Josh Elkan

I became an advisor just 1.5 years after telling my father, an advisor, that I didn't want to do what he did. What can I say except that I found the work to be rewarding enough to eat my words fairly quickly. I achieved the Certified Financial Planner® designation in 2018. In addition being a  CFP® professional, I am also a Chartered Life Underwriter®, a Chartered Financial Consultant®, and a Retirement Income Certified Professional®. Across all of my positions, I've been with Northwestern Mutual since 2015.

I enjoy helping our clients protect, grow, and live on their wealth in a thoughtful and efficient manner that would be difficult or impossible to duplicate on their own with the strength of Northwestern Mutual to support my recommendations. I hope to help our clients achieve even a little bit more peace of mind when they meet with me, which is why we bother with financial planning in the first place.

I enjoy running significantly slower than I did in college as a cross country and track athlete, devouring cheesesteaks after runs, and supporting Philadelphia sports teams. I am fortunate to be able to spend my free time with my family, friends, girlfriend, and cat. I didn't grow up with pets, but my cat seems to have smoothly transitioned from Philadelphia stray to most pampered beneficiary of my hard work, even though she does not contribute financially to the household (a fact I constantly remind her of, though she seems not bothered by it).

When people feel better about their money, good things happen—they become more confident and feel more secure. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has helped people achieve the financial flexibility they need to live more and worry less.

Being a mutual company means Northwestern Mutual reports to its clients, not Wall Street. They don't believe in chasing fads or taking undue risk for short-term gains. Instead, they take a long-term approach—both in the way we help people plan to reach their goals, and in the way they do business. This has served their clients (and mine) well through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including wars, recessions, even the recent pandemic.

It's why I'm happy to be part of a company that's in it for the long-haul and prioritizes clients over profit.