Our Team

Advisors

• 

  Sean Smith, CLU®, Financial Advisor

  Sean was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He was an avid athlete and played baseball at both Loyola Marymount and UCLA.  He is married to Lauren and has two children, Hayley (7) and Tyler (4). They moved to Hawaii in 2015 and currently reside in Kaimuki. He entered the financial services industry after a short stint playing baseball in the minor leagues. He gained valuable experience working with a handful of firms before finding his way into the independent financial world. Sean strongly believes that being an independent financial advisor ensures that his recommendations as The Retirement Coach℠ are not tied to any particular family of funds or investment products.
  
  Sean is a member of Rotary and is a volunteer coach for youth baseball. He spends his free time with his family and on the golf course.

• 

  mel r. hertz, MBA, Financial Advisor

  mel was born in Canada, grew up in Detroit, Michigan and moved to Hawaii in 1976. He is married to Marlene, has 1 child, and 2 beautiful grandchildren. He received his MBA® from Wayne State University’s School of Business in 1968. He has been in the financial services industry for over 40 years.

  mel is a member of Rotary and has held officer positions in other professional organizations including the Financial Planning Association (FPA). In his free time, mel loves to travel, ski, dive, and play pickleball. He recently entered “semi-retirement” but still consults with The Retirement Coach^SM on a regular basis. And, no mel with a lower case “m” is not a typo. He prefers the e.e. cummings punctuation.

• 

  Nick Roth, CFP®, Financial Advisor

  Nick was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He is a graduate of the University of Washington with a focus on immigration and international law. Nick moved to Hawaii in 2018 with his girlfriend, Regi, who works as the Development Director at Hawaii Opera Theatre. He entered the financial services industry in 2017 and is a CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™) professional. Nick has worked as a financial advisor in Seattle and for a prominent bank in Hawaii before joining The Retirement Coach℠ as an independent financial advisor.

  Nick is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and enjoys playing golf in his free time.

• 

  Diane Malczon, Staff

  Diane was born and raised in Honolulu and now resides in Kaneohe. She is married to Marvin, has 3 children, 5 beautiful grandchildren, and a puppy. Diane has been in the financial services industry since 1990. She passed her life and health insurance exam in 1991 and investment series 6 and 63 in 1999.
  
  Diane has not had much free time since 2001 when her first grandchild was born but, in those rare instances. She likes to read, watch movies and cook. Otherwise, her free time is spent taking care and spoiling her grandkids.

Operations

• 

  Sandy Rhines, Staff

  Sandy was born and raised in the Midwest and moved to Hawaii in 1970. She has been in the financial services industry as an administrative assistant since 2008 after teaching music for many years (piano and brass).

  Sandy lives in Kailua and is an accomplished musician and woodworker. She enjoys home renovation projects as well as creating furniture and turned objects from wood. She loves to read, crosswords, Sudoku and play with her many cat and dog fur babies.