Independent, general estate planning guidance financial advisors in Baltimore, MD

Cecil Denton is the sole advisor at Decisions, LLC in Baltimore, MD, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses with 25 years of industry experience. He has been with Decisions since its founding in 1997. In addition to his advisory work, he is involved in life insurance activities with brokerage companies. Decisions, LLC provides financial planning and consulting services while referring clients to third-party asset managers and broker-dealers for portfolio management. The firm serves individuals, high-net-worth clients, business entities, and nonprofit organizations, and does not take custody of client assets.

Yuanyuan Yang is a financial advisor with Return on Life Wealth Partners in Baltimore, MD, holding a Series 66 designation and 13 years of industry experience. Yang has worked at LPL Financial since 2012 and is also involved with Planned Financial Services and 401(k) Prosperity. Return on Life Wealth Partners provides comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management primarily for individual and high-net-worth clients, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans. The firm employs a values-driven, holistic planning process that integrates investment, risk management, and legacy strategies with client goals and offers a range of fee arrangements and specialized services.

Melissa Mazard is a financial advisor at Seek the Plan with 13 years of industry experience. She holds the Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been involved with several nonprofit and educational organizations, including Junior Achievement and Spark Business Academy, where she supports financial literacy and business education programs. Prior to founding her firm, she worked at Foresters Financial. Seek the Plan provides tailored financial planning and investment advice to individual clients, focusing on education, asset allocation, and comprehensive non-investment planning topics such as tax optimization and cash-flow management. The firm emphasizes a long-term investment perspective, offers financial education seminars, and uses non‑AUM fee structures without holding custody of client assets.

Thomas O'Neil Jr. is a CFA® charterholder with 36 years of industry experience. He has been with D.F. Dent and Company, Inc. in Baltimore, MD since 1985. D.F. Dent and Company provides discretionary investment management and financial planning to individual and institutional clients, including high-net-worth individuals, retirement plans, charitable institutions, and municipal entities. The firm employs a disciplined portfolio construction process across equity and fixed-income strategies and manages a family of mutual funds while serving other advisors and wrap/UMA programs.

Validmir Kats is a financial advisor at Fiduciary Financial Advisors in Baltimore, MD, holding a Series 65 designation with two years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at Freedom Calls, LLC, Five Doors, Legacy, and ER4RE, LLC. Kats serves on the advisory board of Alchemy of Money and works as a business consultant in private practice. Fiduciary Financial Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, families, trusts, retirement plans, corporations, and charitable foundations. The firm offers discretionary investment management, financial planning, retirement plan consulting, and outsourced CFO services, with an investment process that integrates strategic asset allocation and multiple analytical approaches.

Scott Mahoney is a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley in New York, NY, holding Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and bringing 34 years of industry experience. He has been with Morgan Stanley since 2009, including roles at Morgan Stanley Private Bank, N.A. Outside of his advisory work, he is involved with Giants Foot Cubed LLC. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a large SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer that serves both individual and institutional clients. The firm offers a wide range of advisory programs and financial planning services supported by structured planning tools and broad investment resources.

Kayla Santos is a financial advisor with Mass Mutual Investors Services in Warwick, RI, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and having 10 years of industry experience. She has worked at Mass Mutual Investors Services since 2017 and previously at MetLife Securities. In addition to her advisory role, Santos is an independent insurance agent, offering life, fixed annuities, disability, long-term care, and health insurance products. Mass Mutual Investors Services, LLC is a broker-dealer and SEC-registered investment adviser that serves individuals, business owners, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and employers. The firm provides financial planning, asset management, wrap and money-manager programs, and educational seminars, structuring engagements as annual collaborative relationships focused on goal analysis and written recommendations.

Gordon Brown III is a financial advisor at Edward Jones with 18 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 66 designation and has been with Edward Jones since 2008. Edward Jones is a full-service wealth management firm serving over four million individual and institutional clients, with approximately $1.01 trillion in assets under management. The firm offers a range of advisory programs and investment options, operating under a fiduciary standard.

William Soltow is a financial advisor at Smith & Wyatt with 13 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and previously worked at CoreCap Advisors, LLC. Outside of advising, he is the founder of Frontier Wealth Management and serves as an independent insurance agent with Goosehead Insurance. Smith & Wyatt serves individuals, including high-net-worth clients, and corporations, managing approximately $207 million across 724 clients. The firm provides tailored financial planning, discretionary portfolio management, estate-planning consulting, and specialized educational programs, utilizing mutual funds and ETFs as primary investment vehicles.

Thaddeus Phelps is a CFP® professional with 28 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has worked at Advance Wealth Management Service, LLC since 2019 and previously spent 14 years with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. In addition to his advisory work, Phelps owns a tax preparation business and an accounting support service, and he serves in fiduciary roles such as trustee and executor. Advance Wealth Management Service, LLC provides investment advisory and financial planning services primarily to individuals, high-net-worth clients, trusts, estates, and business entities. The firm offers discretionary investment management through a wrap asset management program and emphasizes an individualized approach with asset allocation supported by fundamental, sector, and technical analysis, including risk management strategies such as put options and conservative cash instruments.

Jared Fruth is a financial advisor at Northwest Asset Management with four years of industry experience. He holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Securities America, Inc., KMS Financial Services, Inc., Oppenheimer Funds, and John Paul Mitchell Systems. Northwest Asset Management is a registered investment adviser managing approximately $3.6 billion for nearly 3,000 clients, including individuals, pension and profit-sharing plans, charities, and corporations. The firm employs a customized, fiduciary approach using Modern Portfolio Theory and strategic asset allocation, combining fundamental and technical analysis to build diversified portfolios with periodic rebalancing.

Edwina Martin is a Series 65 licensed financial advisor with two years of industry experience, currently with Waverly Advisors, LLC. She previously worked at 9258 Wealth Management for five years and was employed at Teradata Corp for eleven years. Martin also serves as assistant director of tax planning at 9258 Tax and Planning, a non-investment related business. Waverly Advisors is a multi-team registered investment adviser managing portfolios for individuals, retirement plans, and pooled investment vehicles. The firm combines traditional equity and fixed-income strategies with alternative and private-market allocations, offering a range of investment management and financial planning services.

Craig Mcdaniel Jr. is a financial advisor with Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC in Columbia, SC. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 13 years of industry experience. He has been with Capital Investment Group, Inc. and The McDaniel Corporation since 2012. Outside of his advisory role, he is involved in life insurance sales and serves as an independent agent for annuities and related products. Capital Investment Advisory Services, LLC provides investment advisory and supervisory services to individuals, retirement plans, corporations, trusts, estates, and charitable organizations. The firm offers customized investment management through discretionary mandates, third-party managers, and private-label model portfolios, using a blend of analytical methods with ongoing portfolio monitoring.

David Hart is a financial advisor with Martin Wealth Management, LLC in Irvine, CA. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 15 years of industry experience. Hart previously worked with Safeguard Investment Advisory Group and LifePro Asset Management. He is also a Certified Financial Fiduciary and volunteers as an instructor with the Foundation for Fiduciary Education, providing unbiased fiduciary financial education to the public. Martin Wealth Management offers investment advisory services primarily to individuals and high-net-worth clients by co-advising and directing accounts to a third-party money manager, Matson Money. The firm focuses on client onboarding, documentation, and ongoing review of third-party manager accounts rather than direct asset management.

Sarah Currier Barrella is a CFP® professional with 26 years of experience in financial advisory services. She currently works at Santander Securities LLC and Santander Bank, NA, having previously held positions at TD Bank and Citizens Securities, Inc. Barrella is based in Boston, MA. Santander Securities LLC serves a broad retail client base with approximately $3.14 billion in regulatory assets under management across 10,800 client relationships. The firm offers investment advisory services, portfolio management through wrap-fee programs, and financial planning, operating both as a registered investment adviser and a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.