Meet Melissa. Melissa’s main concerns, in her own words: My base pay is $74,800 plus overtime on top of that. I have been saving for a house aggressively since January 2015 at about $700 a paycheck (last month I scaled that down to $500) plus any extra money I made from switching to work the night shift as well as tax refunds. I now have $58,000 saved. $50,000 will be for the down payment and the rest is a catch-all for vacations, car repair, and immediate house expenses when I find one. I am lo...
Jun 20, 2017•27 min
*important editor’s note: in light of recent listeners’ feedback, it has been brought to my attention last week’s show had too many jokes, too many personal stories, and not enough information. This week, I switched it up a little bit. All information, no jokes. If a joke just happens to slip, at least I can say I tried* I’ve been getting a lot of questions on the blog and during my podcast lately about life insurance. And honestly–not nearly enough of you have the amount of coverage you and you...
Jun 15, 2017•41 min
Meet Brian. Brian’s main concerns, in his own words: My wife and I are in our early 30’s. We have been on the wrong track financially for years. We got ourselves into some serious financial trouble early on in our marriage. Since then we have made a serious turn around. We have paid off somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-80K in debt in the last 2 years. We are starting to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. We have paid off her student loans, our car, and all credit cards. We feel l...
Jun 13, 2017•24 min
This week on the Pete the Planner® Show, I’m going to be talking about: The Reality Gap. Ah, the reality gap–so, this is what I’m really into right now and I’m going to explain and walk you through this concept. But first I want to talk about that there are actually a lot of applications to this, however for the time being, what I want you to focus on is your financial health reality gap. So, if you will, think about your financial life and how you think you’re doing in two different ways: how y...
Jun 08, 2017•1 hr 6 min
Meet John. John’s main concerns, in his own words: My wife and I just welcomed our second (and last!) child. We have a comfortable lifestyle – both have stable jobs, we purchased a new home back in 2015, and save a respectable amount each month. However, the ‘unknown’ for us is if we are saving enough for our own future and our children’s. We have just under $18K in savings across our combines savings accounts, which we contribute a little of $1K to each month. $11K of that is an untouched Emerg...
Jun 06, 2017•29 min
Meet Serena. Serena’s main concerns, in her own words: I’m starting a new job, so I feel like I’ll finally be earning enough to open an individual retirement account (in addition to my employer’s pension plan); however; I still have a lot of student loan debt. With these competing priorities, I’m worried about how my husband and I are going to save enough money to buy a house in a few years.
May 23, 2017•28 min
Meet Dylan. Dylan’s main concerns, in his own words: We are both in law enforcement and live together with two children under three years of age. She was out of work for a year and a half with child care and we have 26K in credit card debt and a 178K mortgage and about 15K in medical bills. My power percentage is 32. We have almost identical incomes at 71K each and she puts in 15% (75k current total) and I put in 12% (200k current total) into separate 457b (Deferred Compensation). We have pensio...
May 18, 2017•33 min
This week, I cover the top three signs of financial stability. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen thousands of different financial situations—good and bad. These three signs have consistently been apparent in the good ones. * At least three months’ of expenses saved. An emergency fund. Seems simple enough right? From my experience, it can sometimes take people years to keep that amount in a savings account. You really need to go out of your way to make sure this is a lump sum completely sep...
May 11, 2017•40 min
M$D: Done. Meet Aurora. Aurora’s main concerns, in her own words: We are a dual income, one child family, who already has a million dollars saved for retirement. Our emergency fund is only at $26K and we don’t really budget our income (almost $250K). Should we reduce down our future savings to boost our lifestyle now or work to really budget our money better?? In fairness, we take two nice vacations each year but still feel strapped for cash monthly. Our power percentage is 34% but we’d like to ...
May 09, 2017•27 min
If you’re like most people, you haven’t been able to avoid all the discussion surrounding healthcare in the past few weeks and months. To cut through all the static, I brought on Paul Ashley from First Person Benefit Advisors onto my show to ask the most pressing questions. Since the Affordable Healthcare Act was passed in 2010, Republicans have wanted to repeal and replace it. But what does that mean? What does it look like in our every day life? We talk about the real differences between Obama...
May 04, 2017•40 min
I’m dedicating this entire episode to Barb! Barb, a wonderful audience member from a speech I gave last week in Michigan, asked the best question I’ve heard in years. What do you do when, 10 to 15 years from retiring, you realize your Power Percentage isn’t where it should be and you aren’t sure if you can turn the ship around? Whoa. Am I excited to tackle this one. This episode is the turn around episode and we take on more Power Percentage challenges. To answer Barb’s question, I start with di...
Apr 20, 2017•41 min
M$D: April 29, 2047 Meet Kendall. Kendall’s main concerns, in her words: We have a daughter with autism that we’re anticipating needing to care for the rest of our lives. Waiting for the state to set up ABLE account for her. Want to make sure we’re doing everything else right. I stopped working because of all the therapies. Contemplating going back to work part time in a lower paying field with flexibility but in the back of my mind thinking I may need to homeschool as she gets older. But, not w...
Apr 18, 2017•37 min
This week, I dig into more of your questions. These are the ones I tackle: “Hello Pete, I’m a 23-year-old and I work as a chemist making $50,000 a year. I’m currently contributing 6% to my employer-sponsored Roth 401(k) and maxing out my Roth IRA. I also recently started investing in a taxable account with my tax return and end-of-the-year bonus money. I have $26,000 in student loan debt and $10,000 in a car loan. The interest rates are 5.2% and 2.45% respectively. I currently make the minimum p...
Apr 13, 2017•41 min
M$D: January 22, 2039 Meet Renee. Renee’s main concerns, in her words: I feel like we have all of the pieces but I’m not sure how to prioritize. My husband and I will probably gross around $85-$89k this year (ballparking numbers for his travel stipend, overtime, and minus some unpaid maternity leave for me). I make 31k and his base pay is $49k. We owe $5k on a car that we’re aggressively paying down and owe $70k on our home in a 15-year mortgage. We have no other debt. We have 3 months of expens...
Apr 11, 2017•28 min
This week, I talked with Phil Schuman, Director of Financial Literacy at Indiana University. Phil and I have been working together since last fall on a project to increase college financial literacy. The program, called Money Smarts U, is through Indiana University, but will eventually be available for other colleges to adopt and offer to their students. We’re pretty excited about the change this can bring in increasing the financial preparedness of recent college grads. When everything is said ...
Apr 06, 2017•39 min
M$D: October 10, 2041 Meet CJ. CJ’s main concerns, in his words: We are an early 30’s married couple that is looking to have kids soon. We have a house, but we are looking to upgrade that in the next few years as well. I got a late start to my career so I wasn’t able to really start saving for retirement until I was 30. I am on the tail end of student loans (about 5 years left) that I have from pursuing my MBA. We are finally saving how we want to, but are still not sure if it is enough for all ...
Apr 04, 2017•27 min
This week on PTPTV, I talk youth sports with Travis Dorsch. He’s got quite the title, are you ready? Dr. Travis Dorsch: Former Professional Football Player, Assistant Professor, Founding Director of the Families in Sport Lab in the Department of Family, Consumer, and Human Development at Utah State University. Yes, I do give him a hard time about how long this title is. To summarize: he studies the impact of youth sports on families. My primary approach to this topic has been financial. And no, ...
Mar 30, 2017•39 min
M$D: June 10, 2036 Meet Cindy. Cindy’s main concerns, in her words: My husband and I are separated and the divorce will be final in a couple of months. He no longer lives in the house, so it’s just my income providing for us. We have two children ages 10 and 5. I make $68k yearly (net $4,200), 403B is $132K (my employer matches and I match at the highest rate monthly $292), life insurance ($250K) and employer ($68k), savings $1,650 ($300 monthly), credit card debt is $2,800, rent $1,200 and no m...
Mar 28, 2017•35 min
M$D: August 26, 2049 Meet Rhonda. Rhonda’s main concerns, in her words: My husband and I recently paid off our businesses. We have been investing all our money into them and not saving much for retirement. We now have quite a bit of money every month we would like to invest and save for our son’s college education. We want to make the smartest choices possible. We are debt free other than our home. I love your podcast and I would be grateful for the opportunity to talk with you. Thanks!
Mar 21, 2017•37 min
On this episode of the Million Dollar Plan, I answer your questions. Do you want to send me some questions? Go ahead, hit me up at askpete@petetheplanner.com. Today I answer questions from Tim, Karen (spelled the way I think it should be spelled), and Barbara. I tackle a tricky question on investing and money markets. Karen wrote with some retirement questions and I have to deliver some bad news. And finally, I help Barbara plan for the future after the sale of her home. Intrigued? I was. At lea...
Mar 16, 2017•38 min
M$D: May 13, 2064 Meet Jack. Jack’s main concerns, in his words: I make $1,900 a month net, I also make some commissions although I’m still new so not entirely sure how consistent that will be! So, I would like to plan for just the $1,900. I have about $3,000 in debts. I’m getting married in July. So my debt is the ring and honeymoon. My rent is $525 a month and I have around $100 for utilities. I have a ROTH IRA and I’m really worried that I won’t have enough for retirement due to lack of fundi...
Mar 14, 2017•33 min
M$D: October 28, 2027 Meet Tatiana. Tatiana’s main concerns, in her words: Hello Pete, Our goal is to be debt-free except for our house by November 2019 if not sooner! What can we invest in that will increase our net worth and minimize our tax liability while we are paying down debt or should we ignore that and just focus on the debt and just save min to 401k and HSA until then? Also very concerned that our ER savings is very small for our in income. When will we be millionaires? Ages: both 46 y...
Mar 07, 2017•33 min
It’s time we talk about Power Percentage. Again. Ever since my podcast on this topic a few weeks ago, I’ve been receiving lots of questions. If you have no clue what a Power Percentage is, check out Episode 120 or watch the first episode of PTPTV. To summarize, it’s the best way to measure the health of your financial life. Ever. It’s a way to see how much of your income is being used to move you forward. Here are some of the questions I address: * What is and isn’t included in my power percenta...
Mar 02, 2017•38 min
M$D: September 29, 2026 Meet Rey. Rey’s main concerns, in her words: I wouldn’t normally be contacting you, but I have come upon a not-normal situation. I am a RN ($52k), my husband is a fire captain ($58k) and we have 3 boys ages 10, 8 and 8 (yes, twins). Recently, my brother passed away and I was left with approximately $510k in life insurance. I’m not sure what to do with it. I’d like to pretend I don’t have it and invest it for the long haul. I’ve been talking to a financial consultant, whic...
Feb 28, 2017•31 min
My friend David Klain is a real estate czar, the owner of my favorite coffee shop (Zing Cafe), and a parent. So it’s no surprise that last week he and I got talking about our kids’ financial futures when I bumped into him. The conversation was so great, I invited him on the show. Over coffee, we talked about saving for college, teaching work ethic, planning for retirement, and creating a better financial life for our children. David and I pretty much see eye to eye on these topics, but it can ge...
Feb 23, 2017•39 min
M$D: January 28, 2024 Meet Mark. Mark’s main concerns, in his words: I have 300k in retirement savings. Putting $3000 a month toward retirement in Roth 401k and 457b plans (We make too much for a Roth IRA). Have $170,000 in student debt. Three kids and 529 plans for each of them. We want to make sure we are putting money in the right places to minimize tax implications. Should we be paying off debt or working on retirement? Right now we are splitting money between the two. Subscribe on iTunes | ...
Feb 21, 2017•33 min
In this episode I talk about financing. Surprisingly, I haven’t touched on this topic much yet. But today, I got fired up about it. Over and over again, I’ve come across people who have ruined their financial lives by financing a purchase they couldn’t afford outright. Making a big purchase isn’t about affording the payment, it’s about affording the purchase. Of course, I want you to afford the payment, but it doesn’t matter if you can afford a payment if you end up locked into a loan you can’t ...
Feb 16, 2017•40 min
M$D: July 16, 2034 Meet Penny. Penny’s main concerns, in her words: Hi Pete. I just discovered your podcast a week ago and have listened to 30 episodes so far and have already made some changes to my financial life (like not having huge amounts of money sitting in savings account). I need help with budgeting and making sure I am on the right track where I am at in my life. I am a single lady living in an expensive city and have done a good job of saving money and paying off debt ($30k in student...
Feb 14, 2017•31 min
In this episode of the Pete the Planner® Show, I talk visualization. If you are wandering aimlessly through your financial life, this is the key you are missing. Visualizing the financial life you want is a great tool to get you motivated to achieve it. You use visualization every single day. For me, it’s usually food. Any given day you can find me visualizing the Fat Havana Burger from Fat Dan’s. Sigh. So good. Every day, my brain is making plans and thinking through ways I can get the sandwich...
Feb 09, 2017•39 min
M$D: June 16, 2033 Meet Bernard. Bernard’s main concerns, in his words: I’m not completely sure how to plan effectively for my retirement. My wife and I are both public school teachers. In our state, we will receive a pension when we retire. We each have a 401k from our previous jobs as private school teachers. Combined, we have about $95,000 in those. Our pension will be equal to 2/3 the average of our highest paid years in the public school system. We get that benefit when our age + years in t...
Feb 07, 2017•35 min
