The Independence Wealth Services Team

Jon entered the financial services industry in 1980.  Following through on a dream to provide clients with truly comprehensive and independent financial planning, Jon founded Independence Wealth Services in 1994 as a sole practitioner.

The firm has since expanded and now includes multiple CFP^® and CFA^® professionals, as well as a CPA, and client service associates.

Within the organization, Jon specializes in wealth management, retirement, and estate planning as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® practitioner. Jon finds great satisfaction in the fact that the IWS business model aligns the clients’ best interest with the firm’s best interest, unlike the commission-driven models of many financial services firms.

Jon strives to create and maintain excellent relationships with his clients and within the local community. He donates considerable resources and time to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, among other charitable activities, and is an avid motorsports enthusiast. 

Mike guides successful corporate, legal, and medical professionals to implement plans to help achieve their goals.  As a former executive and supply chain management consultant, he brings a unique background to his role advising actively employed and retired clients.  

Through his experience as a financial professional who has earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® certification, Mike assists his clients by assessing the client’s situation, identifying critical goals and key obstacles to success, crafting feasible strategies, and helping clients to form a plan to help grow and protect their wealth. 

Mike resides in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Michelle, and two sons. In his free time, he enjoys coaching youth sports, spending time with family and friends at the beach, and staying active outdoors by surfing, mountain biking, and golfing. Mike has shared his expertise through volunteering as a guest instructor at the University of Delaware’s certificate in Financial Planning program, and as a Junior Achievement volunteer in middle school classrooms.  Mike is an alumnus of Virginia Tech, with a BS in industrial and systems engineering; and Emory University, with an MBA.

Dave has more than 30 years of experience working in the financial services industry in the Delaware Valley. Prior to joining IWS, Dave was the director of research for a wealth management services company with more than $1 billion in assets and an equity portfolio manager where he managed equity portfolios of more than $200 million for individuals and institutions. 

Dave believes in trust, honesty, integrity, and always putting the client’s interests first. As a financial planner with IWS, with extensive knowledge of the financial markets, Dave works with clients to set and achieve their larger financial goals through investment planning, retirement planning, and risk management. In addition to his extensive experience, Dave has earned the Charter Financial Analyst^® (CFA^®) designation. The CFA^® designation is regarded by most to be the key certification for investment professionals, especially in the areas of research and portfolio management.

Dave is a Penn State alumnus who enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis, and taking weekend adventures on his motorcycle.

Jason's CPA expertise is central to our team's development of detailed client cash flow and retirement income plans. He's genuinely passionate about helping clients define and achieve their financial goals, and he enjoys how taxation integrates into planning and connects all financial pieces. This strategic blend of taxation, investments, and income planning within a comprehensive financial plan offers considerable advantages, maximizing clients' financial resources over time, despite not offering tax return preparation services.

Before coming to IWS, Jason gained valuable experience in the Wealth Management Division at JP Morgan. He resides in Newark, and his personal interests include experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen and spending time with his daughter. Jason earned his BS and MS in accounting from York College of Pennsylvania and Wilmington University.

Sharon enjoys providing excellent customer service to our clients. With her prior corporate and not-for-profit executive roles, she understands our busy clients’ lives and skillfully works as part of our team focused on serving clients. Sharon embodies our coaching approach to client relationships and enjoys seeing clients achieve their most important goals.

Sharon resides in Delaware and enjoys spending time with her family and friends, attending various sporting events, exercising with her labrador, and gardening. Sharon is a Boston College alumnus and received a BS in business administration.

Denise collaborates with our financial planners and clients to help them deliver proactive and thorough advice to clients while skillfully handling client service needs.

Her prior experience in corporate roles and running several small businesses, where she wore many hats including hiring, training, coaching, mentoring, and process design/improvement, has been invaluable.

Denise resides in Pennsylvania and aside from valuing her family—including her mini golden-doodle, Milo—one of her passions is baking. Denise is a San Diego State University alumnus where she earned a BA in psychology. 

Prior to joining our team, Nick’s several decades of extensive investment and planning experience included a role as a Global Equity Analyst at DuPont Capital Management, where he helped to manage stock portfolios for a $6 billion pension fund. Every decision supported retirement needs that stretched decades into the future and affected thousands of families downstream – so a natural enhancement to our team. 

A University of Delaware alum, with a B.S. in Finance and Marketing, Nick resides in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Along with his wife, two sons, and American bulldog Hazel – they maintain an active lifestyle. As typical of our team’s coaching style, he spent many years and countless hours as a volunteer youth wrestling coach.

Steph is the most recent addition to our team, bringing a great background in mathematics education.  While the “curriculum” is different in her role at IWS, her dedication to lifelong learning and her desire to explain information in a personal and relatable way remains constant. Steph grew up helping with her family’s small business, so she understands the value of wearing many hats and working as a team to best serve clients.  Outside of the office, Steph’s leadership is demonstrated through her volunteer role as PTO co-president at her sons’ elementary school. 

Steph resides in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania with her husband Travis and their three sons.  In her free time, Steph enjoys water sports, running and spending time outdoors with her family.  She is a graduate of Grove City College with a BS in Mathematics Education, and she holds a MS in Educational Development and Strategies from Wilkes University.