About Spencer Stephens, CFP®, MS
Hi, I’m Spencer Stephens and for some reason, I love personal finance.
Maybe it all started back in middle school when my parents started giving me $10 each week to buy lunch. This was my first real passive income stream and I loved it! But I realized that if I used my "hard-earned" money I would have less of it so I started learning how to save and use my money wisely.
While attending the University of Utah for my Bachelor's degree in psychology, I decided to do a business minor. As part of the minor, I took a Finance 101 class and I was blown away by discussions about the power of Roth IRAs and compound interest. I couldn’t believe it! I kept thinking, “Why doesn’t everyone have to learn this?!”
I became obsessed! I started telling everyone I knew about Roth IRAs and other personal finance topics. One day a young couple came to my house to look at a car we were selling. The start of our conversation went a little like this, “Hi! I’m Spencer. Here is the car. Do you know anything about Roth IRAs?” I think they got more than they bargained for, but at least they got a car out of it! After that experience, my wife said, “If you like finance so much, why don’t you do it for a career?”
After my undergrad, I shifted from psychology to pursue a Master’s Degree in Finance at the University of Utah. This was a tremendous experience as I learned an incredible amount about investing, personal finance, real estate, accounting, and more. I was selected to join a small team to manage a $5 million bond portfolio for Zions Bank and learned with some of the greatest minds in the industry.
I started working with my father at his CPA firm in Salt Lake City, Utah where I gained in-depth tax planning experience along with countless other financial topics while working with hundreds of clients. During this time, I learned that money arguments was one of the leading causes of divorce and that was heartbreaking to me. I feel strongly that education around finances is a simple cure to that needlessly high statistic.
After a summer internship with Goldman Sachs, I decided I liked working with people so I started interviewing with all the financial advisors I could find. Though there were some good advisors, I was shocked that their business lived on selling very expensive insurance and mutual funds. I kept asking questions like, “Why can’t clients invest in lower-cost funds like Vanguard?” and “What’s wrong with a simple and affordable term life policy?” I knew these very high fees unnecessarily ate away at people’s money and therefore their dreams so I could not get on board. I practice what I preach and personally use the same tools that I provide to all my clients.
I decided to start an independent fee-only firm in 2017 so I could help people navigate their finances in a more unbiased and holistic way. I have loved every minute!
I passed the Series 65 - Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam and completed all the requirements to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and proudly joined the ranks of only 5.3% of all CFP® professionals under the age of 30 in April 2019. I am also a proud member of XY Planning Network, NAPFA, and Fee-Only Network.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that personal finance is way more personal than it is finance! There are so many emotions involved in the financial process and I love that I get to blend my understanding of psychology with my expertise in finance to help my clients achieve their dreams.
I have been married to my high school sweetheart for over a decade and together we have five incredible children. I love learning new things, reading, watching movies/TV shows, eating good food, and going to the beach. Some day soon I hope to write some books, become a certified paragliding pilot, and try stand-up comedy. I enjoy life and laughing along the way.
