John E. Sestina

John E. Sestina (born 1942) is president of John E. Sestina and Company, a private professional financial planning firm, which counsels individual clients on an objective fee-only basis. The firm's guidance to clients throughout North America includes cash flow management, investment management, tax planning, disability planning, education planning, retirement planning and estate planning.

John E. Sestina was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Dayton in 1965 and later a Master of Science in Financial Services from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Sestina has met the qualifications for the professional designations of Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC).

A financial planner in private practice since 1965, Sestina has been recognized as the founder of the profession of fee-only financial planning since 1972. His record of visionary innovation during the past 26 years has supported his mission to establish fee-only financial planning as an independent profession. His stature as the founding leader in his profession is reflected in a long career of firsts and noteworthy achievements in financial planning education and service.

Continuing his commitment to innovation, John Sestina has been chosen to take the lead in educating the next generation of fee-only planners. He kicked off NAPFA’s first Basic Training Conference by leading a full-day panel on “Making the Transition to Fee-Only Planning”. He was also invited by the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado, to present a three-hour audiotape series on “Starting or Transitioning to a Fee-Only Financial Planning Practice.” The College confers the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1997.

In 1993, he established The Sestina Network for Fee-Only Financial Planning Professionals. The Network serves as a structured training ground for new planners and those entering the profession from other fields. Mr. Sestina personally trains these new entrepreneurs to become proficient and credible—and thus profitable—earlier in their careers. The purpose of The Sestina Network is to make the highest quality of professional advice affordable for middle-income Americans.

In 1992, Sestina helped launch Financial Planning Clubs International (FPCI). FPCI is the first and only educational organization in the history of U.S. consumerism that empowers people to learn and actually complete their own personal financial plan in a setting of group support.

Sestina is the author of the only book on the market that outlines a step-by-step guide to help individual consumers prepare their own financial plan, Managing To Be Wealthy. It features 388 pages of detailed “how to” advice, including more than 70 planning checklists and calculation guides. First published in 1988 and now in its fifth edition, it has withstood the tests of dramatic marketplace changes and countless short-lived financial fads. He has also produced a companion four-hour video series to complement the book. Sestina’s no-nonsense management philosophy of building wealth is embodied in the federally trademarked phrase Managing To Be Wealthy®.

He shares 40+ years of successful private practice experience with his profession through Fee-Only Financial Planning: How to Make It Work for You the book in its field.

In order to promote professionalism and credibility in a then-fledgling field, Mr. Sestina founded two fee-only professional associations: the Society of Independent Financial Advisors (SIFA) in 1976 and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) in 1982. He was named "Financial Planner of the Year" by SIFA in 1982. Sestina has served on several NAPFA’s Committees including Ethics.

John Sestina believes that knowledge is power and that education is the most effective activator of that power. As part of this commitment to education, he donated his time as a community service to present a 13-part video series on how consumers can prepare their own financial plans. It aired three times weekly on Educable TV-25 in Columbus. He also served on Educable’s Board of Directors.

His commitment to education extends to the university level. Since 1978, he has taught a regularly scheduled course in personal financial planning at The Ohio State University. He has also taught courses required by The American College, Franklin University, and Columbus State College. Sestina has worked with Purdue, Brigham Young and Wright State Universities to develop their formal degree-granting programs in financial planning. He currently teaches an advanced financial planning class at Ohio State University.

In 1992, he was appointed to the prestigious Financial Advisors Service (FAS), a division of discount stockbroker Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. which provides strategic guidance and ideas on existing and proposed products and services for the financial advisor marketplace nationwide. He was admitted to the Registry of Financial Planning Practitioners and served as well on the committee to develop the examination for admission to the Registry.

Sestina is also a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and the Financial Planning Association (FPA). He has served on the Board of Directors for NAPFA and the Central Ohio Chapter of the FPA.

John Sestina is a naturally engaging teacher whose credentials extend across business, the professions and academia. For two consecutive years, he was one of a select group of professionals invited to speak at the Business Week Conference on Personal Financial Planning. He is also a frequent speaker and seminar leader for business and professional groups across the U.S.

Sestina was awarded the coveted Robert J. Underwood lifetime service award by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors in 2008. He has been named one of the nation’s “Best Financial Advisors” in WORTH magazine. Medical Economics also honored Sestina in its “Best 120 Financial Advisers for Doctors” (August, 1998). His book for consumers, Managing To Be Wealthy, was highlighted in the March 4, 1997, issue of Woman’s Day as one of “50 Things To Do With $50.”

Nationally recognized as a leader and innovator, his expertise is frequently consulted and quoted by such national media as The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, USA Today, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report and Bloomberg Business News. His engaging presentation style earns him frequent invitations to appear on radio and television talk shows. The 69-year-old Sestina had a weekly television series on Educable and is frequently featured on WTVN-AM's radio magazine show and CBS Morning Show and NBC in Columbus, OH.

Sestina is listed in Who's Who in Finance and Industry, Who's Who in the Midwest, Who's Who in the World, and Who's Who in Financial Planning.