10 Questions with Above the Canopy

This is the 67th edition of our guest post series called 10 Questions. It also will be one of the last. Everything must come to an end and 10 Questions will say ‘”Good bye!” near the end of 2016. If you’ve already sent me your answers or told me that you’re going to be doing so, don’t worry; I’m still going to publish you.

Today we hear from Grant Bledsoe, a financial planner who blogs over at Above the Canopy.

After working for a big-name brokerage firm for a while, he struck out on his own and now runs a company devoted to providing genuine and unbiased financial advice.

Tell me about your blog and why it’s great
Hey there! My blog is called Above the Canopy. It’s great because it helps people accelerate their path to financial independence. Yeah yeah maybe that’s a little cliche in the PF sphere. But even so, I feel like a lot of blogs out there are a little vague when it comes to delivering actionable advice. And while I do try to inject some personality here and there, I’m really focused on writing in a way that actually helps people. To that end I try to include product reviews, case studies from my financial planning practice, and other experiences I’ve had in the financial industry.

Tell me how you’re going to change the world with your blog
Changing the world might be a bit strong, but here’s what I’d like to accomplish: I’d like Above the Canopy to be a fun resource that people can trust. I’m going to try to avoid boring my readers to tears (*try*) – which is another thing that’s pretty typical of financial blogs (not you guys of course). If my blog helps answer some people’s financial questions and problems without being completely dry, I’ll deem it a success.

What post are you most proud of and why?

My favorite post is on the 4% rule and whether it still works. I know you’ve heard of the rule before. It claims that over a 30 year retirement period, if you invest in 60% stocks and 40% bonds and withdraw 4% per year for spending needs, you won’t run out of money.

There’s a lot of debate on that topic in the financial community right now. I get a fair number of questions on whether it’s still valid. People think that stock and bond returns will be lower in the future and a 4% withdrawal rate is too high.

I like the post because it’s such a hotly debated topic. There are some really smart researchers out there writing about the topic, but their opinions differ so much it’s difficult to draw a hard conclusion. This post is a review of how the rule works, what the most current research suggests, and my take on the issue. I like it because it covers both what you need to know AND how to use it.

Do you enjoy writing?
Yes and no. In earlier parts of my career I had to do a lot of really technical, academic, and dense writing. There are times I enjoy that type of writing these days, but they’re rare. What I do enjoy is writing about topics I care about and having the latitude to inject some personality and fun. To me that is enjoyable. Writing research papers on pricing and financial models….not as much.

If blogging isn’t your full time gig, what is?
As I alluded to earlier, I’m a financial planner. I founded a firm called Three Oaks Capital Management, and get to help people make smart financial decisions every day. But like I said, it’s hard to express yourself on a stuffy corporate website. Above the Canopy has been a nice outlet – it lets me connect with people and share ideas in an informal and fun way.

How do you handle people with different views on money, ie spendy people
As you can guess, I talk to a lot of people with very different views on money. The thing about money is that it’s one of the most personal and intimate topics. That means that even when people have opinions that I strongly disagree with (spending too much, buying whole life insurance, etc.), I try to tread very lightly. My job is to coach people on making smart money decisions. Being preachy or condescending over someone’s core money philosophies never works out well.

Did you grow up with money? How did your money situation growing up influence you?
I wouldn’t say I grew up with a ton of money, but we were comfortable. We certainly never wanted for much and always had plenty of food on the table. We were very fortunate.

My parents were great about explaining their financial decisions as we went along, too. Concepts like borrowing money from a bank to buy a house, whether or not to finance a car, and how to manage credit were drilled into my sister and me from an early age.

Did your parents teach you about money as a kid? How so?
We had an allowance that we had to earn by doing chores. And when it came time for new clothes and school supplies, my mom would take us shopping, give us a budget, and let us make the purchase decisions.

If we thought we needed something that didn’t fit the budget, we didn’t get it. And every time that happened, my mom would say something like “We could put this on my credit card and pay it back later. But we won’t because the bank will charge us a ridiculous amount of interest. When you get credit cards, you pay them off every month.”

By the time I got a credit card of my own, it never even occurred to me to buy something that I didn’t already have the cash for.

What is your favorite style of beer – and what is your favorite beer in that style?
These days everyone loves the ultra-bitter, uber hopped IPA type beers. I’m more of a malt lover myself. My favorite beer of all time is anchor steam. It’s brewed in San Francisco, and they have some kind of patent or license that allows them to brew using steam, which others can’t replicate. They don’t distribute nationally, but if you’re on the west coast you can probably find it. It’s a nice break from the triple IPAs.

What is the best thing you’ve read lately?
Under Fire, by Grant Blackwood. It’s part of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Jr. series. And yes, I know a spy novel sounds like a dumb answer. I read a ton of financial/money/investing/career improvement/business type non-fiction. And while I’m a sucker for history and learning new things, sometimes fiction is a great break. The wife and I just took our first vacation in over 2 years, and I sat by the pool and got my fill of testosterone heavy action stories. It was glorious.

Bonus!

What do you do for exercise?
Does watch sports, eat frozen pizza, and drink anchor steam count? Growing up I played a lot of baseball (if you read a post or two from my blog you’ll pick up on that). So for years most all my exercise was geared toward training for baseball. Now that my glory days are over I try to hit the gym a few times a week and jog regularly. I love downhill skiing in the wintertime, but don’t get to go regularly.

Dogs or cats?
Bunnies. I’m deathly allergic to most animals, and asphyxiate shortly after being around dog and cat dander. Trust me, it’s a major bummer. My wife is really into animals though, and coincidentally the one animal I’m not allergic to is rabbits. So we have a pet bunny. His name is Beau. I was skeptical about him at first, but he’s incredibly cute and fun to have around the house.

Enormous thanks to Grant for sharing his thoughts with us today. Keep up with him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or over at Above the Canopy.