PTLive - Protected Tomorrows Special Needs Directory

Cordner Financial Services, Inc - tba

James Doherty is self-employed as a medical/rehabilitation consultant in the private sector. He is also a licensed Advocate of Protected Tomorrows®. Over the past 25 years, Jim worked as a catastrophic injury consultant for the casualty reinsurance industry, coordinating rehabilitation services throughout the United States and Canada for severely injured individuals and their families. Jim’s interest in the special needs community began years ago when a family member was admitted to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago for treatment. Soon after, he started his career in rehabilitation while employed in various capacities at the Institute. This experience gave him the opportunity to work with individuals who later started the independent living movement in Chicago. Jim received his Master of Social Work degree from Loyola University of Chicago. He also holds certifications in life care planning, case management and disability management. Jim and his family live in Park Ridge, Illinois.

Theodore J. Doremus is a Registered Investment Advisor with Lara, Shull & May, an independent tax and investment planning firm, where he has worked since August 2000 serving the Virginia/Washington, D.C. metro area. He is blessed with a mother who has special needs, and for the past five years, he has dedicated most of his practice to helping families who have children with special needs. Being a licensed Advocate of Protected Tomorrows, along with his compassion, experience and knowledge, enables him to provide exceptional financial and life planning guidance to families with special needs.

Mary Anne Ehlert is President of Ehlert Financial Group, Inc. and Protected Tomorrows, Inc., and sister to an individual with disabilities. A Certified Financial Planner and having the benefit of more than 33 years of financial planning experience, she is highly regarded as an expert in working with families of individuals with disabilities, as well as the elderly. Mary Anne regularly travels around the country speaking to various disability groups about the positive impact a person with a disability has on the world.

For the last 20 years, Alicia Fitts has had various roles in the financial services industry, which includes insurance, banking, consulting and training. For the past 10 years, she has been working on family estate planning issues, teaming with attorneys, accountants and financial advisors. Alicia knows first hand the difficulties families face when a loved one in the family suffers from a disability. Alicia’s brother suffered a massive stroke resulting in physical and mental disabilities. His stroke forced their family to learn about and adopt a financial plan for his future which melded into a larger estate plan for the family as a whole and which provided for his family. Other family members also have lived with both physical and mental disabilities and which chronic illness.

Paul M. Goyette, a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner with Northeast Planning Associates serving the Manchester, New Hampshire and Boston area. Paul specializes creating financial strategies for retirees and pre-retirees, especially those who have family members with special needs, simplifying what seems complex. Paul understands the unique challenges families face. He has a nephew with autism. Being a licensed Protected Tomorrows Advocate gives him the tools to help families plan for the future in all areas of life.

John R. James is a Licensed Advocate with Protected Tomorrows®. He has been serving individual and business owner clients for the past 40 years, in the financial services industry. During that time, he has been involved with a regional non-profit foundation, both as a board member and as the interim Executive Director. This involvement has added experience in planned giving, endowments, and estate and care planning. John's specialty is providing clients a high level of customer service typical of a concierge style. In the Life Planning process, he and his staff strive to deliver value above the expected level of service.

tba

Carl Mook is the founder and president of the CM Financial Group, a financial planning firm with offices throughout northern Illinois and a corporate office in Sycamore. He holds several security and insurance licenses. Carl opened his financial planning practice in 1981 after a successful 17 year teaching career, which involved working with students with learning disabilities. Being a licensed Advocate of Protected Tomorrows enables Carl and his firm to have a positive impact on many more people with developmental disabilities and their families. The Process for Protected Tomorrows fits with his philosophy of caring and sharing.

Gerald Rowley is the advocate for Tomorrow’s Life Care Plans (TLC Plans). TLC Plans provides obtainable solutions for families with children or other loved ones with special needs living in Utah's Wasatch Front. Gerald has a unique professional background that has provided a foundation for helping the special needs community. Gerald graduated from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah with a Bachelors Degree in Human Development, Psychology, and Zoology. He then graduated from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado with a Bachelors Degree in Occupational Therapy. Gerald worked with individuals with physical limitations for 11 years. He then transitioned from helping families in the medical field, to helping families as a financial advisor. Gerald has spent the last eight years as a “financial therapist”. Becoming a Protected Tomorrow's Advocate has given Gerald an opportunity to combine his unique life experience, his medical background and financial education to help families in a very specific way to achieve peace.

Scott Steiner, CFP®, is a financial planner with Ehlert Financial Group, Inc. and works as an Advocate for Protected Tomorrows. After enjoying a nine-year career in banking, he joined Prudential Financial as a financial planner in 2003, shortly after caring for a terminally ill family member. The experience made Scott realize how emotionally and financially challenging it can be to meet the needs of a loved one who requires special attention. He not only is able to empathize, but also provide hope to other families, as his passion is to assist people in planning their financial futures.

Scott K. Warner is President and Founder of Life Design Financial, an independent investment and insurance firm he began in 1992. To better serve his clients with special needs in Southern California, he recently opened Tomorrow’s Promise in North Orange County. Scott has long been familiar with the special needs community. Both his sister and one of his daughters contend with mental illness. Also, a close friend has Lou Gehrig’s disease. He knows all too well how overwhelmed and strained families with special needs can be. The lack of resources he experienced with his own family is what led him to become a licensed Advocate with Protected Tomorrows. Scott’s mission as an Advocate is to provide expert advice, guidance and support to families with children or other loved ones who cope with special needs.

Ameriprise Financial - tba

Marilyn Zilka is a financial advisor for Ehlert Financial Group, Inc. and is a licensed advocate of Protected Tomorrows®. She joined Ehlert in April of 2007, after a successful career with several Wall Street firms. For the last 20 years, she worked as an institutional equity salesperson with PaineWebber/UBS and Bank of America Securities. Her clients included bank trust departments, insurance companies, portfolio managers of mutual funds and investment advisors.