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After working full-time for a little while, I realized I couldn’t spend the next 40 years of my life in an office—but like most people, I needed the paycheck.
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I discovered financial independence on my search for purpose
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Personal Finance For Women
The “normal” path is bullshit
The traditional path means working a job you probably don’t love for 40 years, taking on debt for everything you need, and finding relief in consumerism. I believe it’s possible (and worth it!) to design your life differently.
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Update: It’s come to my attention that the team at Copilot are ever the strategists and are working on an integration to import data from Mint in light of the news that Intuit is shuttering the platform. What did I tell you? User-friendly kings & queens. I should disclose upfront that I used to work […]
I love financial visualizations. I feel like my brain doesn’t intuitively make sense of numbers—but when I see everything represented visually, it resonates. (Jump cut to me sitting on a bench outside my college calculus class on the phone with my dad, in tears.) A few years ago, I did an exercise I lovingly called […]
A piece of personal finance advice that always seemed too obvious to be helpful is to “live beneath your means.” “Means” feels like a word from a Little House on the Prairie reboot, and besides, “if you have $5, don’t spend $10” isn’t exactly an earth-shattering insight. I’ve always found it to be a frustratingly […]
This post will probably feel a little counterintuitive given the fact that I constantly promote earning as much as humanly possible, so let’s get one thing absolutely clear upfront: Earning more will skyrocket your investing journey to eventual freedom, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to spend less. I won’t waste time […]
2025 Update: This 2021 blog post was the original inspiration that became the first chapter of my book Rich Girl Nation, all about the Hot Girl Hamster Wheel. Enjoy. This is one of those articles that feels like it requires a disclaimer, but I’m trying to get away from explaining away my opinions, so I’d […]
I once read that linking to a bunch of different articles in a post was the cardinal sin of online media, so I apologize for what I’m about to do – but if you haven’t yet, read How to Start Building Your Emergency Fund as a baseline for this post. This post isn’t intended to be […]
The other night on Instagram Stories (a sentence that’s so 2025 it hurts), I asked what question you’d ask a Magic Money 8 Ball (unfortunately, I’ve watched so many cartel movies that I now feel the need to clarify I’m talking about those adorable children’s toys, not a substantive amount of cocaine). I asked the […]
A more robust version of this analysis is available in Chapter 6 of Rich Girl Nation, “Don’t Outlive Your Assets.” Any time I open the “Roth vs. Traditional 401(k)” can of worms, I’m inevitably met with one resounding piece of pushback: “But what if I’m in a higher tax bracket in retirement?” This is the […]
Merely typing that sentence felt blasphemous, but I was struck with a realization I couldn’t ignore when filming my NEVER PAY TAXES AGAIN YouTube video (and yes, all caps is a necessity on YouTube). You see, the entire video is premised on the fact that long-term capital gains are taxed really favorably. Like, really favorably. […]
This topic can be provocative. It gets the people going! In the personal finance world, this fact—that you’re likely better off investing on your own rather than paying another human being 1% of your net worth to do it for you—is not really disputed. It’s becoming accepted as the truth. What do I mean by […]
After reading The Simple Path to Wealth, I started wondering: Could anyone become a millionaire? And better yet, could anyone become a millionaire early in life, regardless of income? Obviously, the answer is no: But depending on how creative you’re willing to get, the payoff could be massive. If you’re hoping this post is going […]
If you can’t beat ‘em, evade taxes like ‘em. Just kidding – there will be no tax evasion here (you hear that, little FBI man that resides in my MacBook Air? No need to call Jim at the IRS, because everything in this post has its origins in tax code loopholes, laws, and cultural differences between […]
When I originally published this post in February 2021, my thesis was pretty simple: Comparing your financial situation and decisions to the gals you wine down with on Bachelor Monday probably won’t net highly favorable results, because you’re selecting your “financial frame of reference” based on unrelated qualifications. As I revisit the idea in 2025, […]
Every once in a while I receive an email that makes me scratch my head. So for this week’s post, I present to you: “We have 3 children under 18 and pay significantly less in taxes now than we will 12 years from now. This makes the tax savings from Traditional accounts less impactful during […]
Ah, sweet marital bliss! The king size bed. The shared household responsibilities. The… joint checking account? When we were dating, Thomas and I waffled about the financial system that would make the most sense for us. Were we a totally separate, totally together, or “yours, mine, and ours” kind of couple? Eventually, we settled on […]
I go into much greater detail about marital finances (and the legal considerations therein!) in Chapter 4 of Rich Girl Nation, “I Thee Wed (and Spend Thy Bread.” If you’re interested in the full deep dive on money for couples, pick up a copy. Every time I post one of my monthly budget breakdowns, I […]
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: While I’m thrilled this blog has a shot at helping others, I am – at heart – a selfish creature. Writing these articles mostly serves as a way for me to publish my own thought experiments and, consequently, force my own hand at figuring out how these […]
This blog post is based on a few sections of Chapter 4 of Rich Girl Nation, “I Thee Wed (and Spend Thy Bread.” If you’re interested in the full deep dive on marital finances, pick up a copy. The question of “how to combine finances” comes up frequently, so I figured now was as good […]
If you’re a high earner in the market for an investment strategy that sounds more like a Transformer than a legitimate wealth-building option, then boy, do I have good news for you: The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA might be a contender for your tax-advantaged lineup. Before we talk about the “how,” let’s talk about the […]
Welcome to the world of Tiny Violin Problems, my friend. If you make too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA per the IRS, you’ve officially entered the realm of TVPs, amongst the opulent ranks of, “There’s no more room for overhead luggage in First Class so I have to gate-check my bag,” and, […]
Is FICA tax the key difference maker in the Roth vs. Traditional 401(k) debate? This blog post will hopefully be quite a bit shorter than the ironically named “Ultimate Traditional vs. Roth 401(k) Debate” post I wrote previously and slightly shorter than the “Will You be in a Higher Tax Bracket in Retirement? Maybe, But […]
The original tiny violin problem: Wah, I made too much money to contribute to a Roth IRA, and accidentally contributed to one anyway! In other words, my life this year. This is a weird transition that most people who (a) are actively earning more money and (b) contributing to a Roth IRA will probably experience, […]
2025 Update: There’s a much more in-depth breakdown of this thesis in Chapter 6 of Rich Girl Nation. If you’d prefer to listen to me explain it, check out this episode of The Money with Katie Show. The math in this post still uses 2022 contribution limits, but the logic remains! There are so many […]
If you can’t beat ‘em, evade taxes like ‘em. Just kidding – there will be no tax evasion here (you hear that, little FBI man that resides in my MacBook Air? No need to call Jim at the IRS, because everything in this post has its origins in tax code loopholes, laws, and cultural differences between […]
As my standard legalese: I am not a licensed tax professional, and this is not tax advice. Please consult your friendly neighborhood CPA and do your due diligence. This is intended to be a starting point for your #TaxSzn research. As I was reminded repeatedly by TurboTax’s 2023 ad campaign called “Don’t Do Your Taxes,” […]
The most popular talking point that sucked me into the financial independence (FI) movement in late 2017 was the idea of getting off the hamster wheel. “Get out of the rat race! Get off the hamster wheel!” (Apparently we’re all analogous to small rodents.) My brain didn’t hesitate to make the jump from “working all […]
Hint: You may not need that Backdoor Roth IRA after all. Blasphemous, I know—and while I’m sure this article will apply to a pretty niche segment of my audience, I had an important realization the other day that I feel I must share: Most full-timers with side hustles (hello, millennials) aren’t taking advantage of the […]
Let me preface this post by saying that if you have access to a CPA and you’re feeling a little unsure about doing your taxes yourself (or, more realistically, you just don’t want to), it’s probably wise to pony up a few hundred bucks and pay your CPA to do them for you. That said: […]
I’ve never really thought much about my HSA. FI experts always talked about it like it was this secret, secondary IRA, and to an extent I understood why, but I didn’t feel convinced enough to prioritize it as part of my ongoing financial plan. Here’s why: Your HSA is designed for medical expenses. If you’re […]
Being self-employed is, candidly, my Millennial dream come true. In my ideal self-employed day, I rise at 7 a.m. (instead of my current 5:30 a.m. wake-up call) and pad around the kitchen in an impossibly chic matching silk pajama set. After an hour-long morning routine that consists of matcha lattes, transcendental meditation, and a leisurely […]
At the end of 2022, Money with Katie officially became a million-dollar business: Our revenue hit $1.1m by December 31. (We really just squeaked over the finish line, but a win is a win.) While I shared some of the downsides of monetizing your personhood in this earlier episode, following your own curiosity and interests […]
This blog post is based on a few sections of Chapter 2 of Rich Girl Nation. If you enjoy it, consider picking up a copy! Every time I read something about negotiating a salary, a major takeaway is usually that everything is negotiable—e.g., if Corporate Daddy won’t budge on base pay, you can negotiate more […]
The following breakdown uses 2023 wealth data. Millennials are an interesting generation, because we usually discuss our avocado-toast-eating brethren as an economic monolith. We (mistakenly) assume all millennials are experiencing relatively similar economic hardships. But there’s one group of millennials—a small, unique subset with specific similarities worth exploring—that are actually doing a lot better than […]
What if I told you there was a way to spend more money, while still increasing your save rate? There is. It’s called “increasing your income.” Here’s the thing: This ‘advice’ is usually harder to swallow, because it’s not immediately actionable. It’s not able to be deployed identically by every single person reading this blog […]
“I work for my parents and they gave me a fat raise!” Just kidding. But wouldn’t that be funny? But luckily for you (and maybe unluckily for me), this isn’t an article on CNBC – so there’s no nepotism at play here. And truthfully, the intent of this article isn’t to provide some presumably magic pathway […]
Because this post is going to border on spiritual, I want to make this fat, practical disclaimer first: I am arguing that it is more economically advantageous for you to embody an abundance mindset. Regardless of your belief system, this will get you farther ahead. The best example I can think of for scarcity vs. […]
As anyone who’s been in the same room as me when the topic of tax savings comes up knows, pre-tax investment vehicles are like my inner 12-year-old girl’s Justin Bieber. If my husband would let me put up a poster on our bedroom wall of the US’s tax-efficient trifecta (401(k), Roth IRA, HSA), I would. […]
Welcome to another installment of Money with Katie Horrifies Readers Outside the US—also known as, another foray into the US healthcare system. If you’ve missed the previous two installments, feel free to check them out here: How to Budget for Healthcare in the US in the Least Frustrating Way Possible Navigating the US Healthcare System […]
Whether you’ve recently lost your job or fear that you may, here’s a six-step guide on approaching your financials.
Can I admit something that reveals my ignorance and relative lucky breaks? It’s always been pretty easy for me to avoid talking about health insurance and healthcare costs because—as an adult—I’ve always been employed and healthy. It wasn’t until recently (like, embarrassingly recently) that I was hit with a medical bill that I wasn’t expecting: […]
I’ve never really thought much about my HSA. FI experts always talked about it like it was this secret, secondary IRA, and to an extent I understood why, but I didn’t feel convinced enough to prioritize it as part of my ongoing financial plan. Here’s why: Your HSA is designed for medical expenses. If you’re […]
The HSA—or Health Savings Account—is a wunderkind of the tax code. The HSA is different from the 401(k) as a tax savings vehicle because—if you make payroll contributions—you don’t pay the 7.65% FICA tax on them. The HSA is the only investment vehicle that has the potential for funds to go in tax-free, be invested […]
In 2020—on this very website!—I extolled the virtues of forgoing the (then-average) American rite of passage of a $550 car payment for the first decade or so of your investing life: “In 15 years, you pull a big ol’ f*** it, and you buy a Porsche Cayenne. Great. You deserve it! In the meantime, though, […]
Sometimes in life, we need to make a big purchase. The $50,000 wedding you only budgeted $25,000 for (oops). A 40-ft. aquarium to keep your cat busy during the day. A house with a backyard so it’ll distract your kid while you Zoom within an inch of your life. Oh, and four words: SoulCycle at […]
DISCLAIMER: This post is about your primary residence only, not a property that was purchased with the intent to be rented to create cash flow and had the numbers run accordingly. ducks & covers I know I’m about to take shit for this one, but I think – if you read this post to the […]
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: While I’m thrilled this blog has a shot at helping others, I am – at heart – a selfish creature. Writing these articles mostly serves as a way for me to publish my own thought experiments and, consequently, force my own hand at figuring out how these […]
2025 Update: In 2022, we invited a pro-leasing guest on the show to discuss how, when, and why leasing a vehicle might make sense. Enjoy! Because I spent the morning getting my car appraised at CarMax like the good money blogger I am, it felt like the perfect day to sit down and write this […]
This long-time Money with Katie classic has been updated for 2025 with a chapter that was originally written for Rich Girl Nation and ultimately cut in the editing phase. In the original draft of the book, Chapter 4 was called “Big, Expensive Life Milestones,” and it covered housing, marriage, and kids. Ultimately, we decided to […]
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