Financial Advisor in Bloomington, MN
Updated: Aug 25
For Bloomington, MN residents seeking a financial advisor, 360 Financial is a fee-based, fiduciary wealth management team that works with individuals and families across the south metro Twin Cities area. With offices in Wayzata and Elk River, Minnesota, their CFP professionals, CPAs, and specialists work together to help clients pursue their long-term financial goals with a comprehensive, coordinated approach.
If you are at a point in your financial life where you have accumulated meaningful assets, are navigating a major transition, or simply want a qualified team in your corner, the right financial advisor can change the trajectory of your outcomes. The challenge is knowing what to look for.
What Does a Financial Advisor in Bloomington, MN Actually Do?
The term "financial advisor" covers a wide range of professionals with different credentials, compensation models, and areas of focus. For Bloomington residents, it helps to understand what a comprehensive financial advisor does, and how that differs from a stockbroker, an insurance agent, or a tax preparer.
A comprehensive financial advisor works with you on:
Investment management: Constructing and managing a portfolio designed to pursue your goals within your risk tolerance and time horizon
Retirement income planning: Helping you design a strategy for drawing from your assets sustainably throughout retirement
Tax planning: Coordinating with your CPA to structure your financial decisions in ways that aim to reduce your tax exposure over time
Estate planning coordination: Working to verify that your assets are titled correctly and that your beneficiary designations, wills, and trusts reflect your actual wishes
Life transitions: Major financial events such as selling a business, receiving an inheritance, getting divorced, or losing a spouse each create planning needs that go beyond investment management alone
360 Financial's team takes this comprehensive approach through their LifeWealth Process, a structured framework that looks at your complete financial picture and builds a plan designed to align your wealth with your life goals.
How to Choose a Financial Advisor: What Bloomington Residents Should Ask
Not all financial advisors operate the same way. For south metro residents evaluating their options, these questions tend to surface the most meaningful differences:
Are You a Fiduciary?
A fiduciary advisor is legally obligated to act in your best interest. This is a higher standard than the suitability standard that governs many brokers, who are only required to recommend products that are "suitable" for a client, even if a better option exists.
360 Financial operates as a fiduciary. Their advisors are required to put your interests first in every recommendation they make.
How Are You Compensated?
There are three primary compensation models in the financial advisory industry:
Compensation Model | How It Works | Potential Conflict |
Fee-only | Charges only client fees; no commissions | Lowest conflict; no product incentives |
Fee-based | Primarily fee-driven, may also earn commissions on certain products | Low conflict when disclosed |
Commission-based | Earns commissions by selling products | Higher conflict; incentive may not align with your needs |
360 Financial is a fee-based, fiduciary firm. Their compensation is primarily structured as a percentage of assets under management, which means their incentive is to grow and care for your wealth over time. Their typical annual fee ranges from 1 to 1.25 percent of managed assets. At $1 million in managed assets, that translates to approximately $10,000 to $12,500 per year.
What Are Your Credentials?
The CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation is one of the most recognized standards in comprehensive financial planning. It requires coursework, examination, experience, and ongoing continuing education. Look for this credential when evaluating a financial advisor who will be involved in broad financial planning, not just investment selection.
360 Financial's team includes CFP professionals and CPAs who work together across the different domains of your financial life.
Do You Check Their Background?
You can verify a financial advisor's credentials, regulatory history, and any disciplinary actions through FINRA BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org. 360 Financial encourages prospective clients to do this before beginning any advisory relationship.
Financial Advisory Services for Bloomington Residents
Retirement Planning and Income Strategy
Bloomington is home to a large and growing population of pre-retirees and recent retirees, many of whom spent careers in the healthcare, education, government, and corporate sectors that define the south metro. Transitioning from accumulation to distribution is one of the most complex planning problems in personal finance, and one where a coordinated advisory team tends to add the most value.
For Bloomington clients, 360 Financial's retirement planning work aims to address:
Withdrawal sequencing: Which accounts to draw from first, in what order, and why that sequence matters for your long-term tax burden
Social Security strategy: The decision between filing early and filing later involves a breakeven analysis that depends on your health, your spouse's situation, and your other income sources
Healthcare before Medicare: For clients who retire before 65, the gap between employer coverage and Medicare eligibility can cost $15,000 to $25,000 per person per year depending on the plan chosen. Planning for that gap is often underestimated.
Required minimum distributions: Traditional IRA and 401(k) account holders face mandatory distributions beginning at age 73. Managing those distributions in a tax-aware way requires planning that begins well before they start.
Investment Management
Investment management at 360 Financial is not a standalone product. It is embedded in the broader financial planning relationship. That means your portfolio is designed around your actual goals, cash flow needs, risk tolerance, and time horizon, not around a model that ignores the rest of your financial picture.
For Bloomington clients in or near retirement, the portfolio design typically focuses on managing sequence-of-returns risk, maintaining appropriate liquidity, and seeking growth over time without exposing your retirement income to undue volatility.
Tax Planning and Coordination
Minnesota's tax environment is more complex than many residents realize. Key features that affect Bloomington financial planning clients include:
Minnesota taxes Social Security benefits, one of just a handful of states that does
Minnesota taxes long-term capital gains as ordinary income, with no preferential rate
Minnesota's estate tax applies to estates above $3 million at rates from 10 to 16 percent, well below the $13.6 million federal exemption
Roth conversion strategies can be meaningful for Minnesota residents, but the timing and sizing of those conversions require coordination with your overall tax picture
360 Financial works closely with clients' CPAs to seek coordination between investment decisions and tax outcomes. The goal is not just to seek strong investment returns, but to pursue strong after-tax outcomes.
Estate Planning Coordination
A financial plan that does not account for how your assets will transfer at the end of your life is incomplete. For Bloomington clients, 360 Financial's team works to see that your investment accounts, retirement accounts, and other assets are titled and beneficiary-designated in ways that align with your estate planning documents.
They coordinate with estate attorneys on the financial planning side of trust structures, charitable giving strategies, and multi-generational wealth transfer. While 360 Financial does not draft legal documents, their team works alongside your legal professionals to pursue a cohesive strategy.
Life Events and Financial Transitions
Some of the most complex and high-stakes financial planning work happens at life transition points. For Bloomington residents, those transitions commonly include:
Selling a business: The largest liquidity event in many business owners' lives requires tax planning, proceeds structuring, income replacement planning, and estate planning all at once.
Receiving a significant inheritance: Inherited assets carry distinct tax rules, especially inherited retirement accounts, which require careful distribution planning to manage the tax impact.
Divorce: The financial complexity of divorce in Minnesota, including the equitable division of retirement accounts, real estate, and investment portfolios, often requires a financial advisor's involvement alongside legal counsel.
Losing a spouse: Beyond the emotional weight, losing a spouse creates an immediate set of financial decisions, including Social Security decisions, beneficiary changes, and tax filing status changes, that are easy to mishandle under stress.
360 Financial's team has experience with each of these transition types and works to provide steady guidance during periods when making clear-headed financial decisions is hardest.
The LifeWealth Process: How 360 Financial Works With Clients
360 Financial's approach to wealth management is organized around their proprietary LifeWealth Process, a structured framework that looks at a client's complete financial picture rather than managing investments in isolation.
The process begins with a thorough discovery of your current financial situation, your goals, and the decisions you are facing. From there, the team builds a plan that connects your investment strategy, tax planning, retirement income approach, and estate planning into a single, coordinated framework.
The LifeWealth Process is designed to be ongoing, not a one-time exercise. As your life changes and as market and tax environments evolve, the plan evolves with them. Clients work with the full team rather than a single advisor, which means continuity is built into the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions: Financial Advisor in Bloomington, MN
How do I know if I need a financial advisor?
If you have more than $250,000 in investable assets, you are approaching retirement, you have recently experienced a significant financial event (business sale, inheritance, divorce, job change), or you simply want a coordinated plan rather than a collection of accounts managed separately, a financial advisor is likely worth considering. 360 Financial's typical client has $500,000 or more in investable assets.
What is the difference between a financial advisor and a financial planner?
The terms are used inconsistently in the industry. In practice, a financial planner focuses on comprehensive planning across investments, taxes, retirement, and estate planning, while a financial advisor may focus more narrowly on investment management. At 360 Financial, the scope is comprehensive, covering both planning and investment management under one team.
Does 360 Financial work with clients in Bloomington specifically?
Yes. While 360 Financial's offices are located in Wayzata and Elk River, their team works with clients throughout the Twin Cities metro, including Bloomington and the broader south metro communities of Edina, Eden Prairie, Burnsville, Eagan, and Apple Valley.
What is a fiduciary, and why does it matter?
A fiduciary is legally required to act in your best interest. Many financial professionals operate under a lower suitability standard, which only requires that recommendations be appropriate for a client, not necessarily optimal. The distinction matters most when you are being advised to purchase a specific product. A fiduciary's recommendation must be in your interest; a suitability-standard broker's recommendation only has to not be inappropriate for you.
How do I get started with 360 Financial?
360 Financial offers a free 15-minute introductory call. This is an opportunity to describe your situation, ask questions about their approach, and determine whether there is a fit. There is no commitment and no pitch. You can schedule that call through their website at 360financial.net.
Ready to talk it through? Schedule a free 15-minute introductory call with the 360 Financial team.
At 360 Financial, their team believes that every financial decision touches more than your bank account. It touches your family, your work, and how you spend your time. That is exactly how they approach their client relationships. If you are looking for a financial advisor in Bloomington or anywhere in the south metro Twin Cities, their team is available for a free 15-minute intro call.
The information in this material is not intended as authoritative guidance or tax or legal advice. Content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. LPL Financial makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.
Traditional IRA account owners have considerations to make before performing a Roth IRA conversion. These primarily include income tax consequences on the converted amount in the year of conversion, withdrawal limitations from a Roth IRA, and income limitations for future contributions to a Roth IRA. In addition, if you are required to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in the year you convert, you must do so before converting to a Roth IRA.
A Roth IRA offers tax deferral on any earnings in the account. Qualified withdrawals of earnings from the account are tax-free. Withdrawals of earnings prior to age 59 1/2 or prior to the account being opened for 5 years, whichever is later, may result in a 10% IRS penalty tax. Limitations and restrictions may apply.
