Peter Dunn was in sixth grade when he bought his first share of stock in Philip Morris. By the time he graduated from Pike High School in 1996, his share had tripled in value. Pete the Planner had found his calling.
Today, at 33, he handles a lot more than $37. By trade, Dunn works out of Carmel, with clients ranging from full businesses to young couples, teaching them how best to manage their money.
Off the books, he’s Pete the Planner — author of two finance education books; blogger, tweeter, Skyper, emailer and Facebooker about all things personal finance; TV personality appearing on WISH-TV, CNN and Fox News; radio show host on WIBC-FM (93.1); part owner of Roboto Wear, a clothing company; in-demand professional speaker; and about as close as financial planners get to being a real life celebrity.
And somehow, he always has time for breakfast. On Mondays, it’s yogurt, granola and a cup of coffee at Cafe Patachou in Carmel. That’s before a day, like every day, that is “always different, and always a whirlwind,” said Dunn.
Less than 10 years ago, Dunn led a double life. He was a financial planner during the day, preparing budgets and keeping clients out of debt. At night, though, Dunn was a comedian, appearing all over Indy.
By 2006, “I realized I wanted to combine comedy into my day job,” he said. “There’s not much personality in the financial world, so I’d either be the funniest financial planner, or a comedian who knows a lot about money. I chose the former.”
The first step toward fusion began by accident. On a flight to Houston, “some dude sat next to me and talked my ear off, so I grabbed my laptop and said I had a deadline.” Dunn’s typing diversion became his first book, “What Your Dad Never Taught You About Budgeting.”
A media tour followed, along with a spot on WISH-TV. The station then asked him to come on the air monthly, which led to a spot on Fox News in New York, which led to a radio show on Fox in Indianapolis, which led to appearances on more networks, which all led to another book and a steady string of speaking engagements and a popular blog and, in a few short years, the coveted title of “expert.”
And those are just the extracurriculars.
“I do actually manage money for a living, millions of dollars for clients — so I’m often checking the market and seeing what’s happening there,” he said. “So the boring part of my job, if you will, is just making sure people’s money is growing and not going backward.”
Having his face on TV and voice on the radio may make Dunn well-known, but it’s his insistence on changing his field that makes him well-liked. Dunn spends hours each day answering every tweet and email that comes his way. He’ll sit on Skype with clients across the country. He’ll pump out a tip-filled blog post most mornings.
“I just hope I’m inspired that day,” he said.
In person, “most clients feel like they are in a shrink’s office” when they come for a meeting, Dunn said. “There are tears and yelling. It’s nuts.” He calls it “peer advising.” His clients call it any number of things.
“A better description of Pete might be financial planner, counselor, coach, professor and social networking guru,” said Anna Trent, Fishers, who, along with her husband, Collin, began visiting Dunn in September. “His desire is to get to know us — what motivates us, what our personal and professional dreams are, what we want to accomplish.”
Dunn sees his methods as making simple, person-to-person connections. The topic, it just so happens, is money.
“My industry is about an authoritarian figure giving advice,” he said. “So I strip out the bad Joseph A. Banks suit. I’m coming in as a peer. I make mistakes. I’ve overdrafted on an account. I’ve bought a car I couldn’t afford. It’s like I’m sitting one cubicle over and just chatting. That’s the feeling I want.”
Increasingly, the emails and tweets tossed at Dunn circle what he sees as “the biggest challenge of young people — they’ve got more student loan debt than ever before and less job options,” a problem only aggravated by college grads “drinking from their parents’ money teat. It’s a hard addiction to break.”
The financial solution? Live modestly, and feel the struggle.
“Everyone should be willing to be broke once,” said Dunn, “and when you’re broke, you should act broke.”
Most financial planners wouldn’t look twice at those who couldn’t afford a session, let alone their rent. But Dunn is “genuinely interested in people, no matter the size of their balance sheet,” said Gerry Dick, host of Inside Indiana Business.
“My whole existence is helping people no matter their financial circumstance,” said Pete the Planner, his yogurt-and-granola morning filled with tips and tricks he blogged, or emailed or tweeted for free. “A car lease gone bad can ruin you for years. If it takes me three minutes to answer a question I’ve answered 400 times before, hell yeah, I’ll do it. Why not?”
Photo by Kelly Wilkinson/The Star
