Find a Financial Advisor in Austin, TX

Austin’s financial picture at a glance

Austin is the capital of Texas and passed one million residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimates, after years as one of the fastest-growing big cities in the country. Most of the city lies in Travis County, with northern and southern edges in Williamson and Hays counties, and the metro now stretches from Georgetown down to San Marcos.

Two engines power the local economy. The first is government and education: state agencies, the Legislature and the University of Texas at Austin employ tens of thousands. The second is technology. Tesla’s headquarters and Gigafactory sit in eastern Travis County, Apple runs a large campus in north Austin, Samsung makes chips in northeast Austin, Dell is based in nearby Round Rock, and hundreds of software and hardware startups fill offices downtown and around the Domain. Healthcare systems and a strong music and events scene add to the mix.

Financial advisors in Austin: roles and costs

A financial advisor helps you pull your financial life together and make sound choices about saving, investing, retirement, insurance and taxes. In Austin, that work often includes equity compensation, a plan for a possible company sale or IPO, and coordination with a CPA who understands stock options.

You will find advisors at national brokerages, independent fee-only practices, firms that specialize in tech employees and founders, and planners who focus on public employees. The way an advisor is paid shapes the advice, so ask early. Common pricing models include:

Wealth management in Austin for founders and tech employees

Wealth management combines investment management with tax strategy, estate planning, charitable giving and, often, coordination with attorneys and accountants. It fits people whose finances have grown complicated quickly, which describes a lot of Austin households after a funding round, acquisition or IPO. Firms frequently set account minimums.

A few scenarios come up repeatedly in Austin:

• Pre-IPO and private company stock. Early employees may hold options or shares they cannot easily sell. Planning covers when to exercise, how to pay the tax, how to handle tender offers and what to do when a lockup ends.
• Founders preparing for an exit. Qualified small business stock under Section 1202 can exclude some or all of the gain for eligible shareholders. The rules were updated in 2025, so confirm current requirements with a tax professional well before a sale.
• Charitable goals after a windfall. Donating appreciated shares to a donor-advised fund in a high-income year can lower federal taxes while funding future giving.
• Estate planning for younger wealth. Texas has no estate or inheritance tax, but a will, guardianship choices for children and trusts for sudden wealth still matter.

Financial planners in Austin

A financial planner creates a written plan that ties your goals to specific steps. Many hold the Certified Financial Planner credential, which requires education, a rigorous exam, work experience and a fiduciary duty when giving financial advice. For many Austin residents, a planner is the right first hire before wealth management makes sense.

Austin planners regularly help with:

• New tech hires sorting out RSU vesting, ESPP enrollment, a high-deductible health plan with an HSA and whether to max out a 401(k).
• Equity decisions, such as whether to file an 83(b) election, which must be filed with the IRS within 30 days of receiving restricted stock.
• Public employees at state agencies and UT comparing pension benefits with voluntary 401(k) and 457 savings.
• Parents of young children choosing among LoneStar 529, the Texas Tuition Promise Fund and the Texas College Savings Plan, while remembering that Texas gives no state deduction for contributions.

Have stock options or RSUs?

An Austin-area planner can review your equity, taxes and savings with you, free and with no commitment.

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Retirement planning in Austin and Travis County

Austin retirees owe Texas nothing on their pensions, Social Security checks, retirement account withdrawals or investment earnings. For people who retire early after a tech career, the years before Social Security can be a prime window for Roth conversions or realizing gains at lower federal rates, with no state tax on top.

Many Austin workers retire from public service. State employees are members of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, and newer state hires earn a cash balance benefit rather than the traditional pension formula. Austin ISD teachers and most UT staff are in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, while eligible university faculty can choose the Optional Retirement Program, a defined contribution plan, instead of TRS, a choice that is generally permanent. City workers have the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System, with separate systems for police and firefighters. Since a 2025 federal law scrapped the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset, public retirees who also have some Social Security work history should request fresh benefit estimates.

Housing is the other big piece. Austin home values climbed sharply early this decade and then cooled, and property taxes follow appraised values. The Travis Central Appraisal District, or the Williamson and Hays districts at the city’s edges, sets those values each year. Homeowners can use these protections on a primary residence:

• The homestead cap, which generally limits increases in a homestead’s taxable appraised value to 10 percent a year, apart from new improvements.
• Over-65 and disability exemptions in addition to the general homestead exemption.
• A school tax ceiling for qualifying homeowners that keeps school taxes from climbing above the level of the year they qualify.
• Property tax deferral for older and disabled owners, with the taxes and interest due after the owner no longer lives in the home.

Figures and rules change over time, so verify the details with the appraisal district or the Comptroller’s property tax office.

An Austin retirement plan usually works through:

1. A spending estimate that includes property taxes, insurance, healthcare before Medicare and any help for adult children facing local housing costs.
2. A timeline for pension benefits, Social Security and withdrawals from savings.
3. A plan to diversify any remaining company stock and manage the federal tax on sales.
4. Updated estate documents and a long-term care strategy.

Life insurance in Austin

Life insurance gives your household a financial cushion if you die, covering lost income, the mortgage and future costs like college. Term insurance covers a specific stretch of years at a relatively low price, while whole life and universal life cover you for life, build cash value and cost much more.

Austin families should think about a few specific issues:

• Big mortgages. Higher home prices mean larger loans, and a surviving spouse may need enough coverage to keep the house or move without financial strain.
• Tech benefits that disappear. Group life coverage at a tech company is often generous but ends when you leave, and layoffs or job changes are common in the industry. A personal term policy keeps protection in place between jobs.
• Community property. In Texas, a policy paid for with marital earnings may be owned partly by each spouse, which affects control, beneficiaries and what happens in a divorce.

The Texas Department of Insurance licenses agents and insurers, handles complaints and offers a way to verify licenses. A financial advisor can help size your coverage, and a fee-only planner can review an existing policy without trying to sell you another.

Investment advisors in Austin

An investment advisor oversees your investments, either by advising you or by managing accounts with your permission. Registered investment advisers are fiduciaries who must put your interests first. Depending on size, an advisory firm registers either with the state, through the Texas State Securities Board, or federally with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brokers are overseen by FINRA. Two minutes on BrokerCheck and the SEC’s adviser search will reveal licenses, work history and complaints, and a firm’s ADV brochure spells out its fees and conflicts.

Austin investors often raise these topics:

• Concentration in one employer. When your salary, unvested awards and portfolio all depend on the same company, a written selling schedule can reduce risk without forcing a big tax bill in one year.
• Tax-smart rebalancing. Placing bonds and high-turnover funds in retirement accounts and using tax-loss harvesting in taxable accounts can lower federal taxes over time.

Finding the right financial advisor in Austin

These steps make it easier to choose well:

1. List what you need help with, such as equity compensation, a one-time plan, investment management, retirement income or wealth management.
2. Get confirmation in writing that the advisor acts as a fiduciary for all accounts.
3. Ask for total annual costs, including how unvested stock and private shares are treated.
4. Search their record on BrokerCheck and the SEC’s adviser site.
5. Ask how many clients they serve with situations like yours, such as tech employees, founders or state retirees.
6. Interview a few advisors and choose the one who explains trade-offs clearly.

Meeting by phone or video is common in Austin, which saves time on MoPac and I-35 and makes it easier to stay with an advisor if you relocate.

Where we serve in and around Austin

From the urban core to the suburbs, Austin clients meet their advisors by phone or video, including in Downtown, South Congress, Zilker, Barton Hills, Travis Heights, East Austin, Mueller, Hyde Park, Tarrytown, Allandale, the Domain, Circle C, Steiner Ranch and Avery Ranch. We also serve households across Travis, Williamson and Hays counties.

Nearby cities we also serve:

Frequently asked questions