Prism Planning Partners

Prism Planning Partners

Prism Planning Partners was founded in Libertyville, Illinois in 2018 by Ron Bernstein and Nicole Sullivan, both CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. Bernstein spent years as a CPA and CFO of a publicly traded medical supply company before a 12-year stint at a major financial services firm in the Chicagoland area, while Sullivan has practiced holistic financial planning since 2012. The firm emerged from a shared desire to build a fiduciary, fee-only practice centered on the human and emotional dimensions of money. The firm’s strategy rests on a comprehensive planning model that layers investment management, cash flow planning, tax strategy, retirement readiness, and estate planning for its client base. While Prism does not publicize specific portfolio holdings, its service list spans equities, fixed income, and insurance-based protection planning across taxable and retirement accounts. A dedicated physician-focused vertical—led by Brandon Clouse as Director of Physician Services—addresses student loan planning, contract negotiation, and loan forgiveness programs for in-training, attending, and retiring doctors, a subsector few RIAs serve directly. In April 2026, Nicole Sullivan was quoted in Financial Planning on how policy changes can spark retirement anxiety that clients hesitate to raise with advisors. Prism operates from a single office in Libertyville with a four-person CFP team. Its planners hold multiple designations: Bernstein carries the PFS, CIMA, CWS, and RMA marks; Sullivan the RMA; and Clouse and Chief Operating Officer Dan Peters the CFP. The firm publishes financial literacy resources—e-books, videos, and a physician-focused toolkit—and Clouse presents at major teaching hospitals across the Midwest, extending the firm’s reach into the medical community beyond traditional client seminars. No outside institutional vehicles, foundations, or club memberships are disclosed. Prism’s structural differentiator is the combination of a broad fiduciary planning umbrella with a dedicated, named physician-niche practice. While many RIAs target high-net-worth families, few explicitly separate a medical-professionals pillar with a senior planner focused solely on the arc from residency to retirement. This vertical integration—blending student debt strategy, contract reviews, and retirement transition planning—gives the firm a repeatable client acquisition engine that generalist firms in the Chicago suburbs rarely replicate.