About the Firm

Satori Financial is an independent financial advisory firm offering objective strategic advice for personal financial decision-making. We focus our work on the planning needs of working professionals and single clients, particularly single women. Our goal is to help you develop a personal financial strategy that simplifies your financial life, adapts to a changing environment, and aligns your resources with what is most important to you.

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It’s called personal finance for a reason: because it’s about you and your family, finances and finding happiness no matter what life doles out, including problems money can’t solve.

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About the Founder

Michelle A. Fait, MBA, CFP®, EA, CDFA

The path that led Michelle Fait to found Satori Financial in 2001 began as an exit from her previous professional life as an investment banker and included a number of twists and turns. In the years between that previous career and today, she married, lost her father to cancer, lost a job in an economic downturn, started a new job with equity compensation, started a company, and cared for her mother, disabled after a stroke, for nearly 10 years as she built her business. She also divorced, the year before her mother passed away, and started life again. In fifteen years she had experienced six of the top-ten most stressful life events, but she learned more about personal financial planning than she could have in any online course or management training program.

Michelle is a Certified Financial Planning practitioner (CFP®) with expertise in investments and tax. She holds an MBA in Finance from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from U.C. Berkeley. She is also an Enrolled Agent, a tax advisor who is authorized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS. In addition to her work as an economic and litigation consultant, she has worked as an investment banker in New York and Seattle for a major broker-dealer, during which time she held Series 7 and Series 63 NASD registrations. Immediately prior to founding Satori, she served as Treasury Manager for Starbucks Coffee Company, where she was responsible for cash and investment management and financial risk management.

Michelle is an active member of the Financial Therapy Association (FTA), Financial Planning Association (FPA), and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). Her professional memberships also include the Association of Divorce Financial Planners (ADFP) and the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA). In addition to her professional associations, she is active philanthropically. She fulfilled a three-year term on the University of Washington’s Estate and Gift Planning Council, serves in a leadership role for YaleWomen, and fosters her life-long interest in literacy, dogs, and art through involvement with a variety of organizations.

When not at her computer or walking the dog, she can often be found at the gym, at an art opening or movie screening, buying books, or enjoying a chance to unplug at a local café.

What is “Satori”?

In ancient Japan, the ruling class of samurai warrior believed that a disciplined, meditative life resulted in the ultimate achievement: enlightenment, or “Satori.” For the Samurai, being focused amid distraction, fearless in the face of threats, and confident in life was the goal.

Applied to the financial aspect of 21st century living, solid financial planning is a process to help you filter out the distractions, take the fear out of financial decision-making, and balance competing objectives with knowledge. We offer the focus, discipline, and unbiased environment to allow you to develop and execute specific financial actions that address your personal ambitions. “Satori” in the financial realm results in your knowing what steps to take and having the confidence to take them.

Download a guide from the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and learn more about how to choose the right financial advisor for you.

If your goals include financial independence, good health and happiness, contact us.