Habits matches you to vetted advisors who already work with hundreds of people like you…same income range, same life stage, same questions.

It takes a few minutes. It’s low pressure. So whether you’re a first timer or thinking of a change, this is the obvious next step.

Use their mobile app, your computer, or use their instant match solution if you’re pressed for time!

You can also view it on TikTok here.

There is a specific lifecycle we all go through when it comes to money. It’s a ten-step evolution I’ve watched play out in my DMs, in my friend groups, and in the three million views my recent videos on marriage and finance have racked up.

It starts with Step One: You get your first "real" job. You’re ready to sell your soul to the company because they are the only reason you can afford your lifestyle. Then Step Two: You see the words "401k" or “employer sponsored retirement plan” and panic-call your parents or that one friend from college to ask what to click.

By Step Three, the curiosity kicks in. And you begin to ask friends and family for life hacks, the best credit cards, or clever ways to buy cheaper flights around the holidays. Then things get a little more personal. At Step Four, you find yourself in a bar with a bunch of friends, and after a few drinks you start to ask questions like “how much do you make?” or “how much is a 1BR in your apartment complex?” Before you know it, you’re once again two drinks deep at happy hour, but this time you start asking your trusted colleagues how much their making (Step Five). You get an answer, but you leave with Step Six: Deep-seated insecurity. Are they lying? Am I getting screwed?

Then you hit the "Information Era." Step Seven: You decide to be "smart." You turn to TikTok, Instagram, and Investopedia to DIY your way to wealth. By Step Eight, you realize 90% of that content is garbage designed to make you feel behind so you end up calling your parents. Who essentially tell you “welcome to adulthood.” This leads to Step Nine: Direct, soul-crushing comparison to friends, colleagues, neighbors, anyone really. “How do John and Jane afford a house and three trips to Europe when I know I have a better job than them?”

Finally, you spend the next two decades in Step Ten: The eternal debate between hiring a financial advisor or continuing to DIY.

I share these steps because they are the background noise of a generation that got hit with a "bad timing" hat trick. Most of us graduated into a global financial crisis, hit our peak "money and energy" years just in time for a pandemic to lock us in our houses, and are now watching the roles we’ve spent 15 years specializing in being threatened by a gender-neutral AI chatbot’s next software update.

All while trying to buy a starter home in a permanent housing crisis.

We are exhausted. And yet, when it comes to our money, we’ve been conditioned by the internet to be our own worst enemies. Every influencer is out there screaming, "Advisors just charge you 1% to pick index funds!" or "Advisors are robbing you, just open a Robinhood account!"

But here is the truth the "anti-advisor" influencers won’t tell you: Most people aren't losing money because of fees. They’re losing money because of paralysis.

The hardest part of modern finance isn't finding the right information; it's finding the conviction to act on it.

I’m the "finance guy" in the group. I’ve been that guy for a decade. I’ve logged into friends' accounts after ten drinks to fix their allocations because they were stuck in overpriced, garbage target-date funds. I’ve sat on speakerphone with friends of friends (who met me at a house party) making $500k a year who didn't know the most basic principles of personal contributions and employer match.

And yet, I’m just as guilty of the overthinking.

A few months ago, I needed new soccer cleats. I spent weeks thinking about it. When I finally dropped $85 at a Dick’s Sporting Goods, I realized it was the first time I had bought shoes or clothes in a physical store in over two years. I was agonizing over an $85 transaction while my time was leaking out of my ears.

Similarly, it took my partner a month to convince me to spend an extra $300 a month on our new apartment to get a corner unit with floor-to-ceiling windows. I fought it. I did the mental math on the "opportunity cost" of that $300. Now? I’ve been here 90 days, and I’d gladly pay $1,000 extra for this natural light. It changed my mood and my productivity. I was so focused on the money that I completely ignored the time.

We often treat our bank accounts like a scoreboard, forgetting that the ultimate prize is how we actually feel on a Tuesday morning.

In 2026, I am paying my financial advisor $5,000.

To the internet experts, that’s heresy. But to me, it’s the best $5k I’ll spend all year. I see people who work 60 hours a week, who are planning weddings or raising toddlers, spend their only 15 minutes of free time arguing with a free version of a chatbot about whether they should buy SPY or VOO.

They are trying to save a few thousand dollars in fees by spending ten thousand dollars worth of their own mental health (and they still end up calling me anyway).

Google can tell you how a 401k works. ChatGPT can explain the what and why. But neither of them will make the decision for you. Because they can’t look at your trauma, your upbringing, and your specific goals and say, "Hey Jane, you're overthinking this. Pull the trigger."

Personal finance is 20% math and 80% behavior. The math is easy; you can find it on Ask Jeeves (RIP). But the behavior? That’s where we all fail.

Stop trying to valedictorian your way through your bank account. Sometimes, the smartest financial move you can make is to stop thinking about the money and start buying back your time.

If you’re working a 50-hour week and using your nights to manage a spreadsheet you hate, you're just working a second job you didn't apply for.

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