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Kathryn Amenta, Financial Advisor
Category: Financial Services Financial Services [Edit]
128 Burnside Ave(at Bosworth St)
San Francisco, CA 94131
Neighborhood: Miraloma
(415) 333-6972
- Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu 10 am - 6 pm
Fri 10 am - 12 pm
Sat 8 pm - 1 pm
$75 for $185 Certificate
Monika B. said: "Davin was fabulous. He did my 2010 taxes really fast. We were done in a few minutes at a reasonable rate. He also went way out of his way to help me…" read more »
13 reviews for Kathryn Amenta, Financial Advisor
13 reviews in English
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Review from Tony R.
Brooklyn, NY
9/29/2011
I worked with Kathryn for over two years and she was excellent - super competent, always pleasant and a pleasure to work with at all times. She has all the expertise you could want plus a great deal of compassion for the emotional difficulties that accompany financial issues. I highly recommend.
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Review from SANDRA E.
San Francisco, CA
12/19/2011
She is a rip off.
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Review from Alissa K.
San Francisco, CA
6/1/2009
I'm surprised this woman has any stars at all! Buyer beware! I spent $200 telling this woman my life story on the first session, where I grew up, my relationship with family members, etc. None of which was relevant to consultation with an FA. I felt as if we were seeing a psychologist, by the way, something she bragged about having a degree in during my first meeting as if it was relevant. The contract she makes you sign even states that she will provide a financial plan in the first consultation you pay for, something I did NOT receive.
I've only seen missed appointment fees in the medical services industry, psychology, and medicine.. NEVER from financial planners or advisors. The funny thing is, her rates dictate a large firm out of a high rise in downtown San Francisco when in fact her office is her house.
The spreadsheet she will give you is actually another company's spreadsheet. Its not even hers! I'm convinced after this situation that this woman is nothing more than a con artist using another company's spreadsheet to sell her own services.
After all was said and done, for someone who is wanting to advise someone on how to assist liquidity-strapped individuals, she went after me for a missed appointment fee demanding $700 or she'd take us to court, something she also bragged about having to do to other customers in the past that she claimed she always won.
I finally settled on half the amount that was remaining.
I have met with many Financial Planners and the best advice I can offer you is to stay away from Kathryn Amenta. Your money will be better invested elsewhere. -
Review from Corrie B.
San Francisco, CA
3/13/2009
This is a long one, but well worth it. So is Kathryn.
I decided that I needed to make some financial changes in my life back in December. To say that I was scared for my first appointment with Kathryn was an understatement. I had NEVER gone to anyone before about money. Money and credit cards have always been this dark thing that scared me to think about or possess. I had a tendency to immediately rid myself of money as soon as it came my way and I was definitely guilty of retail therapy prior to my meeting with her. Sitting down with her was going to be sitting in financial confessional and admitting my sins. I was hesitant, but ready to walk into the fire.
But it wasn't walking into the fire. She didn't ask me a single question about how much I made the entire first session. She got down to business with questions like:
How is your relationship with your parents?
What is your parents relationship to money?
What are their parents relationship to money?
Did you have an allowance growing up?
Were there boundaries with money?
How do you feel about your dynamic with money?
How does money stress you out?
How does it make you happy?
What do you want to do with your money?
What condition and how old is the car you drive?
How does it make you feel to talk about money?
I felt like I was in checking/savings/credit card therapy.
Nothing I said made her flinch. Not how much debt I had. Not my student loan numbers. Not what I wanted to do with my life. Nothing. She was a neutral slate. Beautiful, right?
She did ask one question that made me pause before answering. She asked me to come up with one or two words to describe what money meant to me. I paused and said that I was being corny, but I immediately thought "opportunity and love". She asked me to explain each of them further and I said, "Because it has the endless potential to create opportunity...and you have to love yourself to give and receive it." She wrote that one down because no one had said that before. :)
And then after getting the base structure of my history and heredity with money, she presented....THE SPREADSHEET OF MY DREAMS... Seriously. This 2MB file is a love letter to Microsoft Excel. It gave me goosebumps. I know. Dramatic, but this file became my new best friend. Anyone who knows me at work knows that I have spent the past 3 years of my life being a little obsessive compulsive about making and organizing and summing the perfect spreadsheet. Someone out there did the mother of all programming on this bad boy.
The short summary is it takes every last corner of your life that consumes and accumulates currency and lays it all out in blessed line item detail. It pulls all information into a clearly readable and defined daily, monthly and yearly worksheet. All information is connected and dynamic. Spending too much for the year? Take a look at your annual budget and adjust backwards until you know what you can spend each day. It's magic. Each month has about 7 worksheets, so it has a macro that hides all sheets except the month you're looking at. It's streamlined and sexy. Yeah, I just called a spreadsheet sexy. Welcome to my geek.
Basically it took the part of my personality that lines up my shoes in my closet, folds and stacks my towels with the crease to the left, gets irritated when the blinds are crooked, and other nervous "things are out of place" habits and gave it a money room to straighten up in computer land.
It took one month of "looking" at my money to realize I could move out of my parents home without the fear I held onto for so long surrounding my student loan debt. So I did.
The second month of working with the spreadsheet let me know how much money I needed to live on so I could quit my job and pursue the life that had been whispering to me. So I did.
Once I saw where my money was going I could start to be more accountable for how I spent it. Trust me. Seeing the potential for 1K of my life going towards wine after work? Hello, wake up call. At least for me.
Kathryn is the best teacher in all of this. She has been patient and kind and has listened to me rant and rave about my tendency to eat dinner out and drink too much. She has been there when I have become VERY uncomfortable with my CC debt and she can see that it wasn't about the debt, it was about the person behind the card at the time of purchase. She's truly a gifted teacher and advisor. If at any point in time you are finding yourself hiding in a corner and ignoring your bank statements--face the fire and INVEST in Kathryn. She's amazing. -
Review from D M.
Palo Alto, CA
12/22/2009
It is hard for me to describe the difference I feel in my relationship to my finances because of Kathryn.
When my girlfriend (now fiancee) and I started seeing her, my approach to money was simply to spend it until it was gone. I had not accepted credit for years and years, not since having a truck repossessed, so I had no credit to speak of, and was frightened of even applying for any. My habits included overspending for holidays, birthdays, dinners out. Then finding myself short at the end of the month even though I make a decent salary and have no debt. I would let bills pile up until they became entirely overwhelming. I had a huge wall of fear built up about anything to do with money because I had made so many plans and failed so many times to follow any of them.
Kathryn's approach to counseling me has had to include listening to all these fears, and all the shame and doubt that comes up when I don't always work my plan, and help me work through those moments so I can move forward with forming better habits. She is able to do this, AND give sound financial advice, AND do the same kind of counseling for my fiancee, AND give us good communications tools to use as a couple.
We have been seeing Kathryn for almost a year, and for the first Christmas in memory, not only am I not stressed about what I spent on presents or didn't spend on presents, and how screwed I was going into the new year, I am instead happy with what I've given, proud of what I've planned and saved, and excited about the plan we've got for the new year.. and this includes the plans for the wedding. Oh yeah, and I have a credit for the first time since college.
Financial matters can be very emotional topics for alot of people. Kathryn really is as much therapist as financial advisor. And for me that has turned my life around. -
Review from Amy K.
San Francisco, CA
5/8/2008 1 photo
I saw myself as financially hopeless before I went to see Kathryn. I mean, I was living check to check and not always making it. I knew I was capable of getting things under control, but the road from here to there just seemed to hard to navigate without a map. Kathryn gave me that map. Gently, over the course of several sessions (and without judgment -- I can't tell you how valuable THAT is) Kathryn helped me and my sweetie figure out where our money went -- and then start channeling it in more productive ways.
One cool thing about her is that Kathryn tries to get to the bottom of why you behave the way you do around money. (It's like food or sex -- it makes you act weird and crazy, but you can change all that if you respect what got you to this place, right?) She doesn't scold or shame you -- just has a great, positive attitude to help you go forward.
I'll admit, it seems daunting, when you already have money woes, to spend a chunk of change on financial counseling. But when you're set up with a debt-reduction plan, monthly and yearly spending plans, and most important of all, a three-tiered savings plan, you'll see what a good investment that is. -
Review from Carla C.
San Francisco, CA
12/22/2009
My partner and I started seeing Kathryn very shortly after we began dating. I knew I'd snagged a good one and wanted to keep arguments about money--a common cause of break-ups--to a minimum by consulting with a counselor early on.
My honey and I come from very different attitudes about money. He's a spender with a turbulent history, and I'm a saver with established habits and anxiety about overspending. The great thing about Kathryn is that she's accustomed to working with all kinds of people and has never made either of us feel bad or guilty about our actions or attitudes, while carefully guiding us to healthier behaviors.
Kathryn's very patient and flexible, and she is totally willing to try new approaches if other ways don't work. For example, her budgeting program didn't work well with our Macs, so we skipped it and devised our own system for tracking spending and setting up savings accounts. She was all for it.
She has made the transition of moving from entirely separate accounts to sharing some joint ones a breeze. She's helped my honey get on the road to reestablishing credit, and she's helped both of us determine how much money we can sock away, how much we need to cover monthly expenses, and how much we can spend freely.
I feel strongly that working with her is a really healthy thing for our relationship--establishing good money habits has made it a lot easier for our relationship to evolve, and my honey and I relish the chance to work together on such a meaningful project as a team. Plus, money is so often a taboo subject to discuss with friends and family that it's nice to have her objective opinion if he and I have differing opinions on how to handle a financial matter.
As one poster mentioned, her rates can be pretty high if you don't have a lot of money to begin with (it's more cost-effective to go with a partner) and you miss an appointment at your peril (her no-show fee is a toughie).
But Kathryn's rules and fees about keeping appointments can serve as a kind of external discipline that makes backing out really hard--especially if you're prone to avoiding your financial problems rather than facing them. She's a reasonable person and she'll work with you to come up with a good solution if you can't make the timing work out for legit reasons.
My partner and I couldn't be happier about working with her. -
Review from Marissa S.
San Francisco, CA
8/3/2009
Kathryn has been an amazing help to me. She makes you look at why and how you spend your money. She doesn't judge, she makes suggestions and goals and ways for you to obtain Financial Freedom! She's always an email or phone call away when you need help. A great person to talk with and be honest with she is a total cheerleader and wants you to succeed.
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Review from Greg D.
San Francisco, CA
5/12/2008
Even if you don't think you need counseling in matters financial, you actually do. You just don't know it yet.
Like lifting a veil from your eyes, Kathryn helps you to see your financial situation in a new light - one that's focused on the nitty-gritty as well as the big picture. And it doesn't matter if you're living paycheck to paycheck, or you've got a drawer full of them stacked up waiting for you to take them to the bank.
As with anything worthwhile, it takes work to see the fruits of your investment in your financial future, and Kathryn has the know-how, tools, and drive to help you do this, from the ground up and in a very healthy way.
I can't recommend Kathryn's services more highly.
Greg -
Review from Joey S.
San Francisco, CA
5/18/2009
Kathryn Amenta is (no over-exaggeration) the best money we've ever spent in our lives. My husband and I have both had tricky relationships with our finances in the past. The tricky kind where you stick your head in the sand ostrich-style, have no idea what your balance is and feel a sense of joy when the ATM actually lets you withdraw money. We moved to SF, had a baby and decided that we wanted to save up to buy a house and that we needed help getting a US credit rating. She came highly recommended by several members of the Yahoo parents group that we're a part of. We've been seeing Kathryn for nearly a year now and have paid off all our debts in the UK and saved tens and tens of thousands of dollars. We honestly couldn't have done it without her. She is incredibly supportive and her method is the complete opposite of the stuffy accountant that I was anticipating when we decided we needed a financial planner. Instead of our sessions being entirely mathematical, she gets down to the core of why you have the relationship with money that you do and encourages you to improve upon your bad habits, without judgment. She has completely turned our lives and finances around and helped us to finally have a healthy relationship with our dinero. We are, in fact, off to see her again in eight hours time!
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Review from Adees N.
San Carlos, CA
1/7/2011
Buyers beware indeed. Kathryn was more than happy to take my money and get counseling from me for her own money issues. She owes me money for wasting my time. She pretended like she was professional but when she was "Counseling" me she cried and said that she was jealous because she had to work in a factory for $12 per hour when her daughter was an infant. She is NO psychologist, she is NOT a professional. She made fun of me and my religion. If she is careless enough to misspell her client's names on her website then she can't help her clients. The woman would not even open her door when I showed up on time for appointments and she made me wait more than 20 minutes on her stoop when I was on time, then went on to lecture me about being on time. She bragged about being able to support her husband when he was out of work and he was always around lurking around the house during my appointments. When I met her she was cold, heartless, had no people skills, rude, condescending, exhibited passive aggressive behaviors. Any positive review on here is likely from her friends. I asked her to issue me a letter of apology and she said she would only do so if I signed a release stating that I would never tell anyone about it. I hope she has tried to improve herself since I have seen her. I felt sorry for her because she seemed much more pathetic than I was. She can only meet clients at home to avoid paying rent money she does not have for a formal office. God bless people in this tough economy and in every economy. The only thing she taught me was not to pay people likes her for help that they are not capable of or don't want to provide me. Since working with her I have never paid a dime to people who cannot adequately serve me and have likely saved money that way. Funny thing, paying 10% of my income to church for tithing has given me more hope than working with a financial counselor. Its people like Kathryn who make me believe there is a God, because only God can make me feel forgiving to a person like her. It's difficult to forgive people when they feel they are above apologizing and always out to protect their own tush rather than to do what is right.
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Review from Shelley B.
Belmont, CA
5/8/2008
Since I'm the first to recommend her on Yelp, here are the basics & then I'll tell MY story about her. "Solving money problems...from the inside out" is her slogan. Kathryn's web site says: "Kathryn...helps people come to terms with the underlying beliefs and money behaviors that have caused their financial problems. It's a financial strategy she's shaped for over 20 years, starting with transforming her own financial problems." I was referred to Kathryn when I needed someone to help my hubby and I find a constructive way to communicate about money. We have/had very little in common re how we dealt with or thought about money and this was getting in our way. We met with Kathryn more often in the beginning and eventually once a month. With hard work, we got ourselves out of debt, cut up the credit cards, devised a monthly record-keeping tool, and achieved a number of our financial goals. Kathryn is straight-talking, no BS, skilled, creative and unwavering in her willingness and desire to help her clients with their financial issues. She has many concrete tools to suggest and will be with you as much as you need her to be. She's flexible, non-judgemental and has a good heart. I could not recommend her more highly. Feel free to call me for more specifics if you need them. (see my profile)
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Review from Mark E.
Oakland, CA
6/19/2008
Numbers and dealing with money has always made my head spin. At a time when my personal and business finances were in disarray, I was led to the services Kathryn provides via The Financial Recovery Institute referral. She accepted me and my tangled web of money issues without judgement. Setting up a solid and well thought out, long range plan, I took a personal financial history inventory. She helped me replace my ideas of deprivation-based "budgets" with an abundance-based "spending plan". Supported by monthly meetings in-person and/or on the phone, the momentum created constructive and much-needed relief from my feeling of drowning in debt and money fears. I had the concrete sense that I was on my way to financial recovery. Kathryn 's experience and sensitivity have proven her value to me personally and professionally over the years. I repeatedly recommend her to friends and colleagues and will continue to do so because of her expertise, talent and welcoming personality.
