John Dismuke, 31
Wendi Dismuke, 32
Draper
Financial consulting/investing (John)
Photography (Wendi)
"I don't do the online trading; I think that's more like promoting gambling than investing." — John Dismuke
The fundamental principles of making money haven't changed since the days of Babylon, explains John Dismuke. Only the methods of transacting business have evolved. "Now we may use the Internet where once someone might have had to ride a horse somewhere to make a transaction."
The Dismukes list family and security as their top priorities in deciding how they use their wealth. "We're very boring," Wendi said. They don't spend money on snowmobiles, boats or expensive vacations. Neither do they pay interest to credit-card companies or mortgage lenders. They have no debt.
Money has been invested for each of their three children: Sam, 6; Hannah, 5; Alexander, 3. The children's college educations are financed. The Dismukes have made plans to cover emergencies and the possibility that either of them might die prematurely.
John, 31, conducts his consulting business from his home. His clients are charitable foundations. Income from the couple's personal investments makes up about half their income. Wendi, 32, is a part-time photographer. She credits her husband's expertise for the success of their investments. "He's smarter than our stock broker," she said. John says he researches stocks on his own but does his trading through a broker. "I don't do the online trading; I think that's more like promoting gambling than investing."
Their leisure time is spent primarily with their children, and vacations are usually family-oriented. John's brother works for Disneyworld, so the Dismukes often travel to Florida and visit the resort "since we get in free," Wendi said. Her husband's family live in the Washington, D.C., area, and Wendi's are in Idaho Falls, so they make frequent trips to visit them. "We went to Hawaii once, but we came home a day early because Wendi missed the kids," John said.
The family has dinner every night together. John is a soccer coach for Sam, and Hannah takes ballet lessons. John and Wendi go to a movie and dinner once a week, and they each have activities they enjoy with friends.
John does some skiing and motocross, and Wendi likes to go to Wendover, but the Dismukes consider their lifestyle low-key and conservative. "The simpler your life is, the happier you are," Wendi said. "We want to pass on the wealth to our family."