Vaughn L. Woods, CFP®, MBA
Founder, President & Senior Portfolio Manager
Vaughn Woods Financial Group, Inc.
For more than four decades, Vaughn L. Woods has helped individuals, families, business owners, and trustees make thoughtful financial decisions through changing markets and important life transitions. He is the Founder, President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of Vaughn Woods Financial Group, Inc., an independent wealth-management practice based in La Jolla, California.
Vaughn works directly with a select group of clients who value experienced portfolio oversight, clear communication, and a long-term professional relationship. His work includes portfolio management, retirement-income planning, retirement-account and required minimum distribution coordination, tax-aware planning considerations, and estate-transition coordination.
PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT
Vaughn has decades of experience managing portfolios. He has years of experience at Dean Witter/Morgan Stanley, AIG, Spelman and Company and Bolton Global Capital, Inc. Vaughn’s credentials include a life & long-term care license, BS from the University of Oregon, MBA from Point Loma Nazarene University, CFP, Securities Licenses: Series 24, Series 6, Series 7, Series 63, Series 65 and SIE. He holds state registration licenses in 15 states.
His approach extends beyond a standard allocation model. He helps clients consider the practical questions that arise when they move from wealth accumulation into retirement, begin taking portfolio distributions, manage concentrated assets, plan for family members, or face a significant life transition.
Clients have the opportunity to communicate directly with the portfolio manager responsible for their relationship. This direct connection supports ongoing conversation about portfolio structure, risk, income needs, tax-aware planning considerations, and long-term objectives.
RETIREMENT & ESTATE TRANSITIONS
Vaughn works with individuals and families who are approaching retirement, already retired, or navigating a complex financial transition. His work may include retirement-income planning, portfolio oversight, rollover and retirement-account coordination, RMD planning, Roth-conversion considerations, and coordination with a client’s tax and legal professionals.
He also works with successor trustees, beneficiaries, attorneys, and CPAs during estate transitions. Vaughn developed the Successor Fiduciary Protocol to help families and their professional advisors organize the financial questions that often arise in the early stages of trust administration.
His white paper, The First 72 Hours, offers practical guidance for successor trustees who are assuming new responsibilities during a period of loss and transition.
MARKETS, ECONOMIC CYCLES & CONTEXT
Every market environment brings different conditions and different questions. Vaughn draws on fundamental and technical research, macroeconomic analysis, and decades of market experience to help clients evaluate economic and market developments within the context of their long-term plans.
Through his regular writing and market commentary, he seeks to help readers place market news in perspective. The purpose is not to encourage reaction to short-term headlines, but to support informed decision-making during periods of uncertainty.
NEUROECONOMICS & DECISION-MAKING
Vaughn has a longstanding interest in neuroeconomics, context, and human decision-making. His 2007 MBA thesis, Context: A Neuroeconomic Solution Set for the Integration of Intelligence Models, examined the ways people use context when making complex decisions under uncertainty.
This work continues to inform his practical perspective on wealth management. Financial decisions involve information, analysis, and planning, but they are also influenced by emotional pressures that can arise during volatility, uncertainty, and major life change. Vaughn believes that recognizing those pressures is an important part of making considered long-term decisions.
EDUCATION & BACKGROUND
Vaughn is a CFP® professional and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Fermanian School of Business at Point Loma Nazarene University. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Oregon School of Journalism.
His professional background includes more than four decades of experience in portfolio management, financial planning, investment research, and client service. Today, he serves as Founder, President, and Senior Portfolio Manager of Vaughn Woods Financial Group, Inc.
COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
Vaughn has held leadership and advisory roles throughout the San Diego community. His service has included work with the San Diego Art Institute, The Human Factor Leadership Academy, UPLIFT / Kids at Heart Tutoring Program, La Playa Gallery, Christian Community Theater, La Jolla Shores Tomorrow, and La Jolla Presbyterian Church.
Whether helping a client organize retirement income, review a portfolio, coordinate an estate transition, or navigate a difficult market environment, Vaughn’s purpose remains the same: to offer thoughtful guidance, personal attention, and a steady long-term perspective.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Vaughn L. Woods, CFP®, MBA
La Jolla, California
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Vaughn Woods Financial Group, Inc. — La Jolla, California
Founder, President & Senior Portfolio Manager
- Founded and leads an independent wealth-management practice serving individuals, families, business owners, and trust-related accounts.
- Provides portfolio-management and financial-planning coordination within the applicable advisory and broker-dealer framework.
- Works directly with clients on retirement-income planning, retirement-account coordination, asset allocation, portfolio oversight, and estate-transition considerations.
- Uses fundamental and technical research, macroeconomic analysis, and the Cyclical Trend Index as part of the firm’s investment-research process.
- Developed the Successor Fiduciary Protocol and authored The First 72 Hours, a practical guide for successor trustees and families navigating estate transitions.
- Publishes economic-cycle commentary and educational material addressing markets, retirement planning, behavioral finance, and long-term decision-making.
- Coordinates, as appropriate, with estate attorneys, CPAs, trustees, and other client professionals.
RESEARCH & WRITING
MBA Thesis
Context: A Neuroeconomic Solution Set for the Integration of Intelligence Models
Point Loma Nazarene University, 2007
- Examined the relationship among context, human decision-making, neuroeconomics, and models of intelligence.
- Explored how individuals interpret information and make decisions under uncertainty.
- Continues to inform Vaughn’s interest in behavioral finance, emotional decision-making, and the practical role of context in financial planning.
White Paper
The First 72 Hours
- Developed as part of the Successor Fiduciary Protocol.
- Provides practical guidance for successor trustees and families managing the early financial and administrative responsibilities of an estate transition.
CIVIC & COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP
- Advisor to the Board, San Diego Art Institute
- Advisor, The Human Factor Leadership Academy
- Mentor and Tutor, UPLIFT / Kids at Heart Tutoring Program
- Curator, La Playa Gallery, La Jolla, California
- President of the Board of Directors, Christian Community Theater
- Co-Founder and President, La Jolla Shores Tomorrow
- Elder, La Jolla Presbyterian Church
DISCLOSURES
Vaughn L. Woods, CFP®, MBA is President and Founder of Vaughn Woods Financial Group, Inc., an Investment Adviser Representative of Bolton Global Capital, Inc. Client assets are held in custody through Pershing LLC, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon.
Securities offered through Bolton Global Capital, Inc., 579 Main Street, Bolton, Massachusetts 01740. Member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services offered through Bolton Global Asset Management, a registered investment advisor, 579 Main Street, Bolton, Massachusetts 01740. Telephone: (978) 779-5361.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal.