About me

Jim joined Northwestern Mutual in January of 1991 and was named Rookie of the Year. Within two years he was a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table. In 1995, Jim was the youngest Advisor to qualify for Northwestern Mutual's Recognition Dinner, which was held for the Top 150 Advisors in the country.

Jim is a founding member of the Northwestern Mutual Forum, which began in 1998 to recognize the Northwestern Mutual Advisors who have reached the highest level of productivity and excellence.  He is only one of 20 who have continued to qualify every year since its inception.

Jim has achieved the Firm's Top 20 status three times, and is a perennial leader in the Southern Region.  Jim has won the Master Achievement Award nine times, and has also won the Financial Security Award.   Jim currently sits at #14 in Northwestern Mutual production and has recently surpassed the $1 Billon mark in life insurance death benefit in force.  Jim has served as a Board Member to Northwestern Mutual's Financial Representative Association.

Jim was named the Managing Director of Northwestern Mutual – Chesterfield April 1, 2014. Under his leadership, the Northwestern Mutual- Chesterfield team works to select and develop the next generation of the most productive Northwestern Mutual Advisors in the country.

Mission Statement

 As a Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Advisor, Jim Zara's mission is to reflect the trust, honesty and integrity that are inherent to The Network.

Jim is committed to helping each of his clients build strong financial solutions that are tailored to their particular needs and goals.

News and Announcements

Jim Zara has been recognized as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor and top financial security professional by Forbes. Many thanks to our hardworking team, amazing clients, and partnership with Northwestern Mutual. This would not have been possible without you. You can read the article here.

Forbes "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" list (April 2024), based upon data as of 6/30/2023. Forbes Top Financial Security Professionals Best in State List (July 2024), based upon data as of 12/31/2023. Research and rankings provided by SHOOK Research.  Northwestern Mutual & its advisors do not pay for placement on 3rd party rating lists but do pay marketing fees to these organizations to promote the rating(s).  Rankings and recognitions are no guarantee of future investment success. 

Lending a hand in my community.

Jim Zara is very involved in his community.

He is a founding member and former President of the Chesterfield Football Association, which under his leadership grew to be the largest youth football program in the Midwest.  Both of his sons have participated in Chesterfield Football, where Jim currently sits on the Board.

His alma mater, the University of Missouri – Columbia, is very important to Jim. He is a member of the Davenport Society of the Trulaske College of Business and has been asked to be a visiting professor many times for various business and finance classes.  Jim is also a member of Mizzou's Jefferson Club and the Tiger Scholarship Fund.

Mia Zara is an active volunteer at Westminster Christian Academy.  The Zara's are parishioners at St. Alban Roe in Chesterfield.

GP M.A.D.E. Foundation

Making A Difference Every-Day in the life and future of children and youth facing difficult challenges.

GP M.A.D.E.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer (ALSF)

ALSF funds cancer research, raises awareness, and supports the families of children with cancer. Since 2012, Northwestern Mutual, its employees, and financial professionals like me have donated more than $20 million to support ALSF and fund over 400,000 research hours.

Alex's Lemonade Stand logo

How Northwestern Mutual helps you live the life you want.

When people feel better about their money, good things happen—they become more confident and feel more secure. For more than 160 years, Northwestern Mutual has helped people achieve the financial flexibility they need to live more and worry less.

Being a mutual company means Northwestern Mutual reports to its clients, not Wall Street. They don't believe in chasing fads or taking undue risk for short-term gains. Instead, they take a long-term approach—both in the way we help people plan to reach their goals, and in the way they do business. This has served their clients (and mine) well through all kinds of economic ups and downs, including wars, recessions, even the recent pandemic.

It's why I'm happy to be part of a company that's in it for the long-haul and prioritizes clients over profit.

Downtown Milwaukee, WI Skyline