Tom Carline

PLANADVISER: Tell us about your role at your firm and how you contribute to its growth and progress. How did you end up there?

Carline: As a senior retirement plan consultant at Everhart Advisors, I have two main areas of focus: acting as our firm’s in-house subject matter expert on our more than 70 cash balance plans and as a lead consultant on my growing book of defined contribution plans.

My responsibilities on our cash balance plans include everything from business development to onboarding and annual reviews. This includes designing, analyzing tax impact, providing business cash flow analysis for funding and providing investment guidance. We have doubled this part of our practice in the four years I’ve been with the firm. As lead consultant on defined contribution plans, I take clients through a prudent process of plan design, vendor selection, investment monitoring and employee engagement.

Prior to joining Everhart, I spent eight years with a regional TPA partnering with advisers spanning multiple states. When I decided to join an advisory practice, I knew Everhart was the place for me. Its culture, independence, retirement plan focus and constant strive for excellence was a perfect match.

PLANADVISER: How do you define success in your role?

Carline: By growth and impact. The more plan sponsors I can help build an elite retirement plan and the more participants we can prepare for retirement, the more of an impact I am making. Success is being world class in what you do.

We have measurements like efficiency in cash balance plans and 90-10-90 in 401(k) plans, but when you’re talking about a human being, it’s just about striving to get better every day.

PLANADVISER: What are you most passionate about outside of the office?

Carline: I am most passionate about leading our growing family. We spend a lot of time on culture and leadership at the office, and it all perfectly translates to life at home when you have young ones. From teaching them responsibility for their 20 square feet to stepping up and responding when difficult unexpected events occur, concepts like “how you do anything is how you do everything” dominate our office, and that comes home with you. It’s a blessing to work on being a better father every day just by coming to the office.