Next Wave Options
Independent life insurance and retirement income agency serving Salinas and Monterey County.
Get a quote
Independent life insurance and retirement income agency serving Salinas and Monterey County.
Get a quote
Watsonville had 52,590 residents at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Santa Cruz County. Strawberries are the county's highest-valued crop, and local food processors freeze and distribute more fruit and vegetables than any other single area in the United States.
The county line is the thing worth flagging first. Almost everywhere else we serve is Monterey County, and public employees there deal with Monterey County's plans. Watsonville is Santa Cruz County, which means a different county employer, a different county retirement arrangement and different local institutions. Advice that assumes Monterey County simply does not apply.
The Pajaro Valley Unified School District was established in 1964 and runs 34 schools with around 17,000 students and a staff of roughly 1,880 full-time equivalents, which makes it one of the largest employers in the city.
For district employees the retirement picture is the familiar California two-tier one: CalSTRS for certificated staff, CalPERS for most classified staff, and a district-approved 403(b) list on top. What we spend most of our time on is the third of those, because the charges between approved vendors vary widely and almost nobody is given a like-for-like comparison.
We will go through your district's vendor list with you even where we cannot sell any of them, because knowing what you are paying is worth more than anything we could place. Our 403(b) page explains what to compare.
Berry work has a long season by California standards but it is still seasonal, and packing and processing employment moves with it. The financial consequence is the same as elsewhere in the valley: the premium has to be payable in the quiet months.
The other feature of this industry is that a lot of households have some employer-provided benefits without knowing the detail. Group life through a processor, for example, is common and is usually the cheapest cover a household has. It is also usually tied to the job. Knowing which of your cover would survive a change of employer is a fifteen-minute exercise and we do it free.
People move between Santa Cruz and Monterey County employers regularly, and public-sector service does not always transfer the way people assume. CalPERS and CalSTRS service generally follows the member rather than the employer, but county-level supplemental plans do not, and a 457(b) held with one county employer has its own rules on leaving.
The rule most worth knowing: money that originated in a governmental 457(b) is generally exempt from the federal 10 percent additional tax on early distributions at any age, and rolling it into an IRA ends that exemption. Our 457(b) page covers it, and the withdrawal tax calculator applies it correctly.
Watsonville is a straightforward drive north from Salinas and we cover the Pajaro Valley regularly. We do not have a Watsonville office and will not pretend otherwise. Most first meetings are by video, and in-person appointments happen at your convenience, with 24 hours' written notice before any in-home appointment with anyone 65 or older, as California law requires.
Both. We are licensed in California and Watsonville is well within the area we serve. The reason we mention the county at all is that public employees here deal with Santa Cruz County's arrangements, not Monterey County's, and that changes the details.
It depends entirely on your district's approved vendor list and what each vendor charges, and the spread is wider than most people expect. Get the list, and we will compare the charges with you at no cost, including for vendors we cannot sell.
It is usually a good foundation and rarely the whole answer, because it is set as a multiple of pay rather than by what your household needs. It also usually ends when the job does.
CalPERS and CalSTRS service generally follows you as a member. County supplemental plans such as a 457(b) do not transfer automatically and have their own rules on leaving, including a valuable federal tax exemption you can lose by rolling the money to an IRA.
Yes. Choose the premium against your slowest month rather than your best, and ask about the grace period and about naming a second person to be notified before a lapse. Both are free and both save policies.
Sí, igual que en el resto del valle. Leemos la póliza con usted en el idioma que prefiera.
Ready to talk it through? No cost, no obligation, in English or Spanish.
Schedule a CallReviewed by Roberto Morales, California Insurance License #0G97165. Next Wave Options is licensed for life and annuity products only and does not provide investment, tax or legal advice.
