Our Team

WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO

Our experience in serving company-sponsored retirement plans allows us to give employers the confidence they seek in managing their fiduciary duties and develop a sound, prudently managed retirement program. We provide straightforward answers with clear, easy-to-understand solutions and help you fulfill fiduciary obligations. In addition to achieving confidence in your fiduciary process, it is our ultimate passion to create confidence in your employees and their retirement. We take great pride in helping your employees achieve a sense of retirement readiness.

We seek to partner with companies that not only desire confidence in their fiduciary processes but are also open to a more meaningful dialogue on plan design, realistic savings rates, and the best investment selections for employees. If your company values your employees as an important asset, Integrated Financial Strategies could be a good fit. Taking care of people is good business, regardless of the industry. It's our passion, and we welcome the opportunity to share it with you.

Sandra L. Riccio, CFP®, AIF®

I think most would agree that, when it comes to choosing what it is you'll be doing for the rest of your life (i.e., a career), an element of luck can be involved.

Looking back on my years in this business, it does seem that I always had an interest in finance. I was born in Central New York, the youngest child of five—all girls. Yes, I was the fifth girl, and to top that I was born on New Year’s Day. So, for those of you following my drift—no boy and no tax deduction that year. My father was a hard-working man; my mom never worked outside the home. This was a very typical scenario when I was a child. But, much before my dad was ready, he had to retire due to a disability. I was 13 years old.

I guess that had more of an impact on me than I ever gave thought at the time, but as I look back on my career choices, it has definitely been behind most of the choices I have made. As anyone knows who has experienced a family struggle both emotionally and financially, it usually leaves quite an impression. And, in that sense, I feel I was lucky. Those experiences led me to a career that I find most rewarding.

After graduating from high school, I was the first to go away to college. Being practical, I decided that a business major made the most sense. The rest just seems to have slowly fallen into place over the years. It’s only looking back on it that I can actually see every step that influenced my path to today.

Between then and now I enhanced my profession with several years of professional development courses covering topics on financial planning, tax planning, and investment and retirement planning. I graduated from the College for Financial Planning’s Certified Financial Planning Professional Education Program in Denver, Colorado. In May 1996, I achieved the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TM. To enhance my status as a retirement plan specialist, I also studied and obtained the designation of Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) from the Center for Fiduciary Studies in 2006. I also hold FINRA Series 7 and 65 securities registrations.

I formed Integrated Financial Strategies, LLC with one vision in mind: to add value and confidence to an employer’s retirement plan. By enhancing the employer’s confidence in managing the fiduciary process, he or she can spend more valuable time focusing on the core business and less time on the retirement plan.

I enjoy working with employers to help their employees secure their retirement. Every person desires to one day realize a financially secure retirement, and statistics say that most require specialized help to get there. From choosing the right investments, to determining appropriate savings rates, to candid conversations about debt reduction, the goal is to provide employees with the necessary information to optimize retirement readiness.