“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” — Plato
Caption: Your money, itemized: less clutter, more time.
A backyard. A paper plate. A friend leans in and lowers his voice, the way people do when the topic is money: “So… what do I actually do with my old 401(k)?”
I’ve had some version of that conversation more times than I can count. Old accounts. Too many apps. No idea what to buy. No idea where to start.
For years, my answer was a long talk over coffee. Somewhere along the way, I noticed I was giving the same talk. Same steps. Same formulas. Same cold coffee by the end.
So I wrote it down. All of it. It’s called The Compact Plan, and as of today, it’s yours.
A quick note before we dive in: this post is not financial advice. It’s what has worked for our family of five since 2013, written down so you can decide what works for yours.
Your Money, Itemized
Most people’s money looks like a drugstore receipt. Long. Confusing. Full of things you don’t remember buying. The Compact Plan reprints it.
Removed: scattered accounts, high fees, and guesswork.
Added: one simple mix and savings on autopilot.
Total: your time back.
No product. No fund to sell you. No hot tip from a guy at the gym. You manage your money, and you know it better than anyone. This is just the format and the handful of formulas that tell you where it goes, how to split it, and how to set it so it runs without you.
Three Steps
1. Gather the details. Every account, every debt, every dollar. Track your spending for 90 days (yes, including the coffee) and keep moving while you do. At the end, you’ll know your real number. Your enough.
2. Pick your mix. Bring scattered accounts home to one place. Save in the right order. Choose a split of low-cost stock and bond index funds you can live with on the market’s worst day, not just its best.
3. Set it once. Automate it on payday. Check in once a year. Then go live your life. The plan doesn’t need a babysitter.
Simple. Not Easy.
March 2020. The portfolio dropping hard week after week, the headlines worse than the week before. I had cash ready to invest, and I kept not investing it, telling myself I was waiting for a better entry point. The better entry point came and went while I was still waiting. Here is another real example, in 2008–09, US stocks fell by roughly half from peak to bottom. Example: $100,000 at 90% stocks could drop about $45,000 on paper.
Lesson learned: the plan written in advance beats the decision made in that moment. That’s why The Compact Plan has you write your rules down while you’re calm. Before the next storm, not during it.
Lean. Simple. Compact.
Lean: spend on what matters. Our grocery bill went from about $1,100 a month to around $600. One decision: switch stores, buy less. The kids noticed. They survived.
Simple: few moving parts. Two index funds. One brokerage. Automatic contributions. One check-in a year. That’s it.
Compact: less to manage, more to live. Nearly five years on the road in an RV with three kids. Tens of thousands of miles, national parks, snowstorms, and long conversations around a vinyl dinette. The plan never broke down. The RV occasionally did. When we finally sold it, the money went straight into VTSAX. No ceremony.
Along the way, our savings rate went from about 10% to over 50%. No heroics. No extreme couponing. Just a system, built once.
Where This Comes From
In 2015, a magazine article I read on my commute led me to Vicki Robin’s Your Money or Your Life. That led to JL Collins, the Bogleheads, and low-cost index investing. Those ideas changed our family’s life. Along the way, JL Collins quoted me in his book Pathfinders, and with Vicki Robin’s permission, I translated the summary of Your Money or Your Life into Macedonian.
This is teaching, not selling. I don’t manage anyone’s money or tell anyone what to buy. Every decision stays yours.
No brokerage or fund company pays me. No sponsorships, no commissions. Nobody is knocking on my door with an offer, and that’s fine. It keeps this honest.
The goal is personal. It isn’t to get ahead of anyone else. It’s to get ahead of ourselves. To beat our best.
How To Get Started
Caption: A peek at the free one-page Compact Plan.
Start free. The one-page Compact Plan has all eight steps, a formula for each, and room for your own numbers. Send me a message or leave a comment, and I’ll email it to you.
Go all in for $25. Less than a tank of gas, and it lasts a lot longer. The Compact Plan Workbook is 25 fillable pages: a short lesson, the formula, our family’s story, and a worksheet for every step, plus guides for opening your account and choosing what to buy. Just ask, and I’ll send it your way.
Rather do it together? Reach out and we’ll talk. I’ll bring the coffee. Hot, this time.
You don’t need a perfect plan to begin. You need Step 1.
Think. Dream. Never quit.