Meet Sara Young, CFP®

Credentials

• Certified Financial Planner® Professional; since 2022
• Investment Advisor Representative; since 2020

Memberships & Affiliations

• XY Planning Network; 2023 - Present
• The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA); 2022 - Present

Introduction

Hi, I'm Sara, a financial planner with over five years of professional experience in personal finance - plus a long history of volunteering, researching, and learning about the subject since age 15. I'm passionate about financial well-being and  optimization, and have dedicated my career to increasing access to fiduciary financial advice for families of all levels of wealth.

My Story

I worked as a bedside Registered Nurse for six years before burnout prompted a career change. Fueled by a lifelong interest in personal finance, investing, and taxes, I pursued the Certified Financial Planner® curriculum. I completed the coursework before ever working a day in the industry, and passed the certification exam with just a few weeks of work under my belt - an exam with a ~60% pass rate, almost exclusively made up of employed professionals.

Professional Experience

My work has been focused on comprehensive, detail-oriented, high impact client work since day one. I was fortunate to spend the first years of my finance career at a large independent RIA, learning from many wise, compassionate, and ethically driven mentors. I'm also intent on listening to my clients - what they're saying, what they're not saying, and asking questions to ensure I'm building a custom plan instead of a boilerplate set of spreadsheets.

My work is informed by:

Tax prep experience
Holding space for hard conversations
A love of the fine print

Personal Interests

My family fuels my work on a daily basis. My husband Wes and I are busy raising three young kiddos. Together we enjoy trips to the children's museum, afternoons at the pool, homemade pizza, and backyard vegetable gardening. Wes is an anesthesiology resident (and also a career changer). I enjoy print and audiobooks, budget travel/backpacking, needlework, and tea.