Bill Blanken is the owner and operator of Blanken Management, a financial planning, and investment company based in Northwest Florida.
Bill was born in New Brunswick NJ, and raised in Sayreville NJ. He left his home to enlist in the United States Navy. After his active military service was over, Bill went back to New Jersey where he met his wife Jane Marie and worked in the food service industry for almost 30+ years.
In 2010, he went to visit a friend on the Emerald Coast. That was it. He decided to sell everything, pack up two cars, two dogs, and move to the Emerald Coast. The transition was not easy as one could imagine. During their first year here, Bill lost both of his parents and father-in-law due to medical issues. Appreciating and celebrating their lives, Bill realizes that life is short, and one must achieve what one is meant to do.
Many years of hard work and success were ahead, but life continued to deliver blows. His wife, Jane, developed cancer. After many hard months, her treatment was successful! She is now a powerlifter. Life sends us all many twists and turns, but a dream can prevail!
Recently, Bill was blindsided by medical issues. He suffered a widowmaker heart attack, blockages requiring a quadruple bypass, and a fractured pelvis. These issues - he explains in an upbeat manner - were minor. That was a big hit but wasn't hard enough to keep him down. Bill got back up and moved forward. He's become much stronger physically and mentally and is committed to helping others succeed.
Bill started his firm, Blanken Management. After years in the hospitality industry, he decided to make an unprecedented change into the financial industry. For years, he studied how money works in the investment arena for himself and decided to spread that knowledge to others. After difficult training, education, and a rigorous registration process, he established his Registered Investment Advisory Firm, Blanken Management. Using skills obtained in the military and as a chef, Bill offers a comprehensive, personal approach to financial investing and financial planning.
The way Bill helps one build wealth is first to be aware of what is money and how it works. He begins with the concept that a person can make money by working for a company, but investing in financial markets allows a person to make money using other people's money. The second is to build a portfolio with the premise of understanding the compounding and correlation that surrounds the financial markets. Bill makes wealth-building approachable.
As a master pizza maker, he likens investing to pizza making. If you go to a pizza joint, you don’t blindly pick up a pizza. You build it! Start with crust, sauce, cheese, and toppings. Build your pizza to suit your likes in a way that will satisfy you and your family. That is money well spent. Bill advises clients to start with the basics and build financials in a way that suits their wants and needs.
There are no guarantees in life. Likewise, there are no guarantees in the financial industry, but possibilities are waiting to be realized. Bill does not just regurgitate talking points or irrelevant statistics. He presents investment in an approachable way. His satisfaction comes from the reactions of people who get excited about how money works and want to learn more, to be more. Bill learns what his clients want to accomplish, then offers ways to achieve that.
There are no guarantees in life. Likewise, there are no guarantees in the financial industry, but possibilities are waiting to be realized.
Bill Blanken is a Navy veteran who spent 30 years in the food service industry. All that time, he avidly learned to invest for himself. After he and his wife overcame major blows to their health, he powered through the registration process to establish his Registered Investment Advisory Firm. He has found his "why" - sparking excitement in his clients about growing wealth!