In the game of personal finance, everyone can use a coach...
Successfully managing your money isn't easy and it's rarely something we learn from our parents or are taught in school. It can be stressful and it can definitely be intimidating. I'd love to help you get on track and figure this money stuff out.
What is Financial Coaching?
Financial coaching is a relationship, short term in duration, where I'll work with you 1:1 to develop the skill set necessary to effectively manage your personal finances. Is financial coaching investing in stocks and mutual funds? No. Is financial coaching selling you insurance or professional tax advice? No. Think of it as hiring a personal trainer for your personal finances. We'll work together on the basics; develop a budget and stick to it, learn to live on less than you earn and GET OUT OF DEBT! Financial coaching lays a solid foundation for a lifetime of effectively managing money while reducing anxiety as it relates to household finances. You'll be putting in the work, but I'll show you how and act as an accountability partner along the way until your financial goals are met.
About
I made my first real investment in High School. I can still remember it, $1,000 in Troy Savings Bank stock (being a passbook savings account holder, I got first dibs on purchasing their stock before the general public). In fairly short order, it tripled. $3,000! I was hooked.
I opened a Roth IRA shortly after and began a journey of consistently investing over time. I graduated from Marist College in 2005 and got a serious dose of reality as I stared down the barrel of approximately $59,000 in student loan debt and had a checking account balance of $129. No freakin' bueno.
I worked mostly in retail management after college. During that time, I also joined the Air National Guard and had the pleasure of serving for 6 years with the 109th Airlift Wing as well as the 451st Air Expeditionary Group in Kandahar, Afghanistan for a 2010 deployment. After our second child was born, my wife and I decided a career change that allowed for a better work/life balance was in order. I currently work for the State of New York at the Division of Service-Disabled Veterans’ Business Development. In a nutshell, I'm part of a team that helps put businesses owned and operated by service-disabled veterans to work on New York State contracts; pretty rewarding stuff.
Since graduating from college, I’ve diligently educated myself on all things personal finance, lived on less than I earned, paid off my student loans, avoided debt like the plague and steadily invested in retirement accounts. My wife and I worked together to develop a family budget, set short and long-term goals and stuck to them. Most people don’t spend their free time listening to Dave Ramsey Podcasts and reading personal finance books. I do (get your numbers nerd on). Not only that, but I’ve walked the walk. In March of 2021 we made our final mortgage payment, less than 7 years into a 30-year mortgage, to become completely debt free. My wife and I have also built an investment portfolio that, passively, makes more money per year than my salary.
While I haven't spent my professional career in the "financial services" world, I believe my track record speaks for itself.
Being in control of your money is one of the best feelings in the world. It allows you to do the things you actually want to do. I've decided that what I want to do is help other people figure their personal finances out. Let's do this!
Let's Do This!
·78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck (CNBC)
·58% of Americans have less than $1,000 saved (GOBankingRates)
·38% of Americans say they can’t save any money because their expenses are too high (Bankrate)
·Only 32% of American families maintain a household budget (Gallup Poll)
·65% of Americans have no idea how much they spent last month (Intuit MintLife)
This ain't good, folks....
It doesn't have to be this way. We make way too much money to be this broke. Let's get serious. Let's change your life. Let's do this!
My wife and I are fortunate enough to be in a position, financially, to choose careers we enjoy. We're able to do the things we enjoy, when we want to do them. Money is no longer a stressor, but a tool that allows us to live the life we WANT to live.
If that sounds like something you're interested in learning more about, I'd love to have a complimentary chat about your situation and see if I'm the right person to help.