The Young Professional

Background

After graduating with a master’s degree in agricultural science, Sofia took a job in the Midwest as an associate at an agricultural consulting firm. After a couple of years, she was promoted to consultant, the position she holds now. Sofia loves helping farmers and ranchers be more efficient, productive, and sustainable.

Sofia currently earns $105k / year and there is a lot of opportunity for growth ahead of her. She has paid off all her student loans but one and has no other debt. She tithes to her church and regularly gives to a charitable organization that helps educate farmers in developing countries.

The Problem

Sofia knows she should be planning ahead and saving for long-term goals, but she doesn’t know much about investing and feels overwhelmed by trying to learn on her own. She also wants to make sure she’s getting the most out of her employee benefits package but isn’t sure how to evaluate all of the options and select the best choices for her situation and goals. 

In addition, Sofia would like to own a home, but doesn’t know how much she can afford or if it even makes sense to buy something right now.

As her career continues to gain momentum, she wants to make sure she is making wise financial decisions that will set her up for success in the future but isn’t sure where to begin. 

The Solution

Sofia started working with a Certified Kingdom Advisor© at Peak Financial Management to teach her biblical financial principles and how to apply them to her situation. Together they clarified and prioritized Sofia’s goals and her CKA© walked her through each aspect of her finances, teaching her applicable biblical principles and making recommendations that aligned with her goals. This included:

• Reviewing her employee benefits package and recommending what to opt into and out of and why.
• Her CKA© recommended paying off her remaining student loan before she started investing. This would decrease risk and free up cash to save towards other goals. 
• After that, they determined how much she should be investing towards long-term goals like retirement and what investment strategy made sense for her.
• They also determined that it would be beneficial for her to buy a home and created a plan to save a down payment. Her CKA© taught her about the home buying process, what to look for in a house, and helped her determine how much she could afford to spend. Then, they created a plan to save up a down payment.

The Results

Sofia paid off her last student loan which freed up cash to invest for long-term goals. She is consistently investing in retirement accounts and has some emergency savings set aside just in case. 

Sofia bought her first home, a 3-bedroom/3-bathroom farmhouse that sits on an acre of land giving her plenty of space to garden. She rents out the two spare bedrooms to roommates which almost completely offsets her mortgage. This has freed up even more cash allowing her to pay down her mortgage faster and increase her charitable giving.

She has opened a donor advised fund (DAF) to make her charitable giving more efficient. She focuses on impact investments and grants that help small farmers and ranchers in developing countries.

Sofia feels confident and knowledgeable. Having a simple plan that is aligned with her values has made finances fun and exciting.