Heather Gardner has been serving families as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™(CFP®) in the financial services industry since 2010. Prior to joining Benedetti, Gucer & Associates, she spent 8 years as a partner on a two-advisor team at Merrill Lynch and 3 years developing and delivering Financial Plans for a large RIA. In her prior career, she worked as an organizational development consultant for McKesson, and as a Senior Management Engineer at Duke University Medical Center.

Heather considers all aspects of the client’s life and their complete financial picture. This holistic process can assist in framing both short and long-term decisions addressing wealth preservation and enhancement, retirement and Social Security planning, risk management, wealth transfer, and philanthropy.

Heather holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) certification as well as a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science in Health Systems from Georgia Tech. Heather and her husband Lane have two children and two dogs. Their family enjoys fishing and boating and are active in their local faith community. Heather volunteers her time doing pro-bono financial coaching, and also enjoys running and yoga.

“My ability to be relatable, to build bridges and to find common ground with people is a skill that I’ve honed over time and one in which I feel accomplished. With a couple, I take care to make sure that both the wife and the husband are participating and feel included. I have had female clients, both married and single, complement my ability to make them feel comfortable, with some saying it is the first time they have felt that way in a financial advisory setting. Divorced women have a comfort level with me as I share about my sister’s divorce. There is common ground to be found in any person and that builds trust.”

Among Heather’s areas of focus are:

  • Financial Planning
  • Investments
  • Tax Planning
  • Small Business Consulting and Planning
  • Retirement Planning
  • Estate Planning
  • Education Planning
  • Philanthropy and Charitable Giving Strategies

Education

  • B.S., Industrial Engineering, Georgia Tech University
  • M.S., Health Systems, Georgia Tech University

Qualifications

  • CFP® CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Practitioner