Sarah Ponder, CFP®, MBA Real Estate Wealth Planning

About Sarah Ponder, CFP®, MBA

Professional:
Hi, I’m Sarah! I’m a CFP® experienced in working with individuals and institutional investors, including non-profit organizations, foundations, and retirement plans. I currently do comprehensive financial planning for real estate agents and real estate professionals.

I founded two companies dedicated to helping people with their finances: Fiduciary Financial Education LLC and Real Estate Wealth Planning. Prior to starting these companies, I was a Regional Director at Dimensional Fund Advisors, a low-cost investment asset manager, where I helped manage investments in a straightforward way that lets clients sleep at night.

Before I worked in financial services, I spent nine years in the education sector, first as a sixth grade math and science teacher, and then as Director of Partner Services for EverFi, an education technology company focused on financial literacy and life skills. Throughout my career, I traveled throughout most of the United States in order to teach thousands of children and adults in-person and virtually.

I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin – twice! First, with a BA in Sociology and ten years later with an MBA.

Personal:
My family lives in beautiful Sunset Valley, Texas, which is a tiny 1-square-mile municipality full of walking trails surrounded by the City of Austin.

I am proudly married to Ross Ponder, a high-producing REALTOR® at Compass. Ross and I have three children, Lucy, Hank, and Ruth. And of course, our family wouldn’t be complete without our two rescued German Shepherds, Bear and Molly.

When I went through my own financial life planning process, it was really clear to me that my most cherished values are spending time with my family and friends. I love to gather people in our (usually messy!) home, cook something I found on Pinterest, and laugh at the inevitable antics that our toddlers get themselves into.

Outside of our home, I love Austin’s incredible restaurant scene and exploring the outdoors that we are blessed to live near. Our family attends St. David’s Episcopal Church in downtown Austin where I serve on the foundation board of directors.

My Why:
Growing up, my family was raised on a public school teacher’s salary, so money was always tight. Poor decisions by extended family members essentially wiped out much of my college fund, forcing me to become very frugal and financially literate as a teenager.

Throughout my career in education, I taught math, financial literacy and business skills to middle school and high school students, which solidified my belief in the power of a good education as the great equalizer. I believe all people deserve access to fair, unbiased information about their finances, which is why I am both a fee-only fiduciary financial planner and also provide educational content through my other company, Fiduciary Financial Education LLC.

Read Sarah’s blog here: https://realestatewealthplanning.com/blog/

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