Building Wealth: 6 Strategies from Real CFPs

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Say you’re a high earner, specifically a HENRY. You’re doing everything that common financial guidance tells you to do. You have an emergency fund in a high-yield savings account. You have at least three to six months of living expenses in there, because layoffs are real.

You’re contributing enough to your 401(k) to get your employer match. Maybe you’re even maxing out your 401(k).

You don’t have high-interest debt, or you’re working on a strategy to pay it off.

What’s next?

Wouldn’t we all like to know? I’ve worked at NerdWallet for almost six years and I don’t have the answer. But I talked to some certified financial planners and found some ideas.

1. Think beyond the 401(k)

If you have more money available to invest, you can do a backdoor Roth IRA and contribute $7,500 in 2026 if you’re under age 50, says Jovan Johnson, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant at Piece of Wealth Planning in Atlanta. You can contribute $8,600 if you’re 50-plus.

If you have a side business, you can look into opening up a solo 401(k) that you can contribute to as the employer, he says.

“You can max out two retirement plans at the same time,” he says. “You can stash a lot.”

“Sometimes people will come to me and they say, ‘Well, I have all these student loans. Should I just put all of my money towards the student loans and not put any money into savings or investments or retirement?’” says Adrienne Davis, a Bowie, Maryland-based CFP for Zenith Wealth Partners.

“And that’s when I say, ‘Absolutely not.’ We want to make sure that we are still preparing for the future.”

Lazetta Rainey Braxton, a CFP based in New Haven, Connecticut, says prepping for the future means diversifying your investment vehicles.“I really really want all of my HENRYs to have a taxable brokerage account,” says Braxton, founder of The Real Wealth Coterie.

The goal of a brokerage account is to let your money grow, Braxton says. Your emergency fund is your first line of defense if you need cash. But a brokerage account is there if you need it to start a business, buy a house or retire early, for example.

Investing in the stock market through a brokerage account is something too many people shy away from, Johnson says. Social media influencers have made it seem like getting rich can be fast and easy, he says. But securing the big bag is usually a long game.

“The majority of the wealth has been built through generations,” he says. “It takes time.”

3. Consider stacking your income

Johnson says a lot of his HENRY clients stack their income doing consulting work on the side. Some invest in REITs. He encourages clients to consider buying a franchise to get another income stream flowing.

Real estate is another popular income stacking method. Some HENRYs buy houses and become landlords. Some buy houses and flip them for profit. Some buy homes and turn them into vacation rentals.

“If you want to have property, that’s a good way to pass on wealth,” says Naima Bush, a Northern Virginia-based CFP and chartered financial consultant for Fruitful Advisory.

4. Watch that lifestyle … creep, creep, creep

Say you get a raise or bonus. You’re eyeing a new luxury car. Do you want the $1,500-a-month car note that goes with it? That’s money that could be invested, Davis says.

Even small things bought regularly can add up. You might love that $45 Fenty Beauty body butter, Bush says. But do you really need it? “It’s OK to have the Trader Joe’s or the lower-cost brand,” she says.

A financial advisor can help you find ways to treat yourself within reason, she says. For example, Bush is a Beyonce fan. If her client wants to go see the queen on tour, she doesn’t say no. They’ll work together on a spending plan to make sure the ticket money is ready. Johnson is also a fan of enjoying your dollars. When you get that bonus, pay yourself a percentage, 10% for example, he says. Then put the rest toward wealth building or paying down debt.

“The easiest way to avoid lifestyle creep is to allow a little bit of lifestyle to creep,” he says.

5. Set boundaries and find balance

Most of the CFPs I talked to, like me, didn’t learn much about money growing up.

And many HENRYs are first-generation wealth builders, Bush says.

That can come with pressure to provide for family members.

If helping relatives is important to you, most of the CFPs advocate setting boundaries. You can allot a certain amount for giving, Davis says, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Johnson says boundaries can seem easy to set, but hard to maintain.

“Lets be honest, we’re all human,” he says. “Even for me, I don’t see a situation where I say, ‘I’m going to put myself first,’ and not help my mom.”

Braxton says some of her high-earning clients live frugally to balance long-term care for aging parents. You just have to be honest with yourself and your advisor about how you want to live and spend your money.

“What are the non-negotiables?” she says. “What would hurt your heart if you weren’t able to do it?”

A part of wealth building that’s too often forgotten is estate planning, Braxton says. At minimum you need a will and designated beneficiaries on all your assets, she says.

Beyond that, she says, your heirs should know enough about money to maintain what you’ve built.

Johnson says he’s seen people inherit a life insurance lump sum, and within a year, it’s spent. “All the wealth can be gone really quickly if the knowledge isn’t passed down with the money,” Johnson says.

Both Braxton and Johnson tell parents to start early teaching kids about credit, debt, spending, saving and investing.

Braxton opened a 529 account when her now 20-year-old daughter was born. As her daughter grew, so did the diversity of her accounts.

That’s what she wants for more children, she says.

“I want them to have a savings account, checking account. I want them to have — when they start working — a Roth IRA account,” she says. “I want them to have a brokerage account. I want them to have them all.”

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