MEET THE FOUNDER
Hannah Szarszewski, CFP®, AFC®
I'd love to meet you! Let's grab a cup of coffee over Zoom.
Getting To Know Me
Hi! I’m Hannah. I think it’s important for you to know more about your financial planner than just professional accomplishments (which are detailed below). Our meetings are personal because money affects so much in life. Here are some fun facts about me!
- My dog is basically my child. You'll see him in some of our meetings. I'm an animal lover through and through.
- I drink lots of coffee. One of my hobbies is tasting coffee beans from around the world.
- I'm a book nerd. I worked at a bookstore for many years before going back to school to get my degree.
- My favorite TV show is Friends. I'm likely to reference it from time to time, along with The Office (my husband's favorite). I also enjoy TV shows and movies set in space.
- I think the best band ever is The Beatles (team Paul all the way).
- I'm from Texas but I lived in Alaska for years - beautiful beyond belief and amazing people. Yes, poisonous bugs and snakes scare me more than Alaskan wildlife (a bear can't hide under your bed).
- I find classical music so engaging that I can't use it for background music. I started as a vocal performance major in college before changing paths to financial planning. I have a minor in music to show for it.
In my early 20s, I began reading personal finance books and thought they were SO INTERESTING (completely serious). But I quickly realized that money management can get complex. After all, we aren’t born with the knowledge needed for investing, planning for college costs, or picking out insurance policies and it isn’t taught in most schools. Beyond the technical aspect is the behavioral aspect. Our habits with money are influenced by the background we come from and our experiences with money.
One of my experiences with money is that I opted to delay college because I didn’t have college savings waiting for me when I graduated from high school (not saying this was bad; it’s just a fact). It wasn’t as easy to qualify for student aid or federal loans at the time and the FAFSA was not my friend. Of course, I planned to attend college right after high school. But after I saw the student loan notice and the *doubled* amount I would owe by graduation, I recognized that it wasn’t feasible. Seeing the number on paper was terrifying. So, I worked at a bookstore for a number of years before returning to school full-time. This was a tough lesson because I didn’t want to wait for a degree, but it was the best decision in my case (this is not the right decision for everyone, especially because student loan reform occurred after this time). This experience showed me how impactful money decisions are and how difficult they can be to make.
Once I discovered that financial planning was a career, I knew it’s what I wanted to do. I love financial planning because it’s a beautiful intersection between psychology and finance. Emotions and numbers. Most of all, it makes my heart happy to walk alongside a client-turned-friend as they achieve their life’s vision because of diligent planning. My goal is to help you navigate through life with better clarity of your financial picture so that money can be a useful tool rather than a weight. I want to help take the complexity out of money decisions so you can enjoy life and focus on living out your vision.
Hannah Szarszewski is the founder and principal financial planner of Blue Mountain Financial Planning, LLC. She focuses on integrating financial coaching and education into the financial planning process. She has partnered with clients of all ages and various walks of life to help them achieve financial independence and live life to the fullest.
Hannah is a Certified Financial Planner™ Professional and Accredited Financial Counselor® Practitioner. She has been awarded Top 40 Financial Planning Professionals Under 40 by InvestmentNews and Excellence in Financial Education by the Society of Financial Service Professionals. She has a Bachelor of Science in Personal Financial Planning from Texas Tech University, one of the most prestigious financial planning programs in the nation.
Prior to starting her own firm, she worked with clients at different financial planning firms in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Before that, she worked as a financial coach with a volunteer organization concentrated on financial counseling, education, and improving financial literacy.
Outside of work, Hannah enjoys spending time with her husband and dog, reading, and visiting new coffee shops and bookstores.
Professional Organizations
Hannah Szarszewski is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education, the XY Planning Network, the Fee Only Network, and the Financial Planning Association.
