When I moved with my young family to El Dorado County in 2004, it was a big change and a leap of faith to leave the San Fernando Valley where I was raised and all my extended family lived. But, as so many of you could attest, I found that El Dorado was a special place to live and raise my children.
We fell in love with the mountains and rivers, the charm of historic Main Street Placerville, and the amazing people who make up our community.
Unfortunately, as the years have gone by, I watched my kids move away to cities across the country. Being a financial planner and the current President of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce has allowed me to notice that many of our community’s youth are leaving and are not coming back to give the next generation the opportunities El Dorado County has to offer.
That is why I am proud to share that one of my children, Blake Anderson, has made his way back to El Dorado County to start his own family and be a part of all that makes our county great.
Like so many of our great youth, Blake grew up attending the local Sutter’s Mill Elementary School, went through Gold Trail Middle School, and graduated from El Dorado High School while achieving the rank of Eagle in the Boy Scouts of America along the way.
However, unlike many of our youth, and my other kids, Blake always had an interest in the family business. Even as a youth he would read my financial books that were laying around the house. Once in eighth grade, he read my copy of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations.
Blake was also instrumental in the development of our brand name, WealthGuard Advisors. He decided to attend Brigham Young University for his higher education focusing on economics. He took a 2-year hiatus from his studies to do voluntary Church work in Seoul, South Korea, but after returning to college, Blake completed his degree in Economics with minors in Mathematics and Korean.
During college, he also had the opportunity to intern at Ladenburg Thalman’s bond trading desk in Los Angeles. He was encouraged to have an experience at a bond firm since bonds are a major portion of most people’s investment portfolios. Few people, including advisors, have a good working understanding of the bond market. While completing his studies, Blake met his loving and supportive wife, Beth.
Upon graduation, Blake decided to forgo other employment opportunities with large investment firms to work with me at WealthGuard Advisors, but first he needed to support Beth in her desire to attend chiropractic college in Portland, Oregon. Blake learned to work remotely while in Portland and used his extra time to earn the widely recognized Certified Financial Planner™ designation.
With Beth completing her Doctor of Chiropractic program and now expecting their first child, they have finally returned to our county to provide service in their chosen professions. We look forward to being part of our wonderful El Dorado County.
- Written by Adam Anderson, Founder of WealthGuard Advisors and Proud Dad.
