Brenda Knox, CFP®, AIF®, APMA®, CRPC®
Founder | President
Brenda Knox, Founder and President of Financial Elements, Inc., has been a fee-only financial advisor for more than 28 years (1996), and has helped hundreds of clients plan their financial lives. Her passion is developing long-term relationships with her clients and tailoring her services to their individual needs, including investment management, retirement and social security planning, cash flow and savings, insurance, estate, and college planning. She founded Financial Elements, Inc. in 2009 after working for another fee only firm for many years.
Brenda is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional, having completed her course work through the College for Financial Planning. She pursues continuing education on a regular basis and holds certification in the areas of employee and group benefits from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. She is also an Accredited Investment Fiduciary® having completed training at the Center for Fiduciary Studies to gain specialized knowledge of fiduciary standards of care and their application to the investment management process. Additionally, Brenda is an Accredited Portfolio Management AdvisorSM and a Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM having taken specialized coursework through the College for Financial Planning.
A graduate of Harper College and Roosevelt University, where she was a member of the Franklin Honor Society, Brenda holds a BS in business administration, with a major in accounting. An active member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), she has served as both president and chair of the Midwest Regional Board, chair of the membership and symposium committees, and as a member of the Leadership Development Committee. She also sat on the board of the National Consumer Education Foundation (NCEF), which is NAPFA’s consumer education non-for-profit organization. She has provided pro bono services to veterans working with NCEF. Brenda has also served in an advisory capacity to the University of Illinois Extension Services, reviewing financial planning literature prior to publication. In 2019, Brenda was named as one of the Distinguished Alumni of Harper College.
Brenda has been quoted in several national and local publications including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune.
Brenda is actively involved in her community, serving as the president of the Harper College Educational Foundation Board and on various committees. She is also on the Professional Advisors committee for Northwest Community Hospital’s foundation. She was the Activity Chair for Boy Scouts and Treasurer for Cub Scouts for more than a decade. She is also past president of her church council and past co-president and treasurer of the PTA. Over the years, Financial Elements has sponsored Rolling Meadows Youth Baseball, Boy Scout and Cub Scout Troop 168, Fremd HS Boosters, Palatine HS Boosters, Partners in Our Communities, Rolling Meadows Community Foundation, Harper College Educational Foundation, and Salute, Inc.
Brenda lives in Rolling Meadows with her husband. They have two grown sons. One is serving in the US Space Force and the other, Brian, works for Financial Elements from Lubbock, Texas.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements
Brian Knox
Brian Knox, Candidate for CFP® certification, is an associate financial planner at Financial Elements Inc. He earned his master’s degree in personal financial planning from Texas Tech University and currently lives in Lubbock with his wife Emily. While he primarily works online, he travels to Rolling Meadows frequently for in-person meetings and events. His undergraduate degree, from University of Illinois is in Political Science which instilled a love of ancient Roman history and all things Greek and Latin. He enjoys reading old books and is working on writing his own book on the Eastern Roman Empire. He also enjoys hiking and working out.
Judy
Judy, support staff, has worked in the financial planning industry for more than 25 years. She took on a part-time role for Financial Elements in 2020 and her desire to be a part of a strong back office is what keeps her interest in working for Financial Elements and Brenda Knox.
Judy lives in Palatine with her husband and enjoys golfing in her spare time, entertaining friends and family and spending time in Florida when she can. She has two adult children that live in the Chicagoland area.
Lynne
Lynne is also a part time member of the support staff team. She has 12 years of Administrative Assistant experience in the Manufacturing and Banking industries and 18 years of IT experience in the Banking industry. She lives locally and enjoys gardening and travel.