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Peter Babilla brings 40 years of experience in investment management and fiduciary* financial consulting to Vertex Planning Partners, LLC.
Pete graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with a Bachelor’s of Science in Finance.
He began his career in 1983 with a focus on institutional fixed-income portfolio management, primarily working with community banks. After a decade serving institutional clients, Pete shifted his focus to working with individuals, families and business owners, providing guidance and education in all areas of Wealth Management. Among his areas of focus are accumulation and retirement planning, investment management, risk management, and estate and wealth transfer.
Pete’s planning philosophy allows him to create a personalized program for clients, based on their own unique goals and circumstances. The extensive investment and planning platform offered by Vertex enables him to create a highly customized program, tailored to each individual client.
Pete and his wife Suzanne have two children, and have resided in Wheaton, Illinois for the past 30 years. He enjoys golf, reading, and traveling with his family. Pete gives back as a past Board Member of the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago, where his focus is on improving the lives of those living with epilepsy.
Pete works as fiduciary for his clients and holds the CERTIFIED FIANANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) designation and the Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist (CRPS®) designation.
Justin D’Agostino is a Partner and Private Wealth Advisor at Vertex Planning Partners, advising business owners, executives, and high-net-worth families on investments, financial planning, tax and succession planning.
He coordinates the full advisory team around each client to keep tax, investment, and planning decisions moving in the same direction. Justin’s approach centers on rigorous, data-driven analysis — modeling outcomes across planning scenarios so clients can make decisions with clarity.
With over a decade of experience, Justin’s work focuses on:
Justin attended Hillsdale College, where he earned his BA in Accounting and Financial Management. He is an avid sports fan and enjoys spending weekends with his family.
Designations:
Justin does not provide tax or legal advice. He works alongside each client’s CPA and attorney on those matters.
CRPC conferred by College for Financial Planning.
Scott Sandee brings over 20 years of experience to his role as Managing Partner of Vertex Planning Partners, leading the firm’s efforts to assist middle-market business owners and eight and nine-figure families in comprehensive planning. We enable clients to achieve their financial goals by tailoring solutions to their unique aspirations and situations. Leveraging his experience in sophisticated investment techniques and financial strategies with privately held family businesses, supported by extensive post-graduate education focused on exit planning, wealth management, estate planning, investment analysis, insurance planning, risk management, and tax optimization, he:
Scott guides successful entrepreneurs and wealthy families through the transfer of ownership of their privately held companies.
Designations: Certified Financial Planner® Certified Private Wealth Advisor® Certified Investment Management Analyst® Certified Exit Planning Advisor Certified Merger & Acquisition Advisor
Julie Hupp, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, has worked in the accounting and corporate finance field since 1987. She began her career as a CPA with Deloitte & Touche, specializing in the financial needs of small businesses. Then spent the next 13 years in corporate financial planning and business development at Baxter and TAP Pharmaceuticals. Recognizing her passion for personal financial planning, Julie started her business in 2006 where she focuses on comprehensive financial planning strategies and implementation.
Julie graduated from University of Illinois with a BS in Accountancy. She received her Master’s in Management with a concentration in Finance from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in 1994.
Outside the office, Julie is the co-founder of the 12 Oaks Foundation, which has merged with Cal’s Angels, and is a former Board member. Julie enjoys cooking, reading, running, triathlons and doing almost anything outdoors. A great weekend is spending time with her husband and two adult kids boating at their lake house in Wisconsin.
Steven P. Franzen, CPA, PFS, CGMA is a public accountant and consultant with more than 23 years of experience helping individuals and businesses reduce their tax liability. He began his career under the guidance of Patrick M. De Sio, CPA, CGMA and in 1996 became Mr. De Sio’s partner in De Sio, Franzen & Associates, Ltd. Steve’s expertise include entity design, complex tax strategies and multigenerational wealth transfer. As Managing Partner, Steve conducts his practice under the philosophy that the client’s investment in their CPA should yield a return on that investment – most of the time that return is realized when working with clients on planning for their future. In an effort to increase the planning capabilities of the firm, Steve formed Vertex Accounting Partners, LLC to ensure their guiding philosophy will continue well into the future.
Steve is a certified public accountant and has earned the professional designations of Personal Financial Specialist and Chartered Global Management Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society. Steve earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Millikin University. He and his wife Kristie live in Sugar Grove, IL with their three children.
Greg Benner advises high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth business owners, individuals and families on advanced tax, risk management, retirement, estate planning, and wealth strategies.
As a co-founder of Vertex Planning Partners, he works closely with clients, families, and their professional advisors—CPAs, attorneys, and business stakeholders—to implement thoughtful, durable planning strategies. His approach prioritizes clarity, coordination, and disciplined execution.
For twenty-four years, Greg’s work has focused on designing and coordinating multi-factor, integrated plans involving:
Drawing from his own experience as a founder, business and real estate investor, and multi-generational family business member, he understands some of the challenges that can arise for business owners as they consider an exit. Multi-disciplinary, intentional planning with stakeholder communication creates structure, mitigates risk, addresses tax implications, and preempts issues that can arise.
Greg holds a Master of Science in Taxation, a graduate program that deepened his technical training in federal income taxation, partnership and corporate taxation, estate and gift tax, and tax procedure. This academic work enhances his ability to help families and business owners navigate complex tax environments and align their financial and estate-planning objectives across generations.
Designations:
Licenses:
Greg is deeply committed to lifelong learning and continuous professional development in the areas of tax, estate planning, and private-wealth strategy.
Michael D. Bellis, CFP®, CLU® began his career as a financial planning professional in 1994. His practice is centered on holistic financial planning, astute risk management strategies and empirical, research-driven portfolio construction. He began his career in partnership with his father under the name Bellis & Associates. Together, their practice and reputation for excellence dates back more than 40 years and includes multiple generations of the same families. After his father’s retirement several years ago, Mike continued to build a client-centric, consultative practice before forming Vertex.
Mike holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification and is also a Chartered Life Underwriter. He has been an active member of both the Society of Financial Services Professionals and the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. He earned a B.S. in Business & Marketing from Illinois State University. Mike is a lifelong resident of Naperville, Illinois. He and his wife Tanja have three children.
What the Midterm Election, Budget Deficit, and National Debt Mean for Investors
As the midterm election season unfolds, investors are keeping a close eye on the outcome due to the implications for Congressional control. Current forecasts suggest that a divided government is the most likely scenario, since Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate.1 Although a shift in party control would represent a change from the past two years, these situations are common and tend to occur during midterm election cycles.
While election outcomes are never certain, one thing that is clear is that the federal budget deficit grew to just under $2 trillion over the past year, its highest level in absolute terms since 2021.2 This means that the government spent significantly more than it received in revenues. This is likely to remain the case regardless of which party controls Congress next year since challenges such as rising interest costs and entitlement spending have built up over decades. This adds to the national debt, which has risen past $40 trillion, or over 120% of the size of the economy.3
For investors who follow these headlines, it can be natural to feel concerned, regardless of political views. This is why it’s important to maintain a long-term perspective that separates political issues from investment and financial planning ones. What do investors need to know about the deficit and election this political season?
The federal budget deficit has grown
This difference is made up for with borrowing through the issuance of Treasury securities, which are bought by investors and institutions around the world. Based on current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, the latest deficit is likely to be around 6% of GDP, similar to the ratio in 2025.6
The chart above shows that deficits in recent years have been high relative to history. The budget deficit has averaged 4% of GDP for nearly a century, and periods of financial and global disruption have led to wider gaps, such as during World War II and the 2008 global financial crisis.
Deficits tend to normalize after these events, but there are very few periods when the government has operated with a surplus. The last time the budget was balanced was during the Clinton administration after a strong decade of economic growth, and before that during the Johnson and Eisenhower administrations in the late 1960s and mid-1950s, respectively.
Over time, these annual deficits add to the total national debt, which surpassed $40 trillion for the first time in August. According to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, this represents around $117,707 per American, or $298,606 per household.7
While these figures are all large and represent real fiscal challenges, it’s difficult to know how to interpret them. The reality is that adjusting portfolios based on these issues would historically have worked against financial goals. This is because deficits are the largest during times of economic and financial distress, which tend to be when markets are near their lows. Counterintuitively, these would have been the best times to invest.
Budget deadlines, the debt ceiling, and rising interest rates could be in the news
While shutdowns can result in hardship for federal workers and cause short-term market swings, major indices have tended to stabilize and look past these issues quickly. This is the case even during historically long shutdowns such as in 2018 and more recently in 2025. The chart above highlights historical government shutdowns and the steady rise in the stock market over this period. Of course, the past is no guarantee of the future, but this does highlight the importance of not overreacting to political news when it comes to investing.
Second, rising interest rates are compounding the government’s fiscal challenges. The 30-year Treasury yield has remained above 5% since June, while the 10-year yield is still hovering near this level. This matters because as existing government debt matures, it must be refinanced at higher rates, which increases interest payments and worsens the budget imbalance. This is one reason the Treasury Department has intervened by buying more Treasury securities to help stabilize U.S. interest rates.9 It has even engaged in other operations, such as supporting the Japanese yen, to indirectly stabilize rates.
Policy uncertainty can lead to short-term volatility
This is why it’s important as an investor to stay level-headed when it comes to political topics. The chart above shows that economic policy uncertainty has been a contributor to short-term market swings in recent years, but these periods have tended to be short-lived. Prior episodes, including this year’s geopolitical conflict in the Middle East, created volatility as investors tried to measure the impact on the economy and corporate profits. While oil prices are still elevated, markets have performed well due to healthy economic trends.
None of this is to say that every year is positive, the national debt is not a challenge, or that policy is irrelevant. Instead, the point is that underlying factors such as corporate earnings, interest rates, and longer-term economic trends tend to be the primary drivers of market performance over time. For investors, it’s more important to make sound investment decisions based on these longer-term trends, rather than on political headlines or which party controls Congress.
The bottom line?
The midterm election and the growing federal deficit are important topics, but history shows that long-term portfolio outcomes are driven by fundamentals rather than by political outcomes.
References
Index Descriptions S&P 500
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is a capitalization-weighted index of 500 stocks designed to measure performance of the broad domestic economy through changes in the aggregate market value of 500 stocks representing all major industries.
Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested in directly.
All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. The economic forecasts set forth in this material may not develop as predicted, and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
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