Top financial advisors working with young professionals in Santa Cruz, CA

Jeffrey Martin is a financial advisor with Wells Fargo Advisors in Santa Cruz, CA, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 33 years of industry experience. He has worked with various Wells Fargo entities since 2011. He is a 40% owner of Martin Financial Group, an investment management business based in Brentwood, CA. Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network serves individuals, trusts, and institutions by providing investment and fee-based financial planning services. The firm offers a broad planning menu with tailored recommendations supported by Wells Fargo research, integrating advisory services with other financial products and referral channels.

Scott Mc Donald is a CFP® professional associated with SLP Wealth, holding a Series 65 license and having three years of industry experience. His prior roles include positions at the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Outside of finance, he operates a commercial photography business, Scotty McDonald Photography, serving editorial and commercial clients. SLP Wealth is an SEC-registered advisory firm that provides discretionary investment management and financial planning to individual clients and small-business owners, including both non-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals. The firm uses diversified, risk-based portfolios primarily consisting of no-load mutual funds and ETFs and offers additional services such as tax preparation and 401(k) plan advisory.

John Anzaldua is a financial advisor with LPL Financial, holding Series 63 and Series 65 licenses and bringing 33 years of industry experience. He has been with LPL Financial since 2015. Anzaldua is involved with wealth management operations under the names Big Trees Wealth Management and Strategic Wealth Advisors Group. LPL Financial is an SEC-registered investment adviser and broker-dealer serving individuals, retirement plans, banks, corporations, and charitable organizations through a national network of investment adviser representatives. The firm offers a range of advisory programs and financial planning services, utilizing both discretionary and non-discretionary management and various model portfolios supported by LPL Research and third-party subadvisors.

Elizabeth Flores is a financial advisor with Legacy Wealth Advisors, LLC in Santa Cruz, CA, holding a Series 65 license and 22 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Legacy Wealth Advisors in 2020, she worked at Sterling Advisory Services, LLC and operated her own CPA practice for 18 years. She is also a 50% owner of a tax preparation business, Oversight Group, LLC, where she is involved in preparing and processing tax returns. Legacy Wealth Advisors, LLC provides multi-family office and wealth management services to individuals, high-net-worth families, and institutions. The firm combines macroeconomic analysis with client-specific risk assessments to build customized portfolios, offering discretionary and non-discretionary investment management alongside integrated tax and real estate advisory services.

Jane Mckenzie is a financial advisor with Cambridge Investment Research Advisors and holds a Series 63 designation. She has 26 years of experience in the industry and has been with Cambridge since 2016. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as a volunteer director for the Santa Cruz Surfing Preservation Society. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors serves a diverse client base including individuals, pension plans, and charitable organizations, offering financial planning, investment management, and retirement plan advisory services through a network of independent Financial Professionals.

Donald Harris is a financial advisor at Beaird Harris with 29 years of industry experience. He holds the Series 63 and Series 65 designations and has been with Beaird Harris Wealth Management, Inc. since 1996, as well as Beaird Harris & Co P.C. since 1989. Outside of his advisory role, he serves as a managing officer and trustee for several trusts and management companies. Beaird Harris Wealth Management, LLC is a fee-only, SEC-registered investment adviser serving individuals, high net worth clients, trusts, estates, charitable organizations, pension plans, and business entities. The firm employs Modern Portfolio Theory with diversified asset-class exposure primarily through low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, and it offers alternative investments and tax-managed strategies.

Katie Strother is a financial advisor with Curi Capital, LLC in Raleigh, NC, holding CFP® and Series 65 credentials and bringing 11 years of industry experience. Her prior experience includes roles at Park Ridge Asset Management and Curi RMB Capital LLC. Outside of her advisory work, she is involved in her community as a nursery room leader at Peace Church and serves as a varsity girls soccer coach at Wilson Christian Academy. Curi Capital is an SEC-registered investment adviser managing approximately $11.6 billion in assets and serving individuals, retirement plans, institutions, and family offices. The firm employs a long-term, fundamental investment approach using proprietary and third-party strategies across equity and fixed income, and offers a range of services including wealth management and specialized offerings for medical professionals.

Jill Raderstorf is a financial advisor at Aptus Financial, LLC with two years of industry experience. She holds a Series 65 designation and previously worked at Hamilton Capital, LLC and Fifth Third Bank. Outside of her advisory role, she serves as an unpaid advisor to Accelerating Angels, a venture investment firm focused on high-growth, women-owned businesses, where she assists with building due diligence processes. Aptus Financial provides flat-fee financial planning and advisory services to individuals, trusts, charitable organizations, and employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans. The firm emphasizes financial planning over discretionary portfolio management, supporting clients with passive, long-term indexing strategies, structured educational programs, and subscription-based ongoing support.

We’re built for families! We focus on bridging generations to connect families and their finances. As Baby Boomers, you created more wealth than any generation before you. Now in your retirement years, the economic expansion that aided your careers doesn’t feel as robust. You worry about your savings lasting a lengthy life expectancy. You also worry that your children and grandchildren will be the first generation to not have it better than the generation before them. Our goal is to solve both problems. Our structure allows us to provide the same great advice whether you have a lifetime of savings or you are just starting out. That means we can work with multiple generations, and where appropriate, find opportunities to coordinate across generations while maintaining privacy and independence. I am a millennial myself with over a decade of experience helping retirees with personal finances. That combination of youth and experience gives me an advantage over many of the advisors out there. My youth, to retirees, means I am likely to be around for the entirety of your retirement. All those plans you made with your advisor, will be executed by the advisor that helped you plan them. If that includes an inheritance, good news because I want to work with your heirs too! To a younger generation, you get an advisor you can relate to who doesn’t treat your problems as less significant because you don’t have the same level of assets. Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I’m green! I was previously the Practicing Partner of a wealth management firm focused solely on retirees. As the lead portfolio manager, I oversaw almost $500 million in client portfolios. That experience means I’ve guided and advised clients through every stage of a successful retirement. It also means I know what a successful retirement looks like. As I’ve always said, best laid plans begin with the end in mind, so my experience serves just as well early in your journey to financial independence. I started my own firm because I saw an increasing need to reconnect families and their finances. Grandparents are providing child care, children are providing elderly care, and everyone is chipping in to pay for education. As much as ever families need each other, and our program is specifically designed to be prepared when they do.

Michael Grinnell is a Wealth Management Advisor at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. Since joining the firm in 2015, he has brought a problem-solving approach influenced by his background in Mechanical Engineering, earned from Santa Clara University. Michael concentrates on business development, marketing, and engaging with the next generation of clients. His areas of expertise include education planning, family wealth management strategies, legacy planning, liquidity management, personal retirement planning, portfolio management services, and small business strategies. He holds several professional designations, including Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), and Personal Investment Advisor (PIA). Outside of work, Michael enjoys a range of outdoor activities such as fishing, golfing, hiking, hunting, music, rock climbing, running, skiing, surfing, and tennis. He is actively involved in the community through organizations like St. Anthony Organization and The Covenant House California.