Welcome to Spartan Financial Coaching!
My name is Lee, and in this post, I will dive into...
- The current state of financial literacy and the overall economic environment
- My credentials and financial journey
- About Spartan Financial Coaching...
- Reasoning for creating this platform
- Who it will be targeting
- Main areas of focus as well as ideal outcomes for clients
The Current State of Financial Literacy and The Overall Economic Environment:
We are living through an era when there is more actionable information at our fingertips than ever before in human history. Never before has there been a time when the knowledge and tools necessary for financial success have been so readily accessible to the general public. Virtually anyone with an internet connection can listen to the cutting-edge insights shared at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting via YouTube, or gain entry to the global financial markets through the trading of fractional investment shares on Robinhood. Paradoxically, the democratization of the financial playing field has not led to the widespread peace and wealth-creation one might expect to see. Many of the dreams that citizens in affluent countries took as a given in previous decades such as upward social mobility, home affordability, and the possibility of a comfortable retirement are all seemingly under threat. As a result, there is an abundance of negativity as well as downright misinformation to be found in most corners of the financial media. This problem is exacerbated by the mediums with which we try to absorb this increasingly excessive amount of information through. Social media algorithms prioritize sensationalized content which promotes fear and uncertainty rather than the unadulterated truth when it comes to how to build wealth and thrive in any time. Furthermore, the majority of new individuals tuning in lack the time and financial education necessary to begin parsing out the useful information from the vast ocean of clickbait headlines and news stories (Financial Illiteracy Epidemic: 57% Of Americans Can't Even Score 50% On A Financial Literacy Test - Yahoo Finance). This would indicate that much of the advice being popularized by finance channels as well as even the mainstream financial media isn't going to be genuinely useful in the long run. To make matters worse, I don't believe that this knowledge gap can be rectified by simply outsourcing the task to a traditional financial advisor. According to Ramit Sethi, NYT bestselling author of "I Will Teach You to be Rich", the seemingly innocuous standard Assets Under-Management (AUM) fee of 1% can cost you 28% of your lifetime returns! In addition, there is a blatant conflict of interest when you consider that these advisors are often paid on commission so they are incentivized to direct you to funds that have more fees, and probably cannot even beat the market.
Some statistics which further illustrate the current financial landscape...
- 56% of American adults are financially anxious (Financial Capability in the United States (July 2022), FINRA)
- 58% of Americans do not have a detailed monthly budget (2024 Financial Capability Survey, National Foundation for Credit Counseling)
- 44% of Americans did not have enough savings to cover a $1,000 expense (2024 Annual Emergency Savings Report, Bankrate)
- 36% of U.S. adults have more credit card debt than emergency savings (2024 Credit Card Debt Report, Bankrate)
- 45% of American households will run short of money in retirement (Model of U.S. Retirement Incomes, Morningstar Retirement)
My Credentials and Financial Journey:
Some of my proudest accomplishments include...
- 10+ years experience as an accountant
- Completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Coach Master Training program
- Purchased first home at age 23 (The average first-time homebuyer in the U.S. was 32 at that time)
- Invested $500,000+ in ETFs, Stocks, Real Estate, Precious Metals, and Bitcoin
- Paid off $50,000+ in debt within 3 years
To be clear, I've also had plenty of mistakes and setbacks that I've had to overcome along the way, but I took the opportunities to educate myself and learn something from each one of them. For example, when I was 23, I purchased my first home because I wanted to gain access to housing ladder as early as possible. It was a beautiful, newly-renovated townhome with granite countertops and exposed brick walls, but ultimately it ended up being an unideal area to be invested in long-term and I sold the home less than 3 years later for a modest gain. As is normally the case, the venture did not play out exactly the way I had planned, but I still remember it fondly as it was my first experience with "House Hacking" a home I was living in. Another unforeseen problem came a few years later in the form of a large tax liability on the first significant investment gains of my career which I had not properly planned for. Benjamin Franklin famously said, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes", and I certainly learned that lesson the hard way. However, I sought the counsel of a qualified CPA and was able to pay off the debt within approximately 3 years. By sharing all of these experiences, I believe I am able to prevent my clients from making the same mistakes along their financial journey.
About Spartan Financial Coaching:
Reasoning for creating this platform and who it will be targeting...
I created Spartan Financial Coaching for the purpose of combatting the previously mentioned challenges that individuals face today. It is intended to be a guiding light of hope for professionals, of all demographic groups, who seek to add structure to their finances, empower themselves through education, and accelerate towards financial freedom. I've spent over a decade with the goal of becoming the mentor that I would have wanted when I first started my financial journey. I make it my job to consume copious amounts of information which has to power to enable individuals to buy back their time and increase the control that they have over their lives. Furthermore, I’ve loved being an educator since my days as an accounting tutor at university. I believe all these attributes make me uniquely qualified to help guide motivated individuals on the path to financial freedom and hopefully early retirement.
Main areas of focus...
- Budgeting & Expense Tracking
- Debt Elimination (Car, Credit Card, Student Loans, etc.)
- Financial Account Optimization
- Saving & Investing Milestones
- First-time Homebuying
- Large Purchases (Car, Vacation, Wedding, etc.)
- Risk Mitigation
- Retirement Planning
Ideal outcomes for clients...
- Reduced debt
- Increased savings
- Increased clarity regarding retirement planning
- Improved financial literacy & money management skills
- Greater confidence in making significant financial decisions
Utilizing a qualified financial coaching service, such as Spartan Financial Coaching, is becoming increasingly necessary in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.
If you would like to see if we can work together to tailor a plan to conquer your unique financial situation, click the link below to contact me for a FREE 30-minute introductory session.
Looking forward to meeting you!
30-Minute Introductory Session
Sources:
https://finrafoundation.org/sites/finrafoundation/files/NFCS-Report-Fifth-Edition-July-2022.pdf
https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/emergency-savings-report/
https://www.bankrate.com/credit-cards/news/credit-card-debt-report/
