Jared Pickens, Ed.D., CFP®

Experience

Dr. Pickens is a proud Red Raider, earning his B.S. in Personal Financial Planning in 2006. In 2025, he returned to his alma mater as a faculty member in the School of Financial Planning.

Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Pickens built a career in the financial services industry, serving as a financial planning specialist at an independent RIA firm in Dallas/Fort Worth and as an investment advisor for a defined contribution plan with $3 billion in assets. Additionally, he served as a contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense, where he helped service members and their families prepare financially before deployment. Dr. Pickens has also served in various roles with the Dallas/Fort Worth Financial Planning Association for over 20 years.

With more than 15 years in higher education, Dr. Pickens has played a pivotal role in establishing and leading multiple CFP-registered programs at two universities in Texas. He also created and secured funding for the Comet Cents Money Management Center at UT Dallas. He considers the opportunity to serve Texas Tech University the greatest honor of his professional career.

Awards Received

• Engaged Faculty Award at East Texas A&M University (2017)
• Outstanding Service and Dedication Award at East Texas A&M University (2016)
• Outstanding Teaching Award at the University of Texas at Dallas (2014)
• Financial Planning Association of Dallas/Fort Worth Chairman’s Award (2013)
• Outstanding Undergraduate Financial Planning Student at Texas Tech University (2006)

Teaching Experience

Dr. Pickens has extensive teaching experience at undergraduate and graduate levels, having taught all core financial planning courses, corporate finance, economics courses, and business statistics classes. With such a broad range of expertise, finding a course he hasn’t taught is difficult.

Areas of Expertise

• Financial Planning Software and Technology
• Risk Mitigation and Asset Protection Planning
• Retirement Accumulation and Distribution Strategies
• Peer Financial Coaching Programs

Recent Publications

Cordell, D., Lauderdale, M., and Pickens, J. (2019). Financial Planning Insights from Research: Concepts Practitioners Can Use. Under Review, Journal of Financial Service Professionals, 76(3).

Cordell, D. M., & Pickens, J. H. (2019).  Rising Above the Minimum: Create Your CE Plan now. Journal of Financial Planning, 32 (8), 25-34

Dean, L. R., Harness, N. J., & Pickens, J. H. (2019). Examining asset flows and type of adviser compensation after an economic downturn. Journal of Financial Planning, 32(3), 48–56.

Cordell, D.M., & Pickens, J. H. (2019). Putting the Client First in Succession Planning. Journal of Financial Planning, 32(5), 32–34.

Humphreys, J. H., Hayek, M. J., Novicevic, M. M., Haden, S. S., & Pickens, J. H. (2019). The narrative cleansing of Andrew Carnegie: entrepreneurial generativity as identity capital. Journal of Management History, 25(2), 203–220.