Blog Page Hero Image

In the News

10 Years Voted #1 in Financial Planning — and a First We’ll Never Forget

The 2026 Pantagraph Readers’ Choice Results Are In, Revealing the Businesses and Professionals Voted Among the Best in the Bloomington-Normal Area

Best Financial Planning Firm Bloomington Normal Area 2026
The 2026 Pantagraph Readers’ Choice results mark an incredible milestone for McBeath Financial Group: TEN consecutive years voted Best in Financial Planning, along with our ninth consecutive year as Best Investment Firm!
And this year's recognition brought a very special first: Julie Karstens, CFP®, was voted Best Financial Planner for the first time.

Three first-place awards. A full decade of support and a first that means more to us personally than we can probably put into words.  See all of the winners here!

Ten Years of Your Support

We remember that first win in 2017 and the shock of realizing that our community and clients had chosen to recognize us in such a meaningful way. We felt incredibly loved and supported.

Then it happened again. That second recognition made us realize the first year wasn't just an accident. We were beyond grateful — and that year, we were also voted first as the best investment firm in the Bloomington Normal area.

Then it happened again. And again.  And somehow, every year since.

Every year’s voting brought another outpouring of support, and every year we were genuinely surprised. We've never taken these recognitions for granted, just as we never take our clients for granted.

We appreciate every vote of confidence.

A lot has changed since 2017. Our team has grown, the number of families we serve has multiplied, and we've continued to evolve our approach to comprehensive retirement and wealth planning—all while preserving the concierge-level relationships that have always been so important to us.

But through all that change, the support of this community has remained remarkably consistent. For 10 straight years, you've taken the time to nominate us, vote for us and show your support. After celebrating our ninth consecutive Best Financial Planning recognition last year, reaching a full decade leaves us feeling incredibly grateful — and incredibly humbled.

A Meaningful First

For the previous five years — every year the Best Individual Financial Planner category had been offered — Krista McBeath had received the recognition.

But this year, we saw Julie's name in the nominations — and Krista proudly admits, she was the first to nominate her!

So when the results arrived and we learned that Julie Karstens, CFP®, had been voted Best Financial Planner, there was a different kind of excitement around here.

We've had the privilege of watching Julie pour herself into this profession and into the people she serves. We've watched her grow as a financial planner, become our Director of Financial Planning and a co-owner of the firm, and earn the trust and respect of the people around her. We knew how deserving she was of this recognition.

But knowing it ourselves and seeing our community recognize it, too, are two very different things.

For Krista, who had held this honor since the category was first introduced, that made the moment especially emotional.

“I have been so grateful for every one of these awards, but I can't adequately describe how proud I was when I saw Julie had won. I've watched how hard she has worked, how much she cares about our clients, and the leader she has become. To see our community recognize her in this way is incredibly special to me. No one was rooting harder for Julie than I was, and I couldn't be happier for her.”

— Krista McBeath, ChFC®, President

Simply Grateful

We don't know what next year's Readers’ Choice Awards will bring, and after 10 years, we certainly don't assume anything.

What we do know is how incredibly blessed we feel to have experienced this kind of support for so long.

There are many talented financial planners and investment professionals serving families throughout our community, and we are honored to be counted among them. To have been recognized by Pantagraph readers year after year — and now, to see Julie receive that recognition for the first time — is something we will never take for granted.

If this remarkable 10-year run has taught us anything, it's that every nomination, every vote and every expression of support is a gift.

So whether this is year ten of something that continues, or simply an extraordinary milestone we were fortunate enough to reach, our message is the same:

Thank you.

We feel blessed, we feel honored, and we are deeply grateful to be part of this community.

Tall Team With Adam

McBeath Financial Group is a team of dedicated financial professionals collaborating to provide comprehensive wealth management, financial planning, and investment strategies. Our advisors and support staff work together to help clients grow and preserve their wealth, sustain a comfortable lifestyle, and leave a lasting legacy.

The McBeath Financial Group team utilizes advanced tools for in-depth calculations that analyze tax and retirement scenarios to help their clients avoid a future tax time-bomb. Whether this means enjoying more of your hard-earned money in retirement or passing along assets to loved ones with less tax burden, planning makes the difference.

Learn more about the McBeath Financial Group Team.

*McBeath Financial Group did not make any solicitation payments to the Pantagraph in order to be nominated, voted or to qualify for nomination or votes of the award of Best Financial Planner-Julie Karstens, Best Financial Planning Office or Best Investment Firm.* By visiting this link to the pantagraph award winners, you can view all of the financial categories voted on and all of the winners chosen by voters, including McBeath Financial Group.  Winners in each category were chosen by Pantagraph.com readers who were given the opportunity to nominate and then vote for businesses or individuals in each class. The official rules as were posted onsite by the Pantagraph and can be accessed here. Third-party rankings and recognition from rating services and publications do not guarantee future investment success. Working with a highly-rated advisor does not ensure that a client or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance. These ratings should not be viewed as an endorsement of the advisor by any client and do not represent any specific client’s evaluation. Please contact the advisor for more information regarding how these rankings and ratings were formulated or visit The Pantagraph for a full list of rules.

For full disclosures visit www.mcbeathfinancialgroup.com/disclosures/