ABOUT OUR TEAM
“The core of man’s spirit comes from new experiences”
-Jon Krakauer “Into the Wild”
Rita Abel, CFP®, CPA/PFS
Rita Abel, the founder of Abel Financial, has been a practicing CPA since 1982, first working in various public accounting firms and becoming a sole practitioner in 1991.
In 1994, in order to become a more valuable resource to her CPA clients, Rita began helping her clients with
comprehensive financial planning and investment management services. Since that time, she has incorporated both disciplines to maximize the benefit to her clients’ financial well-being.
Rita’s personal journey has seen her family escape Poland during the holocaust and make her way through Russia and Israel as a young girl before making her way to the US. She has seen the worst in people and governments. These experiences are part of what has made her an invaluable advisor to her clients for many decades.
Rita is married, has three adult sons who are also married and who have blessed her and her husband with seven wonderful grandchildren – five boys and two girls.
Outside her professional life, she devotes her personal time first and foremost to her family, then to her friends, and then
to the practice of yoga and various other forms of physical fitness.
Steve Stern, CFP®
From 2005-2018, Steve Stern, CFP® gained invaluable experience working in a range of financial planning firms. He worked with clients ranging from single parents just trying to raise their credit scores to purchase their first home to celebrity, ultra-high net worth clients with more than $50 million. He realized his true passion was helping upper-middle class families like the one he was raised in and who care most about family and developing a disciplined financial strategy with an accountability partner to help along the way.
In 2018, Steve was introduced to Rita who was looking for the right successor to her practice of close family and friends. In 2019, Rita transitioned the ownership of Abel Financial to Steve. Steve brings with him over 15 years of helping families with their personal finances. More importantly, Steve
is a strong believer in focusing the practice around exceptional client experience and deeply personalized relationships.
Steve envisions a firm built around:
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High touch relationships built around trust and integrity
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A business built on advice, guidance and not products.
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A business dedicated to serving its clients rather than the profit goals of a larger organization.
In addition to helping his clients, Steve is passionate about giving back to the community. He currently lives in Eldersburg, MD with his wife Emily, daughter Ryleigh & son, Cole, along with their rescue dog Berger. and cat Oreo.
Steve graduated from the Young Leadership Council which grooms future leaders in the Baltimore Jewish community and spends his free time volunteering with The Associated, a Jewish Philanthropic organization. Steve is a board member of Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc. (CHAI) in Baltimore and is on several committees including chairing the
investment committee for their multi-million dollar housing development fund.
