About Zeke

I’m Zeke Anders, founder of Planalto Financial. I believe financial planning is about more than money — it's about using what you've built to live the life you want. That belief took me from Huntsville to Denver to Brasília, and eventually to founding Planalto.

I was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and have lived in Northern Virginia, Denver, Colorado, and I am currently in Brasilia, Brazil. I have always had an interest in personal finance and languages. From a young age I would look at stock charts with my dad, and I studied Spanish from middle school through college, where I double majored in Finance and Spanish, and earned my Masters of Science in Finance at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

After college, I went to work for a Fortune 500 telecommunications company in Denver. I learned many great lessons about working with others, project management, and managing a product in my time there. In Denver, I met my wife who is from Brasilia originally. As time went on, we decided to move to Huntsville to be closer to family, and I decided to follow my passion for personal finance.

I’ve always enjoyed learning about personal finance. Personal finance blends business, statistics, and psychology. Almost anything that you learn can be applied to investing in some way. I am a lifelong learner and love to go down different rabbit holes, many of which start or end in the financial world. I know that personal finance is not as interesting to everyone, and that’s why I wanted to become a financial advisor, to share knowledge with others to hopefully enrich their lives through finance.

I did not want to start by cold-calling and knocking and doors, so I did some research, and found the Certified Financial Planner® designation. I started the education component of the designation while looking for jobs in the financial services industry, and eventually found a role as a financial planning specialist with a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in Huntsville. I was fortunate to join a great team which supported and mentored me as I gained experience. In the back of my mind, however, was a family dream of staying in Brazil for a longer time.

Fast forward to 2026, and my wife and I now have two daughters. Our girls are young enough that they could learn Portuguese almost like native speakers, but have not started school yet. My wife and I both have older fathers, and while we were blessed to live close to mine for five years, we rarely saw my wife’s father, who lives in Brasilia. You never know how many more chances to visit you will get, especially when you can only visit once every other year or so. In January we came to Brasilia. We have been here since and are loving the warm weather and the time with family and friends. Our girls are learning Portuguese and getting to know the culture. Living here has also deepened my understanding of what Brazilian-American families navigate — not just the culture, but the financial complexity of building a life across two countries.

I started Planalto Financial with the goal of helping Brazilian-American families like ours. Multi-national families have unique opportunities and challenges with having assets and relationships across borders. The American retirement system is also very different from the Brazilian system, with different account types and investment options, and could be confusing to navigate for someone new to the country. I also work with people nearing retirement, those looking for a true plan and not just an illustration.

Whether you're a Brazilian-American family navigating finances across two countries, or someone approaching retirement who wants a real plan — I'd love to talk. If you’d like to learn more, reach out to me via the contact page or book a free 30-minute introductory meeting. There is no expectation that your finances are perfectly organized or that you have all the answers — the introductory conversation is simply an opportunity to ask questions and see whether working together would be helpful.