What is his day job?
Mark is a Senior Wealth Manager at The Tarbox Group, Inc. a fee-only wealth management firm located in Newport Beach, CA. His firm has a 8-member team that works as financial advocates for their 85 client families. Mark serves on both the investment team and financial planning team for the firm. He is currently in his 12th year with Tarbox.
How is his background unique?
For 12 years before Mark became a full-time wealth manager, he worked in the world of qualified retirement plans. Using his degree in Computer Science, he wrote software that handled compliance and reporting for 401(k), profit sharing, and defined benefit plans. While working as a programmer and plan administrator, Mark completed the three-year, six-exam Accredited Pension Administrator (APA) program. Mark decided to switch careers (an easy decision) after taking several financial planning classes. When he received his CFP® designation, Mark became one of two people in the country with both the CFP® and APA designations (today there are five with both designations). Mark started volunteering for the CFP Board’s Council of Examinations (the group that builds the comprehensive CFP exam) in 1997 and eventually served as a member of that Council from 2005 to 2008.
What would he like to share with students?
While teaching Retirement Planning and Employee Benefits classes for 6½ years at the University of California at Irvine, Mark’s goal was always to bring his materials to life. He does this by presenting the detailed rules teamed with interesting, practical and quirky examples. Mark believe that a strong understanding of his materials will help students avoid costly errors and will allow them to identify planning opportunities that will make them a hero in their clients’ eyes.
What are his outside interests?
Mark admits that hanging around the house with his wife and kids is a real treat. He enjoys being the biggest fan at his kids’ gymnastics, dance, baseball and soccer competitions. He plays soccer several days a week causing him to hobble around the office on his “off” days.
