Grant Evans - Financial Advisor

08/26/2026

There are really only two questions that need to be answered in order to retire with confidence.

1) Can you safely generate your desired income over 30-40 years?

2) Are you ready to step away?

If one of your answers is "No." It's not time.

I have this conversation with clients often, and being ready to step away is often the last box checked.

The income plan works, the numbers are solid, and every projection says go. But they're not ready to walk away from the identity, the routine, & the purpose that work gives them at this moment in time.

The math being ready doesn't mean you have to be.

On the other hand, there have been plenty of times I have seen the opposite.

Someone is completely burnt out, mentally checked out, and ready to be done yesterday -- but the income isn't there to support the life they want or need.

Rushing retirement anyway doesn't fix the problem. It just trades one stress for another.

The money question has a clear answer. We can run the numbers & know exactly where you stand.

The ready question only you can answer.

When you can answer, "Yes" to both, that is when you know it's time.

08/24/2026

Over the past 7 days, I walked through the Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap. 7 simple (not easy) steps to help Indiana teachers tune out the noise and get crystal clear on what to do with their next dollar.

Here's the full Roadmap in one place:

Step 1: Capture the Match

Step 2: One Month of Net Pay in Cash

Step 3: Eliminate High-Interest Debt

Step 4: Three Months of Net Pay in Cash

Step 5: 10% of Gross Income Into a Roth IRA

Step 6: Fund What's Coming

Step 7: Taxable Brokerage or Eliminate All Debt

The order matters. Each step builds on the one before it, and you'll likely get the best results by focusing all your energy on the step that matches where you currently are financially.

I put the entire Roadmap (each step fully explained) into one blog post you can save, share, or come back to anytime 👇

Over the years, I've had a lot of conversations with Indiana teachers of all ages about money.

08/23/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 7

Taxable Brokerage or Eliminate All Debt

At this point, your match is captured, your reserves are built, your high-interest debt is gone, and 10% of your income is building tax-free retirement savings. Everything from here is extra. So the question becomes, "What do you value more?"

Option 1: Invest in a taxable brokerage account. This builds wealth beyond your retirement accounts, with no age restrictions on when you can use it. For teachers dreaming about retiring before 59.5, this is the money that bridges the gap.

Option 2: Eliminate all debt. Attack the mortgage, the car loan, or all of it. There is no math formula that captures the peace of mind of owing no one.

There is no wrong answer here, and if you made it to step 7, give yourself a pat on the back because you are in rare air!

That's the entire Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap.

Committing to completing all 7 steps won't be for every teacher, and that's okay!

But if you do commit, here are a few things I can promise you on your wealth-building journey:

1) It won't be easy.

2) It will likely take decades.

3) There will be setbacks along the way -- life does not move in a straight line

4) You will learn a lot about yourself along the way (saying 'No' to things that don't truly bring your joy or value)

5) It will be worth it

Finally, I put all 7 Steps into a one-page guide you can save or print to use as your North Star -- DM "ROADMAP," and I'll send it your way!

08/22/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 6

Fund What's Coming

With retirement savings on autopilot. Now it's time to fund the life between now and then.

This step is about increasing your cash reserves for two kinds of expenses:

The unexpected ones that will inevitably come (home and car maintenance).

And the ones you can see coming, such as your next vehicle, travel, kids' education, etc.

On a teacher's salary, you likely can't fully fund every goal you have at once. And that's okay.

Small, consistent amounts toward the things that matter will always beat ignoring them until they arrive.

Name your 3-4 buckets, fund what you can, and adjust as life changes.

08/21/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 5

10% of Gross Income Into a Roth IRA

This is the step that builds your long-term wealth while giving you flexibility.

The goal is to save 10% of your gross income into a Roth IRA.

Why a Roth IRA?

As an Indiana teacher, the majority of your retirement benefits will be taxed during your retirement years.

Your personal savings are your chance to balance the scales.

Roth IRA dollars grow tax-free and come out tax-free in retirement. When it comes time to create your retirement paycheck, having both pre-tax and tax-free buckets to draw from opens up planning opportunities that can save you real money over the decades.

Why a Roth IRA instead of your 403(b)?

Control & Flexibility.

You pick the provider, and you get access to the entire investment universe, which can improve your returns while also potentially reducing your fees.

Some school 403(b) menus are filled with high-fee insurance products, and this step keeps you out of them entirely.

Also, unlike your 403b, your Roth IRA dollars are easier to access in the event you need extra funds before reaching retirement age (but if you are following The Roadmap, chances are you won't -- but that added flexibility is just extra POM for most people).

Roth IRAs do have income limits and contribution limits that you will need to be aware of, but for the most part, teachers will be well within these limits.

08/20/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 4

Three Months of Net Pay in Cash

With high-interest debt now gone, it's time to come back to the cash reserve.

The goal now is three months of take-home pay in cash.

One month of net pay (step 2) covers life's small surprises while three months covers a real disruption.

For teachers specifically, you have more income security than most professions, which is why three months is the target here instead of the six months you'll hear recommended elsewhere.

Your paycheck is more predictable, so your cash can be more efficient.

Park it somewhere it earns something (a high-yield savings account works great), keep it separate from your checking account, and try your best to pretend it doesn't exist.

We will come back to cash one more time in the Teacher Retirement Roadmap, but now it's time to move on to focusing on growing your long-term wealth.

08/19/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 3

Eliminate High-Interest Debt

With the match captured and one month of cash in the bank, it's time to attack high-interest debt.

What counts as high-interest? I scale it by decade:

In your 20s & 30s: anything above 10%

In your 40s and 50s: anything above 8%

The younger you are, the more decades your invested dollars have to compound, which raises the bar on what debt is worth attacking versus investing through. As retirement gets closer, the bar drops, because being debt-free heading into retirement is one of the most powerful financial positions to be in -- for most people.

In practice, this step is mostly about credit cards and personal loans. Paying off a credit card charging 22% is a guaranteed 22% return on your money. No investment on earth (other than a 401k or 403b match) offers that.

There is one exception for teachers.

Federal student loans on a Public Service Loan Forgiveness track. As a teacher, you are one of the few professions where loan forgiveness genuinely works. If you're pursuing PSLF, pay the minimum, certify your employment every year, stay up to date on the laws, and let the program do its job. Attacking those loans early means voluntarily paying back money that would have been forgiven.

08/18/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 2

One Month of Net Pay in Cash

Once the match is captured, the next goal is simple (not easy).

Save one month of your take-home pay in cash.

If $4,000 hits your bank account each month after taxes, insurance, and other deductions, then $4,000 in savings is your target.

Why does this come before attacking debt?

Because stuff will come up on your journey. The car will need tires. The kids will need something you didn't plan for. And early on, one surprise expense is all it takes to end up racking up consumer debt that sets you back months.

One month of net pay won't cover everything life throws at you. But it covers most of the small stuff, and it buys you the breathing room to keep making progress on the steps ahead.

This is not the finish line for your cash savings. We will come back to this later in the Roadmap.

But for now, know that achieving Step 2 is a big deal, as nearly half of Americans can't cover a $1,000 unexpected expense.

08/17/2026

The Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap: Step 1

Capture the Match

If your school corporation offers a 403(b) match, this is where your money journey starts. Before tackling debt, before saving cash, & before anything else.

Here's why.

The employer match is the only investment I know of that is guaranteed to provide a 100% return. You put in a dollar, your school puts in a dollar. There is nothing else like it.

And here's what I've noticed after years of working with teachers. Most genuinely don't know if their district offers a match or not.

Some districts do & some don't.

So step 1 might be as simple as sending one email to your Central Office or HR and ask, "Does our corporation match 403(b) contributions, and if so, how much?"

If the answer is yes, contribute whatever it takes to get every dollar of that match.

If the answer is no, then skip to step 2.

08/16/2026

Over the years, I've had a lot of conversations with Indiana teachers of all ages about money.

During this time, I've learned a few things:

1)Teachers are some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people out there.

2) It's common for teachers with just a little bit of guidance (even on a modest salary) to build more wealth than the average American.

3) Teachers will follow a blueprint. Give them the steps, and they will execute them.

Over the next 7 days, I'm going to outline 7 steps that, if correctly followed, will help Indiana teachers cut out the noise and have a clear path on what to do with their next dollar.

I'm calling it the Indiana Teacher Retirement Roadmap.

If you're an Indiana teacher (or know one), follow along these next 7 days as I help you cut out the noise and outline the blueprint that will help you win with money not only today, but for years ahead.