Our Team
Imagine a world where you have legal, financial, and tax experts at your fingertips to analyze every facet of your personal and business life. Imagine this team working together to maximize your benefits, heighten your returns, and protect you from unseen risks.
Founder & Lead Wealth Advisor
Jeff Griswold
Jeff Griswold is a strategic wealth advisor known for bringing clarity, structure, and confidence to the financial lives of business owners, physicians, and their families. As the founder and guiding force behind Merit Wealth Management, he leads the firm’s strategic direction, sets its high standards of excellence, and supports client relationships with a planning‑first, conflict‑free approach.
With more than two decades of experience, Jeff has built a reputation for simplifying complex decisions and helping clients navigate pivotal moments with intention. Before launching Merit Wealth in 2008, he served as a partner at an investment firm in Oregon and began his career as a financial advisor in Southern California. His transition to the fee‑only RIA space marked a defining shift toward independence, transparency, and a deeper commitment to fiduciary care.
• Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®)
• Certified Exit Planning Advisor® (CEPA®)
• Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®)
• Former Series 7, 63, and 66 license holder
• Graduate studies, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Bachelor of Science in Business & Management, University of Redlands
• Undergraduate studies, Pre-Med at CalPoly SLO & a year abroad studying Italian and Renaissance History at Villa Aurora in Florence, Italy.
Jeff remains actively engaged in the professional community and serves on multiple advisory boards within the business and healthcare sectors. For more than fifteen years, he has been a frequent speaker for business, medical, and dental groups, sharing insights on financial strategy, practice transitions, and long‑term planning.
He founded Merit Wealth Management with a clear mission: to create a destination for ideas, insights, and intelligent guidance that empowers clients to make better decisions about their future.
Outside the office, Jeff enjoys time with his family, traveling, reading, mountain biking, fly fishing, weightlifting, and exploring the outdoor landscapes of Middle Tennessee and Bend, Oregon.
Wealth Advisor
Nicolas Castano, CFP®, EA
Nicolas is passionate about helping individuals and families make confident financial decisions that support both their financial goals and the life they want to live. He especially values building meaningful relationships with clients beyond their investment and financial plans. As an Enrolled Agent with the IRS, he brings a strong tax planning perspective to the work he does for clients. He is also a volunteer with the IRS VITA program, helping individuals and families through free tax preparation and education services. He also previously worked as a teaching assistant and tutor in the UCLA Financial Planning Program. He is passionate about continuous learning and helping clients feel more confident and informed in their financial decisions. Originally from Colombia and raised in a family of medical professionals, Nicolas brings a multicultural perspective to his work and relationships. He also lived in France for a year and speaks English, Spanish, and French fluently. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, languages, lifting weights, volleyball, and soccer.
Operations Manager
Jennifer VanDusseldorp, CFP®
As Operations Manager, Jennifer is the person clients and advisors rely on to keep everything moving. She manages account servicing, document coordination, and the technology and internal workflows that turn complex, multi-step processes into a smooth experience — and she's a direct point of contact when clients need something handled well and handled fast. A CFP® professional since 2019, Jennifer brings a planner's understanding to that work, which sharpens how she anticipates client needs and solves problems before they surface. She's a graduate of the University of Iowa with degrees in Marketing and Art History and considers herself a lifelong student. Outside the office, she loves time with her family and keeps a long list of hobbies that runs from bowling to salsa dancing.
Wealth Advisor
Brody Rosenfeld, CPA, CFP®
As the son of a successful financial advisor, Brody grew up learning about financial planning and its importance. He received a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in economics, earning Magna Cum Laude honors (3.8 GPA) from Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania. While there, he spent a semester abroad in the United Kingdom at The University of Cambridge where he studied Finance & European History. Brody is a Certified Public Accountant, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM certificant, and has a FINRA Series 65 (investment adviser) certification. Over the past decade Brody has created hundreds of financial plans for high net worth families, managing relationships, creating Microsoft Excel driven financial planning solutions, and striving to live up to his reputation as an Excel Wizard. Brody briefly worked in public accounting before pivoting into Financial Planning. In his spare time Brody enjoys competitive axe throwing, brewing beer, learning about history, hiking, biking, & baking bread. Brody volunteers his time every week to pick up litter in his neighborhood, formed a local “trash team”, and volunteers with a local tree planting group. He is an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan, which we try not to hold against him. Brody is a member of Foundation Financial Planning, a partner of Merit Wealth Management.
Financial Planner
Elias Young, CFP®
Eli is an associate wealth advisor and helps in creating and painting financial plans for clients. Prior to Merit Wealth, Eli spent five years as a financial advisor at an investment firm in Arizona. Eli is a known problem solver, detail oriented, and well organize which is an asset to our firm and clients. Originally from Sacramento and a graduate of Sacramento State University he currently resides in Tucson Arizona with his wife and growing family. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family, exploring the outdoors, BBQing, and tinkering on home projects.
