Thao's Way text and icon
English / Tiếng Việt

Hi, I’m Thao Truong

CFP Professional (CFP®), Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®),
and Wealth Advisor at Morton Wealth

I specialize in working with women in transition, first- and second-generation immigrants, and the Vietnamese community.

 

I’m Thao Truong

I am a wealth advisor with Morton Wealth, an RIA in Calabasas, California. Our firm manages around $3B of assets with 50 employees. A little bit about me, I grew up in Saigon, Vietnam. I moved to the United States when I was about 16 and have lived in a few different places like Seattle, New Hampshire, San Francisco, San Diego, and now Los Angeles.

Growing up in Vietnam, I wanted to be a doctor. I wanted to be of service to my community. But when my mother got sick, and she also fell into a bad business deal, I had to become financially independent and the main source of income for my family while I was still a teenager. I decided to start learning about finances and economics, hoping that I could day-trade and earn money as quickly as possible to be my family’s savior.

I quickly realized salvation wouldn’t happen overnight. As I deepened my understanding of wealth, I realized that a short-term mindset wouldn’t sustain my long-term goals of building generational wealth. There’s a big difference between simply making money and intentionally preserving and growing it. So, you can say that my family’s predicament helped me develop my passion for helping empower other first-generation wealth builders to build a healthier relationship with their money, foster better conversations about money between parents and children, and navigate through different transitions in life with informed decisions to bring them closer to their life goals and purposes.

Although I excelled in school, I did not have much guidance from anyone about my future career in the United States. I naively didn’t know the right questions to ask. While at school in Seattle, I quietly observed my friends in school and alumni, and I thought that the only way for me to fulfill my dream was to get a financial certification and work for an investment banking firm or a large Wall Street firm. Luckily, I landed a position at a large national RIA firm in the San Francisco. It took me a few years to realize that there was a career path in wealth management and obtaining a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) Certification would be another way to get there. Soon after, I moved from San Francisco to San Diego where I worked for two smaller local independent wealth management firms.

An old photo of Thao Truong as a child with her family in Vietnam.
A studio photo of Thao Truong and her family. They are all seated on or standing around a couch laughing and smiling.
Thao Truong sitting on a rock near a body of water on a hike. She is laughing and smiling to something off camera.
Thao Truong, financial and wealth advisor, sits in a comfy chair wearing a white blouse and red pants while smiling at the camera. Behind her is a wood table with a large green plant on it.

My strongest breakthrough started after my divorce in 2020 and COVID-19. Covid changed our lives quite a bit, hasn’t it? After much reflection, I found a new “why” in this chapter of my life. I grew a stronger passion for supporting women in transition and driven first-generation immigrants on their path to building wealth to provide support for their children, parents, and maybe even grandparents. I decided to look for a different team who could support me with my goals and moved away from San Diego to join them. I joined Morton Wealth, and I now proudly call the team my family. In 2021, together with some other ladies at Morton, we launched a community initiative called Herself to empower women with financial knowledge and normalize the conversations around money. Then, in 2023, we launched a new service offering to provide quality financial planning and alternative investment opportunities access to driven people who do not yet have our traditional assets under management (AUM) size of $1.5-$2M.

I recently completed a specialized educational program in divorce analysis to better serve those in need, and I am now a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA®). I can provide financial information and assistance to people going through a divorce and evaluate the tax implications of dividing property and the economic impacts of various settlement options for dividing marital properties and child/spousal support payments.

New birth, new school, new career, new business, death, illness, divorce, and more…we all go through many life changes. The challenge doubles when a language barrier, cultural differences, and dealing with family members across multiple generations are thrown into the mix. No changes are either good or bad; they are inevitable, and all carry a lesson. I want to help others embrace all the ups and downs in their lives and navigate through the chaos with peace and confidence so that they can breakthrough and transform.

Changes are inevitable, and all carry a lesson. I want to help others embrace all the ups and downs in their lives and navigate through the chaos with peace and confidence so that they can breakthrough and transform.

Join the Journey
Let’s Build Abundance Together

I believe that wealth should be empowering, not overwhelming. Too often, people feel stressed, ashamed, or uncertain when it comes to money. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right mindset and knowledge, you can take control of your financial future, support your loved ones, and achieve the life you envision.

I invite you to join me on this journey toward abundance. Let’s embrace the challenges, learn from every experience, and build a future filled with confidence, security, and growth.

Learn more about ModEarn by Morton Wealth and how we help people like you achieve financial freedom here.

Together, we can transform how you think about money and help you build wealth in a way that aligns with your goals and values.

Contact Me to get started!