Jake Parsons Turned 22 Years as a Navy Fighter Pilot Into a Flight Plan for Financial Freedom
“It says live for more than money.”
Jake Parsons, on the line from Beyond the Cockpit he would put on a billboard
Jake Parsons flew fighters for the Navy for 22 years, then became a financial planner. In Beyond the Cockpit he turns a single carrier mission into a flight plan for financial freedom.
A dream he took on at eight
Clip · Jake Parsons on his brother's dream of flying · 18s
Jake was eight when his brother Trevor died at 14. Trevor had wanted to fly for the Air Force.
“And I took that on myself and kind of made it my own and chose to want to fly for the Navy.”
— Jake Parsons
Losing his brother taught him early how short life is, and that idea runs through the whole book.
“And choosing what you’re living for is just a profound choice that we have to make.”
— Jake Parsons
Years later, with deployments keeping him away eight to ten months at a time and his older son struggling, Jake left flying for a second career.
“So I had to find something else to do that I was passionate about. And I happen to be pretty passionate about finance and money and just as much as my flying.”
— Jake Parsons
One flight, one financial plan
Clip · Jake Parsons on one flight, one financial plan · 60s
Jake had always wanted to write a book, partly so his kids could hear his flying stories. He did not want to write another do-it-yourself finance book.
“I think flying is interesting to people. I think finances aren’t.”
— Jake Parsons
So the book is built around a single flight off a carrier: the preflight planning, the brief, the catapult shot, the transit, target acquisition, and the midnight meal back on the boat. Each chapter opens with one of his own flying stories and ties that phase of the flight to a part of your financial picture.
Less than 50 feet from the water
Clip · Jake Parsons on his first night catapult shot · 39s
The clearest example is his first night catapult shot in an F-18, launched into a black night under a thousand foot overcast. His instruments went out, and his inner ear told him he was climbing straight up, so he started to push the nose forward.
“And when my instruments came back, I was less than 50 feet from impacting the water.”
— Jake Parsons
What saved him was remembering an instructor’s brief about exactly that illusion. Jake sees investors fall into the same trap when markets drop and every instinct says sell.
“And what you should really do is listen to what that briefer told you and what your financial planner is telling you, which is just, just hang tight. Things will recover and you’ll be okay.”
— Jake Parsons
The first question to ask an advisor
Clip · Jake Parsons on the first question to ask an advisor · 32s
Jake names three reasons people never write a financial plan: time, control, and trust in an industry he says has a lot of slime on it. His test for trust starts with one question.
“So I think, I think a good place to start is tell me what the conflicts of interest are. And if an advisor or a financial planner can’t tell you what they are right off the bat, then you should probably run away.”
— Jake Parsons
Financial freedom isn’t a number
Clip · Jake Parsons on money replacing purpose · 53s
In the book, Jake defines financial freedom as reaching the point where you are not obligated to make money a specific way. One of the founders of his firm still comes in, without needing to, because he wants to help people.
“Well, what typically happens in life is money starts to replace purpose.”
— Jake Parsons
“It’s like you learn that life is short, so let’s not waste any of it. And let’s not waste it just trying to make more.”
— Jake Parsons
Don’t become the burden
Clip · Jake Parsons on not becoming a burden · 22s
Twenty-two years of flying meant losing friends young, and Jake’s community talked openly about what would happen if someone did not come home. He brings that frankness to estate planning, where nearly every client tells him the same thing.
“Well, if you don’t want to be a burden for your children, then you need to get off your butt and do something about it.”
— Jake Parsons
Writing it one day a week
Clip · Jake Parsons on writing one day a week · 31s
The hardest part of the book, Jake says, was making it a priority. So he put it on the calendar.
“I would oftentimes drive two hours away to the mountains, which I love. And I would sit there with my computer for about three hours.”
— Jake Parsons
An executive assistant kept that day scheduled. Writing also brought back stories he had never written down, and he went back to his log books to get specific flights right.
“I didn’t really write any of these down prior and so I found myself remembering things as I thought about them.”
— Jake Parsons
Advance copies have already drawn good feedback from readers he did not expect it from. After the November 10 launch, Jake wants to speak outside his own industry, to audiences like doctors, about putting money in service of a bigger purpose.
“I want folks to understand that money is a tool and a tool only.”
— Jake Parsons
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