Thoughts from the Desk of the CPO

Happy July! It’s hard to believe we’re now halfway through the year, and what a year it’s been. For us, this year has felt particularly focused on learning – Learn Big is, after all, one of our core values and one of our commitments to always improving in service of you. And it’s one of my favorite parts about being in this amazing profession – there will always be more to learn to continue to improve how we support and partner with you, our Clients. Never a dull moment!

So far, the educational endeavors of 2026 have included:

• Webinars and investment deep dives;
• Frequent market and economy discussions in assessing world events;
• Conference attendance, study group meetings, and graduate school courses;
• and local FPA chapter meetings.

And the rest of the year holds more of the same.

Deep Dives and Deliberate Learning

• As many of you saw, we recently hosted a Medicare webinar all about the decision points and tidbits to be aware of as you approach age 65. While the webinar was focused on those approaching Medicare age, there is so much to know and be aware of that I always find our time with Margo to be a great refresher on enrollment windows, paths to full Medicare coverage, and recent updates in the Medicare landscape.
• Our financial planning team will have a lunch and learn with a long-term care expert soon to get a full update on the current state of the LTC market and the best practices for including these conversations and details in our ongoing planning.
• We’re working diligently to explore ways AI can make us more efficient and effective, but never to replace the human dimension required to serve you The YeskeBuie Way^®. We’re using Zocks, an AI notetaking software built for financial planning firms, in our meetings so we can each be focused fully on you and allow the AI to take the notes for us. Our process then requires the human brain to review the notes for accuracy so we can be confident we have the appropriate information for our follow-up work together and future reference.
• Graduate school is a major rung on our YeskeBuie Financial Planner career ladder – we believe that learning fuels potential and graduate school helps our team deepen knowledge in specific areas on which they will become the team expert. Sydney and Kacie are both currently pursuing their Masters degrees at Golden Gate University and a few additional team members are exploring their own educational next steps (graduate school for some, new designations for others).
• I’m also thrilled that every member on the Financial Planning Team is now a CFP^® Professional, unprecedented in YeskeBuie history and a great accomplishment in our continued effort to build incredible financial planners ready to be part of your and your future generations’ teams.

Conference Season

• Depending on which conferences one chooses to attend, there can be a “conference season” of the year. But Learn Big has our team attending various conferences all year long!
• The Financial Planning Team recently attended the 54^th annual FPA NorCal conference, a premier financial planning conference dedicated to the education, knowledge, and growth of financial planners. Our team had learning takeaways about estate planning, strategic tax planning for concentrated stock positions, elder care and planning, and education funding and planning.
• Sydney, Ryan, Kacie, and Tim will soon be attending FPA Gather, “the welcoming front door to the financial planning community.” While each of them has been part of this profession for years, this conference is an amazing opportunity to connect with other NexGen community members from around the country, to learn from one another, and to build lasting peer-to-peer relationships. The agenda is full of thought-provoking sessions on career path, retirement and aging planning with Clients, efficient and impactful use of AI, and adding value at every stage of your career. We can’t wait to hear what they bring back to share with the team.
• Most of the Financial Planning Team will also head to FPA Far West Roundup at the end of July. It’s one of our favorite conferences, held on campus at UC Santa Cruz (we sleep in dorm rooms and meet in a classroom, and hang out on the quad at night – reliving our college days!), full of brilliant minds who think deeply and challenge one another to learn and be the best we can be for our Clients.

The Next Generation

• We’re also full in the swing of Summer Interns, something that requires a lot of learning for our team – from learning how to customize the training schedule to support the project list, to actually doing the training, to learning how to manage an intern throughout the summer. It’s always a good indicator of truly understanding the work we do when you can explain it to someone else and train them how to do it. And good teachers are always learning!
  • We love hosting interns and sharing with them all the ways we work to support you and the values behind every decision we make. We love knowing those interns will go out there and become part of this profession we have dedicated so much to
• We’re also hosting some one-day externs this summer to share a brief, informational overview of what life as a planner looks like and all the ways we work day-in-and-day-out to empower and support you.

Give Big

• As you’ve seen in recent editions of TheLiveBigWay^® Digest, we are all involved with pro bono financial planning, which we like to think of as an outward expression of Learn Big, Give Big, and Client Big. The team brings the same rigor and care to pro bono Clients that it brings to every engagement. And this work also makes the team better — every planning scenario and every unique set of circumstances adds to the collective wisdom that serves YeskeBuie
  • Not only are many members of our team working individually with pro bono Clients through the Foundation for Financial Planning, but we have team members involved in new initiatives shaping the future of pro bono planning. Kacie is involved with a new pilot workshop program that’s aiming to partner with local nonprofits for young adult financial education and Sydney is also involved in some exciting pro bono initiatives that will make their way into the broader profession.
  • Ryan has been deeply involved with Tzedek DC and their Financial Empowerment Program and with one-on-one pro bono planning opportunities (and more team members have been getting involved). And Aubrey’s volunteering her time as a financial coach with FreeRent.org, an organization that “works to keep families housed by providing a hand-up that meets their current needs, builds financial stability, and empowers their future.”
• Not only are we doing financial planning for you, our Clients, but the leadership roles and involvement of our team members means the firm has a seat at the table where the profession’s future is being decided. And that flows back to our Clients: better standards, stronger networks, more dedication to the pillars of a true profession, and a firm that is known and respected in all the right groups.

Learning fuels potential and we’re dedicated lifelong learners. It brings us energy and excitement to sharpen our tools and learn from all the best minds around. We Learn Big so we can empower you to Live Big!

Take care,

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