An Interview with Chrees of the Chrees World Blog

This is the 4th of a series of interviews HelpYourMoney.com is doing of other personal finance bloggers.

An Interview with Chrees of the Chrees World Blog:

1. First, can you please introduce yourself and tell us why your started your personal finance blog?

I am a 44 year-old finance manager for a medical device manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay area. My background was originally in accounting, but I decided after passing the CPA exam that that field really wasn’t for me. So I went back to school, got a MBA in finance and moved across the aisle (so to speak).

I have a wonderful wife of 4 years who is starting her own business, and two boys, 2 ½ years, 2 ½ months, who are causing a few sleepless nights right now. Even though I’ve been in California for 10 years now, I still find my redneck background shows through occasionally.

I started the blog because I realized that we were moving in a good general direction, but there were gaps in our overall finances. I wanted to tie everything together for us and committing (figurative) pen to paper makes me analyze more and become more specific. Most importantly, if I publish my goals and expectations I feel an additional responsibility to make them happen. However I didn’t want the blog to be solely about finances—I wanted to include other topics and items I found interesting in case others would as well.

2. Do you feel you are on the right track to reaching your financial goals and what are they?

I have posted about my long-term goals on my site, at least regarding where I want us to be in relation to finances. When I hit 65, I want us to have the freedom to do what we want to do and to be protected in case of potential adverse events. In general we’re on the right track—many of the things I wanted to do I have put in place.

The one thing I didn’t fully realize was the impact of my wife not working for several months coupled with some unexpected costs. I knew they would have an impact, but I wasn’t sure to what extent. We’ve had a few surprises on expenses we didn’t count on, but I think we will be turning the corner in the next few months. Stay tuned.

3. Do you work in the financial industry? If so, do you want to share where?

My experience has been mainly with the oil & gas and medical device industries.

4. If you had to recommend just one financial related book, what would it be?

I haven’t read a finance related book in at least 15 years, so I’m not sure I can speak to this. Two that had an impact on me in my 20’s were Burton Malkiel’s “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” and Peter Lynch’s “One Up on Wall Street.” These are two good introductions to financial markets and solid approaches to investing—with updates I think they could still be relevant.

5. If you had to recommend just one financial related magazine, what would it be?

This depends a lot on where the reader is in their financial maturation. “Money” is probably the best I’ve seen for someone just getting interested or serious about their finances. Don’t rely on any magazine for specific investment advice, though. You’ll be very disappointed.

6. If you had to recommend just one or two financial related websites (besides your own and that is not a blog), what would it be?

Stay on top of the news, through whatever source you choose. Be able to filter the editorial statements and biases out of the news you read. Many of the short-term opportunities I have had came from events that initially looked disappointing.

7. What is one of the WORST financial related decisions you ever made?

Strictly speaking, getting divorced. In order to divide everything equally, I ended up with little in retirement savings. Not to mention no cash or savings. It was almost like starting over in my mid-30s…not a great position to be in. Of course this doesn’t cover all the other issues involved with the divorce, but it was a tremendous hit financially.

8. What is one of the BEST financial related decisions you ever made?

Buying a house in the San Francisco Bay area, combined with our fortunate timing. My wife was tenacious in looking for a house and found the perfect one for us one week before our first boy was born. This was in November 2003, and the housing market has been explosive since then, adding a couple of hundred thousand dollars to our net worth. Plus we’re in an area that continues to appreciate substantially during this surreal market. Even if the market moves sideways or declines some, it will still be beneficial.

A major component of being able to get into our house was the company I work for. During the internet/telecom boom in Silicon Valley, I was watching a lot of my friends get rich (at least on paper). I stuck with my company even though they stalled while every other company here flourished. I stayed because they had a solid compensation package, wonderful benefits, and great opportunities for me to advance. When the bubble burst, my company began to pick up and I profited from all the stock options granted when the stock price floundered. That was the only way we could afford a house in the area.

9. Do You Trade Individual Stocks and if so recommend your favorite 3 to 5 picks?

The bulk of my savings is in index funds in my 401(k), but I do have an investment fund solely for stocks. Since I invest in very speculative companies, mostly in the medical field, I hesitate to recommend any particular stocks. I buy companies that either show long-term promise during their clinical trials, or buy stocks where I think the market has grossly overreacted to bad news. My stocks this year have had returns anywhere from +100% to losing 40%. I don’t think it’s an approach I could recommend to anyone else.

10. If you could give our readers just one financial related tip, what would it be?

Live below your means and save the difference. It’s boring advice, but one sure way to accumulate wealth. As with most things that are good for you, it’s also easier said than done. Automating our savings has been the best way for us to do this, even when we aren’t living within our means.

11. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

Something that helped me was to analyze what money meant to me and determine its role in my life.

I’ve seen too many people unable to enjoy life due to money worries, and the problems are at both ends of the scale—those spending too much and constantly focused on making ends meet, to those unable to spend anything and take pleasure in what their money could bring them. Money is a means to an end (granted, it is a very important means) but it isn’t the ultimate end for me.

>> Visit Chrees’ World Blog.