Nolan R. Baker

Investment Professional
The Retirement Guys

Nolan Baker, a Veteran of The United States Marine Corps and the founder of The Retirement Specialists of Northwest, Ohio. Nolan along with Estate Planning Attorney Mark Clair host “The Retirement Guys” radio show since 2001, they are featured weekly in The Toledo Free Press with a circulation of over 120,000, appear regularly on TV, and host bi-monthly workshops.

Jim Brogan

President
Brogan Financial Retirement and Legacy Planning

Jim Brogan is an advisor, author, host of a popular talk news radio show and instructor at University of Tennessee. Jim knows what it takes and what to say to get prospects to take notice – in fact, Jim is often “mentally” hired by a prospective client before the first meeting; his proven approach to branding has led to him growing his business from $5M to $35M in collective annual production in just five short years.

Mark Clair

Investment Professional
The Retirement Guys

Mark D. Clair has been assisting retirees and pre-retirees to protect their assets, preserve their estates, and invest wisely for the last 23 years. He is a licensed attorney and offers, Estate Planning, Retirement Distribution Planning, Long Term Care Planning, Living Trusts and the new Retirement Plan/IRA Protection Trust. Mr. Clair, one of the Founders of the Retirement Guys Network, is the President of his own company, The Clair Estate Planning Law Firm, and has lectured widely throughout his home state of Ohio, as well as many other states on the topics of Estate Planning, IRA/Retirement Distribution Planning, Living Trusts, Asset Preservation and Long Term Care Planning strategies. He has helped many retirees reduce income taxes, estate taxes and tax on Social Security, protect their life savings from a nursing home spend down and provide a lifetime legacy to their loved ones.

Mr. Clair graduated from Evangel University in 1983 and after 8 years in financial services enrolled at The University of Toledo College of Law and received his law degree in 1996. As a licensed attorney he is able to offer services in the area of Estate Planning by being able to draft Living Trusts, IRA/Retirement Plan Trusts, Wills and other supporting documents. He is a member of the Toledo Bar Association.

Mark and his wife Lisa have three children and are very active in their church and community. Mark has enjoyed coaching his children’s basketball, baseball and soccer teams and is a big fan of the Detroit Tigers, Lions, Pistons and Redwings. He has served as Financial Coordinator, Secretary, Deacon and Elder at his church and plays guitar in the church praise band. He holds Estate and Retirement Distribution Planning workshops on a regular basis. Call for information on his upcoming speaking schedule.

Rep. Robert Damron

Nine term legislator from Kentucky
Immediate Past President of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL)

Craig Ferrantino

Retirement and Investment Advisor
Founder and President
Craig James Financial Services, LLC

Investment professional and retirement planning specialist of 20 years, Craig J. Ferrantino, was first introduced to the world of financial advising as a teenager when he started helping his mother understand and manage the household finances. Realizing the need for objective and sound financial insight in his community, Ferrantino pursued a career in personal finance and eventually became founder and president of Craig James Financial Services, LLC, an independent firm that assists pre-retirees and retirees with managing their wealth and taking control of their retirement future. Over the course of his career, Ferrantino has helped hundreds of individuals grow their retirement savings at a pace that is appropriate for their situation, save assets from excessive taxation and leave a legacy to their family instead of the government.

Part of Ferrantino’s success can be attributed to his personal commitment to upholding the ideals of the independent retirement planner. As an independent financial professional, Ferrantino’s wealth and retirement management solutions are tailored to meet the needs of those he works with and designed to incorporate investment strategies based on current economic conditions. His independence also grants him access to almost any financial strategy and tool available, allowing him to focus his time and energy on solutions that are designed to fit the individual’s unique financial goals for the retirement years.

Additionally, Ferrantino advocates financial education and works to bring unbiased information to his community and clients, assisting them in making appropriate decisions that work towards fully preparing them for retirement. Ferrantino offers workshops and seminars on timely retirement planning topics such as understanding risk tolerance and comprehensive income planning. He offers a thorough analysis and explanation to help his clients find investment strategies that can help them meet their retirement savings objectives. The investing strategies provided by Ferrantino also help his clients retire with enough savings so they can retire at their goal retirement date and afford to stay retired.

Before founding his personal practice, Ferrantino worked for several Wall Street institutions, including JP Morgan (now JPMorgan Chase), Smith Barney and A.G. Edwards. During his time with these companies, Ferrantino worked in many areas of the financial services industry including high net worth asset management, corporate securities and asset trading. He realized during this time he was unable to offer fully objective counsel, as not all solutions were offered through these institutions. This became his motivation to found a firm where the top priority for advisors was the financial stability of the client, instead of meeting quotas, or sales objectives and where solutions and strategies were not limited. Ferrantino knew consumers might be better served by independent, objective firms that were committed to doing only what would benefit their client.

Through his membership in several professional groups and commitment to ongoing education, Ferrantino keeps up-to-date with the latest financial strategies. As a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), Ferrantino has access to training on the latest financial strategies and topics. To retain his membership, he must adhere to the FPA’s ethical code of conduct and participate in the organization’s continuing education programs. Ferrantino is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, an organization where individuals in the human resources field have the opportunity to learn about best practices, changes to laws and general industry information. He is also an endorsed representative of Eastern Dental Financial Services and he also serves as the Long Island Chapter Director of The Foundation for Personal Financial Education. Ferrantino holds Series 7, 24, 30 31, 51, 63 and 65 securities licenses as well, which enable him to offer an array of investment solutions and advice to his clients and community. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business from New England College and a Masters degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Ferrantino also set a goal of giving back to his community and is a member of community organizations such as the Melville Chamber of Commerce, the Southampton Volunteer Ambulance crew, the local youth ministry, community soup kitchens and he is a youth baseball coach.

He resides in Southampton, New York, with his wife Jennifer and their three children, Freesia, CJ and John Paul.

David G. Freitag

CLU, ChFC and CRPC
Vice President of Marketing
Impact Technologies Group

David G. Freitag, CLU, ChFC, CRPC, is vice president of marketing for the Impact Technologies Group, a provider of financial sales software for the banking, capital markets and insurance industries. Dave has helped develop software practice management tools for advisors to use with clients who are interested in retirement income planning, estate planning, risk management and needs analysis. Dave can be reached at dave.freitag@impact-tech.com.

Michael Ham

Financial Planning Expert & Personal Budget Coach, My Money Track

Michael Ham trained on Wall Street in 1988 with Smith Barney and built a Million Dollar book of business. He was the top new account opener his rookie year and worked his way up to Executive Director with CIBC Oppenheimer and then founded his independent RIA practice in 2002.

Utilizing the skills of leadership, protection, memory retention and assertiveness learned on the football field at one of Dallas’ largest high schools, where he was a three year letterman, Michael has invested well over $250,000,000 (Quarter of a Billion Dollars) for his clients and has written over $150,000,000 in annuity premium in both fixed, variable and equity index annuities and has written whole life insurance for 20 years. Like he was mentored by athletic coaches and business advisors, Michael takes the thought of “paying it forward” to heart and has trained and mentored hundreds of successful investment advisors and agents.

Michael is a published Author for the popular book, The Women’s Investment Guide, a Member of MENSA since 1986, as well as the top producer at his broker dealer’s firm the past two consecutive years and the top producer in 3 of the past 4 years. Michael has appeared on the Dallas, TX ABC, CBS and FOX television affiliates. He has been praised for his financial educational work by The Dallas Morning News and was the business reporter for KEWS, the CNN Dallas radio affiliate.

Michael’s work earned the endorsement of celebrity William Shatner and he received the Keeping America Strong Award, presented by Navy Rear Admiral Kevin F. Delaney. Using his prospecting system for fund raising efforts, Michael earned the Platinum Award presented by the American Cancer Society and was named as one of Texas Monthly Magazine’s Five star Wealth Managers in 2009 and 2010. He is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA).

Tom Hegna

CLU, ChFC and CASL
Vice President
New York Life Insurance Company

Tom Hegna was born and raised in Glenwood, Minnesota. He attended North Dakota State University on a 4 year Army ROTC Scholarship. He graduated as a distinguished Military Graduate, with honors in 1983 earning 3 majors in 4 years – Economics, Business Administration, and German. He served in a number of Military Intelligence assignments in West Germany and the United States including commanding a unit in the 7th Infantry Division (Light). He recently retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Prior to retiring, he was commander of the 301st Military Intelligence Battalion in Phoenix, Arizona, working counterterrorism operations in SE Asia. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. His awards and decorations include: The Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Army Achievement Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, the Navy Achievement Medal, and a number of others.

In November 1988, Tom started his career in the insurance industry with MetLife. He qualified for membership into the Million Dollar Round Table in each of his first three years. He is a four-time qualifier of the President’s Conference. He is a recipient of the National Quality Award and National Sales Achievement Award. In 1992, he placed 430 policies. From the day he started, until he entered management, Tom never had a blank week. He received 6 Company Multiline Awards for Annuities, Mutual Funds, and Property and Casualty. Tom was the first representative to win all three Multiline Awards in the same year. In November, 1992, he became the National Marketing Manager for Variable Life Products and trained over 10,000 agents. In 1993, VUL sales soared from $28 million to $94 million. In February, 1994, Tom was named Agency Manager for the Chandler, Arizona agency. Tom qualified for the Manager’s Council (Top 5% Company wide). In 1995, he attained his CLU and ChFC designations from the American College. In July, 1996, he joined New York Life and was named Director of Annuity Sales for the West Central Zone. He has given over 2,000 Annuity Seminars across the country and agent investment sales were over 5 Billion dollars in 2007. In March 2001, he was promoted to Assistant Vice President. He was promoted to Corporate Vice President in March 2003 and to Vice President in March of 2006. He currently resides in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Tom is married and has four children.

Dr. Kerry Johnson, MBA, Ph.D

Author, International Speaker

Kerry L. Johnson is a best-selling author and speaker who speaks at least 8 times a month ranging from Hong Kong to Halifax, and from New Zealand to New York. Traveling 8,000 miles each week, he speaks on such topics as “How To Read Your Customer’s Mind,” “Marketing to the Affluent,” and ” How To Increase Your Business by 80% within 8 weeks.
In addition to speaking, Kerry heads a personal coaching company. Peak Performance Coaching guarantees a 80% increase in sales production within just a few weeks. Professionals around the world use Dr. Johnson and his coaches to increase business usually by 300% + within only weeks.

Kerry currently writes monthly for fifteen national trade and management magazines whose editors have dubbed him “The Nation’s Business Psychologist.” He is also the author of six best-selling books including, MASTERING THE GAME (Louis & Ford), PEAK PERFORMANCE: HOW TO INCREASE YOUR BUSINESS BY 80% WITHIN 8 WEEKS (Prentice-Hall), and WILLPOWER: THE SECRETS OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. His weekly newsletter THE WINNING EDGE, is read by thousands around the globe on new research on sales psychology.

In the 1970’s, Kerry spent two years competing on the International Grand Prix Tennis Tour. He played both singles and doubles matches against some of the world’s top tennis players. Kerry was also recognized by the U.S. Jaycees as one of the Most Outstanding Men in America.

David Kitaen, CLTC

Long Term Care Insurance Broker/Advocate

David has been a Long Term Care Insurance Broker/Advocate since 1987. His background as Health Consultant brings him a unique insight into Long Term Care needs.

He has studied in the fields of Cancer Therapy, Nutrition, Alternative Health Care, Psychotherapy, Elder Care, and Financial Planning. He is a father, husband, and has over 1500 Long Term Care Clients in California. He is a graduate of San Diego State University. He was Regional Manager for The Original ACSIA, and worked closely with Bob DeLue, considered the Father of Long Term Care Insurance.

He was the first in the U. S. to receive the CLTC Insurance Designation from the Corporation for Long Term Care Certification in 1999. He has been Guest LTC Speaker throughout the SF Bay Area including the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. He is Co-Owner and General Manager of Marin Linkedin, one of the first and largest Linkedin Groups in the U.S. He is the National LTC Consultant for Life Care Funding. DavidKitaen.com

Stefanos J. Loisou

Stefanos Loisou Financial Workshops

Stefanos Loisou has been involved with financial services and helping people and businesses with their financial security needs for over 35 years. In fact, Stef has been recognized as a consummate professional by his industry peers as he has been selected as one of five finalists for the nationwide title as senior advisor of the year for 2008. He is also a member of the exclusive Top of the Table group of the Million Dollar Round Table, the recognized international, professional organization emphasizing knowledge, service and commitment to clients.

Additionally, Stef produces and hosts a weekly financial radio program just north of Boston, MA, which is also accessed through the internet ., He also co-hosts a nationally syndicated financial radio program along with Attny. William Bailey. He has authored articles on planning issues and strategies and has been interviewed on national radio regarding his unique planning strategies and success in his field.

Through informative, educational, periodic workshop/seminars, Stef has been able to assist many people each year in preserving, protecting and enhancing their assets. He has been applauded for conveying many strategies and planning concepts in a simple, understandable manner.

Providing information and assistance on wealth accumulation and retention strategies, Stef has been adept in tailoring unique planning concepts to individual needs and achieving dramatic results, often resulting in tax-free growth and more importantly, tax-free income for life! His group sessions and resultant follow-up visits are conducted in a friendly, entertaining manner.

Utilizing various strategies, including home equity management, charitable giving, family foundations, and other successful tax and insurance strategies, Stef has been able to assure the enhancement and growth of family assets,and, if desired, see that they become multi generational.

Many years of practical planning experience and continuous educational updates allow Stef to tailor a variety of financial strategies to address your objectives. One of his strengths is diffusing ‘the ticking tax time bomb’ represented by 401K/IRA programs and assuring the generational transfer of these assets on a tax favored or even a tax-free basis!

His unique planning concepts emphasize guarantee of principal, unlimited growth potential, elimination of risk, and maximization of income as well as legacy enhancement.His unique ‘income for life’ strategies are employed by many of his mature clients assuring them that they will never outlive their income.

Family has always been important to Stef. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, where he met his wife Gayle, his administrative assistant and co-ordinator, Stef and Gayle have been married for over 37 years. They have two married children and one granddaughter.

Philanthropy and charitable causes have also played a central role in Stef’s life.Through his continuous charitable endeavors and many hours volunteered, Stef has been recognized and has been responsible for generating many hundreds of thousands of dollars for philanthropic, religious and charitable causes.

He is actively involved in many civic and professional organizations including the Shriners’ Hospitals endeavors and the Alpha-Omega organization.

Stef is guided by the importance of family, faith, reputation and integrity in everything that he does.

Van Mueller – Keynote Speaker

Registered Representative
Wisconsin Agency of New England Financial Services
2010 Senior Market Advisor magazine Advisor of the Year

Van Mueller, LUTCF, is a Registered Representative with the Wisconsin Agency of New England Financial Services. January 23, 2009 marks Van’s 36th year as an insurance agent. He is an active member of MDRT having qualified for Court of the Table in 1990 and Top of the Table for the last fourteen years. Van has served as an LUTCF moderator in the past and is looking forward to doing so again. He also served as President of the Milwaukee Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors for the 1998-99 year. In the past, Van has served as Membership Chairman for both Milwaukee and the State of Wisconsin. Van also served the Annuity Advisory Panel, the Middle Income Task Force, the Sales Idea Committee, and the Program Development Committee for MDRT. He has served as Chair of the Website Task Force and for the last two years served on The Board of Directors for Top of the Table. He is also responsible for the Top of the Table Website. Van’s new endeavor is the Main Platform Committee for the 2005 MDRT Meeting in New Orleans. Van was recently awarded the Milwaukee NAIFA Distinguished Service Award for 2003. He has also qualified for the National Sales Achievement Award, the National Quality Award, the Health Insurance Quality Award, and has qualified many times for the National Association of Health Underwriters Leading Producers Round Table. Van supports many industry organizations. In addition to membership in the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors and the Million Dollar Round Table, he is a member of the Association of Health Insurance Agents and the National Association of Health Underwriters. He is also a member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an Emissary Contributor to IFAPAC and a diamond Knight of the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation. Van has spoken to groups all over the country and now all over the world, including being a main-platform speaker at MDRT in 1998 in Chicago and the Main Platform Speaker at the 2001 Top of the Table Meeting in Maui, HI. Van was a Main Platform Speaker at the 2003 NAIFA meeting in Kansas City. He has also written many articles for various publications.

Chris Orestis

CEO and Founder
Life Care Funding Group

Chris Orestis is a 15 year veteran of both the insurance and long term care industries. His career began with senior positions on a number of political campaigns before working in 1993 and 1994 for both the White House and the Senate Majority Leader on Capitol Hill. From that point, he spent the next several years representing the health and life insurance industry as Vice President and Senior Vice President respectively for the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). In 1999, he was awarded the Robert R. Neal Medal by HIAA for distinction and service to the industry. His family is very prominent in the long term care industry as the largest owner/operator of nursing homes in the State of Maine and one of the top 50 in the United States. Chris is president and CEO of Life Care Funding Group founded in 2007. He is an acknowledged national expert on insurance and long term care issues, and is a frequent speaker, featured columnist and Contributing Editor to a number of industry publications, including: National Underwriter, Insurance News Net, Agent’s Sales Journal, Life Insurance Selling, Senior Market Advisor, On the Risk, Society of Actuaries, HealthDecisions, ProducersWEB, ISIS, and InsuranceIntell. His Blog on senior living issues (www.lifecarefunding.com/blog) has become one of the more popular forums on the internet about the impact of the economy and politics on seniors and their housing and long term care needs. Chris Orestis can be reached at 888-670-7773 or by email at chris@lifecarefunding.com.

Simon Reilly

Leading Advisor Inc.

Simon Reilly is an expert business coach, speaker, writer, and values and behaviours analyst.

For more than 15 years, Simon has worked exclusively with successful financial advisors and their teams to achieve sustainable business results.

Over the past 5 years, Simon has spoken to over 15,000 advisors across Canada & the USA at over 150 financial advisor conferences that include the Million Dollar Round Table 2010 Annual Meeting, main stage at Great West Life, Hub Financial, London Life & Sun Life Conferences, 20 Advocis Chapters coast to coast and his presentations have been approved for CE Accreditation under the new 2010 Advocis / CLU guidelines. Simon is speaking at the (NAIFA) The National Association of Financial Advisors 2011 Conference and Annual Meeting in Washington, DC in September.

Simon was shortlisted as one of the 5 Finalists in Advisor.ca’s Name That Visionary Contest, has written for Advisor.ca, was profiled in The Insurance Journal and has been published in FORUM magazine.

He is the author of “Curing The Unmet Needs Disease” – a book and workbook that provides the missing link to; breaking through the plateauing out syndrome and building a bigger vision & business plan.

He is a member of Advocis (The Financial Advisors Association of Canada) and the IFB (The Independent Financial Brokers of Canada) and NAIFA (National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors).

Simon continues to lead the way as a Senior Certified One Page Business Plan Consultant.

Jayne Sallerson

Executive Vice President – Sales and Marketing
Emeritus

Jayne Sallerson has served Emeritus’ Executive Vice President—Sales & Marketing since April 1, 2010. Ms. Sallerson previously served as Senior Vice President—Marketing since September 2008. Ms. Sallerson joined Emeritus as Vice President of Marketing in September 2007, upon completion of the Summerville acquisition. Prior to joining Emeritus, Ms. Sallerson served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Summerville from 2003 to 2007 after having served as a Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Summerville from 2000 to 2003. Ms. Sallerson has 25 years of sales and marketing experience in the healthcare and senior industry. Prior to working in the senior living industry, Ms. Sallerson worked in the skilled nursing, durable medical equipment and rehabilitation industries in various sales and marketing roles. Ms. Sallerson is a member of the Sales and Marketing Executive Roundtable for ALFA and is a member of the organization’s Operational Excellence Panel.

David W. Schlossberg, RFC

Financial Planning & Investment Advisory Services
Assured Concepts

Having entered the financial services industry in 1980, David Schlossberg’s clientele has expanded from the Chicago area all across the nation. He began at age 20 marketing life insurance with Metropolitan Life, and a short 3 years later was a self-employed independent marketer of insurance products. He added his Series 6, 7, 63 and 66 securities licenses in the late 90’s.

With the addition of securities licenses, David can now focus on fitting various financial products to the clients specific needs. While his current practice is now primarily generating fee based managed assets, his years of experience in life insurance allows him to coordinate a properly structured, tax advantaged life insurance investment vehicle into a well balanced portfolio for the household.

David sees a dichotomy between life insurance as a family protection vehicle and life insurance as an investment product. Unfortunately, most of the existing cash value life insurance products David sees were sold as hybrids between the two purposes – family protection with a cash kicker at retirement. But, according to David, “When you analyze the numbers, you’ve done both very ineffectively”

David has a unique way of “getting inside the numbers” to evaluate, as well as maximize the efficiency of these tax-preferred investment vehicles. Join him as he discusses the target market and shares his highly successful client presentation with his peers.

Bill Spar, M.S., LUTCF

Member: NEB, NAIFA, MDRT
Series 6 and 63 licensed
Faith Edwards Financial, LLC

Early in 2001, Bill established Faith Edwards Financial, LLC, a brokerage business that allowed him to be an even greater resource to his clients and establish credibility outside of the traditional insurance model.

Bill is a member of the National Ethics Bureau, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Ed Slott’s IRA Training programs, “MDRT – Million Dollar Round Table” and is a “Fellow” in good standing with the Life Underwriters Training Council – “LUTCF”.

Born and raised in Southern California, Bill is the proud father of three children, Rachel, 25, Billy Jack 9 and Josi 8. Bill has over 12 years of insurance and financial services experience and believes heavily in honesty and integrity and is committed to helping clients eliminate the confusion sometimes associated with money, retirement issues and planning for the future.

Bill is an avid golfer, enjoys football, motorcross, drag racing NASCAR and cooking.

Laura Stover

Retirement Specialist, Investment Advisor, Founder and President
Laura H. Stover Financial Group LLC

From contemporary recording artist to financial advisor and entrepreneur, community educator, founder and president of her own independent financial advisory firm, Laura Stover has always followed her natural gifts and talents through her life journey.

Laura Stover’s passion for music and family was paired nicely when she spent 15 years of her young adult life as a recording artist with the Ohio based family group, The Stovers. Although national exposure was on the horizon for this talented bunch, so was the opportunity for some of its members to start their own families. As a result, The Stovers settled into a comfortable family studio recording business, where Laura Stover handled the company’s finances. It was there that she realized her passion for money management and decided to pursue this as a second career. With enthusiasm, she entered into the financial services industry as a banker in Bryan, Ohio, and soon after, was recruited by an insurance firm where she excelled. A true entrepreneur, and with the desire to best serve all she encountered, she opened the doors to her own business in 2002, Laura H. Stover Financial Group LLC, an independent financial and retirement advisory firm.

Today, Stover has more than a decade of experience in the financial services industry. Her professional credentials are plentiful. She has her Series 6 and 63 Securities licenses, which allow her to offer advice regarding mutual funds, variable annuities, insurance premiums and investment trusts. She is working towards earning her Registered Financial Consultant (RFC®) designation from the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC). This designation acknowledges Stover’s commitment to high standards of continuing financial education, experience and integrity in the financial services industry. She is also working to complete the Certified Senior Advisor designation through the Society of Certified Senior Advisors™. This professional designation confirms Stover’s broad-based knowledge of the health, social and financial issues that are important to seniors, as well as, how they integrate into seniors’ lives. As a licensed life and health insurance professional, Stover has mastery knowledge of life, health and long-term care insurance needs.

Stover specializes in working with retirees and pre-retirees in developing investment, retirement income and estate plans. Stover and her team have successfully helped hundreds of individuals and families in Northwest Ohio and Eastern Indiana make informed financial decisions to help them reach their goals for the later years in life. She recently opened the firm’s new downtown Bryan location, where she utilizes the latest technologies in the financial industry to help educate area residents. For example, her firm currently employs online conferencing and webinars to bring in some of the nation’s top experts on the latest personal finance news, strategies and information to the community.

As an advocate of financial education, Stover has earned her name as Ohio’s First Lady of Finance. She founded the Senior Symposiums of Williams and Defiance Counties. Through these events, Stover brings together a diverse group of speakers to address the common questions and concerns of area residents at local Senior Citizen Centers. She also hosts numerous community workshops on personal finance and retirement planning topics. Her most recent workshops are titled Navigating Retirement Through Unchartered Waters and Moving Beyond the Meltdown. Stover’s community initiatives have resulted in educating thousands of individuals in Northwest Ohio and Eastern Indiana. She is also a published author, one of her most popular articles titled, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Wall Street,” that was published in an Ohio community newspaper. Through this article, she explained the psychological difference between men and women when it came to making financial decisions. She’s also had a television appearance on “In Focus,” as a guest expert, where she addressed the economic downturn and its impact on state of Ohio. As Ohio’s First Lady of Finance, Stover hopes to take her educational initiatives one step further and launch her own radio program to address the latest news trends in retirement planning and personal finance.

Stover’s community membership groups include the Rotary Club of Bryan, Business Professional Women’s Club, Chamber of Commerce and her firm, Laura H. Stover Financial Group LLC, is a member in good standing with the Better Business Bureau. She is also a former member of the Strong Kids campaign for the YMCA of Williams County.

Brandon Stuerke

Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor
Founder and President
Golden Financial Group, LLC

Financial advisor, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor SM and financial educator Brandon Stuerke is helping revolutionize the client referral process for advisors.

Stuerke, the president of Golden Financial Group, became frustrated with the typical referral process of direct mail campaigns and seminars, and wanted to create a better way to bring more clients into his practice. Gaining inspiration from a fellow advisor, Stuerke realized referrals from other financial professionals, such as CPAs, could increase his business. He set to work meeting with CPAs in his local community to discuss the benefits a client receives from utilizing accounting services and retirement planning services from a financial advisor, such as himself, and the benefits for the CPA. This process benefits the CPA since, by suggesting Stuerke’s services to a client, the CPA would be top of mind if Stuerke had a client in need of accounting services. Stuerke’s hard work paid off and he has become a well-known and trusted advisor in his community who has gained referrals from multiple CPAs and has been able to significantly increase his business.

Stuerke first came into the financial services industry in 2000 when he began working for a property and casualty firm in Des Moines, Iowa. He also worked for another major firm, MetLife. Having been born and raised in Missouri, Stuerke wanted to bring comprehensive plans to pre-retirees and retirees in his home state by founding a financial planning firm. In 2006 he opened Golden Financial Group with offices in Columbia and Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, which offers comprehensive retirement, estate and tax planning services that work for the client today and into retirement.

Since founding his practice Stuerke has become designated as a Chartered Retirement Planning Counsel™ (CRPC®) and has qualified for MDRT status for the past five years.

The investment Stuekre has made in his community extends beyond his practice. He can be heard every month for an hour on KRMS FM 97.5 / AM 1150, discussing and reviewing financial concerns for retirees on the talk radio show “The 411.” Through free workshops, Stuerke is able to offer tips to pre-retirees and retirees in his community that focus on how to retire with success. He is a member of the Lake of the Ozarks Elks chapter and is active in his church.

Richard M. Weber

MBA, CLU and AEP®
Secretary, Board of Directors
Society of Financial Service Professionals

Dick Weber is the Society of Financial Service Professional’s Kenneth Black, Jr. Leadership Award recipient for 2008 in recognition of his “… exemplary leadership qualities and significant contributions to the fulfillment of the Society’s core values of ethic, education, and relationships.” In 2009, Dick was elected to the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame and selected to receive the Distinguished Accredited Estate Planner award and designation for “… significant and outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions to the practice and profession of estate planning.”

For 25 years a successful life insurance salesman and 20-year life member of the Million Dollar Round Table, Dick joined Merrill Lynch Insurance Group, and from late-1993 to the end of 1995 was Vice President and Manager of Client Education and Field Development. For his two year “tour” in upper management with a life insurance carrier, his responsibilities included developing communication programs which enhance client understanding of insurance products and reconciling product performance against product expectations. Since then, Dick founded and is President of The Ethical Edge, Inc., providing training and consulting services that help empower both agents and their clients to explore and view life insurance in the broader context of financial planning. During this same period, Dick was a co-developer of Dynamic Insurance Solutions and Historic Variability Module – computer-based tools that have begun to revolutionize the way advisors and their clients view life insurance products.

Among his various teaching activities, Dick served for 11 years as an Instructor of Insurance at the University of California at Berkeley’s Program in Personal Financial Planning and from 1993 through 1998 served as Adjunct Professor of Ethics at the American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Today he serves as Adjunct Professor of Risk and Insurance in California Lutheran University’s MBA program.

Dick holds an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley with a specialty in Insurance and Finance. He was designated a Chartered Life Underwriter in 1974 by the American College. He has served as President of both the local Life Underwriter and the local CLU Chapters in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was for many years a member of the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting. Most recently, Dick was elected to the position of Secretary of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, and will serve for the next 4 years on the Society’s Executive Committee.

Larry Winget – Keynote Speaker

Best Selling Author, Professional Motivational Speaker, and Television Personality
New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Member of the International Speaker Hall Of Fame

Larry Winget is a five-times New York Times/Wall Street Journal bestselling author translated into over 15 languages. He is a member of the International Speaker Hall Of Fame. He has starred in his own television series and appeared in national television commercials. Larry is also regular contributor on many news shows on the topics of money, personal success, parenting and business. Larry is also the trademarked Pitbull of Personal Development®.

Some of Larry’s appearances are:
Star of A&E’s Big Spender
Featured in two episodes of CNBC’s The Millionaire Inside
Star of his own PBS special: Success Is Your Own Fault
A frequent business contributor on MSNBC
A regular on FOX News and FOX Business
Has also appeared on The Today Show, Larry King Live, and The Big idea with Donny Deutsch and others
Featured in 3 national Hyundai commercials

Larry’s FIVE bestsellers include:

• Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get A Life: A Kick Butt Approach To A Better Life
• It’s Called Work For A Reason: Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault
• You’re Broke Because You Want To Be: How To Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead
• People Are Idiots And I Can Prove It: Ten Ways You Sabotage Your Life, Money and Business
• Your Kids Are Your Own Fault: How To Raise Responsible, Productive Adults

Larry is the best combination of credible content as backed up with his five bestselling books and over twenty years of experience speaking to nearly 400 of the Fortune 500 companies. He is known worldwide for being direct, caustic, irreverent, in-your-face and dead-on right! He offers solid advice for improving your life, business, finances and family. Not often do you find someone who can bring solid information delivered in such a refreshing manner who is also funny!