About

Thank you for wanting to know more about me – about why I merit your consideration.

As described below, as well as in the video to the right, I am by no means a typical financial planner because I do one thing, and one thing only (though it is quite broad): I help people make and implement ever smarter financial decisions, and I do so without ever trying to sell them anything or insisting that they let me manage their money.

And now it’s onto the basics:

What I do: I help people improve their financial life
I help people make better and better financial decisions, and then I help them see to it that those decisions lead to actual improvements in their financial life. And then, as necessary and as desired, we repeat this process in a virtuous cycle of continuous financial-life improvement.

My background: helping people make good decisions since the ’80s
I’ve been serving clients for more than 25 years, earning their trust and helping them make and implement good decisions – first as a lawyer (1985 through 1999), then as a business advisor (1993 and continuing to the present) and, since 2001, as a financial planner, coach and advisor.

I went to UCLA for law school in the early 80s, and to Berkeley for business school in the mid-90s; John Friedman Financial and I are registered with the State of California as a financial planning firm and as a financial planner, respectively, and I am a CFP® professional.

So that’s the general idea; that’s generally what I’m about.

The areas in which I can help you: any part of your financial life
More specifically, and to put the focus back on you, I can help you make, and then put into effect, smart decisions about:

  • The money you have coming in
  • The money you have going out
  • The money you’ve stored up and the money you will soon store up
  • The money you’ll need to store up to see to it that your loved ones are educated in the way you want
  • The money you’ll need to store up to see to it that you have the retired life you want
  • Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, living wills, medical directives, etc.
  • Investing
  • Insurance of all types
  • Owning vs. renting your home and how to finance ownership of your home
  • Your business and/or your employment
  • Student loans, mortgages, credit card debt, business loans, personal guarantees and other forms of debt
  • Group benefits, stock options, restricted stock units, concentrated positions, employment contracts, etc.
  • The ways in which your financial life can enhance or detract from other parts of your life
  • Any (and I do mean any) other aspect of your financial life whatsoever

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To learn more, please be sure to watch the video above, and then please do move on to the Services page.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.