Meet Allie Ramo | Retirement Specialist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Allie Ramo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Allie, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m a San Diego native who could never permanently leave San Diego. Growing up I had parents who were all about job security-put in your time and it will pay off. Both my parents ended up retiring with pensions, retirement savings, and a small mortgage. I never realized my parent’s own retirement plan was going to prep me for my future career.

My dad was in his early twenties when he purchased his first home-his dad being in real estate told him there was no way he could afford to buy. My dad was new in the fire academy at that time and heard a couple other firefighters talking about how they made home buying possible-needless to say, using his resources, he secured a home and proved his dad wrong.

As a kid, I remember that house-cleaning, painting, and doing yard work at that home which by that time was a rental property. My parents did everything themselves- not only was my dad a firefighter, but he was a plumber and an electrician too!

Although I HATED spending spring breaks or summers keeping up these properties (and our own), I saw my parents work hard, be resourceful, and went above expectations for their renters-especially in the areas they were in.

Moving ahead 25 years, they sold both homes and my childhood home and are now settled into their “forever home”.

As a young adult, I thought I’d follow in their footsteps- get a steady job that has great benefits and repeat similar financial decisions. Turns out, that wasn’t my path.

It wasn’t until I met my now husband who came from a small business family, that I’d scratched the itch of entrepreneurship.

In 2020 I was an assistant of life insurance agent and dating my now husband.

I asked for a raise and they said if I got my life insurance license, they’d split business with me. It sounded easy enough and I enjoyed what I was doing, I just needed a way to make more money.

As I was studying, I found myself having long conversations with my mom about various retirement topics. I was geeking out with her for the first time in a while discussing tax-free retirement vehicles, annuities vs mutual funds, etc.

It was then that I realized this was something I should actively pursue, not just be someone’s assistant.

Now, I help people with no- risk retirement savings. Even though I’m not a W-2 employee with a pension, I HELP people understand their retirement benefits and help them with retirement savings.

Having two parents in a similar situation as our market (public employees with state pensions) fuels me to help my clients have their same end result-being financially empowered in retirement and not needing another income to live comfortably and still enjoying freedom to live life.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I don’t know a single person who’s left a steady paycheck and said it was easy.

As I mentioned, Hawley was a big support, she me got me out of my comfort zone, threw me into experiences that forced me to grow either through trial and error or just forcing me to be resourceful.

Also my husband. He’s a sales beast! He worked with me for a short period of time and that leveled up my business.

I’m great at providing service, but sales don’t come naturally to me. Seeing him interact with clients gave me a whole new perspective that sales isn’t a dirty word, and especially with what we provide- the more I can help someone, the better THEIR future is…and it pays my bills and has unlimited growth potential.

Both of them continue to push me to be better than yesterday. I never imagined myself making big decisions with people and their families. It has renewed my feeling of self-worth after some discouraging years post-undergrad of mediocre jobs that didn’t fuel me.

Now, I get to empower people through financial education and help them have a secure future.

Business is a big mental game. There are ups and downs, slow times and busy times. Many different financial curveballs-this year was figuring out bookkeeping as an S Corp and that was it’s own nightmare on top having to generate income week to week. But it’s worth it when I have clients who feel like family and are incredibly grateful for what I have to offer.

I’ve learned overall, when you’re too stressed on making money and not focused about the quality of service/products you provide, that’s when your business dips. When I focus on my client and what’s best for them, that’s where the magic is at. I love that our agency puts an emphasis on giving back-we even have a day before our annual convention where we beautify a local school (in Vegas, that’s where our HQ is).

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love to people watch at the beach so we’d definitely spend a day at mission beach- maybe on a day where there’s a DJ playing at the beach front bar.

I’d take them hiking at Torrey Pines for the views another day.

Convoy is my favorite place to eat – I love some good Korean BBQ and SomiSomi!

Friday or Saturday, we’d check out Nova or Bloom because EDM in San Diego is a vibe.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Hawley Woods Gray- I started as her assistant and it was her leadership that continues to push me to new limits. She encouraged me to get my license, handed off clients to me, exposed me to the world of networking, and we even started a podcast together!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aye_ramo

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allieramo

Youtube: @wowwomenofwealth

Other: https://womenofwealth.transistor.fm

Image Credits
Samer Dally
Ashley Spedale