Lee is 30 and facing a tech layoff. She can live for a year on her savings. She’s thinking about taking the rest of the year off. How should she prepare her investments?
Stacy wants to buy an Airbnb but she’s scared she’ll regret selling her company stock to do it.
An anonymous caller is tired of living paycheck-to-paycheck as a freelance artist. How can she stabilize an inconsistent income?
Danelle is a DIY investor. She can’t find a financial advisor who gives advice without insisting on managing her investments. Is she looking in the wrong places?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.
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Here are the details:
Lee asks (at 01:47 minutes): I’m 30 and I’m facing one of those tech layoffs that’s been in the news.
My company is doing a “soft layoff” by giving me two months to look inside for a job. But the severance package is too hard to pass up.
I have a year’s worth of expenses saved up, so I might take the rest of the year off.
How should I organize my investments as this layoff approaches?
Should I max out my traditional 401k and, as a result, lower my tax bracket? Or invest in my Roth 401k?
Or should I zero out my retirement contributions and invest in an after-tax brokerage account?
Also, I’m in California and will qualify for unemployment. Can I take it later? If I do take it, will it affect me later in life?
Danelle asks (at 12:28 minutes): My husband and I are approaching retirement. We’ve managed our own investments for years, but we’d like to talk to a financial advisor concerning our transition strategy.
We’ve tried for three years to find a fee-only fiduciary advisor.
But everyone claims there’s no way to offer comprehensive advice if they aren’t managing our money for a fee.
How does someone actually find an advisor that simply offers advice and perspective for a flat fee?
Anonymous asks (at 26:06 minutes): I’m 54 and I’ve never had a traditional or full-time job. My late husband was a musician and I’m a self-employed artist.
Sometimes I make $250 and sometimes I make $25,000.
I live off a line of credit that I’ve cleared twice since 2018. When a paycheck comes in, I pay the HELOC off or I dip into savings when there’s not enough.
Then the cycle repeats itself.
I’m worried because I’m in serious debt. I’ve used most of my savings, and I still have credit cards to pay off. I also have a negligible retirement fund.
The good news? I own my house free and clear in a desirable vacation spot. The taxes are low and my only other housing expenses are insurance, maintenance, and repairs. I could scrape by on $1,500 per month.
My accountant suggests I cash out some assets – like my gold and vintage instruments – to repay my debt.
I’m working on increasing my income, but I don’t know what to do with my money when it comes in.
I’m considering taking retirement, taxes, and tithing off the top, and then trying to live off the remaining cash while making regular payments on my debt.
But what do I do during the years when I don’t have much income? I don’t know how to organize this and I feel I need a plan.
Stacy asks (at 50:11 minutes): I’m eager to buy a short-term rental property, but I’m scared I’ll regret selling my company stock in order to make the downpayment.
I’m a senior executive assistant in tech. My previous company had an IPO in September 2021 at the height of the market.
I exercised my shares in advance, at $1.50 a share, because the company had the potential to go public. It went up to $70 at one point, but today, it’s back to $12 a share.
It cost $15,000 to sell $70,000 worth of stock, which I used to pay off our credit card debt.
I have 11,000 shares remaining. 9,000 shares could be sold anytime, and 2,000 would need to wait another 6 months.
Am I crazy to sell 9,000 shares to put a down payment on a rental property?
I’ve wanted to buy a short-term rental for a long time. Coming from a hospitality background, I’m super passionate about it.
I’m married and we own our home with a comfortable mortgage.
I make $164,000 with stock options and my husband makes $125,000 a year.
We have zero debt, we max out our 401ks, and we have $16,000 in single stocks.
Resources Mentioned:
- Podcast episode featuring financial planner Sophia Bera
- Podcast episode featuring financial planner Michael Kitces
- Forbes article on “financial planner” Max Tailwagger 🐶
- Investopedia article on top (human) financial planners
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