Carrie Waters Schmidt, MS, CFP® CDFA®2, AWMA®, ADPA®, CSRIC™
Financial Planner
Since 2004 Carrie has been operating under the mantra of “no prescription before diagnosis”. She whole-heartedly believes in the financial planning process and how it can take clients from good to great. It's like peeking into the future, only you can make changes if you don't like what you see.
Her clients are mostly executives and professionals with complicated benefits like stock options and non-qualified deferred comp plans; high net-worth families wishing to provide a legacy to their families rather than losing it to taxes, or members of the State of Wisconsin’s retirement pension program (WRS/ETF) such as UW, UW Hospital, City of Madison, or Madison Metropolitan School District employees. She specializes in working with the LGBTQ+ community, recent divorcees, families with special needs, and investors who prefer investing with their moral compass. She is dedicated to these areas of practice and has earned several credentials and designations to support her focus. As such, she was Madison's first Accredited Domestic Partnership Advisor and the state of WI’s first Chartered SRI Counselor. In addition to individuals Carrie oversees several employer-sponsored retirement plans, non-profit endowments and Family Trusts. She has written several published articles for Our Lives, a Madison-area based LGBTQ+ periodical, and Brava Magazine, a magazine for professional women. She is proficient in public speaking and has presented on financial topics for the UW, the City of Madison, area non-profits and non-profit Boards, and large venues such as The Midwest Horse Fair.
Carrie is the current Board President for YogAutismTM, a Madison-based non-profit focused on regulating the nervous system of autistic and other neurodiverse individuals through a yoga-inspired program. She is the current Board President and long-time member of The Business Forum, a professional women's group consisting of business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives focused on actively supporting their community through recognition and awards programs honoring inspiring women, scholarship programs for women of need and community volunteering. She is a past Board President for The Friends of Madison Mounted Horse Patrol and is an active member of the WISE Group (Women Inspiring Supporting and Educating of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp)*.
Carrie married her high school sweetheart and together they have a daughter. She is an avid horse enthusiast and has successfully bred, shown and trained both horse and rider. She currently owns three Arabian horses and proudly considers herself a student of the horse. When not with her family or out with the horses you can find her reading, playing piano or guitar, singing, or engaged in a crafting endeavor.
Licenses
- Series 7 – General securities sales such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, UITs, Warrants, and Options.
- Series 63 – Pairs with the Series 7 exam, allows access to the markets for trade and covers state specific laws.
- Life, Health, Long Term Care and Variable annuity/insurance – Life, Health, Disability, Long Term Care and Annuity products insurance sales.
- Investment Advisor Representative - Advise clients as a fiduciary1 on a fee basis rather than per trade commissions.
Education and Designations
- Master’s Degree in Financial Planning
- CFP® certification – CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification
- Income tax, retirement, and estate planning, investment strategies, portfolio design, insurances, and business organizing and taxation.
- ADPA®- Accredited Domestic Partner Advisor
- Wealth management, titling, complications with federal taxation, and planning for financial and medical end-of-life needs for unmarried couples.
- AWMA®- Accredited Wealth Management Advisor
- Planning strategies for High-Net-worth clients or those earning $250,000+/year. Proficiency in alternatives for taxation and asset protection, executive bonus and equity-based compensation plans such as stock options and advanced estate and trust planning strategies.
- CSRICTM – Chartered SRI Counselor
- Best practices for sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investments, trends, fiduciary and due diligence responsibilities
- CDFA®2 - Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
- Data Analysis and expertise on the financial issues of divorce.
2 Not practicing Divorce Planning at Lincoln Financial Advisors
*The mission of the WISE Group is to assist women financial advisors with Lincoln Financial Network in the growth and recognition of their practice. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2hy1rF7.