Meet Our Team
Rick Nixon: President
Rick began Cumberland Financial Group in 1991, using his extensive experience in the financial services industry and the concept of offering comprehensive service to his clients. He has been in the Financial Services business since 1982.
Rick attended the University of Houston and graduated from East Texas Baptist University, playing Varsity baseball at both schools. He and his wife Kathy have a daughter Kelsey (pursuing a Master’s in Nutrition at Texas Woman’s University) and two sons, Ryan (attending University of GA) and Reed (attending Marietta High School). They are members of Cumberland UMC in Smyrna. Rick’s hobbies include golf, coaching baseball, and fly fishing.
Rick holds the professional designations of Enrolled Agent (EA) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC). He is on the faculty of HD Vest Investment Services Financial Planning Institute and he is Chapter Director for the Atlanta area for HD Vest Investment Services. Contact Rick rick@cfgforyou.com
Carey Green: Accounting Consultant
& Registered Rep
Carey has been with Cumberland Financial Group since 1997. He wears many hats: tax preparation, accounting, and financial services.
Carey is a graduate of University of West Georgia. He and his wife Mary have a beautiful elementary age daughter Kaci and a son in preschool named Wheeler. Carey is a Registered Rep and Insurance-licensed with HD Vest Investment Services. His hobbies include golf, flag football, softball, and watching and playing all sports Contact Carey: carey@cfgforyou.com
Peggy Thurmond: Financial
Assistant
Peggy started working at Cumberland Financial Group in 2002, as a seasonal employee doing data entry of tax returns. After 3 tax seasons, she joined CFG as Financial Assistant in 2005.
She is a graduate of Clemson University and lives in Kennesaw with her husband Walt and son Joseph. Her older son Stewart is a UGA graduate and teacher at Harrison High School.
Peggy’s interests include sewing, boating, and gardening.
Dianne Paluga: Bookkeeping
Dianne has been working at Cumberland Financial Group since September 2001. She is a graduate of Kennesaw State University, majoring in Business Management.
She and her husband Don live in Smyrna, along with their daughter Danielle. They are members of Smyrna First Baptist Church where they sing in the Chancel Choir and are active in other programs in the church and community. Danielle currently attends Georgia College & State University. They love to travel, especially to the House of Mouse (Walt Disney World in Orlando).
Contact Dianne: dianne@cfgforyou.com
Dennis Harding: Staff Accountant
Dennis began his second career (at CFG) in 2005, after retiring from Delta Airlines. He grew up in Portland, Oregon and has lived with his wife Beverly in Smyrna for 30 years. They have three grown daughters, Jill, Linley and Allison. They are long-time members of Smyrna First UMC.
Dennis is a past President of the Smyrna Optimist Club, and is active in the Smyrna Community. He is an avid hunter and is a member of the Butts County Sportsmans Club.
Dwain Begitschke: Accounting Consultant
Dwain received his accounting degree from the University of Georgia in 1987 and passed the CPA exam in 1994. He started his career at a large local CPA firm where he performed a variety of bookkeeping, accounting, tax and auditing services. He later became the Controller at an apparel wholesale company before working at a nursing home management company where he prepared Medicare and Medicaid cost reports. Dwain has performed the temporary Controller functions for a variety of businesses including a law firm, continuing care retirement center, vending-machine company, retail restaurant and a start-up wireless company. He has also provided bookkeeping services and training, business start-up assistance and individual and business tax preparation for a variety of different businesses in many different industries.
His wife Micki is the CFO at the Kennesaw State University Foundation, and they have a son Erick and a daughter Amanda. Dwain enjoys golf and anything else that gets him some exercise.
Stephanie Johns: Staff Accountant
Stephanie joined Cumberland Financial Group in June of 2008. She assists clients with accounting at their offices and she also does data entry for tax returns and accounting at the CFG office.
Stephanie graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Business Degree emphasizing Accounting. She lives with her husband, Ron, in Smyrna. Her son, Keith, runs KJ Transport, (a car transport service) and her daughter, Kristen, is currently attending Kennesaw State University.
Stephanie and Ron attend Bethany United Methodist Church in Smyrna where they sing in the choir and help with worship and finance. Stephanie was a church treasurer at Tillman UMC or Bethany UMC for approximately 13 years while she raised her children. She also served as nursery staff at Bethany’s Parents Morning Out. In addition to her love of children, Stephanie enjoys pictures and scrapbooking.
Gary Pike: Tax Preparer
Gary joined Cumberland Financial Group as a seasonal employee during the 2008 tax season. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh with a degree in Accounting. He has spent the last five years as a REALTOR®, presently with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers, and prior to that worked as a materials manager and an accountant in local manufacturing companies. He enjoys reading and attempts to garden.
Kim Neely, EA: Tax Accountant
Kim joined Cumberland Financial Group in April 2010 and has 10 years of experience helping clients with all of their tax needs. She holds the professional designation of Enrolled Agent. This is a unique certification the IRS recognizes for tax professionals.
Prior to her tax career, Kim spent 25 years in corporate accounting and finance. Kim attended Rutgers University as a business major. She made the move to the tax world because of the flexibility it affords her family life. Kim and her husband Mark have two children…Zackary (11) and Emma (8). Zackary attends Lovinggood Middle School and Emma attends Dowell Elementary School.
Kim’s spare time is spent with her family, PTA, and school projects. Zack plays for Cobb Futbol Academy and swims for Walker’s Ridge Swim team. Emma enjoys horse-back riding and anything involving music.
