Broker Check

Meet the Team

At our firm, we have the client—and only the client—in mind.

Our reasons for becoming financial professionals are deeply personal. We repeatedly saw many friends and family struggling to find the help they needed to map out their financial future. We are confident that with our understanding of personal finance, coupled with our training as financial professionals, we can help people better prepare for the future. After years in the business, we have developed a reputation for educating individuals in an easy-to-understand manner so they can grasp personal finance and use those concepts to pursue their financial objectives. We feel a commitment to our community. 

At our firm, we have the client—and only the client—in mind.

Over the years, we have found that a team approach can be an effective method to help clients who have a wide variety of needs as they maneuver through a complex financial-services world. We invite you to discover and experience the power of our services. We believe it has far-reaching benefits for our clients to get opinions from several sources with diverse backgrounds, education, and experience.

No one strategy fits everyone, which is why every client gets our undivided attention—from planning to execution to follow-up. We take a proactive approach to helping you develop a strategy to address your financial goals and objectives, using the most efficient methods available.

Andy Mau, CFP®, CRPC®

Founding Partner

708-390-0035

Andy@AscendWealthPlanning.com

Andy is passionate about helping young, entrepreneurially minded professionals create strategies to accumulate more wealth in order to live a fulfilled retirement. These tireless professionals turn to Andy, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, to guide them on their own journey to financial independence while in pursuit of their own unwavering craft.

Andy loves to nerd out on financial planning and is striving to become the foremost expert in his field. He knows that continuous education is an essential element to your success.

With this in mind, Andy is an avid reader. You can always expect him to be reading a variety of books – from his top choice of biographies to other non-fiction reads. Naturally, he will always have a book on the financial industry included on that current reading list too.

When not working or reading, you can find Andy trying to perfect a new recipe in the kitchen or rooting for his beloved Chicago White Sox. He is always looking forward to the next outdoors adventure, but he will certainly settle for a round of golf.

In addition to holding the CFP ® certification, Andy also holds the CRPC® (Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor) designation as well as the FINRA series 6, 7, 63 and 65 securities registrations. Andy graduated from Augustana College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Business Administration with concentrations in Finance & International Business. 

Lee Kaz, CRPC®

Founding Partner

708-390-0033

Lee@ascendwealthplanning.com

Lee J. Kaz began his career on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) working his way up from crowd clerk to phone clerk to manager to stock and options broker. He has a solid background and understanding of financial markets over his 23 years of experience on the trading floor.  Lee is an empathic and caring professional who explains complicated financial concepts and jargon in an easy-to-understand language in order to help clients achieve their goals while planning for tomorrow and to retire with confidence.

Lee is available to personally assist, educate and provide unbiased options to suit your current and future financial goals. Lee addresses every stage of planning from a new birth to the passing of a loved one.
Lee is Past President of both the Mokena Chamber of Commerce as well as the Mokena Lions Club. He is currently the Chairman of the Mokena Economic Development Commission and is an appointed civilian on the Mokena Police Pension Board. Lee enjoys water, sand, and nature walks in the woods while playing golf as well as an occasional beer while bowling with the Builders Tee Club. He is somewhat musically inclined playing both the drums and guitar…not at the same time. Lee resides in Mokena with his wife Karen.

Credentials

Series 7, 63 and 65 Registrations, and carries the CRPC® (Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor) designation from the College of Financial Planning in 2017.

Larry Tantilla

Financial Advisor

708-390-0034

larry@ascendwealthplanning.com

Larry has 22 years of experience in the financial planning arena. He finds the best version of himself to be when he is helping others. Whether that means with their financial planning needs or a leaky faucet, he likes to lend a hand.

As a former teacher, Larry’s passion lies in educating his clients and helping them make informed decisions. He likes taking time getting to know the people he works with, developing a relationship and understanding them and their needs. He finds this is the best way to serve someone and likely why many of his clients have been with him most of his career.

Larry also grew up in a small family business, a trucking and scrap metal company. Starting from the age of 9 he learned the value of a good day’s work as well as how to wear many hats. As he became more educated in this field, he also realized many of the areas where a better financial education could have benefitted them. While the business was successful in many ways, better planning could have enhanced their success. He loves bringing this experience to today’s business owners.

Larry has many varied interests from skiing, cycling, healthy eating or theater to anything outdoors. He enjoys volunteering and reading his bible. Over the years he has served as coach to his children’s teams, been on his church’s finance committee, been a team leader for the Chicago Basket Brigade each Thanksgiving and currently serves as a board member of Clean Up-Give Back . Larry has three children and lives in the western suburbs.

Client Centered

Client Centered

Whether you are investing to build wealth, protect your family, or preserve your assets, our personalized service focuses your needs, wants, and long-term goals.

Our team of professionals have years of experience in financial services. We can help you address your needs of today and for many years to come. We look forward to working with you.