Personal

Melissa has spent most of her life in Wisconsin. She grew up with two loving and supportive parents, younger sister, and brother. She currently resides in Appleton, WI and has been blessed with two amazing boys, Jacob and Joseph. Time outside of work is dedicated to supporting their passions. Melissa also enjoys reading, traveling, enjoying the outdoors, being active in her boys' school, and supporting Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

Lending a hand in my community.

As part of Northwestern Mutual, I'm proud to help accelerate the search for better childhood cancer treatments while supporting families undergoing treatment, and survivors from late effects. Here are some of the organizations we partner with:

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.

Visit partner website

Alex's Lemonade Stand logo

Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage is an art-in-medicine program that helps kids with cancer tell their unique treatment story through colorful beads that are symbols of their courage.

Visit partner website

Beads of Courage logo

Professional

Melissa K Petersen began her career with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network during her last year of college. Upon graduation she has focused her time on building relationships with her clients. She enjoys the opportunity to assist clients in reaching their personal and financial goals.

NAIFA

For four consecutive years, Melissa Petersen has qualified for the National Quality Award from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA).

The mission of NAIFA is to advocate for a positive legislative and regulatory environment, enhance business and professional skills, and promote the ethical conduct of our members.

NAIFA is a national nonprofit organization representing the interests of more than 70,000 insurance and financial advisors nationwide, through its federation of over 900 state and local associations. Founded in 1890, NAIFA is the nation's largest financial services membership association.

Years of Experience

Representing Northwestern Mutual since 2002.

Education

University of WI - Green Bay, Business Administration  (Bachelor of Science)

Awards and Recognition

  • Million Dollar Round Table Qualifying Member 2013
    • MDRT is the premier association of financial professionals. MDRT status designation is granted for one year and members must apply every year to continue their affiliation with the MDRT
  • National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Quality Award 2011-2015
    • Award recognizing commitment to excellence in service to clients and industry
  • National Quality Award 2009-2010
    • Award recognizing persistency and performance
  • National Sales Achievement Award 2009-2010
    • Award recognizing performance

Here are my areas of expertise

Financial Planning

Insurance Protection Strategies

Life Insurance Strategies

Retirement Planning & Income Strategies

Education Planning & Funding

Disability Planning

Multigenerational Planning

Estate Planning

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