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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. […]
Three years ago, a member of the Rich Girl Community named Jenny Burke reached out to me to share a picture of herself teaching her friends about personal finance. She stood in front of a giant sticky easel with HOT GIRL SHIT scrawled in Sharpie across the top, and definitions of the 401(k) and IRA […]
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 […]
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: […]
This blog post was brought to you by my partner, Betterment. Paid client. Views may not be representative. See App Store & Google Play reviews. Learn more. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. Source: Betterment Retail Investor Survey, 2026. My friend recently got a new job that more than doubled her salary. “Dude,” she texted […]
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,” […]
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 […]
The sky was falling in the second half of 2022. So much so that, last July, I published a piece called, “No, We’re Not in a Recession, But Somehow this Economy *Feels* Worse.” It was my attempt at parsing the hard data (low unemployment, relatively calm credit markets, and strong consumer spending) with a panicked […]
Thanks to Betterment for partnering with me on this emergency fund guide. Ah, the emergency fund—the cash cushion, the oh, sh*t account, the rainy day fund. The emergency fund is the foundation of a functioning, healthy personal financial system for most people. So how should you think about it? The purpose of the emergency fund […]
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Before I was a person with way too many opinions about personal finance, I worked professionally in user experience strategy, design, and writing—a field that I’ve joked saw me ascend the ranks to Associate Manager of Turning That One Button Blue So More People Would Click It. Why am I telling you this? Because when […]
“Freedom without discipline is chaos.”—Cullen Hightower I heard from a reader the other day who’s in marital gridlock about the best way to manage their newfound high income. When they earned less, she said, they were in agreement about their strategy: They used dedicated savings accounts for discretionary purchases and a rollover strategy, in which […]
There’s something stressful about consumption. It demands forethought, analysis—but it’s so often disguised as entertainment (#TargetRun! Women be shoppin’, amirite?) that we forget how much effort it takes. A few weeks ago, I was reminded of the year’s most acute variant of this feeling: “What’s on your list for Black Friday?” The question prompts a […]
Before I was a person with way too many opinions about personal finance, I worked professionally in user experience strategy, design, and writing—a field that I’ve joked saw me ascend the ranks to Associate Manager of Turning That One Button Blue So More People Would Click It. Why am I telling you this? Because when […]
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,” […]
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 […]
During my junior year of high school, I found myself in an unexpected situation where I had the highest grade point average in several of my classes. It wasn’t thanks to any sudden stroke of genius (my prefrontal cortex still had a way to go), but an accidental shift in my approach to studying. You […]
This blog post was brought to you by my partner, Betterment. Paid client. Views may not be representative. See App Store & Google Play reviews. Learn more. Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. Source: Betterment Retail Investor Survey, 2026. My friend recently got a new job that more than doubled her salary. “Dude,” she texted […]
During my junior year of high school, I found myself in an unexpected situation where I had the highest grade point average in several of my classes. It wasn’t thanks to any sudden stroke of genius (my prefrontal cortex still had a way to go), but an accidental shift in my approach to studying. You […]
Last year, writer and activist Gabe Dunn came on The Money with Katie Show and said something insightful: “I can see some of [these personal finance experts] who, even if they started out as a ‘waitress’ or ‘a child of immigrants’…I know how quickly you can lose perspective. And it’s very quickly.” Their point was […]
tl;dr “We make the mistake of assuming that joy is like cash—that if we don’t “spend” it today, it can be invested (and grow larger) for the future. We assume there must be a payoff—otherwise, why delay it? Unlike with money, investing a bunch of joy for later doesn’t compound—it just guarantees you’ll enjoy less […]
¹must be willing to jump through a litany of loopholes and degrade oneself before the transfer portal gods. In the last week, I’ve seen a slew of headlines on the tails of American Express’s first-quarter earnings report, revealing that Gen Z and millennial users are accumulating their pricey, premium cards like student loans are in […]
Advertising Disclosure: This content is not sponsored or endorsed by any of the card brands described here and is accurate as of the posting date, but some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation […]
Last updated Oct. 2021 Check out the Sapphire Preferred card here Disclosure: This content is not sponsored or endorsed by any of the card brands described here and is accurate as of the posting date, but some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and […]
Last updated Oct. 2021 Check out the Sapphire Preferred card here Disclosure: This content is not sponsored or endorsed by any of the card brands described here and is accurate as of the posting date, but some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Money with Katie is part of an affiliate sales network and […]