Our Team

Our Team

Mark L. Burnham

Partner

I began my career in financial services in 1985. Early on, I realized that, while clients are looking for solutions to their needs and concerns, many companies tend to "push product".

As a result, I have aspired to become an effective financial planner. I earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM Professional certification, ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant), CLU (Certified Life Underwriter), LUTCF (Life Underwriter Training Council) designations, and hold Life and Health Insurance licenses, as well securities registrations Series 6, 7, 63, and 65 as an Investment Adviser Representative of Commonwealth.

My experience includes many years of complex estate, investment, retirement and insurance planning. While at Lincoln Financial Advisors, I was able to lend estate planning expertise to Morgan Stanley representatives located in branch offices throughout Central Illinois via a national agreement with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Since we began MasterPlan Financial Group in 2005, I have focused my attention on our own clients and their families.

My lovely wife Karen and I reside on a farm with our six children (Katie, Jenni, Nathan, Seth, Mark, and David). I gave my life to Jesus Christ at an early age and as a result, my ambition is to honor Jesus Christ in every area of my life. Financial planning often brings about close relationships with our clients. My hope is that through the work that we do and the service we provide, our clients might find eternal value in working with us.

Barry V. Miller

In Fond Memory

Since Barry Miller’s passing, there has been a great outpouring of sympathy and support. Clients, colleagues, friends and family have said again and again, “You don’t just replace Barry.”

Barry Miller died at 69 years of age on December 13, 2021 after a battle with Covid-19.
He left behind family and friends that loved him dearly, as well as a career of nearly 40 years in financial planning, the last 15 at Commonwealth Financial Network as a Co-Founder of Masterplan Financial Group.

Mark Burnham and Barry were business partners for nearly 37 years. Mark and Barry became more than a colleagues. The two were brothers, sharing the same passion for their faith and for loving people. Mark sees it as a privilege to carry on Barry’s legacy.

Barry loved God, he loved people and he loved life, all of which led him to a life of service and satisfaction through relationships cultivated with his clients.
Somehow Barry always had time for his clients. Many became close friends because of the care and concern he demonstrated for them. If he didn’t have time, he’d make time, whether the matter at hand was family or finances.

“I kept a stack of Barry’s cards in my purse and gave them to all of my friends,” one client said.
Multiple clients said Barry was their best friend and even chose him to perform eulogies for family members.
He had an intuitive sense about people; he made them feel known, but most important to him was that they knew Jesus Christ. Barry’s heartbeat was to care for people, and in his mind, there was no better way to care for people around him than to ask, “How are you doing with Jesus?” All of Barry’s success and accomplishment flowed from the answer to that question.