Tom Ponce

Tom is a fee-based Holistic Planner, Certified Financial Fiduciary®, and National Social Security Advisor (NSSA®) certificate holder.

Tom was born and raised in Edwardsville, Illinois, where most of his family still live. He played just about every sport growing up as a child, but basketball and golf were the two that really caught his interest in high school. Tom was then fortunate enough to receive an athletic scholarship to play Division 1 golf at Eastern Illinois University. Tom lives his life motto by a quality that his mother instilled in him, “treat others the way you want to be treated”.

Upon graduating college, Tom immediately stepped into the financial services industry. Tom worked for Brokerage Unlimited, Inc. right out of college where he helped assist advisors with many of their cases regarding Life Insurance, Long Term Care and Annuities. He then worked for Slagle Financial, LLC for several years where he specialized in Medicare Planning for their client’s who were nearing the appropriate age. Tom also specialized in Life Insurance and Tax Efficient Income Strategies. Tom also was a contributing writer for advisory firms across the U.S. and local tv broadcast shows, publishing dozens of articles about retirement plans. With the wide variety of experience related to retirement planning, Tom is now able to bring that together as he specializes in Holistic Financial Planning at The Chamberlin Group. He truly enjoys helping families reach their true peace of mind in retirement by providing a holistic approach that involves all aspects of retirement.

Tom now resides in Kirkwood, Missouri with his wife Cate and their yellow lab, Lute. They married in June 2023. They enjoy spending time together, going to dinners, hanging out with family and friends, and catching up on shows that they enjoy watching together. Tom also spends his free time staying active, playing golf, as well as setting up numerous golf outings and charity events. Tom runs an annual golf trip with 32 guys consisting of his high school and college friends. The goal for this trip is to play golf in all 50 states over their lifetime (and potentially overseas too). He also runs a large Charity Golf Event that donates to a Cancer Foundation in the Fall every year with his friend. They run this in memory of Tom’s father who passed away way too early to cancer, as well as for his friend who he runs the tournament with, who battled cancer at a young age and defeated it.