Top financial advisors working with clients approaching retirement in Bennington, VT

Shawn Leonard is a financial advisor with Commonwealth Financial Network based in Bennington, VT. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has 22 years of industry experience. Prior to his current role, he worked at MountainOne Bank’s investment group for 14 years. Leonard also engages in fixed insurance sales as a minor part of his business activities. Commonwealth Financial Network is a registered investment adviser serving a national network of approximately 2,950 advisors and their clients. The firm provides a range of advisory programs and operational support, including discretionary model portfolios managed by its Investment Management and Research team.

Ryley Gaudreau is a financial advisor at Edward Jones in Bennington, VT, holding a Series 66 designation with 18 years of industry experience. He has been with Edward Jones since 2008. Edward Jones is a full-service wealth management firm serving over four million individual and institutional clients, including pension plans, corporate clients, and charitable organizations. The firm manages approximately $1.01 trillion in assets and offers a range of advisory services under a fiduciary standard, with a large nationwide network of financial advisors and branch offices.

Jason Jeffers is a financial advisor at Equity Services, Inc. with 27 years of industry experience. He holds Series 63 and Series 65 credentials and has worked at National Life Group, LPL Financial, People's United Advisors, and People's Securities. Jeffers owns J&S Wealth Advisors, a consulting business focused on non-financial services guidance. Equity Services, Inc. (ESI Financial Advisors) provides financial planning, consulting, and asset management services to individuals, corporations, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, and employer retirement plans. The firm offers multiple advisory platforms, using third-party asset managers and model portfolios, and combines long-term strategies with options for shorter-term trading.

Daryl Spirka is a CFP® professional with 20 years of industry experience, currently serving at Williams Financial, LLC since 2015. He has prior experience at Lonergan And Thomas Insurance and has operated his own CPA practice since 2002. Outside of financial services, he owns and operates Passion 4 Sports, a sporting goods business in Wilmington, VT. Williams Financial, LLC provides fee-only financial planning, investment management, and pension consulting services to individuals, trusts, estates, and business entities. The firm uses a long-term investment approach combined with tactical asset allocation and multiple analytical methods, offering both integrated wealth management and digital portfolio options.

Brian McKenna is a CFP® professional with 19 years of industry experience, currently serving as a financial advisor at Bennington Financial Planning Group since 2010. He also maintains a role with D.B. McKenna & Co., Inc., a broker-dealer firm, dedicating half of his time to each business. In addition to his advisory work, McKenna is a member of the Bennington Redevelopment Group LLC, which focuses on revitalizing the downtown Bennington community, and he provides tax preparation services. Bennington Financial Planning Group offers portfolio management and financial planning services to individuals, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, businesses, and government clients. The firm employs a fundamental analysis approach supplemented by technical and cyclical methods, utilizing both long- and short-term trading strategies including covered-call writing, with accounts reviewed regularly and discretionary management available.

Willie Myles is a financial advisor with Equitable Advisors in Cary, NC, holding Series 63 and Series 66 licenses and bringing 16 years of industry experience. He has worked at Equitable Advisors since 2016 and previously at AXA Advisors, LLC. Outside of his advisory work, he serves as co-chairman of a fundraising campaign for the nonprofit Alpha Light Fund Inc., focused on renovating the House of Alpha. Equitable Advisors serves a diverse client base including individual, high-net-worth, retirement plan, corporate, charitable, and institutional clients, offering financial planning, broker-dealer services, insurance distribution, and access to third-party asset management programs. The firm operates as both an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer, leveraging LPL-sponsored programs and endorsed TAMPs to deliver advisory and brokerage solutions.

Stavroula Koutsfetsoulis is a financial advisor at Ameriprise with 25 years of industry experience. She holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and has been with Ameriprise and its affiliated entities since 2011. In addition to her advisory role, she is involved in fiduciary activities as an attorney-in-fact (power of attorney). Ameriprise is a large institutional firm that provides retirement-income planning services primarily to individuals with substantial investable assets. The firm combines research, modeling, and tax-efficiency analysis to deliver written recommendation reports through a centralized consulting team, focusing on tailored retirement income strategies.

Barbara Brewer is a financial advisor at RBC Capital Markets with 20 years of industry experience. She holds a Series 66 designation and has been with RBC Capital Markets Corporation since 2008. RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, serves individual investors, institutional clients, pension and profit-sharing plans, corporations, and charitable organizations. The firm offers various advisory programs with discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, custody, and brokerage services, tailoring strategies to clients’ Advisory Risk Profiles through a mix of in-house and third-party providers.

Richard Martin is a financial advisor at Cetera with 29 years of industry experience. He holds a Series 63 designation and has a background that includes nearly three decades at Avantax Advisory Services and eight years at Avantax Insurance Agency. Outside of his advisory work, he is the owner and sole proprietor of Martin & Pellegrin, CPAs, a tax preparation and accounting firm. Cetera Investment Advisers LLC is an SEC-registered firm that serves a broad client base including individuals, retirement plans, corporate and charitable clients, and institutional accounts. The firm provides a multi-manager platform offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and access to various program structures and third-party money managers.

Lee Chen is a financial advisor with UBS Financial Services in Pasadena, California, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 28 years of industry experience. He has been with UBS since 2009. Outside of his advisory role, Chen serves on the board of directors for the San Gabriel Country Club. UBS Financial Services serves individual, corporate, and institutional clients through brokerage and investment advisory offerings, combining proprietary capital market research with a broad range of financial planning and portfolio management solutions.