Mr. Pon is a Certified Financial Planner, Certified Public Accountant, Personal Financial Specialist, and Accredited Estate Planner in Redwood Shores, CA.   

Mr. Pon has been practicing since 1986.  He provides the latest advanced tax and financial planning strategies to financial planners so they can be knowledgeable with their clients.

Mr. Pon received his BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley and MS in Taxation from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

Mr. Pon is a long time member of the Financial Planning Association and speaks frequently to the San Francisco and Silicon Valley Chapters.

After starting his career at a wirehouse in 1995, Aaron found a proper home a year later at an independent RIA in his hometown of Elkhart, Indiana. Compass Wealth Advisors was a solo firm of Paul Reasoner, an experienced and capable CFP certificant. As Compass grew, so did Aaron, into a highly technical planner handling the most complex client situations. As Compass added advisors, Aaron was promoted to partner and CIO.

Following his CFP Certification in 2000, Paul encouraged Aaron to attend FPA Retreat 2003. Impassioned by meaningful connections with professional icons, yet discouraged by the lack of young attendees, Aaron approached Ben Coombs (who would become a mentor) about Ben’s plan to train pioneers to mentor younger planners. At 2004’s Retreat, Aaron persuaded Michael Kitces and two other planners to form a related group of younger planners that would become FPA NexGen, which Aaron led for the first few years. In 2006, attempting to recreate the feel and affordability of Retreat’s earliest years, Aaron chaired NexGen’s first conference. The significant growth and impact of NexGen are thanks to the long list of talented and tenacious leaders that followed and the unwavering support and investment of FPA.

Aaron left Compass in 2008, with a dream to create a planning centered firm, just as Elkhart’s economy gained national infamy for its economic disaster with unemployment going from two to 19 percent in six months. Bruised, but not quite broken, in 2009 Aaron accepted an offer to join a more traditional RIA, working remotely. An arduous experience resulted in Aaron reprioritizing his family over professional and financial goals, acquiring new competencies, and advocating for judicial reforms while supporting many who faced or were facing injustice.

Since 2015 Aaron has continued to serve his clients, many for more than two decades, in a boutique practice allowing flexibility to offer high-touch service at a moment’s notice, and to have meaningful conversations within two days when needed.

He lives in the Elkhart area with Kim, his beautiful wife of 26 years. They have four amazing children, with the youngest twins still at home, who thankfully waited a few weeks after that 2006 NexGen conference to be born. The family continues to actively serve and support RETA, a local pregnancy center that is nationally recognized for its growth, talented staff, and the comprehensive and growing services being offered to the community. Kim, a social worker, began as a case manager, then in 1999, Kim and Aaron served as live-in house parents in the teen maternity home, while Aaron studied for his CFP certification, worked full-time, and they welcomed their first child. Aaron currently serves as RETA’s Board Chair.

Aaron has received numerous professional awards and recognitions, has written articles, co-authored a book on retirement income planning, and presented to national and local chapters of planners all over the country on various topics. Aaron is grateful to have discovered his professional calling, humbled to have contributed to passing on the legacy of those pioneers, and thankful for the deep friendships that have resulted.

Michael Kitces isChief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, dedicated to advancing knowledge in financial planning and helping to make financial advisors better and more successful.

In addition, he is the Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners, the co-founder of the XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, New Planner Recruiting, fpPathfinder, and FA BeanCounters, the former Practitioner Editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, the host of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, and the publisher of the popular financial planning industry blog Nerd’s Eye View.

Michael was recognized with FPA’s “Heart of Financial Planning” awards for advancing the profession.

As Vice President of Retirement Strategies at Finance of America, Steve leads the education and training programs for financial professionals about the strategic use of home equity within a comprehensive financial plan.

Steve’s career in financial services spans over 37 years, where he’s served as an investment analyst, educator, and an independent wealth advisor since 1994. His  practice often incorporates home equity strategies to help safeguard and enhance retirement and legacy objectives for his clients.

Steve is recognized as a subject expert source and interviewed by media outlets including the TheStreet, MarketWatch, and many others. He is a frequent speaker at both national and regional professional conferences.

Christy Pinheiro is an Enrolled Agent, Accredited Business Advisor®, and bestselling financial writer. She is a graduate of San Jose State University. Christy worked as an accountant for the state of California as well as two private CPA firms before going into private practice. She is the author of multiple books on taxation, bookkeeping, and tax practice management. Her finance and tax articles have been nationally published online and in various periodicals. Her official website is www.ChristyPinheiro.com.

Gretchen Halpin is a strategic visionary with over 25 years of leadership and marketing experience. In her work with financial professionals and teams, Gretchen's primary focus is to accelerate and guide organizational growth in a positive, sustainable way. From successful entrepreneur to jack-of-all-trades strategic consultant, Gretchen's career path and journey to success have been guided by one true passion: to help people create the life and business they want, even when that means challenging the status quo.

Gretchen specializes in pioneering strategy and growth initiatives that drive success across every aspect of a business — from vision and objectives, to marketing and business development, to the overall client experience. Her top priority is to ensure that all decisions and initiatives are aligned with the mission and values of the firms in which she works. Gretchen has helped firms achieve success by elevating their brand identity and story to internal and external audiences, seizing new business opportunities, driving organizational change and translating strategy into action across all levels of the business.

But her ability to morph big-picture ideas into action and results goes beyond her current focus; it derives from her experience as the driving force behind several successful business ventures, including Soothe Your Senses, an organic aromatherapy product line she launched in 2001. What started as a passion for health and wellness expanded into an international spa brand — with retail distribution in 30 U.S. states and five countries — that grew 250-percent annually for eight years. 

As a co-founder of Beyond AUM, Gretchen and her team created and implemented a growth, marketing and technology plan that led an RIA firm to grow from $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) to more than $5 billion in AUM in five years. Under her leadership, Beyond AUM continues to assist firms, big and small, to reach their goals. Gretchen believes in working directly with advisors and their teams in order to cultivate a deep understanding of the importance and impact of their service and help support their client relationships. These experiences drive Beyond AUM's passion to see the RIA industry continue to thrive into the future. 

Under the direction of Gretchen and her fellow co-founder, Beyond AUM's marketing strategy was recognized by My Perfect Client and Masters in Accounting, and the team led the development of a personal finance blog that was named a Top 50 Financial Advisor Blog by Michael Kitces in 2014 and 2015. Gretchen has been a featured speaker at numerous industry events and conferences, hosted by leading organizations such as eMoney, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and Financial Advisor Magazine.

He’s the self-proclaimed “Geek” at CyberFin. Daniel loves to solve business challenges with technology. With 20 years’ experience in the tech space and the last 7 years providing cyber services to Financial Services organizations and their customers, Daniel knows the importance of cyber security protection. Daniel says he has the best job at the company, combining his passion for technology and education in his quest to eliminate cybercrimes and regulation fines in the SMB space.

Sarah D. Asebedo, Ph.D., CFP®, is an experienced researcher, teacher, and practitioner in financial planning. Her goal is to connect research and practice through evidence-based methods that advance the financial planning profession and equip advisors to excel in client relationships. She is currently spearheading research focused on the application of positive psychology to financial planning, financial self-efficacy and the psychosocial environment, financial behavior change, and the financial planner/client interaction. Her work has been published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, Psychology and Aging, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Financial Planning Review, Journal of Financial Planning, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Financial Therapy, and Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, among others. Her work has been recognized with the 2016 Montgomery-Warschauer Award (FPA/JFP); 2014, 2017, & 2018 Best Research Award (FPA/JFP); 2017 Top 40 Under 40 Award (Investment News); 2017 AARP Public Policy Institute Financial Services and the Older Consumer Award (ACCI); and the 2017 Robert O. Hermann Outstanding Dissertation Award (ACCI). Sarah is a current member and past-president of the Financial Therapy Association. She earned her Ph.D. in Personal Financial Planning from Kansas State University.

Kaitlin Hendrix is the Asset Allocation Research Director and a Vice President at Dimensional. She conducts research and analyses to evaluate and enhance investment strategies and conducts empirical research on a variety of investment topics. Kaitlin leads asset allocation research to develop value-added investment solutions that seek to meet clients’ needs, goals, and preferences in a systematic, reliable, and cost-efficient manner. 

Kaitlin has an MSc in financial economics from the University of Oxford and a BA in economics from Washington and Lee University. She is a CFA® charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Austin.