I’m Jay Fedak, owner of Fedak Financial Planning, the only truly independent fee-only fiduciary firm located in New Milford, CT. My journey here began far from the world of finance, at Southern Connecticut State University where I was a pre-med major, never really considering doing anything else.

After graduating I began working in healthcare and decided to go the route of becoming a Physician Assistant. In 2000 I attended the Bronx Lebanon Hospital PA program and accomplished my goal, graduating in 2002.

My love of sports and fitness led me to accepting a job working in Orthopedics, helping folks regain their physical ability to live life doing the activities that they loved. A few years later I decided to migrate to Emergency Medicine. In the ER the fast-paced action also proved to be very satisfying, although eventually burnout crept in. This ended up causing a bit of a back and forth between Urgent Care and the ER for the last several years of my medical career.  

After close to two decades in healthcare, I became more interested in finance. My thoughts began drifting toward retirement, and how I had not made planning for it a central theme. I picked up a couple of really great books about investing by famed investor/fund manager Peter Lynch and was instantly hooked. That experience provoked me to keep reading and eventually led to taking the Series 65 exam just to see what would happen.

After passing and including it on my LinkedIn profile, I was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted by Guy Penn, founder of Core Planning, a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) located outside of St. Louis. He came across my profile and was interested in speaking to me about a position with his firm. I thought to myself, how cool is that? I really didn’t even have a specific goal, and yet here I was facing a decision to join the ranks of a profession that I never thought would interest me. It was a great opportunity to get started in the field, and I would be able to work both part-time and remotely. I happily accepted and loved it right away.

Soon I had several medical colleagues as clients and gained valuable experience assisting healthcare professionals – including MDs, RNs, PAs, APRNs, and Therapists navigate various financial decisions, as well as assisting in rollovers of their 401ks left at prior jobs into IRAs with much better investment options. I was still helping people, but in a much different capacity.

I began to feel a real sense of joy and satisfaction assisting clients with investment decisions and financial preparation for the future. So much so that I reduced my shifts and took a leap of faith, enrolling in the Boston Institute of Finance in pursuit to becoming a Certified Financial Planner®. I completed the program and passed the certification exam in 2025. It was one of those moments in life where you kind of step back and go: Yesssss! Then… wait, huh? How the heck did I get here? It just goes to show you that we never really know how life may play out, but following your passions often leads to things falling into place.  

Next came the difficult decision on my medical career. After 23 years as a PA, I had decided it was time to move on. I was closing one chapter in my life, but was very excited to start the next one, launching Fedak Financial Planning in 2025. 

I am still working with the same wonderful folks at Core Planning, now as an independent, fee-only financial planner. This allows me the freedom and flexibility to serve my clients with personalized financial advice that is free from the burden of quotas, sales incentives, or commissions and always puts my client’s best interests first. Core Planning has been right there with me the entire way. I consider Guy and all of my fellow “Core” advisors to be such an important part of my journey here. Core Planning also helps to provide regulatory compliance, shared resources, operational support, and professional collaboration as well as much needed encouragement and camaraderie. I am truly grateful for all of their help. 

So here I am, ready at the helm! I am very much looking forward to helping folks in my local community as well as those who reach out from elsewhere with all things financial. There are so many nuances, rules, and methods that most people are unaware of that can help them immensely in the long run. You may be doing all the right things and having a professional review it can help to reinforce that you’re on the correct path.

On the other hand, you may be making mistakes due to lack of knowledge or experience that if discovered, could really get you where you want to go more quickly and missing these opportunities could end up being quite costly. Many advisors say the most common statement heard from their clients is: “why didn’t I do this years ago.” Don’t be that person! Call me or reserve some time on my calendar. The initial conversation is completely free and may prevent years of regret down the road!