Personal Finance Certification (PFC)

Dr. Minniti is the President and Owner of Minniti CPA, LLC. Dr. Minniti is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Forensic Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Valuation Analyst, Certified in Financial Forensics, Master Analyst in Financial Forensics, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is a licensed private investigator in the state of Arizona. Dr. Minniti received his doctoral degree in business administration from Walden University, received his MBA degree and Graduate Certificate in Accounting from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management, and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix. Dr. Minniti taught graduate and undergraduate courses in forensic accounting at DeVry University, Grand Canyon University, Kaplan University, Northwestern University, and the University of Phoenix.

He designed graduate and undergraduate courses for Grand Canyon University, Northwestern University, and Anthem College. He is a writer and public speaker. He has experience in forensic accounting, fraud examinations, financial audits, internal audits, compliance audits, real estate valuations, business valuations, internal control development, business continuation planning, risk management, financial forecasting, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance work. Dr. Minniti is an instructor teaching continuing professional education classes for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Compliance Online, CPE Link/CCH . AccountingEd, Global Compliance Panel, Clear Law Institute, CPE Solutions, Canopy CPE, The Institute of Management Accountants, the National Association of Valuators and Analysts, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and various state CPA Societies.

Dr. Drew Stevens founder of Wisdom to Wealth, works with individuals that grapple with finances and transforms them into wealthy professionals with the liquidity and lifestyle they desire to live with profound longevity to create a legacy. He specializes in coordinating Social Security and retirement income benefits. Drew holds the industry's most prestigious designation: NSSA© - National Social Security Advisor.

I as the managing partner of The TOLI Center East help people better understand their life Insurance portfolio regardless of whether a person owns their life Insurance policy individually or through a trust. Whether the person is a CPA, an Attorney, or another type of an advisor, one thing remains the same.  Most people are not familiar with their life Ins and incorrectly assume that their coverage will be there for the rest of their lives.

But because the majority of life insurance purchased over the last 25 years is Not Guaranteed and has significantly been affected by years of decreased interest rates and neglect on the part of the amateur trustee that wasn’t aware that they should have been increasing the annual premium, an increasing percentage of those policies are now expiring years earlier than anticipated.

Lastly, Life Insurance today is an 'Asset Class' and as such can significantly benefit the Insured with its 'Living Benefits' as well as the beneficiary with its traditional death benefit.

The more you and your clients know about your & their life insurance portfolio, the better off everyone’s family will be.

Co-authored American Bar Association Flagship book ‘The Advisors’ & Trustees’ Guide to Managing Risk. Featured in Bloomberg, Trust & Estates, NYS Bar Association, Accounting Today, Tax Stringer, Wall Street Week TV, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily & More ★

Contact me at ✉ henry@thetolicentereast.com or ☎ 516-695-4662. Visit ? www.thetolicentereast.com

★ Clients Say ★

• “Mr. Montag gives new meaning to be a knowledgeable representative of what is best in insurance protection for you & your loved ones. A man of his word, his character is stellar & his breadth of understanding of an individual’s needs is enormous.”Mrs. Barbara G. NYC    

• “Henry evaluated my insurance needs (financial wealth & personal objectives) & he changed 1 policy significantly by almost doubling the policy for the same premium. He truly cares about protecting you & is always easily accessible.” Dr. Barry B. Roslyn LI

For the past 35 years Ilene has provided financial literacy and investment education for individual clients to enhance their understanding of money, finances, and investments; and to organizations with a particular emphasis on retirement planning. She has worked for notable Washington, DC area investment companies in management and in building organizational depth in financial education. 

Ms. Slatko has significant experience in the areas of leadership development, team development, career development, executive coaching and talent management. She has expertise in designing learning solutions – virtual instructor-led training and instructor-led -- to meet the unique challenges of clients. She was a key provider of executive and employee education for The Southland Corporation, U.S. Mapping, Century 21, and ERA Real Estate. She has worked with executives and leaders in the areas of communication, selling, client management, leadership development, and team development. 

Ms. Slatko has extensive experience in Federal retirement programs and training federal employees. When the previous retirement system was replaced by FERS, Ilene was at the forefront of presentations to educate affected employees in their choices. She has been a trainer for retirement presentations at agencies throughout the DC area,

She has been a speaker at conferences including the Army Materiel Command Women’s Financial Day, Delaware Women’s Conference, and numerous youth financial literacy programs. Ms. Slatko is currently the host of a weekly Roku and Apple TV show called, The *It Show, the first financial program designed specifically for young women. In addition, she has been the Director of Training for companies in the financial and real estate fields. 

Ilene is an alumna of Marietta College where she studied Drama, Speech, and English. 

John Paul Ruiz has spent more than 30 years as a consultant and trainer in the retirement and financial services industry. Prior to joining SEPIRAk, Ruiz served as Director of Professional Development for The Entrust Group, a self-directed IRA Administrator, his duties involved compliance oversight of all organizational operational procedures and policies, print and electronic materials, staff education and others. He was also the creator of the IRA Academy, a preparatory course for the American Bankers Association’s Certified IRA Services Professional, CISP, designation. Prior to Entrust, Ruiz was the Vice President of Professional Development for Integrated Retirement Initiatives, LLC. His responsibilities involved developing and delivering retirement plan training to financial advisors as well compliance personnel to some of the largest institutions offering retirement products and solutions. With his comprehensive knowledge of alternative investments, his consulting and training expertise was sought after by numerous third-party administrators in the self-directed IRA market. His former positions include Director of Resource Development for the Retirement Products & Solutions division of Acensus (formerly BISYS Retirement Services). Ruiz was responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of the Ascensus professional development and training services using a broad spectrum of media including:

• Live group presentations
• One-on-one coaching sessions
• Video productions
• Live and recorded webinars
• On-line schools
• Telephone seminars

In high demand as a speaker in the retirement services industry, Ruiz has been a featured keynote speaker and industry expert at numerous regional and national conferences. Ruiz has served as a member of the faculty of national schools including the American Bankers Association (ABA) Trust School and the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Ruiz has also served on the faculty of the IRA Institute, which serves as preparatory course for retirement professionals pursuing the Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) designation offered through the Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB) or the Certified IRA Professional (CIP) designation offered through the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU).

Ruiz has become well-known in the industry for his ability to help financial advisers understand how to create selling opportunities by building their retirement plan expertise and staying on top of legislative and regulatory developments.

During his tenure with Ascensus, Ruiz also held position as senior ERISA consultant and as manager of the ERISA Support Call Center, a fee-for-service hotline that provided ERISA technical support to financial services professionals. Prior to Ascensus, Ruiz served as a relationship manager for several key alliance partners in the recordkeeping division of Universal Pension, Inc. Prior to joining Universal Pensions Inc. he worked in the consumer loan division of Wells Fargo Bank. Ruiz earned the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) designation from the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) and holds a Certified IRA Service Professional (CISP) certification through the American Bankers Association’s Institute of Certified Bankers (ICB).

Larry is the Head of Financial and Economic Research, Buckingham Wealth Partners. Since joining the firm in 1996, Larry Swedroe has spent his time, talent and energy educating investors on the benefits of evidence-based investing with enthusiasm few can match.

Larry was among the first authors to publish a book that explained the science of investing in layman’s terms, “The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need.” He has since authored seven more books: “What Wall Street Doesn’t Want You to Know” (2001), “Rational Investing in Irrational Times” (2002), “The Successful Investor Today” (2003), “Wise Investing Made Simple” (2007), “Wise Investing Made Simpler” (2010), “The Quest for Alpha” (2011) and “Think, Act, and Invest Like Warren Buffett” (2012).

He has also co-authored eight books about investing. His latest work, “Your Complete Guide to a Successful and Secure Retirement,” was co-authored with Kevin Grogan and published in January 2019.

In his role as chief research officer and as a member of the firm’s Investment Policy Committee Larry regularly reviews the findings published in dozens of peer-reviewed financial journals, evaluates the outcomes and uses the result to inform the firm’s formal investment strategy recommendations. He has had his own articles published in the Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Investing, AAII Journal, Personal Financial Planning Monthly, and the Journal of Portfolio Management.

Larry’s dedication to helping others has made him a sought-after national speaker. He has made appearances on national television shows airing on NBC, CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg Personal Finance. Larry is a prolific writer, contributing regularly to multiple outlets, including Advisor Perspectives, The Evidence Based Investor, and Alpha Architect.

Before joining Buckingham, Larry was vice chairman of Prudential Home Mortgage. He has held positions at Citicorp as senior vice president and regional treasurer, responsible for treasury, foreign exchange and investment banking activities, including risk management strategies.

Larry holds an MBA in finance and investment from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Baruch College in New York

Lawrence Pon is a Certified Public Accountant, Personal Financial Specialist, Certified Financial Planner, Enrolled Agent, United States Tax Court Practitioner, and Accredited Estate Planner in Redwood Shores, CA 

Mr. Pon has been in tax practice since 1986 and speaks regularly to tax professionals and financial advisors on the latest tax planning and preparation topics.  

Mr. Pon enjoys helping his clients reach their financial goals through comprehensive tax planning and financial planning. 

Mr. Pon received his BS in Business Administration (Accounting & Finance) from UC Berkeley and MS in Taxation from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. 

Bringing 47 years of experience with tax consulting, estate planning, and employee benefits to his work as an independent consultant, Michael is the owner of MIRANDA CPA & Consulting LLC in Sioux Falls, SD.  His tax practice focuses on corporate, individual, estate and gift, and tax accounting.  He also provides employee benefit planning and consultation services for qualified, non-qualified, and health and welfare benefit plans.  As part of his IRS representation practice, Michael has worked with the National Office to obtain private letter rulings and exempt organization determination letters for clients, in addition to numerous EPCRS submissions and audits.  As a nationally recognized tax speaker, he maintains an active schedule presenting webinars and seminars on tax law, employee benefit planning, and estate planning.  

Michael spent much of his career as a CPA with a regional CPA firm located in Northwestern Iowa, retiring after 27 years as a senior manager-shareholder with said firm.  Prior to this experience, he was a Tax Specialist with a Big 8 accounting firm in their South Bend and Minneapolis offices, providing tax and estate planning for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses.  He has earned professional designations including CPA, QKA, and AEP and through professional memberships with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the American Society of Pension and Professional Actuaries (ASPPA), National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA), and the National Association of Estate Planning Councils (NAEPC).  Michael resides in Sioux Falls, SD with his wife Jeanette.

Stefan Sharkansky is the Founder and creator of Personal Fund and a former instructor at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz extensions. He holds a Masters in Computer Science from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Statistics (econometrics) from the University of Washington. His personal research on low-cost and tax-efficient investing led him to develop the mutual-fund and ETF cost-analysis and portfolio-building tool, Personal Fund. Stefan and Personal Fund have appeared in platforms and publications such as The New York Times, Barron’s, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. With his background as an academic, developer, serial entrepreneur, and former improv-comedy performer, Stefan is skilled at presenting complex topics in an accessible and useful format to help financial professionals better manage their clients’ portfolios.

Stephen Abramson is the President and founding partner of APS Pension & Financial Services established in 1977, a mid-size consulting and actuarial firm employing twenty-two professional and support staff specializing in pension and pension-related services.  For over 40 years, APS has been providing closely held businesses with financial services including pension design and administration, business succession planning, and wealth preservation planning. In 2015 APS Investment Management was established to provide fiduciary services to 401(k) and 403(b) plans and in 2018 APS Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), was established to provide investment management services to individual clients and retirement plans replacing his previous relationship with a Broker/Dealer.  Steve has taught professional level education programs for the American Society of Pension Actuaries; lectured to various professional groups, including the National Conference of CPA Practitioners, The NYS Society of CPAs, Nassau Bar Association, the C.W. Post Tax Institute, and the National Institute of Pension Administrators; and conducted continuing education seminars for Certified Public Accountants for the past 35 years. He is co-author of Plan Smart, Retire Rich published by McGraw Hill in 1998; author of Advisor’s Guide to Qualified Plans originally published by Aspen Publishing in March, 2002 and recently in the process of being updated with the 8th edition, and Retirement Financial Management for Clients Approaching Retirement published by Aspen Publishing in August, 2002.  A less technical version of Advisor’s Guide to Qualified Plans entitled Guide to Qualified Retirement Plans: A Plain Language Primer was published by the International Association of Employee Benefits in March 2005.  The second edition of this book was released in 2008.

Steve graduated from Cornell University in 1964, earned the designation of Chartered Life Underwriter in 1967 from the American College, Certified Pension Consultant in 1970 from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and Chartered Financial Consultant from the American College in 1972.

Dr. Curatola is the Joseph F. Ford Professor of Accounting at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He is the Tax Column Editor for Strategic Finance since 1992. He has served as the editor of the Journal of Legal Tax Research and currently serves on the editorial review board of several journals, and has held a variety of leadership positions, including current national service with the Institute of Management Accountants. He has published over 250 articles in journals including Journal of Financial Services Professionals, Journal of the American Taxation Association, Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting, Oil, Gas, & Energy Quarterly, and Tax Notes to name a few. Dr. Curatola was a co-editor on IRA Answer Book by Wolters Kluwer and author of the EA Review course for Surgent Publishers. Dr. Curatola externally funded research findings have appeared in media such as Forbes Magazine, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other media outlets.

More than forty years of practice in tax planning, estate and trust administration and planning, personal financial planning and accounting have given Warren an extraordinarily deep understanding of personal finance. At his New York City firm, Adelman, Katz & Mond LLP, his clients, who include primarily high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs and sole proprietors, benefit from his particular expertise in tax law, its applications and implications for individuals. Warren is an adjunct professor of accounting and taxation at Long Island University, New Jersey City University, and Rutgers Business School. He has spoken at the Institute of Management Accountants, both the New York and Long Island chapters of Financial Planning Association, the New York State Society of CPAs, New York University, and Lorman Educational Services. In addition, he is an accomplished author, and has regularly contributed to publications the experts rely on, like Marshall Loeb's Money Guide, Taxation for Accountants, and The CPA Journal. Warren has been very active in professional organizations, and has frequently been elected as president, board member or committee chair. Warren is a fan of local sports teams.  He also likes to read biographies and books on current events. He and his wife, Susan, live in Langhorne, PA. They have two children, Sam and Robin, and a granddaughter, Reily