David Gourley, M.Ed

"I thought I was going to be paying these loans until I was 100!" This teacher has been in education for over 30 years and wants to retire soon, but still has student loans! One student loan consultation later... She is having her entire balance forgiven. What was she missing? She had credits towards PSLF that weren't "qualified"... Which means we needed to get a PSLF application submitted to each employer. We did this on the call together. Several days later, she received this notice. Qualifying payments over 120... Loans will be forgiven very soon! It's a great feeling to be able to help those who serve others.

@T_Gatzemeier This looks really, really nice! Great way to show different portfolio potential outcomes!!!

When I design an investment plan for clients, I like to walk through "expectations". Because the best investment plan is the one you can stick with. I built this interactive tool with Claude to help educate on different allocations and create more realistic expectations. Still a work in progress, but it's looking pretty good!

@markcecchini That's almost every one of my clients... Except closer to $160,000+ of the "mailbox money". Don't sleep on educators!

...Husband (69) social security: $45K/year ...Wife (68) social security: $35K/year ...Husband (69) private pension: $40K/year = $120k/year of "mailbox money" before having to touch their portfolio. All 3 income adjusted by inflation every year. No mortgage payments. Damn.

If you've got student loans (especially if you're currently on SAVE), this tax return matters A LOT! You will likely be forced out/need to move out of SAVE soon. Where do you go? IBR, PAYE, ICR, RAP (in July) are all potential options. But if you are married... Filing your taxes separately will only show your income to the student loan servicers. And, if you have children on top of that, can be a powerful way to lower your student loan payment. My consultations have been blowing up this month with this exact conversation over and over. "I'm on SAVE, want PSLF to start counting, what do I do?" Let's talk! Schedule here: calendly.com/k-12planning

My website (k-12planning.com) had a great month of traffic. It was pushed by a few key blog posts and a webinar that I did for an organization that had 170 or so members live on the call. I love seeing the results continue to compound over time!

@FranWalsh73 My favorite part is when you said that a $10,000 raise is better than 99% of side hustles. Way too often, I will hear someone say something like, "I have 7 different sources of income". Yeah, but if 6 of them combined net you $300... then who cares!

The people I know worth $1M+ have something in common. It's not their income. It's not their investments. It's that they all ran the same unsexy playbook - for a very long time. Here's exactly what that looks like ↓

The last one. Form 23 filed. Enrolled Agent status incoming!

@Jake___Oliver I had a prospect reach out who wanted to understand the tax impact of filing taxes jointly vs separately and how that would affect their student loan payment. I told them to VOO and chill. I'm hoping that solved all of their problems!

There are 4 people in this screen shot. 3 of them know what they are talking about. The saddest part... the person with the biggest following out of all 3, is allowed to spew HORRIBLE financial advice on social media with no repercussions.

@DreamBiggerLLC Probably should have happened in May of 2025, but whatever. It's done!

@DavidG_CSLP About time… 👍

1 to 2 was way harder for me than 2 to 3. 1 to 2 means that either one partner has to have both kids or you split them up. I either felt like a jerk leaving my wife with both kids or couldn't do my own thing (like gym). By the time baby 3 came... I was well adjusted to not being able to do my own thing when kids are around!

curious what people’s thoughts are here hardest parenting shift?

@ETXFarmLife Yeah but can we actually get by saying it? Is that like saying "Slay"?

@DavidG_CSLP Slide deck is cooler!

Does it make me old if I refer to something as a PowerPoint Presentation rather than a slide deck?

@JWellsTax "Presentation", "PowerPoint", "Slide Deck", Deck"... Too many choices and now I don't know what to do.

@DavidG_CSLP You can safely drop “PowerPoint” and just go with “presentation.”

@jordanguess Between this and just "presentation"... there are way too many options!

@DavidG_CSLP Just “deck” it’s cleaner

@DavidG_CSLP If so, then I am old too.

@FrancineHibiscs @CMcCulloughEA That's amazing!

@CMcCulloughEA @DavidG_CSLP I have never done a power point and I never ever will

@btckeeker Exactly!

@DavidG_CSLP What’s a slide deck?

@markcecchini $179 tax prep and an IUL policy... great deal!

jump scare in my mailbox when I got home today

@allFImyself @ColesTrades 72(t) on a Roth account makes the earnings taxable. You do get to avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty, though.

You can take it out at 59.5, not 65, but there are other ways to get to it without a penalty. You can set up a 72(t), Substantially Equal Periodic Payments, before age 59.5 and pull your money out. This is an IRS provision that allows you to tap retirement money early. There’s too much to explain here (google away!) but the gist is that you can take equal payments for five years or until age 59.5, whichever is greater. Lots of options! Even better - leave it there. Tax-free growth rocks.

I’m skeptical about opening a Roth IRA 🤔 I understand the tax free benefits But it’s hard to see that money locked up until I’m 65 years old Any advice?