About

Hi, I'm Erik Buatte

My Foundation

At the core of my life is my wife and two kids. We love to get outside on some adventure whether that’s on a local soccer field or on a trail in the mountains searching for a waterfall that's “just one more mile”. We try to show our kids that you can blaze your own trail and design a life that you want by trying to do just that.

Some Backstory

I spent 14+ years working as an engineer testing and developing complex systems ranging from communications systems to aircraft. During that time I was fortunate to have been part of some incredible teams doing great work. During that timeframe I also got a Masters in Systems Engineering and my Professional Engineer (PE) certification. While trying to figure out our own financial plan, then helping family and friends, I realized how much: A. I enjoyed it, B. The difference financial decisions can make in a family’s overall wellbeing and happiness. At that point I went back to school (some "fun" early mornings, late nights, and weekends), for financial planning to go deeper into the subject. I finally stepped away from my engineering career and jumped into financial planning in 2022.

Passion for Personal Finance and Solutions

I believe that putting Life First is what really matters in financial planning. It’s not about an arbitrary number at the bottom of a spreadsheet, but what you do with the resources (time, relationships & community, talent, health, and money) that really matters. Too often I've heard versions of optimizing for more $$$ in the financial advice world, rather than trying to get the most out of life’s journey. I love working with people to identify what their unique best life is and helping them solve for how to get there by combining best practices and strategies from finance and engineering and applying them to the challenges of financial planning in the real world. By iterating and constantly striving for improvements and checking along the way great things can happen. 

Favorites
  • Food - rehydrated Chili Mac with Beef and any meal in Rome (Italy to be clear)
  • Adventure - Trekking the Choquequirao + Machu Picchu trail (so far)
  • Books & Movies - Lord of the Rings. Yes, I'm a nerd and I'm okay with it.
  • Exercise - Trail running. I'm slow, but stubborn.
Achilles' Heel
  • Ankles, literally my ankles
  • Every root on the trail that looks just like a snake

Learn About Our Process

Our Process