How Is Financial Life Planning Different from Traditional Financial Planning?
Here at Thinking Big, we practice Financial Life Planning (FLP). If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone; especially because we more often refer to our work by another name, “Holistic Financial Planning.” But the two are one in the same. FLP is a newer, more complete way to approach and determine how money […]
What Happens When You Embrace Your Money Regrets
We’re all familiar with the motto of living with “no regrets.” It means you should always make choices that you can live with for the rest of your life. And when you don’t … well, we’ve all seen that scene in a movie when someone is on their deathbed wishing they had spent less time […]
Where Should I Put My Money?
How do you know if you’re putting your money in the right places? It’s a broad, overwhelming, yet common question. The good news is that the answer can be straightforward once you know all the components. First, you need to consider the actual places of where to put your money, like in savings and checking, […]
Our Financial Planning Process
Not all financial planning firms approach this work in the same way, which is why I thought it would be helpful to explain how we think about and approach the financial planning process. As the new Director of Client Care at Thinking Big, I act as a guardian of this process; I make sure we […]
How a Scarcity Mindset Impacts Your Finances
The other day, I found myself looking at real estate listings. I was searching for apartments with more square footage. Isn’t this what everyone in New York does? Dreams about a bigger place to live? But after a minute, I stopped myself. Why was I looking at new places when we lived in a perfectly […]
The Ongoing Costs of Raising a Child(ren)
I did a simple google search of “how much does it cost to raise a child” and then my eyes glazed over. According to Investopedia, it could be as much as $277k in 2022 (from birth to age 18). That turns out to be about $15k a year. But I always hate numbers like these […]
How to Optimize Your Charitable Giving
As Lynne Twist says in her book, The Soul of Money, “When you make a difference with what you have, it expands.” Giving your resources in a way that’s aligned with your values can have a compounding effect on your overall wealth and well-being. Giving to charity, as it happens, can also offer some worthwhile […]
Simple Ways to Prepare for Tax Filing
Shockingly, we haven’t yet written a post on how to prepare for filing your taxes! We know taxes aren’t the most exciting topic, but they are a crucial part of your financial health. Now is a great time to get organized ahead of tax time. Whether you do your taxes yourself or pay a professional […]
What’s Your Money Love Language?
Have you ever taken the Love Language Test? It’s a fun quiz that helps you understand how you like to receive love from the people in your life. The quiz is broken down into five primary categories: Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. While we each have some affinity […]
Changing the Retirement Savings Paradigm?
As a financial planner, one of the most common things I hear is about everyone’s need to “save for retirement.” The phrase itself is vague, impersonal, and unspecific. People who are decades away from the presumed end of their working lives have “saving for retirement” as a primary goal. I’ve also heard from plenty of […]