Meet Allen Thomas, Financial Advisor in Winter Haven
I'm an independent financial advisor in Winter Haven serving retirees and pre-retirees across Central Florida, and I've built my practice around one stage of life on purpose: the years when you stop saving and start drawing income.
Practicing since 1991
Client assets held at Charles Schwab
Author of Wealth Beyond Work
Independent, fee-based, fiduciary on advisory accounts
Trusted Advisor — Allen Thomas
A Practice Built Over Three Decades, Focused on One Thing
I started in financial services in 1991 with The Prudential, and I've spent every year since then learning what works and what doesn't when real families try to make their money last through a real retirement. The early decades of my career covered a broad slice of the industry, individual securities, mutual funds, supervisory and compliance work, investment banking support, variable products. I held FINRA Series 6, 7, 24, 79, and 99 over the course of that career, and each of those roles taught me something different about how money actually moves and where the cracks tend to show up.
In 2016, I narrowed the practice. I'd watched too many people in their 60s and 70s get handed a generic accumulation strategy by a captive advisor at a big-box firm and then wonder, five years into retirement, why the math wasn't holding up. Decumulation, the act of turning a lifetime of savings into a paycheck that lasts 25 or 30 years, is a different problem than accumulation. It deserves a specialist. So that's what I built Thomas Advisory Services to be.
Today the practice is independent, fee-based, and focused on retirement-stage households in Central Florida.
Our Commitment to Excellence, Personalized Service, and Your Success
Licenses and Credentials
A retirement plan touches investments, insurance, taxes, and estate work, and you want an advisor whose background covers enough ground to see the whole picture rather than push you toward whichever product their firm sells.
Current licenses and registrations:
- FINRA Series 66 (Uniform Combined State Law)
- Florida Life, Health, and Variable Annuities license
- Florida Property and Casualty license
- Florida Insurance License A263593
Previously held FINRA registrations over the course of a 30+ year career:
- Series 6 (Investment Company and Variable Contracts)
- Series 7 (General Securities Representative)
- Series 24 (General Securities Principal)
- Series 79 (Investment Banking Representative)
- Series 99 (Operations Professional)
On advisory accounts under my Series 66 registration, I operate as a fiduciary retirement advisor in Florida, which means recommendations are required by law to be made in your best interest rather than the firm's.
A Two-Person Practice You Can Actually Reach
My wife Marcie works in the practice alongside me. She handles client communication, scheduling, and the day-to-day relationship work that keeps a small advisory firm from feeling like a call center. Many of our clients mention her by name in their reviews because she's usually the first voice they hear and the one who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks.
We've kept the Thomas Advisory Services team intentionally small. That decision costs us scale, but it pays us back in the thing our clients tell us matters most: when you call, you get one of the two people who actually knows your plan. Your account doesn't get reassigned to a junior associate every few years, and you don't sit on hold waiting for someone three time zones away to pull up your file.
For senior clients dealing with urgent financial or insurance questions, that direct access matters. I'm reachable outside business hours when something genuinely can't wait until Monday.
Why This Book Matters
Why I Wrote
Wealth Beyond Work
Most of the retirement guidance in circulation is built around the savings years. I wrote Wealth Beyond Work because the spending years deserve their own book.
The book lays out the framework I use with clients: how to think about sequence-of-returns risk in the first five years of retirement, when guaranteed lifetime income strategies make sense and when they don't, how Social Security timing interacts with the rest of your income plan, and how to keep a portfolio resilient through three decades of retirement rather than three years of bull market. I send a free copy to anyone who'd like one.
Faith, Honesty, and the Way I Treat Clients
I'm a Christian, and that shapes how I run this practice. It shows up in the small ways more than the loud ones: returning a phone call the same day, telling a prospective client when a product isn't right for them even if I'd earn on the sale, sitting with a recent widow long enough to actually understand her situation before recommending anything.
A meaningful number of the clients I work with share that faith, and several have mentioned it in their reviews. I don't lead with it because it isn't the headline. But if you're looking for an advisor whose values inform the work and whose advice you can take at face value, I'd want you to know who I am before you hire me.
Retirement Stage Fit
Who I Work With
I work with retirees and pre-retirees throughout Central Florida. Most of my in-person clients are based in Winter Haven, Lakeland, Orlando, Tampa, or Davenport, and I work remotely by phone and video with clients elsewhere in the state. A growing share of my newer clients are Florida transplants who relocated for tax reasons and needed a Florida-based advisor.
If you're within ten years of retirement on either side and you want a plan built by someone who's been doing this since 1991, we should talk.
Common Questions About Working With Me
Common Questions About Working With Me
Who is Allen Thomas, financial advisor in Winter Haven?
I'm an independent financial advisor based in downtown Winter Haven, Florida. I've practiced in financial services since 1991, originally with The Prudential, and I founded Thomas Advisory Services to focus specifically on retirement income planning for retirees and pre-retirees in Central Florida. I'm the author of Wealth Beyond Work and operate as a fiduciary on advisory accounts under my Series 66 registration.
Is Thomas Advisory Services trustworthy?
That's the right question to ask any advisor, and there are a few specific things you can check on us. Client assets are held at Charles Schwab as an independent custodian, which means I never take possession of your money. I operate as a fiduciary on advisory accounts. The practice is independent rather than captive to a particular fund family or insurance carrier. And I've held continuous FINRA registration since 1991. Reading our client reviews is also a reasonable place to start.
What is Allen Thomas's history with Prudential?
I began my financial services career with The Prudential in 1991 and spent the early years of my practice there learning the foundations of securities, insurance, and client work. Over the course of my career I held FINRA Series 6, 7, 24, 79, and 99, working across roles that included supervisory and compliance responsibilities. In 2016 I narrowed my practice to focus specifically on retirement income planning, which is what Thomas Advisory Services does today.
What licenses does Allen Thomas currently hold?
I currently hold the FINRA Series 66 (Uniform Combined State Law) registration, Florida Life, Health, and Variable Annuities licenses, Florida Property and Casualty, and Florida Insurance License A263593.
What does it mean that you're an independent fee-based advisor?
Independent means I'm not contracted to push a specific fund family, insurance carrier, or product line. Fee-based means my compensation comes primarily from advisory fees on accounts I manage, with transparent disclosure of any commission-based products (typically fixed insurance) discussed in writing before you decide to work with me. Both pieces matter because they shape whose interests the recommendations are built around.
Let's Talk About Your Retirement
If you've read this far, you're probably evaluating advisors carefully. Good. That's exactly how this decision should be made. The next step is a conversation, in person at the Winter Haven office, by phone, or by video, where we walk through your situation and you decide whether the fit feels right.
Thomas Advisory Services is led by Allen Thomas, who has practiced in financial services since 1991 and is the author of
Wealth Beyond Work. The practice is independent and fee-based, with client assets held at Charles Schwab and a Florida-focused client base concentrated in Polk County and the surrounding region.