Specializing in financial planning for families
Faith, Family, then Finances
I’m Michael Kostelnik — a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner in Mentor, Ohio, and the founder of Family Life Financial Planning. “Faith, family, then finances” isn’t a tagline for me; it’s the order I live by, and the order I help families use to put their money to work.
My wife Jessica and I are raising four boys — Isaiah, Joshua, Benaiah, and Ezra. I serve as a pastor at the Grove Church of Lake County. I built this firm so that planning for your family’s future and giving generously to your church don’t have to compete. They can be the same plan.
I work most closely with Christian households at one of three turning points: a child heading to college in the next few years, retirement coming into view about five years out, or the first years of retirement itself. If that’s you, you’re in the right place.
My Story
I’ve been in personal finance since 2005. After early stops in the industry, I spent nearly ten years at a local advising firm, moving from administrative support to managing my own clients.
By mid-2016, I realized my employer’s values and my own had drifted apart. I wanted to be present for my family while my kids were small, to serve my church, and to give clients advice shaped entirely by what was right for them. That’s hard to do inside a sales-driven model.
So in August 2016, I founded Family Life Financial Planning—a fee-only firm built to help families build a secure future while giving and serving along the way. Fee-only and fiduciary from day one: I’m paid only by my clients, and I’m bound to put their interests first, at all times.
Today, alongside planning, I run Family Life Tax Service (where I prepare taxes for many of my planning clients). Everything I do comes back to the same conviction: money is a tool for stewardship, not the point of the story.
How I Work — My Standards
Fee-only. I’m paid only by my clients — never through commissions, product sales, or kickbacks. My advice is about what’s right for your family, not what pays me.
Fiduciary, at all times. I’m bound to put your interests ahead of my own — not just when it’s convenient.
NAPFA member. I belong to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, the country’s leading association of fee-only advisors, and I subscribe to its Fiduciary Oath and Code of Ethics.
XY Planning Network member. I’m part of a nationwide network of fee-only planners focused on transparent, advice-first planning for everyday families.
Who I Help
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College is coming. Your child is a few years from campus, and you want to fund it without derailing your own retirement.
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Retirement is near. You’re about five years out and want to know, honestly, whether you’re ready.
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You’ve just retired. You want confidence your savings will last — and that your money still reflects your values.
Let's Talk
The first step is always the same: a free, no-obligation conversation. No pressure, and nothing you need to have figured out first.
Prefer to reach out directly?
📞 440-490-7526 · ✉️ michael@saveforyourfamily.com
By appointment, Mon–Fri 9–5; evenings by arrangement.