I joined Range back in 2022 as one of the company's earliest in-house financial planners, back when we were still figuring out what planning at Range would even look like. Four years later, I'm a senior planner helping lead a team that's grown to nearly 30 advisors, and in that time, I’ve had a real impact on a lot more than client plans: the AI-assisted workflows my team relies on today, how fast a good idea here turns into a real feature, even what "good advice" means at a company built to make it accessible to far more people.
People ask me a lot what a typical day looks like, so I'm walking through one below. But first, a little on how I ended up here.
From Cold Calls to CFP®: My Path to Range
My path into planning wasn't a straight line. I earned my degree in accounting at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and started my career in accounting and sales before moving into financial services in 2009. I began at Prudential, cold-calling prospects and learning how to really listen to what people needed. From there, I spent more than a decade serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients at Vanguard, JPMorgan Chase, and TIAA, while earning my MBA in Finance and my CFP® certification. In 2021, I joined Facet as a Lead Planner.
Along the way, I saw what great advice can do for people, and how often it was reserved for those who already had wealth. That led me to Range in 2022 as one of our first in-house financial planning experts. I wanted a real say in what the future of financial planning looks like, from how the advice is actually delivered to who has access to it. Since then, I've helped grow the planning team to nearly 30 planners, and today I help lead a team of planners.
Being one of Range's early planners means I've had a direct hand in building much of what makes this place different from anywhere else I've worked.
Why Range Is Different, From Someone Who Helped Build It
- Planners shape the product. As planners, we play an integral role in making sure the product serves our members' planning needs. If you have an idea, you can refine it with your peers and partner across teams to bring it to life. At most firms, the time from idea to implementation is months, if not years. Here, it's days or weeks.
- AI does the heavy lifting. Rai, our AI wealth manager, handles research, meeting prep, and first drafts, so I can focus on judgment and conversation. I've also helped build AI-assisted workflows for things like estate document reviews and insurance analysis, which frees up more of the team's time for members.
- You never stop learning. Our members' financial lives are complex, from equity compensation and real estate to tax and estate planning. That complexity means we're constantly deepening our technical skills, and the pace of learning here is faster than anywhere I've worked. We learn from each other, from our members' real situations, and from building the tools that help us serve them. Range also covers the cost of continued education and certifications, and on top of that, offers compensation incentives for planners who go on to earn more of them.
- The career path is wider. It's not as linear as the traditional planner or wealth advisor path. Because we're financial planners at a fintech, you can keep going deeper into planning, or explore product, design, and leadership. I've gotten to do both: I came in as an individual contributor and now lead a team, without ever stepping away from the planning work I love. As we go deeper to serve our members, we bring those learnings back to improve the product.
- The culture is collaborative. We work closely within our own teams and across functions. It can be intense at times because we're building in real time while growing quickly, but it's great coming to work every day knowing we're all working toward the same mission.
- The mission is access. Our flat-fee membership model and holistic planning approach put high-quality planning within reach of far more people than a traditional firm can serve.
The Belief That Keeps Me Here
I truly believe everyone should have access to affordable, high-quality financial planning and advice. The earlier you can put good advice into action and gain confidence in your financial decisions, the sooner you can live life on your own terms. Technology is the only way to do that at scale, and I'm excited to be part of a company defining what that looks like.
That belief didn't come out of nowhere: it's the product of a career spent watching who actually gets access to great advice, and who doesn't. It's also exactly what's on my mind when I sit down and look at my calendar for the day.
We're growing our financial planning team. If this sounds like the kind of work you want to be doing, apply at range.com/public/careers.
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