Financial Planning Associate

Job Description

Job Description

At  Northwestern Mutual – Minneapolis , our mission is Securing Futures, Enhancing Lives and Creating Legacies for businesses and individuals in Minnesota and throughout the United States. We bring that mission to life through comprehensive financial planning, exceptional client service, and industry-leading insurance and wealth management solutions.

The Financial Planning Associate is a key member of the Planning Department, an internal team that supports subscribing advisors and their staff through specialized financial planning support. The primary role of this position is to provide scalable financial planning services by preparing financial plans, review materials, planning analyses, and supporting reports using standardized assumptions, templates, and planning processes. This role enables advisors to spend more time meeting with clients, delivering advice, and growing their practices while ensuring planning recommendations are delivered efficiently, accurately, and consistently.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Financial Planning

• Prepare comprehensive financial plans using established planning assumptions and standardized workflows.
• Complete planning requests submitted by subscribing advisors.
• Prepare PX plans and other standard planning analyses.
• Create insurance illustrations and supporting planning reports.
• Review planning recommendations for accuracy, completeness, and consistency with established planning practices.

Review Preparation

• Prepare review materials to support advisor client meetings.
• Create meeting agendas and planning discussion summaries.
• Generate and organize supporting reports including:
  • IFL Reports
  • CCV Reports
  • NMCIR Reports
  • Investment Reports
  • CRM Activity Summaries
• Ensure advisors have complete and organized materials prior to client meetings.

Planning Operations

• Ensure data entered into planning software is accurate and complete.
• Communicate with advisors regarding missing information, planning assumptions, and outstanding requirements.
• Monitor planning requests and manage work to meet established turnaround times.
• Maintain documentation and workflow standards across planning processes.
• Support planning team initiatives focused on process improvement, service consistency, and operational efficiency.
• Answer advisor questions related to planning deliverables and planning processes.

Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s degree (Finance, Business or related field) or equivalent work experience

• Life, Accident, and Health Insurance License (or ability obtain within first 30 days of employment)

• FINRA Securities Industry Essentials (SIE), Series 7, and Series 63 license (or ability to obtain within the first year of employment)
• Knowledge of investment products, superior analytical, organizational, research, initiative, and multi-tasking skills
• A desire to pursue ongoing professional development, education, and industry credentials.
• Ability to work closely with team members to ensure timely delivery of proposals and implementation

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the willingness to work with other teams to meet and exceed goals

Benefits:

• Starting salary $60,000/year depending on qualifications
• Paid time off
• Health, Dental, Vision and Short-Term Disability Insurance options
• Life and Long-Term Disability options
• Flexible Spending Account Options
• Hybrid schedule must work in Minneapolis office 3 days a week
• Must be eligible to work without sponsorship

We are looking for individuals to join our company who live by our core values: 

• Mutual Belief:   We share a deeply rooted belief in Northwestern Mutual, its financial planning philosophy, and its exclusive distribution system.  We are committed to the mission of delivering financial security to our clients by integrating insurance and wealth management planning TOGETHER.   
• Self-Driven Growth:  We are self-starters who actively seek to improve and evolve. We tackle challenges with creativity and a solutions-oriented mindset. We believe there is no limit to what we can learn or achieve. 
• Integrity and Trust:  We believe in doing the right thing. We take ownership of our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We earn trust by being consistent, dependable and transparent in all we do.
• Relentless Pursuit of Excellence:  We take pride in doing our best work. We show up, follow through, and aim for excellence - not for praise, but because our clients deserve nothing less.
• Service to Others:  We are here to serve - not just our clients but each other. We act with humility, lift those around us, and act in each other’s best interests. We lead by example and use our influence to build a stronger team, stronger community and stronger client relationships.

Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM) and its subsidiaries in Milwaukee, WI.