Holidays can be hard for a lot of people.
In this video, I go over some tips on budgeting for the holidays so you don't break the bank.

Links referred on the video:
Budgeting course
Budgeting workshop (virtual and live)

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I've been meaning to write this since I saw many returns that shared these common themes, and I continue to see them when I review my coaching clients' returns.

The below is more or less a summary of common themes that popped up with the tax returns I have prepared or reviewed for my clients. 

• You will almost always owe taxes if you have RSU vested. 22% is the regular Federal withholding for any RSU vesting. If you have RSUs, you are most likely already at the 32%, 35%, or 37% Federal tax bracket. That alone is already an under-withholding of 10% to 15%. For a $100K of RSU, that's already an additional tax liability of $10K. With a tax liability in the five digits, working with a tax professional is worth investing money in.
• You have to pay ordinary income tax on the discount you get from ESPP. Usually, it's a 15% discount. Nothing is free. You pay this when you sell. No taxable event when you buy ESPP. Most people fail to report this part in the year they sell.
• If you have any stock options, this is the part when I actually will tell you that unless you are adept with the intricacies of how these work, you are better off hiring a tax professional. Don't play smart with this. It can become a VERY costly mistake. I've had a few clients owe taxes the size of a mortgage. Have you noticed the market recently? You risk selling investments low due to your optimism in exercising all those stock options the previous year with no proper tax planning. Now talk about tax liabilities you will have to deal with next year when you do your 2022 tax return.
• Sometimes self-preparation is not worth it. I reviewed a couple of my coaching clients' tax returns. Some have made costly mistakes where we have to amend their return. Amending takes longer to process so you will get your money back much later. Most don't understand how to report the supplemental that goes with their 1099B, so they pay more taxes than they should be.
• Depreciation on a rental is not a "free expense." You'll end up paying that back when you sell.
• You need to have a tracking system like cointracker.io if you'll continue doing crypto. I don't prepare my clients' tax returns if they don't have a tracking system since it's a pain in the butt trying to figure out the gains and losses and just trying to identify from the time you buy to sell. Have you looked at the transaction history and tried dissecting it? Do yourself a favor and sign up for the app. I am not a crypto fan, so I don't invest in it.
• Stay on top of anything you do throughout the year that'll trigger a taxable event, as you will be surprised by your tax bill when tax time comes. Some of the everyday taxable events are RSU vesting, ISO exercise (vest doesn't count), selling stocks/index funds/ETFs (buying doesn't count), selling ESPP (buying doesn't count), 

I will include a section in the Financial Literacy Course (now available for pre-order) deep-diving into some of the above. Understanding your taxes is essential. You can now pre-order and take advantage of the 15% discount (code MomsAreAwesome) till Sunday, May 15th.

The course, however, won't help you figure out proper tax planning. I emphasize tax planning is MORE critical than tax preparation. By the time you file your taxes, it's too late to do anything. So invest in tax planning, especially if you have company equities. Please don't make the costly mistakes of some of my clients trying to save money by not hiring a tax professional. I offer tax planning sessions throughout the year as part of my financial coaching sessions. Schedule a complimentary chat now.

Happy Mother's Day to all the human moms and pet moms!

I don't have human kids, but I have two beautiful dogs that I love very much (some pictures below). 

Can you also believe it's been three years since I quit my corporate job at Visa? You can read more about the first month after becoming a full-time entrepreneur in this blog. I started my business at the end of 2016, so it's almost six years since I became a financial coach. 

It's been quite a ride and blessings since, from quitting my job to moving here to a new city in Las Vegas where I didn't know anyone to buying a brand new house to business growth on both the tax and coaching front. It's been a great ride. I am truly blessed. 

I am offering a 15% discount on everything in honor of all the wonderful moms and my Anniversary. Use discount code MomsAreAwesome for the online courses. The sale ends next Sunday, May 15th.

I currently have two courses available. 
The Budgeting course - teaches you the method I use for my budgeting and all my private coaching clients. All you need is Excel or Google Sheet. This course is at the regular price of $59.
LinkedIn course - even though I haven't been on LinkedIn for a while, the philosophy to grow is still the same. So I am selling it now for only $97. Discount is also applicable to this.

And I am super excited to announce that I am currently working on the Financial Literacy course. So I am shooting to have that released in the next week or two. This course comes with a complimentary half an hour of coaching as well.
You can see the full agenda of the course on this site. You can now do a pre-order to take advantage of the discount. 
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I am also honoring the 15% discount on any of my coaching packages, just as long as you set up the complimentary chat for anytime this month and mention this discount*.

*Discount is not applicable on installment plans.

This year has flown by quick. We are already finishing half of the year. As I adjust and settle into my new life here in Vegas, I haven't been as active on social media but I do post whenever I can on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.  Please follow me to get updates when I post. 😊

As I adjust, I realize that I do like the city. I love the Strip. I don't gamble nor drink (more a social drinker) but I do enjoy the shows, entertainment and the "city" life the Strip offers. At the same time, I appreciate the quietness and the other activities Vegas offers outside of the strip. So I get the best of both worlds and I love that. Plus, most people or friends I know will eventually visit the Strip sooner or later. I mean who doesn't want to see the gigantic casinos that the Strip offers at least once in their life, right? So I will see my friends or acquaintances when they visit.

With this decision to stay, I have decided early this year to go ahead and purchase a home. I went around with my realtor to look at resale homes but the market has been very competitive that several of my offers were not accepted. I had one that was accepted but the inspection report came back with major issues that could potentially cost me a lot of money.

After the frustration from this experience, I decided to just go with a brand new home. I have always wanted a brand new home but I was targeting a certain budget. After the disappointing experience above, I decided to increase my budget so I can go for a house that I want - with the specs I want, a big enough size with enough rooms for my hobbies and passions. The house is 1966 square feet with a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, and a loft that I am converting into a dance room, plus a backyard mainly for my dogs (super important for me and I'm sure for them too! 😄)

I have owned a condo before (read about my experience regarding that) and jointly owned a condo-style townhouse with no backyard in the Bay Area with a former partner. This would be my first time to ever own a single-family house with a backyard under just my own name so it is a proud accomplishment for me. I have always wanted to live in a lower cost of living area so I don't have to work as hard and continue my semi-retired lifestyle. I also put down a large enough downpayment so my monthly housing cost will be very low. After I settle in, my housing expenses will actually be lower than my current rental (I am living in a one-bedroom apartment at the moment for only $1250 - this would have been closer to $3000 had I stayed in the Silicon Valley area). You can start counting the reasons why I've moved here right? 😉

The equivalent house I bought would also have been four times the price in the Bay Area. For reference I bought my home for around $400K and two almost equivalent houses currently on market as of today in Milpitas where I was from is being offered for almost $1.6M (house 1, house 2). I could essentially afford it since I have been down that road before owning a home in the Silicon Valley area so I know how to work around my budget for that but I want to take it easy and enjoy not working as hard anymore. Hence, here I am. Everything I did was intentional to get to a place where I am semi-retired with a schedule I can always change to fit my needs and still continue doing what I love - helping people with their finances plus enjoy my hobbies and what the city has to offer.

How are your financial goals going? Do you feel confident about where you are headed? If you need help or just want to chat, feel free to set up a complimentary chat. I also have a Fourth of July sale going on right now for all my services. If you set up a complimentary and officially sign up as my client from now till midnight PST on July 4th, you will get 20% off any services or packages you pay upfront (discount does not apply to installment plans).

As if the ending of a long-term relationship wasn't hard enough, I decided I wanted to start over somewhere else so I decided to move to Las Vegas. Check out my article where I talked about this.

There must be something about the number 20 that makes me move. I immigrated to the Bay Area from the Philippines back in 2000 and then moved to Vegas 20 years later. Check out my article sharing my immigrant story.
I didn't know anyone when I moved here to Vegas back in August.

I had no family nor friends at that time living here.

Was I scared to move and start all over again?

Of course! It’s normal to feel at least some nervousness moving to a new city and starting all over. Thankfully, I already have an established business which allows me to work pretty much anywhere in the world remotely, so I didn't have to worry about the financial piece.

One of my worries of having to start all over again was spending the holidays on my own. I like to be around people during the holidays. Since I moved during the pandemic it was challenging at first to meet new people and make friends due to the restrictions — in-person meet-ups and events were very limited.

Thankfully Vegas is more relaxed and dine-in was already allowed when I moved here. Not to mention there are lots of apps where you can meet friends. I became very proactive joining several Facebook groups and used Bumble bff (if you didn't know there is a bff version of this dating app). I have met some great people through these two channels.

I am thankful that almost three months in, I already have a number of friends I can just call and hang out with now. I’ve even been invited to two homes for Thanksgiving.

I definitely have a lot to be thankful for in life.

So why am I bringing this up? I am sharing this mainly because I meet people who are scared of moving to a new place where they don't know anyone and then they complain about not having friends. Then they complain about being lonely and then they go out in the dating world only to be burned by the wrong men.

I've also heard from others about people moving here and complaining about the heat, the traffic, etc. I personally don't attract complainer friends into my life so I only hear it through others. If I do, they normally stop complaining when being around me or they disappear pretty quickly from my life. Want to know how? Study the "Law of Attraction".

The other reason I'm also sharing this is to remind you that you get back what you put in the world. This same concept applies to your finances. Friends don't just show up at your door, you have to be proactive and put yourself out there. Your finances aren't going to improve if you just sit back and do nothing thinking whatever you're doing is going to change anything. 

Since it is Thanksgiving and Black Friday this week, I want to make it easier for you to get your finances together and to stop making excuses. 

I'm offering 50% off* my financial coaching services till the end of November.

To take advantage of the financial coaching discount, you just have to schedule a complimentary chat till end of November and pay the full fee during the complimentary.

*In order to qualify for 50% off, you must have an adjusted gross income of $70K or less ($140K or less for couples combined). You will be asked to show your 2019 1040 form so I can verify during our call. All others will receive 25% off.

Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving.