Dave Polstra, CPA, CFP®, CIMA®
ABOUT DAVE
Dave is the Co-Founder of Brightworth. As a personal Wealth Advisor to high-net-worth families since 1981, Dave provides comprehensive financial and investment advice, specializing in retirement transition planning, executive compensation, estate planning, and charitable planning. He is a well-known speaker at national conferences, where he has taught retirement plan distribution and wealth transfer strategies to attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors.
Dave completed the Investment Management Consultants Association's Investment Management Analyst program at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and is a Certified Investment Management Analyst. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner, and is a member of the fee-only National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Texas at Austin, graduating Cum Laude.
Dave has served on the advisory board of the Journal of Retirement Planning and has taught corporate retirement planning workshops for some of America's largest corporations. Dave received the 2004 HONORS Award for lifetime achievement and contribution to the financial planning industry from the Financial Planning Association of Georgia. Dave currently serves on the board of Eagle Ranch Children's Home. He is also a past member of United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society and Ivan Allen Circle.
He is past president of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council and the past board chairman of Medical Missions Ministries (MMM), an organization that provides free medical care to the poor living in rural Guatemala. In 2011, Dave received the Global Community Impact Award from Invest in Others Charitable Foundation for his work with MMM. In 2020, he received the Greater Good Award from the Georgia Planned Giving Council, an annual recognition of an outstanding member of the Georgia Philanthropic Community.
Dave has been quoted in numerous publications including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CBS Market Watch, Financial Planning, Forbes Fortune, Investment Advisor, Money Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He has received numerous accolades including being named as one of the Top 250 Financial Advisors in America by Worth magazine, Top 100 Financial Planners by Mutual Funds magazine, and one of the Top Financial Advisors in the U.S. by Reuters AdvicePoint. He has also been named in the Who’s Who in Banking and Financing by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Dave and his wife, Betsy, have three married adult children, seven grandchildren, and are active members of Perimeter Church in Johns Creek. His hobbies include woodworking, waterskiing, and wake surfing.