How Reign Over Money came to be…
Growing up in northeast Ohio, my dad was a bank vice president. Everyone thought I was rich, I guess they just thought my dad had the key to the vault and could take money whenever we needed it. Not the case.
I grew up in a middle class family, probably a spoiled brat, since I was an only child. I never went without much but at the same time my family didn’t have a whole lot of disposable income. My dad retired at 62 and just prior to retiring he barley had a six figure retirement account. Not what one would expect from someone in the financial world for as long as he was, but usually that money was invested in CD’s or the bank’s stock, which never did much.
My parents got a bit lucky – the year my dad retired, his bank was bought out and the stock roughly doubled, so did his retirement account. It may not have been a seven figure retirement, but it made a difference. Unfortunately, my dad would only enjoy retirement for about 4 years, he passed suddenly at 66. My mother forged ahead and has enjoyed the last 15+ years of retirement with the help of a pretty solid investment advisor assisting her along the way (that’s me!). I’ve learned a lot from my parents retirement; living each day to the fullest, enjoy now with still a focus on the future, keep debt low and live below your means.
Fast forward to my adult years and I was lucky enough to fall into a temp job with a financial services company in 1997. I enjoyed the work and made enough of a difference that the company asked me to move from Columbus, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky to open their new headquarters.
The job got me interested in the financial world and also got me interested in another employee, who would become my wife! Little did I know we would share such an enjoyment in personal finance, savings and building a nest egg, like we did. That was 25 years ago and we’ve built a wonderful life with two beautiful children and continue to share many interests including growing our financial knowledge.
I chose this project because I wanted an outlet to help others navigate the many facets of the financial world. There are so many ways to make your money work harder for you and save on everyday wants and needs. My goal is to organize Reign Over Money into an enjoyable, understandable and actionable program that can help others achieve whatever they want in regards to how their money is used.
I hope you enjoy the journey with me…
-Kevin