Stephen "Steve" C. Houser, CPA, CFP®
Family Wealth Advisor - Transition Specialist
Steve is passionate about building relationships with his clients based on trust, accuracy, and high-quality service. He is dedicated to helping clients pursue financial success through value-added, mixed-use investment strategies, tax advice, preparation, representation and accounting services.
A Florida native, he was born in Gainesville and raised in Cocoa. Steve is licensed by the State of Florida as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 1980 and is a Life member of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is a Certified Financial Planner Practitioner (CFP®) since 1990 and an Investment Advisor Representative with Cetera Financial Specialists LLC. Steve currently holds Series 7, 63, and 65 securities registrations and is registered in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, Virginia. Steve is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning from the National Institute for Excellence in Professional Education. He also holds a State of Florida Insurance License-Health, Life & Variable Annuities.
A highly credentialed financial services representative and retirement income specialist Steve has over 40 years’ experience in tax and accounting and 23 years in wealth management. His experience began in 1978 with Davies, Houser, & Secrest, CPA, PA, a large regional accounting firm where he served mid-to-large businesses, audited government agencies and provided tax and auditing advice to individuals and families throughout Brevard County. In 2006, Steve successfully launched FPT Services, a tax, accounting and wealth management firm serving Florida’s Space Coast. Eleven years later, he recognized that his clients required more personalized services relating to their individual family’s investment and planning needs and, in September 2017, he launched Houser Financial Group.
In 2018, Steve was invited to join the Financial Advisor Council of the Financial Services Institute (FSI). FSI advocates for Main Street Americans’ access to objective, affordable financial advice, delivered by a growing network of independent financial advisor members. “We invited Steve to represent Cetera Financial Specialists based on his expertise as one of the top-producing financial advisors in the nation,” said Greg Ruvoli, CEO of Cetera Financial Specialists, LLC. “We are confident that his participation will help create a healthier, more business-friendly regulatory environment for him, his fellow advisors, and clients.”
Steve dedicates his energy to creating abundant legacies for one family at a time. Every year since 2010, Steve has been recognized as a Top 100 Financial Advisor in the nation by the Cetera Financial Specialists. This distinction is based on a ranking of all registered advisors supported by Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, part of the Cetera Financial Group, the nation’s second-largest independent financial advisor network.
Steve encourages leaders to use their unique skills and make a difference in their communities. Steve currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Cocoa Beach Regional Chamber of Commerce. His community commitments clearly reflect in his leadership roles as Chairman or Past President in organizations including Civilian Military Community Relations Council and Civilian-Military Community Relations Foundation, Rotary International, Cocoa Rotary, Space Coast Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, liaison to the Space Coast League of Cities, and the US Air Force Space & Missile Museum Foundation.
Steve’s devotion to community service is evident in awards he’s received, including Distinguished Alumni Award from Eastern Florida State College, Outstanding Distinguished Community Service Award in Brevard County by the Florida Institute of CPAs in 1999, 45th Space Wing Commander’s Award in 1999 for organizing a major fundraising effort to build the Khobar Towers Memorial on Patrick Air Force Base.
A Gator Fan, Steve received his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting and Tax from the University of Florida in 1978.
Steve, married to his wife Dina Marie, is a licensed private pilot of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), an avid fly-fisherman, and a certified member of the Florida Pyrotechnic Art’s Guild. Away from the office, you can find Steve fishing, flying, cooking for his family or designing fireworks to paint the sky at night for the Guild.