Hi,

In June, I launched this newsletter with big hopes of writing regularly, sharing reflections that might support you on your journey with life and money. But, as it tends to, life happened. Four months later, I’m returning to this space to write, reflect, and keep journeying alongside you. 🙃

In this (dare I say) relaunch, I’ll share a few personal and business updates, some resources, and a bit of my thinking about this very strange moment we’re all living through in the United States.

A personal update. In my day job at Princeton University, things took an unexpected turn this summer. After a busy stretch of work, I learned in July that my position was being cut and I was being laid off. For the first time in my career, I joined the ranks of the unemployed, alongside so many others navigating similar uncertainties.

As nonprofit layoffs go, I know mine could have been much worse. I was paid through the end of my contract in November, with a 30-day payout, so while my last official day was in October, I’m still receiving my final paycheck.

So here I am, technically unemployed, but still on the payroll for a few more weeks. There’s a lot more I could say about this transition, but below I’ve shared some of the key steps my wife and I took to secure our finances and stay afloat while I search for what’s next.

Business update. Since life happens/ed, building out the side-hustle that is Rise Together Financial Coaching is moving along slowly. Two important insights I’ve learned in the eight months since I launched the business: 1) I love coaching. Every time I sit with a client and walk with them through the ups and downs, I feel energized. 2) Building a business is no joke, and I am allergic to the big splashy marketing that many others do, so slow and steady is the right pace for me.

However, you might see me posting on some of my social media handles. Feel free to like, reshare, or completely ignore. Just kidding, your likes and reshares will be appreciated.

A few other updates:

• Check out my updated coaching page for a list + title refresh of the services that I provide.
• I now offer a 1-hour “Money Check-In” coaching session, which is designed to give you clarity and support around a specific financial challenge or to revisit your progress on existing goals. The Money Check-in is a great space for both new and existing clients. (Cost: $185)
• I will be migrating to using Zoho Forms for the coaching intake process. Zoho provides a more secure environment than Google Forms.

Through all of these changes, I’m reminded that progress doesn’t always look fast or flashy; it’s often slow, steady, and deeply human. Thanks for being part of the journey.

Layoffs and Financial Planning

There’s no script for financial planning after a layoff. Everyone’s situation and the context they’re living in are unique. Still, two guiding questions can help create a principled framework for decision-making:

1. What’s the minimum amount of money I need to meet my monthly expenses?
2. What parts of my life bring joy, balance, and groundedness—and which of those are non-negotiable?

4 Steps my wife and I took with our finances after the layoff news:

1. Assessed our essentials. We listed and totaled our fixed monthly costs to understand exactly what we need to cover basic expenses.
2. Paused contributions. For now, we’ve paused our monthly contributions to retirement and college savings (Roth IRA and 529 plans).
3. Built up our emergency fund. Because I was notified in July but paid through November, we redirected extra income into our high-yield savings account. That account now holds about four months of living expenses.
4. Protected what brings balance. We revisited our budget to identify the “non-essentials” that are essential to our well-being, like family outings, mental health care, and the occasional meal out. We trimmed these costs but didn’t eliminate them entirely.

Taking these steps helped us replace uncertainty with clarity. We now have a clearer sense of our timeline and resources, which, in turn, allows me to approach the job search process with more calm and strategy.

The Rising Tide of Authoritarianism

That’s a big word, but the worry, anxiety, and sadness many of us are feeling are real. We can feel it in the air, in conversations, and even in our breath. The president is deploying the military to cities, targeting immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, arresting political opponents, dismantling democratic institutions, and, frankly, behaving in ways that are deeply alarming. These are not normal times in the United States, at least not in our lifetime.

So what does any of this have to do with financial coaching? Quite a lot, actually. The stress of living through political and social turmoil inevitably seeps into every part of our lives, including our relationship with money. Finding ways to stay grounded, while being engaged and resisting this authoritarian rise, is essential for both our future and our present sanity.

Here are a couple of resources that have helped me stay informed and grounded:

• The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook, a Substack by Scot Nakagawa. Scot offers a deeply insightful analysis of our current moment, drawing from decades of organizing experience, including work against neo-Nazis in Oregon in the 1980s and 1990s. (Fair warning: if you subscribe, his updates are frequent, but worth it.)
• Choose Democracy, a resource hub curating “practical actions and lessons from around the globe to fight autocrats.” Their latest post, following the latest “No Kings” protests, offers a thoughtful look at what’s next.

In times like these, it’s easy to feel powerless, but small acts of care and clarity still matter. Tending to our finances, supporting one another, and staying grounded in our values are all ways of protecting what’s human and hopeful in us. Even amidst uncertainty, we can still build something steady, meaningful, and free.

Thanks, as always, for being here. The world feels heavy right now, but we’re going to keep going.

-Theo