Steven Fox, CFP®, EA is the founder the state of California providing comprehensive fee-only financial planning services for young professionals who want to learn how to use money as a tool to balance today’s pressing needs with tomorrow’s dreams.
He is also founder of the San Diego Financial Advisors Network, a member of both the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and the XY Planning Network, and currently serves as the 2019 President for the San Diego chapter of the Financial Planning Association. Pro-bono efforts to give back include serving as Treasurer and Volunteer Coordinator for the non-profit Financial Independence Training, which provides financial education and individual counseling to active-duty military members.
Steven is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and an Enrolled Agent.
Prior to starting Next Gen Financial Planning, Steven served over 8 years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps. After separating with an honorable discharge, he attended San Diego State University where he graduated with honors while earning a bachelors degree in financial services, a certificate in personal financial planning, and a minor in entrepreneurship. He has also held positions with several other financial planning firms.
Professional Designations
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional
Enrolled Agent (EA)
Affiliations
CFP Board
Fee Only Network
Financial Planning Association
Foundation for Financial Planning
National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
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Offers Investment Management
Yes
Offers Tax Preparation
Yes
About our Firm
Next Gen Financial Planning is a fee-only financial planning firm in San Diego, California, serving clients locally and also nationwide through virtual meetings. We specialize in helping high-earning professionals in their 20’s-40’s make better financial decisions, and teach them to use money as a tool to balance today’s pressing needs with tomorrow’s dreams.
We can help you answer the financial questions that you’ve been wondering about such as:
❓What do I want my future to look like, and what role do financial decisions play as I design my ideal life?
❓We just had a baby, should I start saving for their college education?
❓ How do my disability and parental leave benefits work, and what will our new budget look like?
❓What’s the best way to balance paying down my debt while trying to save for the future?
❓Should I refinance or consolidate my student loans?
❓How do special student loan programs like SAVE, PSLF, PAYE, and ICR work?
❓I’m thinking about a major life change like getting married or starting a business. How does that affect my finances?
❓It’s open enrollment time at my company and the options are overwhelming. How do I know which selections to make to maximize my employee benefits?
❓I want to save for retirement, but how do I know how much I need to contribute or which funds to invest?
❓I haven’t looked at my life, auto, or home insurance policies since buying them several years ago. Do I have the right coverage for me, and am I paying too much?
❓Do I need a will, trust, or other estate planning documents?
❓How does my equity compensation plan work?
❓Should I exercise my incentive stock options, purchase ESPP shares, or sell my RSUs?
❓I just received a big bonus at work! Should I invest it, pay down my mortgage, or finally take that Caribbean diving trip I’ve been itching for?
Once you realize that every decision is a financial decision, it changes the way that you approach financial planning for your future. We can help you orient your financial picture to align with your goals and values, and provide insight on how all of the puzzle pieces fit together.
✅ Investing: Stop aimlessly chasing performance, and start actually working towards your goals with an investment portfolio that is aligned with your financial plan. Our approach is broadly diversified, low-cost, tax-smart, research-backed, and easy to understand. No account minimums or hidden costs.
✅ Student Loans: For many young professionals, massive student loans feel like an enormous burden that they’ll never be able to escape from. Your student loans don’t have to put a hold on the rest of your life plans! A financial advisor will help you navigate all of the options for refinancing, enrolling in income-driven repayment plans such as PAYE or ICR, and applying for forgiveness programs like PSLF in a way that makes sense within the context of your broader financial plan.
✅ Tax Planning: Effective tax planning strategies such as shifting the timing of income and deductions, taking a thoughtful approach to equity compensation, or using tax-efficient investments and account types can all help ensure that you’re maximizing your after-tax income. We’ll stay on top of the evolving tax code so that you don’t have to.
✅ Estate Planning: This critically important area is overlooked far too often, especially by those who think that they aren’t wealthy enough or old enough to need an estate plan. Private asset management can help you ensure that your assets are carefully managed, both now and in the future. A financial advisor will help review your beneficiary designations, assess the need for documents such as wills or trusts, or powers of attorney, optimize asset titling, and address any other estate concerns in collaboration with your estate attorney.
✅ Cash Flow & Debt: Managing monthly spending along with repaying debt like credit cards or auto loans can be challenging, especially for those with variable income streams because of bonuses or commissions. We can help find ways to smooth things out, along with reviewing related topics like credit scores and liquidity of your assets.
✅ Insurance: Financial planning isn’t just about building wealth, it’s also about protecting what you’ve built. A financial advisor will review your current insurance policies such as life, disability, health, long-term care, homeowners, umbrella, and auto to ensure that you have appropriate coverage at fair rates. As a fee-only financial planning firm, we never sell insurance ourselves and we make objective assessments to give recommendations that are in your best interest.
We are not your father’s financial planner! (in fact, we’re quite proud of that)
Financial planning is no longer just for your wealthy grandparents with millions of dollars to invest. Unlike the stuffy old traditional wealth management firms, we are not simply “willing” to work with Gen X or Gen Y clients like you in the hope that you’ll someday have a large investment portfolio for us to manage and charge a fee on.
Everything we do is built around helping YOU face the decisions that shape your future. We’re proud to serve the working professionals in their 20s-40s that the old-school fancy wealth management firms will turn away.
The Next Gen approach to financial planning: We believe that financial planning should be...
✔️Centered around the real people whose lives are impacted by financial decisions
✔️Values-driven (yours, not ours!)
✔️Focused on questions that actually matter
✔️Thorough
✔️Action-oriented
✔️Tech-empowered
✔️Ongoing
Education
San Diego State University Bachelor of Science - BS, Financial Planning and Services
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