Karen’s experience ranges from developing retirement plans for small, privately owned businesses to performing due diligence for pension plans during mergers and acquisitions of large corporations. Through her combined knowledge of income tax and qualified plan regulations, Karen designs plans that maximize tax deductions as well as allocations to key employees, which are often overlooked. She also designs non-qualified deferred compensation plans and reviews plans for compliance issues.

Karen has over 30 years of industry and public accounting experience and has served as a consultant for AON, one of the largest international employee benefit consulting firms. Karen received her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Missouri – Columbia and her M.S. in Taxation from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. She is a licensed insurance agent, and financial representative. As a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, she has served on the Employee Benefits Plan Committee. She is also a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries.

Melissa began her career with Advanced Benefits Consulting in February of 2003 as an assistant to the Plan Administrators. She has since progressively advanced through several positions at our office including Plan administrator and Office Manager.

Melissa is currently the Client Relationship Manager and holds a Series 6 Securities License. She is responsible for educational and enrollment meetings, annual client account reviews and general client support.

As Operations Manager & Compliance Consultant, Mike is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations for the retirement plan administration and government reporting functions for the firm. Additionally, Mike consults with clients and other plan sponsors on issues ranging from plan design to plan corrections and IRS/DOL audit issues.

Mike has over 20 years of experience in the retirement plan industry and has recently served as Senior Manager for FIS Global and has also served in previous roles as Director of Operations for Warren Averett Benefit Consultants and as the Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Employee Fiduciary.

Mike has served on the Employee Benefits Technical Resource Panel, providing governance and technical support on retirement plan issues to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) as well as serving on the Education and Examination Committee of ASPPA. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and an MBA from The University of South Alabama.

Todd Braden serves as Director of Planning Services for WWA. He joined WWA in November of 2016 as an Investment Operations Assistant. He transitioned to his current role in January of 2020. Todd works with business owners to reduce their fiduciary responsibility and improve the retirement outcomes of their people. He mainly focuses on 401k/Qualified Plans.

Todd began his career in 2012 after graduating from the Texas State University with a BBA in Finance. Todd is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, holds his Series 7, 63, 66 and Life, Accident, and Health General Lines Insurance Licenses. Todd and his wife Shelbie love to travel and spend time with family.

David joined the WWA team as a Portfolio Advisor after spending more than 10 years as VP Financial Advisor for a large bank in Texas. His expertise in the investment industry and financial modeling has proved a valuable addition to our investment operation in managing our client’s diverse and unique individual needs. David currently holds his series 7, 66, and General Lines, Life, Accident, and HMO Insurance Licenses.

David was born and raised in Austin, Texas and attended Texas State University. He now lives in Plano, Texas with his wife and two children, where he enjoys attending his son’s baseball games and coaching his daughter in volleyball.

Mary joined Advanced Benefits Consulting in 2021. She brings with her 25+ years of plan administration experience and is assisting with the onboarding of new plan clients as well as working with the administration of existing clients. Her experience includes working with plans as a third-party plan administrator and as a banker.

Mary has been awarded a Bachelor of Arts, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA with a major in Financial Management; Emphasis: Accounting, Computer Science and Economics and was previously accredited as a designation as Pension Administrator (APA) by the National Institute of Pension Administrators (NIPA).

She resides in Des Moines, IA, and enjoys spending time with her family (including her cats).

Nancy is a Plan Administrator and joined the Advanced Benefits Consulting Administration Team in 2014. Nancy has over 20 years of experience in the retirement industry where she has focused on administration and compliance of qualified plans.

Before joining our team, Nancy was a Team Leader for the Metlife Retirement Plan Services Division, and also acted as a Plan Administrator for Benefit Plans Plus LLC, Ruben Brown LLP, and Retirement Plan Services. Nancy has pursued her accreditation through the American Society of Pension Professional and Actuaries in Washington, D.C.

Annette is a Senior Plan Administrator at Advanced Benefits Consulting and joined the Advanced Benefits Consulting Administration Team in 2005. She has over 24 years of experience in the administration of employee benefit plans. Before joining Advanced Benefits Consulting, Annette was employed as a Plan Administrator with Retirement Plan Services, LLC, BSW Benefit Plans Plus, LLC and Aon Corporation as a Plan Specialist.

Annette is a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois, where she obtained a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Data Processing and a minor in Psychology and has received her credentials as a Qualified 401(k) Administrator from the American Society of Pension Professional and Actuaries.

Rita joined Advanced Benefits Consulting’s Administration team in 2017. Before joining our team, she has previous experience in retirement plan operations from her time at Metlife Retirement Plan Services and has worked in public services. She focuses on assisting the team with payroll and distribution processing.