Wes Moss

What Wes Moss does

Wes Moss is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER practitioner (credentialed since 1995) and the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Strategist of Capital Investment Advisors (CIA), an Atlanta, Georgia-based fee-only registered investment advisory firm. CIA operates on a fiduciary, commission-free basis with assets under management reported at $5 billion-plus as of December 31, 2023, serving individual and household clients with a stated focus on retirement planning and wealth management. Revenue mechanics are the standard fee-only RIA model: a percentage-of-AUM charge against client portfolios, with no proprietary technology platform, robo-advisor offering, or institutional client base disclosed in the input.

Beyond the advisory practice, Moss runs a parallel content and media business under the "Retire Sooner" brand. This platform includes the Retire Sooner Podcast (over 1.3 million downloads), the Happiest Retirees Podcast, and the Money Matters radio program, which has aired since 1992 with Moss as host since 2009. He has authored multiple books on retirement and wealth, with a third title, The Retire Sooner Method, scheduled for release in September 2026. The content layer functions as both a marketing engine for CIA and an independent media property, supplemented by consumer-facing interactive tools such as a Retire Sooner Decision Tree.

The combined business model is a content-led, brand-driven RIA in which Moss's personal reputation, broadcast footprint, and publishing output generate the trust and lead flow that supports a multi-billion-dollar advisory book. The firm has no disclosed artificial intelligence capabilities, no technology product or platform business, and no acquisitions, funding rounds, or restructuring events referenced in the available information; external recognition (Forbes Best-in-State 2022, 2023, 2026; Barron's Top 1200 since 2014; Top 100 Independent Advisors 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021) substitutes for product differentiation in positioning the practice.

Name

Wes Moss

Legal name

Wes Moss

Website

https://wesmoss.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wes Moss is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and Managing Partner at Capital Investment Advisors, a fee-only Atlanta-based RIA managing $5B+ in retirement-focused client assets, while operating the parallel Retire Sooner media platform of podcasts, radio, and books.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Financial Advisory Services: Wes Moss serves as Managing Partner at Capital Investment Advisors (CIA), a fee-only investment firm. Revenue is generated through financial advisory and investment management services based on assets under management (AUM). CIA manages over $5 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Wes Moss is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and money educator who delivers financial advisory and retirement planning services through Capital Investment Advisors (CIA), a fee-only investment firm with over $5 billion in AUM. He complements these advisory services with original financial education content including three podcasts, bestselling books, interactive retirement planning tools, and a research-backed framework for retirement income strategy and happiness.

Product overview

Wes Moss is a financial educator and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ offering a comprehensive suite of financial education products and services focused on retirement planning. The core offering includes three podcasts (Retire Sooner, Happiest Retirees, and Money Matters), published books (You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think, What The Happiest Retirees Know, and the upcoming The Retire Sooner Method), and interactive financial planning tools (Money & Happiness Quiz, Core Pursuit Finder, Dry Powder Calculator, Retirement Calculator). Services are delivered through Capital Investment Advisors, a fee-only investment firm with over $5 billion in AUM, where Moss serves as Managing Partner and Chief Investment Strategist. The platform also includes educational content like the 101 Retirement Tips eBook, newsletters, and the 5 Money Secrets Workbook, all centered on helping Americans retire sooner through income investing strategies and happiness-focused retirement planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Retire Sooner Podcast: A nationally recognized podcast focused on retirement planning, lifestyle habits, and strategies for achieving financial independence, with over 1.3 million downloads.
• Happiest Retirees Podcast
• Money Matters

Quantifiable outcome

• Retire Sooner Podcast has achieved 1.3+ million downloads
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Capital Investment Advisors (CIA)coreOthersWes Moss is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Strategist at Capital Investment Advisors, a fee-only investment firm with over $5 billion in assets under management. CIA provides the institutional backing and regulatory framework for Wes Moss's advisory practice and hosts the Retire Sooner team.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Betterment: Leading digital wealth management platform offering automated and hybrid advice to mass-affluent and pre-retiree clients. Comparable target demographic and retirement-planning use cases, though a pure-tech/robo model without the personal-media-led client acquisition that defines Wes Moss.
• Personal Capital (Empower): Hybrid digital RIA combining free financial tools, content, and dashboards with human advisory services. Comparable on the tech-enabled planning toolset (calculators, dashboards) and on targeting tech-savvy pre-retirees, though more digital-first and less media-driven than Wes Moss.
• Facet Wealth: Hybrid digital RIA combining financial planning technology with CFP-led advice for mass-affluent and pre-retiree clients nationally. Comparable fee-only, retirement-focused offering, but with a tech-led (rather than media-led) client acquisition model.

Direct peers

• Edelman Financial Engines: One of the largest independent RIAs in the US, combining fee-only wealth management with extensive financial media presence (Ric Edelman's books, radio shows, and YouTube). Closely comparable model of media-driven brand feeding an AUM-based advisory practice at national scale.
• Tony Robbins (Tony Robbins Money): Bestselling personal finance author and media figure (Money: Master the Game) who funnels audience into partnered advisory relationships. Comparable personal-brand-to-advisor conversion model targeting mass-affluent and pre-retiree audiences, with far larger media footprint.
• Suze Orman: Personal-brand financial educator with bestselling books, long-running TV/radio show, podcast, and women-focused retirement content. Closely comparable as a financial media personality whose brand funnels to an advisory practice, though Suze's consumer reach is broader and more mainstream.
• Ramsey Solutions (Dave Ramsey): Financial media empire built on a personal brand (Dave Ramsey), bestselling books, the Ramsey Show podcast/radio, and a SmartVestor Pro advisor referral network. Highly analogous content-to-advisor-conversion funnel targeting retirement and personal finance.

Broad incumbents

• Vanguard Personal Advisor Services: Hybrid advisory service from Vanguard combining digital planning tools with human advisors for retirement-focused affluent clients. Comparable fee-only structure and pre-retiree / retiree customer base, with much broader geographic reach and lower fee profile.
• Fisher Investments: Large, well-known fee-based RIA with a strong media and advertising presence targeting affluent and pre-retiree investors. Comparable target customer (retirees / pre-retirees) and AUM-driven model, though operating at far larger scale and without Wes Moss's research-led, happiness-oriented niche.
• Charles Schwab Wealth Advisory: Large incumbent wealth advisory offering from a major broker-dealer, serving affluent and pre-retiree clients with retirement planning at scale. Comparable customer segment and retirement-focused value proposition, though delivered through a much larger institutional platform rather than personal-brand content.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@WesMossMoneyMatters
• Facebookfacebook.com/wes.moss.549
• Instagraminstagram.com/retiresoonerpodcast
• Xx.com/wesmoss365
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wes-moss-money-matters

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wes Moss