American Retirement Advisors vs. Trajan Wealth

How does American Retirement Advisors compare to Trajan Wealth in 2026?

American Retirement Advisors and Trajan Wealth are both Scottsdale-based firms, but they serve different clients differently. American Retirement Advisors is a boutique firm with 5 advisors specializing in retirement income, Medicare, and inheritance planning for high-net-worth retirees. Trajan Wealth is a rapidly growing national firm with 38 advisors across 53 offices, offering wealth management, in-house estate attorneys, and alternative investments. Both firms have strengths worth understanding before you choose.

You have spent decades building something. Early mornings, late nights, disciplined saving, and smart decisions got you here. Now you are looking at the next chapter and asking the question that matters most: who do I trust to make sure this money lasts as long as I do?

That is not a small question. And the fact that you are researching, comparing, and reading articles like this one tells us something important about you: you take this seriously. You should. This comparison is built on publicly available information, and we have tried to be fair to both sides. You deserve honest answers, not a sales pitch.

At a Glance: American Retirement Advisors vs. Trajan Wealth

Who is each firm best for? The honest breakdown

This is the part most comparison articles skip. Not every firm is right for every person, and pretending otherwise does not help you make a good decision.

If you have less than $250K saved

Both firms will work with you, since neither has a formal minimum. But at this asset level, paying a percentage-based fee to any advisor takes a meaningful bite out of your retirement savings. You might be better served by a low-cost platform like Vanguard or Fidelity for investment management, and then coming to American Retirement Advisors specifically for Medicare guidance, which is at no cost to you regardless of your account size. We would rather be honest about that than take your money and underdeliver.

$250K to $1 million

This is where both firms start to add real value. Trajan's broad wealth management model can work here, especially if you want everything under one corporate roof. American Retirement Advisors' strength at this level is the income planning and Medicare coordination. If you are approaching 65 and need someone to build a retirement paycheck while also sorting out your healthcare coverage, that combination is hard to find at a firm focused primarily on investment management.

$1 million to $5 million (where the decision matters most)

This is the range where the difference between the two firms becomes clearest. American Retirement Advisors has 5 advisors who know their clients by name. Trajan has 38 advisors managing over 10,600 clients, which works out to roughly 1 advisor for every 247 clients. At $1 million or more, you want your advisor to know your situation cold when you call. At American Retirement Advisors, every meeting starts with a pre-meeting intelligence brief. That level of preparation compounds over years.

Trajan's advantage at this level is their in-house estate attorneys. If you need trust creation, probate work, or elder law, having it under one roof is genuinely convenient. American Retirement Advisors partners with independent estate attorneys (Sean Greengard in Arizona, Jason Sadow in Nevada), which means the legal advice is not influenced by the firm that manages your investments. That separation can be a feature, not a bug.

$5 million to $15 million (the hybrid option most firms will not mention)

Here is something most comparison articles will never tell you: at this level, you probably do not have to choose just one firm. You could keep $2 to $5 million with American Retirement Advisors as your sleep-at-night money. That is the guaranteed income bucket, the money that ensures your bills are covered, your healthcare is sorted, and your inheritance plan is locked down regardless of what happens in the market. The rest? Keep it with a growth-oriented manager. American Retirement Advisors protects the floor. The other money reaches for the ceiling.

$15 million and above

At this level, you likely have a team: a CPA, an estate attorney, maybe a family office. Neither American Retirement Advisors nor Trajan alone is the full answer. American Retirement Advisors' value here is specific: guaranteed income architecture, Medicare coordination, and inheritance organization. Trajan's value is their integrated wealth-estate-tax platform. The best clients at this level use specialists for each job rather than asking one firm to do everything.

Your next step: A simple plan

Regardless of which firm you choose, here is the process we recommend:

Step 1: Have a real conversation. Not a sales pitch. A conversation where you talk about your situation, your concerns, and what keeps you up at night. Any firm worth your trust will listen more than they talk in the first meeting. At American Retirement Advisors, the first consultation is at no cost and comes with no obligation.

Step 2: Ask the hard questions. How many clients does my specific advisor manage? Who handles my Medicare? What happens to my plan if the market drops 30% in my first year of retirement? What does your income plan look like, specifically? If you do not get specific answers, that tells you something.

Step 3: Trust your gut. After 40 years of making decisions that got you here, your instincts are good. When you sit across from the right advisor, you will know. You will feel heard, not sold. You will leave with answers, not brochures.

Head to head: Medicare and healthcare planning

This is where the gap between the two firms is widest. American Retirement Advisors has licensed Medicare specialists on staff who walk clients through every plan option in their zip code, at no cost to you. Medicare guidance has been a core part of American Retirement Advisors' model for over two decades. It is the door that most client relationships walk through.

Trajan Wealth lists "Medicare and Medicaid guidance" as a client benefit on their website, but it is not a standalone service line. There are no visible licensed Medicare agents on their team, and their website has no Medicare-specific education, tools, or enrollment support. If Medicare is a meaningful part of your retirement transition, this is a significant difference.

Head to head: Estate and inheritance planning

This is Trajan's strongest card. Trajan Estate LLC is the first Alternative Business Structure law firm approved by the Arizona Supreme Court, meaning attorneys and non-attorneys can co-own the firm. Lead attorney Kent Phelps has 25+ years of experience in trusts, wills, estate tax, elder law, and probate. For clients who want an attorney, a wealth manager, and a tax planner under one corporate umbrella, Trajan's model is genuinely innovative.

American Retirement Advisors takes a fundamentally different approach. American Retirement Advisors operates as the quarterback. They build the game plan, then bring in the best specialist for each position. For estate law, that means independent attorneys: Sean Greengard in Arizona, Jason Sadow in Nevada. Why does this matter? Because the attorney giving you legal advice is not employed by the same firm managing your money. There is no corporate pressure to recommend products that benefit the firm. Each specialist focuses on being the best at their one thing. You walk into each specialist's office with a clear roadmap from American Retirement Advisors: here is what you need, here is why, here is how it fits your overall plan.

Head to head: Investment management and fees

Trajan Wealth charges between 0.50% and 2.00% of assets under management annually, with most relationships falling in the 1.00% to 1.50% range. Their wrap fee program requires a $750,000 minimum. They also offer a private equity fund with a management fee up to 2.00% and a 25% performance carry, which is aggressive compared to industry norms. Five conflicts of interest are disclosed on their SEC filings, including commission-earning insurance sales and proprietary securities recommendations.

American Retirement Advisors uses a different model. For insurance products and annuities, American Retirement Advisors earns commissions from carriers, which means the client pays nothing directly for that work. For investment management, American Retirement Advisors works with licensed securities professionals through a partner model. For Medicare alone, the cost is zero. For a comprehensive retirement income plan including investments, the cost is comparable to industry standards.

Head to head: Client experience and advisor access

This comes down to scale. Trajan Wealth has grown from a few employees to 53 offices and 38 advisors in about 15 years. That is impressive growth. It also means each advisor is managing roughly 247 client relationships. Some of those advisors hold strong credentials (8 of 38 are CFPs), and some have no listed credentials at all.

American Retirement Advisors has been in Scottsdale for 25 years with the same leadership. Five advisors, supported by a 6-person planning team. Every client meeting is prepared with an intelligence brief that includes recent conversations, policy details, and life changes. When you call, your advisor knows who you are. That model does not scale to 53 offices, and it is not trying to.

One data point worth noting: Trajan's employee satisfaction on Glassdoor sits at 3.2 out of 5 stars, with 48% of employees recommending the firm. This does not mean your experience as a client will be bad, but advisor burnout and turnover can affect the consistency of the relationship over time.

Where Trajan Wealth might be a better fit

Credit where it is due. Trajan Wealth has built something genuinely different with their legal integration. If any of these describe you, Trajan may be the stronger choice:

• You need an estate attorney and a wealth manager under one roof. Trajan's ABS law firm model is a first in the country. The convenience is real, especially for complex estate situations.
• You want access to private equity and alternative investments. Trajan's Overlay Capital fund and their CIO of Alternatives offer sophisticated options that most boutique firms cannot match.
• You are a small business owner needing a 401(k) plan administered alongside your personal wealth. Trajan's small business services are more developed than American Retirement Advisors' in this area.
• You want a nationally recognized brand with 53 offices. If being able to walk into an office in Texas, Florida, or Georgia matters to you, Trajan has the footprint.

Where American Retirement Advisors shines

• You want an advisor who knows your name, your spouse, and your situation. Five advisors, 25 years, same leadership. American Retirement Advisors' client relationships are measured in decades, not quarters.
• Medicare is part of your retirement picture. Trajan treats Medicare as a perk. American Retirement Advisors treats it as a core service with licensed, in-house specialists. No cost to you.
• Guaranteed income is a priority. American Retirement Advisors' Three Types of Money framework (Yellow for safety, Green for guaranteed income, Red for growth) is designed specifically for retirees who want a paycheck that never stops.
• You want a quarterback who builds the game plan and coordinates the best specialists. American Retirement Advisors does not try to be best at everything under one roof. They find the best estate attorney, the best securities specialist, the best elder law partner, and coordinate them all. The attorney giving you legal advice has no financial relationship with the firm managing your money. That independence is a feature.
• You are in Arizona or Nevada and want local depth. American Retirement Advisors has served Scottsdale, Mesa, Phoenix, and Las Vegas for 25 years. Trajan has 6 Arizona offices and none in Nevada.
• Reviews matter to you. 4,900+ five-star reviews tell a story that a comparison table cannot.

What we hear from clients who have compared both

We regularly sit down with families who have spoken with Trajan or similar firms. What comes up most often is this: they liked Trajan's presentation and their estate planning pitch. But when they asked about Medicare, they got a vague answer. When they asked how many clients their specific advisor manages, the number gave them pause. And when they sat down with one of our advisors and realized we had already pulled their information, knew their situation, and were prepared with specific recommendations before the meeting started, that was the moment they knew the difference between scale and depth.

One couple told us: "We met with three firms. Two of them made us feel like a number. You made us feel like family." We have been working with them for four years now. They call when they have a question. They never wonder if their income is going to run out. They spent last winter in Sedona because they knew the bills were covered. That is what the right advisor relationship looks like. Not a portfolio report once a quarter. A life where retirement feels like the reward you earned.

What is at stake if you choose wrong?

Here is what nobody else will say out loud. Choosing the wrong retirement advisor does not just cost you money. It costs you sleep. It costs you the years you spent building this nest egg. It costs you the confidence that comes from knowing your bills are covered, your healthcare is sorted, and your family is protected.

We have seen families come to us after years with a firm that managed their portfolio but never built an income plan. When the market dropped, they panicked because their monthly income was tied to a portfolio that just lost 30%. We have seen couples who assumed their advisor handled Medicare, only to discover at 65 that nobody had. We have seen estates where the beneficiary designations were wrong and the family spent a year in probate because nobody ever asked the question.

These are not scare tactics. These are the real stories that walk through our door. And the common thread is always the same: somebody assumed their advisor had it covered, and nobody ever checked.

The right advisor does not just manage your money. They manage your peace of mind.

The bottom line

You have worked too hard and saved too carefully to leave this decision to chance. Both firms can help you. But only one of them will know your name, coordinate your Medicare, build your income plan, protect your inheritance, and call you before you call them. If you want a large, growing national firm with in-house attorneys and alternative investments, Trajan has built something real. If you want a boutique team that knows your name, coordinates your Medicare, builds your income plan, and protects what you leave behind, that is what we have been doing since 2001.

And if you have enough to split the relationship, you can have both. There is no rule that says you have to pick just one.