Keith A. Merson, CFP®, AIF®

Keith is the Founder and Principal of Sierra Wealth Advisors.

While employed as a financial advisor at a large national brokerage and advisory firm, Keith became increasingly disenchanted with the conflict of interest inherent in commission-based compensation. Keith‘s colleagues argued that what they were doing for their clients was better than what those clients had previously been doing. However, Keith wanted to do what was best for his clients rather than merely doing better. Keith concluded that the only way to keep clients' best interests at heart was via a fee-only compensation arrangement.

In June of 2002, Keith left the national firm to create a fee-only wealth management firm dedicated to research-proven investment practices and the highest ethical standards. The result is Sierra Wealth Advisors, serving business owners, nonprofit organizations, individuals, and families throughout California.

In addition to obtaining the Certified Financial Planner and Accredited Investment Fiduciary designations, Keith is currently working on the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) designation. For more information about these designations, visit our professional designations page.

Keith is an active member of the Auburn Gold Country Rotary Club, enjoys spending time with his wife Kristi and, when time permits, mountain biking, kayaking and backcountry snowboarding.

Additional Staff

As many of our clients know firsthand, one of the greatest challenges facing small businesses in the increasingly competitive business environment is attracting and retaining talented employees. It takes significant time to find the right people and then even more time to train and manage them. Hiring, training and managing employees takes time away from our core responsibilities to our clients. For these reasons, Sierra Wealth Advisors outsources non-advisory responsibilities (e.g., that would normally be performed by administrative staff), providing the freedom to spend time managing clients’ wealth rather than managing employees. This allows Sierra Wealth Advisors to remain focused on providing quality service and exceptional value to the people most important to us, our clients.