As I sit down to write this note to you, I’m reflecting on all of the messages I’ve sent before — especially over the last two years. I’m thinking about how many challenging stories I’ve shared with you, how much our business and team have evolved, and up until three months ago, I never thought I would have to write this message. Unfortunately, the pandemic has forced another change, the loss of our physical Gym locations.

So, you invested in the stock market and made some money, congrats! Do you know how much of that gain went to Uncle Sam? That’s right, making money through investments does in fact trigger a taxable event, aka you owe taxes… it’s called the capital gains tax! Because most brokerage platforms automatically deduct taxes for you (just like an employer might deduct taxes for their employees), you might not have even noticed that you paid a tax. And even if you did notice, the amount that was taken out might feel like a mystery!

One of the most common goals our clients have is to buy a home. Some are looking to expand their space because they have a growing family. Others are relocating from cities to places where they can enjoy a little more space. Some want to house hack and create a source of relatively passive income. But one of the reasons we hear most often is that they are tired of throwing money away on rent.

This month at the TFG, we are focusing on homeownership. In honor of International Women’s Day, we want to highlight the strides women have made in homeownership and the challenges they still face.

Over the past 30 years, women have made substantial gains in homeownership, but challenges for women in homeownership remain. Particularly for single women, single mothers, and BIPOC women.

This is a continuation of Breaking the Debt Cycle (Part 1) from last week.

Getting out of debt often feels like an uphill battle. One month, you receive a bonus at work that helps you pay down your balances, and then next, you have a big car repair that brings them back up. One step forward, one step back. This is what we call the “debt cycle.” While getting out of the debt cycle is challenging, identifying and committing to a few strategies can help ease the process.

As part of Women’s History Month, we want to provide women with a resource to negotiate higher salaries. Negotiating pay isn’t always the most natural skill, and it can be especially difficult for women.

These strategies can be used to unlock the door to earning more money whether you’re interviewing for a new job or asking for a raise with your current employer.

Tax time! That tedious time of year that inspires the champion procrastinator in so many of us, for so many reasons. For some of us, we dread the bill. (That cash looked so much better sitting in our savings account!) For others, we may have been a little disorganized and we’re afraid to find out how much we owe. Or, if you’re like me, getting together all that paperwork gives you agita.

We can’t make taxes disappear, but we can make things a little bit easier by helping you get prepared for the process.

This blog post is part one of two about breaking the debt cycle. Stay tuned for part two next week.

Getting out of debt often feels like an uphill battle. One month, you receive a bonus at work that helps you pay down your balances, and then next, you have a big car repair that brings them back up. One step forward, one step back. This is what we call the “debt cycle.” While getting out of the debt cycle is challenging, identifying and committing to a few strategies can help ease the process.

In honor of Black History Month, we have rounded up some resources that our team members recommend. These sources provide education about the generational poverty cycle, gentrification, the racial wealth gap, Black-owned banks, and more! Books: The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs

This is a powerful book that depicts the struggles a young man faces in his time growing up in inner-city Newark and when he enrolls at Yale University…

Have you ever thought about being a financial trainer? If so, we have some exciting news! We recently launched “The CFT School” which is The Financial Gym’s new Certified Financial Trainer licensing program. In this program, people will go through Trainer Academy and become a Certified Financial Trainer in order to work with their own clients. Up until now, the only way to receive this designation was to work here at The Gym.

Great question, Financial Friend! At the heart of your question is the concept of habit formation. Reward mechanisms can be a big motivator when we are working on creating new habits. In some cases we work the rewards into the formation of a new habit so we can get a little boost each time we work on our goals. For instance, I used to meet up with my friend to work out in the mornings, and seeing someone who I loved spending time with was the reward that got me out the door at 7am.

Interest rates! What are they?

I like to explain interest rates as the cost or price of money in order to borrow it today. This directly relates to a concept called the time-value of money (TVM). TVM is the idea that a sum of money is worth more today than anytime in the future. This is a core principle in economics and finance, and helps explain why interest rates exist. Conceptually, it’s important for you, the reader, to understand that when money is borrowed a fee is added.

After a long, pandemic-induced wedding drought, this year is shaping up to be the busiest yet. According to Yahoo, there will be an estimated 2.5 million weddings in 2022, which is the most the U.S. has seen since 1984. As if summer wasn’t enough of a budget killer, it seems like everyone is trying to sabotage your vacation plans and fill your weekends with their own wedding celebrations. These expenses can quickly get out of control, between the engagement parties, bridal showers, bachelor(ette) parties, and the wedding itself, we are spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on other people’s big day.

The rules of the credit game are confusing, yes. But too many credit cards only hurt you in one instance.

There is a general fear of credit cards from most of our clients because most people think of credit cards as a form of debt; however, they’re only debt if you don’t pay them off regularly. Because of this fear, though, many clients don’t use credit cards at all or only use one or two. They believe the myth that too many credit cards are bad for your credit score.

To pay extra on a student loan or not? That is the question. And, it’s a question we hear often considering that the average person in the U.S. owes $30,000 or more in student loan debt.

It may surprise you to hear that we don’t always encourage our clients to pay extra towards their student loans. Ultimately, this decision comes down to priorities. We are generally dealing with limited resources (i.e. income) and we need to make choices about how to best use those resources to achieve our goals.

Great question! When we have so many competing priorities: rent, bills, retirement, student loans, credit card bills, and day to day discretionary spending, it can be hard to know what “living within your means” actually means. On the one hand, the first step in living within your means is to make sure you have all of your bills covered. This involves tallying up everything that needs to be paid each month, including rent, utilities, subscriptions, medica costs, memberships, day care costs, transportation costs, healthcare...anything that is essential to your housing, transportation, and getting to work.

If you’re looking for a student loan payment that better fits within your budget, you may be faced with a confusing array of repayment plans. That alone can make you want to shut off your computer and avoid dealing with it, but depending on your situation, you could be missing out on a lower payment, loan forgiveness, or the opportunity to pay off your loans most efficiently.

Are you stuck living in the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle? It’s time to build your emergency fund. An emergency fund is money you have set aside for the emergencies that inevitably come up. Your car breaks down, you lose your job, etc. But if you have no savings getting to that first four-figures is tough. It can seem daunting even. If you’re just starting your savings journey, here’s how to save your first $1,000 for your emergency fund. 

The thing I love most about being a Certified Financial Trainer at The Financial Gym is that we take the WHOLE person into account. We know that none of our clients are going to just stop buying things. We also know that the reason our clients come to us is because they want to create a better life for themselves using their financial resources. While we do often talk about reducing expenses or eliminating unnecessary expenses, we ALSO believe in spending money in ways that are in alignment with your goals or that bring vaIue to your life.

The last thing anyone wants is for their stuff to go missing. But losing your wallet is a whole other level of annoying. Here’s your checklist of what to do if this happens to you and some things to consider to protect you from the consequences of it again.

#1 Contact Your Financial Providers and Check Your Transaction History: Pick up the phone, go to their website, or visit a bank branch to report that your cards need to be canceled, or at the very least, temporarily frozen while you try to find them.