Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group of Atlanta

Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group of Atlanta is a financial planner in Atlanta, Georgia. The firm provides customized, comprehensive financial planning and investment management, including retirement planning, tax planning, cash flow and debt management, education planning, risk management, and legacy planning. Its advisors hold credentials including Ph.D., CFP, and CDFA designations, and several are distinguished university professors who have published more than 200 articles and authored multiple books on financial planning. The firm works with young professionals and retirees alike, and serves clients nationwide from offices in Athens and Atlanta, with satellite offices in Charleston, GA, and Naples, Florida. It holds a rating of 4.60 from customer reviews.

Elwood & Goetz was founded by Lindsay Elwood and Joe Goetz, who opened the firm's first office in Athens, Georgia, at a time when there were no fee-only wealth management firms in the area. The firm began with a single client and now serves more than 500 families across more than 30 states and multiple countries. As an independent, employee-owned firm, it operates as a legal fiduciary, does not sell products, and does not accept commissions or kickbacks. Its advisors have honed their expertise at firms including Vanguard, Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, Merrill Lynch, and Goldman Sachs, and the team is educated at financial planning programs including Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, and the University of Georgia.

The firm's planning process begins with a conversation about needs and situation, followed by the development of investment recommendations, a tax-optimized cash flow and retirement plan often presented in multiple scenarios, and a summary of action items to implement. Once a plan is complete, the team monitors it and makes adjustments as clients' lives change. Clients work with a team of certified advisors familiar with their financial situation rather than being assigned a single advisor. The firm reports a 99% client retention rate.

Elwood & Goetz is known for its fiduciary standard of care and its fee-only structure, which the firm states places it among the small share of financial planning firms legally required to always make optimal recommendations for clients. Its rating reflects positive feedback from the customers who have reviewed it.