Adding Personal Financial Planning Services to Your Practice

Ms. Basso has been involved for many years with the PICPA's Personal Financial Planning Committee and is the Immediate Past Chairperson. She is a frequent speaker and is actively involved in presenting financial literacy programs such as the PICPA's Money & Life and Take it to the Bank programs. Working with the PICPA she prepared a retirement planning curriculum for the Women's Oppurtunity Resource Center (WORC), Philadelphia PA. She has been a multi-year presenter at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and University of the Arts annual tax education workshops for its students in Philadelphia, PA, and has presented financial literacy programs for the Chester County Library. She has appeared on the NBC10 Money School with Tracy Davidson, the CBS3 Investment and Tax Phone Banks and Mary and Money with the award winning Mary Caraccioli.

Alan M. Schapire, MBA, CPA/PFS, CFP®

Alan M. Schapire is the founding principal of Convergent Financial Strategies LLC.  He serves as the Managing Director of Tax Planning.

Alan is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Personal Financial Planning Division, and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA). He has served on the NAPFA Northeast-MidAtlantic Region Board and on the PICPA Personal Financial Planning Committee, including three years as Committee Chair.

Alan earned a Bachelor of Science (Accounting) degree and a Master of Business Administration (Finance) degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia. He has been a CPA since 1987 and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner since 2001. In 2002, he received his Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The PFS mark is the financial planning specialty accreditation held exclusively by certified public accountants (CPAs) who are members of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). A CPA must demonstrate experience and expertise in a wide range of personal financial matters before being awarded the PFS.

Alan has provided financial and tax planning services to clients since 2001. He and his family live in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Although his ties to his alma mater, Drexel University, are still strong, Alan considers his family to be a George Washington University family as his older daughter graduated from GWU in May 2014 and his younger daughter began her GWU experience in August 2014. When not assisting his clients, Alan enjoys traveling with his family and participating in community activities. He currently serves on the Board of Overseers of Hillel at Drexel University.

Ronald L. Hicks, Jr.

Partner

Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP

Ronald L. Hicks, Jr., is a commercial trial lawyer who handles emergency, complex and appellate litigation and other matters for many clients, including those in the financial services industry.  As a partner at the Pittsburgh-based law firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott, LLP, where he has practiced since graduating from law school in 1987, Ron serves as co-chair of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group, chair of its Energy, Utilities & Mineral Rights Group and a member of its MUSolutions and Private Clients Groups.  He also co-chairs the U.S./Canada Litigation Group of Meritas, an association of select independent law firms in principal cities worldwide.

Ron represents clients in a variety of matters, including business and commercial disputes, trade secret and business protection, restrictive covenants, cyber security, insurance coverage, and oil and gas/mineral rights litigation.  Additionally, he counsels clients on various business matters including entity formation and operation, contract review and drafting, employment practices, web site and social media policies, and intellectual property protection.

Ron is a graduate of Penn State University and Wake Forest University School of Law.  He has been selected for inclusion in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers®, and has named by his peers to The Best Lawyers® for Commercial, Bankruptcy, Construction, Intellectual Property and Real Estate Litigation.  Ron is a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, and serves on the Board of Governors for the Allegheny County Bar Association.

Kevin Israel

Partner

Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP

Kevin Israel is a member of the firm’s Corporate & Business Law, MUSolutions, and Private Clients groups. He focuses his practice on advising individuals and principals of closely-held and family-owned businesses in the areas of estate and succession planning, income tax planning, and business transactions. He also regularly practices in the areas of trust and estate administration, mergers and acquisitions, new venture start-ups, entity formation, real estate transactions, and tax controversy and collection engagements. Mr. Israel has presented at continuing education programs for attorneys and CPAs on the topics of estate planning, individual taxation, split dollar life insurance, trust administration and succession planning.