That’s probably not the title anyone ever would have thought would come from me. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been obsessed with reading and listening to Ramit Sethi, the author of I Will Teach You to be Rich. Ramit just released an updated version of his book and has been on a bunch of podcasts while on his book tour that I’ve been listening to. He has a ton of great personal finance knowledge and ideas that really resonate with me. One of them is to spend extravagantly on the things that you love.
Student Loan Deferment
2 minute read
The college class of 2019 has graduated and now is off to the real world. Many of these former students have loads of student debt that most of them aren’t contemplating how to deal with yet. Undoubtedly, most of these graduates will also elect to take the 6-month allowable deferment (grace period) on Federal Stafford student loan payments and (pretend to) forget about them until judgement day comes in the form of a bill.
Back In The Groove
3 minute read
I’ve fallen off the wagon when it comes to blogging over the past couple of weeks. I started posting mini blogs to social media in the beginning of 2018 and created this website in May 2018. I think this is the first time I’ve struggled this much with writer’s block and coming up with ideas to write about along with being so busy that I haven’t found the time to sit down and be intentional about writing down ideas and topics to brainstorm. Hitting a bump in the road like this can affect many areas of your life from writing and creating ideas to fitness to spiritual to your personal finances to everything. I think the key is to not let it discourage you and become such a large hurdle that you let it get in the way of your progress. Progress may be slow, nonexistent, or even negative at times, but what really matters is what happens over the long-term. Having a short period of slow or no progress doesn’t mean that it will be a long-term trend or even that it will have a significant effect over the long run.
0% Financing
3 minute read
Last year when I bought Amanda’s engagement ring they put it on a 0% interest loan even though I was never asked if I wanted the 0% interest deal or if I wanted to pay in full. Even though I wasn’t asked if I wanted the deal, I would have taken it for several reasons: I had enough money in my account to pay for the ring in full, my bank account earns more than 0% so I could keep my money in there during the meantime and earn a little bit instead of earning nothing on Amanda’s finger, and I’m disciplined enough to pay it off in time. The problem with this situation is that as I was speaking about it with someone last week I realized how shady the situation really was.
NAPFA Conference Takeaway
2 minute read
I was at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) Spring Conference in Austin last week where I learned a lot of things, but one theme seemed to stand out to me: enhancing the client experience.
Professional Process
3 minute read
I was fortunate enough to attend a mergers and acquisitions (M&A) seminar this week with a client who is considering selling his business. The speaker described two different processes for selling a business: the way that most people do it, or the common process, and the professional process. I think the professional process he described can be applied to many other areas of life than just selling a business.
Rule Of Thumb
5 minute read
There are a lot of financial rules of thumb that are thrown around in articles, on TV, and by so-called personal finance “experts”. What are some of these rules of thumb and what could be wrong with using them for your personal situation?
Savings As A % Of Income
2 minute read
A client recently emailed me letting me know that she got a new job with a significant raise. She wanted help with selecting her employee benefits and said that she was going to contribute enough money to her 401(k) to make sure that she received the employer matching contribution, but she mentioned that she remembered that last year’s financial plan showed that she needed to contribute a higher percentage of her income, although it was at a much lower salary.
Outcome Vs Output
2 minute read
I don’t remember who it was now, but I recently saw a social media post from a fitness coach with a caption saying something along the lines of, “There is nothing I can do that will overcome what a client will not do.” This really resonated with me because it’s the exact same thing in financial planning.
Eminence Career Day
4 minute read
This morning, I went back to Eminence Elementary School to speak to 4th and 5th graders about what I do at their Career Day. I’m sure that my presentation was much more boring to them than when they got to speak with a police officer or an EMT, but I hope I was able to at least teach them something. I tried to keep things very high level through asking for examples of goals that they have and how to reach them as well as goals that they have for their money. To my surprise, many kids had savings goals that they were working towards by saving their allowances or money they get from doing chores rather than spending that money when they get it. Some had very realistic goals of things they wanted to buy and would be able to afford in a relatively short time-frame and some had goals that they’re not likely to be able to afford themselves, but maybe their parents will help them out with. Overall, most students were able to explain a goal they had whether it be financially related or not.