California Teacher Retirement Specialist

Your pension alone isn't going to cut it. Let's talk.

You need a plan built around your actual situation, not a generic script from someone who can't tell CalSTRS from CalPERS.

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100%
Only California teachers and public school employees
Fiduciary
Legally required to put your interests first. Most advisors aren't.
CalSTRS
& CalPERS
I know both pension systems cold, and everything tangled up with them

Fiduciary Standard of Care

CalSTRS & CalPERS Specialist

Hundreds of Teacher Clients

403(b) Expert

California Based

No Generic Solutions

Why It Matters

If your knee needed surgery, you wouldn't call your family doctor.

You'd track down the surgeon who does nothing but knees, day in and day out. Someone who's seen every version of that injury and knows things a generalist just wouldn't catch.

It's the same with retirement planning for teachers.

CalSTRS and CalPERS take years to actually understand, not just read about. The 403(b) market built around educators is its own strange world. And your pension payout, survivor benefits, your DBS account, Social Security, your investments? By the time you're retiring, all of it is tangled together in ways a generalist won't see coming.

"Unlike a bad knee, most of these decisions you don't get to redo."

Jonathan Pace
What We Do
CalSTRS & CalPERS Planning
Understand exactly what you're entitled to, what's shifting, and how to plan around it.
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Pension Maximization
The right pension election can mean tens of thousands in additional lifetime income.
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403(b) & 457(b) Review
See what you actually have, what it's costing you, and what better looks like.
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Tax Planning & Roth Conversions
The window between retirement and RMDs is one of your best tax planning opportunities.
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Investment Management
Institutional-grade portfolio management focused on protecting what you've built.
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A small seedling growing from an old tree stump "

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Warren Buffett

Assets Held With Independent Custodians

Fidelity Charles Schwab

Jonathan Pace offers investment advisory services through Tactive Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Client assets are held at independent, third-party custodians, not by Pace Financial directly.

What You Need to Know

The pension isn't what it used to be.

Teachers are working longer and contributing more for benefits that used to take fewer years to earn. I'm not going to tell you it's fine. I'm going to help you plan around it.

Sequence of Return Risk
Two people can post the exact same average returns over 30 years and end up in totally different places, just based on when the bad years hit. That changes how we build your portfolio.
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The Longevity Problem
Retire at 63 and you could live another 35 years. That's longer than most people's entire careers. Play it too safe with your money and you're not avoiding risk, you're just taking on a different kind.
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The DBS Account Decision
Worked summer school or overtime? You've got a separate account sitting alongside your pension. When you retire, you'll get pushed toward rolling it into a specific investment option. Here's the part nobody mentions.
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Social Security Fairness Act
WEP and GPO got wiped out in January 2025. If you or your spouse ever paid into Social Security, that could mean real money showing up in your check that wasn't there before.
Learn more →
Wherever You Are

Retirement planning looks different in every decade.

The questions you should be asking at 32 are completely different from the ones that matter at 58. Here is what to focus on right now based on where you are.

Young teacher in classroom

In Your 20s

You have more time than anyone. Start your 403(b) even small, open a Roth 403(b) or Roth IRA while your income is lowest, and understand what pension tier you are in. Compound interest is doing the work right now whether you are paying attention or not.

Jonathan Pace, Financial Advisor
The Story

I used to be one of those guys at the benefit fairs.

Big cafeteria, folding tables, some guy trying to sell you something on your 30-minute lunch break. I was that guy, pitching retirement products to teachers. And honestly, a lot of what was being sold in those rooms was junk.

So I went out on my own. Got licensed as a fiduciary, which just means I'm legally on the hook to put your interests ahead of mine. My mom taught elementary school for over 40 years. I'm not telling you that to sound relatable. It's the actual reason I care about getting this right.

Read the full story

Ready to see where you actually stand?

No pitch, no pressure. Just an honest look at where you stand and what it'll take to get where you're going.

Get Your Free Retirement Assessment

No obligation. We'll reach out within one business day.