Meet Stephanie

I have always been a numbers nerd. My childhood friends still chide me for encouraging them to play my favorite game: “Let’s count the money in my change jar.” It has always been fun for me to organize my finances and plan ahead to know what was possible. And if something seemed impossible… how could I make the pieces fit to make it possible?

After graduating from Duke University with a math degree, I pursued a career in corporate consulting. I specialized in turnaround cases and corporate recovery through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This really sparked my interest in assessing financial situations and evaluating solutions, and led me to my passion of personal financial planning. In 2017, I began my pursuit of becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, one of the highest professional standards in the financial planning industry, and I founded Ascend Financial in 2022 to realize my vision of making good advice accessible.

1. There are no asset minimums required to work with Ascend Financial.

2. While we wholeheartedly believe that insurance can play an integral role in someone’s financial plan, we don’t sell products or insurance. We want you to feel comfortable that if we recommend an insurance product for your plan, it’s because we think it’s a good fit, not because we’ll be making a commission.

3. Higher education is one of the most expensive investments we can make in a lifetime. There are many nuances in the student loan and financial aid programs and Ascend Financial is dedicated to maintaining our competence in these areas to skillfully advise on college funding and student loan planning.

   - Stephanie Loeffel, CFP®

   Founder and Lead Planner