Valerie McClendon

Valerie has dedicated her entire career to supporting and guiding employers within the qualified plan space. She got her start in the industry at 19, simply because she needed a job while attending college.

She became a clerical assistant for a third-party administration firm called QBI and fell in love with both the company and the retirement space. Working full time while in college, Valerie continued to move up to an ERISA compliance and consultant role, where she thrived in for twenty four years. In 2022, Valerie left the employer she had for more than half her life and joined Boston Wealth Strategies as a Financial Advisor within their Corporate Retirement Services Division.

Valerie’s shift to BWS stems from her feelings that she could better help employers in the advisory space. After seeing firsthand all the moving parts associated with 401(k), 403(b) and Cash Balance plans, it became apparent there was not enough guidance or support given to employers and their staff. Valerie felt that she could make the complicated easier for employers through better plan oversight and design, coupled with a better overall experience for the plan participants.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California and one of three kids, Valerie always had an affinity towards animals and always had dogs growing up. After graduating high school, she attended college at California State University Northridge and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After thirty years in CA, Valerie moved to the east coast for family and settled in New Hampshire, where she lives today with her two children and of course, a dog.

Valerie loves yoga, snowboarding in the winter, and kayaking in the summer with her family. She has been a part of multiple podcasts where she has spoken about creative ways employers can best utilize their qualified plans through the tools given by the IRS. Valerie has also been a guest speaker on many different forums, a national webinar, and a handful of local ones, always being brought in as the expert on qualified plans. Valerie holds her FINRA Series 7 and Series 66 licenses, as well as her state insurance license.

She became a clerical assistant for a third-party administration firm called QBI and fell in love with both the company and the retirement space. Working full time while in college, Valerie continued to move up to an ERISA compliance and consultant role, where she thrived in for twenty four years. In 2022, Valerie left the employer she had for more than half her life and joined Boston Wealth Strategies as a Financial Advisor within their Corporate Retirement Services division. In 2024, she was promoted to Director of Corporate Retirement Services to lead the team and our clients into the future.