Founder and Chief Planner Kristen Euretig, CFP® is available for commentary and interviews. For more information, download our press kit below.
Fear Of Finances? 4 Things You Can Do To Get On Track
Financial planning is stressful. For many, it seems easier to avoid the subject than get started with a sound strategy. Kristen Euretig, a certified financial planner and founder and CEO of Brooklyn Plans, focuses on getting clients over their psychological hurdles and introducing them to the “exciting and interesting and empowering” benefits of financial planning.
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Ms. Euretig recommends thinking of rent as part of your fixed cost bundle. If you are paying more on rent but less on other fixed costs, such as utility bills or car insurance, then you can budget for higher rent. The important thing is to keep your fixed-cost expenses at half of your take-home pay, she said.
Euretig specializes in advising people in their 20s and 30s in navigating their finances and says that, for many, facing up to the topic of finances is the hardest part. “Many young people see money as a complex, overwhelming, impossible thing, and because they feel they’re in the dark, many prefer to not to address finances at all,” she says.
“Euretig says if you’ve saved into a dedicated 529 plan (or qualified tuition plan) it is similar to a Roth IRA and you can take money out without penalties although you would be taxed on gains and face a penalty for not spending the money on higher education. Euretig says a quick look at the rates will show you the numbers don’t stack up.”
Many women, however, leave the financial planning up to their male partners, presuming that he will handle their finances better, Kristen Euretig, founder of Brooklyn Plans, a financial planning service that targets women, said. But why? “Research shows that women have a confidence gap when compared to men in terms of managing their money,” Euretig said.
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“I suggest starting with what you know you’ll earn and making a baseline plan with that,” says Euretig. To wrap your mind around how much money you’ll be able to spare each month to contribute to a retirement account, she recommends allotting the more variable aspects of your income into “buckets” by budgeting certain percentages for your monthly living expenses, taxes, and, finally, savings, and see how much money you might have left over.
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Euretig said winners shouldn’t “get too many designs about your next moves until you can work with a financial planner who will assemble your team of experts to best advise you on your options.”
“I think of debt retainment as a stool with three legs. In order for it to be balanced, you have to do all three. Those include paying off debt, saving for emergencies and saving for your freedom fund,” says Euretig, “The thing about getting out of debt is to stop getting into it. It has to be coddled with savings. You can’t pay off and stay out of debt without saving for yourself.”