Helping Government Employees Find Reliable Answers
At GEBI, we’ve built a dedicated team to help government employees find reliable answers to their retirement and benefits questions.
Often, government employees rely on information from coworkers, which can lead to incomplete or inaccurate details. Just because a piece of information is relevant to one person doesn’t mean it applies to everyone.
Our team of financial planners brings over 40 years of combined experience and specialized training in government employee benefits. Over the years, GEBI has grown into one of Hawaii’s most experienced and trusted teams of experts in government employee retirement and benefits.
Dan Hartenstein
Dan is a co-founder of ECS Wealth Strategies and Charter Instructor at the Government Employee Benefit Institute (GEBI). Specializing in services for high-income, high-net-worth health professionals, Dan’s expertise encompasses retirement plan design, tax planning, asset protection, retirement distribution planning, and charitable gifting strategies. From 1999 to 2010, he worked alongside his father, assisting high-net-worth clients in minimizing tax liabilities, streamlining business structures, and enhancing the efficiency, control, and safety of converting surplus earnings into retirement savings.
In 2009, Dan noticed a significant number of federally-employed physicians and dentists attending his seminars and was struck by the widespread confusion and misinformation he observed—issues he recognized from his private-sector experience, exacerbated by the complex benefits system faced by government employees. This realization led him to shift his focus toward federal retirement benefits, undergoing intensive training to master the system, and becoming a commissioned Notary Public.
In 2010, Dan co-founded GEBI to specifically assist federal employees in navigating their complex retirement systems. Over the next 15 years, they helped over 1,000 employees maximize their retirement benefits and minimize losses due to uninformed decisions. Their efforts earned GEBI consistently high ratings and the status of a preferred vendor for the Honolulu Pacific Federal Executive Board through 2019. In 2016, GEBI was honored with the Torch Award for Ethics from the Better Business Bureau.
Born and raised on Oahu, Dan graduated Cum Laude with departmental honors in International Business and International Relations from Webster University’s Leiden campus in The Netherlands. A proud alumnus of Punahou School, Dan is deeply committed to community service. He received the Paul Harris Award from the Rotary Club of Waikiki, where he was named Rotarian of the Month twice. He served eight years on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Missing Child Center – Hawaii and is an active volunteer at his children’s schools, often serving as parent/faculty association president. Additionally, Dan has contributed to various charitable endeavors, including the restoration of the Waikalua Loko I’a fishpond and establishing an endowment for the Hilo Medical Center Foundation.
Robert Yeszerski
Robert Yeszerski is a co-founder and Charter Instructor with the Government Employee Benefit Institute (GEBI), a preferred vendor for the Honolulu–Pacific Federal Executive Board through 2019 and recipient of the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics in Small Business. A financial planner since 2002, Robert specializes in retirement planning, retirement income distribution, comprehensive financial planning, leveraged life insurance, and estate planning.
Motivated by the growing need for reliable guidance on Federal Retirement Benefits, Robert co-founded GEBI in 2010 after realizing that Federal Employees no longer had sufficient resources to navigate the complex Federal Retirement System. Since GEBI’s inception, he has co-led retirement seminars designed to empower Federal Employees as they prepare to retire. Post-seminar, attendees seeking deeper guidance can work directly with Robert and his team for personalized strategies. Through this approach, he has advised more than 1,000 Federal Employees—helping them adopt safer money approaches, sound budgeting practices, and maximized retirement benefits.
Recognized as one of the few financial planners in the U.S. with extensive knowledge of the Federal Retirement System, Robert has naturally focused on serving this community. Nevertheless, his methods for structuring guaranteed income streams—often with the potential to increase over time—also resonate with small business owners, health care professionals, and State Government Employees (primarily teachers). Today, Robert maintains practices in both the United States and Canada, devoting much of his U.S. focus to clients in Hawaii, Washington State, Oregon, California, Colorado, and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. His cross-border expertise enables him to address the complexities of multiple financial systems, offering real-world guidance that empowers individuals and families to make informed decisions and secure their long-term financial well-being.