The “Top 100 Money Expert List is live!” Congratulations to Marguerita Cheng!

August 2025, gobankingrates.com — Marguerita (Rita) Cheng helps educate the public, policy makers, and media about the benefits of competent, ethical financial planning. As a Certified Financial Planner® professional Rita helps people meet their life goals through the proper management of financial resources. She is passionate about helping them navigate some of life’s most difficult issues — divorce, death, career changes, caring for aging relatives — so they can feel confident and in control of their finances. Rita is a regular columnist for Kiplinger and U.S. News & World Report and a past spokesperson for the AARP Financial Freedom Campaign. Rita volunteers her time as a SoleMate, or charity runner for Girls on the Run, raising funds to help girls become joyful, healthy, and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running. 

Quote: “Insurance isn’t exciting, but it’s essential — it protects the people you love.”

Education

  • Completed executive education at Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth 
  • Bachelor of Science in Finance, University of Maryland, Robert H. Smith School of Business 
  • Japanese Language and Literature, Keio University in Tokyo on a MEXT scholarship 
  • Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Languages & Literature (Japanese), University of Maryland 

Accolades

  • Named the #2 Most Influential Financial Advisor by Investopedia in 2023 and ranked #3 in 2017
  • Recognized as a “Woman to Watch” by InvestmentNews from 2017 to 2019
  • Honored as a Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise by the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council
  • Recipient of the Ameriprise Financial Presidential Award for Quality of Advice
  • Recipient of the prestigious Japanese Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship
  • Named a 5‑Star Financial Planner by InvestmentNews in 2025
  • Received the Financial Planning Association’s Financial Planner of the Year award in 2024