Contributing Authors Gallery

The Fit-To-Retire Contributing Authors play an important continuing role in the development and improvement of the Fit-To-Retirement Readiness Roadmap.

We thank these professionals for their contribution of time, knowledge and keen insights to the development and continuing evolution of this innovative tool. Their support and input were crucial in the overall development of the Pre-Retirement Checklist, the 100 Day Playbook and the Resources guide.

The power of their collective knowledge, their willingness to share their experiences and their passion for the industry and the clients they serve, is emblematic of the value delivered to clients transitioning to successful retirements.

Below, we have included brief biographies and pictures of our contributing authors. Check back, from time to time, as other professionals join this select group as "drivers" of the Fit-To-Retire Readiness Roadmap.

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  Brent Boden CFP, ChFC

  Financial Advisor

  Brent is a 2007 Graduate of The University of Kentucky. Brent has been a licensed financial advisor since 2008 and is licensed in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina. Brent completed his Certified Financial Planner™ professional in November 2012 and received his Chartered Financial Consultant designation in May 2012 from The American College. He is focused on improving retirees and small business owners lives through proper comprehensive financial and estate planning. Brent is actively involved in Northern Kentucky’s Premier Young Professional Organization, LEGACY, the Estate Planning Council of Northern Kentucky, the UK Alumni, and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team-In-Training. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, soccer, golf, tennis and traveling. He currently resides in Florence, KY with his wife, son and family dog.

  Registered Representative of and offers securities offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC. Tri-City Insurance Service, Inc. is independent of Cetera Advisors LLC.
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  Angela Brill CFP®, MBA, CDFA

  Financial Advisor prosperityworks.com
  

  As a Partner of Prosperity Advisory Group, Angela serves as Financial Advisor and Portfolio Team Director. Angela has been with Prosperity since 2007. She earned her B.S. degree at Boston College and her M.B.A. degree at Harvard Business School. She is a Certified Financial Planner® with Series 7 & 66 Registrations. She is a member of the Prosperity Advisory Group Asset Allocation Committee, General Securities Registered, an Investment Advisory Representative, and a Certified Divorce Finance Analyst. Angela is also a member of the Financial Planning Association, the Central Exchange, and a board member for the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Foundation.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Glenda Christopherson

  Chief Operations Officer prosperityworks.com
  

  Glenda co-founded Prosperity Advisory Group with Paul Ewing in 1989. She is a registered General Securities Representative (Series 7), a registered General Securities Principal (Series 24), an Investment Advisory Representative (Series 66), and has worked in the securities industry for over thirty years. Glenda’s belief in the uniqueness of each client situation drives a company emphasis on personalized service.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Melinda B. Dixon MBA

  Financial Advisor, Financial ReMeDe Wealth Management

  Melinda brings her clients over eight years industry experience with a broad, in-depth knowledge of financial products and services. Combining that with over twenty years of experience in financial management positions – analyst, auditor and consultant – in other industries, has given her unique qualifications and insight to work with individuals and small business owners. Melinda enjoys building strong relationships and providing financial information to help increase her clients' knowledge, interest and excitement about their financial health. She cares about her clients’ financial well-being and uses her strong work ethic and integrity to always strive for and deliver what is best for them. Melinda graduated with a BS-Finance/Economics degree from the University of South Carolina. She earned her MBA and PM certification from the Keller Graduate School of Kansas City, MO. Her securities licenses include Series 7 and 66 and she holds insurance licenses for life, health, LTC and annuities.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Paul W. Ewing CFP, AAMS

  Prosperity Advisory Group prosperityworks.com
  

  Paul is the founding President of Prosperity Advisory Group, located in Overland Park, KS, which manages over 140 independent financial advisors. He received his CFP in 1995 and since then has dedicated his life to aiding his clients and developing retirement tools for the best retirement experience possible. He is the founder and director of Living Waters Christian Canoe Ministry, the Finance Chairman for Trailhead District, Heart of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and a member of the Community Advisory board of Overland Park Regional Medical Center. He resides in Overland Park, KS with his wife and four sons.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Nathan Fiser CFP

  Director, Financial Planning Department, Fiser Group fisergroup.com
  

  Nathan graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. He is a Certified Financial Planner and has been the director of the Financial Planning Department at Fiser Group for over 10 years. Nate uses a process driven approach that leans on his financial planning background to create comprehensive retirement plans for each of his individual clients. These plans use quantitative data but also focus on his clients dreams, goals and values. This comprehensive, service-oriented approach helps his clients feel confident in their ability to attain their lifestyle and legacy needs in retirement.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Ryan Forster CFP

  Forster Wealth Management LLC forsterwealth.com
  

  Ryan is a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner™ in Overland Park, Kansas. He approaches investments and financial planning by personally tailoring solutions built to suit his client’s best interests. Most of Ryan’s focus is with professionals in the legal community. Ryan works with families and businesses in Kansas City and surrounding areas as well as other many other states as a result of client referrals. Ryan, his wife Stephanie and daughter, Stella live in Overland Park Kansas where they are active in the community and their church, Church of the Ascension. Together they enjoy being active through rock climbing, camping, trail running, salsa dancing among many other activities.

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  Paula Johnston

  Operations Director prosperityworks.com
  

  Paula manages the day-to-day operations of Prosperity Network of Advisors. She oversees compliance reviews, as well as the audits of our members, and manages the transition of new members. She works closely with Network members to provide education, networking, and the personalized service necessary to make doing business easy. Paula holds the Series 7, 24, 53, and 66 securities registrations. She has served in various capacities within independent broker/dealers and branch offices since 1997.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Alex Robinson

  Financial Advisor, Infinity Financial Partners infinityfinancialpartners.com
  

  Alex has been with Infinity and Cetera Advisors since 2013, and a registered independent financial advisor since 2009, when he graduated from Christopher Newport University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance. With a focus on goals-based financial planning, he is able to tailor strategies to the needs of clients younger and older, larger and smaller. Alex also spends time serving employer-sponsored retirement plans for both local small businesses and non-profits.

  Securities and investment advisory services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.
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  Jennifer Scholfield

  Scholfield Wealth Management, Inc. durangowealthstrategies.com
  

  Jennifer is a Wealth Strategist at Scholfield Wealth Management focusing on business owners, entrepreneurs and women. She uses a proprietary wealth legacy and values based methodology with clients to crystalize their vision for future money needs and intentions. Once their strategy is in place, informed choices for their investments, trusts, and tax, insurance, business, employee and estate planning options become clear. Jen holds an MBA from Thunderbird (AZ) and has worked as an Executive Coach, OD and Business Strategy consultant at Fortune Top Fifty companies. She now merges these skills with finance and wealth management and for a comprehensive wealth management practice.

  Jennifer offers securities through First Allied Securities, Member: SIPC and advisory services through First Allied Advisory Services.
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  Mark Seward

  Seward Wealth Management sewardwealthmgt.com
  

  A native of West Akron, Mark graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, from Denison University. He later received an MBA degree from the University of Michigan. Mark’s background includes more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry in banking, consulting, and financial planning. While with KeyBank, Mark lived in Cleveland and later moved to Washington, D.C., working for several consulting firms, including The Corporate Executive Board and Accenture, before returning home to Ohio in 2001. Mark serves on the Board of Directors for ACCESS, has participated in Heart-to-Heart Leadership Connection groups and is a member of the Akron Rotary Club.

  Investment Services and Advisory Services offered through Cetera Advisors LLC, member FINRA, SIPC. Cetera is under separate ownership from any other named entity.

Additional Contributing Authors

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  Mike Anderson

  Owner, M.A.C.S. (Mike Anderson Creative Services) macsworks.com
  

  Mike is a veteran of the KC advertising and marketing community. After graduating from the University of Missouri and serving in the Marine Corps, he spent eleven years with Hallmark Cards, Inc, as their Creative Writing Director. From there, he launched his own ad agency (M.A.C.S) which served a variety of local and national clients for nearly twenty years specializing in print production, direct mail and branding. Mike and his wife Pat have been married for 38 years. They raised two sons and now are investing in the lives of seven grandchildren, all local!

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  Haley Dunbrack

  Marketing Coordinator and Intern, Fit-To-Retire LLC fittoretire.com
  

  Haley is currently earning her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Chicago, IL where she is studying English Literature and Computer Science. She was raised in Overland Park, KS, and has worked as an intern for Prosperity Advisory Group for two years. When not working or in school, Haley enjoys writing, traveling, and being involved in some of KC's community theaters such as Christian Youth Theater and Leawood Stage Company.

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  Cathy Hamilton

  Social Media and Online Content Manager, Fit-To-Retire LLC fittoretire.com
  

  Cathy is a multimedia journalist with a special interest in baby boomer women, the "most powerful consumers on the planet." Cathy conceived and developed BoomerGirl.com for The World Company as an online community for boomer-aged women. The site won the top 2007 EPpy Award (Editor & Publisher/MediaWeek) for Best Newspaper-Affiliated Web Site. Her weekly column, BoomerGirl Diary, earned "Best Column" awards from the Kansas Press Association and the Suburban Newspapers of America. She has authored sixteen books and writes regularly for Lawrence (KS) magazine. She currently serves as the Social Media and Online Content Manager for Fit-to-Retire.

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  Sally Heller

  Sally Heller Communications sallyheller.net
  

  Sally Heller is dedicated to providing authentic communications solutions that engage, influence and inspire. Her services include online and traditional content creation, strategic planning and project management including video production and script writing. Sally’s experience spans business-to-business, internal communications and consumer environments and she specializes in healthcare, retirement and aging issues and organizations, as well as non-profits. She is a member of the board of directors of the International Association of Business Communicators, Kansas City Chapter and StandUp Parenting for which she provides communications consulting and solutions.

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  Gene Meyer

  Freelance writer, editor and researcher

  Gene is a career-long financial and business journalist who has enjoyed significant experience at The Kansas City Star and The Wall Street Journal. At the Star, he initiated coverage of personal finance and financial planning for the paper and developed a coverage structure around which new Sunday business coverage was reorganized. He also organized, with members of Kansas City area professional financial planning associations, a free planning and money makeover service that has provided direct meaningful help to more than 300 households. He is an Iowa native and a graduate of both Iowa State University in Ames and the U.S. Defense Information School at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Ind. He and his wife, Jan, have one grown son and live in Fairway.

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  Joel Sawyer

  Sawmill Design

  Joel transforms ideas into reality thanks to his creative approach and firm grasp of technology. Owner and Senior Designer at Sawmill Design, Joel has been at the cutting edge of web design since 1998, using his talents to help businesses around the world realize their goals with elegant solutions. His passion is taking the complex and making it organized, simple, and engaging. Joel enjoys traveling and volunteering his skills at his local church and other area non-profits. He lives in southern Kansas City with this wife and three boys, with number four on the way.

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  Rick Thomas

  Marketing Director, Fit-To-Retire LLC Founder and Managing Principal, SmartMark Public Communications

  Rick is a career marketing and communications executive. He has counseled senior executives and marketing departments in some of the largest international companies. While serving clients as diverse as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the Al Futtaim Trading Group of Dubai, Rick has been at the forefront of global marketing practice, implementation and evolution for over 30 years. His consulting firm, SmartMark, practices a unique blend of advertising, marketing and public relations services. The group's market expertise spans insurance and health care services, consumer and industrial products -- manufacturing and distribution, hospitality and real estate development, and financial services. Rick is a Kansas City, MO-native, where he makes his home. He is a past president of the National Kidney Foundation of Kansas and Western Missouri and a proud kidney donor. He has also served the National Kidney Foundation's Executive Committee -- Marketing Roundtable.