Discover financial advisors trusted by residents of Brainerd, Minnesota in the only local directory featuring 5-Star Certified Advisor Review™ recipients and Wealthtender Voice of the Client Award™ winners—recognition earned for exceptional client feedback. Compare fiduciary, fee-only advisors, CFP® professionals, and specialists to find the right fit for your unique financial needs.
Whether you have lived in Brainerd for years or recently moved to town, you may need help finding the right financial advisor in the community best suited for your individual needs.
It’s important to first consider your own financial planning priorities before choosing an advisor. Here are a few quick tips to help you get started along with financial advisors in Brainerd featured on Wealthtender you may want to add to your shortlist.
Featured Brainerd Financial Advisors
As you prepare to interview financial advisors in Brainerd who may be right for you, get to know local financial advisors featured on Wealthtender.
📍 Map: Financial Advisors with their Primary Office Location in Brainerd
Double-click (or pinch the map on mobile devices) to zoom in and expand the details for financial advisors whose primary office location is in Brainerd.
The Benefits of Hiring a Financial Advisor in Brainerd
Hiring a financial advisor can be a great move to help you build a long-term investing strategy. Advisors can help you build an investment portfolio to meet your financial goals and help you plan appropriately for retirement.
As a resident living in Brainerd, hiring a financial advisor who lives nearby and understands the local economy, cost of living, and regional employers can be quite valuable, especially if your individual circumstances are deeply tied to such factors.
Do you work for one of the largest employers in Brainerd? If so, there’s a good chance the local financial advisor you hire will also have other clients who work there. This knowledge could prove valuable if they are already familiar with your employee benefits, such as a 401(k) plan, Health Savings Accounts, and other components of your total compensation package.
When you reach out to financial advisors you’re considering hiring, let them know where you work and ask if they are familiar with your employer’s unique benefits and compensation structure.
Quick Tips For Hiring an Brainerd Financial Advisor
Before hiring a financial advisor in Brainerd, here are a few quick tips to help you find the best advisor for you.
1. Decide Which Services You Need
Before hiring an advisor, determine what services you need from them. Whether it’s full-service investment management or a plan focused on a specific area of your finances, put together a list of what you’d like help with before contacting an advisor.
Though most people use a financial planner simply to invest for retirement, this is only a small part of what many advisors offer. Here’s a quick rundown of potential services a financial advisor may offer you:
Budgeting and money management
Debt management
Insurance planning
Retirement planning
Other investment planning
Inheritance planning
Estate planning
Tax planning
As you can see, financial advisors can help you with your entire financial picture, not just investing. As you start to plan for life’s bigger milestones, you should consider finding a financial advisor that specializes in those areas.
Finding the right advisor can help you minimize risk, maximize gains and take advantage of tax breaks while investing for your future. They can also help you protect your assets with the right kinds of insurance and help you pass on your financial legacy with a proper estate plan.
2. Consider Your Budget and Payment Preferences
Once you have a list of services you would like, review the fee structures financial advisors offer. Finding a balance between the services you need and the cost of those services will help narrow down the field of advisors you may want to work with.
If you are looking for a full-service advisor to manage all of your investments, consider searching among fee-based financial advisors. If you want to manage your money yourself, consider the flat fee and monthly subscription advisors for ongoing support.
3. Interview Multiple Financial Advisors
Once you have chosen the services and fee structure you prefer, it’s time to contact a few advisors and interview them. Here are questions to ask financial advisors:
What services do you provide?
What are all the ways you get paid? (fee transparency)
What is your investment strategy?
How do you measure investment performance?
How do we communicate about my plan?
Interview multiple advisors to get a feel for who you want to work with. A combination of fees, services, and customer service will help you determine the best fit for your financial advice.
4. Review Financial Advisor Credentials
Once you find an advisor (or two) you feel comfortable with, it’s always a good practice to check their credentials and the firm’s details. You can do this at the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website.
You can check both the individual and the firm to view their background and experience details, as well as any disciplinary action taken against them or their firm.
As licensed financial professionals, there is oversight into how financial advisors conduct business, so running a quick (free) check on them is recommended.
For additional information about advisor credentials, read our article to learn the most popular designations held by financial advisors, as well as specialized credentials which may be important to consider if you have unique financial planning needs.
Frequently Asked Questions & Additional Resources
How do I know if I’m ready to hire a financial advisor?
You should strongly consider hiring a financial advisor if you have a significant amount of money available for saving or investing. This could occur after years of making annual contributions to a retirement plan like a 401(k) through your employer or suddenly if you receive a large inheritance or sell your house for a large profit.
But even if you don’t have a lot of money saved, many financial advisors and planners provide reasonable pricing options and valuable services you should consider, especially if you’re facing a significant life event. For example, if you’re starting a new job, getting married, starting a family, getting divorced, lost your job, starting or selling a business, or approaching retirement age, working with a trusted financial advisor or planner may prove worthwhile.
Before I hire a new financial advisor, should I fire my current advisor?
You don’t need to fire your current advisor before beginning your search for a new financial advisor. In fact, your new advisor can help coordinate the transition of your assets from your previous financial advisor.
Where can I read reviews about financial advisors written by their clients to help me decide if I should hire them?
After 60 years of regulatory prohibition of financial advisor reviews in the US, a rule issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became effective on May 4, 2021 that means both financial advisors and directory websites that help consumers search for a financial advisor can collect and display financial advisor reviews, an important factor worth considering when choosing who you’ll hire to manage your investments and life savings.
Wealthtender is the first independent advisor review platform designed to be fully compliant with the new SEC rule, and we look forward to helping you evaluate financial advisors based on reviews written by their clients.
I’m a local financial advisor interested in being featured in this guide. How do I get started?
Thanks for your interest. We look forward to learning more about your practice and helping you attract your ideal clients where you may be a good fit based on their individual needs and circumstances. Please click here to learn how you can join local financial advisors featured on Wealthtender.
Brian is CEO and founder of Wealthtender and Editor-in-Chief. He and his wife live in Austin, Texas. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Brian is applying his experience and passion at Wealthtender to help more people enjoy life with less money stress. Learn More about Brian
Discover financial advisors trusted by residents of La Quinta, California in the only local directory featuring 5-Star Certified Advisor Review™ recipients and Wealthtender Voice of the Client Award™ winners—recognition earned for exceptional client feedback. Compare fiduciary, fee-only advisors, CFP® professionals, and specialists to find the right fit for your unique financial needs.
Whether you have lived in La Quinta for years or recently moved to town, you may need help finding the right financial advisor in the community best suited for your individual needs.
It’s important to first consider your own financial planning priorities before choosing an advisor. Here are a few quick tips to help you get started along with financial advisors in La Quinta featured on Wealthtender you may want to add to your shortlist.
Featured La Quinta Financial Advisors
As you prepare to interview financial advisors in La Quinta who may be right for you, get to know local financial advisors featured on Wealthtender.
📍 Map: Financial Advisors with their Primary Office Location in La Quinta
Double-click (or pinch the map on mobile devices) to zoom in and expand the details for financial advisors whose primary office location is in La Quinta.
The Benefits of Hiring a Financial Advisor in La Quinta
Hiring a financial advisor can be a great move to help you build a long-term investing strategy. Advisors can help you build an investment portfolio to meet your financial goals and help you plan appropriately for retirement.
As a resident living in La Quinta, hiring a financial advisor who lives nearby and understands the local economy, cost of living, and regional employers can be quite valuable, especially if your individual circumstances are deeply tied to such factors.
Do you work for one of the largest employers in La Quinta? If so, there’s a good chance the local financial advisor you hire will also have other clients who work there. This knowledge could prove valuable if they are already familiar with your employee benefits, such as a 401(k) plan, Health Savings Accounts, and other components of your total compensation package.
When you reach out to financial advisors you’re considering hiring, let them know where you work and ask if they are familiar with your employer’s unique benefits and compensation structure.
Quick Tips For Hiring an La Quinta Financial Advisor
Before hiring a financial advisor in La Quinta, here are a few quick tips to help you find the best advisor for you.
1. Decide Which Services You Need
Before hiring an advisor, determine what services you need from them. Whether it’s full-service investment management or a plan focused on a specific area of your finances, put together a list of what you’d like help with before contacting an advisor.
Though most people use a financial planner simply to invest for retirement, this is only a small part of what many advisors offer. Here’s a quick rundown of potential services a financial advisor may offer you:
Budgeting and money management
Debt management
Insurance planning
Retirement planning
Other investment planning
Inheritance planning
Estate planning
Tax planning
As you can see, financial advisors can help you with your entire financial picture, not just investing. As you start to plan for life’s bigger milestones, you should consider finding a financial advisor that specializes in those areas.
Finding the right advisor can help you minimize risk, maximize gains and take advantage of tax breaks while investing for your future. They can also help you protect your assets with the right kinds of insurance and help you pass on your financial legacy with a proper estate plan.
2. Consider Your Budget and Payment Preferences
Once you have a list of services you would like, review the fee structures financial advisors offer. Finding a balance between the services you need and the cost of those services will help narrow down the field of advisors you may want to work with.
If you are looking for a full-service advisor to manage all of your investments, consider searching among fee-based financial advisors. If you want to manage your money yourself, consider the flat fee and monthly subscription advisors for ongoing support.
3. Interview Multiple Financial Advisors
Once you have chosen the services and fee structure you prefer, it’s time to contact a few advisors and interview them. Here are questions to ask financial advisors:
What services do you provide?
What are all the ways you get paid? (fee transparency)
What is your investment strategy?
How do you measure investment performance?
How do we communicate about my plan?
Interview multiple advisors to get a feel for who you want to work with. A combination of fees, services, and customer service will help you determine the best fit for your financial advice.
4. Review Financial Advisor Credentials
Once you find an advisor (or two) you feel comfortable with, it’s always a good practice to check their credentials and the firm’s details. You can do this at the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website.
You can check both the individual and the firm to view their background and experience details, as well as any disciplinary action taken against them or their firm.
As licensed financial professionals, there is oversight into how financial advisors conduct business, so running a quick (free) check on them is recommended.
For additional information about advisor credentials, read our article to learn the most popular designations held by financial advisors, as well as specialized credentials which may be important to consider if you have unique financial planning needs.
Frequently Asked Questions & Additional Resources
How do I know if I’m ready to hire a financial advisor?
You should strongly consider hiring a financial advisor if you have a significant amount of money available for saving or investing. This could occur after years of making annual contributions to a retirement plan like a 401(k) through your employer or suddenly if you receive a large inheritance or sell your house for a large profit.
But even if you don’t have a lot of money saved, many financial advisors and planners provide reasonable pricing options and valuable services you should consider, especially if you’re facing a significant life event. For example, if you’re starting a new job, getting married, starting a family, getting divorced, lost your job, starting or selling a business, or approaching retirement age, working with a trusted financial advisor or planner may prove worthwhile.
Before I hire a new financial advisor, should I fire my current advisor?
You don’t need to fire your current advisor before beginning your search for a new financial advisor. In fact, your new advisor can help coordinate the transition of your assets from your previous financial advisor.
Where can I read reviews about financial advisors written by their clients to help me decide if I should hire them?
After 60 years of regulatory prohibition of financial advisor reviews in the US, a rule issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became effective on May 4, 2021 that means both financial advisors and directory websites that help consumers search for a financial advisor can collect and display financial advisor reviews, an important factor worth considering when choosing who you’ll hire to manage your investments and life savings.
Wealthtender is the first independent advisor review platform designed to be fully compliant with the new SEC rule, and we look forward to helping you evaluate financial advisors based on reviews written by their clients.
I’m a local financial advisor interested in being featured in this guide. How do I get started?
Thanks for your interest. We look forward to learning more about your practice and helping you attract your ideal clients where you may be a good fit based on their individual needs and circumstances. Please click here to learn how you can join local financial advisors featured on Wealthtender.
Brian is CEO and founder of Wealthtender and Editor-in-Chief. He and his wife live in Austin, Texas. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Brian is applying his experience and passion at Wealthtender to help more people enjoy life with less money stress. Learn More about Brian
Do you work at Lockheed Martin?
Get expert insights from financial advisors who specialize in helping Lockheed Martin employees and executives make the most of their compensation package and benefits.
Looking for a financial advisor who specializes in working with Lockheed Martin employees? You’re in the right place. Below, you’ll find an advisor who understands Lockheed Martin benefits and compensation — along with his answers to common financial questions from Lockheed Martin employees and executives.
Whether you’re a new Lockheed Martin employee or you’ve advanced into a management or executive leadership role over a multi-year career, making smart decisions about your income and Lockheed Martin benefits can have a lasting impact on your financial future. For example:
✅ Do you know the right moves to get the greatest value from the Lockheed Martin benefits available to you?
✅ If you’re thinking about leaving Lockheed Martin for another job or planning to retire in a few years, are you taking the right steps today to receive all the compensation and benefits you’ve earned?
Please note, neither this article nor the advisor(s) featured are endorsed, affiliated or sponsored by Lockheed Martin in any way.
Key Takeaways
1
Overconcentration in Company Stock Is the Single Most Common Mistake
Joshua Brooks names overconcentration as the #1 mistake he sees, with emotional investing running a close second: employees know the company’s products and assume that knowledge translates into a sound position, without comparing it against their whole portfolio or risk tolerance. He points to net unrealized appreciation as a planning concept most Lockheed Martin employees have never heard of.
2
For Cleared Employees, a Disciplined Financial Plan Protects the Career Itself
Financial considerations are one of the adjudicative guidelines the government uses when granting and reviewing security clearances. That makes financial discipline a career issue for cleared Lockheed Martin professionals, not just a retirement one — and it sits alongside a second concentration problem, since paycheck, company stock, and industry health all trace back to the federal budget.
3
Military Retirees Joining Lockheed Martin Should Not Move the TSP First
Nothing forces a TSP decision on day one, and Joshua Brooks argues the rollover should be the last decision rather than the first. Capture the employer contribution, position your taxes now that salary stacks on top of retired pay, then give each account a mission — and only then decide where the money lives.
Why Lockheed Martin Employees Work with a Specialist Financial Advisor
Throughout the year, Lockheed Martin provides its employees and executives with updates about their benefits, ranging from health insurance and health savings accounts to retirement plans like a 401(k), a deferred compensation plan for executives, and equity awards such as restricted stock. Longtime employees may also have a frozen company pension earned under the old plan. While the company offers many useful resources and access to knowledgeable staff who can assist with questions, you’ll also find financial professionals not affiliated with Lockheed Martin who specialize in helping Lockheed Martin employees make the most of their income and benefits.
Whether you work at the Bethesda, Maryland headquarters, the Aeronautics operations in Fort Worth, Texas, the Marietta, Georgia plant, Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Florida, a Space site in Colorado, another office location around the country, or remotely from home, you may have questions about your compensation package and benefits better suited for a financial professional who can offer unbiased advice and guidance.
Sensitive topics — like the steps you should take before quitting your job at Lockheed Martin to work elsewhere, protecting yourself in advance of a corporate layoff, or deciding when you should plan to retire — are all conversations that may be more comfortable with a trusted financial advisor.
Should You Hire a Lockheed Martin Specialist or a Local Financial Advisor?
You’ll likely find dozens of nearby financial advisors well-suited to help you reach your money goals with a personalized plan. But it can be harder to find a financial advisor who specializes in serving Lockheed Martin employees. Fortunately, many financial advisors offer virtual services, so you can meet online no matter where you (or they) live — which means you can hire a specialist financial advisor who lives hundreds of miles away if their knowledge and experience working with Lockheed Martin employees is the better fit for your unique needs.
💡 In the Q&A below, you’ll gain insights from a financial advisor who works with Lockheed Martin employees to help them make smart decisions, get the most value from their compensation and benefits, reduce their money stress, and prepare for a comfortable retirement.
🙋♀️ Have a question not yet answered? Use the form below to submit it anonymously and watch this article for updates with answers to your questions. You can also reach out to the financial advisor below to set up an introductory call or contact him with your questions by email.
Q&A: Financial Planning Tips for Lockheed Martin Employees & Executives
In this section, you’ll learn how you can make the most of your Lockheed Martin employee benefits and gain valuable tips from a financial advisor who specializes in working with Lockheed Martin employees and executives.
Financial Advisor Q&A · Lockheed Martin Employees & Executives
Joshua Brooks is a financial advisor and Army Reserve chaplain based in Weatherford, Texas, serving clients nationwide. He works with military retirees, transitioning senior leaders, and cleared professionals entering the defense industry — helping them coordinate military retired pay, the TSP, and Lockheed Martin benefits into a single plan.
QWhen you first speak with a Lockheed Martin employee, what questions do you like to ask to better understand their unique circumstances and determine how you can best help them achieve their goals?
I try to talk as little as possible in a first conversation. A doctor asks before diagnosing. Same principle.
The questions I ask a military retiree: What is your biggest financial challenge right now? Where do you hope to be in three to five years? What do you do for fun?
Then the military ledger. Is your TSP all pretax, or did you contribute to the Roth side? What does your retired pay look like? What is your VA disability rating? I know that is personal, but it drives real planning decisions. What did you elect on SBP, and who depends on it? What is your clearance status?
Then the household. Does your spouse work? What does the family picture look like? How do you feel about paying for the kids’ college? What estate planning have you actually completed, not just researched?
And finally: how do you feel about your financial plan? Not the spreadsheet. The feeling.
Here is why I ask. Coordination is the most valuable part of a financial plan.Competence is the most important part of executing it.Empathy and understanding are the most important parts of the relationship between a client and an advisor. The answers tell me whether the pieces of your financial life were coordinated on purpose or are just individually reasonable. Those are different things, and the difference is where the damage hides.
QIs there a particular benefit available to Lockheed Martin employees you feel isn’t as well utilized or understood by employees as it should be?
I don’t think any benefit at Lockheed Martin is underutilized compared with the others.
However, I think it’s important to reframe the conversation around the quality of the company’s benefit stack. Smaller companies, generally, don’t possess the resources to offer a comprehensive set of benefits the way that larger firms can.
Therefore, the fact that employees are automatically enrolled at hire and matching contributions automatically and immediately vest shows Lockheed Martin’s commitment to providing a quality employee experience.
These things are helpful to understand because they aren’t required of the company; you could call them enhanced benefits or an incentive to work at and remain at the company. The company match is a layup that most people understand. In certain circumstances, people don’t contribute because they’re prioritizing other objectives.
Retiring from Lockheed Martin?
Get Before Your Last Day, a free printable Decision Map for sequencing your pension, 401(k), insurance, HSA, Social Security, and taxes.
QFor Lockheed Martin employees thinking about leaving the company to accept a job elsewhere, what actions do you recommend they take before resigning and shortly thereafter?
Review their employment contract and benefits. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Many people are quick to take the first or second job offer because it provides comfort and security, then they get locked into that organizational culture.
In real estate, it’s location, location, location. At work, it’s culture, culture, culture. Culture wins hands down. Now you still have to earn a decent paycheck, but if you’re fighting with your boss or coworkers, how helpful is that? Salary matters, but so do PTO, attitudes, values, the overall benefits package, location, and executive leadership.
I also recommend consulting with Human Resources if a manager or supervisor doesn’t align with how you want to be treated or exhibits counterproductive leadership tendencies.
QFor Lockheed Martin employees who have managed their finances on their own to this point, what would you suggest they consider to help them decide if they should begin working with a financial advisor at this stage in their lives?
Some people should keep managing their own money. I have told prospective clients exactly that.
Picture a senior officer, a composite of people I have met, not a client. Spreadsheet pro. Rental properties handled. Estate documents signed. Steady temperament. Stable home life. He does not need me, and I would say so to his face. Managing your own money for twenty years with solid results means you did something right. You read the right books. Bogleheads, The Intelligent Investor, A Random Walk Down Wall Street. No shade. You are a rare breed.
So when does managing it alone stop being enough?
When you are not diversified. A good ten-year run is not a strategy. There is no free lunch, and very few professionals outperform the market over long periods, let alone the rest of us.
When you are constantly trading. Investor behavior, not investment selection, is where most self-managed plans bleed.
When investments are the only thing you manage. Investment management is one horse in the show. Insurance, tax, retirement income, and estate planning are the others, and coordination among them is where a plan earns its keep.
And when someone else would inherit the plan. If your spouse would be handed a spreadsheet and a filing cabinet, that is not a plan. That is homework for a grieving person.
Not everyone needs an advisor. Many people need an advisor. Which one are you?
QWhat questions do you recommend Lockheed Martin employees ask financial advisors they’re considering hiring to help them decide if they’re a good fit?
Ask these questions of any advisor you are considering. Then watch how they answer. Some will be calm and explain. Some will hem and haw around the bush. That tells you plenty.
How do you get paid, and by whom? I am a fee-only financial planner. My clients pay me directly, and no one else does. Fee-only does not eliminate every conflict of interest, but it removes the most common ones, and I disclose the rest in writing in my Form ADV.
Are you a fiduciary at all times, in writing? I am.
Where is my money held? Your assets should sit at a third-party custodian, in your own name. Mine custody at Altruist. An advisor who resists this question is telling you something.
What credentials do you hold? I earned the CFP® certification in 2020. Ask what the letters after any advisor’s name actually require.
Who is your typical client? Mine are military retirees and transitioning senior leaders. Some want a full plan with investment management. Some want planning only. If an advisor cannot describe a typical client, you may be about to become whatever walks in the door.
And read the Form ADV before you sign anything. It is free, public, and where the honest answers live.
QGiven that many Lockheed Martin roles require active security clearances and are tied to long-term government contracts, how does that unique career and employment stability profile shape the financial planning conversations you have with Lockheed Martin clients?
The stability is real, but it is concentrated.
Lockheed Martin is an extraordinary company, and defense work provides steady income and strong benefits. But your paycheck, any company stock you hold, and the health of your whole industry ride on one customer: the federal budget. Budget fights, continuing resolutions, and contract cycles are facts of life in this industry. You already know this better than most.
So two things shape the conversation.
First, structure. Hold enough cash to ride out a contract cycle without touching long-term money. And do not let company stock pile up unmonitored on top of a company paycheck. That is not diversification. That is keeping your eggs, your basket, and your grocery store in the same building.
Second, the clearance itself. Financial considerations are one of the adjudicative guidelines the government uses when it grants and reviews security clearances. For a cleared professional, a disciplined financial plan is not just about retirement. It protects the career that funds the retirement.
I have spent 22 years in the Army, first in the Infantry and now as a chaplain, with combat deployments in between. I serve military retirees, transitioning senior leaders, and professionals entering the defense industry. I tell them all the same thing: stability you haven’t stress-tested isn’t stability. It is an assumption.
QHow do you advise Lockheed Martin employees on evaluating and maximizing their equity compensation, including performance stock units and other long-term incentive awards, while managing concentration risk and the tax implications of vesting events?
The #1 mistake, hands down, is overconcentration. The #2 mistake is associated with #1: emotional investing. They feel like they know the company, its products, services, and widgets, but they’re not comparing the business to the total universe of investable assets, their portfolio composition, or their risk tolerance. Emotions are helpful tools and very powerful, but they can interfere with sound investing outcomes.
I want my clients to understand that risk tolerance is not necessarily about the maximum amount of risk you’re willing to take, but the amount that helps you sleep well at night. Naturally, people become more conservative if they’re relying on their retirement nest egg and, say, Social Security benefits. If you start planning ahead of time, this becomes a non-issue because you’ve saved enough or have enough income sources to feel comfortable. That’s not the case for everybody.
I would tell them that we need to take a closer look. For example, many people haven’t heard of Net Unrealized Appreciation. This is an advanced financial planning concept. Once you explain it, the lightbulb goes on.
Just schedule a brief conversation to talk it over with a professional. If you were doing a major landscaping project, air conditioning repair, or automotive maintenance, it’s not worth it to try to do it on your own.
QFor military retirees joining Lockheed Martin, how should they handle their TSP and military retirement benefits alongside the new Lockheed Martin 401(k)?
BLUF: Evaluate your options as ruthlessly and as strategically as possible, and know that nothing forces a TSP decision on day one. Moving money should be the last decision you make, not the first.
Here is something worth knowing up front. Most advisors get paid when you transfer assets to their custodian. That is not a bad thing. Professional advice can be worth every penny. But it means anyone urging you to move your TSP quickly has an interest you should understand. Just like you would purchase a luxury sports car, a high-end appliance, or a riding lawn mower, you do your research. Read the reviews. Ask trusted friends. The same standard applies to this decision: who can you trust?
The real problem is bigger than the rollover question. You just left one retirement system and joined another, and the two were never designed to talk to each other. Your pension, your TSP, and your new Lockheed Martin 401(k) each make sense on their own. Uncoordinated, they drift.
Four steps, in order of march.
First, capture the employer money. Contribute at least enough to receive the full company contribution in the new plan. Check your plan documents for the current match structure.
Second, position your taxes. Your salary now stacks on top of a pension, and that combination usually puts you in a different bracket than you had in uniform. That changes the Roth-versus-pretax math. This is tax positioning, and it deserves a deliberate decision, not a default box-check.
Third, give each account a mission. The TSP is a solid vehicle, but you still have to drive it. It is low cost, it is simple, and the G Fund exists nowhere else. The new 401(k) is where your ongoing contributions and employer money land. Decide what each account is for before deciding where each account lives.
Fourth, and only now, the location decision. Leaving the TSP alone, consolidating into the 401(k), or rolling to an IRA each carries tradeoffs: costs, investment options, creditor protection, withdrawal rules, and what you give up when you leave. Consolidation is a choice, not a default.
Keep in mind: every employer plan has its own rules and procedures. Plan provisions vary by employee group and plan year, and TSP and tax rules change. Verify against current plan documents before acting. Every situation is different.
I am an Army Reserve chaplain, CFP® professional, husband, and father of four boys. As a fiduciary, I am required to act in your best interest, and I built my firm to do so.
Considering a financial advisor who specializes in working with Lockheed Martin Employees & Executives?
This material is for general educational purposes and is not individualized investment, tax, legal, or benefits advice. Lockheed Martin plan provisions vary by employee group, hire date, and plan year; TSP, tax, and VA rules change. Review current plan documents and official sources and consult qualified professionals about your circumstances. Exponential Advisors LLC is a Texas-registered investment adviser. Exponential Advisors LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lockheed Martin or Wealthtender.
Quick Facts & Resources for Lockheed Martin Employees
Lockheed Martin Quick Facts & Resources
Details / Useful Links
Lockheed Martin Corporate Headquarters Address
6801 Rockledge Dr, Bethesda, MD 20817 (📍 Google Maps)
Brian Thorp is the founder and CEO of Wealthtender and serves as Editor-in-Chief. With over 25 years in the financial services industry — including nearly 22 years at Invesco, where he led strategic partnerships with wealth management firms representing more than $100 billion in assets — Brian founded Wealthtender to help people find financial advisors they can trust and make more informed money decisions.
A member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and its SEC Marketing Rule Working Group, Brian was recognized by WealthManagement.com as one of its “Ten to Watch in 2024” for his work reshaping how financial advisors market their services. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin.
Facet is a virtual financial planning firm that pairs clients with Certified Financial Planners and charges a flat annual fee — making professional financial advice accessible to people who’ve avoided advisors because of cost concerns or minimum asset requirements. But is it the right fit for you? This guide covers how Facet works, who it typically serves, how it compares to robo-advisors, what the experience is like, how much it costs, and the honest pros and cons that should inform your decision. If Facet isn’t the right match, you’ll also find a directory of independent specialist advisors who may be better suited to your specific needs.
You can benefit from financial planning no matter who you are or where you are in life. In fact, it may be just what you need to meet your short-term and long-term financial goals. With a solid financial plan in place, you’ll be able to build an emergency fund, retire early, pay for your child’s college, travel the world, and accomplish anything else that’s important to you.
If you’d like to pursue financial planning but are worried about the cost, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with Facet (formerly known as Facet Wealth). With Facet, you can receive many of the services you need at a price you can afford. Let’s take a closer look at what Facet is so you can determine whether it’s a good option for your unique situation.
Key Takeaways
1
Facet is a virtual financial planning firm that charges a flat annual fee rather than a percentage of assets — making it accessible to people who’ve avoided advisors due to cost.
Unlike traditional wealth managers who charge 1% or more of assets under management, Facet charges a flat annual fee based on the complexity of services you need — not the size of your portfolio. All advisors are Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), fiduciaries legally required to act in your best interest. This model is particularly well-suited to people with good incomes but moderate investable assets who want real financial planning, not just portfolio management.
2
Facet’s key advantages over robo-advisors are human CFP access, comprehensive financial planning, and fiduciary accountability — but it comes with tradeoffs including no in-person meetings and no choice of advisor.
Robo-advisors automate investment management cheaply but can’t replace human judgment on complex decisions — tax strategy, insurance needs, estate planning, or navigating major life transitions. Facet fills that gap with real CFP-led planning at a fraction of traditional advisor costs. The tradeoffs: meetings are online or by phone only, and after your initial call Facet matches you to an advisor rather than letting you select one yourself. If you need a specialist advisor for your occupation or life situation, an independent specialist may serve you better.
3
Facet is best for people who want affordable, comprehensive financial planning but don’t need a specialist — if you have complex needs around a specific occupation, business ownership, or life situation, an independent specialist advisor is likely a better fit.
Facet advisors provide broad financial planning competence but most don’t specialize in particular client types — business owners, physicians, tech employees with equity compensation, or divorcing individuals, for example. If your financial situation has distinctive complexity tied to your occupation, employer, or life stage, working with an independent specialist advisor who focuses exclusively on clients like you will typically produce better outcomes than a generalist, regardless of cost.
What Is Facet? How the Flat-Fee Financial Planning Firm Works
Facet is a financial planning firm that offers its services through financial advisors online and by phone at a lower cost than many traditional wealth management firms. Its primary focus is on financial health and wellness.
Additionally, Facet’s two main principles include transparency and simplicity. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and founded in 2016, the company strives to make it as easy as possible to work with them.
Facet believes the amount you pay for financial planning should be based on the services you receive, not the monetary value of your assets. Unlike many financial planning firms, the company will manage your investments and provide you with advice for a flat annual fee. You’ll be able to budget for your services in advance because you won’t be charged based on product commissions or a percentage of your investments.
The company employs a number of Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) who will help you meet your financial goals. Following an initial phone call, they’ll pair you with the ideal CFP for your specific situation. You can depend on them to address any questions or concerns at any time.
Who Is Facet Best For?
While Facet Financial Advisors can serve a variety of individuals, they typically help those who desire professional, customized financial advice at a predictable, affordable price point. Their typical client is someone who may have steered away from financial planning services in the past because they didn’t believe the benefits were worth paying a percentage of their assets.
People choosing to work with Facet advisors may also prefer a fiduciary who acts in their clients’ best interests rather than earning commissions on investment products. Lastly, many Facet clients seek more than the automated portfolio management they may receive from robo-advisors.
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Facet vs. Robo-Advisors: When a CFP Is Worth the Extra Cost
Robo-advisors offer investment management or financial advice online with minimal human intervention. They use algorithms to provide their services and are widely used by individuals who don’t want to spend a lot of money on a financial planner and like the convenience they bring.
It’s important to note that a robo-advisor can’t replace an experienced financial professional. A financial advisor will get to know you on a personal level and help you create a financial plan that aligns with your goals. Robo-advisors are tools that help you with your finances, rather than financial planners who have years of knowledge and relevant experience.
If you like the affordability and simplicity of robo-advisors but would prefer financial planning services with a human touch, you’d likely find greater value in a Facet advisor. With a Facet financial advisor, you’ll gain the benefits of affordable financial planning that a robo-advisor offers with the individualized, human support it lacks.
What Is the Facet Experience Like?
If you’d like to work with a Facet financial advisor, you’ll need to schedule an initial phone call. The phone call will last about thirty minutes and serve as an opportunity for Facet to get to know you and your particular goals and priorities. Once the company learns more about you, they’ll set you up with a CFP and perform a complimentary review of your finances.
If you decide to become a Facet client, you’ll receive access to an online portal and be asked to enter your financial account credentials. This information will be 100% secure and solely used to make appropriate recommendations for you. Facet will not have access to your money or be able to make changes to any of your accounts.
You can work and meet with your Facet advisor any time you’d like. Keep in mind, however, that your meetings will revolve around the topics you pay for advice on. Most clients meet with their CFP on a regular basis at first and a few times per year afterward once they’ve designed their financial plan.
What Credentials Do Facet Advisors Hold — and Why It Matters
As we mentioned earlier, all Facet advisors are CFPs. CFPs have all completed rigorous education and experience requirements. They hold at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college and university.
They also have either 6,000 hours of qualifying experience in the financial planning field or 4,000 hours of experience as an apprentice. In addition to these education requirements, CFPs have passed the CFP Certification Exam, which is made up of 170 multiple-choice questions as well questions with short scenarios and lengthy case histories.
CFP holders are held to the highest of standards outlined by the CFB Board. These standards are based on vital principles such as objectivity, competence, fairness, professionalism, and confidentiality.
They’re also fiduciaries, meaning they make their clients’ best interests a priority. Since they are legally obligated to put client interests above their own, they won’t make recommendations based on commissions. Their suggestions will be ideal for your unique financial situation and goals.
Should You Hire a Facet Advisor? Pros and Cons
Before you take the plunge and hire a Facet advisor, consider the pros and cons of doing so.
Advantages of Hiring a Facet Advisor
Cost Effective: Perhaps the greatest advantage of a Facet advisor is their affordability. If you’ve shied away from financial planning services in the past because of cost, they may be a good option. You’ll pay a Facet advisor a flat, annual fee rather than high commissions or a percentage based on your investments. In addition, there are flexible payment plans as well as no setup or cancellation fees. This is great news if you want to avoid surprise expenses and be able to budget for your services.
Comprehensive Planning: While some financial planners only focus on managing and growing your investments, Facet advisors offer comprehensive planning. They can help you create a roadmap to meet your financial goals. You can trust them to assist with retirement, college savings, saving for a mortgage, or any other financial goal you may have.
Intuitive Online Portal: As a Facet client, you’ll receive access to an intuitive online portal. The portal will include a dashboard that will keep track of your accounts in real-time. You can view it as often as you’d like to get a good idea of where you stand financially. In addition, the portal will offer a space to share your documents and schedule appointments. It’s completely confidential and secure.
Drawbacks and Limitations to Consider
No Choice in Advisor: After your initial phone call, Facet will match you to an advisor. This may be a drawback if you’d like to do your research, evaluate all of the options available to you, and choose a professional on your own.
Not Specialized: While Facet advisors offer comprehensive planning, most of them lack a specialty focus. So if you’re in search of a financial planner with specific expertise (e.g. working with business owners or educators, for example), you may be better off hiring a specialist advisor, like you’ll often find among XY Planning Network financial advisors.
Online Only: If you prefer to meet with a financial planner in-person, Facet isn’t the best choice. Its advisors only meet with clients online via videoconferencing or through the phone. You won’t be able to meet them in an office face-to-face.
How Much Does Facet Cost?
Facet offers seven services that cater to clients with various levels of financial need. The services you select will determine the price of your Facet advisor. Its fees range from ,800 per year or $150 per month to $6,000 per year or $500 per month. In most cases, clients pay a price in the middle of that range.
If you’re a young professional or couple who would like to grow your net worth, you’ll pay less than someone who has complex real estate investments or multiple investment accounts with high balances. Rest assured Facet is completely transparent with its pricing so you’ll know exactly how much you’ll pay upfront. There are no hidden fees or surprise charges.
How to Get Started with Facet
It’s easy to get started with Facet. All you have to do is schedule your 30-minute introductory phone call. Complete the online form with your personal information and basic financial goals. You’ll hear back from Facet shortly and receive a confirmed date and time for your call.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Facet created?
Facet Wealth was founded in 2016. Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Facet serves clients nationwide.
Who founded Facet Wealth?
Facet Wealth was founded in 2016 by Anders Jones, Patrick McKenna, and Brent Weiss.
Is Facet a robo advisor?
Facet is not a robo advisor. Facet offers financial planning services offered by a team of Certified Financial Planners and believes clients should have planners who can offer human insights that create trust and make for a better-informed plan.
Who are the investors behind Facet ?
Facet raised $100 million in January 2022 from lead investor Durable Capital Partners, a venture capital firm focused on private and public early-stage, small-, and mid-cap companies. Additional investors in the latest and prior rounds include Warburg Pincus, Telesoft Partners, and Green Cow Venture Capital.
Previous investor Warburg Pincus, and new investors Telesoft Partners and Green Cow Venture Capital also participated in the Series C round of funding for Facet. Terms of the deal announced Wednesday morning were not disclosed.
Looking for a Facet Alternative? Find an Independent Specialist Advisor
Whether you’re looking to hire a financial advisor who lives nearby or a specialist advisor hundreds of miles away, get to know financial advisors featured on Wealthtender. Below, you’ll find an interactive map showcasing financial advisors across the US. Further below, you’ll find a gallery of advisors with additional search options.
Double-click (or pinch the map on mobile devices) to zoom in and expand the details for financial advisors.
Anna Baluch is a freelance personal finance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. You can find her work on sites like The Balance, Freedom Debt Relief, LendingTree and RateGenius. Anna has an MBA in marketing from Roosevelt University. Feel free to reach out to her on LinkedIn.
What this article covers
How many Americans actually retire wealthy — and what does “wealthy” even mean in retirement? The answer depends on which measure of wealth you use. Total net worth includes home equity, which doesn’t pay your grocery bill. Investable net worth — the liquid and semi-liquid assets that can generate retirement income — is a more useful lens. Using Federal Reserve data on Americans aged 60–69, this article breaks down how many fall into different wealth categories, what annual income each level realistically supports (before and after tax), and what financial advisors say are the risks that most commonly derail even well-funded retirement plans.
As I approach my own “work optional” phase of life, I’m thinking more and more about what our retirement budget might look like.
More importantly, I’m looking at the (very large) investable net worth that would take.
And no, I’m not gonna spill the beans about our numbers here, but I will share some interesting tidbits about the wealthiest group of Americans.
Key Takeaways
1
About 12.8 million Americans aged 60–69 have an investable net worth of $500,000 or more — but “wealthy” in retirement depends heavily on what you need your money to do.
Using Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data, roughly 12.8 million Americans in their 60s have investable net worth of $500,000 or higher — the threshold this analysis uses as a starting definition of “wealthy.” But the difference between $500,000 and $5 million in investable assets is enormous: $500,000 may generate $77,000 in annual retirement income (including Social Security), while $5 million can generate over $320,000. The key distinction is investable net worth — excluding home equity — since home equity doesn’t pay your bills in retirement.
2
Even a high-net-worth retirement portfolio doesn’t guarantee financial security — the risks that can derail it are underestimated far more often than the returns that grow it.
Long-term care costs, sequence-of-returns risk, longevity beyond expectations, higher-than-projected inflation, lawsuits, and poor investment decisions can all erode even very large portfolios. Financial advisors consistently identify long-term care as the most underplanned risk — a multi-year care event can cost several hundred thousand dollars and is not covered by Medicare. True retirement wealth planning isn’t just about reaching a number; it’s about stress-testing that number against the risks that could eliminate it.
3
Account tax structure — how much is in tax-deferred, Roth, taxable, and rental income — can change your after-tax retirement income by tens of thousands of dollars annually, even with the same pre-tax portfolio.
A $1 million portfolio in a traditional IRA and a $1 million portfolio split between Roth accounts, taxable accounts, and rental properties can produce dramatically different after-tax income. Roth distributions are tax-free, long-term capital gains in taxable accounts may be taxed at 0% below a certain income threshold, and rental income can be sheltered by depreciation. Tax location strategy — deciding which assets live in which account types — is one of the highest-leverage retirement planning decisions available.
Investable Net Worth vs. Total Net Worth: The Distinction That Actually Matters in Retirement
The number many people concentrate on is net worth.
Stated simply, your net worth is the difference between what you own and what you owe.
The problem most Americans run into when trying to figure out if they can afford to retire is that much of their net worth is trapped in their home equity — the difference between the value of their home and what they owe on it (if they haven’t yet paid off their mortgage).
If you own a $500k home free and clear, that contributes $500k to your net worth.
It also reduces how much you need to spend each year because you don’t have to pay a monthly mortgage payment or rent.
However, you can’t (easily) use that money to pay for groceries or utilities.
That’s why I prefer to use “investable net worth” as my measure of how we’re doing in terms of approaching work-optional status.
This flavor of net worth excludes your home’s value and your mortgage balance since neither of those affects how much you can invest in income-producing assets.
If you’ve blown past that line and have at least $5M investable net worth, you’re considered a very-high net worth (VHNW) individual, and an ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individual if your investable net worth exceeds $30M.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.
How Many Americans in Their 60s Are Wealthy?
According to Statista, there are 21 million Americans aged 60–64 and about 19 million aged 65–69.
Here’s what these tools tell us (note that since UHNW individuals are fewer than 1 percent, the tools don’t enumerate them with any accuracy, so I don’t separate that category).
Americans Ages 60–69 by Investable Net Worth
Based on Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data via DQYDJ net worth calculator, excluding primary home equity. Population data from Statista (21M aged 60–64; 19M aged 65–69).
Americans aged 60 to 69 categorized by investable net worth level — well off, high net worth, very high net worth, and ultra high net worth — with estimated population counts for each category based on Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances data
Investable Net Worth
Category
Americans Ages 60–69
$500K – $1M
Well Off
4.2 million
$1M – $2M
HNW
3.6 million
$2M – $5M
HNW
2.8 million
$5M – $10M
VHNW
1.0 million
$10M and up
VHNW & UHNW
1.2 million
Total
Well Off and Up
12.8 million
VHNW and UHNW individuals are combined in the $10M+ tier because UHNW individuals represent fewer than 1% of the population and cannot be enumerated accurately from available survey data. Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances (2022) via DQYDJ.com.
So, if we count having an investable net worth of $500k as “wealthy,” there are 12.8 million Americans ages 60–69 who fit that bill.
What Investment Returns Can You Aspire to in Retirement?
This isn’t a simple question to answer.
So much depends on how you invest your wealth.
If you’re hyper-conservative and keep everything in bonds, your long-term average, inflation-adjusted annual returns will be around 1.7 percent.
On the other hand, if you’re hyper-aggressive and invest 100 percent in equities, your long-term average annual returns will be around 7.1 percent (again, adjusted for inflation).
If you invest part of your wealth in rental properties, you’d benefit from leveraged appreciation plus rental income. This could be 25 percent or more.
If you’re wealthy and savvy enough to invest in private equity placements, you may get 30 percent or higher real returns.
For simplicity, let’s assume you allocate your wealth among these different asset classes somewhat conservatively and manage to get an inflation-adjusted annual return of 5.4 percent and that’s what you plan to live on, in addition to Social Security retirement benefits.
Regarding Social Security, the maximum monthly retirement benefit for a married couple is $9746 in 2024, which is just under $117k a year. The average is much lower, around $2700 a month or $32.4k a year.
Someone who is at least wealthy will most likely get an above-average Social Security retirement benefit. Let’s assume that’s $50k a year for our purposes here.
What Retirement Income Does That Buy You?
Putting it all together, let’s assume $50k from Social Security plus 5.4 percent from your portfolio.
If your investable net worth is $500k, that gives you a retirement income of $77k.
Invest $1M and you can live on $104k.
With a $2M portfolio, your retirement income can be $158k.
How about $5M? That gives you $320k to play with.
And with $10M? Your retirement income is an amazing $590k.
Keep in mind that these numbers are all pre-tax.
If your wealth is entirely in tax-deferred accounts, your budget has to account for everything getting taxed as regular income.
If a good portion is in taxable accounts, you might be taxed using the lower long-term capital gains rates, which up to a certain taxable income is zero!
If you managed to put half in Roth accounts (IRAs or 401k plans), that portion would be tax-free.
To get a sense of how this might play out, let’s assume your portfolio is divided 40 percent in tax-deferred accounts, 20 percent in taxable accounts, 20 percent in Roth accounts, and 20 percent in rental properties where you can shield the rental income with depreciation so that’s also effectively tax-free.
We’ll also assume an 8 percent state income tax applied to the 60 percent that isn’t Roth or shielded by depreciation.
Plausible Retirement Income by Investable Net Worth Level
Assumes $50,000/year Social Security income plus 5.4% inflation-adjusted portfolio return. Tax scenario: 40% tax-deferred / 20% taxable / 20% Roth (tax-free) / 20% rental with depreciation shelter. State income tax: 8% on non-sheltered income.
Estimated pre-tax, taxable, and after-tax annual retirement income for investable net worth portfolios of $500,000 to $10 million, incorporating $50,000 Social Security and 5.4% real portfolio return with mixed tax account structure
Investable Net Worth
Pre-Tax Income
Taxable Income
After-Tax Income
$500,000
$77,000
$3,000
$73,000
$1,000,000
$104,000
$14,000
$98,000
$2,000,000
$158,000
$67,000
$143,000
$5,000,000
$320,000
$164,000
$280,000
$10,000,000
$590,000
$326,000
$527,000
These are back-of-the-envelope estimates intended to illustrate general ranges, not financial projections. Actual income will vary based on account structure, Social Security timing, state tax rates, and investment performance. Consult a financial advisor before making retirement income decisions.
The above numbers are my back-of-the-envelope estimates, and I’m sure they aren’t accurate. But they should be good enough to get a sense of the after-tax budget you might be able to afford in retirement with these levels of wealth.
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that no level of wealth you may achieve will fully insulate you from disaster. There are a myriad of risks, many that could derail almost any retirement plan that doesn’t specifically account for them.
Omar Morillo, CFP®, Founder of Imperio Wealth Advisors says, “As an Advisor, I emphasize the crucial role of early and well-planned strategies in achieving financial comfort in retirement. It’s not just about reaching a certain wealth threshold but ensuring a sustainable and fulfilling lifestyle post-retirement. I often encourage those planning for retirement to watch out for potential landmines that can completely throw off their budget, such as the high cost of long-term care. Every retiree wants their retirement assets to last as long as needed but often fails to plan beyond the mundane and account for the unexpected.”
Anthony Ferraiolo, Partner Advisor at AdvicePeriod agrees, “Even if clients think they have enough money for retirement, we want to protect them from, e.g., multi-year long-term care events, lawsuits, or poor investment decisions, sequence-of-returns risks, greater than expected longevity, lower than expected market returns, higher than expected inflation, etc. You may have a measure of control over some of these, but others are difficult to avoid and could wipe out your funds if you didn’t plan for that possibility. The most critical part of retirement planning, in my opinion, is having the confidence and security to live a wealthy retirement, which requires insuring against such high-impact risks and planning for inevitable health issues.”
The Bottom Line: What Wealthy Retirement Actually Looks Like — and What Can Still Go Wrong
As you can see, there are vast differences between the merely well-off and those with significant wealth.
With $500k invested, you might be able to live on $73k a year. That isn’t shabby, but a “Lexus” retirement it’s not.
Even with $1M, your after-tax budget will likely be short of 6 figures.
Once you get to VHNW, your annual after-tax retirement budget will be several times higher than the median US income.
Clearly, the UHNW among us don’t have to worry about being able to afford almost anything short of mega-yachts and multiple palaces around the world.
Stephan Shipe, Owner of Scholar Financial Advising points out however, “The basic living expenses of someone with $5M vs. $15M aren’t very different. The main differences we see are travel and experiences. With $5M you could take a weeklong international trip each year, but the $15M investor can spend a month living with their family in a different country each year.”
Ultimately, however, money is just one piece of the puzzle, and once you have enough, other things should take precedence.
Ryan Goldenhar, CFA, CFP, Partner and Advisor with Wealth With Options sums it up well, “Wealth is more than simply dollars and cents, especially in retirement. Even if you’ve achieved VHNW or UHNW status, true wealth should factor in having a quality relationship with your family, spending time with friends, and being actively involved in your community, which could be volunteering and hobbies.”
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Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be considered financial advice. You should consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
About the Author
Opher Ganel, Ph.D.
My career has had many unpredictable twists and turns. A MSc in theoretical physics, PhD in experimental high-energy physics, postdoc in particle detector R&D, research position in experimental cosmic-ray physics (including a couple of visits to Antarctica), a brief stint at a small engineering services company supporting NASA, followed by starting my own small consulting practice supporting NASA projects and programs. Along the way, I started other micro businesses and helped my wife start and grow her own Marriage and Family Therapy practice. Now, I use all these experiences to also offer financial strategy services to help independent professionals achieve their personal and business finance goals. Connect with me on my own site: OpherGanel.com and/or follow my Medium publication: medium.com/financial-strategy/.
Saving for a home down payment is one of the most common — and most daunting — financial goals Americans face. Whether you’re targeting the full 20% to avoid Private Mortgage Insurance or looking at an FHA loan, the path from renting to owning requires a clear savings target and a strategy that actually works. This guide covers nine practical, specific ways to build your down payment faster: from setting the right budget and banking your next raise, to paying off debt that’s quietly blocking your mortgage approval, and automating savings so you don’t have to rely on willpower alone.
Are you looking forward to owning your own house?
No neighbors connected to your walls, your own private backyard, a place you can paint whatever color you want (without management approval?!)
Buying a home can be one of life’s most exciting events, but saving tens of thousands of dollars for a down payment can feel overwhelming.
We get it. And we’ve put together a simple, no-frills guide on how to save for a house quickly.
Key Takeaways
1
Before you start saving, know your target — a 20% down payment eliminates PMI but an FHA loan lets you buy with as little as 3.5% down.
On a $300,000 home, a 20% conventional down payment requires $60,000 — but an FHA loan reduces that to $10,500. The tradeoff is mortgage insurance: PMI on a conventional loan can cost up to 2% of your balance annually, while FHA loans carry their own Mortgage Insurance Premium. USDA and VA loans offer 0% down for qualifying buyers. Knowing which loan type fits your situation sets the right savings target from day one.
2
The fastest path to a down payment combines expense reduction, income increases, and automation — not just cutting lattes.
Small budget cuts help, but the highest-impact strategies are behavioral and structural: banking your next raise instead of lifestyle-inflating it, skipping vacations for one or two years (Americans spend nearly $2,000 per year on summer travel alone), and adding side hustle income that goes directly to your down payment fund. Automating a transfer to a dedicated savings account the day after each paycheck removes the temptation to spend what you intended to save.
3
Paying off high-interest debt before saving for a down payment often accelerates homeownership — not delays it.
Lenders evaluate your Debt-to-Income (DTI) ratio when approving a mortgage. High DTI from credit card or auto loan balances can push you into a worse interest rate tier or disqualify you entirely. Paying down that debt first improves your loan terms, potentially saving more on mortgage interest over 30 years than the months you spent not saving for a down payment. It also frees up monthly cash flow to save faster once the debt is gone.
How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a House?
Before we dive into the details and strategies to help you save for buying a house, you need to know how much money you need to save for a down payment.
Since there are many ways to finance a home, we’ll cover the two main options for your house down payment.
Down Payment on a Conventional Loan
For most conventional home loans, saving up a 20% down payment on the home is wise. This is because most lenders require you to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) without a 20% down payment. This can be as much as 2% of your loan balance for the year, which is a significant monthly cost.
To save up to 20% for your home, you need to take the total home cost and divide it by 5.
Example:
Home cost → $300,000
20% down payment → $300,000 ÷ 5 = $60,000
As you can see, a 20% down payment can seem like a lot. Especially if this is your first home purchase. This is why many first-time homebuyers instead opt for down payment assistance loans from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
FHA Loans: How to Buy a Home With as Little as 3.5% Down
FHA loans are federally-backed mortgages designed to help those with lower incomes and an average credit score qualify for mortgages. Depending on your credit score and other qualifying factors, you can put as little as 3.5% down on your home purchase.
Note: There is a Mortgage Insurance Program (MIP) for this type of loan, but it does allow you to save much less to purchase a home. Always run the numbers to see what works best for your financial situation.
To save up 3.5% for your home, you need to take the total home cost and multiply it by 0.035.
Example of a 3.5% down payment on a home:
Home cost → $300,000
3.5% down payment → $300,000 x 0.035 = $10,500
As you can see, a 3.5% down payment is just a fraction of a 20% down payment and may be more attainable.
There are other loan options, including USDA and VA Loans, that have specific qualifications but may allow you to put as little as 0% down. As always, do your research to see if you may qualify.
9 Simple Ways to Save for a Home Fast
Once you figure out exactly how much you need to save for a home down payment, follow these simple strategies to boost your savings rate and buy your home faster!
1. Get on a Budget (Yes, Really)
The best way to save money is to plan for it. And there is no better way to start saving money than to get on a budget that maximizes your savings.
The best way to start is by going through your current spending. Review your bank and credit card statements in the past few months to see where your money has gone.
Then create a budget based on your spending and see how much you can save each month. If you want to save more, you can start looking at areas of excess spending (we’re looking at you, Amazon!) and see if you can cut them back a bit.
Remember, cutting expenses is not forever and you can still have some fun on a budget. But remember to focus on your big goal of buying a house and temporarily cut back on extras until you get there.
2. Live on the New Mortgage Payment
It’s always a good idea to start living as if you are already paying your new mortgage off before you actually buy the home. This lets you know how life will feel (financially) when you do buy the house. But the magic is that you can then save the extra dollars into your down payment fund.
Example: Let’s say you are currently paying $1,500 per month in rent. You want to put 3.5% down on a $300,000 home. Your total new mortgage payment would be about $1,900 per month.
Set up your budget to live with a $1,900 payment instead of $1,500, and save the extra $400 into your down payment savings account. This will help you save toward your home and help you get used to the new payment at the same time!
3. Bank Your Next Raise
When saving for a house, any and every extra dollar moves you closer to the goal. If you want to get there quicker, consider banking your next raise.
You could go ask for a raise right now or wait until your annual review. In any case, if you get a raise, put all the extra funds into your down payment savings account.
Example: Let’s say you make $70,000 per year. You get a 4% raise this year ($2,800).
After taxes, your take-home pay goes up by about $175 per month. Save that $175 per month toward your down payment.
4. Make It a “Staycation” Year
Vacations are tons of fun but can be awfully expensive. Why not skip the trip this year and enjoy a staycation instead?
There are tons of free and budget-friendly things to do in your own hometown (just Google it), and you can enjoy exploring your local city while saving thousands of dollars toward your new home.
Americans spend almost $2,000 on summer vacation per year, even more for families. If you plan a fun staycation for two years, that’s $4,000 more toward your house down payment.
Yes, travel is fun, but pausing for a few years to own a home is absolutely worth it.
5. Cut Out All Extra Spending (For a Short Time)
If you are really motivated to save up for a house fast, cut out all the extra expenses.
This is the fastest way to boost your savings. Just be careful – it could leave you feeling burnt out if you are too aggressive with your budget.
The easiest way to do this is to only pay for your necessities and nothing else. This includes food, housing, utilities, and transportation. Everything else gets cut out. Many people refer to this as a no-spend challenge.
This is a surefire way to save hundreds (or thousands) per month and start stacking cash fast. But don’t do this for too long, as you might throw your budget out the window and give up completely.
Consider this a challenge to get into your house faster and give yourself a little “fun money” each week so you don’t feel too deprived.
6. Get a Side Hustle to Save Even More
If living on a bare-bones budget isn’t too appealing, then consider getting a side hustle to help boost your income and your savings.
Here are a few ideas you can check out to get started with bringing in some extra money:
Delivery Driver. Everyone is getting groceries and take-out delivered these days, why not be the one dropping it off? You can earn money through places like Postmates, Uber Eats or Instacart on your own time and simply get paid to drop off people’s stuff.
Hang with Pets. If you’re a pet person, considering using a service like Rover to watch other people’s animals and get paid for it. Play fetch with Fido and collect a few dollars to save toward your home.
Get Crafty. Like making crafts? Consider setting up shop online and sharing your gifts with the world. Websites like Shopify and Etsy make it easy to set up shop and start selling your art.
No matter what you choose to do on the side, the extra income will get you into your dream house much quicker!
7. Pay off Your Debt
Although this may seem counterintuitive (shouldn’t you be putting the money towards the house?), in truth, paying off your debt helps you buy your home and save more money in the long run. Lenders consider your Debt-to-Income ratio (DTI) when qualifying you for a loan, and the lower your debt, the better your terms can be.
Paying off a few high-interest credit cards or loans can go a long way toward getting you into a home and saving you money on the mortgage as well.
8. Sell Your Stuff
Did you know most of us are sitting on hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars, and we don’t even realize it?
Yes, most Americans have unused items they can sell right now, quickly netting them hundreds of dollars (and decluttering their life simultaneously!)
Garage sales are out, and Facebook Marketplace is in. It’s quick and easy to snap a few pics of your items, put in descriptions and prices, and list them online.
Need some help finding what to sell? Simply open your garage and identify things you haven’t touched in a year. If you won’t need it anytime soon and it’s worth $5 or more, list it online and collect some cash for your new home!
9. Automate Your Savings
One of the best ways to save for a house is to automate things. When every paycheck comes in, have a set amount transfer to your savings account.
Example: You get paid every other Friday. The following Monday, schedule an automatic transfer of $100 to your house down payment account.
Set this up as a recurring transfer every two weeks, and you can start stacking your down payment quickly.
Start Saving Today — Your Down Payment Won’t Build Itself
No matter how you choose to save for a home, don’t wait. Rents aren’t going down, and you aren’t getting any younger!
If you follow these tips, you can quickly get yourself into a house and start enjoying your newfound freedom!
Jacob Wade
About the author:
Jacob Wade is a nationally recognized personal finance writer. Jacob has written professionally for Money.com, The Balance, Investor Junkie, LendingTree, Investopedia, Money Under 30, GOBankingRates, and other popular sites. He has also been a featured expert on CBS News, MSN Money, Forbes, Nasdaq, Yahoo! Finance, and AOL Finance. His background includes five years as an Enrolled Agent at an accredited CPA firm, where he prepared tax returns for individuals and small businesses. Learn More about Jacob
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Here are the answers to a few common questions about saving for a house.
Can I Buy a House With No Money Down?
Yes. There are a few loan options to buy a house with no money down. If you are a military veteran, consider using a VA Loan for a 0% down payment. If you want to find a rural property and have a lower income (115% of the median area income or lower), you may be able to qualify for a USDA 0% down loan.
Both of these options are government-backed programs and can be a great option to get into a home with no money down.
What Is a Good Age to Buy My First House?
There is a no “right” age to buy a home. It all depends on how ready you are.
Before you buy a home, consider the following:
Can you afford the monthly payment? And the maintenance?
Is your job secure?
Do you have a good credit score (to qualify for a good loan)
Are you planning to stay put for at least 5 years (to recoup loan costs)
Do you have any other large expenses looming?
If you are unsure about any of those questions, it is not a good time to buy, no matter what your age.
Is Now a Good Time to Buy a House?
It depends.
I know, not the answer you want, but it all depends on your financial situation and the local area where you are looking to buy. Real estate is hyper-local and finding a good agent to help you learn about your local market is a good starting point.
Can you afford the payments, taxes, insurance and cost of maintaining a home? No matter what the market does, before you buy you need to be in the position to buy a house WITHOUT destroying your financial future.
DINK — dual income, no kids — is one of the fastest-growing lifestyle categories in America, and it comes with a financial profile unlike any other household type. Two incomes, no childcare costs, and no college savings obligations mean DINK couples often accumulate wealth faster and spend it more freely than comparable couples raising children. But the lifestyle also comes with financial planning considerations that aren’t always obvious: retirement without the informal safety net of adult children, complex estate planning decisions, and long-term care needs with no family caregivers to rely on. This article covers what the DINK lifestyle actually is, why more couples are choosing it, the financial advantages and drawbacks worth understanding — and what it means for your financial plan.
You’ve seen them on Instagram. You know, those carefree couples who are always jet-setting from one exotic destination to the next. Like the guy and gal you met at work – yeah, the perpetually well-dressed ones. Where did they go recently? The Caribbean again? Or was it Paris?
You can’t keep up. But all you know for sure is that they’re taking full advantage of their DINK lifestyle. That’s right, dual income, no kids. Cash-rich and lacking the responsibilities that come from having children, these couples have a life that many people crave. But is it really as good as it sounds? Or are there downsides, too?
And, moreover, what’s the DINK lifestyle all about anyway? What are the benefits and drawbacks? Let’s find out. Read on for answers.
Key Takeaways
1
DINK couples — dual income, no kids — are a rapidly growing demographic as more couples choose childfree lives for financial, practical, and personal reasons.
A 2021 Pew Research survey found that 44% of non-parents aged 18–49 are unlikely to have children, while the percentage of adults living in child-free households has risen steadily for decades. The DINK lifestyle isn’t always a choice — fertility challenges, age, and economic uncertainty all play a role — but for the growing number of couples who do choose it, the financial and lifestyle implications are significant.
2
The financial upside of the DINK lifestyle is substantial — the average cost of raising a child to age 17 exceeds $233,000, and that’s before college.
DINK couples redirect that spending toward savings, investments, travel, and career growth — and with two incomes and no childcare costs, they’re often positioned to build wealth faster than comparable couples with children. The financial freedom extends beyond money: more time for career advancement, the flexibility to relocate for better opportunities, and a stronger ability to take on investment risk when you’re not funding a college education.
3
The DINK lifestyle comes with unique financial planning considerations — including retirement without the informal support of adult children, estate planning complexity, and long-term care needs.
DINK couples who accumulate significant wealth without children face a different set of financial planning challenges than families: who inherits their estate, who manages their affairs if both partners become incapacitated, and how they’ll fund long-term care without relying on family caregivers. Working with a financial advisor who specializes in childfree couples helps ensure the financial advantages of the DINK lifestyle are backed by a plan that accounts for its unique risks.
What Is the DINK Lifestyle?
Short for “dual income, no kids,” DINK is the term given to households where both partners in the relationship earn an income, but neither has any children.
It runs in slight contrast to the DEWK lifestyle, which stands for “dually employed with kids.” Couples in the latter category may have a similar net worth, but the responsibility of having a family impacts how they spend it.
It’s for these reasons that marketers of luxury products and services devote significant chunks of their budget to targeting so-called DINKs.
The Rise of the DINK Lifestyle: Why More Couples Are Choosing to Stay Childfree
Becoming a “dual income no kids” married or cohabiting couple is increasingly popular. For example, a recent survey from Pew Research found that 44% of non-parents aged 18 to 49 are unlikely to have kids these days and that 74% of parents in the same age range are unlikely to have any more.
Additionally, according to the US Census Bureau, the percentage of adults living without children rose from 52.5% to 71.3% between 1967 and 2016.
In the next section, we’ll look at some benefits of the DINK lifestyle that help explain these figures. But first, it’s worth noting that it isn’t always a choice. Whereas many couples enter it actively, others do so through circumstance. They might have fertility issues, for example, or they could be older, retired, and have grown-up children who have left the family home.
Furthermore, while the stereotype of child-free DINKs (i.e., those who choose the lifestyle – versus childless, who don’t) involves a young, ambitious couple prioritizing their career/personal freedom, many partners pick the lifestyle for practical reasons or because of their concern around the future.
Indeed, the rate of conception has been known to crash in the face of economic uncertainty. And there’s plenty of that in today’s world! If a couple’s combined income still seems insufficient to have a child, then it can seem like the wrong way forward.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.
The Main Benefits of the DINK Lifestyle
Specific circumstances aside, most DINKs experience advantages that both DEWKs and singletons miss out on. Here are 3 compelling incentives that help explain why more and more couples are adopting this lifestyle:
1. More Time for Career, Experiences, and Each Other
Because raising children involves such a huge investment of time and energy, DINK couples generally have much more free time. There are no PTA meetings to attend or extracurricular activities to take someone to (and from)! When they aren’t working, they can do whatever they like.
That’s a boon for anyone seeking some well-deserved R&R. Yet it’s also a major benefit if you have big dreams and ambitions. For example, someone who’s career-focused could spend longer in the office, doing whatever it takes to get a promotion.
Of course, it also means DINK couples have more time for each other. They can go on dates without having to pay a babysitter, take spontaneous trips on weekends, and give their partner their undivided attention around the dinner table. Ultimately, this extra quality time can help forge a stronger relationship.
2. More Money to Save, Invest, and Spend as You Choose
An unmarried or married couple may be financially motivated to consider the DINK lifestyle, too. Why? Because there’d be more money to go around! According to USDA, for instance, the average cost of raising a child from birth to age 17 is over $233,000. Now imagine raising a few of them…
With no childcare to worry about, DINK couples can use that cash however they see fit. From clothes, jewelry, and travel to investing in property, stocks, and bonds, financial planning without kids means DINKs are able to enjoy a degree of material success that other spouses/couples could never afford – especially if they’re both in high-paying positions.
3. The Freedom to Move, Relocate, or Travel Without Complication
Moving from one home to another is harder to justify when you enter parenthood. They might be at school and about to sit their exams, for example. Or maybe they have a tight-knit group of friends that you’re reluctant to take them away from. In either case, it can feel unfair, selfish, and/or impractical to go somewhere new.
DINKs don’t have to worry about this. They’re free to come and go! Assuming both partners are happy, they can take that job on the other side of the country, pursue their dreams of living in Europe or sell everything they own and travel the world. It goes without saying that parents can have these adventures, too. But the decision (and process) is unquestionably easier without children to take into account.
The Cons of the DINK Lifestyle
Despite having more time, money, and mobility to enjoy, the decision to enter the DINK lifestyle won’t be for everyone.
Indeed, many people see childbearing as a unique, positive life experience and a natural part of adulthood. Not everyone is willing to pass it up. And, while prioritizing personal freedom and career ambitions can feel like the right call now, some might worry about regretting the decision later in life- when it’s too late.
There are practical issues to consider, too. For instance, did you know that parents can receive a tax credit of up to $2,000 for each child younger than 17? That’s a sizeable chunk of their annual tax bill that DINKs forgo.
Is the DINK Lifestyle Right for You?
More and more couples are experimenting with the DINK lifestyle. And can you blame them? Whether you’re an exhausted parent of young children or someone considering their future, it’s hard not to swoon at the benefits involved.
Ultimately, though, there’s no right or wrong. With compelling pros and cons on either side, it’s up to each couple to decide if it’s the right way forward.
About the Author
Danny Newman is a nationally syndicated freelance writer with a focus on travel. MSN feed and Associated Press bylines. Danny is a digital nomad from the UK who’s been traveling full-time since 2018. Learn More About Danny.
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Whether you’re looking for a specialist advisor who works with DINKs and can meet you online, or you prefer to find a nearby financial planner, you deserve to work with a professional who understands your unique circumstances.
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This article originally appeared on Wealthtender. To make Wealthtender free for our readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a natural conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be considered financial advice. You should consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
What this article covers
How does your net worth stack up against others your age? It’s a question most people wonder about but rarely have the data to answer. This article uses the Federal Reserve’s most recent Survey of Consumer Finances — the most comprehensive source of U.S. household wealth data available — to show net worth percentiles and averages across 13 age groups, from 18–24 through 80 and above. You’ll find tables covering total net worth, investable net worth excluding home equity, and home equity as both a dollar figure and a percentage of wealth — along with perspective from financial advisors on when comparing yourself to peers is useful, and when it can work against you.
Looking at net worth percentiles and averages by age group…
Admit it! You can’t resist comparing yourself and your accomplishments to others, especially your peer group.
Right? I do this, too, on occasion. It’s only human.
In this article, I’m including several tables and graphs to help you compare. The data are all based on a Fed survey via DQYDJ.com.
Key Takeaways
1
The average net worth at every age is dramatically higher than the median — and that gap tells the real story about wealth in America.
For Americans in their late 50s, the average net worth is nearly $1.44 million — but the median is just $321,000. The massive gap between these two numbers reflects how heavily wealth is concentrated at the top: a small number of very wealthy households pull the average far above what most people actually have. When comparing your net worth to peers, the median is the more meaningful benchmark for most households.
2
For middle-wealth Americans, home equity makes up more than half of total net worth at most ages — which means they’re less financially secure than the headline number suggests.
At the median net worth, home equity represents 59–73% of total wealth for Americans in their 50s through 80s. That equity doesn’t generate income and can’t easily be tapped without selling or borrowing. By contrast, home equity represents less than 15% of net worth for the top 1% at most ages — a reminder that liquid, investable assets are what generate the cash flow that sustains retirement.
3
Comparing your net worth to your age group can be motivating — but financial advisors caution that your own goals matter far more than where you rank.
Benchmarking against peers can inspire better financial habits or reveal that a course correction is needed. But it can also trigger unnecessary anxiety or encourage harmful decisions like excessive risk-taking to “catch up.” The most useful comparison, as financial planners consistently advise, is between where you are today and where you need to be to fund your own specific goals — not where someone else your age happens to be.
How the Federal Reserve Defines “Families” and “Households” in This Data
First off, we want to know what we’re comparing. In this case, it’s household or family net worth.
How are families/households defined here?
According to the Fed, there were 131.3 million families or households in the US as of the most recent survey (2022), which the Fed defined: “… a household unit is divided into a primary economic unit (PEU) — the family — and everyone else in the household. The PEU is intended to be the economically dominant single person or couple (whether married or living together as partners) and all other persons in the household who are financially interdependent with that economically dominant person or couple.”
Net Worth Percentiles by Age
To kick things off, the following table presents net worth percentiles and averages by age group.
The first column shows the age groups, and the second provides the average net worth for each age group.
Next, we see six columns showing the 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles for each age group. Notice how the average is far higher than the median, which is the 50th percentile (see also the first graph after the table).
For example, if your net worth at age 37 is $900k, you’d be between the 90th percentile ($864.3k) and 95th percentile ($1.48M) and closer to the former than the latter.
Net Worth Percentiles by Age
Age
Average
25%
50%
75%
90%
95%
Top 1%
18–24
$112,104
$88
$10,222
$33,898
$184,516
$421,700
$653,224
25–29
$120,183
$3,784
$31,470
$130,606
$296,830
$410,060
$2,121,910
30–34
$258,075
$11,016
$88,631
$186,140
$538,750
$796,256
$2,636,882
35–39
$501,295
$16,548
$138,588
$389,432
$864,340
$1,482,170
$4,741,320
40–44
$590,710
$23,812
$134,382
$436,892
$1,182,580
$1,971,456
$7,835,420
45–49
$781,936
$47,668
$213,586
$680,298
$1,428,714
$2,790,132
$8,701,500
50–54
$1,132,497
$54,414
$266,140
$913,012
$2,576,540
$4,419,488
$13,231,940
55–59
$1,441,987
$84,977
$321,074
$1,137,318
$2,672,160
$6,049,934
$15,371,684
60–64
$1,675,294
$80,372
$392,860
$1,131,122
$3,042,280
$6,366,204
$17,869,960
65–69
$1,836,884
$68,972
$393,480
$1,154,552
$2,961,060
$6,865,468
$22,102,660
70–74
$1,714,085
$124,757
$438,700
$1,234,946
$2,999,396
$6,197,642
$18,761,580
75–79
$1,629,275
$89,504
$338,180
$991,520
$2,914,188
$5,844,534
$19,868,894
80+
$1,611,984
$95,230
$327,200
$944,334
$2,540,500
$5,461,280
$16,229,800
Here is the same data in three graphs.
First, we compare the average net worth to the median (50th percentile, where you have more than half the households).
As mentioned above, the average is much higher, because it’s skewed by the immense wealth of the top few percentiles. We also see that the average peaks in one’s late 60s while the median peaks a bit later, in one’s early 70s.
Next, we compare the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles. All peak in the early 70s, and the 75th percentile is higher than the 50th by much more than the 50th exceeds the 25th.
This reflects the increasing inequality in our society, where wealth is concentrated near the top so the difference made by each percentage point increases as the percentile position goes higher.
Finally, we compare the 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile (that last is the infamous “1-percenters”).
Interestingly, the 90th percentile is pretty flat, around $2.5M to $3M, from one’s early 50s to one’s 80s.
The 95th is slightly less flat, with a peak slightly under $7M in one’s late 60s; while the 99th percentile rises sharply with age until peaking over $22M in one’s late 60s, from which point it mostly drops.
Investable Net Worth Percentiles by Age (Excluding Home Equity)
Next, we repeat the whole sequence but now exclude home equity from the numbers.
Strictly speaking, this isn’t as viable a measure of wealth, but it helps assess the investment returns you might expect from your portfolio. That’s because your home equity doesn’t typically provide cash flow.
Investable Net Worth Percentiles by Age (Excluding Home Equity)
Age
Average
25%
50%
75%
90%
95%
Top 1%
18–24
$83,365
$74
$9,774
$22,616
$74,184
$183,540
$553,224
25–29
$84,699
$1,218
$19,270
$71,680
$191,604
$300,730
$1,877,120
30–34
$182,198
$2,530
$36,178
$100,248
$291,262
$579,136
$2,403,902
35–39
$380,972
$8,070
$43,416
$208,930
$645,230
$1,199,640
$4,556,660
40–44
$436,408
$8,699
$57,668
$245,586
$818,830
$1,506,282
$6,702,740
45–49
$575,097
$15,144
$92,370
$408,002
$1,006,852
$2,002,670
$7,661,420
50–54
$861,235
$13,406
$94,923
$531,484
$1,971,490
$3,327,520
$11,897,166
55–59
$1,148,392
$15,108
$131,460
$709,824
$2,013,308
$4,945,610
$14,104,130
60–64
$1,364,736
$22,343
$186,450
$751,586
$2,489,080
$4,988,724
$15,620,474
65–69
$1,512,595
$11,780
$132,290
$784,100
$2,302,160
$5,650,770
$18,992,040
70–74
$1,380,172
$40,480
$237,692
$770,944
$2,452,560
$5,036,686
$16,459,620
75–79
$1,308,408
$12,818
$112,106
$527,860
$2,384,806
$4,975,080
$17,971,150
80+
$1,284,384
$17,284
$88,049
$524,526
$1,860,666
$4,136,000
$15,590,600
Here, we see a similar pattern, with some striking differences.
For the 25th percentile, total net worth increases from next to nothing for ages 18–24 up to $125k by the early 70s, whereas investable net worth peaks at a far lower $28k.
For the 50th percentile (median), there’s a similar pattern, though investable net worth peaks at $238k, about half the $439k total net worth in the early 70s age group.
As you go up to the 75th percentile and higher, home equity continues to drop in relative importance (more on that later on).
Next, we have the same three graphs as before but this time excluding home equity.
As the first graph of these three graphs shows, the average investable net worth is again far higher than the median, with the two peaking at the same age groups as total net worth.
The second graph shows that, if anything, investable net worth jumps from the 50th to the 75th percentile more than from the 25th to the 50th even more than total net worth does.
The 75th percentile peaks at $784k for ages 65 to 69, a little earlier than total net worth peaks.
For the 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles, investable net worth behaves quite similarly to total net worth. Considering how small a part home equity plays in wealth at these levels, this isn’t surprising.
How Much Home Equity Do Americans Have at Each Net Worth Percentile and Age?
Finally, we can look at the difference between the data in the first and second tables to estimate the average home equity held by different net worth percentiles by age group.
Average Home Equity by Age and Net Worth Percentile
Age
Average
25%
50%
75%
90%
95%
Top 1%
18–24
$28,739
$14
$448
$11,282
$110,332
$238,160
$100,000
25–29
$35,484
$2,566
$12,200
$58,926
$105,226
$109,330
$244,790
30–34
$75,877
$8,486
$52,453
$85,892
$247,488
$217,120
$232,980
35–39
$120,323
$8,478
$95,172
$180,502
$219,020
$282,530
$184,660
40–44
$154,302
$15,113
$76,714
$191,306
$363,750
$465,174
$1,132,580
45–49
$206,839
$32,524
$121,216
$225,972
$427,865
$787,462
$1,040,000
50–54
$271,262
$41,008
$171,217
$381,528
$605,805
$1,091,968
$1,334,774
55–59
$293,595
$69,869
$189,614
$427,494
$658,800
$1,104,324
$1,317,584
60–64
$310,558
$68,170
$249,220
$379,536
$532,725
$1,377,480
$2,249,680
65–69
$324,289
$57,192
$261,190
$370,452
$658,900
$1,214,698
$3,110,620
70–74
$333,913
$96,317
$201,008
$464,002
$542,876
$1,160,956
$2,249,000
75–79
$320,867
$76,686
$226,074
$463,660
$529,360
$869,454
$1,897,744
80+
$327,600
$77,946
$239,151
$419,808
$679,834
$1,325,280
$639,200
We see several patterns here.
The average and median home equity levels are far closer to each other across all age groups than is the case for net worth.
For the 25th percentile, home equity starts taking off mostly after age 40, roughly doubling from the late 30s to the early 40s and continuing to go up by $8k-$9k every five years until the early 60s. There’s an odd drop in the second half of the 60s before a jump of over 50% into the early 70s followed by a drop of ~20% into the late 70s and beyond. These odd ups and downs could be due to large variances between the relatively small sample of older poor people (the life expectancy of the wealthy can exceed that of the poor by more than a decade).
For the median, home equity starts climbing earlier, in the early 30s, where it more than quadruples relative to the late 20s. It then mostly rises until the late 60s, from which it mostly falls. However, the differences from the late 60s and on are under 25% at most. This could again be the result of life expectancy being somewhat lower for this economic stratum than those above it.
The home equity of the 75th net worth percentile starts climbing earlier yet, in the late 20s, more than quintupling from the teens and early 20s. It then mostly climbs until the early 50s. From there, it dips somewhat lower for the following 10 years, before climbing again, peaking in the 70s. This pattern may be related to having college-age kids and possibly using home equity to help finance their education.
For the 90th, 95th, and 99th net worth percentiles, home equity is already $100k or higher for late teens and early 20s. For the 90th and 95th percentiles, home equity mostly rises with age, with some relatively small fluctuations. For both the 90th and 95th percentiles, the highest home equity is reached for ages 80 plus. For the top 1% however, home equity peaks sharply at over $3M in the late 60s before dropping nearly five-fold by the late 80s. This could be due to the very wealthy significantly downsizing their homes in their later years.
You can see all these patterns visually in the next three graphs.
Home Equity as a Percentage of Net Worth — and Why It Matters More Than the Dollar Amount
The final table shows home equity for various net worth percentiles as a fraction of net worth rather than in absolute dollar terms.
Here, we see the following patterns.
Home equity is more than half the net worth at the 25th percentile, reaching as high as 86% for the late 70s age group.
For the median net worth, home equity is again half or more of net worth for most age groups above age 30, peaking at a somewhat lower 73% for ages 80 and over.
For the 75th percentile, home equity typically runs from a third of net worth to slightly less than half, peaking at 47% in the late 70s.
Those in the 90th percentile have home equity starting at 60% in their late teens and early 20s before dropping to a range of 18% to 31% for ages 40 and over, with the 31% peak in the early 40s.
For the 95th percentile we see a similar pattern, with 56% for the youngest age group, dropping to a range of 15% to 28% from age 25 and up, with the 28% peak in the late 40s.
Home equity plays a small role in the net worth of the top 1%, ranging from a high of 15% for the youngest age group down to as low as 4%(!) for those in their late 30s and again for ages 80 and up.
Average Home Equity as Fraction of Net Worth by Age and Net Worth Percentile
Age
Average
25%
50%
75%
90%
95%
Top 1%
18–24
26%
16%
4%
33%
60%
56%
15%
25–29
30%
68%
39%
45%
35%
27%
12%
30–34
29%
77%
59%
46%
46%
27%
9%
35–39
24%
51%
69%
46%
25%
19%
4%
40–44
26%
63%
57%
44%
31%
24%
14%
45–49
26%
68%
57%
40%
30%
23%
12%
50–54
24%
75%
64%
42%
23%
25%
10%
55–59
20%
82%
59%
36%
25%
22%
9%
60–64
19%
85%
63%
34%
23%
18%
13%
65–69
18%
83%
66%
32%
22%
18%
14%
70–74
18%
77%
46%
33%
18%
17%
12%
75–79
20%
86%
67%
47%
18%
15%
10%
80+
20%
82%
73%
44%
27%
24%
4%
The last graph, below, shows this picture visually, where home equity plays a smaller and smaller role in net worth as one’s wealth grows. It also shows how home equity percentage peaks move from older to younger as wealth increases.
What the Data Actually Means — and What Financial Advisors Say About Comparing Net Worth
The above shows how total and investable net worth varies by age for various net worth percentiles. It also shows the impact of home equity as part of one’s net worth for those net worth percentiles for the different age groups.
Using the tables and graphs, you can compare your numbers to the overall population, to see where you come out in the wealth distribution. Depending on your perspective, this can lead to despair, complacency, or ambition. Of the three, I recommend that last…
As Omar Morillo, CFP ChFC AIF, Founder of Imperio Wealth Advisors says, “Comparing net worth, especially with one’s age cohort, can be helpful and counterproductive. On the positive side, such comparisons can provide a benchmark, motivating individuals to save and invest more wisely to achieve financial security. It can foster competition, leading to better financial decisions and habits. However, this practice can also be counterproductive, leading to feelings of inadequacy or stress if one’s financial situation lags behind peers. It might encourage unhealthy financial behaviors, such as excessive risk-taking or overspending, in an attempt to ‘keep up.’ For example, after comparing their net worth with friends, I had a client who invested in high-risk ventures to boost their wealth, only to face significant losses quickly. Individuals must focus on personal financial goals tailored to their circumstances rather than purely on comparison. A balanced approach, using comparisons as a tool for insight rather than a definitive measure of success, can help readers make informed decisions while maintaining financial well-being.”
Carman Kubanda, CFP®, ChFC®, Financial Planner at Innovative Wealth Building mostly agrees, “I don’t think comparing net worth is particularly useful. A better approach is focusing on your own situation and financial goals with real financial planning to ensure you make the right choices to accomplish those goals. However, in certain cases, comparing net worth may help encourage financial discipline or spur on change if lagging behind peers.”
Zack Swad, CFP®, CWS®, RLP®, BFA™, AWMA®, AAMS®, President of Swad Wealth Management, LLC on the other hand, falls squarely on the side of comparisons being mostly harmful, saying, “While comparing your net worth to peers may be entertaining (or disappointing), it usually isn’t very useful. Your lifestyle may be drastically different than the average and therefore your needs may be much higher or lower. People who are interested in figuring out if they are on track should start by figuring out what they need in their lives now and into the future. Then, develop good habits and make progress toward their goals. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’”
If you do choose to view wealth accumulation as a competition, it’s best to view it as a competition between your present and past selves rather than between you and everyone else.
Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be considered financial advice. You should consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.
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About the Author
Opher Ganel, Ph.D.
My career has had many unpredictable twists and turns. A MSc in theoretical physics, PhD in experimental high-energy physics, postdoc in particle detector R&D, research position in experimental cosmic-ray physics (including a couple of visits to Antarctica), a brief stint at a small engineering services company supporting NASA, followed by starting my own small consulting practice supporting NASA projects and programs. Along the way, I started other micro businesses and helped my wife start and grow her own Marriage and Family Therapy practice. Now, I use all these experiences to also offer financial strategy services to help independent professionals achieve their personal and business finance goals. Connect with me on my own site: OpherGanel.com and/or follow my Medium publication: medium.com/financial-strategy/.
This guide covers everything you need to know to get started and succeed with testimonial marketing: how to prepare your policies and procedures, how to craft compliant disclosures, which platforms to use and the compliance risks of general review platforms, how to ask clients for their first reviews without it feeling awkward, and how to promote those testimonials across your website, social media, and marketing campaigns to attract new clients. Whether you’re an individual advisor or a compliance officer at a wealth management firm, this is the step-by-step framework we use at Wealthtender with hundreds of advisors — and it’s yours to use however you choose.
A quick note from Brian Thorp, Wealthtender CEO
Hi, I’m Brian Thorp, founder and CEO of Wealthtender. If you’re reading this, you know your online reputation matters and client testimonials are a powerful new tool to grow your advisory business thanks to the SEC Marketing Rule. What you may not know is how to navigate these uncharted waters.
I’m the founder of Wealthtender, the industry’s first testimonial marketing platform for financial advisors designed for regulatory compliance and the leading find-an-advisor directory website visited by 500,000 consumers annually.
I regularly speak with advisors, wealth management leaders, and compliance officers interested in getting started with testimonial marketing, and I hear questions like these:
How can I tactfully ask my clients to write a review?
Can I invite non-clients and COIs to write a review?
How can I promote testimonials to grow my business?
And how can I do all of this compliantly?
In this ultimate guide to testimonial marketing for advisors, we offer answers to these questions and many more, with step-by-step instructions to get started and compliantly grow your business with testimonials.
As a financial advisor, compliance officer, advisory firm executive, or marketing professional, we’ll guide you through the development of your online reviews strategy with valuable tips and resources to ensure your success.
In just a few weeks, your client testimonials and online reviews can become an evergreen source of digital referrals and help you rank higher in search results, positioning your firm to lead the industry in attracting new clients.
Whether you choose Wealthtender as your partner to support your testimonial marketing strategy or prefer to follow another path, we hope you find this guide useful and wish you the greatest success.
Throughout this article, look for information denoted by a gold star (⭐) with useful tips and resources to help you get started and succeed with Certified Advisor Reviews™.
Why the Next Five Years Will Determine Who Leads the Industry in Client Acquisition
Imagine you’re a consumer in need of a financial advisor. Maybe you’re leaving your long-time employer for a new job and looking for financial guidance. Or perhaps you need help with college planning for a newborn. Or you’ve just lost a parent. You’re nervous, a little afraid, and concerned.
With a couple of clicks, you’re now online reading reviews written by clients of financial advisors who were once in your shoes. Suddenly, you’re feeling much more at ease. Your anxiety begins to subside as you realize other people with circumstances similar to your own gained relief when they found the right financial advisor. And now it’s your turn.
Energized and feeling confident based on the reviews you’ve read, you discover an advisor who is clearly trusted by their clients and may be a good fit for you. With one click, you book an introductory call on their calendar.
Scenarios like the example above occur thousands of times per day among consumers preparing to hire trust-based professionals like doctors and lawyers.
The same will hold true for financial advisors as their online reviews proliferate.
Consumers rely on a combination of facts and emotional cues when choosing a financial advisor:
Facts:Your education, credentials, and years of experience are facts that help consumers judge your credibility.
Emotion:Your online reviews build trust and satisfy consumers’ emotional needs, increasing their confidence in contacting and hiring you.
Do Financial Advisor Reviews Matter?
83%of consumers want to read online reviews and look for trust indicators before hiring a financial advisor — according to Wealthtender’s 2025 study of 500 U.S. adults
Now that the SEC permits advisors to request and promote client reviews online, consumers hiring financial advisors will increasingly rely on reviews just as they do when hiring doctors and lawyers. If you decide not to make online reviews part of your marketing strategy, a nearby advisor with positive reviews is more likely to get the call. Today, you have a first-mover opportunity to build a review presence most of your competitors still haven’t started.
Before getting started with testimonial marketing, it’s important to think about the big picture (and, of course, compliance).
If you’ve already established goals and metrics for your digital marketing strategy, consider the ways that client testimonials and online reviews fit into your current plan and the new opportunities they offer you to reach even higher. Or if you’re new to digital marketing or recently launched your practice, you’ll benefit by including online reviews in your marketing plan from the start.
Thinking about these questions upfront will help you establish an effective online reviews strategy tailored to your business goals and unique needs:
What are the most important goals I want to achieve with testimonial marketing?
Attracting new clients locally
Increasing digital referrals nationwide
Reinforcing confidence among my current clients
Ranking higher in Google search results and appearing in AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT and Gemini (SEO and AEO)
Improving the effectiveness of my website to attract more prospects
Gaining recognition as a leading authority in my niche
Strengthening the reputation of my firm
Beyond my current clients, who else will I ask to write reviews and why?
Leaders of local organizations who can speak to my character
Professional acquaintances who know my work ethic
COIs in my niche who understand the specialized services I offer
How will I ensure my testimonial marketing strategy is effective and compliant?
Working with my in-house marketing and compliance teams
Partnering with a marketing consultant
Hiring a third-party compliance expert
Collecting and displaying reviews on SEC-compliant platforms
Relying upon online resources to do it myself
A combination of the methods above
How Client Testimonials Strengthen Your SEO and AI Visibility 🔍
Do online reviews impact how prominently you rank in Google search results? While Google doesn’t disclose specifically how their algorithms work, they offer helpful information to understand better how online reviews for professionals like financial advisors can help or hurt your ranking in search results.
Positive online reviews increase your E-E-A-T, a term used by Google that stands for Experience,Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. And YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) is how Google refers to websites that could significantly impact the quality of people’s lives, including their finances.
As a financial advisor, your website is already held to higher E-E-A-T and YMYL standards by Google than sites on topics of less importance to people’s lives. And now, financial advisors join other trust-based professionals like doctors and lawyers whose online reviews send powerful signals to Google’s algorithms which can influence how prominently you appear in search results.
It’s wise to include testimonials on your website. And it’s also valuable to collect and display reviews elsewhere on the internet as Google instructs its human quality raters to ‘look for outside, independent reputation information’ about you and your website.
By inviting clients to write reviews on reputable third-party websites, you’re providing Google with signals that reinforce your trustworthiness and could send more prospects to your website.
How Advisor Reviews on Wealthtender Are Indexed by AI Tools
Beyond traditional search rankings, client reviews on independent platforms are now one of the primary signals that AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity use when generating financial advisor recommendations.
Wealthtender’s 2025 study of 500 affluent U.S. adults found that 25% are already using AI tools to start their advisor search — not as a supplement to Google, but as a primary starting point. Of those who receive a personal referral, 96% research advisors online before making contact, and AI tools are increasingly the research method they use.
Two dynamics make this directly relevant to your testimonial marketing strategy:
Independent reviews outperform self-published testimonials in AI results. AI tools are designed to weight reviews on independent, third-party platforms more heavily than testimonials hosted on an advisor’s own website — which are treated as inherently curated and therefore less credible as a recommendation signal. Reviews on platforms like Wealthtender, where the content is independently verified and the platform itself carries domain authority in financial services, are the reviews AI tools cite when generating advisor recommendations.
AI visibility compounds the same way SEO authority does. Advisors who build a consistent, review-rich profile on platforms AI tools already recognize as authoritative sources are accumulating a discovery asset that grows more valuable over time — and that competitors who haven’t started will find increasingly difficult to catch up with.
The advisors appearing in AI-generated answers today aren’t there by accident. They built structured, review-rich, schema-optimized profiles on platforms AI tools were already trained to trust. Your testimonials are the raw material. The platform and structure you publish them on determines whether AI tools find them.
How Advisor Reviews on Wealthtender Are Displayed in Google Search Results:
SEC, State, or Dually Registered? What You Need to Know Before Getting Started
While this guide is designed for SEC-registered investment advisors and investment adviser representatives, most state regulators now permit state-registered advisors to collect and promote testimonials by following the guidance on testimonials outlined in the SEC Marketing Rule.
And dually registered advisors subject to FINRA oversight when acting as registered representatives also have a clear path to get started with testimonial marketing by following the SEC Marketing Rule and guidance under FINRA Rule 2210.
Of course, no matter your registration status, you should speak with your compliance team prior to implementing any ideas featured in this guide or the accompanying resources. If you or your legal and compliance counterparts would like to dive deeper with us on a Zoom call, please schedule a time here.
Information for State Registered Advisors
As a State Registered Investment Advisor, it’s important to first confirm if your state regulator has granted approval for RIAs in your state to begin asking for testimonials. As of today, some states have not yet given the green light, but pressure from NASAA in 2025 and 2026 has resulted in more states modernizing their rules.
To support state-registered advisors interested in getting started with testimonial marketing, I regularly reach out to state regulators to ask for guidance and advocate on your behalf. (You can view the most recent feedback I’ve received in our state regulator tracking database.)
I like to remind state regulators that the SEC passed their new Marketing Rule for the benefit of consumers who rely upon online reviews to make more informed and educated hiring decisions. I also let them know how Certified Advisor Reviews from Wealthtender are designed for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule to help put them at ease.
I’m a member of the National Society of Compliance Professionals and their SEC Marketing Rule working group. I also regularly speak with securities attorneys and industry stakeholders to advocate for State registered investment advisors in hopes we can quickly even the playing field so you’re not at a disadvantage to SEC RIAs who can get started with testimonial marketing today.
Information for Hybrid or Dually Registered Advisors (FINRA)
While this guide is designed for SEC-registered investment advisors and investment adviser representatives preparing for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule, it’s important for hybrid or dually registered advisors to concurrently satisfy their obligations for testimonials pursuant to FINRA’s rule 2210(d)(6).
Fortunately, you’ll find FINRA’s requirements fit easily within the SEC Marketing Rule framework. Hybrid or dually registered advisors should ensure online reviews also meet the following criteria:
If the review discusses the investment advice you provide or investment performance, the review must prominently disclose the following:
The fact that the testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other customers,
The fact that the testimonial is no guarantee of future performance or success, and
If more than $100 in value is paid for the testimonial, the fact that it is a paid testimonial
If the review discusses a technical aspect of investing, the reviewer must have the knowledge and experience to form a valid opinion
FINRA requires that disclosures be provided in close proximity to the review or ‘through a clearly marked hyperlink accompanying the testimonial using language such as “important testimonial information,” provided of course that the testimonial is not false, misleading, exaggerated or promissory’.
Accordingly, FINRA required disclosures not already addressed within SEC required disclosures can simply be included alongside the SEC required disclosures.
Preparing Your Policies and Procedures
As an SEC-registered investment adviser, the policies and procedures you develop for your firm’s testimonials and endorsements to comply with the SEC Marketing Rule will need to be incorporated into your existing written policies and procedures established to prevent violation of the Advisers Act.
Fortunately, the SEC Marketing Rule offers a principles-based approach with fairly clear and straightforward guidance so you can successfully grow your business with testimonials in a compliant manner.
In this section, we’ll guide you through important topics discussed by the SEC in the Marketing Rule, including opportunities and potential risks you’ll want to consider to help you prepare your policies and procedures for supervision of your firm’s activities associated with testimonials and endorsements.
And since it’s expected the most popular way to collect, display and promote testimonials and endorsements will be on the internet, this section includes practical tips and guidance to help you determine which financial advisor online review platforms may be most appropriate for your firm, including your own firm website.
⭐ At the end of this section, you’ll find a template you can download to help you prepare policies and procedures for your firm.
What Your Policies Must Say About How You Ask for Reviews
At the very heart of the SEC Marketing Rule is permission to ask for reviews from current clients (testimonials) and non-clients (endorsements), subject to conditions. But how and where you ask matters. We cover this topic in-depth later in this guide, so we’ll just touch on three quick points here:
1. The SEC wants to ensure you’re not cherry-picking reviews from your favorite clients, so it’s important to ask all of your current clients for a review when first getting started.
2. Asking for reviews may feel uncomfortable at first, but over 60% of consumers said they are likely to write a review when a business sends an email with a link after a good experience.
3. Think twice before asking for reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Since reviews on these platforms are not designed to include required SEC disclosures, promoting your Google or Yelp reviews is off-limits, and there’s not yet clear guidance from the SEC advising if simply asking for reviews on these platforms violates the Marketing Rule. Yelp’s policy also prohibits businesses from asking for reviews, and Google’s policy prohibits compensating for reviews.
Learn Our Concerns with Review Platforms like Google and Yelp
Why We Include Comparisons to Google and Yelp
If Google and Yelp are not compatible with the SEC Marketing Rule, you may rightly be wondering why we’re discussing these platforms at all.
Here’s What We Know with Certainty:
Google and Yelp are well-known review platforms popular with consumers. And financial advisors may already have unsolicited reviews written about them visible on these sites. If these are favorable reviews and are truly unsolicited, that’s terrific as advisors are gaining SEO benefits and visibility among consumers visiting these sites.
But because reviews on Google and Yelp lack the required SEC disclosures to be considered advertisements (e.g., testimonials and endorsements you can promote to grow your business), advisors can’t direct prospects to check out their reviews on these platforms.
⭐ This is one of the reasons why we provide tools to help advisors import their Google Reviews to their Wealthtender profile page where appropriate disclosures can be added, unlocking the power of these reviews to become SEC-compliant testimonials advisors can use to attract new clients.
Here’s What We Don’t (Yet) Know:
Unlike unsolicited reviews published on Google or Yelp, the SEC has not formally offered guidance to clarify if solicited reviews on Google and Yelp are deemed an advertisement and, therefore, subject to the prohibitions and disclosure requirements discussed throughout the SEC Marketing Rule. So the question we need the SEC to answer is: Does the act of a financial advisor simply asking for a review to be written on specific platforms like Google or Yelp entangle an advisor in its creation and trigger the prohibitions and disclosure requirements?
While industry opinions are mixed on the guidance the SEC will ultimately provide, we believe it’s highly likely the SEC will take issue with advisors proactively soliciting reviews on platforms known to be incompatible with the Marketing Rule. With its principles-based rule intended to ensure consumers gain important information to make more informed decisions, we don’t expect the SEC to look favorably upon a rampant proliferation of advisor reviews on platforms incapable of addressing the Marketing Rule’s prohibitions and disclosure expectations.
Further, we believe the SEC could point to FINRA Regulatory Notice 17-18 which addresses this topic covering testimonials of registered representatives. In the notice, FINRA states: “FINRA does not regard unsolicited third-party opinions or comments posted on a social network to be communications of the broker-dealer or the representative for purposes of Rule 2210, including the requirements related to testimonials in paragraph (d)(6).”
Wealthtender has submitted written requests for clarification on this matter to the SEC (likely along with many other industry participants), and we monitor the SEC’s Marketing Rule FAQ page daily. We’ll update this guide as additional SEC guidance becomes known.
Compensation for Reviews: What the SEC Requires You to Disclose
While the SEC allows advisors to offer compensation for testimonials and endorsements, any published review written by a reviewer who receives compensation must clearly disclose the compensation arrangement, even if it’s non-cash (e.g., gift cards, advisory fee reduction, etc.). And if you choose to pay a reviewer more than $1,000 in value within a 12-month period, you’ll need a written agreement in place between you and the reviewer. You should also consider the policies of online review platforms.
If you plan to offer compensation in any form, consider this guidance to comply with the Marketing Rule and policies of online review platforms:
Reviewers Compensated with Cash
Disclose the amount paid, including any reimbursed expenses
Establish a written agreement if > $1,000 within a 12-month period
Reviewers Compensated with Non-Cash
If non-cash compensation is in the form of an advisory fee reduction, disclose the time period and discount percentage of the total advisory fee
If the value of non-cash compensation is quantifiable in dollar terms, the dollar value of the compensation provided should be disclosed
Establish a written agreement if > $1,000 in value is given within a 12-month period
🚦 You should be aware the SEC will consider the timing of compensation received by an individual relative to publication of their online review to judge in their eyes whether or not an individual has been compensated for their review. In other words, an incidental dinner, gift, or other consideration within an undefined window of time before or after the review, could be considered by the SEC to be compensation for the review.
Accordingly, even if your policy is to not compensate anyone for a review, the SEC might conclude otherwise if you offer cash or non-cash compensation to an individual around the time they write a review.
To comply with the SEC rule beyond the avoidance of doubt, consider erring on the side of caution and drafting your policy to disclose any cash or non-cash compensation received by a reviewer if the timing is relatively near the time of writing or publication of their review.
Anonymous Reviews: When Clients Want to Stay Private and How to Handle It Compliantly
Certain clients (and non-clients) may be interested in writing a review for you, but they prefer to remain anonymous (publicly) when their review is published. Fortunately, the SEC understands this and permits you to promote anonymous testimonials and endorsements when accompanied by proper disclosures. However, not all online review platforms allow reviewers to remain anonymous, and if the identification of the reviewer is unknown to you, you cannot promote the review as a testimonial or endorsement since you’ll be unable to add the required disclosures.
When evaluating online review platforms, take into consideration their policies and your knowledge of sensitive clients:
1Wealthtender requires all reviewers to provide a valid email address. This information is only shared with their financial advisor to ensure the ability to add proper disclosures. Reviewers may choose to publicly display their full name, abbreviated name, or simply ‘anonymous’.
Reviews from Non-Clients (Endorsements)
Beyond reviews from your current clients (testimonials), the SEC also permits you to collect and promote reviews written by your past clients and non-clients (endorsements) when accompanied by proper disclosures clearly indicating the reviewer is not a client. While client reviews often help prospects better understand the client experience, reviews from others who know you well may help prospects learn more about your areas of expertise and character.
For example, consider the potential impact of reviews written by experts and professionals in your niche who can attest to your specialist knowledge; Or reviews written by leaders of non-profit organizations where you volunteer praising your dedication to the community.
Reviews from non-clients may be especially valuable among financial advisors who recently transitioned from another industry, younger advisors with few clients, but lots of credible references, and even newer investment adviser representatives who recently departed a broker-dealer and whose former clients were unable to transition due to a non-solicitation clause.
Monitoring for New Reviews
While there are countless general online review platforms making it nearly impossible to know if you receive a review on an obscure website, it’s likely your reviews will be posted to well-known online review sites like Google, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms like Wealthtender. Each of these platforms allows you to be notified when you receive a new review.
Monitoring for new reviews on these platforms should be fairly straightforward. Regardless, you’ll want to consider which online review sites you will proactively monitor and the email address you will associate with your accounts on these platforms. Do you want review notifications sent to your primary work email address? Or do you have a shared email account regularly checked by your staff that may be preferred to streamline oversight and recordkeeping?
Monitoring for Bad Actors — and the Easiest Way to Eliminate the Concern Entirely
While unlikely to be a significant concern for most advisors, the SEC requires that your policies and procedures address how you will monitor for bad actors. (Note: Since the SEC is only concerned with paid testimonials or endorsements from individuals deemed bad actors, you can mitigate compliance concerns if you prohibit any form of cash or non-cash compensation for reviews.)
A bad actor is defined by the SEC as an ineligible person (or certain associated persons) who is subject either to a disqualifying Commission action or to any disqualifying event. The former includes any Commission opinion or order barring, suspending, or prohibiting a person from acting in any capacity under the Federal securities laws. The latter encompasses events in any of five categories, including court convictions and cease and desist orders that occurred within ten years prior to the person disseminating an endorsement or testimonial.
The SEC indicates, in addition to confirming a compensated reviewer is not a bad actor at the time their review is published, you should conduct an (at least) annual review to determine whether each compensated review is written by an individual meeting the bad actor definition. In such a case, the SEC requires that the review is updated to include clear and prominent disclosure indicating the reviewer is subject to a Commission order or disciplinary action, along with a link to the order on the Commission’s website.
Reviewing the Content of Testimonials and Endorsements
When you receive a new review, the policies and procedures you establish today can serve as a useful framework to satisfy your compliance obligations consistently and in a timely manner.
In this section, we cover three areas of utmost importance to ensure your compliance with SEC requirements.
1. Identifying and Addressing Prohibited Content
Upon receiving a new review, it’s important to review its content through a regulatory lens to determine if it includes prohibited content. Specifically, the SEC prohibits you from promoting reviews that (verbatim from the rule):
Include any untrue statement of a material fact, or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statement made, in the light of the circumstances under which it was made, not misleading.
Include a material statement of fact that the adviser does not have a reasonable basis for believing it will be able to substantiate upon demand by the Commission.
Include information that would reasonably be likely to cause an untrue or misleading implication or inference to be drawn concerning a material fact relating to the investment adviser.
Discuss any potential benefits to clients or investors connected with or resulting from the investment adviser’s services or methods of operation without providing fair and balanced treatment of any material risks or material limitations associated with the potential benefits.
Include a reference to specific investment advice provided by the investment adviser where such investment advice is not presented in a manner that is fair and balanced.
Include or exclude performance results, or present performance time periods, in a manner that is not fair and balanced.
Otherwise be materially misleading.
While this list of prohibitions may feel intimidating, you’re likely to find most reviews reflect a client’s perception of your character, qualities, personality, and experience working with you, which should be straightforward to address in accompanying disclosures as unique to the reviewer and not representative of a typical client.
In situations where a prohibition is triggered, you should discuss your options with your compliance team, which may include:
Redacting or removing the prohibited language and publishing the review with accompanying disclosure to explain the redaction or revisions
Not publishing the review on your website, or if on Wealthtender, requesting the review not be published due to an SEC prohibition
🚦 Keep in mind any reviews you receive on sites like Google and Yelp, whether or not they include prohibited content, cannot be promoted as a testimonial or endorsement due to their inability to comply with SEC disclosure requirements. Also, if you link to your Google or Yelp reviews from your website and any review includes prohibited content, the SEC could view this as fraudulent or deceptive.
2. Documenting Unsubstantiated Material Statements of Fact
While many reviews you receive will entirely reflect the opinions of reviewers, others may include a statement the reviewer believes to be fact. The SEC wants to ensure these claims can be substantiated by you upon demand if they are material.
In certain circumstances, you may want to include a statement of substantiation within the review’s accompanying disclosures for quick recollection of the circumstances if asked by the SEC at a future date. Such a statement also helps demonstrate to the SEC that you had a reasonable belief the statement was factual at the time it was written.
Consider two examples:
A reviewer writes that you hold the Certified Financial Planner designation. Because this is an easily verifiable fact, no further action is necessary.
A reviewer writes that you exclusively invest their portfolio in Vanguard funds. This statement may be factual at the time of writing but is subject to change. While this fact should be easy to verify in a future SEC exam, you’ll rest easier by confirming only Vanguard funds are in their portfolio at the time of writing and documenting your confirmation in the accompanying disclosure and/or your files.
3. Handling Spam and Inappropriate Content
The SEC supports the limited editing or removal of reviews which are spam, profane, defamatory, offensive, threatening, unlawful, or to correct a factual error, as long as the edits are not designed to favor or disfavor the advisor. Your policies and procedures should document how you will handle reviews of this nature in an objective manner.
🚦 Note: Reviews published on Google are scanned by their algorithms which occasionally mistake legitimate reviews for spam and remove them from the platform. When this occurs, and you inquire with Google about the removal, you’re likely to receive this message: “Sometimes our algorithms report and remove legitimate reviews. After a review is removed, we can’t reinstate it. These removal measures help make sure that reviews on Google properties are relevant, helpful, and trustworthy.”
Responding to Reviews: The One Rule You Must Follow to Avoid Entanglement
Although the SEC doesn’t explicitly provide guidance on whether or not you can reply to an online review, you should consider establishing your policy on this topic upfront.
A general rule of thumb and consensus opinion among securities attorneys familiar with the SEC Marketing Rule is you should never reply to reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp. Doing so substantially heightens your risk of entanglement and adoption as defined by the SEC, subjecting you to the rule’s general prohibitions and disclosure requirements which are incompatible with these platforms. Accordingly, you risk violating the SEC rule with no ability to regain compliance.
Whether you plan to thank reviewers who write favorable reviews or would like to respond to a neutral or negative review, consider establishing your policy to handle these communications individually with reviewers by email or phone.
And remember, it’s ok to have some neutral or negative reviews. In fact, studies conducted among other trust-based professions like doctors and lawyers show consumers tend to be skeptical of professionals without negative reviews.
What to Do About Negative Reviews
Let’s face it. One of the biggest fears of getting started with online reviews is waking up to find a new 1-star review with your name on it. Realistically, it’s much more likely your existing clients will write favorable reviews (or, at worst, neutral) and extremely unlikely a non-client you ask to write a review will be motivated to write anything negative.
So what’s the best way to overcome a negative review? First, take a deep breath. Next, take another. Seriously. (⭐ And if your first 3-star or lower review is received on your Wealthtender profile page, email yourfriends@wealthtender.com and we’ll send you a gift certificate for a 1-year premium subscription to the Calm meditation app. Also seriously. We’ll get through this together.)
Once your emotions subside, you’ll be better prepared to determine an appropriate and rational course of action.
Consider these suggestions if you receive a negative review:
Put yourself in the shoes of the reviewer; Try to understand their motivation and what they might be feeling; You may come up with additional ideas to address their concerns.
Is there a practical remedy to the reviewer’s concerns you can offer? If so, try reaching them by phone to humanize the discussion and see if you can reach a positive outcome.
Whether or not you’re successful in resolving the concerns raised in a negative review, you can use the additional disclosures field accompanying the review to offer your own perspective on the matter. Take the high ground and avoid an emotional response.
The best way to overcome a negative review is to earn lots of positive reviews!
A quick note: No matter the online review platform, consumers own the content they write, which means they are free to delete or edit reviews they have written or write a new review. We’re sharing this insight for educational purposes only and suspect the SEC could frown upon advisors encouraging a reviewer to revisit an existing review, so be sure to ask your compliance team for guidance if this is a path you’re considering. Also, even if a reviewer deletes a review, you should be prepared to discuss the circumstances with the SEC upon request.
While the circumstances of each review will differ, consider noting in your policies and procedures how you generally plan to handle negative reviews (e.g. responding offline by phone or email, etc.).
Review Aggregation: How to Unlock Reviews Stuck on Non-Compliant Platforms
You are not permitted by the SEC to directly promote or refer prospects to your reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp, which don’t support required advertising disclosures.
Fortunately, with a reviewer’s permission, you can republish their review on SEC-compliant platforms like Wealthtender and your own website by adding appropriate disclosures. This is known as review aggregation.
By aggregating your reviews on platforms compatible with the SEC rule, you can turn reviews otherwise off-limits into powerful testimonials to proactively attract new clients.
In your online review policies and procedures, consider including a brief discussion of your approach to review aggregation. If you do choose to aggregate reviews from a platform like Google, your policy should be to aggregate every review from the platform where permission is received to mitigate SEC cherry-picking concerns.
SEC Marketing Rule and Compliance with the Advisers Act
Your policies and procedures for testimonials and endorsements should be incorporated into your existing Advisers Act policies and procedures. It’s important to review these combined policies and procedures in totality to ensure your handling of online reviews aligns with your procedures for advertisements.
For example, while the Marketing Rule does not explicitly require review and pre-approval of your online reviews, the SEC believes your existing obligations under the Advisers Act compliance rule for advertisements should: a) prevent violations from occurring, b) ensure your ability to detect violations that have occurred, and c) correct promptly any violations that have occurred.
If your existing policies and procedures already include pre-review and approval of advertisements, reviewing samples of advertisements, periodic reviews, and/or spot-checking, incorporating your online reviews into your current workflows should satisfy SEC expectations.
Because online reviews for financial advisors are new, the SEC also expects your Advisers Act policies and procedures to include training on the Marketing Rule, including its prohibitions and disclosure requirements.
SEC Marketing Rule Form ADV Update
A new section of Form ADV (subsection L under Item 5) has been added to describe your use of testimonials and/or endorsements, including online reviews (and other disclosures beyond the scope of this playbook). You’ll also need to disclose if you pay cash or non-cash compensation to reviewers. These questions are simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Recordkeeping Requirements for the SEC Marketing Rule
The SEC expects you to maintain records of your advertisements, including online reviews and their accompanying disclosures, in an easily accessible place for five years (which can include cloud storage and email archives). If you already have an archiving solution, simply add any online review platforms to be archived as well.
Additionally, the SEC has updated the books and records rule to require that you make and keep any documentation that shows you have a reasonable basis to believe your online reviews are compliant with the Marketing Rule. By following a checklist for each incoming review and documenting your process, you’ll be prepared for a future SEC sweep or examination.
⭐ Template: Policies & Procedures for Testimonials
Crafting Your Disclosures
In this section, we’ll explain the specific disclosure requirements prescribed by the SEC for testimonials and endorsements to help you craft disclosures that are compliant with the SEC Marketing Rule. Beyond regulatory compliance, we’ll also discuss how thoughtfully prepared disclosures help consumers make more informed and educated decisions when evaluating financial advisors.
And since it’s expected the most popular way to collect, display and promote testimonials and endorsements will be online reviews, we focus our discussion on disclosures in the context of reviews published on the internet.
⭐ At the end of this section, you’ll find an Online Review Pre-Publication Checklist template you can download and use to ensure your testimonials and endorsements published online are compliant with SEC Marketing Rule requirements.
The Role of Clear and Prominent Disclosures for Testimonials and Endorsements
To avoid the disclosure fatigue we’ve all grown accustomed to in advertisements frequently overshadowed by paragraphs of fine print, the SEC deserves credit for its refreshing approach emphasizing the value of clear and prominent disclosures to accompany online reviews.
These clear and prominent disclosures are intended to provide consumers with important information to judge the merits of each review, including if:
The reviewer is a client or non-client
Cash or non-cash compensation was paid for the review
Any material conflicts of interest exist that may have influenced the reviewer.
The SEC also expects clear and prominent disclosures to be the same font size as the written review and visible alongside the review. In other words, clear and prominent disclosures effectively become a part of the review itself and cannot be hidden or accessible only via a link.
And if you’re worried about your clear and prominent disclosures being too brief, don’t be. The SEC acknowledges the character limits of certain online platforms and further states, ‘we expect that succinctly providing these disclosures will promote their salience and impact’.
Additional Disclosures for Testimonials and Endorsements
Rest assured, the SEC also expects you to include additional disclosures, both to expand upon any clear and prominent disclosures which warrant further explanation and other required disclosures we’ll cover below. Importantly, unlike clear and prominent disclosures, these additional disclosures may be provided ‘through hyperlinks, in a separate disclosure document or any other similar methods’.
Additional Considerations: Hybrid or Dually Registered Advisors
While this guide is written primarily for SEC-registered investment advisors and investment adviser representatives preparing for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule, it’s important for hybrid or dually registered advisors to concurrently satisfy their obligations for testimonials pursuant to FINRA’s rule 2210(d)(6).
Fortunately, you’ll find FINRA’s requirements fit easily within the SEC Marketing Rule framework. Hybrid or dually registered advisors should ensure online reviews also meet the following requirements:
If the review discusses the investment advice you provide or investment performance, the review must prominently disclose the following:
The fact that the testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other customers,
The fact that the testimonial is no guarantee of future performance or success, and
If more than $100 in value is paid for the testimonial, the fact that it is a paid testimonial
If the review discusses a technical aspect of investing, the reviewer must have the knowledge and experience to form a valid opinion
FINRA requires that disclosures be provided in close proximity to the review or ‘through a clearlymarked hyperlink accompanying the testimonial using language such as “important testimonial information,” provided of course that the testimonial is not false, misleading, exaggerated or promissory’.
Accordingly, FINRA-required disclosures not already addressed within SEC-required disclosures can simply be included alongside the SEC-required disclosures.
Preparing Disclosures for Testimonials and Endorsements
While we distinguish clear and prominent disclosures from additional disclosures above, it’s important to consider both types of disclosures holistically when you’re preparing disclosures to accompany an online review.
Specifically, the SEC requires that you disclose the following information at the time your online review is published:
Clear and Prominent Disclosures:
Is the reviewer a current client? Or non-client? (Note: past clients are generally considered non-clients; If they were a recent client, you should disclose as such)
Was cash or non-cash compensation provided for the review?
A brief statement of material conflicts of interest based on your relationship
Additional Disclosures:
The material terms of any compensation arrangement, including a description of the compensation provided or to be provided, directly or indirectly to the reviewer for their review; If cash (or non-cash and a value is readily ascertainable), the amount should be disclosed; If a reduction in advisory fee, disclose the percentage and time period
A detailed explanation of any material conflicts of interest on the part of the person who wrote the review resulting from your relationship with the reviewer and/or any compensation arrangement; Specifically, the disclosure should explicitly state the reviewer has an incentive to recommend you due to such compensation
Beyond these disclosure expectations, we discussed prohibited content and unsubstantiated material statements of fact in the previous section that could trigger additional disclosure requirements. By consistently following an online review pre-publication checklist to determine which disclosures are necessary to accompany your reviews, you’ll be all set.
⭐ Template: Testimonial Pre-Publication Checklist
Choosing the Right Advisor Review Platforms
Where you choose to collect, display and promote testimonials and endorsements matters, especially for financial advisors subject to regulatory oversight. Today, “where” has expanded well beyond your own website and getting your reviews showing up in traditional search results.
AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are now actively scanning review platforms when generating advisor recommendations to consumers. The platforms you choose today will determine not just your traditional search visibility but whether your reviews surface in AI-generated answers to the growing share of consumers who start their advisor search with an AI query rather than a Google search.
In this section, we compare features and policies of general online review platforms (specifically Google and Yelp) to a dedicated industry online review platform (Wealthtender), and your own website to understand the pros and cons of each. We also share insights worth considering for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule.
The table below highlights relevant features and policies you’ll want to consider when choosing the platforms you’ll use to collect, display and promote your online reviews. Once you decide on the platform(s) you’ll use, you should add a brief discussion explaining your choice(s) in your policies and procedures.
Features and Policies of Online Review Platforms
Comprehensive features and policies comparison of online review platforms for financial advisors — comparing Google, Yelp, Wealthtender, and advisor-owned websites across 13 dimensions including SEC Marketing Rule compatibility, disclosure capability, AI tool visibility, SEO benefits, compensation policies, anonymous reviews, review import, bad actor compliance, and ability to cancel account
GeneralGoogle
GeneralYelp
Purpose-BuiltWealthtender
Self-HostedYour Website
Compatible with SEC rule advertising requirements
No
No
Yes
Partial
Required disclosures can be added clearly and prominently
No
No
Yes
Partial
SEO benefits
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
AI tool visibility (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity)
LimitedGemini — Google’s own AI — does not surface Google Reviews as of 2025
LimitedMinimal presence in AI-powered search environments
YesRegularly indexed and cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude
PartialDepends on schema markup implementation; competes against thousands of advisor sites
Profile exclusive to each advisor — no competitors shown
No
No
Yes
Yes
Asking for reviews is permitted
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Compensation for reviews is allowed
No
No
Yes
Yes
Reviews can be displayed anonymously
No
Limited
Yes
Yes
Reviews from other platforms can be imported and promoted
No
No
Yes
Yes
Bad actor reviews can be removed or updated with required disclosures
No
No
Yes
Yes
Ability to cancel account and remove all reviews
No
No
Yes
N/A
Reviews feature can be turned off while retaining other platform benefits
No
No
Yes
N/A
Platform reviewed by an experienced securities attorney
No
No
Yes
Depends on your developer
Google and Yelp are not compatible with SEC Marketing Rule disclosure requirements. As of 2025, Gemini — Google’s own AI tool — does not surface Google Reviews in AI-generated responses, making Wealthtender the stronger choice for advisors seeking both compliance and AI visibility. Your website can be made compliant with the SEC Marketing Rule with proper development and compliance review, but requires custom work your developer must implement and maintain.
As the table suggests, general online review platforms can be problematic for financial advisors interested in complying with the Marketing Rule. On the other hand, Wealthtender is designed for SEC compliance. Your website developer can work with your compliance team to add online review functionality to your website in an SEC-compliant manner.
⭐ Display Testimonials on Your Website with Wealthtender Widgets
To avoid the hassle of costly development work, Wealthtender offers a variety of easy-to-use widgets that advisors can use to embed and display testimonials directly on their websites. These widgets incorporate the clear and prominent disclosures required by the SEC to ensure regulatory compliance.
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Other Platforms: The Same Compliance Concerns Apply
Beyond Google, Yelp, Wealthtender, and your own website, you may be wondering about popular social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. There are also reputable websites like the Better Business Bureau, among others popular with consumers, where reviews can be written.
The same challenges largely exist for each of these platforms, just like Google and Yelp, as they’re not compatible with the SEC Marketing Rule. In each instance, unsolicited reviews should not pose any issues as long as you don’t direct prospects to visit these websites and read your reviews.
⭐ Unlock Your Reviews Trapped on Non-Compliant Platforms
No matter the future guidance provided by the SEC and as discussed in the policies and procedures section above, you can use review aggregation to import reviews from any online review platform to Wealthtender or your own website where appropriate disclosures can be added so you can compliantly promote your reviews to grow your business.
For social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, we believe these platforms offer valuable opportunities to promote your reviews gathered on compliant platforms in posts on these sites with proper disclosures added. We’ll discuss how to promote your testimonials on social media platforms later in this guide.
Questions to Ask When Choosing an Online Review Platform for Testimonials and Endorsements
In your evaluation of online review platforms, we encourage you to ask questions that will help you decide if a platform is a good fit for your business. Here are a few questions to get you started:
What experience do you have in the financial services industry?
How well do you understand the SEC Marketing Rule?
Is your platform designed for compliance with the Marketing Rule?
How will you work with my compliance team to build trust and rapport?
What other features and benefits does your platform offer to help grow my business?
Why should I choose your platform over others?
Are your advisor profiles and reviews indexed by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity — and do you have examples of advisors appearing in AI-generated recommendations?
Does your platform implement schema markup on reviews and profiles to maximize visibility in both traditional search and AI-powered search tools?
Asking for Testimonials and Endorsements
As a financial advisor subject to SEC oversight, how you ask for testimonials and endorsements matters.
In this section, we’ll explain how you can solicit reviews from your clients (testimonials) and non-clients (endorsements) for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule.
⭐ At the end of this section, you’ll find an email template you can use and further customize to ask for testimonials from your clients (along with a separate email template to ask for endorsements from non-clients). The templates are intentionally brief to quickly get straight to the point.
Before you ask for your first review, it’s important to first ensure you’ve established your policies and procedures as discussed in a previous section. Once this step is completed and your firm has achieved compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule, you’re ready to begin asking for reviews on the review platform(s) you’ve chosen.
Since online reviews are new to our industry, we’re dividing this section into three important parts. First, we’ll start by suggesting a practice exercise to conduct before you ask for your first review. Then we’ll discuss best practices when asking for your first reviews from clients and non-clients, followed by ideas to help you incorporate the process of asking for reviews into your everyday business.
Before asking for your first real reviews, consider the benefits of a dress rehearsal. We suggest putting yourself or a member of your team in the shoes of 2 to 3 clients and one non-client and writing mock reviews you can then evaluate using your new policies and procedures.
This is a great way to prepare yourself for actual reviews. Take the time to determine if your mock reviews trigger any SEC prohibitions to gain experience handling such scenarios. Next, craft clear and prominent disclosures to accompany the mock reviews.
Use these disclosures to begin building a disclosure library in an easily accessible document. While many reviews you receive will require unique disclosures based on individual circumstances, your disclosure library can improve consistency in your disclosures where appropriate or serve as a helpful starting point for disclosures requiring customization.
2. It’s Showtime! Asking for Your First Testimonials
The SEC wants to ensure you’re not cherry-picking reviews from your favorite clients, so it’s important to ask all of your current clients for a review when first getting started. While we’ll discuss multiple methods of asking for reviews in your everyday business, we suggest using email at the outset as an effective way to maintain records of your outreach and demonstrate to the SEC you’re not cherry-picking favorites, if requested.
Consider these tips when drafting your email and preparing to ask for reviews:
Avoid asking for a positive review or inserting language which appears to influence a reviewer toward responding in a particular way
Prepare a single email you’ll send to all clients – This will demonstrate to the SEC that your messaging is consistent regardless of the nature of your relationship
Schedule the email for early morning delivery on a weekday (e.g., 5 am) or consider weekend delivery to avoid overlapping with time-sensitive client emails
Consider reaching out to sensitive clients by phone the afternoon prior to your outreach to provide context about the email they’ll receive the next day
Consider reaching out to brand new clients by phone in advance who might feel the email asking for a review is premature; Offer context about the SEC rule
Are there non-clients you want to ask for a review at this time? Refer to the email template for non-clients at the end of this section as a starting point
After your initial emails have been sent, don’t worry if you don’t immediately receive reviews. You’ve checked the first box to comply with SEC requirements, and future opportunities to ask for reviews will be ample and feel more natural.
3. Building Review Collection Into Your Everyday Workflows
Just as other trust-based professionals like doctors and lawyers have incorporated online reviews into their daily routines, you’re now ready to do the same. Importantly, you’ll still need to avoid SEC cherry-picking concerns, so your policies and procedures should be updated to show how your ongoing approach for review collection is consistently applied across all clients.
Consider these methods and tips for collecting reviews in your daily routine:
Update your email signature to include a link to your profile page on an online review platform or your website where clients can write a review
Add a new section to your client newsletter that includes a link to write a review on your profile page of an online review platform and/or your own website
Create a flyer with instructions on how someone can write a review for you and make it accessible to clients visiting your office; If you’re on Wealthtender, include the QR code we create that links to your Wealthtender profile page
Create an area on your website where clients can write a review and read your existing reviews; If you’re on Wealthtender, consider embedding our widget on your website to both collect and display reviews
Create a version of your business card with a QR code linking to your profile page to periodically share with non-clients; Use it to ask for a review at the right moment
If you offer one-time planning or project-based services, incorporate a request for a review into your workflow at the conclusion of each project
If you ask for reviews on general online review sites, don’t encourage clients to write a review while they’re in your office as these platforms could suspect multiple reviews from your own IP address as being fraudulent
If you plan to offer compensation in exchange for a review, consider proposing a charitable donation in the name of the reviewer; This shows your appreciation for the reviewer’s time, lessens the perception of influence, and will reflect favorably in the compensation disclosure accompanying the published review
⭐ Templates: Asking for Testimonials and Endorsements
Promoting Testimonials and Endorsements to Attract New Clients
Once you’ve begun collecting testimonials and endorsements online, you’re all set to turn your reviews into a powerful source of new referrals. And without lifting a finger, the positive reviews you’re collecting online are already sending signals to search engines like Google that you’re trustworthy and deserving of increased visibility in search results.
In this section, we’ll show you how you can promote your testimonials and endorsements online and offline to attract new clients while maintaining compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule.
And since it’s expected the most popular way to collect, display and promote testimonials and endorsements will be online reviews, we focus our discussion on promoting your testimonials and endorsements in the context of reviews published on the internet.
Join Wealthtender for testimonial marketing tools that convert more prospects into clients.
✔️ Access step-by-step guides used by hundreds of advisors and wealth management firms to collect thousands of glowing reviews on Wealthtender.
✔️ Display reviews compliantly on your website with easy-to-use Wealthtender widgets. Learn More & View Examples
✔️ Promote your testimonials in social media posts, prospect nurturing campaigns and other marketing initiatives with compliant templates created in Testimonial Marketing Studio™. Learn More & View Examples
Why Promoting Your Testimonials and Endorsements is Important to Grow Your Business
Twenty-five percent of affluent Americans are already using AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to start their search for a financial advisor, according to Wealthtender’s 2025 consumer study — a figure that will only grow as AI adoption broadens. When those consumers ask AI tools to recommend advisors, the reviews you’ve collected on independent, schema-optimized platforms are among the strongest signals those tools use to decide who to surface. Your testimonials aren’t just a conversion tool for prospects who have already found you. For a rapidly growing share of your best potential clients, they’re how you get found in the first place.
Consumers looking to hire professionals in trust-based industries want to know they’re making the right decision. Your online reviews offer the social proof they need to choose you over another financial advisor. In fact, a popular online review platform for lawyers found that those with at least five reviews on their platform achieved four times the engagement compared to lawyers with just one review.
If you decide to not make online reviews part of your marketing strategy, another financial advisor nearby or in your niche who has several positive reviews is more likely to get the call. But not to worry! With the tips in this guide, you’re well ahead of the curve and ready to turn your digital referrals into new clients. And remember, even a single online review can turn a prospect into a client.
Keep reading for suggestions to help you promote your online reviews compliantly, and learn several ways your reviews can be republished and repurposed to magnify their client-attracting power.
Promoting Your Testimonials and Endorsements Compliantly
When you encourage prospects to read your reviews online, you trigger the SEC Marketing Rule prohibitions and disclosure requirements described throughout this guide. Specifically, the rule states that once you have ‘explicitly or implicitly endorsed or approved the information [e.g., an online review] after its publication’, you have adopted the review, thus making it an advertisement subject to the rule’s conditions.
Keep these requirements and tips in mind to compliantly promote your testimonials and endorsements:
Only provide prospects with links to your online reviews where accompanying SEC-required disclosures are present (e.g., your website, your profile page on Wealthtender)
Be sure each review includes all necessary clear and prominent and additional disclosures
It’s ok to direct prospects to websites where your reviews can be sorted in different ways (e.g., sorting reviews from most to least favorable) as long as you don’t control the sorting
Ideas to Promote Your Testimonials and Endorsements Selectively (and Compliantly)
While the SEC permits you to create advertisements featuring only a subset of your reviews, you must not cause ‘any misleading implication or inference’. Fortunately, the SEC suggests this concern can be addressed by including a disclaimer that the excerpted review(s) are not representative and including a link to ‘all or a representative sample’ of your testimonials.
What this means is you’ll have opportunities to promote your reviews in a variety of ways, both online and offline. Below are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. As always, be sure to discuss your specific circumstances with your compliance team first.
Promoting Testimonials and Endorsements on Social Media
When it comes to popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you’ll have opportunities to promote your reviews, but doing so compliantly within the character count limitations and other constraints means it’s important to proceed with caution.
You’ll need to ensure you’re incorporating the required clear and prominent disclosures alongside the review, along with a link to a representative sample of your testimonials (e.g. reviews on your own website or Wealthtender profile page).
Example of a LinkedIn post promoting a client testimonial with regulatory disclosures:
Twitter may prove to be the most challenging social media platform for promoting your reviews due to their character count constraints, but you’ll find Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to be much more accommodating.
Since Instagram doesn’t allow links in its posts, be sure to type out the link to your full list of reviews and consider including your QR code within the post image to satisfy compliance requirements.
Promoting Your Online Reviews Offline
Just because your reviews are written online, doesn’t mean they have to stay there.
Consider creating a printed flyer or brochure with a curated selection of testimonials and endorsements with appropriate disclosures; Include the QR code provided by Wealthtender linking to your profile page with all of your reviews, or type out the link to all reviews on your website. Insert this resource into your prospect kit.
The above approach also works for full-page magazine ads, mailed postcards, and, if you want to go big, perhaps even a billboard? Of course, it’s best to walk before we run, but you get the idea.
While a business card may lack sufficient space to achieve compliance with the above approach, consider adding a QR code prospects can scan with their mobile phone to quickly pull up your profile and read all your reviews online. This can turbocharge your business card’s effectiveness.
Repurposing Your Testimonials and Endorsements to be Both Seen and Heard
Your written reviews aren’t limited to just being read. The SEC permits oral testimonials and endorsements as long as you verbally include the required disclosures concurrently (including mention of the website address people can visit to read a representative sample of your reviews and their accompanying disclosures). This means if you host your own podcast, for example, you can include verbal testimonials at the start, middle, or end of your show.
Another idea is to create a YouTube ‘video’ where the audio version of the review can be listened to while the video concurrently displays the required clear and prominent and additional disclosures. You can then post this ‘video’ on your social media accounts.
It’s important to note the SEC expects you to maintain records of any audio reviews to demonstrate your compliance with the Marketing Rule upon request. While it may be easy to pull up an older podcast episode featuring audio reviews and disclosures, social media posts may prove more difficult. Either way, the SEC suggests maintaining a script of the recording, and disclosures can demonstrate your compliance.
Seminar Marketing: Use Your Testimonials to Increase Conversions of Prospects into Clients
If you conduct educational seminars online or in your community to attract new clients, your reviews can significantly increase your conversion rate of cold prospects who become warm leads and your future clients.
Many people who attend online or in-person seminars have little or no relationship with you prior to the event. Your online reviews overcome this headwind by creating an emotional connection that builds trust and offers the social proof consumers need to hire you with confidence.
Use the ideas discussed throughout this section to incorporate your testimonials and endorsements into your seminar marketing activities before, during, and after the seminar. For example, a link to your reviews included with the seminar invitation; A flyer shared at the event showcasing reviews relevant to the seminar topic with a QR code linked to your reviews online; A post-event email linking to your reviews (which could also serve as a timely opportunity to ask for reviews from seminar attendees).
Turning Your Biggest Fans into Powerful Lead Magnets
As the number of testimonials and endorsements you collect grows, you’ll discover who among your clients and other reviewers are most enthusiastic about telling the world the value you deliver and the impact you’ve made in their lives. This is the pond you’ll want to fish in to identify clients and non-clients who may be happy to play an even larger role in helping you grow your practice.
For example, if you host a podcast, consider inviting a passionate client onto the show as a guest to elaborate on their experience working with you. Or ask if they would be willing to record a video discussing their experience in a Q&A format you can use on your website and social media.
You’ll, of course, need to pay extra attention to compliance requirements given the likelihood an extended discussion may cover a lot of ground, but with thoughtful planning ahead of time, you can steer clear of topics like investment performance that could lead to a heightened risk of prohibited content and increased regulatory scrutiny.
Bonus: What Can Financial Advisors Learn About Online Reviews from Doctors and Lawyers?
For doctors and lawyers, online reviews have simply become a fact of life and a requirement for conducting business. For financial advisors preparing for the new SEC Marketing Rule, it’s worth considering the role testimonials have played across both professions.
In a BrightLocal consumer review survey, 89% of consumers said they look at reviews of medical professionals, and 81% look at lawyer reviews. Over 80% of consumers said they believe reviews are important across both categories of professionals.
In an NRC Health Market Insights Study of over 3,000 patients, 37% said they used online reviews as their very first step in searching for a new doctor.
Additional patient findings included:
83% said they trust online ratings and reviews more than personal recommendations
48% trust online ratings and reviews as much as a recommendation from their doctor
75% want to see at least 7 ratings before they trust a doctor
66% consider reviews older than 18 months to be out of date
59% said positive and negative reviews are equally valuable to them
In a Martindale-Avvo survey, 6,300 consumers were asked about the criteria that mattered most to them when choosing an attorney. When asked what information they desired before their first contact with an attorney, online reviews or client testimonials ranked 5th among 20 factors. The survey also noted consumers aged 25-35 gave greater weight to reviews and testimonials than consumers over age 54.
Additional consumer findings included:
47% used online review sites and directories to find an attorney (more than any other resource)
46% read online reviews of an attorney to conduct additional research after a personal referral
As Meranda Vieyra eloquently stated in The National Law Review, “The great thing about online reviews is that you have the power to present your law firm and yourself with dignity and class, regardless of how good or bad your online reviews are.” For financial advisors preparing for the SEC Marketing Rule, these words may prove prescient.
Your First Step Puts You Ahead of 90% of Advisors. Here’s How to Take It.
We hope you found this guide helpful.
By implementing the steps in this guide, in just a few weeks your client testimonials and online reviews can become an evergreen source of digital referrals — helping you rank higher in Google search results, appear in AI-generated advisor recommendations on ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and build the kind of documented credibility that 83% of consumers say they want before hiring a financial advisor. The advisors who build this infrastructure now are positioning their firms to lead the industry in attracting new clients not just through traditional search, but through the AI-powered discovery channels that are rapidly becoming the dominant way prospects find their next advisor.
Online reviews are just one important part of an effective marketing plan to strengthen your online reputation and attract new clients in today’s world. At Wealthtender, we’re dedicated to helping you get found online and convert more prospects into clients. Beyond our industry-first Certified Advisor Reviews™ designed for compliance with the SEC Marketing Rule, financial advisors and wealth management firms that join Wealthtender gain recognition for their areas of specialization and SEO benefits to rank higher in Google search results.
Whether you choose to join our growing community of financial advisors and advisory firms on Wealthtender or prefer to grow on your own, we hope the information in this guide helps you achieve exceptional results with your testimonials and online reviews for years to come.
Hundreds of Advisors and Wealth Management Firms Partner with Wealthtender to Grow with Testimonial Marketing
⭐ Instant Download: Quick Start Checklist for Wealthtender Subscribers (PDF)
About the Author
About the Author
Brian Thorp
Brian is CEO and founder of Wealthtender and Editor-in-Chief. He and his wife live in Austin, Texas. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Brian is applying his experience and passion at Wealthtender to help more people enjoy life with less money stress. Learn More about Brian
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