This profile highlights one of
Kelly Guadagnino remembers being surprised by how little personal finance education students receive before entering adulthood.
While studying accounting at Elon University — and later while earning her CFP and CPA designations — she became convinced that many people weren't struggling because they lacked intelligence. They simply had never been taught to handle their money.
Today, as a senior wealth advisor at Modera Wealth Management, she's built a practice around changing that for young professionals at a pivotal point in their financial lives. Guadagnino's mission is to help young professionals make smart spending and investing choices, build their confidence and avoid mistakes that set them off track.
"I love working with younger clients because they're starting to make a lot of money and are high accumulators, but they don't have the time outside their job to focus on managing finances," Guadagnino said. "Usually they only see what
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To help them, she built a planning model that tailors advice to the realities of a high-growth and high-change phase of life:
Many of her clients face more complex planning considerations than typically assumed at their life stage, including equity compensation and prioritizing savings goals. And it's not just about helping clients make decisions — Guadagnino's financial literacy components are giving them the knowledge to understand those decisions for themselves.
"I find it rewarding that it can give a lot of
Guadagnino said she prides herself most on her detail orientation and her ability to dive deep on clients.
"Whether it's tax and estate planning strategies that are more complex, I'm someone who loves continuously learning and getting really deep in the weeds," Guadagnino said.
Guadagnino is future focused. In the last year, Modera has integrated AI into the firm. She has been the technology's pioneer at there.
"Knowing how to use it in a way that will allow advisors to then deliver a better client experience in a more efficient way is important," Guadagnino said. "I'm the go-to person when there's questions among other advisors."
Jeanne Bernardin, principal and wealth manager at Modera's Boston office, remembers Guadagnino working with a client, a young doctor, when he finished his residency.
Bernardin was amazed at the level of detail and guidance Guadagnino gave him, and that it exceeded the work of any other wealth advisor she has seen.
"She was helping him to understand every facet of this transition from his fellowship to a very high-earning role," Bernardin said. "But most importantly, she was teaching him about things like disability and life insurance. He was looking at getting engaged, and she formulated a plan for this whole transition in life. There was a lot of complexity, both in his job and his finances, and she did a fantastic job helping him understand."
