Hey Reader This week, I’ve been thinking about how far I’ve come with saving and investing and how different it looks from where I started. Back then, I was just putting a small amount into retirement because I knew I should. It was about $200 a paycheck. Nothing fancy. Just a start. Which reminds me of this common piece of advice you’ll see everywhere in personal finance: “Save 15–20% of your income.” Which begs the question…is all that really necessary? Honestly, yes, but not all at once....

Hey Reader If you’ve been reading my emails for a while, you probably care about getting your money together. But caring and actually making changes are two different things. It’s easy to read, save, and say, “I’ll get to this later.” Then weeks or months go by, and nothing really changes. I don’t want that for you. Reading about money can only take you so far. At some point, you need a plan and real action behind it. If you’ve been here for a while but haven’t reached out yet, there are...

Hey Reader Last weekend, my sister and I went to the Millennium Tour concert. It was full of throwback music from artists like Bow Wow and B2K. The kind of night that feels fun and light. But something small stood out before we even got inside. We pulled up to park and saw the closest lot was $40. I was ready to just pay it and move on. But my sister, knowing the area, told me to drive a couple blocks down instead. We parked there for $30. That’s a $10 difference and all it "cost" me was a...