Find a faith-based financial advisor

What "faith-based" actually means in financial planning

Conventional financial planning is built around one question: how do I grow my portfolio? A faith-based advisor adds a second question that changes everything: am I being a faithful steward of what I've been given?

That reframe changes the order of decisions — and what the advisor is paid to optimize for:

• Giving is designed in from the start, not set aside from what's left after everything else. For tithe-committed households, the plan starts from the giving commitment and works outward. Your tithing commitment is an input, not a constraint.
• The portfolio may reflect conviction. Biblically responsible investing (BRI) screens portfolios against criteria the family finds objectionable. Catholic families have the USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines. A genuinely faith-aligned advisor understands both and can implement either without treating it as an inconvenience.
• The "how much is enough" conversation happens. Stewardship-trained advisors discuss contentment, the debt-as-bondage principle (Proverbs 22:7), and what giving at scale looks like across a lifetime. Most advisors avoid this conversation entirely.
• Generosity vehicles are part of the plan. Donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, appreciated-stock giving to your church — these tools exist and a faith-aligned advisor uses them routinely. Not as a one-time transaction: as a regular planning topic.

An advisor who simply attends church or includes a Bible verse in their marketing isn't necessarily planning this way. The difference shows up in what the financial plan actually optimizes for.

Three signals that distinguish genuine faith integration

1. Fee-only compensation. Fee-only fiduciaries are paid by you — a flat fee, hourly rate, or percentage of assets — not by commissions on products they place. This removes the most obvious structural conflict in the industry. For stewardship-minded families, it's the cleanest alignment test there is: if the advisor earns no commissions, their incentive and yours point the same direction.
2. A trained framework. The Certified Kingdom Advisor® (CKA®) designation, granted by Kingdom Advisors, requires existing professional credentials (CFP®, CPA/PFS, or equivalent), completion of a biblical-wisdom planning curriculum and exam, character references from clergy and clients, and ongoing renewal. It's the most meaningful formal signal in the industry that an advisor has invested in faith-integrated planning — not just added a cross to their website.¹
3. Generosity competency. Ask any candidate: "How would a 10% giving commitment change the plan you'd build us?" and "What do you know about donor-advised funds, qualified charitable distributions, and giving appreciated stock to charity?" The answers quickly reveal whether faith is vocabulary or framework. A genuinely faith-aligned advisor has done this planning for many clients and treats it as a professional specialty, not a special accommodation.

What faith-based planning covers

Six areas where a faith-integrated plan looks different from a conventional one:

Who benefits most from a faith-based advisor

This kind of planning is valuable at any asset level, but it's particularly well-suited for:

• Committed tithers and generous givers — families giving 10% or more who want those dollars working as efficiently as possible and a plan that makes generosity sustainable over a lifetime.
• Ramsey program graduates — households who finished the baby steps and are now facing the more complex questions: investing 15%, BRI in the 401(k), mortgage payoff math, giving at scale. See our after-baby-steps guide and our comparison of SmartVestor Pros vs. fee-only fiduciaries.
• Investors with a values conflict — people who've realized their retirement accounts may hold companies they'd never consciously support, and want to fix that without blowing up their long-term returns.
• Pre-retirement households — couples 10–15 years from retirement who want to build their generosity plan alongside their income plan, not after.
• Families who've received a windfall — inheritance, business sale, or equity event — and want to be faithful stewards of it from day one, including giving decisions.

What to expect from our matching process

Fill out the form below with a bit about your household: your situation, faith tradition, and what you're trying to figure out. We match you with a fee-only fiduciary advisor who serves Christian families — one who has the stewardship conversation as a starting point, not an upsell. We connect you within one business day. There's no fee, no obligation, and we never sell your contact information.

For more detail on what to look for and what to ask, see our full guide: How to find a Christian financial advisor.

Get matched with a faith-based financial advisor

Free, confidential, no obligation. Tell us a little about your situation and we'll connect you with a fee-only fiduciary who plans around stewardship — giving as a goal, BRI options, and a plan that treats your faith as a framework, not a footnote.