Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp

Arnold Morales is the son of two immigrants from Honduras. He started his career with a GED and working at a warehouse where he is wasn't happy. Looking for more he pursued a community college and took an aptitude test that steered him towards mechanical engineering.  He co-founded his community college's first Engineering Society. Since then he's earned a Masters Degree and is curr...

Justine is a UX/UI Designer and UI Developer on a mission to create a meaningful impact on people’s lives through her craft. She was born and raised in the Philippines. In 2008, she and her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and received her B.S. in Entertainment Engineering and Design. In the summer of 2012, she was accepted in the internshi...

When it comes to your financial life, it's very easy to rely on the guidance of others, especially since most of our generation were not taught these important topics in school. This episode is to warn you of the financial advice you should BEWARE of as you start to build your financial strategy guide and financial confidence. People and sources who offer advice solicited or not. Family Frien...

Josh shares his awesome story on his path into tech. Early on Josh showed an interest for tech and started taking college courses, but a conversation changed his career trajectory. Josh decided to not pursue a tech career and bounced around with different jobs and ended up getting into trouble. He talks about the challenges of finding a job in tech with a felony. Even with the hurdle of having a f...

I share my personal story of quitting my job to start my business, Level Up Financial Planning. While working in a position many would consider a dream position, with a 6-month-old at home, I quit my job. It was the scariest decision I ever made. In addition to my story, I share a few of the financial steps I took before quitting and a couple of things I wish I had done differently. Job hunting Le...

Leo Yockey is a Software Engineer, Writer, and Speaker from Los Angeles. He runs a digital agency called MangoBass Consulting and is an advocate for underrepresented people in the tech industry. Leo shares his unique story and perspective as a transgender black man in tech. Making a career change Self-taught and coding bootcamp resources Importance of a mentor Real-world example of systemic racism...

Credit Cards Are Awesome! Regardless of what you may have heard, credit cards are pretty awesome financial tools. It’s one of the best forms of credit that you can access and use to help you reach your financial goals. Unfortunately, credit cards can also be one of the biggest culprits of financial chaos.  Credit cards are a tool. They are not evil, though you’re open to criticize credit card comp...

Will Johnson is a self-taught developer who broke into tech using Twitter. As you can imagine, his path to break into tech wasn't easy. He used a lot of different ways to learn and work towards his goals of becoming a developer so that he could create a comfortable life for his family. Here are the topics we cover in Will's interview Will's path as a self-taught developer Repeating...

If college planning is important to you, then you want to listen to this episode to understand how a 529 plan may be a solution to help you maximize your college savings. 529 Tax benefits 529 Rules   Impact on financial aid Alternative Savings Strategies What if my child doesn’t go to college? What if my child receives a full ride? Fee-Only Financial Planner Subscribe Video

Valerie is the Executive Director at Tech By Choice and a Senior Software Engineer at Mastery Logistics. She holds a BS in Psychology & Art. Valerie is passionate about creating secure human-centered digital experiences. As a successful self-taught developer, Valerie started Tech By Choice to give back to the community that helped her succeed. Valerie shares her journey into tech from being a...

I'm excited today to be talking about how financial independence is in your control.  One of the biggest factors in whether you will be successful in reaching financial independence is first believing that you can achieve this goal. How to increase your financial confidence How your incomes impact your ability to reach financial independence Understand that everyone has their unique financial...

Danny Thompson is a passionate software engineer who is on a personal mission to help people find their path into tech. This episode is packed with great information and action items on how to stand out as you seek to land that first or next developer position. Here are just a few of the pieces of wisdom Danny provides in this episode. PHD Not Required Free CodeCamp Benefits of Meetups & Findi...

Most people work with their financial planners for the rest of their lives due to the unique relationship that is formed by trusting each other to tackle important life goals. With that in mind, it is important to make sure you have a planner that is going to be a good fit for you. The variation in choices and fits are as unique as the options of bread that you can choose at most supermarkets. To...

Should you refinance your mortgage loan? This has been one of the most popular questions I've helped my clients tackle over the last few months. When weighing the pros and cons of refinancing your mortgage, you should consider the following: How Long Do You Plan To Stay How Much Will It Cost When Do You Breakeven Should You Do A Cash-Out Refinance Alternatives To A 30-Year Mortgage Fee-Only F...

Nannearl Brown is a user experience researcher who journeyed into the field by way of systems engineering and the social impact space. Most recently, she led the UX, product management, and design efforts for over a year as the Director of UX for the LA-based beauty tech startup, Emma Beauty. She cares greatly about creating a shared understanding of the tech industry with all, most especially wit...

Chad is a non-technical team member at the quickly growing startup Career Karma . Chad made a career transition to land his role and in some ways, it's fitting as Career Karma helps users identify and review Bootcamp options to make career transitions into tech.  The Fallacy of Sunk Cost Remote Work Time Management Importance of Following Up Value of Clear Goals Career Karma’s Story Income Sh...

In this episode, I cover What To Do With Old 401(k). In addition to your normal options, you'll also find some new rules and strategies as a result of COVID-19. Most are for 2020 only though so be sure to listen to the end. First, you need to find your old 401(k).  Then evaluate it: expense ratio, site usability,  Keep it where it’s at? Roll it into an IRA (more control)? Roll into new 401(k)...

With the coronavirus causing the stock market to meltdown almost overnight, I have been receiving the same question. Should I buy stock now? The stock market is essentially on sale now relative to a few months ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should be buying now. Listen to hear about the process I use with my clients to think through this decision to make sure you are making the sm...

If you have earned income, then you are eligible to create a retirement account (or if your spouse has earned income). Your employer may even provide one in the form of a 401(k). If your employer doesn’t offer you a retirement plan, then you still have access to an IRA account.  That might seem simple enough, but where it starts to get complicated is determining whether you should choose Tradition...

It's the 2020 tax season and I'm bringing short episodes regarding important topics you should understand when it comes to filing your taxes. In this episode we cover: Deductions Increase of standard deductions Removal of exemptions Credits Phaseouts poweruptaxplanning.com levelupfinancialplanning.com

The 2020 tax season is upon us and so I'm busy answering tax questions for clients. When it comes to your tax rates, it may be confusing because the U.S. tax system is progressive. This means you have two tax percentages to be aware of: your marginal tax rate and your effective tax rate. https://youtu.be/zjiCjgVCQoA http://poweruptaxplanning.com/ https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/

Understand the basic components of a budget, as well as advanced strategies. I cover the following: Why most people avoid budgeting The core parts of a budget The part you should focus on Common budgeting tools Budgeting tricks and tips The importance of emergency savings How to plan for irregular expenses A reflection on your lifestyle creep https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/how-to-be-a-ba...

Not all debt is created equal. In this episode we cover the different types of debt and why some debts may actually be considered good debt. Most importantly we dive into debt repayment strategies to help you take your financial confidence to the next level.

In order to improve your financial situation, it is helpful to understand where you are today. That is what your net worth can help you identify. In this episode I cover: Defining net worth Calculating net worth Types of assets Bad Debt vs. Good Debt Keeping perspective when analyzing your net worth YouTube Video

Kyle is 30, and a brand new software engineer using angular. He went to a sponsored full-stack web development bootcamp that was mostly about java, Prior to that he was working 12-15 hour days as a construction materials tester and studying IT support at night after his wife and 1.5-year-old boy went to sleep.  Kyle's story is inspiring, we discuss the following topics in his interview: Life...