Five Star award winners Janet Stanzak and Kristin Garrett

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

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Janet Stanzak and Kristin Garrett

Principal/Owners

Financial Empowerment, LLC

11995 County Rd 11 Ste 130

Burnsville, MN 55337

Office: 952-646-0026

jstanzak@finempowerment.com
www.finempowerment.com

Professional Approach

Our mission is to help you live a fulfilling life by helping you get clarity about what really matters to you, and by designing financial strategies and solutions that are congruent with your unique values, aspirations, and objectives, so you can feel confident making wise financial decisions.
There are often times we find ourselves asking a lot of questions, during times of transition and changes that constantly occur in our lives. Whether you're going through a career change, preparing for financial independence, or considering the impact of new circumstances, you likely have questions about possibilities going forward.

We specialize at considering the possibilities and consequences of making different financial choices. Most every financial decision impacts your tax, investment, estate, and risk management planning, but it's hard to put all those pieces together. That's what comprehensive financial planning does - help to put all the pieces of a complex financial picture together to be congruent with what matters to you.
We are Fee-Only comprehensive financial planners, a member of NAPFA (www.napfa.com), meeting the highest standards for professional competency.

Consider the Art and Science of Financial Planning, to make your possibilities a reality. Then look at why Clarity matters.

Janet Stanzak, CFP®

Principal/Owner

Phone: 19526460026

Janet Stanzak has been a Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner since 1986. She obtained her Masters of Science in Financial Planning in 1998, specializing in investment management. She loves rich conversations helping marry life and money, to assure money decisions are congruent with what really matters in your life. She's a lifelong learner and continues to participate in a number of conferences and study groups to maintain leading edge thinking and a competitive advantage

During the past 40 years, she has started and developed three successful financial planning firms. She served the roles of founder, president and governor of two registered investment advisory and financial planning firms affiliated with regional mid-size accounting firms during which time she managed portfolios with over $300 million in assets.

Janet started Financial Empowerment in 2004 and currently practices in Burnsville, MN. Individuals often seek her out when facing some kind of life transition like retirement, divorce, or a job change, times when life-transitions pose many questions and planning opportunities. Her clients value long-term relationships, are delegators, typically live within their means, and include entrepreneurs, professionals, and high net worth individuals and families.
She served six years on the National Board of Directors for the Financial Planning Association, the 2015 Chair of the community that fosters the value of financial planning and advances the financial planning profession. The FPA has about 22,000 members around the world supporting the values of integrity, competence, relationships, and stewardship. http://www.fpanet.org/ She is a member of NAPFA, the National Association of Professional Financial Advisors, an association of fee-only financial planners who meet the highest standards for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning, and Fee-Only compensation. http://www.napfa.org/

Masters of Science in Financial Planning -1998
BBA Honors Graduate, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - 1981
Certified Financial Planner™ - 1986
Financial Planning Association National Board - Six years, 2015 Chair
Financial Planning Association serving 25,000 members; Chair-Strategic Planning Committee 2011-12; Leadership Advisory Group 2009; Chapter Leadership Resource Council 2007; Chapter Leaders Conference 2008; Communities of Interest Advisory Group 2008; FPA of Minnesota Chapter President 2005
Five Star Wealth Manager 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 - Twin Cities Business/Mpls. St. Paul Magazine
Bloomberg’s Top Wealth Manager 2001 and 2002
Featured contributor: Wall Street Journal, AARP The Magazine, USA Today, Reuters, CNBC.com, Minnesota Business Magazine, Star Tribune, Financial Planning , ThinkAdvisor, Mint.com, RIA Biz, Investment News
Various radio and TV appearances, including a featured guest, Jill on Money and WCCO-TV

Janet volunteers teaching financial literacy in the high schools, and works with Best Prep www.bestprep.org to equip other financial planners to work with students. She also has taught a financial management course through Love INC, www.loveincecc.org for at risk adults. She's an active member of the Chanhassen Rotary. For fun, she loves cooking, golf, music, and beaches.

Kristin Garrett, CFP®

Principal/Owner

Phone: 952-646-0026

Kristin started her career in the wealth management industry based on the technical aspects of planning, but stayed because of her passion for cultivating long-term and meaningful client relationships. She enjoys making a difference in her clients’ lives. Kristin's ultimate goal is to provide high quality service and advice so clients have the ability to pursue their purpose in life.

Kristin is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner and an active member of the Minnesota chapter of the Financial Planning Association.

Bachelor of Arts, Accounting, Cum Laude - Gustavus Adolphus College
Certified Financial Planner™ - 2000
Minnesota Financial Planning Association, Symposium Committee - 2005-2007

Kristin lives in Minneapolis with her husband and two children. She loves traveling, running and anything that allows her to be outside.

See Accomplishments

This award was issued on 11/1/24 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 3/13/24 through 10/29/24. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 4789 Twin Cities-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 624 (13% of candidates) were named 2025 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2024: 4,280, 637, 15%, 12/1/23, 3/13/23 - 9/29/23; 2023: 4,080, 633, 16%, 12/1/22, 3/14/22 - 10/18/22; 2022: 4544, 622, 14%, 12/1/21, 3/29/21 - 10/8/21; 2021: 4004, 630, 16%, 12/1/20, 3/30/20 - 10/23/20; 2020: 3606, 589, 16%, 12/1/19, 3/1/19 - 10/25/19; 2019: 3504, 671, 19%, 12/1/18, 3/23/18 - 10/23/18; 2018: 2622, 591, 23%, 12/1/17, 2/23/17 - 10/13/17; 2017: 2304, 836, 36%, 11/1/16, 2/25/16 - 10/14/16; 2016: 2083, 854, 41%, 11/1/15, 4/17/15 - 10/14/15; 2015: 2673, 825, 31%, 12/1/14, 4/17/14 - 10/14/14; 2014: 1931, 844, 44%, 12/1/13, 4/17/13 - 10/14/13; 2013: 2151, 863, 40%, 12/1/12, 4/17/12 - 10/14/12; 2012: 1256, 624, 50%, 11/1/11, 4/17/11 - 10/14/11.

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Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria - required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP's consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP's consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client's experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria - considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager's future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients' assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.