Team

Service. That is an underlying theme that has been a consistent part of my life’s story. After serving in the US Army as a medical specialist, I returned to my hometown of Euclid, Ohio following my honorable discharge. Here, I followed the career path of my father and served for over 32 years as a municipal police officer for the City of Euclid, eventually retiring as the Chief of Police. In addition to a career as a public servant, I am a licensed real estate agent and invest in residential real estate.

My wife Sue and I raised our family in Northeast Ohio. Enjoying our summer fishing vacations to Canada and our cold weather escapes to Florida’s Gulf Coast.

A major challenge occurred at my retirement when the generous subsidized group health insurance plan was now gone. Endless and costly choices replaced what had been a simple enrollment process. The need for professional assistance came from my now business partner, Jim O’Donnell. His guidance was instrumental in making the right choice. And the financial investments that he offered provided a higher return, no-risk revenue stream that balanced my financial security needs, with a guaranteed interest rate.  This complicated situation inspired me to become a licensed insurance agent, specializing in retirement planning.

Although our initial focus was assisting retiring First Responders, we have recognized that everyone can benefit by making good financial and health insurance decisions. These decisions are critical in creating the retirement you have worked so hard to achieve. We are here to serve.

Safe Money Certification is a process overseen by the Safemoney.com organization.

It requires anyone displaying the certification to have passed a certification exam.

Thomas Brickman and James O’Donnell, Ph.D. are both Safe Money Certified Financial Consultants

Life is rarely, if ever a straight line progression where everything develops according to plan.  My life experience is no exception.  I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and earned my Ph.D. in East European History from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

My career path was simple—-after receiving my doctorate I was going to be a college professor.  However, the Cold War ended a couple of years too soon for me.  Once the Berlin Wall fell, funding for East European studies went away and the jobs went away as well.

I pivoted and went to work doing import-export for many years in Eastern Europe so I was able to utilize my degree.  Eventually I got tired of the endless travel so I returned to the United States looking to reinvent myself.

I became a licensed insurance agent helping clients with their health, life and retirement planning needs.  I specialize in Medicare and high growth—ZERO Risk—retirement accounts.  When markets go down—you don’t lose GUARANTEED and when the markets go up you share in the gains—a TRUE WIN-WIN situation.

My business partner is my long time friend and fellow licensed agent, Thomas Brickman.  Tom and I formed JOD Financial to assist our clients who all face similar challenges.  Let’s face it, it’s not easy navigating the complicated world of Medicare and retirement.  Tom and I feel strongly that there is a better way of helping people in our communities.  This is why we began JOD Financial and as they say, the rest is history.