Meet Brian Safdari of College Planning Experts/Wealth Planning Experts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Safdari.

Brian, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
From Refugee to Dream Builder: The Brian Safdari Story

A Journey That Started 7,000 Miles Away

Brian Safdari’s story doesn’t begin in the San Fernando Valley. It begins 7,000 miles away, in Afghanistan, in 1981, during one of the most dangerous periods in that nation’s history.

The communist war between Afghanistan and Russia was tearing the country apart. Bombs fell. Families disappeared. Every day brought new uncertainty, new danger.

Brian’s father was the #1 soccer player in Afghanistan, a star on the Afghanistan National Team. He had fame, recognition, a career that brought pride to an entire nation. But he also had a newborn son and a wife, and he had to make an impossible decision—the kind only parents can make when their child’s life hangs in the balance.

He walked away from it all. The stadium crowds. The national spotlight. The soccer career he’d built with blood, sweat, and sacrifice. For his family’s safety, he gave up everything. Their home. Their possessions. Their community. His identity as Afghanistan’s top player. Everything they had built.

They fled Afghanistan with only what they could carry and one thing that weighed nothing but meant everything: hope.

Five Years of Faith and Perseverance

Iran became their temporary refuge. But “temporary” stretched into months, then years. Brian’s grandparents were already in the United States, working tirelessly to sponsor the family, to navigate the labyrinth of immigration paperwork, to bring their loved ones to safety.

Four years passed in Iran. Four years of waiting. Four years of prayers. The legal green card never came.

So Brian’s parents made another impossible decision. They left Iran and fled to India, taking yet another chance, making yet another leap of faith. One more year. One more country. One more prayer that somehow, someway, God would answer.

And in 1986, after five years of dangerous journeys, after giving up everything twice, after prayers whispered in three different countries, the miracle came. The green card arrived.

The Safdari family landed in Northridge, California. They had nothing. But they had each other. They had safety. They had opportunity. And they had faith that had been tested and proven through five years of impossibility.

From Refugee to Rising Star

Young Brian found his outlet on the soccer field—the same field where his father had once been a legend. It was in his blood. He started in recreational leagues, just a kid learning to love the game his father had sacrificed so much to leave behind. But something special emerged. The same determination that had carried his family across continents, the same talent that had made his father Afghanistan’s #1 player, now fueled Brian’s athletic dreams.

He climbed from recreational leagues to competitive club teams, then to the elite level. His father watched from the sidelines, seeing his own dreams reborn in his son. By high school, Brian was a four-year varsity player at Chatsworth High School, where he captained the team as a center midfielder. His talent was undeniable—he became one of the highest-ranked soccer players in the West Valley League.

Then came the Olympic Development Program (ODP), where the nation’s best young players competed. Brian made the California State Team. He represented the United States at the Junior Tournament Team at the France ’98 World Cup, playing on the world’s biggest stage—something his father had never gotten the chance to do.

The refugee boy from Afghanistan, son of the country’s greatest player, was now being recruited by NCAA Division I colleges across the country. The soccer legacy his father had sacrificed was being fulfilled through Brian.

The Dream Within Reach

The envelope felt heavy in his hands. Duke University. Division I soccer. Everything he’d worked for since he first kicked a ball on American soil. Everything his father had once dreamed of before war forced him to walk away. Duke wanted him. His dream—and in many ways, his father’s deferred dream—was right there, printed on official letterhead.

But dreams have a price tag.

Brian’s parents sat across from him at the kitchen table, the financial aid package spread between them. His mother’s eyes were red. His father—the man who had once been Afghanistan’s #1 soccer player, who had given up everything so his son could have opportunities—sat with his jaw set tight. They had sacrificed everything to get him here. His father had walked away from a national team career. They’d fled three countries. They’d spent five years in refugee limbo.

And now, after all of that, after Brian had risen through the ranks just like his father once had, after proving he had inherited his father’s extraordinary talent, the answer was still no.

The numbers didn’t add up. They never would.

“We’re so proud of you, son,” his mother whispered. “We just… we can’t.”

Brian looked at his father. The man who’d given up his soccer dreams so Brian could even have the chance to dream. And now Brian’s dreams were slipping away too, not because of war, but because of money.

Brian was the first in his family to even go to college in America. There was no roadmap, no uncle who’d navigated the system, no family friend who understood financial aid. Just a FAFSA form that looked like it was written in a foreign language and a family doing their best with what they had.

Then came the injury. Career-ending. Suddenly, even the athletic scholarship leverage was gone. The dream of playing Division I soccer at Duke evaporated like morning mist over the San Fernando Valley.

Two generations of soccer dreams, ended. One by war. One by injury and financial impossibility.

The $53,000 Mistake

Brian ended up at California State University, Northridge. It was close. He could live at home. It would be affordable.

Except it wasn’t.

He started as an accounting major at CSUN, thinking he’d become a CPA. But as he dove deeper into his studies, he realized something: he loved the problem-solving aspect of finances. He loved taking complex financial concepts and simplifying them for people who felt overwhelmed. He switched his focus to finance, discovering a passion for helping people understand money in ways that actually made sense.

But understanding finance academically didn’t mean he understood the financial aid system. He filled out the FAFSA himself, trying to make sense of questions about assets, income, and dependency status. He made mistakes. Crucial mistakes. The kind that disqualify you from grants you desperately need. The kind that no one catches until it’s too late.

The college—and Brian learned this the hard way—is a business. When the grants disappeared, they didn’t send him home. They offered him private loans. Over 15% interest. Sign here. Initial there. Your education awaits.

It was ironic. Here he was, studying finance, learning about interest rates and debt management, while simultaneously drowning in one of the worst financial decisions of his life. The student who would become an expert in financial planning was learning his most valuable lessons through painful personal experience.

A Light in the Darkness

But even in this difficult season, God was working. In 2001, Brian met Genessy. She was different—someone who saw not just his struggles, but his potential. As they dated over the next few years, she became his anchor, his encourager, his partner in every sense of the word.

When Brian walked across the graduation stage in 2005 with his diploma in one hand and $53,000 in debt shackled to his future, Genessy was there. She believed in him when he struggled to believe in himself.

The Breaking Point

The first loan statement arrived, and Brian felt his chest tighten. The monthly payment was staggering. The interest was compounding. At this rate, he’d be paying for decades. He’d be 50 years old, still paying for a degree he earned in his twenties from a school he’d chosen because it was supposed to be affordable.

He couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. The weight of that debt pressed down on him like a physical thing. Every job posting he looked at, every career opportunity, every life decision was now filtered through one question: “But how will I pay back these loans?”

Bankruptcy crossed his mind. Default seemed inevitable. He was drowning, and there was no shore in sight.

So Brian did what his parents had taught him through their five-year journey to America. He prayed. And he searched for solutions.

The Conference That Changed Everything

The college loan conference was being held in a hotel ballroom downtown. Brian almost didn’t go. What could they possibly tell him that would make a difference now? The debt was already there, compounding by the day.

But something—or Someone—pulled him through those doors.

That’s when he met them—college advisors who understood the system. Really understood it. They didn’t just know about financial aid; they knew how to navigate it, how to maximize it, how to make it work for families instead of against them.

And then they told him something that made his blood run cold.

“With proper planning, you could have attended Duke—a private university—for less than what you paid at Cal State Northridge.”

Brian sat there, stunned. The words echoed in his head. Duke. For less. Everything he’d sacrificed. Every dream he’d deferred. The debt that was crushing him. It didn’t have to happen.

The Calling Becomes Clear

In that moment, sitting in that hotel ballroom, Brian understood. All of it. The refugee journey from Afghanistan. His father giving up his career as the #1 soccer player on the Afghanistan National Team. The five years of dangerous travels. Brian’s own soccer injury. The crushing debt. The overwhelming adversity.

This was God’s way of preparing him. Of positioning him. Of giving him a calling.

Just as his father had sacrificed his soccer career to save his family, Brian would sacrifice what could have been—Duke, Division I soccer, a different life—to save other families from the same financial devastation. Just as his parents had fled Afghanistan to make a better life for him, he would help families navigate the treacherous waters of college planning to make a better life for their children.

His father had given up everything so Brian could have opportunity. Now Brian would dedicate his life to ensuring other parents wouldn’t have to say “we can’t” when opportunity came knocking.

This wasn’t just about financial aid. This was about fulfilling his purpose. This was about honoring his father’s sacrifice by making sure no other family’s dreams died at a kitchen table.

The anger came first—hot, burning anger at what had happened to him and his family. But then it transformed into something pure and powerful: purpose.

Building the Vision Together

Brian started talking to his friends still in college, sharing everything he’d learned. Genessy was right there beside him, helping him shape his vision. She saw what he couldn’t see yet—that this could become something bigger than just advice to friends. This could become his life’s work.

Together, they began building what would become College Planning Experts. Genessy believed in the mission as much as Brian did. She helped him take those first frightening steps from having a vision to actually starting a business.

“This is your calling,” she told him. “God brought you through all of this for a reason.”

In 2005, College Planning Experts was born. Not just as a business, but as a ministry. A mission. A calling.

Making College Attainable and Affordable

Brian built College Planning Experts on a simple but powerful promise: no family should have to say “we can’t” when their child gets accepted to their dream college. He knew firsthand the pain of that moment, and he was determined to prevent it for others.

But he also knew that getting into college was only half the battle. Students needed to get accepted AND be able to afford it. So he created a comprehensive system that guides families through every stage of the college journey.

**Career Discovery & Major Selection**
Brian remembered being a lost first-generation college student with no guidance. So the first step in his process is helping students uncover their strengths, passions, and ideal career paths, then aligning them with the right-fit majors and colleges. It’s not just about getting into college—it’s about getting into the *right* college for each unique student.

**Strategic High School Planning**
With former and current college admissions officers on his team, Brian provides families with insider strategies on what top universities truly look for. College Planning Experts builds a customized academic and extracurricular roadmap for each student that maximizes their acceptance odds—giving them a 92% or higher chance of getting into their dream college.

This is the admissions advantage Brian never had. The insider knowledge that could have changed everything for him.

**Maximizing Financial Aid**
Once students are accepted, this is where Brian’s personal experience, education in finance, and passion for problem-solving truly shine. He helps families maximize financial aid, grants, and scholarships—no matter their income level.

His expertise in financial aid strategies and financial planning sets him apart. Brian has a unique gift for taking complex financial planning and simplifying it—the same skill that drew him away from accounting toward finance at CSUN. He developed proprietary concepts like “Wealth Leaks” and the F4 Wealth Plan to help families understand where their money is going and how to plug the leaks that prevent them from reaching their goals.

For low- and middle-income families like his parents were, Brian uncovers hidden grant and scholarship opportunities that others miss. He makes sure they don’t make the same FAFSA mistakes he made—mistakes that cost him over $53,000.

For high-net-worth families, Brian uses creative planning to legally and ethically qualify for aid and tax-advantaged “college scholarships” that most accountants and advisors don’t know exist.

Then he designs cash-flow-friendly funding plans that align with each family’s financial goals, ensuring that paying for college doesn’t derail retirement or lifestyle.

**Three Pillars of Success**
College Planning Experts’ success is built on three pillars that no other company fully delivers:

1. **Get Accepted** — Insider admissions strategies to secure acceptance at your dream college.
2. **Get Grants** — Proven systems to uncover and secure maximum scholarships and aid.
3. **Fund College** — Tax-advantaged strategies to pay for college without sacrificing your lifestyle or retirement.

Brian had learned the hard way that you need all three. Getting accepted to Duke meant nothing when he couldn’t afford it. Attending Cal State Northridge seemed affordable until the FAFSA mistakes made it a financial disaster. He was determined that the families he served would have all three pieces of the puzzle.

Faith as the North Star

The adversities Brian had faced—fleeing a war-torn country, watching his Duke dreams crumble, drowning in debt—had all brought him closer to God. What seemed like defeats were actually divine appointments. What felt like closed doors were actually redirections to the right path. Even his shift from accounting to finance at CSUN was part of the plan—giving him the tools he’d need to help families navigate complex financial decisions.

Faith became his north star. Not just faith that things would work out, but faith that God had a specific plan, a specific purpose for his life. And that purpose was becoming crystal clear: to ensure no other family would have to say “we can’t” when their child’s dream college said “yes.”

Brian’s core values crystallized into four pillars that would guide everything he did: Faith, Family, Friends, and Freedom. These weren’t just words on a wall. They were the foundation of how he lived, how he worked, how he served.

Faith first. Always. Because without God orchestrating his journey—from refugee to soccer player to finance student to college planning expert—none of this would have been possible.

A New Problem Emerges

By 2008, Brian had been helping families with college funding and budgeting for three years. He’d worked with over 500 families, guiding them through the college planning process. But he started noticing something deeply troubling.

Many of his clients had financial advisors. But these advisors weren’t properly planning for their clients’ retirement. They would put clients into risky investments without proper risk assessment. They charged enormous fees that ate away at returns. Worst of all, they wouldn’t meet with their clients annually—sometimes going years without reviewing whether the strategy was still working.

Brian watched these “advisors” simply invest his clients’ money without truly helping families reach their retirement and legacy goals. It was the same pattern all over again—families being failed by professionals who should have been helping them.

His finance education and problem-solving instincts kicked in. When he saw this happening to his college funding clients, he couldn’t stay silent. He would educate his families and show them proper financial planning strategies to reach their retirement goals as well. He’d identify their “Wealth Leaks”—those hidden places where money was hemorrhaging unnecessarily—and show them how to plug those leaks.

The families didn’t just want his college funding expertise anymore. They wanted his financial planning expertise too. They trusted him. They saw how he simplified complex financial concepts. They experienced how he actually cared about their long-term success, not just collecting fees.

“Can you help us with our retirement planning?” they started asking. “Can you review what our advisor is doing?” “Can you help us with all of our financial goals, not just college?”

The Birth of Wealth Planning Experts

Brian realized that college funding was just one piece of a bigger puzzle. Families needed help with the three biggest investments in their lives:
1. **College funding** for their children’s future
2. **Being debt-free** and financially stable
3. **Not running out of money** in retirement

In 2008, Brian founded Wealth Planning Experts. It was the natural extension of his mission. His father had sacrificed everything for his family’s financial security. Brian had learned painful lessons about debt and financial planning. Now he could help families holistically—not just get their kids into college affordably, but ensure their entire financial future was secure.

He developed the F4 Wealth Plan—a comprehensive approach built on his core values of Faith, Family, Friends, and Freedom. It was financial planning that aligned with what actually mattered in life, not just maximizing returns on a spreadsheet.

Brian brought the same passion to retirement planning that he brought to college planning. The same attention to detail. The same commitment to simplifying complexity. The same heart for protecting families from the mistakes he’d seen and experienced.

Two Decades of Impact

Twenty years since founding College Planning Experts, Brian hasn’t stopped. He can’t stop. Because every time he sits down with a family, he sees his own parents across that table. Every time he hears “we can’t afford it,” he remembers his mother’s red eyes. Every time a student gets into their dream school with an aid package that actually works, he thinks about Duke. About what could have been. About what now can be for someone else.

He’s worked with over 7,500 families now. That’s 7,500 students who didn’t have to make the choice he made. That’s 7,500 families who didn’t have to say, “We just… we can’t.” That’s 7,500 answered prayers.

The media has recognized his work nationally and locally. He’s been featured in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, MSN, Success Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Fox 11, Good Day LA, the L.A. Times, and the Daily News. Government representatives—including the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon, Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, the California State Assembly, County of Los Angeles, California State Senate, City of Los Angeles, and City of Santa Clarita—have honored him. He’s written the bestselling book “College Planning Made Easy,” hosted the radio show “College Planning Secrets Exposed” on AM-1220 KHTS, and raised over $121,000 for charitable causes.

But the real measure of Brian’s success isn’t in the accolades or the media appearances. It’s in the emails he gets from parents whose kids are at their dream schools. It’s in the thank-you notes from students who graduated debt-free. It’s in the families who can say “yes” instead of “we can’t.”

It’s in the dreams that don’t have to die at kitchen tables anymore.

This Is My Calling

Today, when Brian tells families that they can receive financial aid regardless of their income and assets, he’s not selling them a dream. He’s offering them a roadmap. The roadmap he wishes he’d had. The roadmap his parents wished they’d had. The roadmap that could have saved his father’s soccer legacy.

He knows, with absolute certainty, that this is his calling. God didn’t bring his family 7,000 miles from a war zone, didn’t have his father walk away from being Afghanistan’s #1 soccer player, didn’t allow five years of refugee status, a career-ending injury, and $53,000 in crushing debt, just for Brian to keep that knowledge to himself.

His father sacrificed his soccer career so Brian could have a future. Now Brian has built a career out of ensuring other families don’t have to sacrifice their children’s futures.

Every adversity was preparation. Every closed door was redirection. Every moment of desperation was an opportunity to draw closer to God and understand His purpose.

And that purpose is clear: to make the world a better place, one family at a time. To ensure that financial barriers don’t destroy dreams the way they destroyed his. To be the guide that he never had. To honor his father’s sacrifice by making sure that sacrifice leads to thousands of success stories. To live out his values of Faith, Family, Friends, and Freedom in service to others.

The Legacy Continues

Brian Safdari didn’t make it to Duke. His father never got to finish his career with the Afghanistan National Team. But together, their sacrifices have helped thousands of students make it to their dream schools.

The #1 soccer player from Afghanistan gave up his career to save his son. That son grew up to save thousands of families from financial devastation. One sacrifice multiplied into 7,500 success stories and counting.

The refugee boy from Afghanistan became an American success story—not because he achieved his own dreams, but because he dedicated his life to helping others achieve theirs.

With Genessy by his side, with Nelah and Lagen watching and learning, with faith as his north star and over two decades of impact behind him, Brian continues the mission. His children are learning the same lesson his father taught him: that true success isn’t about your own glory, but about the lives you change through your sacrifice.

Because this isn’t just what he does.

This is who he is.

This is his calling.

And by God’s grace, he’ll continue answering that call—one family, one student, one dream at a time—for as long as he’s able.

Because that’s what you do when your father gives up everything for you. When God turns your adversity into your ministry. When He transforms your pain into your purpose. When He takes a national team player’s sacrifice and a refugee’s journey and turns it into thousands of families’ success stories.

You say yes. You serve. You have faith. You honor the sacrifice.

And you help others believe that their dreams don’t have to die at kitchen tables anymore.

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?
From my story, it was not a smooth journey. Even in 2005, when I started the business, I had no idea how to run one. I didn’t come from a wealthy family and had no business experience. What I did know was that when I played soccer, the best coaches helped me become the best player I could be. I learned that a great coach can accelerate your growth, so I decided to attend business conferences and hire a coach who was already successful at running thriving businesses. That mindset helped me learn faster than trying to figure it out alone.

After working hard, staying disciplined, and never giving up, I grew our business into the leading college planning company in Southern California. Some of the biggest challenges I faced were competition and generating enough revenue to hire help. I was handling both college admissions and financial aid myself, which made it difficult to scale.

That’s when my “soccer captain” mindset came into play. I told myself, I can’t win alone — but with a dream team, I can. I started hiring former college admissions officers who knew exactly what schools look for, why they accept certain students, and how to position applicants strategically. That’s how our office now helps students get into their dream colleges, achieving a 92% acceptance rate.

When you work with a college admissions officer instead of a high school counselor, your chances of getting accepted increase because you receive true one-on-one guidance tailored to what colleges want. I discovered this firsthand after hiring both — the difference in results was clear when we began working with admissions officers who held master’s degrees.

Later, we faced cash flow challenges. I realized we needed to take on more clients and manage our finances properly to keep growing. Then came another major challenge — COVID. Our business relied entirely on in-person meetings. When the pandemic hit, everything stopped, and we had over 12 staff members. We were shocked, but I immediately asked myself, What can I do?

That’s when I transformed our entire business model online and went virtual nationwide. What first looked like a major setback turned out to be a blessing. We began serving families across the country through Zoom meetings. Our business grew in 2020 and continues to thrive today.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
College Planning Experts — Making College Attainable and Affordable

At College Planning Experts, we guide families through every stage of the college journey — from helping students discover their true passions and career paths to getting accepted into their dream colleges with the highest possible chance of success.

Our proven system walks families step by step through:

Career Discovery & Major Selection: We help students uncover their strengths, passions, and ideal career paths, then align them with the right-fit majors and colleges.

Strategic High School Planning: We build a customized academic and extracurricular roadmap that maximizes acceptance odds — giving students a 92% or higher chance of getting into their dream college.

Admissions Advantage: With former and current college admissions officers on our team, families gain insider strategies on what top universities truly look for.

Once accepted, we help families maximize financial aid, grants, and scholarships—no matter their income level.

For low- and middle-income families, we uncover hidden grant and scholarship opportunities.

For high-net-worth families, we use creative planning to legally and ethically qualify for aid and tax-advantaged “college scholarships” that most accountants and advisors miss.

We then design cash-flow-friendly funding plans that align with your financial goals and ensure paying for college doesn’t derail your retirement.

What Makes Us Different

Our success is built on three pillars that no other company fully delivers:

Get Accepted — Insider admissions strategies to secure acceptance at your dream college.

Get Grants — Proven systems to uncover and secure maximum scholarships and aid.

Fund College — Tax-advantaged strategies to pay for college without sacrificing your lifestyle or retirement.

Our Experience & Mission

Founded in 2005, College Planning Experts has become the trusted leader in college admissions and financial aid planning. In 2007, we added Wealth Planning Experts, a holistic financial planning business in personalizing and helping individuals go from their current path to reaching their retirement goals that align with their own faith, family, friends, and freedom goals, The F4 Drain-proof Wealth System.
Our team brings over 50 years of combined experience in education, admissions, and financial aid strategy — and what sets us apart is our passion. We understand the college funding and retirement funding goals for our families.

This isn’t just a job for us — it’s a mission to make college attainable and affordable for every family.
With unmatched expertise and a heart for helping others, no other company comes close to what we deliver.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Starting my business was a huge risk. I had no money or experience. I started reading business books, attending conferences, and hired a business coach.
Another risk was hiring staff. I was scared of hiring because I didn’t know if I could meet payroll every month, as our business had good months and bad months.
I learned through trial and error, taking risks on spending revenue to cover expenses, hoping we would have profits to keep the business open.
I learned that you must take risks and feel uncomfortable to grow. There is a saying I use, “Get comfortable to get awkward. Every time I feel uncomfortable in my business, I seem to find growth.

Pricing:

• Case by case per family – not one price

Contact Info:

• Website: www.CollegePlanningExperts.com and www.WealthPlanningExperts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/collegeplanningexperts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CollegePlanningExperts
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-safdari-b5b8004
• Twitter: https://x.com/cpexperts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CollegePlanningExpertsChannel
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/college-planning-experts-northridge

Image Credits
Image credits go to College Planning Experts, Inc