Money for Life with Eric Roberge, CFP

You've heard the term "financial plan" or "financial planning" a million times. But what does it actually look like to go through that process? Today we're sharing how we construct strategic plans for personal finances. We'll take you to the inner workings of the framework and systems we use at Beyond Your Hammock to help people use their money as a tool to get more of what they want in life - now...

Do you earn bonuses, commissions, grants of equity comp, or other types of variable income? Then you better know not just how to manage it, but also how to optimize these lump sum cash inflows to help you achieve your goals and grow your wealth. In this episode, we'll explain how to do it. Join us as we discuss: What counts as "variable income," or what lump sums of money you may receive over time...

New rules and regulations pushed forward by the SECURE 2.0 Act might impact how your manage your money right now, and into the future. Here's what you need to know. The SECURE 2.0 Act is a 1.7 trillion dollar spending bill passed by Congress in 2022. This legislation's scope went far beyond "let's adjust how retirement plans work," but the details within the bill did change many rules relating to...

Money and marriage is a serious topic, if only because getting it wrong can lead to devastating results: 48% of people report fighting about money; 60% of those fights tend to be about spending. 41% of Gen Xers and 29% of baby boomers surveyed by TD Ameritrade report that money was a direct cause of a divorce, and some research shows that disagremeents about money are a leading predictor of future...

In this episode, we're sharing our 4-step framework to help you hone in on a savings rate that's right for you. If you ask 10 different people how much you need to save per year to set yourself up for a secure financial future, you will probably get at least 15 different answers. It's confusing! And even if you go with the most common answer to "how much do I need to save," which may be 10 to 15 p...

It's your money, and you need it now! In this episode, we discuss the best short-term investments when you want to earn a return from your cash - without exposing it to a risk of loss. We cover: How current events may drive people to make bad investment decisions Why you have to start the short-term investment convo with an understanding of risk and reward What to look for when considering a short...

The only constant variable that you can truly rely on is change. This is what makes financial planning so hard.  An actual plan that you put down on paper is outdated before the ink is even dry, because every single piece of new information will throw your charts and your projections and your linear action steps out of whack.  Plus, there's no one variable that you can plug in to account for "chan...

Massive layoffs at Facebook and Amazon. Stumbles at Google and Lyft. A shaky year in the stock market for the tech giants - all capped off by a tremendously spectacular blowup at crypto platform FTX. The idea that "current success is the biggest indicator of an upcoming failure" seems especially resonate these days amid headline after headline about highly-regarded companies that missed the mark o...

Want to pay less in taxes? Who doesn't! In this episode of the show, we're talking through 5 ways that you can significantly reduce your tax exposure, and therefore save money by not sending so much of it off to the IRS. Today, we're discussing strategies to: 1. Create liquidity from investments without triggering taxable events 2. Grow tax-free wealth 3. Pay less on investment gains 4. Get more m...

It might sound a bit odd coming from the finance pros, but it's true: it's irresponsible to use math alone to build a financial plan. That's because money isn't a math problem. Too often we think we can just plug numbers into a formula and rely on the answer that it generates, but that leaves out a lot of variables that often matter more than the baseline numbers. So what DO we look at instead? We...

As financial planners, we spend every day working to build foolproof financial plans. A foolproof financial plan is one that you can stick to, that you can execute, consistently over time - even through challenging times or unexpected setbacks.  In this episode of the podcast, we're discussing 7 key aspects that we look at when trying to create plans that can withstand the wear and tear (and unpre...

If you don't know how much you can really put into a 401(k), you may be missing out. We shine a light on the 401(k)s facts most people don't know, and uncover opportunities to save more so you can accelerate your progress toward your financial goals. Today on the show, we explain: - The real maximum you can contribute to a 401(k) each year - and it's not just $20,500! - The critical elements you n...

Having a baby or adding more children to the family is a big decision - and there are some major financial implications to this life milestone. On today's episode, we're sharing our own experience of the financial planning considerations we took into account when deciding if we wanted children - and how we financially prepared once we knew we wanted to have a baby. We discuss the practical conside...

49: Leveraging equity compensation is one of the potential avenues we previously highlighted for use on the road to building wealth. But to enjoy the rewards, you have to know how to manage the risks along the way. Many industries offer a piece of ownership to company employees through equity compensation packages. If you receive equity, you might get incentive stock options (ISOs), non-qualified...

48: Lots of people think they're good DIY investors. But they miss a lot of nuance, and make a lot of mistakes. Here's what it really takes to manage investments well. If you invested in the market over the last 10 years… it was easy to win. The markets climbed up and up, with the longest bull market in history running from 2009 to 2020. Even a global pandemic wasn't enough to keep the markets dow...

47: Today on the show, we discuss a key strategy in making your money goals easier to achieve, faster. It's all about the FPA framework: focus, prioritize, and act. In this episode, we cover: How to determine if you're making progress... or just looking busy but not actually getting anywhere Where most people go wrong with financial goal-setting (and how to avoid their mistakes) Why creating wiggl...

46: People aren't just born being good with money. They take the time to build good financial habits —and you can, too. What usually makes the difference between someone who seems to manage money well and someone who consistently struggles? It's all about our good financial habits (or lack thereof). Instead of feeling like you have to change who you are, or beating yourself up for what you feel ar...

45: You earn good income, have enough money to pay pills and contribute to savings, and feel like you made it. Do you REALLY need to keep up with a budget once you're financially secure? Uh, yeah. Because budgeting isn't a bad word. It's a mindfulness exercise for your finances. Although it might feel like budgeting is basic personal finance 101, or that it's only something you do when money is ti...

44: Do you know what ACTUALLY impacts your credit score? And how much does it really matter anyway if your score drops by a few points? What should you do to raise your score -- and what isn't worth trying at all? In this episode of the show, we bust some very common but total misconceptions around what goes into your credit score and how to maintain a high one. We also talk about the facts for th...

43: You don't need a coach, right? You can just train yourself! That's what we tell ourselves a lot of the time. And too often, it's just not true and we sell ourselves short when we fail to recognize the value of coaching. A recent experience with a running coach made Kali realize how important it is to have an expert there to guide you -- and how equally important it is that a coach is not someo...

42: Most people assume they just need to earn a high income, and then they'll be wealthy. Unfortunately, building wealth (especially when you're doing it on your own from scratch) is not always so simple.  In this episode, we discuss why only focusing on your income as a measure of financial success is a big mistake that most people make. We also explain what you should do instead, and what's even...

41: A broad-based, globally diversified portfolio is hands-down the right answer when it comes to growing wealth for the long term. But that doesn't mean other, more speculative and risky investments are always a bad move... They're just not a great idea most of the time. Today, we're looking at some alternative ways to invest outside of a globally diversified portfolio, including stock-picking, p...

In the wake of the pandemic, many people have scrambled to take out insurance policies. But before you buy, make sure you understand the real purpose of a policy so you can choose the best option for your needs. Insurance is, as Kali puts it, something that can make you go "eurrrgh." It's a product you buy hoping you'll never have to use, which is frustrating enough... but combine it with the fact...

39: Buying a house is an intensive (and stressful) process in the best of times. Throw in a crashing economy and global pandemic — and the fact we don't do anything the "normal" way — and our recent experience got pretty interesting. Okay, to be fair, the pandemic didn't dramatically change much about the process of buying our first home, mainly because we were already in the middle of trying to c...

38: You've likely at least heard of Robert Frost's famous poem, The Road Not Taken... and you might be just as likely to misinterpret it. In today's episode, we take a look at the REAL meaning behind one of the best-known pieces of poetry in American history — and explain 3 ways in which it can help us better understand how we look about and think through our personal finances and money management...