Justin Goodbread – Associated with a $400K agreement case and an unregistered firm? (Update 2024)

Justin Goodbread is the owner of Financially Simple and a financial advisor. He runs Heritage Investors LLC as well, which is a financial advisory firm. 

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Justin doesn’t have any state licenses and his financial advisory firm is not even registered in its home state. Furthermore, the self-proclaimed financial guru had to settle a case for $400,000 a few years ago. 

The following review will help you determine if you should trust Justin Goodbread or not:

Who is Justin Goodbread CFP CEPA CVGA?

Justin Goodbread, CFP, CEPA, CVGA is the owner of FinanciallySimple.com, Heritage Investors and Heritage Business Advisors. 

Also, he is the Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at WealthSource Partners, LLC. Apart from being a financial advisor, Justin is also a speaker, author and an influencer.

He has written 2 books, The Ultimate Sale and Your Baby’s Ugly. 

Both of his books focus on teaching readers about business and the related skills. Justin Goodbread has been running Heritage Investors LLC since May 2009. He joined WealthSource Partners, LLC last year as their CSO. 

At Financially Simple, he is the Editor In Chief and oversees the publication of its business articles and podcast episodes. There, he also offers various services including: 

  • Keynote speaking
  • Group coaching
  • Guest blogging
  • Influencer promotions

Furthermore, his team at WealthSource Partners offers one-on-one business coaching, exit planning strategies, business financial planning and other related consultancy services. 

On paper, Justin seems like an exemplary advisor. However, he has a crooked past. Also, his financial advisory firm, Heritage Investors LLC has lost most of its licenses this year. 

In other words, Justin Goodbread runs a (mostly) unregistered advisory firm and has faced lawsuits for misrepresentation. 

More on this in the next section of this review:

2/12/2023 Update
As of now, Justin Goodbread has not responded, nor has he apologized for his misdeeds. He has ignored our efforts to highlight the problems faced by his victims. Furthermore, he has only focused on propagating his fake PR.

Justin Goodbread’s Disclosures:

When a financial advisor faces a legal dispute or complaint, it enters their professional record as a disclosure. Reliable and reputed financial advisors tend to have no disclosures. 

Even if they do, their disclosures aren’t very significant.

On the other hand, shady advisors tend to have multiple disclosures on their FINRA BrokerCheck listing. It’s a good way to determine if a financial advisor is worthy of your trust or not. 

According to his FINRA BrokerCheck listing, Justin Goodbread has 4 disclosures: 

First Dispute: Negligence and Unsuitable Recommendations (Settled)

Justin Goodbread financially simple

Here, the client alleged that Justin gave negligent and unsuitable investment recommendations. The recommendations were related to life insurance and annuity products, borrowing of money, and sale of securities holdings. 

The client requested $725,000 in damages. Justin settled the case for $400,000. 

As his explanation, Justin said that he settled the case without admitting or denying the allegations. He contributed $250,000 for the settlement while Securian Financial Services bore the rest of the burden. 

Second Dispute: Detrimental Advice by Justin Goodbread(Denied)

Justin Goodbread heritage investors

This dispute occurred in 2010. Here, the client alleged that his advice and explanation of teh benefit rider for the client’s AXA annuity contract were inaccurate and financially detrimental. 

They requested $9,800 in damages. 

However, the firm denied the complaint. 

Third Dispute: Wrong Annuity (Denied)

Justin Goodbread financiallysimple

There isn’t much information available on this dispute. 

Here, the client alleged that Justin Allan Goodbread sold him a variable annuity while representing it as a principal protection vehicle. When the annuity was issued, it didn’t have the protection feature. 

FINRA’s listing doesn’t disclose any additional details related to this dispute. All they share is that the financial advisory firm had denied the complaint. 

Fourth Dispute: Inappropriate Product Recommendation (Denied)

Justin Goodbread review

In this dispute, the customer alleged inappropriate product recommendations. They requested $34,000 in damages. 

However, like most of the disputes of Justin Goodbread, his firm denied this one as well. 

Keep in mind that financial advisory firms usually deny most of the disputes. Hence, it was quite alarming to see that Justin Goodbread had to settle a dispute, especially for a substantial sum of $400,000. 

If you have sensitive information or have had a personal experience with Justin Goodbread but want to stay anonymous, then submit it using our secured form. You can connect with our expert contributors and help in finding the truth. We never share your information with 3rd parties.

Heritage Investors: A Suspicious Brokerage Firm

Heritage Investors is a financial advisory firm based in Tennessee. Their office is located at 10641 Deerbrook Dr., Ste 100, Knoxville, TN 37922. Justin is the CEO and founder of this firm.

According to the Investment Adviser Firm Summary of Heritage Investors on SEC, the firm’s registration is terminated in the following states: 

  • Georgia
  • Louisiana
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • West Virginia

In Massachusetts, the termination has been requested since 2020. 

Even though Justin is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, his financial advisory firm is not registered in the state. In fact, his firm is not registered in a lot of states. 

This raises suspicions on the ethics and business practices of the advisory firm. After all, if the advisory firm is not even registered in the state its office is in, is it really trustworthy? 

The Investment Advisers Act of 1940 excludes certain firms from the definition of an investment adviser. But according to Justin’s Form ADV, he does not fall into that category. 

Dealing with unregistered advisors can put you at a lot of risk. You should avoid dealing with unregistered investment advisors at all costs. 

Conclusion

You should never deal with an unregistered financial advisor. It is unsafe and exposes you to a ton of risks. Although the SEC can take action against unregistered advisors and firms too, it doesn’t hold as much power over them as it does on registered ones. 

Furthermore, reputed financial advisors don’t face so many lawsuits as Justin has. 

All of this suggests that Justin Goodbread is not as reliable as he claims to be. It would be best for you to avoid him and any of his companies including Financially Simple, Heritage Investors and WealthSource. 

2.2 Total Score
Unreliable

Justin Goodbread is a sketchy advisor to say the least. He had to settle a lawsuit against him for giving poor recommendations for $400,000. Furthermore, his financial advisory firm is unregistered. Certainly, he is not a trustworthy authority in the financial field, no matter how much he acts like one.

2.8Expert Score
Trust
2
Experience
4
Credibility
2
Ethics
3
1.5User's score
Trust
1.1
Experience
2.3
Credibility
1.8
Ethics
1.1
PROS
  • Highly experienced
CONS
  • Unregistered advisory firm
  • Faced multiple disputes for misrepresentation
  • Settled a negligence case against him for $400,000
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22 Comments
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  1. If this firm were charged by the SEC then there would be a great chance of these firms to involved in some types of fraud cases. These advisors were secretly performing fraudulent activities and giving the wrong advice to the individuals.

  2. I had listened to his audiobook summary and it is really good stuff but after seeing the article, I’m confused about whether this guy is trustworthy or not for in the future. Now after sometimes it is clear that covering this kind of financial advisor never helps you to make a good decision.

  3. Now it would be clear that trusting these types of financial advisory firms is a total waste of time and money. There are many people who have taken the wrong advice from these in the end they will suffer losses that completely destroy their lives. These firms would be avoidable at any cost.

  4. If these types of fake advisor firms are still on the run in the country then slow down the country’s growth now the government has to pass some laws regarding this issue. And it would also safeguard the interest of the investors.

  5. How people like Justin Goodbread is still running these types of firm. Apart from this, he is a successful influencer doing podcasts and many other things. But his advice in the field of investment is never worth it at all. And his websites will never be helpful in making any type of financial decision.

  6. Having a lot of experience in the field of publishing books on selling and marketing and giving poor advice to people will never be acceptable at all. This guy would be punished by the regulatory authority. Then these types of lawsuits never happen in the future.

  7. These financial advisors are a nightmare for the clients as they give poor advice to the clients. Many people have suffered heavy financial losses while putting their trust in these bogus advisors.
    Individuals should research it properly about advisory firms properly and then go for further steps.

  8. It is better to avoid these advisors who have an unregistered firm and seem unreliable. These advisory firms tried to deceive their clients and mislead them to earn a higher profit.

  9. It is horrible to hear that investors working with Justin Goodbread had to suffer major losses of $760,000 and got only $400,000. This is what teaches most investors that you can’t trust your advisor 100%. Maybe there are chances that you may get cheated or go through heavy losses. Be very careful before following the recommendations of your advisor.

  10. 0.6
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    20
    Credibility
    10
    Ethics
    10

    Justin is a good advisor but not to that extent as he shows off. I read his book named “The Ultimate Sale”. The book doesn’t share any special things but yes it is an interesting read with many ideas. Then again, only read this book if you have no knowledge of business and haven’t worked a day in your life. Unless you’re a fresher, this book would be useless.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  11. Beware! He is a good influencer though it’s not his real job. His actual job is being an advisor but he doesn’t have a license. The guy is a fraud.

  12. 0.6
    Trust
    0
    Experience
    30
    Credibility
    10
    Ethics
    10

    I have worked with him in the past. He is an entirely different person off screen. Justin Goodbread has some serious issues about his image. I don’t recommend working with the guy.

    Helpful(1) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  13. 0.5
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    10
    Credibility
    10
    Ethics
    10

    Nice article, thank you for posting this.

    I also think that people should check the legitimacy of the firm and especially the history of the owner before paying them. I don’t trust Justin either.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  14. 0.85
    Trust
    20
    Experience
    10
    Credibility
    20
    Ethics
    20

    This article was really helpful. You disclosed a so-called advisor for making ineffective claims about himself being a good advisor. His company isn’t registered in his state and doesn’t carry any license for being legit. This article gives people an understanding with live examples of people who suffered because of Justin. I salute these writers for exposing people like Justin.

    Helpful(0) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
  15. 1.1
    Trust
    10
    Experience
    40
    Credibility
    30
    Ethics
    10

    Yeah, Justin Goodbread no longer runs Heritage Investors I think. He is now a full-time part of WealthSource.

    I don’t think he is a total scammer but he is not some legitimate businessman either. Some of his advice is just common knowledge. He is good at re-packaging normal financial advice into something technical.

    He is a little pushy too. I understand that everybody’s gotta make money but at least share some value to gain our trust. You can’t just bank on your CFP, CEPA certifications to make yourself stand apart from teh rest of the crowd.

    Justin Goodbread has several issues present in him. But the biggest among all of them is his greed. He deliberately doesn’t share much value with his audience so he can sell them his books and advisory services. Again, I have no problem with withholding some information but the guy doesn’t share anything valuable.

    Most of his advice is regurgitated content. If WealthSource appointed him as their Chief Strategy Officer, they did so because he is great at manipulation. That’s all.

    Helpful(3) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
    • I followed Financially Simple for quite a while because initially, it helped me a lot as his ideas are practical, the style of teaching was interesting. However, I soon realized that it wasn’t worth it because most of the content was extremely repetitive. Now I know why. The guy is not even a registered advisor.

  16. 1.1
    Trust
    20
    Experience
    30
    Credibility
    30
    Ethics
    10

    I knew something was up with this guy. He makes some pretty outrageous claims in his books and promotions. Justin Goodbread brags about his qualifications, you’d think he is the only financial advisor you can trust. I guess we can throw that possibility out the window now that it’s out in the open that he is a liar and a cheat.

    He is one of those elitist people who act like they know everything. He is a ‘know it all’.

    Helpful(4) Unhelpful(0)You have already voted this
    • As the company or firm he runs is unregistered, sometimes it is difficult for the officials to keep a check on these firms. Being unregulated is a risk for the users because they can be cheated by the company. I suggest you should always confirm whether the company is under regulations or not. Justin Goodbread’s Heritage Investors is clearly not regulated.

    • Reply
      Don't trust Justin Goodbread
      September 2, 2022 at 3:57 am

      I still remember when I invested in a company following the guidance of an advisor like Justin Goodbread. It looked very legitimate at first but after some time, the advisor asked me to take out my funds immediately, and said that I may go through a loss. The next day, I had lost around $50,000. The loss was too much for me to bear. It plunged me into depression. I asked for damages from the firm and the advisor but the company claimed that there was no such policy followed in place for such incidents.

  17. Interesting analysis. Really helpful review ????

    • But there are chances that they could cheat the investors. Or aren’t registering because they want to run an illegal scheme for which they don’t get a permit.

    • I know that it is difficult to trust firms that aren’t registered by the government, or say they don’t carry any state license, but this doesn’t prove that the person doesn’t have any knowledge.

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