President, Founder
Chad Willardson
Chad Willardson is the President and Founder of Pacific Capital and is a Certified Financial Fiduciary (CF2®), Accredited Wealth Management Advisor, and Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. 6x best selling author, “Stress Free Money”. “Smart. Not Spoiled”, “Beyond the Money”. “Fit for Wealth”, “Wealth Wired Differently”, and “Fully Invested” and Co-Founder of GravyStack, a new banking app that helps kids manage money. Chad is also the Co-Host of “The Smart Money Parenting Show” #2 Podcast on Apple worldwide for Parenting. Kids & Family.
Before founding Pacific Capital, he spent 9 years at Merrill Lynch, where he ranked in the top 2% of over 16.000 Financial Advisors nationally. Chad is passionate about financial education and believes that with the right tools and resources, people can be empowered to make smart money decisions. He loves to help people organize their financial life, clarify their goals, and make decisions that lead them to a successful and fulfilling life.
He’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc… Yahoo Finance, Investment News, NASDAQ, U.S. News & World Report, Entrepreneur magazine, etc. A native of Southern CA Chad and his wife have been married since 2001 and have five children.
Education
- Brigham Young University Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Minor in Business
- Boston University Certified Financial Planning Program.
- Harvard Business School Exec. Education – Executive Continuing Education Program
- National Assn. of Certified Financial Fiduciaries Certified Financial Fiduciary (CF2)
- College for Financial Planning Accredited Wealth Management Advisor (AWMA®)
- College for Financial Planning – Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC®)
Work Experience
- White House Volunteer Service Award
- 6x Best-Selling Author
- “The Smart Money Parenting Show* #2 Podcast on Apple Worldwide for Parenting, Kids & Family
- Top of the Table Club, Million Dollar Round Table (Top 1% of Financial Advisors worldwide)
- Five-Star Professional Wealth Manager 2021 (7 years in a row)
- Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 (Southern CA Region)
Community Service
- Manage $650,000,000 portfolio as Elected Official
- Oversee $396,000,000 bond on Oversight Committee
- District Commissioner and Scoutmaster for the B.S.A.
- Youth Education Motivation Program Speaker & Mentor
- 2 year volunteer service missionary: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus
- Keynote speaker for Future Business Leaders of America
Chad Willardson
Chad Willardson is the founder of Pacific Capital and ELEVATED. He is a Certified Financial Fiduciary (CF2®), Accredited Wealth Management Advisor, Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, and wealth management expert who’s been personally entrusted to invest over $1.5 billion.
He is a 6-time bestselling author of Stress Free Money, Smart, Not Spoiled, Beyond the Money, Fit for Wealth, Wealth Wired Differently, and Fully Invested. He also writes for Forbes and Entrepreneur and has been featured in the WSJ, CNBC, Forbes, Inc, etc.
Before founding Pacific Capital, Chad spent nine years at Merrill Lynch, where he ranked among the top 2% of more than 16,000 financial advisors nationwide. After 24 years in the industry, he’s known for one thing above all: telling clients the truth and treating their money like his own.
A native of Southern California, Chad and his wife have been married since 2001 and have five children.
Education
- Brigham Young University Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Minor in Business
- Boston University Certified Financial Planning Program.
- Harvard Business School Exec. Education – Executive Continuing Education Program
- Top of the Table Club, Million Dollar Round Table (Top 1% of Financial Advisors worldwide)
- Five-Star Professional Wealth Manager 2021 (7 years in a row)
- Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 (Southern CA Region)
Work Experience
- White House Volunteer Service Award
- 6x Best-Selling Author
- “The Smart Money Parenting Show* #2 Podcast on Apple Worldwide for Parenting, Kids & Family
- Top of the Table Club, Million Dollar Round Table (Top 1% of Financial Advisors worldwide)
- Five-Star Professional Wealth Manager 2021 (7 years in a row)
- Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 (Southern CA Region)
Community Service
- Manage $650,000,000 portfolio as Elected Official
- Oversee $396,000,000 bond on Oversight Committee
- District Commissioner and Scoutmaster for the B.S.A.
- Youth Education Motivation Program Speaker & Mentor
- 2 year volunteer service missionary: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus
- Keynote speaker for Future Business Leaders of America