About us

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Ben Hockema, CFP®

Founder & Advisor

Ben founded Illuminate Wealth Management  on January 1st, 2020. Prior to Illuminate, Ben spent over a decade at another independent RIA firm in the Chicago area, including three (3) as a shareholder. Ben’s goal in founding Illuminate was to focus on serving a smaller number of clients, providing a deeper, more personalized level of service, while continuing to adopt the rapidly changing best practices in the industry.

Ben is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Financial Planning Magazine, among others. Ben, along with his peer group he co-founded in 2012, were featured as the cover story in TD Advisor Solutions Magazine. Ben is a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and the XY Planning Network.

When not running Illuminate and serving clients, Ben spends time with his wife and two kids, cooking new recipes and trying to get better at golf. Ben can be found learning new things and is always excited to share his new findings.

What I’m Currently Reading, Listening to and Learning:

"The Price of Time", "Falling Upward", “Traction”, “This Is Marketing”, "7 Powers", "Unreasonable Hopitality"

Acquired Podcast Episode from 9-6-2021 on TSMC, Acquired Podcast Episode from 2-21-2023 on LVMH, Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" Ep 69 - Twilight of the Aesir, Revolutions Season 3: French Revolution

Member of a Leading "Next Generation" Peer Group and attending NAPFA 2023 Conference

Contact Us

We understand that each client has their own way they like to meet. Some prefer regular in-person meetings, while others are happy with Virtual meeting via Zoom or Phone meetings. We are happy to meet you the way you would like.