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January 2024 by Bryan Torralba
We've been working with Mark for a few years now and he has made all the right moves to help us realize our financial goals for the future, near and down the road. If you need a financial planner who will work with you in a sincere and professional manner, Mark is your guy. Highly recommended!
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January 2024 by Donna Kaye
Mark focuses on my needs and risk levels and has the knowledge to oversee my investments to my best advantage
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February 2023 by Julie Kephart
I would highly recommend Mark to guide and assist in achieving short term and long term financial stability. His process for listening to my future financial goals and explaining options was extremely impressive and empowering. Continuously enhancing my understanding and sense of financial control to achieve my goal.
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February 2023 by Jerry Kephart
Mark and University Financial Strategies were fantastic. Organizing and putting a financial plan in place were overdue. Now we have a clear path for retirement. Highly recommend!
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May 2022 by Brad C
Mark has been very helpful in introducing us to and teaching us about investing and helping us manage out accounts. Has always responded quickly to questions and gives thorough answers and is very patient. Will also be very helpful in our future college planning. Would recommend him to anyone who needs help with investing and financial planning.
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May 2022 by Victoria Chetty
I scheduled a consultation with Mark after being referred to him as a Dave Ramsey Preferred Coach. Using Dave’s Baby Step approach, we cleared all of our debt (equal to ~70% of our income), fully funded our emergency fund, and began saving 15% for retirement in about 2.5 years, all on a lower-than-average household income. We tithe our first 10%, paid cash for our dream car, and completely cash flow both our son’s preschool and my husband’s college. Next week we’ll be going abroad for a weeklong paid-for vacation. I share this as a testament to how incredibly valuable the work of financial advisors can be. So I was grateful to connect with Mark, especially since he’s a Certified Financial Planner.That said, he made a number of recommendations that seemed illogical. For example, although I’d expressed – both verbally and in writing – that we had completed our emergency fund, multiple times he told me we should pause and rebuild our emergency fund. Moments later when I shared we were planning to fortify our emergency fund due to a salary increase and plans to relocate to an area with a higher cost of living, his immediate response was to invest rather than pad our emergency fund. I guess he wanted us to invest it on top of the 15% we already invest in retirement or maybe our children’s 529s (our children are 3 yrs & 8 mos.) – he wasn’t clear. He also didn’t explain how this path would help us reach our long-term goal of becoming homeowners, which I expressed was our priority (one of our reasons for increasing our emergency fund is so to ensure we always meet our minimum weekly home savings goal, among several other key sinking funds).At times, his recommendations seemed contradictory to his own counsel; shortly after advising we increase our investing, when asked about balancing retirement investing vs. saving for a downpayment, he said we may need to decrease our investing to save more for a home. Temporarily pausing/decreasing our 401(k) to save for a home made sense, but, again, seemed to counter his previous recommendation just minutes earlier. We are intentional about how every dollar is given, saved or spent. His high-level recommendations appeared haphazard, lacking in clear direction, and didn’t seem aligned with our family’s goals or our understanding & application of Dave’s Baby Step process.As a young adult, I regularly seek wise counsel in key areas from parenting to spiritual and character development to financial stewardship. Normally, I take notes, review them with my husband, reflect on action items throughout the week, follow up to ensure we’re effectively applying what we’ve learned, and pray for added wisdom to lead my family. This was the first time I didn’t learn anything.In retrospect, maybe he was looking at another person’s financial profile or just having an off-day, as we all sometimes do. Perhaps in subsequent sessions he would have provided greater specificity as to the reasoning behind his various recommendations for our family.Nonetheless, if you’re considering reaching out to him for your own financial planning/coaching, I encourage you to do so. I’m comfortable giving him 3 stars, because although I’m unable to personally recommend Mark based on my own limited experience, I’m 100% confident that it is the exception rather than the norm and have no doubt he commands a strong expertise in this area. And I’m sure he has applied his knowledge to make a tremendous difference in countless people’s lives, especially with his specialization in college funding. As a mother, I understand his knowledge base is invaluable. I’m sorry my family will not be beneficiaries of his expertise, but again, I have faith in his abilities and don’t believe this consultation was a reflection of the much greater value he can provide clients.
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June 2020 by Laura Waniata
Mark Kelly,I look to Mark for all of my short and long term financial goals. With retirement close and his soundadvise, thankfully I am able to make it all happen early. Trust was high on my list. You check that box off.Lucky to have had him take me as a client.Thank You Mark,Laura Waniata
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June 2019 by Michael Travis
Mark is patient, attentive and really takes the time to understand your goals to help you meet them. I would highly recommend Mark for all your planning needs.
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June 2019 by Michael Crowley
I'll have two in college at the same time. For those of us with multiple kids in college, planning is essential. Thanks, Mark for the sound advice, patience, and wisdom while helping me plan for this.
