Financially Independent Teachers

Send us Fan Mail Kevin is a SS teacher/coach from Long Island, went to college in Upstate NY, but landed in the DC suburbs in Prince William county. Like many teachers, Kevin and his wife were "just getting by" as they had a 2k per month daycare bill in his mid 30's. Once the kids made their way out of daycare, they redirected their old payments to 457's, 403's, and eventu...

Send us Fan Mail From single parent to married again...Virtual HS Spanish teacher in her 24th year and auto worker husband are approaching NW millionaire status and just paid off their home. They each went through tough divorces with spouses who never got on the same page financially. After both went through tough financial issues in their first marriages, they wanted their lives to look different...

Send us Fan Mail Greg is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and has settled in Colorado after studying abroad and moving back to the states. Greg was able to buy his first house from an amazing program that enables teachers to buy a home for 50% of the listed price via the "Teacher Next Door Program".  Greg and his wife enjoy frugal living and taking advantage of t...

Send us Fan Mail Today's guest is Justin Garritt, he is the founder and owner of Garritt Financial Solutions, a financial planning and investment management firm that guides educators, young professionals, healthcare professionals, and first responders to become intentional, secure, and confident about their hard-earned dollars by creating and implementing a financial plan to reach their goal...

Send us Fan Mail Danny was a special teacher in Georgia and is the author of four personal finance books - "The Wealthy Teacher: Lessons for Prospering on a School Teacher's Salary (JAN 2018), "A Bright Financial Future: Teaching Kids About Money Pre-K through College for Life-Long Success" (SEPT 2014), "A Simple Book of Financial Wisdom: Teach Yourself (and Your Kids) How...

Send us Fan Mail Charlotte and her husband grew up on Long Island in NY.  Floundering with their finances into their mid 30's with a few young kids at home, they decided to flee NY for a most cost effective lifestyle in SW Ohio.  Selling their home in a HCOL enabled them to pay off their debt AND pay cash for a house north of Cincinnati. Shortly after their move, they were introduced to Dave...

Send us Fan Mail The FIT Family tree is growing! Brendan is a Durham NC history teacher who is a former student and colleague of a previous FIT guest. Inspired by his former teacher/coworker, he went from saving money to understanding the basics of the stock market and the power of a Roth IRA and becoming an investor. Brendan has maxed out all NC pay scale upgrades by becoming a National Board Cer...

Send us Fan Mail Ryan was a teacher in Colorado but retired early at 50 years old. In this episode, he discusses what it is like to retire early when all of your friends and spouse are still working. Ryan believes in a philosophy that he calls "more F money"...Fun, Future, and Philanthropy.  SHARE HOW FIT HAS IMPACTED YOU FOR EPISODE 200! https://forms.gle/RiqfrUzZJsMVJQ8T8 Be a guest on...

Send us Fan Mail Brendan has been a math teacher for over a decade in the Baltimore City Schools.  Growing up in the suburbs of Philly, he found plenty of opportunity in Baltimore as a teacher and now teacher/coach. With a salary of over 120k, he will discuss maximizing the opportunities that are available to educators and how to take advantage of them. SHARE HOW FIT HAS IMPACTED YOU FOR EPISODE 2...

Send us Fan Mail How much money do you need to have per month for retirement? On this episode, Chad lays out his plan, numbers, and thought process.  Chad and his wife are both NC educators. Chad grew up on government assistance in a one bedroom apartment in NYC before moving to NC to teach world history. Through all of the trials and tribulations, these two NC educators are approaching a two mill...

Send us Fan Mail As teachers, we often say, "there is no such thing as a dumb question"...unfortunately, many Americans are struggling financially and don't ask for help.  In this episode, we look at some of the basic questions Americans don't ask but should.  Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.fin...

Send us Fan Mail David Gourley and his wife both taught in our public schools for around a decade, his passion for teaching and helping others transformed from the classroom to financial coaching. Now, David is advising teachers with their money.  https://www.k-12planning.com/links Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.f...

Send us Fan Mail Drew is an LA PE teacher who is utilizing his former college athlete swim skills as a lifeguard to bring in an extra 30k per year as a side hustle.  Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-...

Send us Fan Mail Paige is a NC school counselor who faced over 40k in debt.  Over the last 4-5 years, she has become completely debt free and is now working to making her first home purchase.  Paige has made many sacrifices to put herself in this position by attending community college, driving to university vs. the dorm life, and living back home upon getting her first job in education. Self admi...

Send us Fan Mail You've heard the education buzzwords and cliche's...Piggyback, Differentiation, Pivot, Fidelity, and the idea of the FIXED mindset vs. a growth mindset. As a teacher or middle income earner who believes financial independence is possible, you will often get pushback from individuals who think you are borderline crazy for believing it is possible. This bred the idea of th...

Send us Fan Mail Kristen is a former NC teacher who moved back to her home state of NJ to resume her career in education back home.  Kristen is a teacher and union president for her district and has a passion for dissecting teacher pay scales from around the nation.  In this episode, Kristen talks about some of the high and lower salary teacher pay scales she has seen, as well as the places in the...

Send us Fan Mail Ben is a recently tenured Orchestra teacher just south of NYC in NJ.  Ben is one of the first followers of the FIT podcast and was guest way back on episode 121.  Since his last interview, he has earned a masters degree, bought a house and continued to invest.  Ben recently went through the FIT "Find Your Freedom" coaching session and he is back to share his findings. Du...

Send us Fan Mail Liz is a former SC educator who is married to a South Carolina teacher.  After a decade + in the classroom, she now works with the state, guiding college medical students on personal finance and navigating student loan debt. Passionate about personal finance AND married to a personal finance teacher, Liz and her husband work together to manage their different money personalities....

Send us Fan Mail Mary Ann Sullivan has done it all! Classroom teacher, instructional coach, admin, and work at the district office. She has recently moved out of education with an "early" retirement but is coming back to be a CFP and help teachers with their finances.  On this episode, we discuss 403(b) and 401(k) rollovers, Roth conversions, roadblocks for teachers and their finances PL...

Send us Fan Mail Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us Fan Mail Teachers have TWO days of New Years! 1. Back to school  2. January 1 Dave and Brandon discuss things to think about with your finances, life, and school year as the majority of NC teachers get students back this week! 

Send us Fan Mail When is enough...enough? Being comfortable in your own skin and determining what makes you happy is a major theme of this episode as we discuss personal finance and education with a Wisconsin educator. Do you value what others want you to value or do you march to the beat of your own drum? Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out o...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon and Dave discuss the American retirement crisis.  On a recent CBS special, it was revealed that over 50% of Americans who "retire" don't actually have enough money to do so.  In addition, 20% of Americans age 65+ have had to reenter the workforce.  In this episode, we will highlight a Florida couple who has had to go back to work at ages 66 and 77 years old....

Send us Fan Mail John and his wife are both California educators, nearing the end of their teaching careers (2-7 years left). John is a middle school music teacher and his wife is a primary school educator. Even though John didn't read his first book on personal finance until the age of 40, he is on fire for everything related to personal finance and has been focused on catching up.  From lea...

Send us Fan Mail Miguel is an ESL teacher in the Chicago area who has an amazing story! He left his home country of Venezuela with little to nothing to his name before coming to America on a visa to learn English. Whil. e here, he met his now wife and ended up moving to the US permanently. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https...