Find a Financial Advisor in Washington County

Washington County at a glance: work, income and homes

Washington County is a place of small cities, villages and farm fields about a half hour north of downtown Milwaukee. West Bend, the county seat, and Hartford are its two cities, while Germantown, Jackson, Slinger, Richfield and Kewaskum are villages that have grown with the region. The Milwaukee River runs through West Bend, and the northern part of the county reaches toward the Kettle Moraine, a hilly area of forest and lakes that draws weekend visitors.

Its largest sources of work are manufacturing and metal fabrication, healthcare, retail, schools and local government, along with a long list of family-run shops and contractors. A large share of residents also drive south or east to jobs in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, which means a household may combine a local business income with a paycheck from a corporate employer.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey, the county has 139,238 residents with a median age of 43.8. Median household income is $96,359 and per capita income is $49,106. The median home value is $344,800, median gross rent is $1,153, and median owner costs with a mortgage are $1,932 a month. About 78.1% of households own their home, 35.2% of adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher, 19.8% of residents are 65 or older, and unemployment is 2.5%.

With those numbers, the typical question is not whether there is money to plan with but how to direct it. This page walks through each type of help and how it applies here. For a primer, start with our guide to financial advisors.

Wealth management in Washington County

Wealth management makes sense once your finances have several moving parts at once: a business, rental property, retirement accounts, taxable investments and perhaps an inheritance.

In Washington County the most common wealth management client is a business owner. Think of a fabrication shop in Hartford or an electrical contracting company, a family restaurant, a dental practice or an insurance agency in West Bend. The owner may have put thirty years into the business, and most of the family’s net worth sits inside it. A wealth manager helps with the questions around that: what the business may be worth, whether to sell to a partner, an employee or an outside buyer, and how to invest what is left over.

A second group is dual-income professionals in Germantown and Richfield who commute and have been earning well for years. They tend to have a workplace retirement plan, stock options or a deferred pay plan, a large mortgage, and children approaching college. They need someone to see all of it together, including taxes.

A third group is older families who own land. Farmland and wooded acreage near the Kettle Moraine can be valuable, and heirs sometimes disagree about whether to keep or sell it. A wealth manager can model both choices while an attorney handles the legal side. Our estate planning guide explains the documents that usually matter.

Because Wisconsin is a marital property state, spouses should ask how property earned during the marriage is treated and make sure the titles on accounts match the will. Ask the advisor how they work with your attorney and accountant, and how often you will review the plan.

Investment advisors in Washington County

An investment advisor chooses and watches the holdings in your accounts. The job is mostly about setting an appropriate level of risk and keeping costs low.

Take a couple in Jackson, ages 52 and 50, with about $600,000 in retirement accounts and a daughter starting college. They have been in the same target-date fund for fifteen years and want to know if that still fits. An investment advisor can look at their timeline, suggest a mix of stock and bond funds, and explain what to do with new contributions. They can also point out when the same asset class is held three times in different accounts.

Here are some points to raise in a first meeting:

1. What is your process for choosing and replacing investments?
2. Do you hold a fiduciary duty to me at all times, in writing?
3. What will my total cost be in a year, including fund expenses?
4. How do you decide when to sell something in a taxable account?
5. Will I see my account directly at the custodian?

If you are new to this, our investing guide explains index funds, fees and diversification before you meet anyone.

Retirement planning in Washington County

About one in five residents is 65 or older, and with a median age of 43.8 a large group is approaching that age. Retirement planning in this county tends to center on a few themes.

Housing is the first. A median home value of $344,800 means many couples hold well over $300,000 in home equity. Some will trade down to a smaller house or condominium in West Bend or Hartford, and the proceeds can fund several years of income. Others will stay put and want to estimate the cost of property taxes, repairs and winter upkeep.

The second is income sources. Wisconsin generally does not tax Social Security benefits at the state level, and the state offers certain breaks on other retirement income, but conditions apply and rules change. Confirm the current treatment with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue or a tax professional. Federal rules on Social Security taxation still apply, and withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts are taxed as income.

The third is health coverage between retirement and Medicare at age 65. Many people who retire at 60 or 62 have to cover several years on their own, and the premium is a real number in the budget. A retirement planner will build that into the projection along with a plan for claiming Social Security at the right age. Our retirement planning guide covers each step.

Life insurance in Washington County

A family in Slinger with a mortgage near the county median, two children and one main earner has a different need than a retired couple in Kewaskum. Life insurance should match what would be lost if a paycheck stopped.

For most working parents the answer is term insurance: a policy that lasts twenty or thirty years, sized to cover the mortgage, daily expenses and future education costs. It is cheaper than permanent coverage and easy to compare across companies. Business owners often add a policy funded by the company or the partners so that a buy-sell agreement can be paid if an owner dies. Older households with estates above the federal or state thresholds sometimes consider permanent insurance to provide cash for taxes and equal treatment of heirs, which is a conversation for an advisor and an attorney.

Ask about the insurer’s financial strength rating, how the premium might change, and whether the policy can be converted to permanent coverage later. Our life insurance guide shows how to estimate how much coverage a household needs.

Financial planners in Washington County

A planner pulls together the numbers most people keep in separate drawers. The output is usually a written document that covers cash flow, debt, retirement, insurance, taxes and education, with steps you can follow over the next year.

Good moments to hire one include a new baby, a job change, a business sale, a divorce, an inheritance, or the first year of retirement. For young families moving to Germantown or Jackson for the schools and the commute, a planner can help weigh a larger mortgage against saving for college. Our college savings guide explains 529 plans and other options.

Planners charge in different ways. Some ask for a flat price for a plan, some bill by the hour, and some charge a percentage of managed assets. A planner who works by the hour may suit you if you want guidance and plan to carry it out yourself. If you need a cleaner monthly picture before you start, our budgeting and saving guide is a useful warm-up.

Financial advisors in Washington County: understanding the price

Costs vary more than most people expect, so compare them in writing.

• Assets under management. A yearly percentage of your portfolio, taken out of the account. Higher balances usually pay a lower percentage.
• Flat or retainer fees. A fixed amount for a plan or for a year of access, regardless of account size.
• Hourly work. You pay for meetings and analysis, then you walk away with advice.
• Commissions. The advisor earns money when you buy a particular product. Ask what the product costs and how else it could be done.

Our matching service costs you nothing. Request the advisor’s disclosure document, which lists fees and any conflicts of interest, and read it before signing.

How to choose a financial advisor in Washington County

Begin with your own list of three things you want done in the next two years. Meet with two or three advisors by phone or video, and compare how they respond to your list. Look them up on the public regulator websites, ask how they are paid, and ask who will answer your calls. Pick the person whose approach you can explain back to your spouse in a few sentences.

Commuters, two-income households and the Milwaukee connection

A good share of working residents live in Washington County and earn their living elsewhere, so employer benefits matter. Review your workplace retirement plan match, your health plan, any stock purchase plan and your disability coverage once a year. People who change employers often leave old 401(k) accounts behind, and consolidating them can simplify things.

When both spouses commute, a single point of failure can be the car and the job. A short emergency fund of several months of expenses, plus disability insurance through the employer or on your own, gives a family room to recover from a layoff or illness. Remote and hybrid work has changed some patterns, and Wisconsin residents who work for an employer in another state should check how that state treats their wages. A tax professional can sort that out.

River, lake and storm risks

The Milwaukee River and the county’s lakes and creeks can flood in heavy rain, and storms can bring wind and hail. Standard homeowner policies usually exclude flood, so ask an insurance agent whether flood coverage is worth it for your address, and look at your policy deductibles for wind and hail. A sewer or water backup endorsement is often inexpensive and covers a common basement claim.

Moving in, moving out: relocating to or from Washington County

Newcomers often come for the schools, the yards and the access to Milwaukee at a lower housing cost than Waukesha County or the city itself. If you are moving here, update your will and beneficiaries, learn how Wisconsin property taxes work on the house you are buying, and check whether any workplace benefits changed with the move.

People leaving, usually in retirement, should ask about state income tax in their next home, the sale of a long-held house and whether a trust or beneficiary designations need to change in a new state. The rules for each state differ, and an advisor can coordinate with an attorney there.

Selling a business or a home

Compare advisors who help with sales, transitions and what to do with the proceeds.

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Areas we serve in Washington County

Advisors who serve the area work with residents of West Bend, the county seat, and Hartford and Germantown, and they also reach nearby communities such as Jackson, Slinger, Richfield, Kewaskum and Newburg. All meetings take place by phone or video, so you can speak with someone from any of these places on your own schedule.

Frequently asked questions