In a career spanning multiple active years of dedicated service, Clark Smith has extensive experience in the retirement planning industry. Clark focuses have always been on understanding clients’ needs rather than chasing sales targets. Since the beginning of his career, his biggest challenge has been aligning his values with the corporate environments that focused more on hitting sales targets than serving clients. Unable to compromise his values to succeed, he decided to leave such environments and set himself on a path where clients are the primary focus. Golden Years Financial is the result of this decision. As its President and Financial Advisor, his goal is to help and ensure that his clients enjoy their golden years with a sense of personal fulfillment and emotional well-being.
“We rise by lifting others” is Clark’s guiding principle, especially in challenging times. This quote reminds him that “the more we help others thrive, the more we all rise together.” So, he does his best to always focus on ways how he can continue to lift others to realize as much of their personal potential as they wish.
Path Leading to Founding Golden Years Financial
In 1990, after earning his MBA, Clark began his career working at Dean Witter Reynolds. In 1991, he passed his series 7 and became a registered representative. It was an era when traditional brokerage practices were prevalent in the industry. Clark quickly discovered that the industry’s main focus was on sales and not on what clients needed.
“While I initially thought I could just sell and serve clients in the best way possible, I quickly learned that the system was designed to push products instead of providing comprehensive, tailored strategies,” he recalls. The industry’s sales-driven focus didn’t align with his belief that true achievement was more than numbers. For him, success was about understanding people’s goals and helping them achieve them.
So, even when Clark became one of the youngest retirement strategy specialists at Dean Witter, he was not happy. To him, the designation felt more like a tool to sell retirement securities, rather than helping clients preserve their future. Frustrated with its sales-driven environment, Clark eventually quit Dean Witter. He moved to Prudential Securities, where he served as the Vice President of Investments.
While at Prudential Securities, Clark earned a reputation for excellence in client service, with his Jackson, MS office praised for delivering a high standard of support to clients. During his tenure at the firm, Clark quickly learned about how most large firms operate. He also found out how often the focus is on sales targets rather than actually listening to clients and acting in their best interest.
“At Prudential, we were an incredibly successful branch, but then came a management change,” Clark says. “The regional director replaced the branch manager with a micromanager, believing that if we could be so successful with a hands-off approach, we would be even more successful with tighter control.” He was disheartened by the firm’s shift in focus from clients to sales and numbers.
Although many of his colleagues embraced this new direction, Clark decided to leave and seek a path that aligned more closely with his values. This led him to UBS in 2000, where after earning his S65 and becoming an Investment Adviser Representative, he continued to refine his skills. Clark points out that he learned a great deal from his time at Dean Witter, Prudential Securities, and UBS. But he never wanted to just be “another cog in the corporate machine.”
Clark wanted to make a more meaningful impact on his clients’ lives. This made him co-found his first firm, Woodridge Capital Portfolio Management, in 2006. “The firm allowed me the flexibility to build investment strategies that focused on clients’ personal needs and goals, rather than simply aiming to grow wealth without considering risk or individual values,” Clark says.
The firm could tailor strategies, but then a conflict arose regarding whether to focus on being more like the stock market for returns or on consistency while avoiding major losses. Clark explains that the disagreement was about whether they should cater to clients in the accumulation phase, focused on growing their wealth, or to those in the distribution phase, who were looking for a retirement strategy focused on stability and income generation. “This difference in approach was one of the key reasons I decided to leave Woodridge Capital,” he says. “I took time away from the industry before returning in 2020, when I joined a midwestern firm as Director of Retail and Head of Training.” It offered him the opportunity to work directly with clients, building retirement plans that aligned with their personal and financial goals. In his role, he also oversaw the training of new advisors. He ensured that they understood how important it was to listen to and serve clients well. “But after some time, I realized that the only way I could make the biggest impact was by starting my own firm,” Clark says. In 2024, he left the firm to pursue that goal.
In March 2025, Clark founded Golden Years Financial with a mission to focus on clients goals and values, rather than focusing on sales targets.
Mission of Golden Years Financial
Golden Years Financial aims to help clients work towards their dream retirement by creating financial plans that align with their core values, life goals, and legacy. Clark points out that their primary goal is to help clients achieve stability and confidence in their retirement years. They help accomplish this by guiding clients to make choices that align with their goals and needs.
Clark understands that retirement planning is not just limited to financial planning. So, his focus is on helping clients achieve a sense of fulfillment in the way they live their lives, the legacy they create, and the memories they leave behind. “We believe that having a retirement income plans help clients experience what truly matters, both financially and emotionally,” Clark points out.
Lessons that Shaped His Leadership Approach
Lessons that Clark has learned over the years have shaped his approach as a business leader. One of the earliest lessons he learned was that true client-centered service does not come from sales quotas or targets. It comes from understanding what people truly need and what they value most.
When Clark was young, he believed that financial confidence was achieved by selling the right products and bringing in revenue. However, he soon realized that helping people make lasting, meaningful decisions with their money required a much deeper understanding of their hopes, desires, and goals. The turning point in his career came when he realized that building genuine relationships and understanding what his clients truly cared about would always lead to create the retirement plan that fits them.
“I learned that this approach focuses on clients, getting to know them and understanding their goals for retirement. This allowed me to foster a more fulfilling professional experience, that I wasn’t getting from the traditional sales-driven model of the industry,” he says.
Empowering Clients to Live Confidently
“Uncertainty” is the biggest barrier people face in retirement, according to Clark. They also want to figure out every financial detail before their retirement. Clark underscores that retirement planning is about more than just the numbers. His approach emphasizes understanding the importance of flexibility alongside diligent saving, providing a broader perspective on retirement planning.
Clark and his team work closely to help build comprehensive retirement plans aimed at supporting their financial goals for retirement. In addition, they strive to empower clients with the tools to enjoy life, create lasting memories, and give back to their families meaningfully
“By offering flexible spending plans with guardrails,” Clark says, “we help empower clients to live confidently, knowing our approach aims to help provide strategies with flexibility to adjust their spending as needed, while working towards enjoying their retirement aligned with their personal goals.”
Leadership Traits: Authenticity and Empathy
Clark is a leader par excellence, with authenticity at the core of his leadership style. He genuinely cares about his clients’ futures, believing that they need to feel heard, respected, and understood. “I have built a firm that shares this philosophy and remains focused on client well-being,” he points out.
Empathy is another defining quality of Clark’s leadership. He says that they do not just create retirement plans but also create strategies that address their clients’ emotional needs and aspirations. Clark explains that this focus on empathy, combined with transparency and integrity, helps build trust with both clients and team members.
“We have plans to grow the firm this year and are being very selective in the hiring process to make sure we grow with individuals who share the same values of authenticity and empathy,” he says.
Educating Clients to Make Informed Decisions
“We Rise by Lifting Others” is the value embedded in the culture of Golden Years Financial. Clark points out that every team member is committed to helping clients make informed, confident decisions that are designed to help them for the long term. They educate clients, as well as the public in general, on the fact that retirement is a lot more than just the numbers. “It is also not the end of the story, just the next chapter,” Clark says. “It is a time for us to be able to make sure that we can die not regretting all of the things we did not do.”
In order to establish this culture, they prioritize ongoing training for their team. In addition to that, they invest in resources that help clients understand the financial strategies behind their plans. Their goal is to help clients with their confidence and be informed every step of the way, according to Clark.
He and his team are also giving back to their communities by spending a lot of time and resources educating the public on how retirement financial planning works. They are also trying to accomplish more of their legacy objectives.
Also, to educate the public, Clark appears as a guest speaker on podcasts and television stations He has built relationships with various groups as well. “We also donate a portion of all revenue received to suicide prevention organizations locally,” he says. “This is an issue that is close to our hearts and something we want to help combat in the communities we serve.”
The Most Influential Habit
Over the years, Clark has acquired multiple habits. One of his most influential habits is taking time each day for quiet reflection. According to him, it allows him to stay grounded and focused on the bigger picture.
Clark believes in starting his day quite early. He usually starts at 4 a.m., and the first thing he does is take time to reflect on the previous day’s enjoyment and his personal level of gratitude. “This was instilled in me by one of my early mentors, Al Kulig, who served 6 tours in Vietnam because ‘those boys needed leadership to keep them alive, ’” Clark says. Al was the branch manager at Prudential Securities when they won awards. He had a big impact on Clark’s career and continues to have one even now. “Today, I have other mentors that I respect, but Al is always with me,” Clark says.
Trends Defining Retirement Planning’s Next Era
As a seasoned veteran of the industry, Clark has witnessed the evolution of retirement planning up close. He now foresees several trends that may redefine the future of retirement planning. According to him, the era may see a greater focus on personalized planning that incorporates behavioral science.
He notes that clients are increasingly seeking financial advice that speaks to their emotional and lifestyle needs. So, he believes the industry will shift away from one-size-fits-all solutions, which are typically offered by big firms. Clark expects the industry to adopt a more comprehensive, flexible approach.
Clark believes that, “people will also be looking for plans that not only address their financial confidence but also provide them with the freedom to pursue the things that matter most.” He points out, “whether that is traveling, spending more time with loved ones, or leaving a legacy for future generations.”
Additionally, Clark believes that technology will continue to play a larger role in helping to simplify financial planning. However, he also points out that it will be the human touch that will truly set firms apart. Firms with human touch will provide clients with the emotional intelligence needed to guide them through the complexities of their retirement years, Clark says.
The Legacy!
Clark firmly believes that financial planning should focus on helping people create meaningful, lasting legacies. So, he hopes to leave behind a legacy centered around the idea that financial planning is about more than just the numbers. He wants to build a firm that shares this vision, focusing on lifelong learning, service to clients, and the desire to help make a real difference in people’s lives.
“For the next generation of financial advisors, I want to show that success in this field goes beyond closing deals. He believes it involves empowering people to explore new opportunities for themselves and their families.”
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Insurance products are offered through the insurance business Golden Years Financial. Golden Years Financial is also an Investment Advisory practice that offers products and services through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM), a Registered Investment Adviser. AEWM does not offer insurance products. The insurance products offered by Golden Years Financial are not subject to Investment Adviser requirements. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. 3225708 – 08/26
