Kurt Fischer

My wife, Laurie, and I are Americans living since 2009 on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. Why here? Our community offers a mix of spectacular scenery, moderate climate, a manageable cost of living, abundant wildness and wildlife, and a restorative rather than draining pace of life. Don't get too offended that we crossed an international border to live; at least not until after you've visited Vancouver Island!

In 1980 I completed a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois. I continued straight away in U of I's MBA program, earning over the next two years an MBA degree with a concentration in Finance.

After 20+ years of diverse business experience, I gravitated to entrepreneurship, and played a key role in the planning and launch of four small businesses, including Money Counselor, which grew from a stint as a Certified Credit Counselor I took on to give back by helping others work toward financial security. The Simple Guides to Debt, Credit, and Wealth are rooted in my experience working with hundreds of clients grappling with money challenges.

Laurie and I have been debt-free since 2003 when we paid off our mortgage many years early. When I say we are debt free, I mean we have no debt, so we are free. We got to this place in our lives by making (mostly!) good money choices, like always living well below our means. Though fortunate to have earned steady upper-middle class incomes, we have never earned huge salaries. Whatever financial success we have managed has grown mainly from sensible spending and saving, not outsized earning. Not a very sexy story, I'll admit, but that's all it has taken to make it possible for us to live the lifestyle we have today. Is it a glamorous, globe-hopping lifestyle? No way. But we like it, a lot.

But here's the thing: I am not some kind of financial genius, not even close. I am a regular person, probably very much like you. You do not have to be extra smart or special or super dedicated to understand and adopt the ideas in the Simple Guides and on the Money Counselor website. All that's required is embracing the idea of valuing freedom more than stuff.