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Money Guy Show

"How Do I Budget with a Variable Income?"

Money Guy Show

Brian Preston, CPA, CFP®, PFS and Bo Hanson, CFA, CFP® | Fee-Only Fiduciary Advisors

Investing, Education, Business

4.73.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If your income fluctuates every month, how do you calculate your savings rate, monthly budget, and housing costs? We'll walk you through that question and more in today's Q&A episode! Jump start your journey with our FREE financial resources Reach your goals faster with our products Take the relationship to the next level: become a client Subscribe on YouTube for early access and go beyond the podcast Connect with us on social media for more content Bring confidence to your wealth building with simplified strategies from The Money Guy. Learn how to apply financial tactics that go beyond common sense and help you reach your money goals faster. Make your assets do the heavy lifting so you can quit worrying and start living a more fulfilled life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Derek's question is up next.

0:09.5

He says, my income is variable, so how do I make the decision of what my 25% of housing

0:17.2

should be?

0:18.2

Because we say housing expenses shouldn't be more than 25% of your gross income.

0:22.3

For some context, he said in 2020, he made 200K, 2021, 300K, 22, 22, 400K, but he's

0:29.8

not confident that the income will be as good this year based on how things are going.

0:35.2

So how should he think about this?

0:37.6

Man, this one is a really, really tough one, Brian, because here's how we see this manifest

0:42.1

with clients a lot, too.

0:43.1

We'll have a client who says, hey, I work for a tech company and I make $100,000, $150,000

0:48.6

a year, but because I have RSUs that were granted to me a number of years ago, the annual

0:54.4

income I show my tax return is way different than what my salary is.

0:58.8

So I might have $150,000 of RSUs that vest every year.

1:02.8

So when I think about my household income, do I actually make $150,000 or do I make $300,000?

1:08.9

Now, the thought around saving is pretty easy there.

1:11.9

It's easy for me to think about how to get to 25% savings, but some of these other rules

1:15.7

like housing, what guidance and counsel would you give Derek to make sure that he does

1:20.7

stay inside those lines?

1:22.5

Yeah, I mean, I think we're hitting on the same things as I want to know how much your

1:26.0

pay is fixed and how much is variable, because go ahead and stratify those two things.

1:31.9

And then I would, the first, because look, I have clients and technology clients have done

1:38.0

so good for so many years, but then right now it's just been a tough spot for them.

...

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