TEAMM - Teaching Educators About Marriage & Money

New Cars can start a cycle of debt that continues to grow for years and years.  Instead of ever paying off a car, you get caught in the hamster wheel of trading for a new car ever 2-3 years and your overall debt just keeps growing! I'm going to show you how to break that cycle and find a used car in the $5000 range that will last for years and allow you to use your money to fund experiences in life instead of selling yourself into debt slavery to feed your new car smell habit.

Think about the stress relief you would have as a teacher if you knew that you had a gap year every 7 years.  Or imagine if you were financially able to leave a bad situation and wait for the right job offer to come along.  This changes the game for educators and that's my goal.

Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill but COULDN'T PAY THE BILL. Then Jack fell down and broke his crown, and they still had 59 payments to go! (sad but true story)  Thankfully Assistant Principal Matt Matheson is trying to prevent this kind of tragedy for future generations.  I visited with him and he told me his plan to educate elementary students with personal finance.  Personal Finance in Elementary School?  Can you teach elementary students personal finance?  Let’s find out!

How One Teacher Lives the FIRE Life, and You Can Too!  I knew early on that Ed was a guy that would be my poster boy for what’s possible for teachers.  But not JUST teachers only.  Ed is actually a living, breathing example of what the FIRE movement is all about.  And what the Financial Independence Retire Early theory actually looks like in practice.

I visited with Craig Dacy – Financial Coach from www.craigdacy.com. Craig talked about being born and raised in Texas. He also discussed his 7 years in the classroom before he became a full-time financial coach. Craig said he thought some of biggest financial mistakes that teachers make are: Spending in their classrooms and deciding between wants and needs. For new teachers, Craig’s advice was to plan ahead for that new paycheck and live like you are still in college and dump that extra money on your student loans. Craig said his parents were his positive influences with money and his dad always taught him to save for a rainy day. Some of Craig’s goals are: Figure out how to reach people that can’t afford financial coaching. Work with companies to assist employees with finances. Craig said budgeting is the blueprint or plan for finances.

Student Loans Forgiven for Teachers: The Public Service Loan Forgiveness, PSLF, is a fairly decent options for teachers to have their student loans forgiven.  If you have considered getting in the PSLF, I believe now is the time to do it.  The reason is, the first student loans will be forgiven starting in October of 2017.  Once this starts to happen the public interest and media coverage will skyrocket! Therefore, I look for the government to intervene and start making some changes to the program.  So to increase your odds of taking advantage of the opportunity, be enrolled before this happens.

Bruce sat down with Chris Eubanks, who is a High School Principal, and a dear friend for the last 6 years.  Plus Chris was the associate minister for the Success church of Christ during his time in the area.   We talked about Dave Ramsey - Financial Peace University plus much more!  Chris was an important person for me to talk with because he is the one who introduced me to Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University.  Brenda and I will forever be indebted to him for that!

Brenda and I destroyed our marriage and our finances at the same time.  That's talent, right?  We first got the marriage lined out, and all credit goes to God for that.  When you focus on something greater than yourself, you can see the things that are most important. Then Chris introduced us to Dave Ramsey and FPU and we never looked back.  Our marriage was good when we were deep in debt and scraping by.  But now, it's on a whole different level!  The peace that comes with having your money in check and not living hand to mouth, is indescribable.  It's true freedom!

I visited with Bobby Hoyt from Millennial Money Man, where we discuss his former life as a teacher and paying off his student loan debt.  Bobby also offers advice for new teachers who are just starting their careers. Bobby said he has wanted to be a teacher since the 6th grade.   Bobby and Coral are both from the field of education. Coral is still working as a teacher so he was a great person for me to get some advice from that I could pass on to other teachers.  Bobby said he hopes to be able to give back to teachers one day as well.