Colt Ryan, CFP®, a wealth advisor at Giesting Financial, is a local man who grew up in Batesville, Indiana. He comes from an extremely close-knit sports family. “I was always around sports. My parents enjoyed going to games; it was our primary social activity.” Colt and his three siblings—an older brother and sister, and a younger sister—were all involved in sports in school.

Growing up, Colt played football, baseball, and basketball, ultimately choosing to focus on basketball when attending Batesville High School. At 6’5”, he was “never the shortest or the tallest” on teams which usually had a center close to 7’ tall.

He continued basketball throughout college where he was a dedicated student athlete at the University of Evansville, playing for their NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball team. He broke the all-time scoring record and earned accolades as a two-time Academic All-American.

As a freshman, Colt met his future wife, Chelsea, who also played basketball for the university. They dated throughout college and were well known on campus as a couple. The university even featured action shots of both of them on a billboard promoting basketball season ticket sales.

Colt and Chelsea were married in 2015 and they have two children; daughter, Teagan (2), and son, Grayson (4), shown below.

Colt graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He was always good at math, but when the curriculum progressed to Calculus III and imaginary numbers, he realized that he would prefer to use his math skills on practical matters. He made the switch to business and chose accounting for two reasons—because he had been passionate about personal finance from a young age and because his mother and two of his aunts were accountants.

After graduation, he went to Europe for a year to play professional basketball. “Living in Brussels was a great experience, really unforgettable,” Colt says. Upon coming back to the U.S., he worked briefly at Batesville Casket Company before joining Giesting Financial in 2015. “I knew I wanted to work in financial services, but I needed to find a job I was passionate about. Even though I didn’t know Mark Giesting personally, I knew his brother because I had played basketball with his kids. So I called Mark one day to ask him questions and get some insight about the industry. Luckily, as we met and got acquainted, he told me he was looking to add advisors and he offered me a position.”

Colt attained his Series 6, 7, 63 and 65 securities registrations and life insurance licenses, and he is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ or CFP®, a designation that’s not easy to get. He had to have three years of experience as a financial planner as a prerequisite, then complete a year of required coursework before taking and passing the final CFP examination. “I’ve always been very competitive, so taking on challenges is just something I do; it’s not a problem for me.” Still, he’s thankful he attained the designation right before his son was born and life became much busier at home.

What Colt enjoys most about his career is giving back to the community. “I had a lot of support growing up from so many people here, especially while I was playing basketball. It motivated me to want to help people in return. I feel what I am best at is showing people how to be wise with their money in order to achieve their financial goals.”

In his free time, Colt is busy with Chelsea raising their two active toddlers—Chelsea also works full time as an online K-12 teacher. “Her teaching job didn’t really change much during COVID since she was already 100% online,” he says. There is no basketball hoop out in the family’s driveway—yet.

Colt loves to be outside around water with his family, whether it’s boating, swimming, wakeboarding or just being on a beach in the sun by a lake, pond or ocean. “Being around water is so peaceful to me. When I was a kid, our vacations were almost always spent on beaches.”

He still enjoys suppers on Sundays with his German Catholic family; his mom is one of seven children, and his father is one of six, so extended family gatherings are quite large.

Colt has recently taken up golf, a sport that’s “easier on his body” as he gets older. He loves being out on the course. And true to form, he’s also good at the sport, hitting his first hole-in-one in April of 2021.

UPDATE

Introducing Nellie Anne Ryan (left) born on 2/23/22; 8 lbs. 2 oz., 20.5 inches long. Big brother, Grayson, and big sister, Teagan, are very excited to welcome her as part of their family!