Tom grew up in Cleveland, Ohio as the second oldest of five boys, raised by a loving, single Mother and Grandmother. He learned the value of family and pitching in. He began working 32 hours per week in the kitchen of the local hospital during his high school years and he helped care for his youngest brother while his mother worked. His financial career began in the early 80’s as a fully registered rep/stockbroker, working in the offices of Shearson Lehman Brothers, overlooking Lake Erie. He did very well, achieving the “Rookie of the Year” award in his 1st year. His career and client list grew quickly until October 1987 when he experienced his first market crash, as an advisor. He says, “I was naïve. I thought the highly paid analysts really knew something when they told me what to ‘sell’ every morning. My confidence was shaken and over time it all seemed more like a game of chance. I became uncomfortable asking people to ‘risk’ their hard-earned money.” He educated himself in ‘safe money’ strategies and principal preservation and moved to California.
In the Southbay since 1989, he has been an active member of the community since day one. Tom became a single father when his two sons Canaan and Easton were 3 and 6. After serving as cryptologic linguist and ROTC professor in the Air Force he is now partnered with his dad. Canaan, having graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Business and Finance is an Investment Advisor Representative. Tom says, “it is the biggest and most rewarding accomplishment of my life… being a father but, I wouldn’t want to start over.” He currently lives in Sedona Arizona, spending quality time managing his practice, traveling to help other advisors and maximizing his personal life. He has volunteered to educate Wartime Veterans about little known benefits, and before moving volunteered time at the Beach Cities Health District. Having been in the financial industry almost 40 years, Tom’s financial faith rests on, as he puts it “Protect money while you have it”. It is a safety-first approach, making certain we never run out of money. Tom Penland is handing down his “Safety First” philosophy to his advisors and staff. As an RICP® and Decumulation Consultant, Tom knows that in and close to retirement most of us cannot afford to lose very much of our hard-earned money as we are less and less likely to have the time to earn it back, once lost.
Tom said he owes his success to always treating others the way he would want to be treated. He says, “The best things I can give to my clients are the benefit of my knowledge, honesty, simplicity and the understanding that we all deserve to make our own choices. We are all different and we don’t all want or do the same things.” He is committed to helping the people that are worried about outliving their money and those that want to know the best ways to pass on their hard-earned savings and investments to the people they love and care about the most.