Carson McLean, CFP®

Founder, Lead Wealth Advisor

15+ Years of Industry Experience

Dimensional Fund Advisors Alum

I started Altruist Wealth Management to offer the kind of advice most people never get: flat fee, transparent, evidence-based, and fully aligned with their interests. This work is about more than managing money—it’s about helping people make confident decisions in a system that doesn’t always make that easy.

How I Work

Flat-Fee & Fiduciary: One transparent fee. No commissions, no product sales, no percentage-of-assets surprises—ever.

Evidence-Based Strategies: Portfolios built on decades of academic research—not predictions or hype.

Planning First: True value comes from understanding your goals, not chasing the next market move.

Education & Empowerment: I believe clients should understand both the “how” and the “why” behind every recommendation.

Featured In

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

My Journey

When I graduated from Loyola Chicago with a degree in finance and philosophy, I believed financial advisors were advocates for their clients. My first job at a nationally known wealth manager quickly shattered that ideal—sales quotas, product pushes, and asset gathering took priority over genuine, fiduciary advice. It didn’t sit right, and I nearly left the industry, as I was told I just “didn’t get it.”

Everything changed when I joined Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)—a firm most people haven’t heard of, but should. DFA was founded by the academic minds who pioneered evidence-based investing and helped create the world’s first index funds. These weren’t Wall Street salespeople, but researchers and Nobel laureates whose work reshaped how investing could serve investors, not product manufacturers. At DFA, I worked alongside fiduciary RIAs who led with planning—not products—and built portfolios grounded in decades of academic research, not predictions or hot tips. That experience restored my faith in what this profession could and should be.

I launched Altruist Wealth Management to push the industry toward greater transparency and true consumer advocacy. My mission is simple: put clients’ interests first, keep pricing fair and predictable with a flat fee, and focus on the controllable things that actually drive results.

Beyond the Numbers

Outside of work, life is rarely quiet. I live in Charlotte, NC, with my wife Ellen and our four kids. Most days, I’m helping with family logistics, coaching the occasional youth sport, or working on our pre-war house—which, like most old homes, has a running list of projects that never seems to get any shorter.

I play Gaelic football with our local GAA club (though not particularly well), and I’m making slow progress on both piano and guitar. My kids are honest critics—my wife is the real musician in the family.

We spend as much time outdoors as possible, whether camping, going to the local pool, skiing, or just chasing each other around the yard. I enjoy working with my hands—sometimes out of necessity, sometimes just for the satisfaction of fixing something myself.

We’ve put down roots in Plaza Midwood area and feel lucky to have such a strong neighborhood community. I try to stay involved where I can. I serve on the board of the SUDC Foundation and run a small nonprofit in memory of our son Frank. That work gives me a broader perspective on what really matters and reminds me that life isn’t all about spreadsheets.