Ray Dunlap, CFP^®

Born and raised in Rochester, New York, Ray attended St. John Fisher College, quarterbacking the football team for three years and graduating in 1976 with a BA in history. He received his master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the University of South Florida in 1980. Ray actually began working at age 18 as a featured nightclub performer - playing the piano in a number of restaurants and dinner theaters in New York and Florida, which paid for his education (he still plays occasionally at a number of local Atlanta restaurants).

After graduation, he worked in the freight business (Purolator Courier) and the computer industry (NCR Corporation) before becoming an investment broker in 1984. He worked for William R. Hough & Co., an investment-banking firm in St. Petersburg, Florida, as an institutional municipal bond broker for 10 years, becoming a partner there in 1990. Also in 1990, Ray received his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional certification after a two-year program of study.

He moved to Georgia in June 1993 and joined Dean Witter Reynolds as Vice President of Investments in their Peachtree City office in June 1994. Ray then moved to Lincoln Financial Advisors in September 1996 as Regional Director of Financial Planning and Regional Director of Investments. Under Ray's leadership, Lincoln was ranked the number one financial planning firm in the state of Georgia in 1998 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Ray has since started his own financial services firm, Dunlap Wealth Strategies, offering comprehensive financial planning and advisory services as an investment adviser representative of Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, a registered investment adviser. In the calendar year 2000, Ray's company was ranked by Bloomberg magazine as one of the top eight wealth management firms in Georgia, and in 2009, 2010, 2012 & 2013 Ray was named by Atlanta Magazine as one of Atlanta's FIVE STAR Wealth Managers.

He has taught money management and retirement planning classes through the Fayette County Community School as well as the State University of West Georgia. In addition, he has been a featured speaker for numerous corporations and professional groups. And, recently, he has been awarded both the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ designations.

Ray and his wife, Sandye (a Georgia native), have five children: Jessica, Bryan, Allison, Brandon, and Melissa. Sandye, now retired, taught kindergarten and first grade for nearly thirty years, and they recently moved into a home in the city of Atlanta near Grant Park and Turner Field.

And Ray has never quite given up his dream of someday playing baseball for the New York Yankees! He currently plays right field for the Peachtree City Twins in the local Men's Senior Baseball League and is patiently waiting for the Steinbrenner family to call!

Comprehensive Financial Planning, Attending College, 401(k)/403(b)/IRAs, Annuities, Asset Allocation, Career Change, Estate Planning, Investment Management, Government & Military, Getting Divorced, Mutual Funds, Real Estate, Insurance, Job Loss, Life Planning, Retirement, Stocks & Bonds, Long-term Care, Sudden Wealth, Men's Finances, Nontraditional Households, Women's Finances