ARIADNE HORSTMAN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER ™
Appreciate Finance was founded in 2015 to help individuals and families realize personal goals and dreams through comprehensive financial planning and investment management. Its founder, Ariadne Horstman, has practiced as a CFP® since 2008, advising numerous families and individuals on their financial situations. Prior to that, she worked in the tech industry in Silicon Valley.
She is a Registered Life Planner® with the Kinder Institute. Financial Life Planning is based on the premise that advisors must first discover clients’ most essential goals before formulating a financial plan. In this way, a client’s finances fully support those objectives as the client begins to move toward realizing them.
Ariadne lives in Palo Alto with her husband and two teenagers. She enjoys travel, hiking, yoga, horseback riding and meditation. A graduate of Smith College, she completed her financial planning coursework at UC Santa Cruz.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Ariadne began her financial planning career in 2008 when living in Hyderabad, India. Beginning with InvestmentYogi, an Indian start-up in the financial services sector, she developed a specialty handling international financial planning, especially for those with US residency and investments in other countries.
She has also lived in France and Holland, is fluent in French and has traveled widely. Today, her client portfolio includes Americans as well as those holding multiple citizenships. Using her experience, contacts and resources she helps manage situations involving financial, estate planning and tax complexity that arise when assets are held in more than one country.
RECENT EVENTS & PRESS
- Article in The Kinder Institute’s “Money and Meaning” October 2020: How Life Planning Has Impacted my Business and My Life
- Article in FPA September 2019 Newsletter: Five Ways We Can Improve Financial Literacy in Our Communities
- Recent article in French Morning, Sept. 26, 2019 Managing your finances: the big differences between France and the United States
- Quoted in Palo Alto Online Couples Net, August 2018 “Couples: Retirement Hot Potato!”
- Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Oct 21, 2018 “The Problem When One Spouse Handles Finances“
- Co-Founder & Coordinator, Mindfulness Retreat for Financial Planners at Green Gulch Zen Center (annually since 2017)
- Coordinator and Speaker on personal finance program for high school students in Palo Alto (Ongoing, since 2015, about 500 teens taught annually in living skills classes)
BOARD SERVICE, VOLUNTEER, & PRO BONO WORK
As an active member of the Financial Planning Association of Silicon Valley since 2010, Ariadne volunteers for its Pro Bono Committee, and has served as a board member.
As part of the FPA pro bono team, one of her current activities is coordinating (and delivering) Financial Planning Talks at Palo Alto Schools in “Living Skills” classes. She and other Certified Financial Planners™ speak to 15 to 20 classes per year, reaching approximately 500 teens annually in a program that has been running since 2015.
The annual Mindfulness Retreat for Financial Planners, now in its third year, which Appreciate co-founded with Abacus Wealth Partners. Ariadne takes a holistic approach to finances as part of overall well-being.
AFFILIATIONS
Ariadne Horstman, CFP® is proud to be a member of the following organizations, whose standards of quality & integrity Appreciate Personal Finance confidently adheres to in service of our clients:
A STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
Although many professionals call themselves “financial planners,” CFP® professionals have completed extensive training and experience requirements and are held to rigorous ethical standards. They understand all the complexities of the changing financial climate and are held to a fiduciary standard to make recommendations in your best interest. From budgeting, to planning for retirement, to saving for education, to managing taxes and insurance coverage, a CFP® can provide you with the planning options you need.
COMMITMENT TO PROFESSIONALISM
The Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) is the principal professional organization for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ CFP® professionals, educators, financial services providers and students who seek advancement in a growing, dynamic profession. The FPA supports high standards of professional competence, ethical conduct and clear, complete disclosure when serving clients.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL ADVISORS
As a member of NAPFA, Ariadne is part of a network of advisors in the field who are professional, ethical financial advisors. From the NAPFA website:
“NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisors serve consumers. They are financial advisors who are highly competent and have met more than a de minimis certification standard, offer holistic service, and operate on an objective Fee-Only basis. That means they do not sell financial products on commission. They are unbiased, without the potential for conflicts of interest. Their only purpose is to look out for their clients’ overall financial well-being.”
CUSTOMIZED & QUALITY INVESTING
Gemmer Asset Management LLC is an independent advisory firm (specializing in portfolios of individuals, families, & company retirement accounts) that works with independent financial professionals to deliver customized investment portfolios for their clients. This partnership allows partner advisors to focus on their clients’ needs, while Gemmer focuses on the investment management & back office duties.
