Success Stories

Financial Investment Professional Kyle Considder

Kyle ConsidderWhile his teenage friends were doing teenage things, Kyle Considder started dabbling in the stock market and quickly realized it could be the road to the fulfilling, independent life he envisioned.

The Wheels of Wall Street

Kyle Considder, 44, grew up in Geneva, Florida, as one of four boys riding horses and dirt bikes on a 6-acre property in the country. When he was 13, Considder sustained a C5 incomplete injury in a car accident. His family didn’t have health insurance, and he was fortunate to get his post-acute care covered by Shriners Hospital in Philadelphia. Adjusting to a new city was a lot, but it didn’t necessarily get easier when he went home, as the mobile home he and his family lived in was not entirely accessible. As he thought about all the new obstacles, including health care, accessible housing and vehicles and adapted equipment, he realized one thing united them beyond his disability: money.

“If I wanted to live the type of life that I desired, I was going to have to make more than the average individual because it started to occur to me that my life was going to be much more expensive,” says Considder.

Kyle Considder
“I’m married. I have a 3-year-old daughter now and a home with a mortgage, and I’m very blessed and very happy,” says Kyle Considder

His road to financial security took off when his younger brother won a computer. “It was the first time we ever had a computer in the house, and it came with a one-year subscription to AOL. About that time, the internet exploded, and online trading became a thing,” says Considder.

He started investing as soon as he was old enough to have a trading account. At 16, his first stock was the Philadelphia Suburban Corporation. He bought it because Philadelphia was where he had his surgeries, and the company was one of the largest investor-owned water utilities in America. He purchased two shares at $7 each, eyeing the long-term.

Considder turned out to be a bit of a trading whiz. He used some of his investing profits to buy a 15-foot, Glasstream bass boat for $800 so he and his buddies could hang out on the St. Johns River.

“We grew up as river rats. We would go fishing, camp out on the banks and get lost in several of the little tributaries that flowed off the river.  Thinking back, I’d probably be much wealthier than I am now if I had not liquidated that account, but that boat bought memories that I’ll keep forever. It was never about being rich, it was about the freedom to live life, and I understood that would come at a price,” says Considder.

He continued to invest until his love of the markets led him to want to see how the industry’s business side worked. After completing his finance degree at the University of Central Florida for free, thanks to state vocational rehabilitation, Considder joined BNY Mellon as an accounting analyst.  There he helped accurately calculate values for stock market funds every day. Now, he works at a commission-free stock trading and investing app called Robinhood. The job affords him the financial stability and freedom he always aspired to.

“I always try to be an example and let people in my situation know that it’s possible to get out and have the things you want in life,” he says. “I’m married. I have a 3-year-old daughter now and a home with a mortgage, and I’m very blessed and very happy with that.”

Kyme sitting at desk in front of computer
Considder has worked around stocks and finances since he was a teenager.

Considder This

Kyle Considder shares how a family argument that spiraled out of control led to the unique spelling of his last name.

“My original ancestors came from France, and the name was Considér. It was spelled with an accent and one ‘D.’ I always wondered where the second ‘D’ came from. I happened upon a bit of family history that explained it. The reason was, basically, my great-great-great-grandfather had a disagreement with his brother or his family and decided he did not want to be associated with them anymore, so the way he distanced himself was he added an extra ‘D’ to his name, so that’s where the extra ‘D’ comes from. What spurred me to find this out was my unique last name and my parents having no clue where it came from. I got in touch with a distant relative who, some years back, had done some genealogical research. She’s the one who found it for me. It was written in a diary from one of my great grandfathers.”

Kyle hunting in all-terrain chairWhat do you get out of your membership to United Spinal?
New Mobility. The magazine is a cool way to learn from others in my situation and see what they are up to.

Most accessible place you’ve ever been?
Washington, D.C. There was someone there at every train station, and I never was in a situation where the elevators weren’t working.

Favorite piece of adapted equipment?
My track all-terrain wheelchair looks like a tank and literally gets me everywhere in the wilderness I want to go.

Favorite outdoor activity?
I love to hunt and be out in nature. I love getting out before sunrise and listening to the owls hooting while watching the sun come up.