About Smart Retirement Options
President and Founder
Judy Villella
Judy Villella has been serving clients in the insurance industry since 1986. She holds life, health, and annuity insurance licenses and a Series 65 license. Judy has always felt that this is what she wanted to do: helping clients understand their financial options in the simplest terms to make the right decisions. She cares about her clients and their financial future.
Judy graduated from California University of Pennsylvania in 1986 with her Bachelor’s in English & Business. She started Smart Retirement Options, LLC in 2016, but has worked in the insurance industry for her whole career. Judy is dedicated and passionate about what she does. She has one daughter, Carina, who she works with here at Smart Retirement Options, and is grateful they have been able to work alongside each other. When she isn’t helping retirees, Judy enjoys spending time in her garden, being outdoors, walking, and biking.
Carina Villella
Insurance Agent
Carina Villella is an Insurance Agent with Smart Retirement Options, LLC. She technically first started out here at 15 years old, seating people at Judy’s seminars. Then she moved on to setting appointments at seminars, then, back-office work such as processing paperwork, and then to the position of office manager.
Carina works with Judy during appointments and speaks alongside her at seminars. She enjoys knowing we play such an important role in helping our clients keep their hard-earned money safe and, hopefully, enjoy a worry-free retirement. At Smart Retirement Options, we look out for your best interests and strive to keep things simple and easy for you to understand.
Carina is compassionate, determined, mindful, & friendly. In her free time, she reads murder mystery books, works out, plays golf, and, of course, spends time with her family, her partner, Anthony, and their cat, Domenico.
Anthony Cervone
Insurance Agent
Anthony is an insurance agent with Smart Retirement Options. He holds an Insurance License and a Series 65 license, and has a Bachelor’s in Accounting and a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from Geneva College. Aside from being able to help grow this business alongside his partner, Carina, he loves working with clients on a day-to-day basis and advising them on the various options they have to best fit their needs in retirement.
Anthony believes peace of mind is just as important as performance. His primary goal is to help clients protect what they’ve built, generate reliable income, and enjoy the retirement they’ve earned. As a fiduciary, he’s ethically and legally obligated to put the interest of clients first when making recommendations. Anthony is driven, detail-oriented, and compassionate. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing and spending time with his partner, Carina. They live in Greentree, PA (along with their cat, Domenico).
Megan McCormick
New Business
Megan has held different responsibilities and roles with Smart Retirement Options, but her current position entails managing new business accounts, overseeing the servicing of existing accounts, handling the transfer of assets for new clients, and scheduling appointments. Megan has a Business Management Degree and holds an Insurance License in Life, Annuities & Health. She’s always been interested in numbers and having an office job. Helping others is also in her nature. The financial services industry suits her well, as there’s always something new to learn in the industry, and room for improving her skills. Megan is dedicated, loyal, and strives to do what’s best for everyone. In her spare time, she typically enjoys mountain biking, working out, and taking her dog, Sadie, for walks. To wind down, she always enjoys reading a good book.
Tess Diesing
Client Services Specialist
Tess is our Client Services Specialist. Some of her responsibilities include scanning documents, creating policy binders, sending out annual review letters, getting client folders ready, and processing paperwork. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from California University of Pennsylvania. Tess has spent her career working in smaller offices and tends to thrive in that type of environment, such as the more personal feel of Smart Retirement Options. Tess enjoys creating rapport with clients and helping to make a difference in their lives.
Tess is upbeat, friendly, approachable, and easygoing. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, Josh, a paramedic. Though, she frequently takes trips to visit family in Clearwater, Florida, and New York City. She and Josh also have two cats, named Cosmo and Baby Girl.
