Our History

The Beginnings….

Sharon found her way to New York Life in 1988. She was introduced to the Company by an agent she met at an art showing of her former employer. Sharon always had an interest in finance and saw that the industry standard was shifting to more of a comprehensive financial planning focus and away from the separate entities of banking, insurance and investing. Sharon felt she could make a difference with individuals in her community. Being the spouse of a school teacher, she understood the challenges many women faced, having to budget down to the penny while at the kitchen table planning meals and shopping lists. She looked forward to the challenge of helping her clients learn about, take control of, and manage their own finances.

Sharon studied hard and received her Master’s Degree from the American College. With her charismatic personality and enhanced financial skills, her career took off. She found success early on, winning many various sales awards including being named the Tacoma General Office Agent of the Year many times over her 25-year career. Within New York Life, Sharon obtained the highest recognition of Chairman’s Council. She was sought after as a speaker for issues centering on women in financial services and running a successful practice.

On the civic side, Sharon used her success and influence in the community of Raymond to found a children’s organization, HUGS – Hope Unites Growth and Success. The HUGS Foundation funded a playground and skate park in the community that children are still enjoying today. She was also Commissioner of Civil Service, a board member of the Joint Pacific County Housing Authority, President of the Raymond Chamber of Commerce, and a member of both the Kiwanis Club and the local Methodist Church.

Mother and Son Join Forces

A year later in 1989, Sharon’s son Bob followed in his mother’s footsteps and joined New York Life, starting his practice in Seattle. Prior to starting in the financial services industry, Bob was a building manager for The Boeing Company. He and his wife Ann moved back to Raymond shortly after marrying in 1989. Bob and Sharon purchased a building and began operating under the name Rockett & Son. Later, in 1996, the team hired a third producing agent to work with them, Linda. In order to show Linda that they valued her as an employee and wanted to see her grow with the company, they adjusted the company name to R & S Financial.

Bob has now been in the business for over 30 years and has the professional designations of Chartered Financial Consultant^® (ChFC^®) and Certified Life Underwriter^® (CLU^®). With Sharon’s retirement in 2013, Bob continues to focus on growing the business. He expanded the partnership when he became a financial advisor through Eagle Strategies LLC, adding professional money management and fee-based financial plans to our service offerings. He currently specializes in retirement planning.

During Bob’s tenure with New York Life, he has been named to Executive, President’s and Chairman’s Councils. In 2019 he achieved Chairman’s Cabinet, the highest level and honor for the top 50 agents within New York Life. Also, in 2019 Bob finished in third place of the NYL Cornerstone Challenge, as well as ranking 35th of their 14,000-agent taskforce. Locally, he has achieved Agent of the Year from the Tacoma General Office. He has been a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table (The Premier Association of Financial Professionals) since 1999, earning a lifetime membership in 2008 and making Court of the Table for the past 6 years, as well as Top of the Table in 2019. Bob has over 1500 clients and manages over $100,000,000 in assets.

Civically, during his first 30 years, Bob’s family was growing and his involvement was mainly with youth and sports teams. His particular favorite was serving as a volunteer track coach for area junior high and high school students, as well as being the Youth Leader at Calvary Fellowship Raymond. With his family grown, Bob is transitioning his volunteer time to the business community and community organizations. Bob is currently a member of the Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

Leaving a Legacy

Bob celebrated 30 years with New York Life and Rockett Financial in 2019 by having a Client Appreciation celebration in July. He took the occasion to honor Sharon’s 25 years in the business and service to the community, as well as welcome his son, David, into the business.

David worked summers in the office as a teen, and although he enjoyed serving others and seeing them prepared for some of life’s hardest moments, he was not immediately brought on board after graduation. Instead, he followed Bob’s advice to learn and live through life for a few years in order to develop a better understanding of where their clients are coming from and what they are working so hard to protect.

David leaned into his other talents, received his welder’s certification, and spent four years working heavy construction. He enjoyed exercising those skills, but always knew helping young families create, grow, and preserve their wealth was where he wanted to be.

David took the unusual path of obtaining all his credentials at once in order to hit the ground running, and after much hard work and many long hours studying, he completed his course in one year rather than two and officially became a Financial Advisor. David is currently involved in the Willapa Harbor Young Business Associates as well as supporting area youth activities. David is currently a Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce Trustee as well as a WCDA (Willapa Community Development Association) Board Member.