Financial Literacy Resources
From student loans to buying a house to taxes and everything in between
Financial Freedom & Savvy
I love helping clients save tons of money while still living full, happy lives. These resources may inspire you whether you feel your budget just can’t budge, or, you’ve done great on the savings front but need some inspiration when it comes to adding meaning to your life.
Your Money or Your Life (my all-time favorite money-book and ongoing inspiration)
Life Energy Calculator from Your Money or Your Life- How much do you actually make per hour once you factor in the demands of your job?
Financial Freedom; A Proven Path to All the Money You Will Ever Need
Playing with F.I.R.E. + free calculators and info on their website
A FIRE movement analysis (Financial Independence, Retire Early).
“Financial Independence does not mean the end of your working career. Instead it means, “Complete freedom to be the best, most powerful, energetic, happiest and most generous version of You that you can possibly be.”
Does this mean you will quit commuting through traffic into a lame corporate office to sit in meetings about products you don’t really care about? Yes. But does it mean you won’t work hard at things that are important to you, for the rest of your life? NO!”
Managing Your Credit Score
Get a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com, creditkarma.com or directly from Equifax, TransUnion, or Experian once per year. You don’t need to pay any of these sites for a report, so if they try to make you pay for ‘credit monitoring’ while signing in, just skip it!
Add rent payments to your credit report if you need more history.
Freeze your credit on each of the bureau’s websites above to protect yourself against fraud.
Financial Tools for Business Owners
Most of these referral links benefit both of us, but I pledge to donate any benefits I receive!
Free Password Manager: Bitwarden is excellent and they have a free membership option.
Budgeting software: Get an extra free month of YNAB (You Need a Budget software) when you sign up for your trial using this link. The best tool for business cash flow management!
Need to set up payroll? I highly recommend Gusto for its easy user-interface (Get a $100 gift card when you use the link).
Collecting Client/Customer Payments: Sign up for Square here! They have the cleanest, most intuitive user interface I’ve found + an ACH option with lower fees.
Scheduling software: I love Acuity for an affordable, customizable online scheduler. Tip- If you use a SquareSpace business plan for your website, you get Acuity scheduling for free!
CRM (Customer Relationship Management software): If you know you’re ready for something more robust than a spreadsheet to manage your clients, their pipelines, your newsletter, contacts, and even set up a ton of automations- Active Campaign is amazing. It has saved me so much admin time over the last few years and it’s worth every penny.
Booking vs Accounting: Great post by the Hell Yeah group
Branding, website design and squarespace expert: Gillian Tracy Design.
Buying, and Affording, a Home
Mortgage payment calculator. Make sure to put in current interest rates, property taxes for the area you’re buying in, and accurate insurance & down payment info.
Mortgage affordability calculator Warning!! This calc does not take maintenance costs into account. I recommend factoring in at least $200/month off what they say you can afford to save toward maintenance, or else how will you fund that new roof or heating system when they need replacing?
Mortgage Mastery for the Self Employed. This is such a thorough and awesome post for business owners looking to apply for a mortgage!
See if your state has a special type of matched savings account, the IDA program, to help lower-income individuals and households. From SoFi Learn: Guide to Individual Development Accounts (IDAs)
Retirement
Where do you stand? Monitor your retirement accounts, investments and more in the Empower free Dashboard. This tool is awesome for seeing the potential growth of your savings, as well as playing with various scenarios by linking all of your accounts and tracking your net worth.
Cheesy but really thorough video to help you accurately estimate your social security benefits.
More good reads about money: Check your library!
Mom & Dad We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations with Your Parents About Their Finances
Profit First (I’ll be honest- I love the concept, and/but, don’t recommend flat percentages as we are all unique! And I would never want that many accounts:)
Financial Advisors
Fee-Only Advisor & Portfolio Manager: I highly recommend “Chaim” Victor Schramm with Chaim Advisors if you’re seeking a comprehensive financial plan for your specific retirement needs. Contact him for a free consult.
Michelle is an advisor with Young & Scrappy and proudly serves the LGBTQ and poly community. She offers both comprehensive plans and affordable one-time consults about how to invest. I’ve worked with her and she’s awesome!
Ramon Rodriguez with Northwestern Mutual can assist you with a comprehensive plan as well as insurance products when you need them, such as life or disability insurance.
Corey Beal, CFP at Empowering Finance
Jennifer de Thomas at Birch Elliot Financial
Christina Livadary at Mana Financial Life Design
Emilie R. Goldman, CFA, CFP® at Tamarind Financial Planning
You can also check out the XY Planning Network for a list of fee-only advisors in your area.
Wills, Estates & Getting your Sh*t Together
The old GYST website is now Cake, a free online tool to ease the burden for your loved ones should something happen to you.
What Matters Most — A powerful, extremely helpful book written by the founder of GYST.org who experienced the sudden death of her husband and shares all the things she wished she had put in order beforehand.
Tax Prep Recommendations for LLC’s Filing as S-Corps:
Formations out of Bellevue, WA (Offers payroll, bookkeeping and tax prep, as well as strategic tax planning sessions).
Brass Taxes (I’m currently using them, and having a great experience so far!)
Student Loans
Take inventory: Check out your full list of federal student loans at the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) website. I also recommend looking at your credit report at either annualcreditreport.com or creditkarma.com to look for your private loans or potentially any federal loans that were not listed on NSLDS.
Curious about loan forgiveness? Read about the possible Loan Forgiveness programs on this Student Loan Hero Post, about the possibility for declaring insolvency when the big tax bill comes here, or visit the page for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
If you crave confidence in your repayment approach, you can purchase a consult from the Student Loan Planner. The fee will more than pay for itself over the life of your loan!
Wondering about how getting married will affect your loan payments? Check out another awesome Student Loan Planner article on when you can file separately and report just your income.
On My To-Read List
“Tell Me What It Is You Plan To Do With Your One Wild And Precious Life” - Mary Oliver
Devotions by Mary Oliver - poems for slowing down, enjoying life, and reading before bed or getting up in the morning
Stop Missing Your Life: How to be Deeply Present in an Un-Present World - the audiobook version is read by the author and sounds great
Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life - by Jordan Grumet and Vicki Robin (author of the excellent book Your Money or Your Life)
Do you owe Taxes from prior years?
IRS Back Taxes - Where to track/pay them
To negotiate your back tax debt: I recommend contacting Sheila with https://oastax.com/.