Financial advice/ where to find advisor in SATX area

[Shmatt]

Hey yall, this is more of an unconventional post for me but I just need a helping hand on where to look. Im 19 with a very okay job paying wise but I have to pay my house, water, electricity and other small bills and just need a way to organize better. Thank you and HOOKEM!

[Deadhead_Horn]

I work in the financial world and unless you're making millions with tons of expenses, a financial advisor or family office to manage your finances is kind of a waste of money. I make very good money and just put everything into an excel spreadsheet. Put your income, your expenses in buckets, then figure out your variance. If you have certain financial goals, cross reference those goals with how much your making/spending. 

Just my two cents, though. If you want to pay someone to tell you how much you should be saving, spending, et al, go nuts. Not sure there is necessarily a wrong answers, its more so just what works for you. 

Edited Friday at 06:18 PM by Deadhead_Horn

[Rich]

https://www.monarchmoney.com/referral/6udo5stdfq?r_source=share
 

I love this App! Really helps organize everything and you set your budgets by category. Links all your accounts so it makes it so easy to digest.

 

💪🏽🤘🏽

[Hashtag]

9 minutes ago, Rich said:

https://www.monarchmoney.com/referral/6udo5stdfq?r_source=share
 

I love this App! Really helps organize everything and you set your budgets by category. Links all your accounts so it makes it so easy to digest.

 

💪🏽🤘🏽

This or Rocket Money(especially if you have subscription services)

[Shmatt]

Thank y'all🙏, I’ll check out both! And thank you for the spreadsheet idea. That advice actually helps me a-lot so much appreciated@Deadhead_Horn

[Born Burnt Orange]

23 hours ago, Shmatt said:

Hey yall, this is more of an unconventional post for me but I just need a helping hand on where to look. Im 19 with a very okay job paying wise but I have to pay my house, water, electricity and other small bills and just need a way to organize better. Thank you and HOOKEM!

Do not get a financial advisor.  Go read “I will teach you to be rich” by Ramit Sethi.  Easy to read but great advice.  

[GoHorns1]

23 hours ago, Shmatt said:

Hey yall, this is more of an unconventional post for me but I just need a helping hand on where to look. Im 19 with a very okay job paying wise but I have to pay my house, water, electricity and other small bills and just need a way to organize better. Thank you and HOOKEM!

Vanguard is great for investments.

Edited 10 hours ago by GoHorns1

[Born Burnt Orange]

Also, if you have a W-2 paying job you need to be putting as much as you can in a Roth IRA but you need to make sure you assign it to a fund.  My wife is a financial genius and I can answer any particular questions you may have.  

[Born Burnt Orange]

@Jeff05  You got some better advice?  I doubt it.  Everything I have said is solid and any financial guru worth a sh!t will tell you the same thing I did as far as starting with a Roth IRA.  

[Shmatt]

1 hour ago, Born Burnt Orange said:

Also, if you have a W-2 paying job you need to be putting as much as you can in a Roth IRA but you need to make sure you assign it to a fund.  My wife is a financial genius and I can answer any particular questions you may have.  

Sorry if this is a dumb question but im also not knowledgeable on this subject at all. What is/what do you mean by fund🙏? A I have an idea but I want to make sure its the right idea.

[Jeff Howe]

On 6/20/2025 at 12:29 PM, Shmatt said:

Hey yall, this is more of an unconventional post for me but I just need a helping hand on where to look. Im 19 with a very okay job paying wise but I have to pay my house, water, electricity and other small bills and just need a way to organize better. Thank you and HOOKEM!

Wife and I started using the EveryDollar app from Dave Ramsey a few months ago. It's actually helped us save more than I thought it would.

[Born Burnt Orange]

4 minutes ago, Shmatt said:

Sorry if this is a dumb question but im also not knowledgeable on this subject at all. What is/what do you mean by fund🙏? A I have an idea but I want to make sure its the right idea.

An IRA is an Individual Retirement Account. The Roth IRA is tax free and you can add $7000 to each year.  When you put the money in the Roth IRA you have to assign it to somewhere like the S&P 500 or else it will just sit in limbo and you won’t make money.   The S&P 500 is a good fund for investors who are just beginning and learning.   

[Thorn007]

put a little bit in vti each month you will be rich when your 50 yo

[Roy Hinojosa]

Where do you want to be in five years? Debt free (that's if you have debt), married, a homeowner, etc? It would be best to have a goal and figure out how to achieve those goals.

I would suggest the Dave Ramsey method if you don't know where to start where you save $1000 emergency fund (only use for emergencies), start paying off debt using the snowball method (paying the smallest debt first and then move on to bigger debts), once you pay off debt then save for a 3 to 6 month emergency fund, and once you do that then start investing 15% in a company match 401k or Roth IRA, and then start getting a down payment for a house. 

Depending where you are on the baby steps, the more you'll get to accomplishing what you want to do. I will say to start a monthly budget and assign every last cent to a line item in your budget, and live on less what you make. Don't fall into the trap of getting a car loan and end up being upside down on it. I'm not opposed to credit cards, but just have 1 and pay it off every month.

Just some thoughts on someone who has made a bunch of mistakes, good luck!

Edited 6 hours ago by Roy Hinojosa

[Jeff05]

2 hours ago, Born Burnt Orange said:

@Jeff05  You got some better advice?  I doubt it.  Everything I have said is solid and any financial guru worth a sh!t will tell you the same thing I did as far as starting with a Roth IRA.  

An actual financial guru or better yet a fiduciary financial advisor (not an influencer) would ask questions not give out advice.  

 

also your boy Ramit partnered with Facet Wealth so he’s anti advisor till they start paying him. 

[Born Burnt Orange]

1 hour ago, Jeff05 said:

An actual financial guru or better yet a fiduciary financial advisor (not an influencer) would ask questions not give out advice.  

 

also your boy Ramit partnered with Facet Wealth so he’s anti advisor till they start paying him. 

I am not an influencer by any means.  I never said I was a guru either, I said my wife was and she has taught me a lot since I met her.  I have a good financial understanding and can help people get started.  
 

Ramit advises pay per use financial advise.  I highly recommend using a fiduciary as well but not one that charges a percentage.  Ramit is only one avenue of knowledge that I believe is solid for beginners.  I would encourage him to look at  as many sources of information as he can. At 19, he can create wealth much easier than later in life.  

[Bobby Burton]

The value of a financial advisor is directly related to your assets.

[Deadhead_Horn]

5 hours ago, Roy Hinojosa said:

Where do you want to be in five years? Debt free (that's if you have debt), married, a homeowner, etc? It would be best to have a goal and figure out how to achieve those goals.

I would suggest the Dave Ramsey method if you don't know where to start where you save $1000 emergency fund (only use for emergencies), start paying off debt using the snowball method (paying the smallest debt first and then move on to bigger debts), once you pay off debt then save for a 3 to 6 month emergency fund, and once you do that then start investing 15% in a company match 401k or Roth IRA, and then start getting a down payment for a house. 

Depending where you are on the baby steps, the more you'll get to accomplishing what you want to do. I will say to start a monthly budget and assign every last cent to a line item in your budget, and live on less what you make. Don't fall into the trap of getting a car loan and end up being upside down on it. I'm not opposed to credit cards, but just have 1 and pay it off every month.

Just some thoughts on someone who has made a bunch of mistakes, good luck!

Disagree a bit on the credit card comment, although I agree with the general premise. Credit card debt is some of the worst debt to have and if you don't have the money to get something, don't put it on a credit card and think about it later. With that said, I would argue that if you're paying off your credit card every month, get a couple of them and be sure to look at the rewards that follow it. I have a Jet Blue Mastercard for travel benefits, an AMEX Blue Preferred for groceries, streaming, and gas, and then Amazon Prime Visa for Whole Foods/Amazon. It saves me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year. So long as you're not accumulating debt on cards, I advise doing research on where you can save some serious dough. 

[Roy Hinojosa]

Well, that's the thing. Most people do not pay off their credit cards every month and you can just look at the overall credit card debt in this country which is close to $2 trillion. If you can pay them off then do whatever you want, but if someone is young and learning how to use money then practice on one.