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Fresh Perspective Interview with Kyle C

Written by Aaron Pinkston, Sat, Dec 26 2009
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Every Monday, I interview an interesting person to start the week off with a fresh perspective. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I do.

This week, I asked Kyle C, the personality behind Suburban Dollar, questions about boating, his confusing life insurance policy, and computer security. If you can relate to what he has to say, you should take a look at his site.

AP: Kyle, you have to be the only personal finance blogger I know who has a boat. It’s been said more than once that ‘a boat is a hole in the water where you throw your money.’ Yet you consider yourself frugal. How do you harmonize these two views?

KC: The people who say boats are a hole in the water have either never owned a boat, or bought a bad boat. Sure, I own a boat. It was a pretty good deal I got from my father-in-law, and I have certainly put some cash in it. The issue isn’t always about saving money with me – I want to enjoy my retirement but not at the cost of today.

I am fortunate to live in a part of the US that offers one of the best boating opportunities around. Both my wife and I love the water so it makes sense for us to own a boat. We have more fun as a family on the water than we do at any other time of the year. It may not be frugal to own a boat, but it sure is fun.

I caution everyone to not sacrifice today for tomorrow. Be prudent but not miserly.

AP: Speaking about your family, you say your wife took care of all the personal finances and you slowly gained an interest through writers. Tell me about your process. Were there any particular writers that really clicked with you?

KC: I don’t really know how it started, my wife was and is a major influence in my financial life. I think my interest in finance started with catching some random episodes of Dave Ramsey on the radio. I took that interest and hit the web where I started to look into how we could not just be concerned with our financial future but take charge of it. I found sites like The Simple Dollar, Bargaineering, and Consumerism Commentary.

I wanted something more physical so I wanted some books. I found a list on Get Rich Slowly about building a personal finance library. I wanted more so I hit the library where I started to read. The one book that hit home the most was “The Wealthy Barber.” The book just made sense and it put things in a simple enough way that anyone could understand. That was where I got my drive.

AP: You do computer network security for a living. A lot of what we do on a daily basis involves computers. How does your computer experience inform the writing and design of your site?

KC: To be perfectly honest what we do goes against everything I would recommend to someone concerned with their personal well-being and privacy. The fact is, we put a lot of facts about ourselves out there for anyone to read. This puts you at a greater risk but like the stock market without risk you don’t get any rewards.

AP: I’m obviously a fan of making life insurance easy to understand. I ran into your site originally when The Weakonomist pointed me to your post about the confusing life insurance policy you own. How’s that situation going? Have you decided to keep it or replace it with something simpler and why?

KC: I wish you could make that one easier for me to understand. If there was ever a perfect example of making an investment decision you know nothing about – this it. I was sold that policy by a relative and I didn’t understand anything about it – finance, life insurance or anything. When you are in that kind of situation it is easy to just say “yes.” When someone who is paid to deal with these things makes a suggestion you just go with it.

I still don’t know if it is a good idea but it is hard for me to throw $5k in trash which is what would happen if I kill that policy. I would love some help figuring it out, if I get current statement from them, you think you could help me get the real gist of the policy?

AP: There might be other things to look at. I won’t comment on it here. But it sounds like changing is mostly about the sunk cost of the policy (throwing good money after bad).

You’re a regular guy living in the suburbs. That’s your unique proposition. What makes it so unique and how does it help you connect with your readers?

KC: I don’t know how unique it really is, but there are a lot of successful bloggers out there with good solid backgrounds in finance or accounting. You are an insurance guy, The Weakonmist actually deals with economics, I don’t deal with any of that stuff just my family. I have no formal education in finance or accounting.

I am lucky to say I have never sat through a single class on economics, accounting or statistics. Before I turned 27, I didn’t know anything about the stock market other than it affected my 401k. It is unfortunate but that relates to more people in the world than educated investors so I hope that a least a couple of people can relate to my situation.

AP: Well, I think a lot of people can relate to that. Sometimes, it’s harder to connect with experts.


Last week, I talked with Matthew E May author or “In Pursuit of Elegance” about simplicity, communication, finance, and more. Check it out.