Financial Experts for The Motley Fool Ascent

• Alicia Aldrich

  TMFAA

  Alicia Aldrich is the PR Director for The Motley Fool dedicated to advancing the company's purpose of making the world smarter, happier, and richer.

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• Ashley Maready

  CMFAshleyMaready

  Ashley Maready is a former history museum professional who made the leap to digital content writing and editing in 2021. She has a BA in History and Philosophy from Hood College and an MA in Applied History from Shippensburg University. Ashley loves creating content for the public and learning new things so she can teach others, whether it's information about salt mining, canal mules, or personal finance.

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• Ben Gran

  CMFBenGran

  Ben Gran is a freelance writer based in Des Moines, Iowa. He has written for regional banks, fintechs, and major financial services companies. Ben is a graduate of Rice University.

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• Brendan Byrnes

  TMFNiner

  Currently Managing Director of The Ascent, Brendan has nearly a decade of experience in the personal finance space. He has written hundreds of articles for The Motley Fool and provided analysis on TV outlets including CNBC and Fox. He holds a degree in finance from Virginia Tech.
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• Brian Frey

  Brian is The Ascent's Head of PR. With a decade of experience testing personal finance and consumer products, his work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and American Banker, among other leading news outlets. Outside the office, Brian optimizes credit card points to travel, and is always on the hunt for new ways to save and invest money.

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• Brittney Myers

  TMFBrittney

  Brittney started her writing career in the world of science, putting her physics degree to good use. Her journey into finance started with building her personal credit, but soon grew into a borderline obsession with credit cards and travel rewards. For the last 7 years, she has enjoyed the ability to share her expertise with readers, as well as the opportunity to interview companies and individuals making an impact on our financial lives. She wholly believe most problems can be solved with the right research -- and a good spreadsheet -- and she specializes in translating complex financial topics into actionable advice to help educate and empower readers.

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• Charlie Pastor, CFP®

  CMFCharlesPastor

  Charlie Pastor, CFP® is a full-time financial planner dedicated to overserving the underserved. He has a degree in Finance, Accounting, and Personal Financial Planning from the University of Colorado Boulder. His professional experience includes founding a Registered Investment Advisor firm dedicated to serving young professionals. Outside of writing for The Ascent, Charlie enjoys serving as political advocacy chair for the Financial Planning Association of Colorado.

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• Chris Neiger

  TMFNewsie

  Chris Neiger is a full-time freelance writer with more than 10 years' experience covering personal finance and investing-related topics. In addition to his work with The Ascent and The Motley Fool, he was also a writer for the BBC for three years and marketing manager for two non-profits.

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• Christy Bieber

  TMFChristyB

  Christy Bieber is a full-time personal finance and legal writer with more than a decade of experience. She has a JD from UCLA as well as a degree in English, Media and Communications with a Certificate in Business Management from the University of Rochester. In addition to writing for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, her work has also been featured regularly on MSN Money, CNBC, and USA Today. She also ghost writes textbooks, serves as a subject matter expert for online course design, and is a former college instructor.

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• Cole Tretheway

  TMFCole

  Cole Tretheway is a full-time personal finance writer whose articles have been featured on The Ascent and The Motley Fool. He has a degree in English with a Certificate in Professional and Technical Communication from California Polytechnic University, SLO.

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• Dana George

  TMFByGeorge

  Dana George has a BA in Management and Organization Development from Spring Arbor University. For more than 25 years, she has written and reported on business and finance, and she's still passionate about her work. Dana and her husband recently moved to Champaign, Illinois, home of the Fighting Illini. And though she finds the color orange unflattering on most people, she thinks they'll enjoy Champaign tremendously.

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• Danielle Antosz

  CMFDAntosz

  Danielle is a small business and finance industry writer based in Ohio. She writes about tech, finance, and small businesses for The Ascent and other industry publications.

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• Dann Albright

  TMFpedalhead

  Dann is The Motley Fool's Research Lead. He plans research studies, writes surveys, crunches numbers, and works with writers and editors to generate unique Foolish insights based on real-world data.
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• David Chang, ChFC®, CLU®

  TMFDavidChang

  David S. Chang, ChFC®, CLU® is an award-winning entrepreneur, keynote speaker, author, and consultant. He has over two decades of experience in the wealth management space and has been featured in dozens of news, radio, and podcast programs nationwide. He currently works as Head of IoT for the West Region of a Fortune 200 company. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and currently a Lieutenant Colonel in the California Army National Guard. He is an East-West Graduate Degree Fellow and has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

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• Devon Delfino

  CMFDevonDelfino

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• Emma Newbery

  TMFemmanewbery

  Emma lives in Bogota, Colombia, where she owns the English-language newspaper The Bogota Post. She began her editorial career at a financial website in the U.K. over 20 years ago and has been contributing to The Ascent since the summer of 2019.

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• Eric McWhinnie

  Eric McWhinnie has been writing and editing digital content since 2010. He specializes in personal finance and investing. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance.

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• Jack Caporal

  TMFJackCap

  Jack Caporal is the Research lead for The Motley Fool and The Motley Fool Ascent. His research focuses on uncovering and analyzing trends that shape personal financial decisions across the United States, to help people become smarter, happier, and richer.

  Jack's primary research has been featured across top-tier television networks, and accredited publications like the New York Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, and has been cited in Congressional testimony. He previously followed business and economic trends as a reporter and policy analyst in Washington, D.C..

  Jack enjoys spending time in the mountains and cheering for his hometown Boston sports teams. Check out Jack's research.

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• Jake FitzGerald

  Jake is an Editorial Strategist for The Ascent. He focuses on our content production, distribution channels, and product ratings. He specializes in all thing credit cards and wants to make sure each person has the best card for them! While spending the last decade editing financial content, he has the ability to spend an entire day tailgating, the inability to take himself too seriously, and lives with a putter he’s not currently speaking to.

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• James McClenathen

  TMFJammerz

  Managing editor for The Ascent, personal finance wonk, longtime editor, former reporter, and University of Michigan alum. James oversees the production and quality of The Ascent's content.
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• Jamie Matthews

  TMFJamieMarie

  Jamie Matthews is alumni of Ohio State University and still calls Columbus, Ohio home. She is a finance editor with more than nine years of experience. When she isn't obsessing over grammar and punctuation, she enjoys baking, reading books, and being a proud dog mom.

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• Jordi Lippe-McGraw

  CMFJordiLippe

  Jordi Lippe-McGraw is a freelance personal finance writer, appearing in publications such as Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TODAY, and Saving for College. Jordi's dedication to this topic made her one of the most read authors as a full-time writer for Student Loan Hero (acquired by Lending Tree) in 2018. In addition to personal finance, Jordi has a passion for travel. She's visited all 7 continents and over 55 countries, writing for outlets such as Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler.

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• Kailey Hagen

  TMFKailey

  Kailey Hagen has been writing about small businesses and finance for almost 10 years, with her work appearing on USA Today, CNN Money, Fox Business, and MSN Money. She specializes in personal and business bank accounts and software for small to medium-size businesses. She lives on what's almost a farm in northern Wisconsin with her husband and three dogs.

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• Kevin Payne

  TMFKevinP

  Kevin Payne is a freelance writer and family travel and budget enthusiast behind FamilyMoneyAdventure.com. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Credible, CreditCards.com, Bankrate, SlickDeals, Finance Buzz, Student Loan Planner, and more. Kevin lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his wife and four teenagers.
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• Kimberly Rotter, AFC®

  TMFkimsandiego

  Kimberly is a career writer and editor with more than 30 years' experience. She's a bankruptcy survivor, small business owner, and homeschool parent. In addition to writing for The Motley Fool, she offers content strategy to financial technology startups, owns and manages a 350-writer content agency, and offers pro-bono financial counseling.

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• Kristi Waterworth

  MaldivesBlue

  Kristi Waterworth has been a writer since 1995, when words were on paper and card catalogs were cool. She's owned and operated a number of small businesses and developed expertise in digital (and paper) marketing, personal finance, and a hundred other things SMB owners have to know to survive. When she's not banging the keys, Kristi hangs out in her kitchen with her dogs, dropping cheese randomly on the floor.

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• Lyle Daly

  TMFLyleDaly

  Lyle Daly is a personal finance writer who specializes in credit cards, travel rewards programs, and banking. He writes for The Ascent and The Motley Fool, and his work has appeared in USA Today and Yahoo! Finance. He was born in California but currently lives as a digital nomad with a home base in Colombia.

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• Margo Winton Parodi

  TMFMargleyFool

  Margo Winton Parodi is a freelance copyeditor who has worked on a wide range of subjects, from cookbooks to young adult novels to personal finance. She received her BA in Communications from UC San Diego in 2010 and her Copyediting Certificate from UC Berkeley Extension in 2015. She's been contributing to The Ascent since the spring of 2019.

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• Mary Girsch-Bock

  Scarlettmidway

  Mary Girsch-Bock studied accounting and business at UIC. After working as an accountant for many years in various industries, including healthcare and property management, she returned to her first love, writing. She specialized in accounting and business articles, with an emphasis on software reviews, which she wrote for more than 20 years. She continues to write for the first publication she ever wrote for, CPA Practice Advisor, while blogging for several software companies.
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• Matt Frankel, CFP®

  TMFMathGuy

  Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for The Ascent and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work has been regularly featured on CNBC, Fox Business, MSN Money, and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

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• Matt Koppenheffer

  Matt is currently the General Manager for The Ascent by The Motley Fool. A 16-year veteran of The Motley Fool and a former advisor and analyst for multiple Motley Fool services. Matt's articles and analysis have been published around the world and his views have been cited in worldwide publications from the Financial Times and The New York Times to the Toronto Star and Germany's Focus Money. He has appeared to offer analysis on a variety of outlets including CNBC and NPR. Matt is the co-author of The Astonishing Collapse of MF Global as well as the creator and former co-host of The Motley Fool's Industry Focus podcast.

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• Maurie Backman

  TMFBookNerd

  Maurie Backman is a personal finance writer who covers topics ranging from Social Security to credit cards to mortgages to REITs. She also has an editing background and appears on live podcasts to talk about financial matters.

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• Meghan Hall

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• Michael Douglass

  Former Personal Finance / Investment Planning Bureau Chief, Fool.com. A former Series 65 holder and longtime individual investor, Michael has spent more than a decade helping people stretch their money further and figure out how to make more of it. He specializes in credit card points rewards, CD ladders, and dividend stocks.

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• Natasha Etzel

  TMFLoves2Travel

  Natasha has been a freelance writer since 2015. She specializes in credit card and credit card rewards content. When not busy writing, she's either dreaming up her next credit card rewards redemption or traveling the globe. Her goal is to encourage more people to experience the world around them while making smart financial choices.

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• Nathan Alderman

  TMFNato

  Nathan Alderman has worked with The Motley Fool since 2005, making errors his arch-enemies in a variety of roles including a six-year stint as the dedicated fact-checker for The Motley Fool's premium newsletter services. As The Ascent's Compliance Lead, he makes sure that all the site's information is accurate and up to date, which ensures we always steer readers right and keeps various financial partners happy. A graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Nathan spends his spare time volunteering for civic causes, writing and podcasting for fun, adoring his wife, and wrangling his two very large young children.

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• Nathan Hamilton

  TMFHamFoolery

  Director and personal finance industry analyst for The Ascent by The Motley Fool, a new online publisher of the year award recipient in 2017. Prior to that, he was a Director for The Motley Fool. He has 15 years of finance experience under his belt and has published over 800 educational and research articles that have appeared on websites such as MSN, AOL, and Yahoo Finance. He holds an MBA in Finance from George Washington University.
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• Robin Hartill, CFP

  TMFRobinHartill

  Robin Hartill, CFP®, is The Ascent’s Head of Product Ratings and has worked for The Motley Fool since 2020. Her work has appeared in various national publications, including Yahoo! Finance, NerdWallet, Investopedia, CNN Underscored, MSNBC, USA Today, and CNET Money. She previously wrote The Penny Hoarder’s syndicated “Dear Penny” personal finance advice column. She is based in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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• Steven Porrello

  CMFSaporrello

  Steven is a personal finance writer covering topics from mortgages to credit cards to market news. He has written for The Motley Fool Canada, Ramsey Solutions, Nerdwallet, Clever Real Estate, and other major outlets. Steven launched his writing career at the age of four with his first book, "Revenge of the Bad Guys." He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

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• Steve Strauss

  CMFSteveStrauss

  Often called "America's leading small business expert," Steve Strauss is a best-selling author, attorney, and columnist whose content and media appearances have reached millions. Steve is also the author of 18 books, including his latest, Your Small Business Boom.

  Steve speaks across the country and around the globe and is often tapped to be a spokesperson and influencer for companies like Bank of America and Microsoft. His company, The Strauss Group, creates cutting-edge content for Fortune 500 companies down to small chambers of commerce. His latest venture is the tech startup, PlanetSmallBusiness.com.

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• The Ascent Staff

  TMFAscentStaff

  The Ascent brings financial expertise, trusted advice, and unbiased analysis to the world of daily personal finance decisions. Our mission is to help you live more richly.
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• Tor Constantino

  TMFTorCon

  Tor Constantino is a former journalist and consultant and a current corporate communications executive and business writer. Since 2017, he has also written about cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and crypto's potential to revolutionize finance. His writing has appeared in outlets including Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, CEOWorld, and Yahoo!.
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