Tom Rocco

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After more than 20 years spent in senior-level marketing, management and sales positions at prominent publishing companies, Tom joined Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in 2010 – bringing with him an extensive understanding of the financial opportunities and challenges facing successful corporate executives and owners of private enterprises. 

Tom emphasizes the value of knowing clients well – asking questions and listening closely to what they say (and often, don’t say) about their aspirations and concerns. He also believes that clear and transparent communication with clients is critical – whether he helps them build a strategy for achieving near-term milestones, sustaining a lifestyle in retirement, or assisting future generations. Experience also reminds Tom to translate complex principles of investing and finance into easily understood concepts that can leave clients comfortable, rather than confused.

Dedicated to serving clients as their lives evolve, Tom earned the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^™, CFP^® certification awarded by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. and the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor, CRPC^® designation awarded by the College for Financial Planning Institutes Corp. 

Tom’s love of learning goes back decades. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Tennessee, he went on to earn two MBAs – the first from University of California, Berkeley and the second from Columbia University. 

Today, Tom and his wife, Lori Kaplan, reside in Sparta, New Jersey.  When Tom and Lori are not visiting her or traveling to new destinations, Tom stays active – working out, standing in front of his television rooting for the Tennessee Volunteers football team, and being a financial literacy instructor for NORWESCAP (which seeks to improve the lives of low-income individuals and families in need in northwest New Jersey, by providing programs and education that help foster self-sufficiency).