Community Highlights: Meet Cindy Sforza of Lucidity Wealth Advisors Inc.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Sforza.

Hi Cindy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi! Thanks so much for this opportunity! My name is Cindy Sforza, CFP®, CRPC®, and I’m a born-and-raised So. Cal. native (grew up in Santa Clarita, went to UCLA for college, and then ended up in Orange County, where I’ve been living and working ever since). I’ve been a financial advisor since 2007, and a CFP® professional since 2016. In 2023 I decided to make a huge leap from employee to owner – I quit my job working as an advisor at another firm, and in August 2023 I opened Lucidity Wealth Advisors Inc. Lucidity is a fiduciary, fee-only wealth management firm that blends comprehensive financial planning with customized investment management for individuals, families and business owners.

When I became a financial advisor in 2007, it was a happy accident. This was 2007, right before the Great Recession of 2008 was about to start, and I’d just been laid off from my mortgage job; I had my own mortgage and bills to pay, and I was suddenly in need of a new career path. I went to a job fair (along with all the other newly laid off mortgage peeps) and one of the intro interviews I had that day was with Morgan Stanley. They were looking for rookies to hire to train as new financial advisors (and were probably mostly screening for people they thought could pass the Series 7 securities test) – I made the cut, and that’s how it all started.

The first decade of my career was largely transactional in nature and was a good training ground for this second decade, which has been very relationship-oriented with each of my clients. This is where I really thrive, and this is why I founded Lucidity. I love hearing people’s stories, and I love that my role is to bring my clients peace of mind about their finances – we all have enough to worry about in life, so let me at least take the financial worries off your plate. I don’t take it lightly that my clients are trusting me with their financial futures – I’m honored that they do.

Over the last 20 years I’ve had a ripe training ground for where I’m at today – I’ve been fortunate to experience working with all kinds of clients at all kinds of firms, and I’ve been able to distill from my experience knowing what works well and what can (and should) be done better.

I saw that there’s a better way to do it from a client service standpoint, and I really was tired of having to serve two masters as an advisor-employee – meeting the new business quotas that financial services firms love to track, versus honoring the high-touch service level that I promised to the clients I already had. I needed all of steps I went through in the last 20 years that led up to me now being able to do build Lucidity the right way. Every day I feel so grateful that I’ve built a company that’s doing it right, with my vision – I’m really proud of the firm I’ve built for our clients. Our clients trust me, I trust them, and we like each other – it’s overall terrific. I’m very much still in the growth stage for Lucidity, and we have capacity to help a lot more people who will benefit from our services. I’m super excited for the future, and to see where this journey ends up.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been an exciting road, for sure! Business ownership was a new chapter for me to embark on. It’s been an awesome experience overall. I’ve learned so much, and frankly it makes me a better advisor for my business owner/entrepreneur clients. Before I founded Lucidity, I understood their world from a financial planning perspective, but still as an outsider; now, I get to have an insider’s perspective. It’s been fun, challenging, and so rewarding to become self-employed. The biggest struggle so far has been finding the time to implement all of the ideas that I have for growth and for getting the word out about Lucidity – I’m a solo-advisor firm (for now), so I wear all the hats. I’m getting better at making this a priority now that Lucidity is off the ground and doing well.

As you know, we’re big fans of Lucidity Wealth Advisors Inc.. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At Lucidity, we give people peace of mind about their money so they can live better lives. We do this for our clients by focusing on all areas of wealth management and financial advice, including wealth accumulation, financial and retirement planning, investment strategy and management, estate planning, and tax optimization.

Most important to know is that Lucidity is a fee-only, fiduciary Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). As a fiduciary, we have both a legal and a professional requirement to always put our clients’ best interests ahead of our own. Always, no exceptions. Fee-only means our clients pay us directly, and that’s the only money that we make – unlike a broker, we don’t earn any commissions, trailing commissions, bonuses or kickbacks from any investments that we recommend for our clients’ portfolios.

We do comprehensive financial plans and cash flow analysis for our clients, and we then design an investment strategy that supports the results of their financial plan. Our investment portfolios are designed for each client to meet their specific financial goals that support their values. We use Charles Schwab as our custodian to hold our clients’ accounts.

Lucidity’s investment philosophy has three general tenets: we like investments that are low-cost, liquid, and tax-efficient. We believe in having diversified portfolios and rebalancing opportunistically, and we utilize asset-location and tax-loss-harvesting strategies to maximize tax efficiency for our clients.

At Lucidity, we want our clients to think of us as their one-stop shop for all financial questions and conundrums. Whether we’re reviewing a client’s auto and homeowner’s policies to make sure their deductibles and coverages are sufficient, or we’re making sure their estate plan documents are up to date and addressing their current wishes, or we’re answering a simple question such as “Should I lease or buy my next car?”, these are the types of analyses we include as part of our comprehensive service. We strive to be our clients’ “trusted advisor”, relying on us for all things financial.

One of our company goals for 2026 is to make ourselves more visible to women investors in seek of true financial guidance, as ours is a market that’s traditionally been underserved by the financial services industry. Don’t get me wrong, we still love our male clients, and we’ll always help them reach their financial goals, too! We just recognize that women – whether they’re the financial decision makers of their committed relationship/household, or they’re single by choice and loving it, or they’re recently unmarried because of divorce or widowhood – women often have different financial planning needs compared to a traditional married couple or a solo man. Women must consider specifics such as estate planning without a spouse (as women generally live longer than men), cash flow and retirement strategies specific to having one income, and investment strategies that support a woman’s longer life expectancy and long-term care needs, to name a few examples. Also, women sometimes feel more comfortable talking to other women, especially if it’s about a topic they feel insecure or uncertain about (and finances are often at the top of that list for everyone, not just the ladies). As a woman-owned and woman-led firm, we understand these unique challenges, we relate to them, and we happily advise on them. If you’re reading this and wondering what you’re missing from your current advisory relationship, give us a call.

How do you think about luck?
This is an old saying, but I love borrowing it: “Luck = Opportunity + Preparation”. Or, said another way, you make your own luck. I’m a firm believer in that. I’ve had a ton of luck throughout my career, mostly good, and probably some bad luck too (but I’ve blocked that out). All jokes aside, I think a lot of “good luck” is just a matter of being open to seeing opportunities when they present themselves, and not being afraid to use your preparedness (skills) to seize the moment. And, sometimes you need to make your own luck, as best you can – try to be in rooms with people you’ll have opportunities to grow with, and don’t get sidelined when something doesn’t go the way you expected. Even bad luck is teaching you something; there’s some lesson to be learned from “it” not working out.

Pricing:

• For our comprehensive wealth management service (including ongoing financial planning and investment management), our fee starts at 1% annually and goes down from there, depending on the asset values under our management.
• For our financial planning-only service (no investment management), we offer either a one-time, project-based fee or a fixed monthly subscription fee, depending on one’s needs and complexities. Please contact us to learn more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.luciditywealth.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luciditywealth
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luciditywealth
• Twitter: https://x.com/luciditywealth
• Email: info@luciditywealth.com
• Schedule an introductory call: https://calendly.com/cindy-luciditywealth/lucidity-introductory-meeting-zoom-vla