About Paradigm Capital Group

Your retirement deserves our best thinking.

The life you want to live gives our work its purpose. We bring accounting experience, careful analysis, and personal attention to understanding your financial picture. Together, we compare the possibilities and explain the tradeoffs. Whether the strongest fit is your current approach, our recommendation, or another proposal, we want you to understand why.

The people behind the process

Clear responsibilities. Coordinated action.

The Paradigm operating system separates responsibilities intentionally: initial discovery and qualification, client coordination and implementation control, and architecture-level planning judgment.

Headshot of Ken Ring, smiling, in a light gray checked blazer and blue shirt in front of a stone wall

Ken Ring

Co-Founder, CEO & Managing PartnerCPA · Retired U.S. Army Colonel

At Paradigm, Ken designs the plan. Once Scott has gathered the full picture, Ken builds the analysis. He models each option, whether it’s your current path, Paradigm’s recommendation, or another adviser’s proposal, in after-tax cash flows so you can compare what you would actually keep. He then sequences the pieces, such as withdrawals, Roth conversions, tax strategies, and investment and insurance decisions, so their timing and order work together, and he directs the specialists who carry out each part. He shows his math, stress-tests the plan against what could go wrong, and expects to be challenged.

Ken has been a CPA for 28 years. At Ernst & Young he rose to senior manager, leading tax advisory and compliance for Eli Lilly’s international employees across 65 countries, work where cross-border details decided the outcome. He later served at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

His path to finance started at West Point, where he earned an engineering degree before a career as an Army aviator, and he later earned a master’s in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. On the night of September 11, 2001, he volunteered to return to active duty. He expected to serve a year or two and stayed 19 more, retiring as a Colonel after almost 39 years in uniform. He calls Paradigm the second part of his life in service.

“I’m a CPA first. Bring me anything you’re considering. I’ll evaluate it fairly, in after-tax dollars, and show you how I did it so you can check my math.”
Headshot of Scott Whatley, smiling, wearing glasses, a navy suit jacket and white shirt against a light gray backdrop

Scott Whatley

Co-Founder & PresidentLicensed Insurance Professional

At Paradigm, Scott is your first point of contact. He leads the initial intake, learns what you want your money to make possible and which questions you need answered, helps you gather what the Fair Comparison Standard requires, and coordinates your appointment with Ken. Once you choose a direction, he keeps implementation on track so each professional handoff happens in the right order.

Scott is known for turning complex retirement topics into plain English. He is the author of a library of 11 free planning guides covering retirement income, tax-smart withdrawals and Roth conversions, Social Security timing, Medicare and IRMAA, annuities, life insurance, estate planning, college funding, and planning for business owners. Each guide cites its figures and rules so readers can check them, and each ends with concrete next steps.

Scott grew up in a working-class household. His parents worked at Hormel and Shasta, and money was never abstract: it was the difference between steady and stressed. He has brought that perspective to financial services since 2016, helping individuals, families, and business owners see a full picture of where they stand and build retirement spending plans their savings can actually support.

He also speaks to professional groups, business owners, and community organizations on retirement income, tax efficiency, and protecting family wealth.

“Retirement isn’t about hitting a number. It’s about consistency, confidence, and control.”

What guides our judgment

Experience matters. So does how we use it. We start with your priorities, welcome questions, and help you turn informed decisions into action.

Your life defines success.

We consider what your money can support: the income you need, access to your savings, the risks you want to manage, and what you want to leave for others.

Questions strengthen the recom­men­da­tion.

We welcome your questions and another professional’s perspective. When a concern reveals something important, we revisit the analysis and explain what changes.

Guided action. Clear next steps.

Once you understand the comparison and approve a direction, we help you take the next steps, coordinating with the appropriate professionals to put your decisions into practice.

Your plan stays open to review.

When your circumstances, priorities, or planning assumptions change, we revisit the reasoning and help you understand whether adjustments make sense.

Begin with your objectives

See how a fair comparison works.

Bring your current plan, a competing recommendation, or simply the questions you want your financial resources to answer.