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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Another wolf makes its way into Southern Oregon ... Our View: Let Medford voters decide on marijuana sales ... Reopening of the Siskiyou Line means trucking companies will take a hit ... Another wolf makes its way into Southern Oregon ... Our View: Let Medford voters decide on marijuana sales ... Reopening of the Siskiyou Line means trucking companies will take a hit ... Once upon a time in finance ... Local financial advisor writes an unorthodox business book Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News It all began with a bedtime story. Like most fathers with little girls, Central Point financial advisor Joe Spurgeon spent many a night reading to his daughter. An erstwhile language arts teacher, he frequently chose fairy tales. In time, however, Spurgeon got to thinking there was more to the tales than happy endings and morals to the story. "I was studying for my securities exam at the time, and I think I was getting a different message than she was hearing," Spurgeon said. Soon, Spurgeon was crafting the first of what became 24 chapters in a book published last month by New Libri Press: "Everything I Learned About Financial Planning Came from Fairy Tales." "I read a lot of fairy tales and fable books in the last five years," Spurgeon said. "My intention wasn't to come up with anything new. My hope was that it was readable, and I've been told it's really simple and easy to understand." He began in 2009 with Aesop's "The Grasshopper and the Ant," suggesting carefully stowing away reserves for lean times ensures provisions are available during hard times. "It wasn't about having a savings account, but storing up food for the winter," Spurgeon said. "I'd say the modern-day equivalent is a savings account, where you put away something for the lean times." He described himself as a hermit at the PC, spending nights — when he got home from his day job at LPL Financial — and weekends writing. Some chapters came more quickly than others, but he found plenty of insight from the classics. "Some of them came to me so quickly that I had the first draft in maybe an hour," he said. "Others, I had an idea of what I wanted to say, but it took it forever to actually get it done." His favorite chapter was the first, he said. "For me having money or savings is all about security," Spurgeon said. "My grandfather lived through the Depression, and somehow I think he passed a lot of what he learned on to me. Whether you save money in checking, savings or under the mattress, to be able to say if someone loses a job, we'll be able to make, it is important. It's not like saying, we've got $10,000, let's go to Hawaii." In "The Fox and the Cat" Spurgeon discusses decision-making. We read: "The Fox boasts of hundreds of escape routes and techniques and ridicules the cat for having merely one. When the two hear approaching hunters, the cat instinctively climbs up a tree while the fox thinks too much and is captured." The author's point is that with myriad financial instruments available, people often get overwhelmed with all the options and fail to act. "Doing nothing in the financial world is a choice," he wrote about his considering a college savings plans. "Did I pick the best savings plan? Who knows? Should I let the assets change automatically? I'm not sure. I do know that student loan debt is over 1 trillion dollars." Then there's the "Myth of Sisyphus," who ran afoul of the pantheon of gods residing atop Mount Olympus. "His punishment was pushing a boulder up a hill," said Spurgeon. "Then it would roll back down. That got me thinking about bills. I'm a huge fan of the 15-year mortgage. Pushing a little bigger boulder for 15 years is better than a small one for 30 years." The toughest go was "King Midas and the Golden Touch," he said. "And I don't know why. I was trying to get the point across that you don't want to be consumed by wealth. I tried four or five times, and I finally got it." "Everything I Learned About Financial Planning Came from Fairy Tales" can be downloaded for Kindle and Nook readers, with paperback editions available through Amazon.com . The book is also on sale at Bloomsbury Books in Ashland and can be ordered at Barnes & Noble. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge . By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Posted Jun. 3, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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