I sat down with Austin Preece, a 28 year old planner out of Wisconsin, to talk about money the way real people live it. We started with the human side, trust first, numbers second, because if you cannot say your priorities out loud, the spreadsheet will not save you. Austin breaks it down like a coach, track your spending, actually read your tax return, know what is coming in and what is leaking out. We get into tax planning that shows real dollar value, how to avoid the classic one year Roth blow up, why donor advised funds can level up your giving, and why most of us need savings outside retirement so we have flexibility to start a business, buy a home, or just breathe.

We talk latte myths, patience, and compounding, plus my favorite analogy, you cannot build the top floor before the foundation. If you want a simple path, start small, open a plain brokerage account, automate something, and keep showing up. Boring moves now, loud results later.