Layne Steffen Financial Coach

07/11/2026

Investing tip #8 - Have a strategy! 👈

I was talking to someone recently and they were showing me their holdings in their employer 401k. They had a little of this and a little of that: Vanguard funds, a target date retirement fund, some in a Baron Growth Fund and some bonds to which they said, "Because everyone needs bonds." This person was in their low 40s.

They had diversification down, for sure, but in reality, they had no strategy. No plan.

I walked them through two things. First, their investment choices had quite a bit of cross over when looking at what the funds were actually invested in. So it was inefficient to have a target date fund and other funds with similar underlying stocks. Second, after explaining more about bonds and them being several years out from retirement, they agreed they didn't really need/want bonds as part of their holdings. (Bonds are great for those near or in retirement but not those several years from retirement).

Don't hodge-podge it. Have a strategy. 100% in a target date fund is a sound strategy. So is 100% in the S&P 500. There are certainly other approaches. But it's okay to have a simple, even boring, approach. The important part is knowing what you are invested in and why.

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07/11/2026

Regular, consistent investing is key. Don't time the market. Start early! Time in the market is more important!

07/11/2026

Sound advice!

Lowering your monthly expenses doesn't have to mean giving up everything you enjoy.

In most cases, it's the small, recurring expenses that have the biggest impact on your budget over time.

A few simple changes can free up hundreds of dollars each month:

• Review subscriptions every few months and cancel the ones you no longer use
• Plan meals ahead of time to reduce food waste and last-minute takeout
• Shop intentionally and avoid impulse purchases
• Negotiate bills like insurance, internet, and cell phone service
• Cut back on spending that doesn't add real value to your life

The goal isn't to spend as little as possible. It's to spend intentionally so you can put more money toward the things that matter most.

07/02/2026

Investing Tip #7 - Look at the fees! 🧐

When investing in mutual funds or ETFs, there are often small fees associated with holding them. Seemingly small differences look inconsequential but with investing, small percentages can make a BIG difference in the long run.

For my self-managed Roth IRA and employer 401k, my investments are in Vanguard funds even though I have other options with higher fees. I've checked the overall performance and they are similar so why not pay less for the same historical rate of return? 🤷‍♂️

The math is actually interesting and eye opening. Assume $100,000 invested for 20 years at 4% return. The difference between a 0.25% annual fee versus 1.00% equates to a difference of $29,000! 😲

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07/01/2026

Investing Tip #6 – Diversify Your Portfolio 😎

There are nearly 4,000 publicly traded companies on United States stock exchanges. New companies are listed frequently (typically through an Initial Public Offering/IPO – like SpaceX). Some are “de-listed” because they go private or defunct. Dell, Twitter, and PetSmart all delisted after buyouts. Companies like Sears, Toys R Us, and Circuit City were de-listed when they were liquidated due to bankruptcy and their stock price cratered next to nothing.

Can anyone know for sure which companies will be around (and doing well) in 5, 10, or 25 years? No, no one can.

Investing in individual companies is not wrong but it is more risky. You could argue there is more upside potential and that’s true IF you time it right and pick a winner. Sure, some people made great money buying Tesla a few years ago. But many people also lose large amounts of money investing in single stocks.

For long-term, regular investors, single stock investing is not recommended.

Diversified investing is what most of us should be doing. Otherwise, we are risking more than we realize.

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06/29/2026

Investing Tip #5 - When in doubt, zoom out! 🔭

If you get a little anxious when the market starts to head south, you're not alone. The news typically makes more out of sharp/steep sell-off (price decline) than when it climbs. But economic growth is rarely linear. There are ebbs and flows; ups and downs.

Sometimes, you'll see a headline "the market is down 8% since March" and it can cause a negative emotion. It may feel like you're losing money rapidly. So zoom out and look at the overall growth. Go back the last year, 5 years, and 15 years. It will tell a different story.

Economies tend to grow and while the US birth rate is not in a great place, we continue to grow through immigration. Also, many publicly traded companies (like Caterpillar and McDonalds) do business nearly everywhere around the world which helps offset domestic constraints.

So the next time things look like they are falling apart, zoom out and look at the overall trajectory of the market. This assume you are invested in well diversified mutual funds and not individual stocks.

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06/26/2026

Friendly reminder, if you're employer offers it, to see if you are at least investing up to your employer's match!

This is one of the simplest money wins people overlook.

Not fancy. Not complicated. Not some secret strategy from a guy wearing a vest on CNBC.

Just this:

If your employer offers a 401k match and you are not getting the full match, you may be walking past free money every single paycheck.

06/26/2026

Investing Tip #4 - Power of Compounding💪

The long term cumulative effect of regular investing over time is quite impressive due to compounding interest.

At first, investment growth seems slow and unimpressive. A 10% return on $10,000 turns into $11,000 - not real exciting.

But later, 10% on $1,000,000 is $100,000 which is a decent replacement salary for retirement!

The power of compounding takes patience and consistency on part of the investor. Someone can invest less in their 20s versus someone in their 40s and still end up with a larger amount after 30 years. How can that be? Time in the market and compounding.

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06/25/2026

Investing tip #3 - Dollar Cost Average ⏳

This simply means setting up a cadence of buying investments regularly regardless of market conditions or price fluctuations.

By regularly investing every day, week, or every two weeks (think 401k through an employer), or whatever interval you set, you are doing three really important things:

1. You're not trying to time the market. As they say, "Time in the market beats timing the market".
2. You are automating and simplifying your investments to take the emotions and stress out of it.
3. You are buying when things are on the up and also when things are on the down hence the "cost average" principle.

This strategy works best for index and mutual funds which are comprised of dozens, if not hundreds, of companies. For a vast majority of people, dollar cost averaging into index or mutual funds by automated investing is a simple yet effective means of investing that has excellent upside when done consistently over a long period of time.

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06/24/2026

Wondering what your financial goals should be? Solve for these first. They sound so simple and even unrealistic but, in reality, working towards and achieving these are important to financial wellbeing and stability. Not sure how to do it or could use some accountability and strategizing? Consider working with a financial coach. I offer free consultation calls to explore the value coaching brings. Let me know if you're interested!