WELCOME TO FOODIECONOMIST

​This is a space where we talk about modern money strategies to build long-term wealth for Millenials and young professionals. The financial landscape is rapidly evolving with new technologies, artificial intelligence, and policies, making it easier than ever to manage your money and build long-term wealth. Sorting through the all of the noise though can be a different story.

This site is designed to give you the tools, resources, and knowledge to leverage the latest advances in personal finance and behavioral science and help you maximize your money. Whether you are just getting started or are well along in your financial journey, there are always new opportunities to optimize your wealth. The greatest asset you have is the time ahead of you to make long-lasting change. 

Ready to get started? Keep reading for ideas on how to plan your financial journey and stay up to date with all the latest developments on the blog.

YOUR ROADMAP STARTS HERE
Let's face it - Millennials and young professionals haven't had it easy when it comes to building long-term wealth. 

​What was commonly fulfilled by a stable and impactful career has become a more complex roadmap to navigate. Globalization, technological advancements, and increased competition are continually challenging our generation to course correct and redefine ourselves.

The good news? These same forces are also transforming the financial landscape and the opportunities ahead. With all of the tools and science-backed methods at our fingertips, there has never been a better time to manage our money efficiently and maximize our dollars. It starts first with crafting a long-term roadmap. 

LET'S TALK FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE
First things first. There's a lot of buzz these days about financial independence but what does it actually mean?

​No matter how you go about it, the goals are the same - to secure the cash flow now and in the future to support one's desired lifestyle, while pursuing a meaningful and purposeful life. ​

This may be through a fulfilling career with a steady salary, a sizable investment portfolio that provides passive income or a combination of both. Whichever path you decide to choose, financial independence is about living a richer life from the inside out.

MIND OVER MONEY
Our minds are constantly telling us what to do but are they always guiding us in the right path? Behavioral science and research-based methods can help us get in the right headspace when it comes to cultivating and financially supporting our well-being. And that's just as important as getting numbers savvy with your money.

CREATE YOUR FINANCIAL BLUEPRINT
Let's get down and dirty now with all the nitty-gritty details of money management. It's time to map out a plan to generate cash flow and build your assets to ensure you are financially sustainable now and in the future. Creating a solid balance sheet will ensure you have financial security in the long run. Below are a few resources to get you started.
​
NET WORTH

​If you are searching for a way to better manage your finances or wondering where you should start,
net worth is a great place to begin. Below are resources on setting up, tracking, and optimizing
​ your net worth. ​
​

BLOG POSTS


​Know Your (Net) Worth: A Guide to Tracking Your Total Assets 

Maximizing Net Worth Part 1: Getting Under the Hood 

Maximizing Net Worth Part 2: Diagnosing Changes in Net Worth
​
​Maximizing Net Worth Part 3: Making Informed Decisions

​RESOURCES


​Personal Capital

Personal Capital is my go-to online application to track my net worth. This platform
​allows me to to view all of my accounts and total net worth in real-time, all in one place. 
​

WORKBOOKS


​Asset Allocation Workbook     

This workbook helps you organize your accounts into the four key asset categories
(cash, liabilities, liquid investments, and illiquid investments) and view trends in your
​asset allocation and net worth over time. ​​

This workbook is available via the following links:
Investing
Investing is one of the best ways to build long-term wealth. Below are a few resources to get you started with investing.
​

BLOG POSTS


​Robo-advisors: Your Gateway to Investing - an intro to robo-advisors and automated investing.
​
How Crowdfunding is Changing the Game for the Next Generation of Investors - an overview of investment crowdfunding.


​​RESOURCES


​Wealthfront

 Wealthfront is the robo-advisor I use to create and invest in a diversified portfolio. In addition to a balanced portfolio, Wealthfront incorporates my risk preferences in its asset allocation, automatically rebalances my portfolio, and executes tax efficient strategies.

BUILD YOUR TECH STACK
​Time to get nerdy. There are hundreds of financial platforms, apps, and online resources to streamline and optimize your finances. We get that it can be time consuming to find the ones that work for you. 

Below are recommended tools that have been vetted, personally used, and researched to help you manage every piece of your financial workflow and create a self-service approach to your finances.
Expenses

Mint (by Intuit)

Mint is a great place to track and manage your expenses, set financial goals and budgets, and analyze your spending habits. I particularly like their graphical features, which allow you to drill down into different expense categories (home, shopping, food, etc.) over time. 
​
Net Worth

Personal Capital

Personal Capital is my go-to resource for tracking net worth. This platform provides a quick and easy view of my current and historical net worth as well as transaction level data. I particularly like its emphasis on investments as well, providing tools to aggregate and analyze my aggregate investment portfolio. 
CREDIT SCORE

Credit Karma

Credit Karma provides free credit scores and insights to stay on top of your credit score. I particularly like their e-mail alerts, which let me know when my score has changed and if they have identified any other important activity related to my credit. ​
BANKING

Charles Schwab

As someone who doesn't stay in one place for long, ATM fees can easily pile up when I need access to cash in different locations. Schwab foots the bill for ATM fees and does not charge foreign transaction fees or a monthly fee to bank with them. As a brokerage account holder as well, Schwab provides a seamless experience transitioning funds between accounts.
​

Wealthfront

Wealthfront began as an investment platform but has added several banking features to their product offerings. Wealthfront recently announced new checking features to their cash account, which earns 5x the national average interest rate.
CREDIT CARDS

Chase Freedom Unlimited

Chase Freedom Unlimited is an all-around great credit card to use for daily purchases. With no annual fee, this card earns 1.5% on all purchases and 5% cash back on select spending categories each quarter. 
​

Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card

If you are an Amazon Prime member, this card offers some pretty awesome perks. The Amazon Prime Awards Visa Signature card offers 5% cash back on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases, 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations and drugstores, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.
INVESTING

BROKERAGE
​

Charles Schwab

In 2019, Charles Schwab eliminated commission fees on all trades, making it more cost-effective than ever to invest in the market. Schwab offers a variety of investment products as well as the ability to invest in fractional shares through their Schwab Stock Slices offering. 
​

AUTOMATED INVESTING
​

Wealthfront

Wealthfront is one of the pioneers of automated investing and has been developing their financial technology since 2012. This platform offers diversified portfolio offerings that incorporate your risk preferences, rebalance automatically, and deploy tax-efficient strategies through tax-loss harvesting. 
​

REAL ESTATE CROWDFUNDING
​

Crowdstreet

Crowdstreet provides a marketplace to connect sponsors and investors with commercial real estate private offerings. Crowdstreet offers a variety of deals and funds across different sectors including multi-family homes, office buildings, self-storage, and hotels.

* E-mail thefoodieconomist@gmail.com for a referral

AGRICULTURAL CROWDFUNDING

​

Harvest Returns

Harvest Returns offers investors the opportunity to participate in agricultural private offerings. Harvest Returns specializes in niche offerings that use the latest farming technology and sustainable practices to provide high quality deals. 
TAXES

TurboTax by Intuit

TurboTax needs no introduction as one of the leading platforms to prepare and file your taxes. Tried and true, TurboTax makes tax preparation a a seamless process.
​
HOME & MORTGAGE

​MORTGAGE & REFINANCE RATES
​

Bankrate

Bankrate provides data on financial institutions that are currently offering the most competitive purchase and refinance rates.


Nerdwallet

You may think of Nerdwallet as the "Consumer Reports" of financial products, but they also report the latest purchase and refinance rates as well. Nerdwallet provides information on banks with the most competitive purchase and refinance rates as well as general insights on mortgage rate trends.
LOANS

Portfolio Line of Credit
​

Wealthfront

If you have an investment portfolio of >$25,000 through Wealthfront, you can get access to a portfolio line of credit. A portfolio line of credit allows you to borrow against your assets at a variable interest rate (determined by the Fed Funds rates). Loans do not have a set repayment schedule, however a decline in your securities beyond a certain threshold may require you to provide additional funds or liquidate of a portion of your securities to cover the margin deficiency.

​Be sure to read all terms and conditions and familiarize yourself with the risks before engaging in a portfolio line of credit. 
RETIREMENT

Traditional & Roth IRA's
​

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab offers both traditional IRA and Roth IRA accounts and provides a range of investment options, including stocks, bonds, low-cost index funds and ETF's, and mutual funds. 
​

Wealthfront

In addition to taxable investment accounts, Wealthfront provides support for traditional and Roth IRA accounts. Wealthfront will create a diversified portfolio of assets based on your risk preferences and will automatically rebalance your portfolio over time. 

STAY INFORMED
The financial landscape and economic conditions are constantly changing, which means there are always new opportunities and cycles you can prepare for ahead of time. Staying informed will help you ensure you are always leveraging the latest strategies to maximize your money. Be vigilant, remain knowledgeable, and always be looking ahead. 

Want to stay up to date? Follow the blog for the latest information on building financial independence. 

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