It’s August 27th… Monday morning. I’ve been sitting at this same screen with nothing written for my first post for about a week now, contemplating what to say. Should I be serious? Give the audience cold hard facts, tell them how you will save them from the perils of finances and life. Or maybe I should be witty, be funny, relaxed. Show everyone how you really are, laid back, like to have fun. Will that turn people away because you’re not wearing a suit and tie like in the office? Will that make them not believe what you are saying because you don’t look professional? I don’t have the answer. What changed today that I was able to start writing my first post? I’ll tell you. It’s simple really.
It was about damn time!
This morning I got up around 6ish like most workweek mornings. Went downstairs and got ready for the day. Part of my routine is swiping right on my phone to bring up various news headlines. And because of Google and the advances in AI (artificial intelligence) it brings up topics I want to read. Mostly football and hockey news. There’s also some random news sprinkled in, but there are also articles about personal finances and retirement. I’ve always been interested in reading these articles, just to gain knowledge for myself and possibly pass it on to someone else. There just isn’t enough education in school to teach people how to manage their own finances. That includes everything from basic banking, budgeting, managing credit, credit cards, investing, retirement planning, etc. So this morning there were two headlines that caught my eye. The first read something like “11 Things You Need To Know About…” I started to read that article and didn’t get very far before I stopped and said this is great and all, but everyone’s situation, level of knowledge is different. So I stopped reading before I wasted anymore time. This really got me thinking that I had to start this now.
I’ve been floating this idea to be a personal finances tutor for the last few months. It started as a monthly fee based service. But after thinking about it, how could I charge someone money who is trying to figure out how to manage their money better. I’d be no better then a snake oil salesmen. I didn’t want to be that type of person or have that type of site. My goal is to guide people just like I do everyday at work.
The tipping point…
The other day a woman came in. She closed two UTMA accounts at another bank and wanted to do something else with the money. It wasn’t a ton of money, under $1000 for each account. She was saving for her grand kids college and had questions about opening a 529 plan for them. The first thing she wanted to know is if we could open them for her through the bank. The good news is we do, the bad news is, it’s expensive. I explained to her that she would be better off setting up 529 plans directly through the States website. I even pulled it up to show her. The fees that we would charge would be astronomical compared to going direct. She also had some questions about taxes and potential penalties because the grand kids lived out of state. I was able to tell her that it would be okay because she lives in the state and would still benefit from any tax benefits she could be eligible for. In the end she got up and said “Thank you, this was very helpful.”. Those simple few words truly made me believe I could do this and really put something together that would help people out with a little simple advice and guidance. I want everyone who comes across this site to feel free to ask me any question about their own personal finances. I’ll do my best to provide the best answer I can. Using my knowledge from being in the banking industry for last 15 years, and thoughtfully researching an answer for the situation. The individual conversations I have will stay private and only after it’s “closed” will I post the scenario for everyone to read, keeping the individual’s privacy in mind. This will grow into a large FAQ database that everyone can reference. As it grows larger I’ll try to organize and categorize the topics as best as possible. This is also a work in progress so we’ll constantly work toward improving the system. Thank you all. I can’t wait to get into this and help out!
Mark
My Personal Finances Tutor 