Tyler is a native of Washington state, having grown up in Redmond. He has always had a passion for learning and finding the optimal solution to any goal. This drive pushed him to graduate from the prestigious Marriott School of Business (rated one of the top 10 entrepreneurship programs in the U.S.¹).
Before joining TRS, Tyler led a self-employment development program, mentoring and teaching representatives in Haiti, Ecuador, Zimbabwe, and the Dominican Republic on lessons in entrepreneurship principles. Soon after, Tyler had the opportunity to support our nation’s military and work for the Department of Defense in a finance position overseeing several multi-million dollar contracts. While Tyler enjoyed his time with the DOD, he had a strong desire to return to Washington state to be near family and work with individuals and couples.
Subsequent to his return, he found the perfect fit at TRS in 2015 as an Associate Planner, and in early 2017, he was promoted to Planner. Tyler ran the Seattle office for several years until he was asked to expand the TRS Denver office. Tyler accepted the position in October of 2020 and moved to Colorado with his family.
He is an integral member of the TRS Investment Committee and has earned a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation through the College of Financial Planning, as well as the prestigious Certified Financial Planner® designation from the board-registered CFP® educational program. Tyler is motivated by the ability to work closely with clients to help them achieve their financial dreams and goals. Outside of work, Tyler enjoys spending time with his wife, Katie, and their beautiful daughter, Daphne, while cycling, camping, and hiking.
A personal story that Tyler is passionate about to demonstrate what the retirement planning process is like:
Planning for retirement is, in several ways, very similar to my experience in learning how to scuba dive. Have you ever tried to breathe underwater while wearing an oxygen mask? It’s a very unnatural feeling the first time. You intuitively know that you can breathe, and you’ve seen people do it many times on National Geographic, but still, it’s a very strange feeling to trust that process.
When I took my first scuba diving lessons, I was grateful to be coached by an instructor who had logged thousands of underwater hours before guiding me through the process of how to don my mask and fins, while also instructing me on how to know exactly how long my air supply would last. Our trainings began in a shallow pool, progressed to the deep end, and eventually we graduated to open water. During the pool trainings, it was difficult to completely understand the excitement of this sport and the ultimate payoff.
However, my inaugural deep ocean dive in the Dominican Republic was to a shipwreck of about 45 feet, and it was life changing. I was able to see vibrant lion fish and spectacular angel fish literally just inches from my face. I had never felt so much in awe of the ocean as I did in that moment. The experience looked and felt completely different than anything I had ever experienced before.
In comparison, this training exercise is very similar to that of planning for your retirement. At first, you need to go through some extremely necessary discussions and tough conversations that may feel very unnatural, such as, “What happens when a spouse passes away early?” Or “What options are available to help me plan for long-term care coverage?” Or “How do we make sure we aren’t paying any unnecessary tax?” And then once you get through the process and have answers to all of your retirement fears and concerns, with a written plan that anticipates derailing events and situations, you have the confidence to walk out the door on the last day of work with knowledge and confidence. This is when you realize the true payoff of retirement planning is beyond anything that you could have imagined.