Independent financial advisors working with young families in Newark, NJ

Oscar Abaunza Velazquez is a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors in New York, NY, holding Series 63 and Series 66 credentials and seven years of industry experience. He has worked at Wells Fargo Clearing since 2019 and Wells Fargo Bank since 2018. Outside of his advisory role, he co-owns a medical billing business. Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network is a large broker-dealer and registered investment adviser serving individuals, trusts, and institutions with a broad range of financial planning and investment services. The firm offers tailored planning solutions using proprietary research and tools, supporting clients with diverse needs including retirement, business transition, and special-needs planning.

Frederick Palmerton is the sole advisor at Palmerton Financial Services, LLC, an independent firm based in Newark, NJ. He holds a Series 65 credential and has 21 years of industry experience, including more than two decades leading his own firm since 2002. Palmerton Financial Services, LLC provides discretionary supervisory management of individually managed investment portfolios primarily for individuals, as well as corporations and nonprofit entities. The firm focuses on a long-term investment approach emphasizing fundamental analysis, with portfolios concentrated in a limited number of actively traded equity and convertible securities tailored to client objectives and risk tolerances.

Samuel Wallace Jr. is a financial advisor at Merrill with 30 years of industry experience. He has been with Merrill since 2009 and holds Series 63 and Series 65 licenses. Merrill, together with its affiliate Managed Account Advisors LLC, provides managed account services through the Select Portfolio Solutions Program to Bank of America fiduciary clients. The firm offers model-based and discretionary investment strategies developed by internal and third-party managers, serving individuals, high-net-worth clients, pension plans, corporations, and charitable organizations.

Stephen Roth is a CFP® with 23 years of industry experience. He is currently with Gladstone Wealth Partners and has held prior roles at LPL Financial, LLC and PRUCO Securities, LLC. Outside of advisory roles, he has served as a benefit consultant in the non-variable insurance sector. Gladstone Wealth Partners serves individuals, corporations, pension and profit-sharing plans, and charitable organizations through a network of nearly 100 investment adviser representatives. The firm offers discretionary portfolio management, financial planning, and retirement plan consulting using a broad range of investment approaches tailored at the representative level.

Shaquille Blake is an Investment Consultant at Fidelity Investments, a role he has held since 2024. Prior to this, he worked as a Retirement Planner for the Tax Exempt Market at Fidelity from 2022 to 2024, and as an Investment Solutions Representative II at Fidelity from 2021 to 2022. His earlier experience includes serving as a Complex Branch Analyst at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney from 2018 to 2021. Shaquille focuses on guiding clients through personalized retirement and goal-based planning strategies. He aims to understand each client's unique needs and priorities to deliver strategies offered by Fidelity that align with both short- and long-term financial goals. Outside of his professional work, Shaquille has interests in art, fitness, football, hiking, and volunteering.

Garrett Dahm is a Senior Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, where he has been providing financial guidance since 2017. He specializes in developing strategies and offering advice tailored to the short- and long-term financial objectives of individuals, families, and businesses. As a qualified Portfolio Manager, Garrett manages discretionary Personalized and Defined Strategies that may include individual stocks and bonds, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management model portfolios, and third-party investment options. His areas of focus include family wealth management, services for endowments, foundations, and non-profits, liquidity management, retirement planning, portfolio management, tax minimization, and strategies for sports and entertainment clients. Garrett earned a Personal Investment Advisor (PIA) designation. He completed his high school education at Prospect High School and attended Harper College without earning a degree. Outside of his professional role, Garrett has a background in classical guitar, having performed solo and with orchestras worldwide since the age of four. Notably, he performed in multiple cities in Australia during the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Olympics. He lives in Mt. Prospect with his wife Tanya and their son Jace. His personal interests include golfing, ice hockey, practicing guitar, and spending time with his family.

Jon Bernier is a CFP® and ChFC® with 23 years of experience in financial advising. He has been with TandemGrowth Financial Advisors, LLC in Alpharetta, GA since 2000. TandemGrowth Financial Advisors serves individuals, high net worth households, trusts, and estates with comprehensive wealth management and financial planning, offering discretionary and non-discretionary portfolio management alongside retirement-plan oversight and account aggregation tools. The firm uses a strategic, long-term investment approach across equity-risk spectrums, incorporating mutual funds, ETFs, independent managers, and alternative investments, and provides unique services such as a NextGen program and healthcare planning partnerships.

David Martula is a CFP® professional with 21 years of industry experience. He has been the sole advisor at Fee-Only Financial Planning since 1991. Fee-Only Financial Planning serves individual clients, including high-net-worth households, by providing financial planning and discretionary portfolio management. The firm emphasizes a low-cost, buy-and-hold investment approach using no-load mutual funds, tailoring recommendations to clients’ goals and life stages.

Ai Mendoza is an Investment Consultant currently working at Fidelity Investments since 2022. In this role, she focuses on understanding each client's unique financial needs and providing professional guidance and tailored solutions to help clients make informed financial decisions and pursue their goals. Prior to her current position, Ai worked as a Private Client Banker at JP Morgan Chase from 2019 to 2022. Her experience includes assisting clients with their investment and banking needs. Outside of her professional work, Ai enjoys family activities, fishing, social events with friends, gardening, outdoor adventures, and painting.

Welcome and thank you for taking a moment to read more about Bolt Financial Group and Shaun Carney, CFP®! Shaun Carney is the Co-Founder of Bolt Financial Group, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM and serves as the firm’s Wealth Advisor. Shaun has over seven years of experience in the financial services industry. Responsible for establishing and maintaining client relationships, Shaun finds immense satisfaction in helping individuals better prepare for retirement. Prior to forming his own firm, Shaun served in the United States Air Force and worked with Edward Jones. After earning his Master of Science degree in Cost Analysis, Shaun went on to obtain his CFP(R), Series 7 and 66 securities licenses. As a member of the Air Force Reserve, Shaun continues to fly C-17s in service to the United States of America. When he isn’t helping people plan for retirement, and piloting C-17s, Shaun is an avid golfer, traveler, husband, and father to three children. Always eager to help others and give back in any way that he can, Shaun regularly volunteers with the Reserve Officers Association and the Knights of Columbus.

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.