G. Joseph Votava, Jr., CFP®, JD, CPA

G. Joseph Votava, Jr. serves as Senior Wealth Advisor for Seneca Financial Advisors LLC.  With over 30 years of experience, he provides comprehensive financial planning services with a focus on taxes, investments, employee benefits and estate planning.  Until February 2010, he was a partner serving corporate executives and closely held businesses at Nixon Peabody LLP, a law firm with local, national, and international clients.   During his tenure, Mr. Votava was the founding president of the law firm’s subsidiary, Nixon Peabody Financial Advisors LLC.  Prior to joining Nixon Peabody in 1985, he was a member of the tax department at Coopers & Lybrand, an international accounting and consulting firm.  There, he served as a certified public accountant specializing in taxation.  

Throughout his career and in his various roles, Mr. Votava has contributed to the growth and development of financial planning as a profession around the world.  He was an honorary director of the Japan Academic Society for Financial Planning from 2000 to 2002 and also participated in an international commission to promote the growth and development of financial planning in South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.  Mr. Votava’s testimony before Congress in 1999 was relied upon by lawmakers when they made changes expanding tax deductions for 401(k) and IRA savings accounts commonly known today as “catch‐up” contributions.

Mr. Votava has regularly been interviewed and quoted by the National Financial Press, the ABA journal and has appeared on major network television programs.  He continues to lecture frequently on the subjects of individual taxation and financial planning.

Education:
University of Dayton School of Law, J.D.; Siena College, B.B.A.

Certifications & Admissions:

• Admitted to practice law in New York & the District of Columbia
• Licensed for health and life insurance through the New York State Department of Insurance
• Licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the state of New York
• CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner

Affiliations:

• Former Board Member for CFP^® Board of Standards, Washington, D.C.
• Former Chairman of CFP^® Board of Standards’ Public Policy Council
• Member of the District of Columbia Bar Association
• Financial Planning Association, Denver, CO (past chairman, National Board of Directors; former president of the Upstate New York chapter)
• Former chairman of the International Advisory Council
• Delegate to the International Certified Financial Planning Council
• Served as Chairman of the National Endowment for Financial Education’s Board of Trustees