About Erik Baskin

PROUD MEMBER OF

In 2018, after graduating the U.S. Air Force Academy with an Economics degree, I began my professional career as a hospital administrator in the Air Force. As I was sitting in my apartment in Cheyenne, Wyoming after work every day, I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be a career for me. It was a great first job, but wasn’t ultimately my calling and didn’t get me up out of bed every morning. I was captain of a Division I hockey team in college, and I still have that competitive drive that I need to harness into something. I knew that I needed to start a business, I just didn't know what yet.

For the next 9 months, I binged business and entrepreneurship books and researched business ideas. I had a One Note with about 20 different ideas. I was teaching myself to code computer software, trade foreign exchange, and anything else that I could get my hands on.

One book in particular called the $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau said that you should find something that people naturally come to you for, something that you are passionate about, and something that people will pay for. This was my lightbulb moment. For me, that thing has always been investing and personal finance. I was always interested in the stock market, and many times found myself in conversations giving people finance pointers. I had also seen what the typical financial advisor did for family and friends, and was very frustrated with the lack of transparency, and lack of value for the fees that are paid.

From there on out, I was dead set on building a fee-only financial planning firm to help families align their money with their values. I began building the groundwork for Baskin Financial Planning in early 2019 while getting my MBA, studying for and passing the CFP® exam, then finally launching the business in 2021 all while serving on active duty before transitioning out to focus on the business full time.

When I'm not busy nerding out with clients on financial planning and investing, I keep busy by spending time with my wife Shelley and my two Greyhounds Rafa and Poppy, coaching hockey, working out, playing golf, hunting, going to country concerts, or reading a book outside on my favorite subject...personal finance.