Retire With Confidence, Age With Dignity

About J. Barry Watts

J. Barry Watts has spent more than three decades doing one thing well: helping people retire with confidence and never run out of money. As a Certified Financial Planner and a Tax Strategist qualified to represent clients before the IRS, Barry works at the intersection of tax reduction, wealth management, risk protection, exit planning, and legacy design. His company, WealthCare Corporation, was named to the Inc. 5000 in 2025.

Barry came to financial services by way of ministry, a path that started in the rural Ozark hills and carried a consistent thread: genuine care for people in hard moments. He entered the financial industry in 1994 with Edward Jones, moved to Robert Thomas Securities in 1997, and eventually built the fee-based practice that became WealthCare Corporation. He earned his CFP certification in 2000, later pursued IRS credentials so he could answer the tax questions his clients had been asking for years, and today presents to CPAs, physicians, dentists, federal employees, and business owners on income tax reduction and asset protection strategies. He hosts Watts on Wealth, a weekly television show airing across southwest Missouri — on KY3 (NBC), KOLR (CBS), KSPR (ABC), and KRBK (Fox) in Springfield, and on KOAM (CBS) and KSNF (NBC) in Joplin — along with a radio program of the same name on KSGF (104.1 FM) and KSRG (1310 AM). His podcast, The Truth About Taxes and Retirement, is available wherever you get your podcasts. Earlier in his career, he was featured in the Wall Street Journal's SmartMoney Magazine and appeared on Steve Crowley's American Scene.

Barry's drive to become a tax expert didn't come from a textbook. For years, clients asked him tax questions and he told them to call their CPA. Too often, they came back saying no one really helped them with it. That gap bothered him. So he went back to school, pursued formal credentials, and earned the right to represent clients before the IRS. Taxes are now at the core of everything WealthCare does, from coordinating retirement account withdrawals with Social Security and pensions to helping business owners remove large profits from their companies income tax-free. His philosophy is simple: tax strategy is personal, investment strategy is personal, and your wealth advice should be too.

The seeds of Barry's career were planted on May 16, 1979, when he was pulled out of a high school class to be at his grandfather's bedside as he died. He was 15. In the days that followed, he wondered what his grandmother would do. She had never worked outside the home. That question stayed with him for 15 years before it found its professional form. Today, Barry holds a Master of Theology from Campbellsville University and a Bachelor's in Agricultural Economics from the University of Missouri. He has taught at four Missouri institutions and earned the Top of the Table award from the Million Dollar Round Table. He lives on an 80-acre farm in the Missouri Ozarks with his wife Kelly, their two daughters, and an assortment of cows, goats, llamas, dogs, cats, rabbits, and a donkey named Larry.