About Tom

Tom Southard

Certified Retirement Counselor (CRC®) · Founder of WealthPrecepts · Author of Waze To Wealth

Tom began his career as an Air Force officer in satellite operations, commissioned through Syracuse University ROTC. He went on to write software for space systems at Lockheed, helped build two startups, and served as vice president of technical support for a company serving more than 1,400 hospitals.

Like many Silicon Valley professionals, he changed jobs for growth and left a pension behind. When he left his last startup with a significant stock package, the tax bill that followed showed him how much of a plan can be lost to taxes. He went looking for strategies that protect principal, grow with the market, and provide income that isn't taxed, and found them in properly designed life insurance. He uses those strategies in his own retirement plan.

He also learned the cost of care firsthand. Long-term care insurance helped stretch his mother's pensions and savings through years of assisted living, and let his family choose her care without draining their own finances.

How Tom works

• He starts with education. Clients should understand a strategy well enough to explain it before they buy it.
• He designs around your cash flow and goals rather than around a single product.
• He shares what he knows freely through articles, videos and the WealthPrecepts learning portal, whether or not you become a client.

His working principle: knowledge is only power if it's applied.

Licensing

CA Insurance License #0M63258 · National Producer Number 18947960. Insurance products are offered through Southard Insurance Services, LLC, NPN 21569032.