FEBRUARY, 2022 – Key Dates as You Approach Retirement

Clare has worked in the insurance industry since 1980, starting at ING/Security Life of Denver (now part of Voya Financial), earning her CLU, ChFC, FLMI and ACS designations before joining Culver Retirement Services, Inc. in 2002 (which is now Epiqwest Culver Wealth Advisors, LLC).   

Originally from Arlington, VA, Clare’s family moved to Colorado in the mid-1960s and settled in southwest Denver. Clare and her husband, Tom, live in Broomfield, CO, and love spending Sunday evenings with their daughter and son-in-law having dinner, watching a movie, and playing with their adorable little Yorkie, Ellie. 

Clare has been a flautist since childhood and accompanies the main choir at her church Sunday mornings. While not an expert, Clare has been told that she plays very nicely. While on a tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, she stopped by Loch Ness and swears she saw something poke its “head” out of the water. Unfortunately, she does not have a picture as proof.

Sarah brings over 15 years of versatile administrative knowledge with comprehensive experience in 

the development and implementation of organizational practices. Throughout her career, she has used these skills in various fields to include tax advisory, business management, legal services, and healthcare. This vast experience has led her to constantly seek creative and innovative ways to achieve personal, team, and organizational results. Sarah thrives in situations where an answer is not readily available and excels when assigned unconventional projects. 

Sarah was born and raised in the North Denver Metro area where she now resides with her husband and children. She enjoys art, design, music, travel and taking on home improvement projects. Sarah shares good humor and a big smile with everyone she meets.

Sarah has a passion for helping others and loves incorporating her talents into charitable deeds. 

She has worked with abused and neglected children through her calling as a court appointed advocate. Since then, Sarah has enjoyed hosting painting classes for nursing home residents in her community and currently, she volunteers her time by designing promotional material for a local church.

Niki earned her Bachelor of Science as well as her Master’s in Accounting. She has worked in the financial services industry since early 2010 and is well-versed in the pressures and rewards of our clients’ financial journeys.

Niki is delighted to manage all aspects of the client relationship and prides herself on efficient communication, attention to details, and delivering results. While striving to exceed expectations in service and client care, she continually prioritizes clients’ needs with professionalism and compassion.  

Niki is extremely passionate about her family; she enjoys sharing beautiful and invigorating experiences with her husband and their two charismatic children, Maci and Jet. In her free time, Niki enjoys kickboxing, exercising, traveling, camping, and spending quality time with her family and friends.  

Ivan worked as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver, where he taught a graduate level course, Ethics in Finance. As the Advocacy Chair for CFA Society Colorado (CFACO), Ivan engaged U.S. Congressman Ed Perlmutter to be the first speaker in the District Dialog series and introduced Governor Hickenlooper to Investors First Month of May.    

Ivan is the past president of CFACO, the largest financial society in Colorado with over 1,400 members, where he arranged the annual forecast dinner with 400 industry professionals. Also, he organized the CFA Institute Research Challenge for Colorado and Wyoming universities for four years. He has partnered with top executives to engage them as the subject companies of the research challenge: Ball Corp, Molson Coors, Charles Schwab, DaVita, and Arrow Electronics. 

In recognition for his contribution to enhancing the standing of the CFACO and raising the stature of the CFA Charter, Ivan was awarded the annual Jonathan Holtzinger Award of Excellence by CFACO.  
Ivan is the past Director of Global Association of Risk Professionals in Denver. Ivan organized chapter meetings, including lectures at the Fed.  

Ivan earned M.A. in Economics degree from University of Denver, B.A. in Economics from Idaho State University, and B.S. in International Economics and Business from Kiev National Economics University in Ukraine. He holds two professional designations: Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) and Financial Risk Manager® (FRM) designations. 

Ivan loves exploring the world and has visited 25 countries, and his favorite vacation was his honeymoon trip to Hawaii. He married the love of his life, Tanya, and has a son, Dennis. In his spare time, Ivan writes about economics, finance, risk management, behavioral finance, and retirement. This research is published on his personal website: ecnfin.com. 

Ron has been a financial advisor and investment analyst since 1998 and has been with Epiqwest since 2007. Ron’s unique skills for analyzing prospective investments reflect not only his experience as an investment advisor, but also his experience working for operating companies and input from his personal advisory board. 

Prior to joining Epiqwest, Ron was the CFO of an environmental construction company that averaged 300% annual revenue growth during his tenure. He was also the assistant to the executives of several non-profits, and he worked for FedEx Corporation where he worked in the areas of strategy, forecasting, marketing, and product management. 

Ron has a BS with a double major in Economics and Finance from St. Cloud State University (summa cum laude) and an MBA in finance from Vanderbilt University. 

Ron was born and raised in rural Minnesota. After venturing out from MN and living all over the U.S., Ron eventually returned to MN and now lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Laurie, and son, John. Ron and Laurie love to travel internationally, visiting dozens of first-through-third world countries over the years. His most impactful destination was China, where he crisscrossed the country in the process of adopting his Chinese son. He had the opportunity to meet the wonderful Chinese people and immerse in the rich culture and history of the country. 

John started his retirement plan career in 1999. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of South Carolina at Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and a 2005 graduate of Webster University with an MBA. Over the years, he has earned several designations from the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and the Internal Revenue Service.  

John is originally from Mount Pleasant, SC, where much of his extended family still lives. He moved to Colorado in June of 2010. He enjoys traveling and spending quality time with his family and friends. John especially enjoys cruises and vacationing them.  

Don began a career with Prudential and founded Culver & Company in 1982. Don currently serves as a senior financial advisor and planning consultant at Epiqwest Culver Wealth Advisors, LLC. Don’s extensive experience and knowledge in financial planning and retirement plans enables him to provide clients with holistic wealth planning.  

Don has lived in the Boulder area since the 1950s and has seen the area transform from a small college town to an economic and cultural center. He and his wife live in Louisville, CO, and in his free time, he enjoys road biking, fishing, and playing golf. He and his wife are avid travelers and have enjoyed vising Europe, Asia, and the USA. 

Emily has had a diverse career path that started in natural and organic food, then went to advertising agencies, big data marketing at Fortune 500 tech companies, local Denver unicorn startups, and then financial planning, where she was an advisor at Northwestern Mutual. She likes to think of herself as a “marketing and money nerd.”

Some of Emily’s favorite things are her husband Ryan, reading books, Sunday football, cooking and hosting dinner parties, good espresso, her daily skincare routine, Crumbl cookies, skiing the CO mountains, and riding her Peloton. Among many others on the Epiqwest Team, Emily is a Colorado native and CU Boulder Alum (go Buffs!). Her biggest dreams are to adventure around the world. The most exciting vacation she took was travelling to Israel with six of her closest friends in November 2019. It was the trip of a lifetime! What’s next on her bucket list? Greece!
Fun fact: Emily’s little brother is a professional dancer and stole the show with Lady Gaga during Super Bowl 2017. It was one of the most exciting moments of her life (even though the Patriots won!)

Josh was born and raised in Colorado Springs, graduating from St. Mary’s High School in 1997. From there, collegiate baseball led his journey to Kansas and Missouri, where he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Park University (Kansas City, MO) and was an Academic All-American. With a two-year stop in Orem, UT, where he coached high school baseball, Josh returned to Colorado in 2004 to begin his career in financial services; he has been serving clients’ financial interests since 2005.

He and his wife, Katie, also a Colorado native, now live in Westminster with their two sons and young daughter. When not helping his clients reach their financial milestones, Josh enjoys coaching his boys’ athletic teams, strength training, and closely following the Colorado Rockies.