Elijah Essa (CFP®)

Planning Specialties

Elijah, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, joined Coats Financial Planning in 2017 after graduating from Western Kentucky University’s Personal Financial Planning program. He provides comprehensive financial advice for clients of all ages and is particularly inclined to advise young professionals like himself.

While at WKU, Elijah served as one of the financial counselors for the Center for Financial Success, a university resource dedicated in aiding the local community by providing peer-to-peer counseling and financial education. He graduated summa cum laude and was named both Outstanding Graduating Senior and Outstanding Senior in Financial Planning by the Gordon Ford College of Business. After graduation, Elijah participated in the Disney College Program before moving back to his hometown of Louisville to work at Coats Financial Planning.

Elijah’s favorite part about being a financial planner is studying, distilling, and communicating complex planning topics to clients. He especially enjoys the teaching aspect of being a planner, particularly in a one-on-one environment. He values deep relationships with his clients, always willing to listen and learn. He believes exceptional client service is the cornerstone of financial planning He is an advocate for fee-only planning and often takes the opportunity to explain how vastly different it is from the other side of the industry.

Elijah currently helps other young advisors get started in the profession by serving as the Membership Coordinator on the Genesis Leadership Committee for the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). He is also a member of the Financial Planning Association and the Young Professionals Association of Louisville.