Meet the Guardian Financial Strategies Team

Meet Chris Wood, RICP®

Founder and Financial Advisor

Built From Experience. Focused on Clarity.

Before entering financial services in 2019, Chris Wood spent more than a decade as a Dallas police officer. He understands the schedule, stress, family dynamics, and financial decisions that come with a career in public safety. That experience shapes his approach to serving first responders, their families, and others preparing for retirement.

As a Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP), Chris helps clients connect what they have saved with how they want to live. His work brings retirement income, pension decisions, tax-aware strategies, and investments into a coordinated plan. Clients can expect straightforward explanations, thoughtful questions, and a clear understanding of how each decision supports their goals. The focus is on making informed choices today while preserving flexibility for the years ahead.

Call or Text: 214-617-2105
Email: chris@guardianfinancialstrategies.com

Meet Marty Willenborg

Life Insurance Partner

Built From Experience. Focused on Clarity.

Marty Willenborg serves as Guardian Financial Strategies’ Life Insurance Partner. He brings a long career in financial services and advanced life insurance strategy, helping clients evaluate whether life insurance can play a meaningful role in protecting their families and supporting their broader retirement plan.

Marty’s work focuses on the insurance side of the conversation, including income protection, life-insurance reviews, long-term care considerations, and wealth-transfer strategies when appropriate. He works closely with Lead Advisor Chris Wood to help ensure life-insurance decisions complement each client’s overall financial strategy.

Call or Text: 319-560-8273
Email: marty@guardianfinancialstrategies.com

Why Guardian Financial Strategies Was Founded

After entering the financial industry in 2019, Chris Wood spent years learning, observing, and shaping a vision for a practice built around clear advice and thoughtful retirement planning. His experience as a Dallas police officer gave that vision a particular focus: serving first responders and their families, while welcoming others who value the same approach.

Earning the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) designation deepened his expertise in what he considers one of retirement’s most challenging transitions: turning years of savings into income that supports everyday life.

That preparation deserves an early start. We encourage beginning retirement planning at least five to ten years before leaving work, and earlier when possible. Time creates room to adjust savings, evaluate pension choices, and build tax flexibility, including Roth savings when appropriate, before retirement decisions become immediate needs.

Guardian Financial Strategies grew from a straightforward belief: you should understand your financial plan, why each piece belongs, and what comes next.

Working with Guardian Financial Strategies

We start by getting absolute clarity on the retirement life you envision. We can't get to where you want to go be, if we don't know what that looks like. Next, we figure out the income needed to support it, and get to work creating your plan from there. Your goals guide the conversation about pensions, Social Security, investments, taxes, insurance, healthcare, and estate planning needs.

Chris leads financial planning and investment advice. Marty Willenborg, our Life Insurance Partner, leads life-insurance reviews, helping you understand your existing coverage, identify potential gaps, and explore how life insurance may support your family’s protection, retirement, and legacy goals.

Our approach is personal and practical: ask thoughtful questions, explain options plainly, and help you move forward with a strategy you understand. As life changes, we revisit the relevant pieces with you.

For first responders and their families, there is value in working with someone who understands the job, the sacrifices, and the life behind public service.

Chris has worn the uniform.

Today, our purpose is to help you understand what you have built and make your retirement vision a reality.

Clear advice. Clear strategy. A clear understanding of what comes next.

Schedule an Introductory Conversation

Our Mission

Guardian Financial Strategies exists to make complex financial decisions easier to understand.

Our goal is to help clients know where they stand, understand how each part of their financial life works together, and have a clear strategy for what comes next.