About Me
As a graduate of the University of Dayton and Indiana University, and after a 40+ year engineering career in aerospace and defense, I was financially ready to retire at age 60. I realized I got to that point on my own, even after a year-long unemployment and several bad corporate retirement plans. I must have done something right, but what exactly was it? We raised children, moved back and forth across the country a few times, bought and sold a few homes, and saved for college, weddings, and retirement, mostly on one income. But I knew I had developed disciplined money management habits by building and then using spreadsheets week-in and week-out to manage our finances, a process that began 50 years ago, so it was apparent that habit played a significant role in my success.
As I thought about it, I also realized that my financial journey was not a straight line; it required many course corrections along the way. My skill with money management didn’t come from my parents or any school, but rather from years of learning and recovering from my mistakes. A journey that was successful because I established good habits and kept learning.
Once I retired, I cleaned up my spreadsheets and took the time to capture my habits, the lessons I learned, and the hands-on education I received, and wrote the three-book series What Would Dad Do? My goal with these books is to share my story as an example for others to learn from and become more confident in managing their finances.
...and my approach to managing money
Over the years, I learned a lot of lessons and observed how others handled their money. I realized that people often get into trouble because they fail to assess the risks associated with their actions. So, I began to approach all financial decisions, looking for risks and what could be done to mitigate them. I settled into a "middle of the road" approach, as I call it; accepting some risk after considering the consequences and mitigating as much as possible, but being risk-adverse or more conservative when needed. I apply this middle-of-the-road approach whether buying insurance, planning for retirement, or saving for old age. Thus, you won't find stock picks or alternative investments recommended here, but rather careful attention to daily money management and asset allocation, diversification, and expenses when investing.
And while an engineering career made me a numbers guy, I also realized that many don't work with numbers because they were never shown how to do it. Thus, I became a big advocate of using spreadsheets to calculate answers for personal finances because it forces you to stop and consider how the numbers add up or compare before making a decision. And once built and set up, your spreadsheets will be used repeatedly, becoming a good money habit. You'll find my practical, unbiased advice and middle-of-the-road approach in my books, tools, and here at A Better Financial Journey.
Mr. Tom at Cliffs of Moher, Ireland