If You’re Stressed About Money Right Now, Read This
My Chat With My Finance Planner on When Is The Perfect Time to Start Investing, How to Build Wealth in 2026 Even If You Don’t Make Six Figures and Getting Clear on BUDGETS :-)
It feels a little strange for me to be sharing budgeting and financial planning advice—so I won’t!
Instead, I called in my dear friend Jeff Henry, a historian, angel investor, tech mogul, and longtime finance coach who’s helped me get my own money life together, to offer a few smart, grounding thoughts as we set our resolutions.
—Aria
“Remove the emotion and treat it like a simple math problem.” - Jeff Henry
Navigating Uncertainty
Aria: A lot of people I know feel extremely anxious about money right now. In 2026, how should we be thinking about personal finance when the economy feels uncertain or unpredictable?
Jeff: First, breathe.
Money is a root stressor, but the core consideration is always the same: can these bills be paid with the resources I have? I tell everyone to remove the emotion and treat it like a simple math problem.
Focus on your total income versus your “runway”—how long you can last without active income. Identify what you can quickly cut if money gets tight and look for ways to bring more money in to cover your baseline balance, regardless of how glamorous the work is.
There is a difference between money management and constant income.
The “Great Salary” Paradox
Aria: I’m finding that on the books I have a decent income, but somehow running out of money before payday every month.
If a person finds they have a “great salary”—is making more money the issue? What’s really going on—and where should we start to fix it?
Jeff: You need to audit your expenses by looking at two categories: fixed vs variable.
Fixed Expenses: These are expenses you don’t have a choice in paying every month, like rent, utilities, and car payments.
Variable Expenses: These are “little luxuries” like coffee shop stops and eating out for lunch.
Audit your bank statements back six months to look for patterns in overspending.
The culprits are usually extensive overspending on variables or “lifestyle creep” in your fixed expenses—like renting an apartment or leasing a car you can’t actually afford based on your current income.
AI and digital money management apps like Monarch or Origin are great tools for running this exercise.
“Money is an accelerant to have access to the ultimate luxury: Time.”
- Jeff Henry
Planning for Real Life
Aria: We’ve talked about my disdain for budgeting. Like, I am so great when it comes to creating and managing budgets for my companies but I kind of go “balls to the wall” with my credit card at times when I binge buy.
How can people create a budget that actually works for their real life—and doesn’t feel like punishment?
Jeff: Shift the mindset to “creating a plan for your life.” Rather than viewing a budget as a constraint, weigh those splurge choices against the plan you have built for your life.
Money is an accelerant to have access to the ultimate luxury: Time.
Ask yourself: is that splurge purchase worth taking time away from yourself?
Separately, plan for those out-of-the-box splurge purchases—making these is definitely okay, so long as you stick to the plan you set for yourself.
Help is always available if you ask for it.
Managing Overwhelming Debt
Aria: 2024 was the first time I ever had massive debt that felt incredibly overwhelming. What’s the smartest way to approach paying it down without putting your entire life on hold?
Jeff: If you are new to this process, I HIGHLY recommend finding an established and affordable financial coaching firm like The Financial Gym.
The cost of spending to have someone external hold you accountable to a plan to get out of debt is invaluable psychologically.
Ultimately, if you end up in a large amount of debt, it is going to require behavior change, which is typically easier to accomplish with someone holding you accountable.
Help is always available if you ask for it.
If you are just starting out, prioritize a $1,000 emergency savings fund
Realities of Savings
Aria: There’s a lot of confusion around savings. How much should people realistically have saved right now, and how do you think about emergency funds versus everyday savings?
Jeff: The word “savings” often gets conflated and confused with “investment.” If you are just starting out, prioritize a $1,000 emergency savings fund—this is for psychological security as much as it is for practical use in the event of an emergency.
As you progress in your financial journey, you should have around six months of expenses saved in order to account for a huge life event like a layoff.
Editorial Note: This should be kept as cash in a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA). In 2026, keeping “cash” in a standard checking account is a major money leak due to lost interest. Anything beyond that safety net should be kept in other vehicles like the stock market, which can provide a greater return on your capital over time.
Once you’ve paid off your debt and created an emergency fund, you’re ready to invest.
When to Start Investing
Aria: I’ve learned so much from you over the years on investing—but a lot of people hear “you should be investing” and it can feel intimidating. How do you know when you’re actually ready to invest instead of just focusing on savings?
Jeff: Once you’ve paid off your debt and created an emergency fund, you’re ready to invest.
People often rush to invest even if they are in a large amount of debt because they like to see their money grow quickly to “feel” better.
In fact, if you invest before paying off your debt, it’s basically like throwing a cup of water on a raging fire—it won’t do much of anything.
For example, investing in the stock market returns 8-10% on average each year, however, a credit card could charge you up to 30% in interest every month. Kill the interest first.
“Renting doesn’t allow you to build equity, but it unshackles you from long-term debt”
The Rent vs. Buy Debate
Aria: Homeownership used to feel like a universal goal—and even I have treated it like a lost cause. In today’s market, how do you know if buying a home is the right move—or if renting makes more sense financially?
Jeff: I’m anti-homeownership at the moment, so I’ll answer this with a bit of bias.
I only think homeownership makes sense if you know you are going to be settled in an area for several years and/or if you have a family that you are raising. Homeownership often comes with hidden costs that you wouldn’t pay as a tenant—do you know how much a water heater costs?
Renting doesn’t allow you to build equity, but it unshackles you from long-term debt and provides more convenience in your day-to-day life.
I’d recommend looking into robo-advisement services like Wealthfront, Betterment, and Acorns.
Building Wealth on Any Income
Aria: Not everyone is earning six figures—and even if some of my audiences are—they are also living in cities where the cost of living is incredibly high. Whether you make six figures or four figures a year—what are some realistic ways people can build wealth over time without taking on a ton of risk?
Jeff: I can give you the tools and context to think about your money differently, but this isn’t professional investment advice. My goal is to help you get informed.
I’d recommend looking into robo-advisement services like Wealthfront, Betterment, and Acorns. These services take the deeper complexities of investing out of the picture while bringing you along on a learning journey.
Editorial Note: Jeff introduced Aria to ACORNS, and she has been using it for 5 years now and has really liked the round up savings feature- where the app audits your checking account and withdraws the dollar difference to your ACORNS account to the nearest dollar on each purchase.
A brilliant savings plan I don’t have to think about and when you check in every 6 months, you’ve saved some pretty pennies! Also my accountant LOVES it because then we have even dollar transactions on the ledger.
Always weigh those purchases against your ability to have freedom of time
Plugging Money Leaks
Aria: We recently talked about “money leaks” and how those dollars add up over time. What are the most common money leaks you see—those small habits or expenses that quietly drain people’s finances?
Jeff: Go back to your plan for your life and make those little luxuries fit into that plan.
Always weigh those purchases against your ability to have freedom of time, the most valuable resource available to us all.
Editorial Note: Jeff suggests checking your "Subscription Drift"—it's the most common 2026 money leak where small, recurring digital expenses quietly add up over time. Once you see these as a trade-off for your time, it becomes much easier to course-correct without feeling deprived.
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
Redefining Success for 2026
Aria: If you could redefine “financial success” for 2026, what would it look like—and what mindset shifts do people need to make to get there?
Jeff: One of my favorite quotes to live by (I have it tattooed on my leg to guide my steps) is a line from the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley: “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
For 2026, financial success is about agency. Money should be an accelerant for your dreams, which should be the core of that plan.
Money is a tool—treat it like one.
Jeff’s Audit Guide
To fix the payday crunch, you need to see the math clearly. Use this 4-step guide to reclaim your cash flow.
Gather the Data: Use an app like Monarch or Origin to pull your last six months of spending.
Sort Your Fixed vs. Variable:
Fixed: List non-negotiables like rent, insurance, and car payments. If these are too high, you are facing lifestyle creep.
Variable: Identify coffee, dining, and shopping habits.
Hunt for “Subscription Drift”: Check for recurring digital expenses (apps, streaming, memberships) that add up over time.
The “Time” Test: Weigh every variable purchase against your freedom of time. If the purchase doesn’t fit your life plan or buy you back time, cut it and redirect that cash to your HYSA (high yield savings account").
Meet Jeff Henry:
Jeff Henry is an award winning historian and tech & finance entrepreneur based in Los Angeles.
Getting his start in the tech c-suite, Jeff began working with tech founders and start-ups as an Angel Investor, and has been working to make personal finance information more widely available. He’s a dear friend of mine of course, and I bug him regularly on questions I have on finance, budgeting and investing- and he thankfully never hides the plug- and I’ve learn so much from him I thought I’d share with ya’ll.