facebook twitter instagram linkedin google youtube vimeo tumblr yelp rss email podcast phone blog external search brokercheck brokercheck Play Pause


Discover Financial Confidence

Get Clear Answers - Make Informed Decisions - Stop Worrying


Schedule a Meeting

The road to a secure financial future can be difficult and frustrating. You deserve clear answers and advice so you can discover financial confidence.

Get Clear Answers

You likely have several financial goals — manage your day to day cash flow, invest a portion of your savings for retirement, fund your children's education, have the right insurance coverage, plan your estate and retirement, reduce your taxes...It can get overwhelming.

Finances are complex. There are a lot of moving parts. Get simple and manageable steps to address your financial concerns, one-by-one.


Schedule a Meeting


Call or e-mail to set up a free, no-obligation initial meeting. You can visit our office, we can come to visit with you, or you can set up a video or phone call...whatever is most convenient for your schedule.

Engage in a Discovery Session


Discovering financial confidence starts with you, so during your initial meeting, you'll share your plans, fears, concerns, and where you want some financial clarity. You'll be able to ask us as many questions as you'd like. We're here for you.

Discover Financial Confidence


Once you've shared where you want to be financially, you'll get simple, clear, step-by-step directions on how to get where you want to go.  As time goes by, your life will change.  At every turn, you can get additional guidance so you know you're headed in the right direction.


Make Informed Decisions

Older married couple feeling confident after financial meeting.

You are the only one that knows what's best for you. How are you supposed to feel financially confident when:

  • Your advisor doesn't answer your questions?
  • Your advisor doesn't look at the big picture?
  • Your investment strategy and costs aren't clear and transparent?
  • You just don't know if you are making the best decisions for you?

You should have access to clear information and advice so you can make informed decisions.

Get the clear financial information that you need, develop the financial confidence that you want, and find deep feelings of financial security so you can sleep at night.



Schedule a Meeting


Families and Individuals

Families and individuals across Central Illinois and remotely throughout the United States are on the path to financial confidence and are discovering financial confidence.

Stop feeling information overload...

Get clear answers about:


  • Cash flow and budgeting
  • Insurance and risk management
  • Investment planning and investment management
  • Tax planning strategies
  • College saving plans
  • Retirement planning
  • Estate planning

Annual Cost

Annual Cost Billed Quarterly:

Assets Under Management                               Cost

  • Up to $500,000                                     1.00%
  • Next $500,000                                       .75%
  • Over $1,000,000                                    .50%
  • Bond Funds only                                   .40%

Minimum rate of $75.00 per year, pro-rata.

Contact us if you'd like more information about services or pricing.

Business Owners & Institutions

Business owners and institutions across Central Illinois and remotely throughout the United States are discovering financial confidence.

Don't get call center service once you sign on the dotted line...

Instead get:


  • our availability
  • regular investment reviews
  • regular meetings where you and your employees' get your questions answered
  • an investment platform built from the ground up specifically for your organization 
  • evaluation of every component that goes into your platform so you get the best value at a reasonable cost.

Based on your size, goals, and structure, you'll get the right service and the right type of investment platform at the right cost so you can have the financial confidence and security that you want.

Annual Cost

Annual costs are based on services needed to manage your particular type of investment platform. 

The average annual cost is typically from 1.0% of assets under management to as low as 0.3% of assets under management depending on your needs, business size, and investments.

Contact us if you'd like to know what platform would be right for you and what your annual cost might be.

The Pacesetter Team

Tired of the mouse guarding your cheese...

At Pacesetter Financial we build our financial relationships on:

  • Advice and Guidance not sales pitches and commissions
  • Clear Communication not financial mumbo-jumbo
  • True Costs and Real Figures not hidden fees and deceptive numbers
  • Comprehensive Solutions not band-aid fixes
  • Our Availability and Attention not voicemail, call centers, and unreturned e-mails
  • Seasoned Credentialed Veterans not college graduates, wanted-ad recruits, or your friend's brother-in-law

We've been providing common sense financial guidance since 1997 and currently manage over $80 million in invested assets.


Schedule a Meeting

Clayton George, CPA/PFS Photo

Clayton George, CPA/PFS

Wealth Manager/Principal
Read Bio

Clayton George, CPA/PFS

Wealth Manager/Principal


If you are looking for a guide who has experience and who can shoot you straight answers, Clayton has been offering no-frills advice as a CPA since 1982 and as an owner of Pacesetter Financial Group since it's start in 1997. 

His extensive experience in financial, income tax, estate, business, and investment planning offers those seeking comprehensive guidance a tool chest of resources.

When he's not offering clear and informed advice, he's spending time doing one of his three favorite things - hunting, fishing, or gardening - or preparing if it's the off season. He also doesn't mind relaxing with a good Wisconsin beer or two and playing with his lab -  Boone.


Andy Fitzpatrick, CPA Photo

Andy Fitzpatrick, CPA

Wealth Manager/Chief Operations Officer
Read Bio

Andy Fitzpatrick, CPA

Wealth Manager/Chief Operations Officer


Andy Fitzpatrick is a down-to-earth analyst and has been providing sensible financial guidance at Pacesetter since 2007.

What's drawn Andy toward clear financial advice was his love of numbers, puzzles, and his care for others' financial well-being. This shines through as he builds custom financial plans that lead you toward your best possible future.

He's just as comfortable guiding individuals and businesses through complex tax, investment, and financial solutions as he is spending time with his family, golfing with friends, coaching grade school basketball, working with his hands on construction projects, or volunteering at his local church.



Kristen Lanning, CFP® Photo

Kristen Lanning, CFP®

Wealth Manager/Chief Compliance Officer
Read Bio

Kristen Lanning, CFP®

Wealth Manager/Chief Compliance Officer


Kristen is all about the details and getting your advisory experience just right. 

She began her career at Pacesetter in 2001, where her focus was on investment analysis and back-office processing.  Since her start, she's continued to gracefully manage additionally complex tasks so you don't have to. Tasks such as fine-tuning investment portfolio asset allocations, streamlining investment re-balancing and trading, and meticulous efforts to meet compliance of SEC and State securities laws. Kristen is the first person to ask for when it comes to the fine print of investment management.

In her spare time, Kristen focuses on the details of her long-term hobby - DIY remodeling of her family's 150-year-old farmhouse.  Mosaic tiling, refinishing woodwork, and finding the perfect re-purposed fixtures are her pastime of choice.

When she's not working on her house, she enjoys spending leisure time with her family and friends, assisting her church's High School youth group, and finding other outlets for her creativity, such as sewing.

 

Tim Bacus, CFP®, EA Photo

Tim Bacus, CFP®, EA

Wealth Management Advisor
Read Bio

Tim Bacus, CFP®, EA

Wealth Management Advisor


Tim is an attentive and focused researcher. He will do whatever it takes to find you answers so you can make informed decisions about your finances.

A Pacesetter employee since 2017, Tim provides big-picture personal financial advice for families and individuals. He also provides back-office support for Pacesetter in the areas of compliance, investment trading, marketing, and financial planning operations.

At home, Tim enjoys spending time with his wife and three children. Playing board games in the winter or taking long walks around town and going to local parks in the summer.  He is also an avid reader in the areas of leadership, business, and finance.  When he's got nothing else to do he'll play a level or two on one of his kids video games. 


 

Support Staff Photo

Support Staff

click here to see support staff
Read Bio

Andy Hayes, CPA

Financial Analyst



Jamie Johnston

Administrator


Jenny Singleton

Client Services Specialist


Patty Guzouskis

Administrative Assistant



Investment Philosophy

Discovering financial confidence means focusing on what you can control...

  1. Your Costs - by trading at low cost, with discipline, and only in investments with low annual expenses
  2. Your Risks - by deciding how much of your assets should be in each type of investment, holding some global investments, and by rebalancing those investments when they stray from your choices
  3. Your Behavior - by resisting sensationalism, by managing your expectations, and by staying disciplined through the market's ups and downs
  4. Your Guide - by finding a trusted advisor that is always there to provide clarity, unemotional advice, and encouragement so you can maintain your focus

Lens focusing on path illustrating the focus needed when investing.




Contact Us

We’re always open to answering your financial questions – no strings attached.

Fill out the contact form below. Get the financial information you need today.