Advisors adapt services to support clients with ADHD

Wealth advisors and financial therapists are changing how they work with clients diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to address missed bills, impulsive spending and the stress of managing routine financial tasks.

Practitioners use a set of practical techniques: sitting with clients while they make calls or complete forms, walking through one small action at a time, using slides or photos to show goals, setting calendar reminders and simplifying plans into short, concrete steps.

ADHD affects attention, emotional regulation and impulsivity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates about 15 million U.S. adults, roughly 6 percent, have the diagnosis. Academic research has found adults with ADHD can struggle with financial judgment and with communicating practical financial details. A 2023 analysis reported that unmedicated adults with ADHD had higher medical costs, averaging about $18,200 a year, and researchers estimated an annual economic burden of about $122 billion from lost productivity and income.

Christine Hargrove, director of the Love and Money Center at the University of Georgia, points to dopamine-driven behavior and a distorted sense of time as factors that lead to emotionally driven spending, missed payments and difficulty engaging with long-term retirement goals. She recommends using visual tools and dividing objectives into immediate, narrow tasks so clients can make steady progress without becoming overwhelmed.

Otto Rivera, a wealth advisor at White Lighthouse Investment Management in Bedford, Massachusetts, who has ADHD, limits the amount of information presented in a single meeting and breaks plans into small steps. For transactions that can cause confusion, he joins client calls to confirm each step and reduce the chance of errors.

Mariah Hudler, a financial therapist at Koru Financial Therapy in Sacramento, treats impulsivity as a nervous-system regulation issue. She asks about clients’ money histories and previous strategies, and addresses beliefs such as “I’m bad with money” before moving to budgeting, with the aim of reducing shame and improving follow-through.

Advisors and therapists report that images, simple graphs and short slide decks help clients form a clear picture of financial goals. Several practitioners say these methods lead to faster client engagement and more referrals.

Professionals working with neurodivergent clients combine emotional support with concrete tools: calendar reminders, simplified action steps, visual goal-setting and physical or virtual presence during stressful tasks. These approaches are being used in ongoing client work across financial planning and therapy practices.