John Robinson

Author profile

John H. Robinson Also published as J.R. Robinson and JR Robinson

Founder and Owner, Financial Planning Hawaii. Co-founder, Nest Egg Guru. Hawaii's Nest Egg Guru on YouTube.

Financial planner, researcher and industry commentator based in Honolulu. John has been a financial advisor since 1989, holds an economics degree from Williams College, and has authored ten peer-reviewed papers on retirement income sustainability, annuities and advisor compensation. His commentary is regularly cited in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report.

  • 1989Financial advisor since
  • 10Peer-reviewed papers
  • 3Best Paper honors and finalist awards
  • 2xInvestopedia Top 100 Most Influential Advisors
Schedule a no-cost initial meeting Read the full curriculum vitae
John H. Robinson, founder of Financial Planning Hawaii and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii
John "JR" Robinson, Honolulu

One author, several bylines. John H. Robinson, J.R. Robinson and JR Robinson are the same person.

Over nearly four decades of publishing, John's work has appeared under a handful of name variants depending on the outlet's house style. Financial Planning magazine, for example, maintains two separate author archives for him. All of the bylines below refer to this one author, and every article on this site links back to this page.

  • John H. RobinsonFull byline used for peer-reviewed research and most trade-press op-eds
  • J.R. RobinsonByline used on Financial Planning magazine, U.S. News and other media commentary
  • JR RobinsonInformal byline used on LinkedIn, podcasts, local media and YouTube
  • John "JR" RobinsonNickname form used in news quotes and on the Financial Planning Hawaii team page
  • John RobinsonShort byline used on the FPH and Fee-Only Planning Hawaii blogs

Author profiles and archives elsewhere

Professional historyNearly forty years in financial planning, from wirehouse to independent fiduciary.

  • Williams CollegeB.A., Economics

    The academic foundation for his evidence-based approach to investing and retirement income research.

  • 1989Begins career as a financial advisor

    Early career at Citigroup / Salomon Smith Barney, followed by Hawaii Wealth Management, before founding an independent practice.

  • Financial Planning HawaiiFounder and owner

    SEC-registered investment adviser in Honolulu delivering comprehensive, advice-only financial planning and portfolio management. Named the fastest-growing RIA in Hawaii by Citywire in 2026.

  • Nest Egg GuruCo-founder and CEO

    Client-facing retirement savings and spending stress-testing software co-founded with Jack De Jong Jr., Ph.D., CFA, built to address flaws in conventional Monte Carlo planning tools. Selected for the Blue Startups accelerator, one of ten companies chosen from more than 300 applicants.

  • Fee-Only Planning HawaiiFounder

    A flat-fee, advice-only planning practice wholly owned by Financial Planning Hawaii, created for consumers who want comprehensive planning without bundled asset management.

Credentials and standingJohn is not a CFP by choice. He is widely recognized as a domain authority within the profession, and an outspoken critic of the CFP Board's consumer disclosure practices.

  • Education

    Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Williams College

  • Regulatory standing

    Investment adviser representative of Financial Planning Hawaii, Inc., an SEC-registered investment adviser. Full professional and disclosure history is available on the SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site.

  • Fiduciary standard

    Advice-only, fiduciary always. Financial Planning Hawaii sells no investment or insurance products.

  • Research standing

    Ten papers accepted for publication in peer-reviewed academic and professional journals, including the Journal of Financial Planning, Financial Services Review, The Journal of Wealth Management and the Retirement Management Journal.

Awards and recognitionThree honored research papers on retirement income sustainability, plus national and local industry recognition.

  • 2008

    CFP Board of Standards Best Paper Award

    Reality Check: The Implications of Applying Sustainable Withdrawal Rate Analysis to Real World Portfolios (with Qianqiu Liu, Rosita Chang and Jack De Jong).

  • 2010

    International Foundation for Retirement Education (InFRE) Best Paper Award

    Are Lifecycle Funds Getting a Bum Rap? (with Qianqiu Liu, Rosita Chang and Jack De Jong).

  • 2016

    Journal of Financial Planning Academic Research Competition Finalist

    The Determinants of Nest Egg Sustainability (with Jack De Jong Jr.), published in the journal's April/May 2017 issue.

  • 2017, 2018

    Investopedia Top 100 Most Influential Financial Advisors

    Included on the national list in consecutive years.

  • 2022

    Expertise.com Best Financial Advisors in Honolulu

    Financial Planning Hawaii selected under Expertise.com's published criteria.

  • 2026

    Citywire, Fastest-Growing RIA in Hawaii

    Recognition for Financial Planning Hawaii, the parent RIA of Fee-Only Planning Hawaii.

Areas of expertise

The subjects John writes about, researches and advises on. Articles on this site are tagged by these topics so readers can follow a thread across his work.

  • Retirement income sustainability

    Sequence-of-returns risk, sustainable withdrawal rates, and why the 4 percent rule and probability-based planning software often mislead retirees.

  • Retirement savings and spending stress testing

    Creator of the Nest Egg Guru applications used to test whether a nest egg survives below-average markets.

  • Annuities and lifetime income products

    Independent analysis of variable annuities, living-benefit riders, single premium immediate annuities and the annuitization decision.

  • Financial advisor ethics and regulation

    Nationally cited critic of the CFP Board of Standards on consumer disclosure, and a voice on fiduciary duty and advisor compensation models.

  • Comprehensive financial planning

    Tax planning awareness, estate planning coordination, asset registration and beneficiary designations, insurance risk management, employee benefits and Social Security timing.

  • Investment portfolio management

    Rising-dividend equity strategies, direct indexing, individual bonds versus bond funds, and asset allocation for portfolio longevity.

  • Education funding

    529 plan strategy, Roth IRA versus 529 trade-offs and Private College 529 prepaid tuition.

  • Hawaii-specific planning

    Tenancy by the entirety, Hawaii's treatment of retirement income, cost-of-living and condominium ownership considerations for island retirees.

  • Financial technology

    Long-standing reviewer of personal finance apps, robo-advisors and the emerging role of AI in consumer financial advice.

Peer-reviewed research

Ten papers accepted for publication in peer-reviewed academic and professional journals, listed newest first. Co-authors include Jack De Jong Jr., Ph.D., CFA, Qianqiu Liu, Ph.D., and Rosita Chang, Ph.D., of the University of Hawaii Shidler College of Business.

  8. A Context for Considering Variable Annuities with Living Benefit RidersJournal of Financial Planning, Vol. 21, Issue 5, May 2008
  9. Who's the Fairest of Them All? A Comparative Analysis of Financial Advisor Compensation ModelsJournal of Financial Planning, Vol. 20, Issue 5, May 2007
  10. Share Class Warfare: A Counter Perspective on the Legitimacy of 12b-1 Fees as They Pertain to Advisor-Distributed Mutual FundsJournal of Financial Planning, October 2004

Selected articles and commentary

A sampling of more than a hundred subject-matter articles and op-ed commentaries. John currently writes a monthly column for Investor Magazine and has been a long-running contributor to Advisor Perspectives and Financial Planning.

See the complete published content archive or Read John's articles on the FPH blog.

Media appearances and press citations

John's commentary has been featured in nearly every nationally syndicated financial news outlet. He helped develop the July 2019 front-page Wall Street Journal investigation into CFP Board disclosure gaps and the July 2025 Financial Planning follow-up.

See the full press archive.

Tools, software and video

Beyond writing, John's most-used work is the software and video library he built to help consumers stress-test their own plans.

Start with a conversation, not a commitment

Your first meeting is with John himself, in person at the Honolulu office or by remote video from anywhere. There is no cost, no obligation and nothing to prepare.

Schedule your initial meeting

Verify John's regulatory record. Financial Planning Hawaii, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply any level of skill or training. John's professional experience, educational background and disclosure history can be reviewed on the SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website.

Nothing on this page or in the linked articles constitutes specific tax, legal or investment advice for any individual. Media citations are provided for reference and reflect the views of the quoted outlets.