We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andy Hoffman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andy below.

Alright, Andy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Numbers rule in the world of personal finance. However, what often takes a back seat, is the human factor. The majority of financial advice is centered around a dirty word: budgeting.

It sure sounds like a prudent practice, to give every dollar a job by busting out the ole’ spreadsheet.

The problem is we live in the real world and things get messy very quickly.

People often spend hours crafting and categorizing the perfect budget, only to fail miserably to keep it, over and over again.

I’ve spent a decade designing a system that better accounts for our psychology in a way that is simple, more intuitive, and can be automated.

Adherence to a budget is one of the biggest pitfalls that most people have with managing money. The reality is a ‘budget date’ night sounds nauseating to most.

By automating it all, I have helped people who have never been able to save money before, get a month ahead in 90 days, or dramatically lower their stress around money, or facilitate easier communication around money with their spouse.

There are the more intangible wins, though many clients save thousands by restructuring debt while reigning in spending and finally building savings and investments, all without a budget.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I joined the US Coast Guard at 21 because I needed a job. I got a small bonus that I quickly pissed away. I realized at that point that I needed to get a handle on managing money. I went to the bookstore, grabbed a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad and my never-ending journey began…

I eventually got out of the Coast Guard and got into the Financial Services industry and spent the next decade doing everything from being a Financial Advisor, Wholesaler, Consultant, Recruiter and lastly the chief experience officer for a boutique Financial Planning firm.

I felt like the industry, while doing plenty of things right, left a gap in the marketplace.

Many needed. and wanted more attention from their Financial Advisors in areas they didn’t specialize in.

Ironically, most financial advisors do not really help with the day-to-day of managing money as their incentives are often more aligned with managing assets rather than spending time holding clients’ hands.

Most people lack the day-to-day skills and frankly, the time to manage their money effectively. There are other issues at play too!

Not only do we not learn this stuff in schools, most of our parents do not know it either!

We live in a world where the deck is increasingly stacked against us as it relates to getting ahead with our money.

I wanted to help people stack the deck in their favor and ultimately help them build a system that manages their money better than most could, left to their own devices.

It sounds somewhat esoteric but is very simple.

With a few bank accounts and recurring bank transfers, the average person can finally eliminate overspending, while being able to save money maybe for the first time.

This sets the stage to turn down the volume on their money stress, the #1 cause of divorce…

Unfortunately, we do not do a great job of setting limits for ourselves when it comes to our money. With 5,000 ads hitting us daily, it can be difficult to *not* keep up with the Joneses.

This is what I mean by stacking the deck in our favor.

You can create this system with built-in, but sustainable limits so you know how much you can and should comfortably spend.

You do not have to cut up all of your credit cards to get out of debt or never eat out, there’s a better, easier way!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The cornerstone of my business is centered on this particular method, which I had on my whiteboard on my cube like 5 years ago…

I continue to be convinced that it is very powerful. However, when I started my business, on the heels of a layoff, I spent the first 5 months building a course to show people how to implement this.

Unfortunately, I was going to be unable to support my family from course sales alone. It wasn’t until hopping on a Zoom call with what I thought was a social media strategist, that I hired them to show me the ropes of being an online coach. So very quickly I jumped into coaching clients on implementing my process while solving their financial problems be it debt, or overspending, etc.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Early on as a coach, I was so scared to charge what I was worth so I compensated by going overboard with my time. Granted I think this is part of the learning journey, but I was providing the transformation via 12 hour-long weekly calls.

There were plenty of days of just slammed back-to-back calls and I was getting frustrated. I connected with a fellow finance coach and realized that she was charging 50% more than me, despite committing to a less holistic deliverable while meeting with her clients for 30 minutes at a time and not for 12 meetings!

I immediately cut my calls to 30 minutes and repositioned my offer to be more about the result and less about the time with me.

It’s been a game-changer for my sanity and for sure!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogue.finance/