Why I Started MJD Enterprises—and What It Means for You

In 2018, my mother called to say her roof was leaking and she needed money to fix it. I sent it right away, but something didn’t sit right. My father had passed away on Christmas Day in 2013, and I had assumed they were financially stable. We never really talked about money when I was growing up—it just wasn’t something we discussed.

So I asked her what was really going on. That conversation changed everything.

Years earlier, my parents had moved from Pennsylvania to Delaware so my mom could be closer to her older sister and eventually help care for her. By 2018, my mother was in her 70s, still working part-time for minimum wage, driving nearly 60 miles a day. She was living in the house she and my father bought in 2009—but it still had a mortgage. Their retirement savings were gone. There were credit cards, a HELOC, store cards. She was bankrupt.

That realization hit all of us hard. So we did something I wish more families would do—we held a family meeting.

Me, my mom, my sister, my brother, my brother-in-law, and my niece all sat down and had the hard conversations. We divided up responsibilities. I would take care of the financial side—bankruptcy, debt, property sales, and future planning. My sister, a pharmacist in New Jersey married to a physician, stepped in to manage all of my mother’s medical needs—and she’s been the rock ever since. My brother and his husband, who live nearby, took charge of household repairs and maintenance. And my niece moved in to help with the daily things—shopping, transportation, and being there when no one else could.

We became a team. Not perfect, but committed.

I helped my mother through bankruptcy and discharged her debts. We sold both underwater homes—including the one I grew up in. In 2021, I bought her a modest single-wide home near family. My aunt has since passed, but my mom is still in that home today. She’ll turn 82 next month. She’s living with Alzheimer’s and approaching end-stage kidney disease—but she’s safe, supported, and never alone.

During that time, I also took a hard look at my own situation. On paper, my finances looked “secure”—I had a stable federal job, an MBA, and pensions from both the Army and the VA. But even with all of that, I realized I had gaps—things I hadn’t fully planned for or understood. And I made a promise to myself: what happened to my mother would not happen to my wife, Christine, the woman I’ve been blessed to share life with for the past 37 years, if I could do anything to prevent it.

That promise lit a fire. I started teaching myself personal finance. I read books, listened to podcasts, studied Social Security and Medicare, learned budgeting software, built spreadsheets, and ran retirement planning simulations. Over time, I built a financial plan that worked—and realized I could retire from my government job in 2024. So I did.

That same year, I began preparing for licensing in financial services. A short-term contract job delayed that process by a year, but it gave me time to clarify my purpose and lay the groundwork for what was next.

And that led to the founding of MJD Enterprises—named after my three sons: Michael, James, and Daniel. Because this isn’t just a business. It’s a mission.

At MJD Enterprises, I help families, seniors, and small business owners make clear, confident decisions about their finances—whether that means choosing the right Medicare plan, protecting income with life insurance, investing for retirement, or simply learning how to stop living paycheck to paycheck.

If no one ever talked to you about money growing up, you’re not alone. I’m here to change that—one family at a time.