CHIEF PLANNING OFFICER • PARTNER
Lauren Stansell, CFP® earned an honors B.S. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech in May 2012. She earned her second honors bachelor’s degree in Finance, summa cum laude, from Virginia Tech’s CFP® Certification Education Track, a CFP Board-Registered program, in December 2012. Lauren passed the CFP® exam in July 2014 and became a CFP® professional in February 2015. Lauren earned her Master’s in Advanced Financial Planning with a concentration in Taxation through Golden Gate University in 2019.
In 2024, Lauren was named to InvestmentNews’ inaugural list of Rising Stars*, a list of the best Wealth Managers and Advisors under 40. Also in 2024, Lauren was named to Forbes’ Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list*, Lauren’s second recognition by Forbes. Her first came in 2023 when she was named to Forbes’ Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list*. According to Forbes, advisors on these lists “represent the true role models of the industry – advisors that are leading the way in offering best practices and providing a high-quality experience for clients.” Lauren has also been featured on various podcasts including ‘NextGen Planners Podcast’ and the ‘You’re a Financial Planner… Now What?’ podcast. She has also been quoted in publications including InvestmentNews, WalletHub, BankRate.com, and AssetTV. She has served as both a speaker and a moderator for various panels and presentations at conferences around the country including a hiring presentation, a succession planning panel, and a Women in Wealth panel. She was also involved in building a new course with The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard and moderated the first class on the history of the financial planning profession.
Lauren co-founded the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) Student Chapter at Virginia Tech and was the first president of the organization. In the first year of its existence, the chapter grew to over 70 students, making it the largest student chapter in the country. Lauren’s passion for engaging with the next generation of financial planners led her to take on the role of Co-Director of NexGen for the FPA of the National Capital Area in 2014. A natural born leader, Lauren served as the 2021 President and 2022 Chair of the FPA of San Francisco. Lauren is a graduate of FPA’s Residency Program and had the honor of serving as a Mentor to the Residents in June 2019 and 2021; she looks forward to serving as a Mentor again in June 2025 and the future!
In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with family (especially experiencing the joys of childhood with her daughter, Nora, and her son, Owen), hiking, exploring new cities and areas of her home city (San Francisco), horseback riding (she started riding when she was four years old), trying new restaurants and recipes with her husband, Daniel, and enjoying jogs and long walks along the San Francisco Bay.
Client Focus: As Chief Planning Officer, Lauren strives to empower Clients to pursue their Live Big lives, to be their “deep breath” in times of need, and to facilitate and participate in the meaningful relationships built. Lauren’s role on the team as a leader is an integral one: not only does she provide guidance and mentorship for those who support her, but she’s also considered the Protector of our core values, ensuring that all strategies and decisions are in alignment with who we are at our core.
Current Update: Lauren had an amazing summer of travel! And, she’s happy to be home and back to a more usual routine for a while. Come along for the ride: First, Lauren spent time with the Yeske Buie Financial Planning Team at FPA NorCal in May; then, served as a Mentor at FPA Residency; then, spent time with family in San Francisco; then, officiated her cousin’s gorgeous wedding in Healdsburg, CA; then, spent two weeks in Arizona with Daniel, Nora, and Owen (in July! Crazy.) visiting grandparents and taking three mini trips within that time – one to NYC to see Sydney win the InvestmentNews NextGen Advisor of the Year award; then, spent a week in Golden, CO with the Yeske Buie Team for our annual retreat; then, spent a few days with the Yeske Buie partners at a retreat; and, finally, spent a long weekend at UC Santa Cruz (sleeping in the dorms!) with the Yeske Buie Financial Planning Team at the FPA Far West Roundup conference.
What a blessing to have so many wonderful events in (10ish weeks of) 2025!
Lauren’s favorite presentations at Far West Roundup were about estate planning, tax planning, and Medicare planning. With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act being signed into law on July 4, 2025 (see more here and here), the Financial Planning Team is embarking on “year-end” tax planning now. We’ll be reviewing Clients’ 2024 tax returns for potential action needed around strategies like charitable bunching, donor advised funds, Qualified Charitable Distributions, and Roth conversions.
Lauren is also looking forward to celebrating Nora’s 4th birthday in September! Nora is chatty, imaginative, spunky, curious, and very sassy (like her mom). She’s such a fun little kid to be around and she is (often) such a sweet big sister. When she’s not choke-slamming Owen to the ground (don’t worry – he can finally fight back), she’s convincing him to color, play, jump off the couch, hide from mama and dada, or run around with her. Owen is talking more and more, loves to eat, loves to talk about planes and Spidey, and is absolutely loving being at Nora’s preschool in the toddler class. The preschoolers spend most of their day out in The Presidio in nature and exploring all the park has to offer – a dream!
*Recipient advisor or wealth manager of an award and/or ranking is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment in the future. Disclosures for Awards and Rankings are available here.