Rachael Camp, CFP
Founder / Camp Wealth / Denver
When Rachael Camp went to
JPMorgan Securities in 2017 as an associate after college, her dream was to be a client-facing advisor. But she was told she was too young for that responsibility. That stung. And didn’ t make sense.
“ At JPMorgan, they were saying I would have to be 30 before I ever stepped into the advisor role,” she says.“ But I kept seeing advisors who were posting on social media, my age, even younger, who were actually building a practice.”
And these advisors were attracting clients who were both young and wealthy.
“ I still thought there was opportunity for working with a younger client base— people who are high earners, tech employees, even solo entrepreneurs,” she says.
Camp’ s father is also a financial advisor, and he’ d been encouraging her to return home to South Bend, Ind., to work with him in an advisor role. As she thought about it, Covid-19 swept in, so she took him up on the offer. The father-daughter partnership made for
a compelling story, and Camp says she was able to close on $ 40 million of new AUM in just two years.
During that time, she started posting on social media and launched Camp Wealth, her own advisory business. It’ s 100 % virtual and works primarily on a flat-fee model.
Camp says her clients find her through her social media presence— two tweets a day, two threads a week— in which she gives away her expertise for free. She’ s also a regular guest on popular financial podcasts, which brings in more clients.
Three years after launching, Camp says she advises about 75 households, and she generated $ 310,000 in revenue last year. She’ s hired a part-time planner who works in the office for about 40 hours a month, and that frees Camp up for client service. With 100 clients, she says she’ ll be able to hire full-time help.
Her own goal now, Camp says, is to build her company to $ 1 million in annual revenue as soon as possible.“ It’ s just one of those entrepreneurship things. I want to say I run a million-dollar business,” she says.“ And with the trajectory we’ re on, I think I should get there within three years.”
T. J. van Gerven, CFP
Founder / Memento Financial Planning / Woburn, Mass.
Thirty-one-year old T. J. van Gerven, who says he’ s always been interested in finances, took what he described as the scary leap to being a sole practitioner after working for Ameriprise and another RIA firm( he graduated from Virginia Tech in 2015). He was inspired by another successful young advisor who had graduated from Virginia Tech a few years earlier.
“ I had no assets and no clients when I opened Memento Financial Planning in October 2018, but I wanted to be on my own,” van Gerven says.“ My boss at the time wanted me to take over some of her practice, but I started thinking about being independent.”
Van Gerven grew up in a household with parents who were polar opposites when it came to being financial influences: His father is from a large immigrant family and his mother comes from money.
“ My father talked a lot about money and how to manage it,” van Gerven says. That gave him early career confidence in his choices.“ I guess my friends would say I am disciplined.”
He earned his CFP during his transition period, and he has now grown his fee-only business to represent 37 households with median household incomes of $ 300,000 and average household incomes of $ 500,000. One of the hurdles he has faced in growing his business is persuading people to trust their money to someone so young.
“ My measure of success would be whether I help clients and whether I enjoy the work,” he says. He is connected to other advisors his age through the XY Planning Network, a support organization for young planners founded by Michael Kitces and Alan Moore( who have both been on Financial Advisor’ s Young Advisors to Watch list).
Van Gerven says he has achieved a good work-life balance. He works about 25 hours a week“ at my desk,” plus he is always networking, while enjoying an active recreational life that includes golf, yoga, Muay Thai martial arts, reading“ and so much more.”
“ I have to show my clients there is value in having help managing their money” because time may not be on their side, he says.
34 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | MAY 2025 WWW. FA-MAG. COM