Bowling Green, KY Office

I am Chris Brown, Ph.D., CFP®, a fee-only financial planner with a strong desire to help families optimize their financial resources in retirement. I am a CFP® professional specializing in investment management, comprehensive retirement planning, and tax planning. I can work with clients in all 50 states. I entered the field of financial planning later in life, after a long career as a Finance professor. I have taught numerous students who now work as financial advisors for companies all over the country. I developed a deeper interest in financial planning a few years ago and began to learn all I could about the financial aspects of retirement. I began to focus on Roth conversion strategies, alternatives to turn retirement into a long term income stream and ways to minimize lifetime taxes. I can assist clients with cash flow analysis, tax minimization strategies including Roth conversion strategies, and decumulation strategies, among other things. Our focus is on clients age 55+ that are retired or within ten years of retirement. We work with clients from all walks of life, but we specialize in working with clients in K-12 and higher education, especially those clients with TIAA-CREF and those needing to make decisions about selecting a payout option in retirement from a state retirement program. For a no obligation, introductory meeting, go to https://scholarfinancial.com and click on "Contact Us" or email me at [email protected].

Ron is an Associate Professor of Finance, and Director of the Personal Financial Planning Program, at Western Kentucky University. For his teaching excellence, he has received several awards, including the Gordon Ford College of Business Faculty Fellow Award (2023) and the Faculty Award for Teaching (2020). He teaches, or has taught, courses in Personal Finance, Applied Investments, Advanced Investments, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning, Money & Banking, Principles of Finance, Business Law I and II, Legal and Regulatory Aspects of Personal Financial Planning, and Financial Plan Development (capstone). Ron has been an investment adviser since 2001, and a Certified Financial Planner since 2005. He currently serves (as of mid-2023) approximately 20 clients (plus family members) and advises upon approximately $25 million of financial assets. Dr. Rhoades is the author of several books, as well as hundreds of articles and blog posts. His blog can be found at: https://ronrhoades.com/. Ron has spoken at numerous conferences of financial and investment advisers. Ron also serves as an estate planning and tax attorney (Member, The Florida Bar) for a select group of clients. Ron is also a nationally known expert on fiduciary law as applied to financial services. He is frequently quoted in national media. He has received awards for his advocacy in Washington, DC, including the "Tamar Frankel Fiduciary Award" from the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard (2020) and the "Fiduciary of the Year Award" from The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard (2011). Ron's fee-only, fiduciary investment advisory firm, Scholar Financial, is now accepting new clients. To learn more, please visit https://scholarfinancial.com.