Alden Shmerling
CFP®, CPWA®, CDFA®
Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group, LLC
Parter & Chief Planning Officer
Alden Shmerling
CFP®, CPWA®, CDFA®
Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group, LLC
Parter & Chief Planning Officer
As a fee-only financial planner, I have the incredible opportunity to make a direct and lasting impact on people’s lives. I am truly grateful for the gift of coming to work every day and experiencing our clients’ joy as they accomplish their lifelong goals. - Alden Shmerling, CFP®, CPWA®, CDFA®
Let’s build the future that matters most to you. Serving clients locally and across the country.
Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group is an independent fee-only financial planning and investment management firm with offices in Atlanta; Athens, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Naples, Florida. Helping clients navigate their financial future is a responsibility we take seriously. And it’s an opportunity we cherish deeply.
As a fee-only firm and legal fiduciary, we are solely devoted to our clients’ success. That means our clients will always get objective, unbiased, and evidence-based financial advice centered around their best interests.
Elwood & Goetz specializes in personalized and comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, and tax planning to help clients organize, grow, and protect their assets through life’s transitions. We do all the heavy lifting and day-to-day optimizations to manage your financial life — so you don’t have to.
We are grateful to now serve more than 450 families across 35 states, and we’re proud to have an annual client retention rate above 99%.
Alden Shmerling is a partner and the chief planning officer at Elwood & Goetz. In her role, she oversees and steers the firm’s financial planning services, leads an advisory team, and manages client relationships. Alden is also the managing director of the firm’s Atlanta office in Glenwood Park, which she established in 2019.
She joined the firm in 2010, immediately after graduating from the University of Georgia’s financial planning program. Starting her career at a then-nascent financial planning firm, Alden helped establish E&G’s business foundation and continues to have an integral role in its development and success.
The scrappy, startup mentality is what initially drew Alden to E&G. Believing in the founding partners’ vision and core values, she wanted to be a part of a fee-only financial planning firm that truly put its clients first. Elwood & Goetz gave her the opportunity to do that while furthering her aspirations to build a business that directly and positively impacts people.
As a business savvy financial planner and Certified Private Wealth Advisor®, Alden has a deep interest in and understanding of complex financial situations and innovative planning strategies. Specifically, she specializes in helping high net worth clients identify tax saving opportunities to minimize capital gains taxes and maximize the value of their investment portfolio.
Outside of the office, Alden has remained involved with her alma mater as a past chair of UGA’s Financial Planning Alumni Board. She has also served in the Junior League of Athens and holds memberships with various professional organizations, including the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Investments & Wealth Institute, and the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts.
Alden is a cooking enthusiast, as her husband and friends can attest to after enjoying her tasty homemade chili on a college football Saturday. She also loves globe-trotting, concerts, and being a dog mom to her rescue pup, Moira.
Education + Credentials
- University of Georgia
- Bachelor of Science - Family Financial Planning
- CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
- Certified Private Wealth Advisor®
- Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®
- NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor
Activities. Affiliations. Accolades
- National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Member
- UGA Financial Planning Advisory Board, Former President
- Junior League of Athens, Former Board Member
Alden Shmerling is a Member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors - highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.
NAPFA members live by three important values:
- To be the beacon for independent, objective financial advice for individuals and families.
- To be the champion of financial services delivered in the public interest.
- To be the standard bearer for the emerging profession of financial planning.
At Elwood & Goetz, our comprehensive and personalized financial advice is always centered around our clients’ unique situation, needs, and goals. We value our independence and fiduciary duty. That means you will always get objective, unbiased, and evidence-based advice. Plus, our 100% fee-only structure helps ensure that our success is only measured by your success.
As one of the most educated, trusted, and credentialed advisory teams in the country, we prioritize quality, effective, and responsive client service. We started with just one client and the promise to show up every day to deliver our very best work. And even as we’ve grown, we’ve held closely to this mission.
To maximize the value of our process and comprehensive management services, we are best suited to serve clients with at least $1,000,000 in investable assets who are ready to delegate all of their financial planning and investment management.
Fee-Only, Fiduciary, Independent: Three Important Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Financial Advisor.
Specialties
- Comprehensive Financial Planning
- Retirement Income Planning
- Investment Management
- College Education Planning
- Tax Planning
Ideal Clients
- Retirees and Near Retirees
- Growing Families
- Business Owners and Executives
- Sudden Money Situations
- Novice Investors
Working Together
- In-Office Meetings
- Virtual Meetings
- Clearly Defined Fees
- No Product Sales
- Complimentary Initial Consultation
Professional Designations & Affiliations
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Alden Shmerling is a NAPFA-Registered Financial AdvisorThe National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) is a leading professional association of Fee-Only financial advisors—highly trained professionals who are committed to working in the best interests of those they serve.
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Alden Shmerling is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional - Click for VerificationCFP® professionals are held to strict ethical standards to ensure financial planning recommendations are in your best interest. What’s more, a CFP® professional must acquire several years of experience related to delivering financial planning services to clients and pass the comprehensive CFP® Certification Exam before they can use the CFP® designation.
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Alden Shmerling is a Certified Private Wealth Advisor ® (CPWA®)The CPWA certification is an advanced professional education and certification for advisors who provide the breadth of specialized skills required to meet the needs of high-net-worth clients. This certification requires advisors to develop advanced knowledge and skills to address the wide range of complex issues faced by wealthy individuals and families, including portfolio strategies, wealth transfer, family dynamics, risk management, asset protection, closely-held business ownership, charitable giving, estate planning, retirement planning, and more. Fewer than 1% of financial advisors have achieved the CPWA certification.
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Alden Shmerling is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA®)A CDFA® professional is a financial professional skilled at analyzing data and providing expertise on the financial issues of divorce. The role of the CDFA® professional is to assist the client and his or her attorney to understand how the decisions he or she makes today will impact the client’s financial future. A CDFA® can take on many roles in the divorce process: Financial Expertise and Strategy, Data Collection and Analysis, Expert Presenter and Litigation Support. In some cases, CDFA® professionals are called upon to act as expert witnesses in court or in mediation proceedings.
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Alden Shmerling is a Member of the Divorce Alliance
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Alden Shmerling Can Be Heard on the Nothing Funny About Money Podcast - Episode 29: Down Markets
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Alden Shmerling is a Featured Advisor on DivorceMag.com
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Alden Shmerling is Founding Member of the 1% Club Supporting the UGA Financial Planning Program
Contact Alden Shmerling
Office Locations:
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687 S Milledge Avenue
Athens, GA 30605 -
656 Ellis Oak Ave
Suite 114
Charleston, SC 29412 -
490 Brasfield Square
Atlanta, GA 30316 -
4850 Tamiami Trail North
Suite 301
Naples, FL 34103
