Linda Palonen

Linda is a wealth advisor with Resource Consulting Group (RCG). She joined RCG in February 2006. Linda is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® professional and has relevant experience in financial planning and investment management.

As a wealth advisor, Linda is involved in the preparation, implementation, and monitoring of financial plans, as well as managing and rebalancing client portfolios. As a part of her passion, she is specializing in serving professional athletes and their unique needs outside of their playing fields.

Linda graduated from Stetson University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance. She also obtained her MBA from Stetson University School of Business. Linda is a member of The Financial Planning Association^®.

Personal Thoughts

Growing up in a small industrial town in Nokia, Finland, my grandmother would tell me stories about the war and describe how she had to take care of her siblings growing up. My family was small but very close-knit. My father was a child in the 1950s, when my grandmother unintentionally met with a psychic for a reading. She told her that her child would take his family across the big ocean. Well, that didn’t turn out to be true. My father ended up working for a local paper mill for 40 years before retiring, just like his parents and his grandparents. I remember my father telling my brother and me to get our educations to find better job opportunities. He did not want to see us continue the family legacy by becoming fourth-generation mill workers. Both my brother and I received our education while being very active in sports. He played hockey; I played basketball. My mom was always my biggest cheerleader, pushing me to get good grades and excel in sports. And, I did excel in both. I even earned a spot in the Finnish junior national team one year.

It wasn’t until I was in college when my life took a completely unexpected turn. Like a lightning strike from a clear sky, I was offered a full athletic scholarship to play Division I basketball in the United States. I was given 24 hours to decide or the opportunity would be gone forever. Following my parents' advice, I accepted the offer and two weeks later I became a Stetson Hatter and moved to Deland, Florida. I’ve been a Floridian ever since.

Basketball has taught me everything I know and shaped me into the person I am today. It gave me opportunities to travel the world and to experience different cultures and languages. It taught me how to be strong, disciplined, confident. It’s the reason I value my health and my abilities, and why I appreciate diverse people coming together for a common good. It taught me the strength of teamwork and demonstrated that family is not always blood. The color of my jersey represented family and the goals we set together, we reached together. It taught me courage to stand up for others and to speak up for those who are unable to speak for themselves. I carry these values with me every day no matter where I go, regardless of the challenge ahead. I will always remember my mother’s words “don’t worry my child, things will always work out.” Looking back, I guess that psychic was right after all, but it took more than 40 years for those words to manifest.

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