Joseph L. Shaefer is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Stanford Wealth Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. A retired General Officer, he spent 36 years of active and reserve military service, the first six in special operations, the next 30 in intelligence. He is professor of Global & Security Studies (Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Illicit Finance, etc.) at American Public University / American Military University. He analyzes the Big Picture first, then selects asset classes, sectors and individual securities.

After learning the securities business at Kidder, Peabody, Joe started his own discount brokerage firm in 1976, which was taken over by Charles Schwab & Co. in 1979. At Schwab, Joe became a VP, then Regional, then Senior VP, with his final job head of Schwab's Fixed Income Investments. He retired to found Stanford Wealth Management, LLC, in 1990.

Author of the investment primer Bringing Home the Gold, Joe is also editor of Investor’s Edge®. In the 11 years from inception through 2009, the two Investor’s Edge® model portfolios climbed from $400,000 ($250,000 in one, $150,000 in the other) to $1,237,127. That same $400,000 invested in the S&P 500 fell to $362,963 during those 11 years.

Joe has been featured in Forbes, Barrons, Financial World, the Wall Street Transcript, and numerous other publications, and has been a guest on ABC, NBC, PBS, FNN and CNBC.

Stanford Wealth Management strives to manage risk and to manage wealth. In that order.