Layne Steffen Financial Coach

10/16/2026

Why work with a financial coach?

1. Clarity & Direction - A coach helps you define goals and build a clear, actionable plan.

2. Accountability - Consistent support keeps you on track with spending, saving, and habits.

3. Education & Confidence - You learn how money works so decisions feel calm and informed.

4. Investing Guidance - A coach helps you understand investing basics (like 401ks, Roth IRAs, etc.), risk, and long‑term strategy.

5. Improved Financial Outcomes - Better systems, reduced debt, stronger savings, and long‑term wealth building.

Financial coaching benefits all incomes earners and is useful for those who are in chaos as well as those who are managing pretty well but need guidance and affirmation through transitions of life or through major decisions.

Note, a financial coach is not the same thing as a financial advisor. Coaching is fee-based while advisors invest your assets directly and typically take a percentage of the total amount under their management.

Interested in learning more? Direct message me for more info, fees, etc.

10/16/2026

If any of these things sound complicated or mysterious, send me a DM - happy to break down common (and uncommon) financial terms!

Only about 34% of adults are financially literate.

Spending even 20 focused hours learning the basics of money and investing can put you years ahead of where you’d be otherwise.

You don’t need to know everything. You just need to understand enough to make better decisions with your money.

– Josh

10/16/2026

If the Lord tarries and I see another year, I'll be the big 4-0 next year. Solid advice here but you don't have to wait until you're 40 to think about these things...in fact, the sooner we grasp these concepts the better for a peaceful financial life now and in the future. Happy Friday! 😀

9 things people who retire comfortably were doing in their 40s that nobody noticed at the time.

You didn't see them doing any of this. That was sort of the point.

1 - They took the full 401(k) match, every year, at every job, without ever thinking of it as optional.

2 - They kept the car after it was paid off. For years. And they put the old payment into savings like the car was still charging them.

3 - They didn't move up. Same house, same neighbors, while everyone around them traded up twice and started over on a 30-year mortgage at 48.

4 - They had one honest money conversation a month with their spouse. Twenty minutes, no ambush. Boring, and it held the whole thing together.

5 - They ignored the market. Up, down, scary headline, big rally. Same contribution, same funds, same shrug.

6 - They had a "life happens" fund, separate from emergencies, so the water heater and the transmission never once touched the retirement account.

7 - They bumped their savings rate every time they got a raise, before the raise had time to become a lifestyle.

8 - They said no to things. The destination wedding. The boat. The timeshare presentation. Kindly, quickly, and without a speech.

9 - They never talked about any of this. Not because it was a secret. Because it wasn't interesting. It was just what they did.

None of these makes a good story at a dinner party. Nobody was impressed. That's the tell. The people who retire comfortably almost never look like they're doing anything at all, and then one day they're 62 and done.

Save this. Then send it to someone in their 40s who's quietly doing at least five of these. They should know it's working.

10/06/2026

7 Bad Habits I Replaced With Good Ones

1. Phone first thing in the morning → water, prayer, and my Bible first
2. Games on my phone → deleted them. I know I can't control myself.
3. Waking up to a messy kitchen → a 10-minute nightly reset
4. Scrolling before bed → my phone has a bedtime before I do
5. Hitting snooze → phone across the room
6. Easy online shopping → we deleted Amazon from our phones
7. "I'll read more someday" → one page every morning

None of these were big changes. They just added up.

Less stuff, fewer apps, fewer decisions. That's most of it.

I wrote down 50 rules like these that simplified my home and my life.

P.S. The 50 minimalist rules that changed how my home and my life feel are linked in the comments.

09/26/2026

Gas is flirting with $5/gal at my local gas station. ⛽
Diesel is hovering around $7/gal. 🚚
Beef prices are around $7/pound. 🐄
Mortgage rates surged past 7% this week. 🏠

These fluctuations have real life impact to personal financial planning and monthly budgets as well as broader economic changes. 💹

Tips to stay level-headed and agile:

1. A good budget will have some margin built into it to accommodate frequent fluctuations such as fuel prices.

2. Its OKAY to change habits in light of price changes - in fact, its necessary. You may have to rethink traveling, look to do some carpooling, reduce beef intake, etc., but adjusting expectations based on what you can actually afford versus what you want to afford is normal for the vast majority of people, even the wealthy!

3. When things get tight unexpectantly, avoid going into debt to maintain the status quo. If changing a habit to reduce spending is difficult, is there a side gig you can do to increase income or a personal item you can sell for short term help?

Its important to admit that things like changing fuel and food prices and mortgage rates really do impact our bottom-line. One of the worst things you can do is pretend it's not a factor and fail to adjust lifestyle, budgets, and plans accordingly.

* Like and follow for more personal finance tips and insights 👍

09/18/2026

Well said - important nuances here!

Being frugal and being cheap are NOT the same thing.

Being frugal is great. No matter how much money you have, you should probably always try to be somewhat frugal. My definition of frugal isn’t pinching pennies, it’s just seeking value for your money. I think if you give up a generally frugal mindset, you just start mindlessly throwing money at all your problems. Even if you have the money to sustain it, it’s not how you live a happy life. Just my perspective.

Being cheap, on the other hand, is a bad quality. It’s off putting to those around you, it leads you to making suboptimal decisions, and it generally makes your life worse in the long run. Price isn’t the only thing you should be looking at. It’s important to switch your mindset to a value driven approach. Try to use your money in the way that gets you the most, not just minimizes money out the door.

These are just some examples that hopefully illustrate my view of what it means to be frugal vs. cheap!

- Matt

09/05/2026

Helpful savings guide...

09/05/2026

I haven't posted in a while. My mind has been elsewhere the last few weeks. Because of this, it hit me again how important it is to have a financial plan. Because life happens. We get distracted. We lose interest. Priorities shift. 🎭

Having a financial plan with automated investing, regular giving, saving, and budgeting is absolutely paramount to building a stable and long-term future. 💯

Of course, life events may require financial adjustments such as temporarily reducing investing and that's okay. If you have a solid plan in motion, you can modify as needed in the moment to accommodate life's unexpected opportunities and set backs!

*Like and follow for more personal finance insights 👍

08/15/2026

Investing tip #10 - Last one! Invest in yourself and others. 🏃‍♂️‍➡️

While stock market returns and compound interest grows a financial portfolio over time, taking care of your own mind, body, and soul and those around you will pay numerous benefits over the course of life.

Mind - always keep learning new things. Seek insights into how things work. Read a book. Try something new. 📖

Body - stay active, eat well, and regularly rest. 🛌

Soul - walk with God and live in harmony with those around you. ✝

Each of the above takes an investment of time, sacrifice, some pain, humility, and sometimes delayed gratification. But keep the return in mind. Focus on the ROI. And just like stock investing, develop regular patterns that promote and sustain your well-being.

*Like and follow for more personal finance tips and insights 👍

Send a message to learn more

08/15/2026

This is why dollar cost averaging and automating regular investing is so important! Unless you have hours of time in a day and advanced analytical tools, keep it simple by regularly investing when the market is high and when the market is low.

This is going to ruffle some feathers... but you really shouldn’t be trying to “buy the dip.”

This is one of the most common phrases tossed around the investing world and at first glance, it makes sense. If you can “buy the dip,” you get a nice lower buy-in price and can ride it straight back up. More money in your pocket, right?!

Here is the thing though: no one really knows when a dip is coming. The market can be “overvalued” by whatever metric you want to look at (P/E, Buffett indicator, earnings yield, etc. etc.) and the market can continue to rip along for another year or more and gain substantial value. It can, and often does, surge beyond what a “dip” would bring it back to.

It’s really hard to internalize this, even for experienced investors, but the market reflects all current information. That means that if there was credible reason for the market to dip, it would already be in the dip.

This strategy of moving in and out of the market to get a lower buy-in price will make you a billionaire if you can do it with any semblance of reliability. Since you’re not a billionaire, you shouldn’t be trying to time the market.

Real wealth is built by buying and holding assets through the ups and downs. Unfortunately you’re not going to do better in the long term by trying to time market corrections.

- Matt