I was probably eight or nine years old when my grandfather spread the Sacramento Bee across his lap and started pointing out stock tables. I couldn't stop asking questions. I was so captivated that I tracked down a stock market board game, which still sits in my office today. By high school, the destination was set.
What I didn't anticipate was how personal this career would become. My grandfather was given bad financial advice, and after he passed, I watched our family feel the weight of it. That experience shaped me in ways I still carry. Twenty-six years later, integrity remains the foundation of everything I do, not as a talking point, but as the lens through which I make every recommendation.
I founded True Course Retirement to focus on the work I find most meaningful: helping people navigate the retirement window. This is the critical stretch just before and into retirement, when the biggest decisions get made and some of them can't be undone. I work with clients across the many areas of their financial lives, including investments, taxes, health care, estate planning, and Social Security strategy. I hold the AIF (Accredited Investment Fiduciary) designation and am currently completing my RICP (Retirement Income Certified Professional) at The American College.
I've always told clients I don't have a crystal ball, but I do have a plan. What people in or near retirement want most isn't predictions. It's someone who will be straight with them, dig into the details, and make something complicated feel manageable. My clients would tell you that's what they get from me.
The moments that stay with me aren't in any report. They're the client who calls to tell me about a new grandchild, or the widow who says the planning we did together made the hardest year of her life a little more bearable. Those are the reminders of why this work matters.
Valerie and I met in high school and have been married for 34 years. Our son Garrett lives in Long Beach, and our daughter Kiersta, a recent UCLA graduate, is back in Folsom working for a lobbying firm in Sacramento. When I left a stable salary early in my career to build something from scratch, Valerie didn't flinch. She never has.
Outside of work, you'll find us at rock concerts most weekends and planning our next trip abroad. A recent family journey to Greece was one for the books, and Japan, New Zealand, and Fiji are all on the shortlist for what comes next. I stay sharp on the professional side through industry podcasts and YouTube, and I'll admit without apology that gaming remains a hobby I have no intention of giving up.