I started my career as a financial advisor in Carbondale, IL with A.G. Edwards & Sons in 2001. Always excited to meet new people and having a unique interest in the financial markets, being a financial planner was the perfect fit for my career.

I joined the Army National Guard in 1997 as an Infantryman and served a total of 9 years. The military gave me the discipline and drive to graduate from SIU-Carbondale with a B.S. in Finance and minor in Accounting while simultaneously holding a 30 hour a week job.

In January of 2005, 4 years into my career, my National Guard unit out of West Frankfort, IL was called up to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. Acquiring the rank of Staff Sergeant, I served as Squad Leader while conducting military police maneuvers in central Baghdad.

Anticipating my return, I attained the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation between mission and duties during my downtime in Iraq. Due to countless prayers, I safely returned home March of 2006.

Picking up right where I left off, I resumed my career as a financial advisor. My goal was to be the “complete package” advisor, wanting to assist in all areas including: investments, insurance, taxes, and estate planning.

The next step was to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner, which I did in November 2007. An individual who has earned the CFP® mark of distinction has met the education, examination, experience and ethics standards established by the Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards (CFP Board).

In December of 2007, three others and I formed Alliance Investment Planning Group LLC. We are an independent financial planning firm based in Southern Illinois. Since then we have added three other advisors to our team. Our focus is to offer independent advice that is free from the Wall Street influence and catered more to “Main Street” investors.

July 2008 marks the launch of my financial planning and investment blog Good Financial Cents. My hope is that I can help people make sense of investing and their personal finances. With so many different options out there, I hope to ease the fog and help you make clear and smart financial decisions. Knowledge is Power!

Since my blog was released, I’m humbled in the amount of lives that I have touched and helped with their financial planning issues. I know this is just the tip of the iceberg and can’t wait to see where the blog is years from now.