Financial Planning for Lawyers
Law school prepared you to advocate for your clients, not navigate student loan forgiveness, backdoor Roth strategies, or the financial implications of partnership decisions. SLP Wealth is a fiduciary financial planning firm built to help lawyers make confident financial decisions from graduation through retirement.
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Fiduciary Advisors
Your best interest drives every recommendation
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Legal Specialists
Financial planning tailored to every stage of a legal career
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Student Loan Experts
Built on Student Loan Planner®, so loan strategy is in our DNA
Why Lawyers Need a Specialized Financial Advisor
Lawyers face one of the widest income ranges of any profession — and the financial strategy that makes sense at a $60,000 public interest salary looks nothing like the right approach at a $215,000 BigLaw starting salary. Add six-figure law school debt to the equation, and you're dealing with a financial picture that demands more than generic planning.
Consider the math: the average law school graduate finishes with $130,000 to $170,000 in student loan debt, with many private school graduates carrying over $200,000. Meanwhile, lawyer salaries follow a bimodal distribution — clustering either around $60,000 to $80,000 (government, public interest, small firms) or $215,000 and up (BigLaw). The right student loan strategy varies enormously depending on which side of that split you land on.
Then there's the complexity. Lawyers regularly deal with financial questions that don't come up in a standard planning engagement: Should I pursue PSLF as a public defender or government attorney? How do I handle BigLaw bonuses and a high tax bill? Does making partner change my tax situation? Is it worth hanging my own shingle, and what does that look like financially? How do I plan around variable income from contingency fees?
The wrong answer to any of these can cost tens of thousands of dollars — or more. A financial advisor who works with lawyers and other high-debt professionals day in and day out already knows the landscape, the trade-offs, and the strategies that matter most at each stage of a legal career.
That's why working with a lawyer-focused financial advisor isn't about getting generic advice with a legal twist. It's about partnering with someone who understands the bimodal salary reality, the PSLF vs. refinancing decision, partnership economics, and how student loans interact with every other part of your financial plan.
What a Lawyer Financial Advisor Helps You With
Financial planning for lawyers touches nearly every corner of personal finance, but a few areas require especially careful attention. Here's where a dedicated financial advisor for lawyers adds the most value.
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Student Loan Strategy
The right student loan strategy for a lawyer depends entirely on your income path. PSLF can be enormously valuable for government and public interest attorneys, while aggressive refinancing may make more sense for BigLaw associates. We help you evaluate all options and build a strategy that fits your actual career trajectory — not a hypothetical one.
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Tax Planning
Whether you're managing large BigLaw bonuses, navigating partner distributions, handling variable income from contingency work, or running a solo practice as an S-corp, lawyers face tax complexity that generic advisors aren't equipped for. We help with backdoor Roth conversions, estimated tax payments, entity structuring, and retirement plan design.
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Retirement Planning
From firm 401(k)s to government pensions to solo 401(k)s for solo practitioners, lawyers have varied retirement savings options depending on their practice setting. We help you maximize contributions, layer in Roth strategies, and build a retirement plan that accounts for student debt and the reality that many lawyers leave practice before traditional retirement age.
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Career Transitions & Partnership
Making partner, leaving BigLaw for a smaller firm, transitioning to government or in-house counsel, or starting a solo practice — each path has major financial implications. We help you model compensation changes, evaluate partnership buy-ins, and think through the economics of going solo so you can make career moves with financial clarity.
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Asset Protection & Insurance
Lawyers — especially solo and small firm practitioners — face professional liability risk. We address own-occupation disability insurance, term life, malpractice coverage (particularly for those who need their own policy), umbrella policies, and how your assets are titled to protect the wealth you're building.
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Cash Flow & Budgeting
Whether you're living in a high-cost city on a public interest salary or managing large but irregular income from bonuses, partner draws, or contingency fees, cash flow management is critical. We help you build a spending framework that accounts for income variability, balances debt repayment with saving, and keeps your plan on track.
Meet the Lawyer financial planning team
Scotty McDonald is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, a Certified Student Loan Professional (CSLP®), and holds a FINRA Series 65 license. Scotty has a great passion for helping others realize the peace of mind that financial clarity can provide. He has a deep empathy and curiosity for each individual’s circumstances derived from his wide range of life experiences as a small business owner (commercial photographer) and Environmental Scientist in the public sector. Scotty has firsthand student loan expertise from community colleges, private and public universities, and specializes in helping public servants achieve Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness.
When not helping folks with student loans achieve financial freedom, Scotty is very likely going on long trail runs near his home in Santa Cruz, California.
Financial Planning for Lawyers at Every Career Stage
Your financial priorities change as your career evolves. Here's how we approach planning for lawyers at each stage.
Law Students & New Associates
During law school, debt is accumulating fast. The decisions you make in your first year after graduation carry enormous long-term weight — especially the student loan strategy. For public interest lawyers and government attorneys, PSLF can be worth six figures. For BigLaw associates, refinancing and paying aggressively may make more sense. We help you choose the right path based on your actual career trajectory.
We also help new lawyers get disability insurance in place while rates are low and evaluate their employer benefits to make sure nothing is left on the table.
Early-Career Lawyers
Your first few years in practice are about building a financial foundation. If you're in BigLaw, you're managing a suddenly high income, large bonuses, and an aggressive tax picture. If you're in government or public interest, you're balancing a modest salary against significant debt while working toward forgiveness. Either way, we help you create a cash flow plan, prioritize competing goals, and maximize the financial tools available to you.
Mid-Career Lawyers & Partners
By mid-career, many lawyers are evaluating whether to pursue partnership, go in-house, transition to government, or start their own firm. Each path has different financial implications — from partnership capital contributions to the economics of a solo practice to the stability of an in-house counsel salary. Investment management, advanced tax strategies, and college funding also become central. Your net worth is growing, and the stakes keep rising.
Pre-Retirement Lawyers
As you approach the end of your legal career — whether through winding down a practice, transitioning out of a firm, or stepping into an of-counsel role — the focus shifts from accumulation to distribution. How will you draw down assets tax-efficiently? What does healthcare coverage look like before Medicare? Should you do Roth conversions? If you're a partner, how does the buyout or transition work? We help lawyers nearing retirement stress-test their plan and make sure the transition goes smoothly.
How SLP Wealth Is Different
There's no shortage of financial advisors, but very few understand the specific financial realities lawyers face. Here's what sets SLP Wealth apart.
✅ Fiduciary financial advisors.
We charge transparent fees for financial planning and investment management with no hidden costs. When we identify a need for insurance or other products, we refer you to vetted professionals, and that referral relationship is always fully disclosed.
🎓 Student loan expertise built in.
SLP Wealth grew out of Student Loan Planner®, the largest student loan advisory in the country. Student loan strategy isn't a side offering — it's part of our DNA. For lawyers, where the optimal strategy varies dramatically between a $60,000 salary and a $215,000 salary, getting this decision right is one of the most impactful things we do.
🌐 Virtual and nationwide.
We work with lawyers everywhere. No need to find a local office. Your advisor is a video call or message away, which means you get access to a specialist instead of settling for whoever happens to practice nearby.
⚖️ Legal career focus, not lip service.
Our team advises hundreds of lawyers, physicians, dentists, and other high-debt professionals. We know the nuances of BigLaw compensation, public interest salary structures, partnership economics, and how to build a strategy that fits the legal profession's unique financial timeline.
💲 Transparent pricing.
Our fees are published right here on this page. No hidden costs, no vague “depends on your situation” answers. You know exactly what you're paying before you commit.
Financial Planning
- First Month 50% Off ($99)
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- Cash Flow Management
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We manage your portfolio so you don't have to. Tax-loss harvesting, diversified investments, and low fees, with your goals driving every decision. See our brochure for additional pricing info.
Tax planning, filing*, and services for:
- Individual W-2, K-1
- Single member LLC or Sole Proprietorship
- Amendments for student loan strategies
- Married filing separately included!
*Please visit slpwealth.com/tax-agreement for complete details
1For a limited time, just $199/month for financial planning and we’ll waive your set up fee ($0 instead of $1,000). Those fees are not locked in forever (thanks inflation), but once you sign up, we’ll keep you locked into that monthly rate as long as we can!
Testimonials / Endorsements
John
Lawyer“I enjoy the updates on student loans. For the first time since I started paying student loans (20 years) I feel like I have an understanding of what the latest changes are and confidence that the route we are taking is the right one.”
Jared
Lawyer“It feels like SLP understands the unique challenges of being a professional stuck with a sizeable SL debt. It’s reassuring that SLP are experts in this area and approach their clients without judgment and with a plan.”
Angela
Lawyer“I like that my advisor helps me to set goals and gives me concrete action items to stay on track”
Disclaimer:
These testimonial/endorsement statements were provided by current and former clients in response to client satisfaction surveys. Clients who completed surveys were eligible to participate in a drawing for a gift card awarded to a survey participant chosen at random, not based on survey responses. No compensation was given, and no conflict of interest exists between the client and SLP Wealth.
Financial Planning for Lawyers — Frequently Asked Questions
Financial advisor fees vary widely. Commission-based advisors may appear “free” but earn money by selling products. Fiduciary advisors like SLP Wealth charge transparent fees. Our financial planning starts at $199/month with a $0 enrollment fee, investment management starts at 0.25% of assets under management, and we also offer personal tax services for an additional $199/month. When we refer you to an outside professional for insurance or other needs, we always disclose that relationship. You can see our full pricing above.
The earlier the better — but especially during major transitions. Graduating law school, starting your first associate position, evaluating partnership, going in-house, starting a solo practice, getting married, having children, or approaching retirement are all inflection points where the right guidance pays for itself many times over. The student loan decision right after graduation is one of the most consequential financial choices a lawyer will make.
Yes — lawyers who work full-time for a qualifying nonprofit or government employer (such as a public defender's office, district attorney's office, legal aid organization, or government agency) can qualify for PSLF. After 120 qualifying payments on an income-driven repayment plan, the remaining balance is forgiven tax-free. For lawyers with high debt and public interest salaries, PSLF can be worth six figures. We help you evaluate whether it's the right path for your situation.
This is one of the most important financial decisions a lawyer will make, and the answer depends almost entirely on your income path. If you're working in government or public interest and plan to stay for at least 10 years, PSLF is often worth far more than refinancing. If you're in BigLaw or private practice earning well above your loan balance, refinancing and paying aggressively may be the better play. We model both scenarios with your actual numbers so you can decide with confidence.
Lawyers face a unique combination of challenges: high student debt, a bimodal salary distribution that ranges from $60,000 to over $200,000, complex compensation structures (bonuses, partner draws, contingency fees), the decision of whether to pursue partnership or go solo, and career paths that can shift dramatically between public and private sector. A financial advisor who works with lawyers understands these dynamics and builds plans around them.
Absolutely. SLP Wealth is a fully virtual firm serving lawyers in all 50 states. Most of our client meetings happen over video, and our planning and investment management platforms are accessible from anywhere.
