As a cost and schedule controls systems analyst at a large aerospace company, Steve Bell learned how to sort through, organize and analyze the volumes of information needed to efficiently convey the current cost and schedule positions of large space projects to their respective program managers. As a process improvement facilitator at the same company, he learned how to walk key participants through an efficient approach to reducing the cost, while improving the output, of complex processes.

Today, Steve uses these organization, analysis and communication skills, plus his twenty-three years of financial consulting experience to help members optimize their decisions around managing their wealth; or as Steve puts it …

“I love it when we’re able to move a member’s financial decisions from the seemingly difficult or stressful to the amazingly simple, by either reframing their objectives or by laying out the impacts of their most relevant alternatives.”

Experience: Steve became a Certified Financial Planner™ professional and opened his own Fee-Only comprehensive financial planning firm in 2002. He has been an active participant in our advisor’s study group since 2006, where he has been instrumental in our efforts to continually improve the quality and efficiency of our holistic approach to wealth management. In 2009, he accepted our invitation to join the Conservatory as a wealth consultant. His financial planning experience follows a 20 year career as a senior cost and schedule control systems analyst and process improvement facilitator at a leading aerospace company. Steve also served honorably and proudly as a commissioned officer and helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army.

Education: Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner 2002; CFP® Professional Education Program, College for Financial Planning, Denver, Colorado, 1996; Master of Business Administration, California State University, East Bay 1982.

Memberships and Affiliations: Steve is a National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA)-Registered Financial Advisor.

Outside the Office:  Steve is an active participant in several ministries at his church. He and his wife, Jean, love walking California’s many beaches and rugged mountain trails. They also enjoy spending time with family, especially with their children and grandchildren.