10 Questions with David: From Engineer to Financial Planner

Here are 10 questions to help you learn more about David.

If you are looking for speaker on financial education for your group, check out the last question!

How did you get started investing?

My first experience investing while I was still in college. I worked multiple jobs on campus and - long story short - I found Dave Ramsey, took the Financial Peace University class, used the debt snowball right after college to pay off ~70k of student loans. I used one of Dave Ramsey’s ELPs (Endorsed Local Providers) to invest because I had no experience investing. I graduated college in 2009 and was debt free 6 months later.

Where did you start your career?

After college, I started working as an intern for Raytheon in Boston making $2,700/month, and I lived in an office (like a Regus office), for 6 months because I could not afford an apartment in Boston. I got a gym membership to workout and shower, biked to and from work (yep in rain, sleet and snow). After my internship, I transitioned to full time, then took an overseas assignment and was making over 120k (I lived in Israel, Japan & Germany) and got paid much more than I knew what to do with.

How did you know what do after you paid off your debt and started making a higher income?

When I arrived in Israel for work, an older engineer (I’ll call him my mentor) took me to lunch and sat me down on my first day and basically told me all about investing and not to squander away all of the money I'd be making. I did that for 6 years and focused on maximizing my income, minimizing taxes and optimizing my investments. I lived in the basement of another family's house and tried to keep my expenses low and worked overtime as much as possible. By the time I left Raytheon, my net worth was close to 600k by the time I was 27. During that time, my mentor encouraged me to look at real estate as another opportunity, so in 2010 and 2011 I purchased two foreclosures as rentals.

Why did you start teaching financial planning classes while you were still an engineer ?

During my last year at Raytheon, I met my wife online (she was a Captain in the Army). Also during that time, my father passed away from a heart attack in his sleep. This was a wake up call for me, I saw the pain that my mother went through, I started learning about Social Security benefits, Estate Planning, Medicare and other retirement planning topics, as I tried to help her understand what this next phase of her life would be. I left Raytheon and took 2 months off. I was re-evaluating my career and life goals and wondered how I could help more people with their finances.

I remembered the benefits of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class when I took it, so I reached out to Ramsey’s team and started teaching it locally in my community. A few months later, I started working for SpaceX in Texas at their test facility. The first few months were fine, but then it started to become really intense. I found myself spending more time at work and less time with my new bride. I reached the tipping point and realized I was working at SpaceX 50 - 60 hours a week, and also trying to balance being a good husband and teaching Financial Peace University, which I felt very passionate about as well.

How did you start a career in financial planning?

After a few years at SpaceX, my wife finished her commitment in the Army and we both moved up to Fort Worth and both started working for Lockheed Martin. She was in supply chain for F-35 and I became a "Skunk" in their advanced development programs.

I kept teaching Financial Peace University but then my wife and I realized, as she was thinking about leaving so we can start a family, that I needed to do something in the finance and personal finance space because it was consuming all of my free time. So I studied for and received my series 65 license to became a fiduciary financial planner.

I found and joined Wise Wealth, a Registered Investment Advisory firm, in 2018, because of their focus on educating clients, being a fiduciary and building holistic financial plans.

In 2018, my wife and I became financially independent with a little over 1 million in assets & no debt, so I then felt comfortable to leave Lockheed Martin, about a year after my wife did.

What does financial independence mean? And what is your philosophy to become financially independent?

The financial independence movement has been growing in popularity the past few decades, but it really just means that your work can be optional, because you’ve saved / invested / accumulated enough assets to live on for the remainder of your life. Generally, retirement for most people is in their 60’s and 70’s, while the financial independence movement is focused on helping people become financially independent typically in their late 30s or 40s.

I learned financial independence concepts from so many people in the financial independence community, and The Millionaire Next Door is a great resource as well, but much of the information distills down into a few concepts that I’ve adapted and now use in my financial planning practice:

  • Spend Less Than You Earn

  • Maximize Your Income

  • Optimize Your Investments

  • Minimize Your Taxes

  • Take Care Of Your Health

  • Invest In The Next Generation

  • Love People, Use Money. Not The Other Way Around.

Are there any similarities between being an engineer and a financial planner?

There’s many similarities between the financial planning and engineering profession. Both professions have:

  • Lots of numbers

  • Solve complex problems

  • Model scenarios

  • Utilize software and calculators

  • Have specialties.

As an electrical engineer, I specifically focused on avionics and communication systems. I understand that my expertise as a financial planner must also be specific. For that reason, I earned my Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor certification through the College for Financial Planning. I specifically wanted to help people plan for finances with financial independence in mind.

While some advisors focus solely on investments or insurance, I wanted to take a holistic approach to financial planning, but always with financial independence in mind.

What are the biggest financial blind spots engineering, aerospace and tech professionals have?

There are a few key financial blind spots that I personally have experienced as an engineer, and now that I help other understand better:

  • Financial Education Misinformation.

    • Most tech professionals like to educate themselves, and are analytical thinkers. This, unfortunately, may lead to two different outcomes.

      • Analysis Paralysis: Tech professionals may consume so much information that they are not sure what action to take.

      • Not Getting A Second Opinion: The second unfortunate outcome is, after consuming financial information, they think they understand everything, and do not pause to get a second opinion or ask for help.

  • Higher Incomes.

    • Most tech professionals generally have higher incomes than average, and while having a higher income is usually a good thing, I see they may fall into two high income traps.

      • Lifestyle Creep: As your income continues to increase, lifestyle creep happens when you also increase your spending to match your income, instead of saving the increased income.

      • Not Optimizing: As income increases, you may overlook other areas to optimize your income, such as not taking full advantage of your retirement plan.

  • Not Focusing On Holistic Planning

    • A common blind spot tech professionals make is an over emphasis on investments and investment returns. Without properly examining your investments in the context of a holistic financial plan, you might be overlooking opportunities to optimize in other areas, such as minimizing taxes, taking advantage of employer sponsored plans, RSUs, ESOPs etc.

Why would an aerospace professional want to work with a financial planner, or you, specifically?

Working with a holistic financial planner can help you design and build a holistic financial plan that includes all aspects of your finances: including your income Investments Healthcare taxes and your legacy. A unique perspective that I bring as an engineer turn financial planner, is that I understand how Engineers think and can explain Financial concepts in a way that Engineers can understand. I also value transparency and education, something I believe most Engineers value as well. So when you ask a question, don't be surprised if I spend 10 to 20 minutes on a whiteboard explaining an aspect of the plan or modeling a scenario in software. As a data-driven professional, I think data education and transparency is something you should look for when you choose a financial planner.

As an engineer turned financial planner, what topics could you speak to our audience about?

I’ve had several experiences that I can share, and can speak about the following topics:

  • General Financial planning topics, including:

    • Debt reduction

    • Maximizing your income

    • Optimizing Investments

    • Minimizing your taxes

    • Planning for healthcare and your legacy.

    • The 3 Phases of Investing

    • Financial Independence

  • Maximizing The Benefits At Your Company, including:

    • Making the most of your retirement accounts, such as your 401k, IRA, Roth IRA

    • Health savings accounts, etc.

  • Travel hacking with credit cards

  • Building an off-grid cabin including solar, water and internet (Currently about 80% complete with this project)

  • Comprehensive retirement planning, including:

    • Social Security

    • Required minimum distributions

    • Income Withdrawal strategies

    • Minimizing Taxes In Retirement

    • Healthcare in Retirement (Long Term Care, Medicare etc)

  • Utilizing real estate to build wealth, including:

    • Long-term rentals

    • Flipping houses

  • The importance of being on the same page with your spouse when it comes to your financial goals

If you’d like to view previous webinars I’ve presented on, join the Aero Retirement Academy.