer plan sponsors. The firm uses a primarily passive investment approach focused on low costs, limited turnover, and tax efficiency, and offers a range of planning services including ongoing subscription-style engagements, fixed-fee projects, and hourly consultations.

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.

Fletcher Perkins is a CFA® charterholder with 22 years of industry experience. He has been the sole advisor at Acara Capital Management, LLC since 2018, following three years as a personal trader. Acara Capital Management serves individual and high-net-worth clients with discretionary portfolio management through focused and diversified investment approaches. The firm emphasizes concentrated equity positions combined with a variety of asset classes and employs a multi-method analysis process, managing approximately $24.7 million in assets under management.

Robert Sandler is the principal and sole advisor at Robert A. Sandler, LLC, an independent firm based in Clarksville, MD. He holds a Series 65 designation and has eight years of industry experience, including four years at Element Fleet Management prior to founding his current firm in 2017. Robert A. Sandler, LLC provides personalized financial planning and investment management primarily for individual clients, focusing on diversified, low-cost index mutual funds and ETFs with a buy-and-hold approach. The firm emphasizes customized risk profiles, periodic rebalancing, and operates on a fee-only basis without commission arrangements or custody of client assets.

Michael Hocker is a Series 65-licensed financial advisor with CTG Wealth Management LLC, where he has worked since 2023. He has two years of industry experience and previously held positions at the Defense Acquisition University from 2013 to 2019. CTG Wealth Management LLC provides fee-only investment management and financial planning services to individuals, high-net-worth clients, and charitable organizations. The firm manages discretionary portfolios using a combination of passive and active strategies and serves a significant non-U.S. client base, which introduces cross-border considerations into its planning and custody decisions.

Philippe Deumaga is a financial advisor at AGIOS Capital LLC with a Series 65 designation and experience spanning several firms since 2013, including AceCore Global and Imperial Investment Holdings. He has worked in the financial industry for over a decade, with roles at mortgage and investment firms prior to his current position. AGIOS Capital LLC is a newly registered Maryland investment adviser that plans to offer discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, comprehensive financial planning, and advisory services to retail individuals, high-net-worth clients, institutional clients, and international investors. The firm employs a multi-asset, research-driven approach tailored to each client, incorporating a range of investment vehicles including equities, fixed income, cryptocurrencies, and derivatives.

Stephen Lee is the principal of Lee Financial Group, Inc. in Columbia, MD, and holds the CFP® designation and Series 63 license. He has 45 years of industry experience and has been associated with Raymond James Financial in various capacities since 2004. Outside of financial advising, he is the owner of a law office focusing on wills, trusts, and powers of attorney, and serves on the advisory board for River Hill FBLA, providing student mentoring. Lee Financial Group offers individualized financial planning and wealth management advice to individuals and families, including high-net-worth clients, trusts, and charitable organizations. The firm provides written financial plans through a data-gathering process and offers follow-up consultations, with investment recommendations based on fundamental, technical, and cyclical analysis.

Heath Harris is the principal of Compound Advisory with 19 years of industry experience. He holds Series 65 and Series 66 licenses and has previously worked at Oliver Wealth, Hayden Royal, CITIGROUP, and Wells Fargo Advisors. Compound Advisory LLC, formed in 2024, offers portfolio management services using a multi-method investment approach that includes charting, cyclical, fundamental, quantitative, and technical analysis. The firm provides tailored model allocations and typically seeks discretionary authority without employing third-party managers or wrap fee programs.