I love talking with entrepreneurs, because I can actually feel the excitement that comes with starting your own business. As someone who is familiar with that route though, I know there are countless factors to consider as you make decisions. Here are three things we’ve been doing from the beginning to ensure a healthy business:

My wife and I have thirteen savings accounts. Yes, thirteen. Given how we use them, we call them escrow accounts.

You’ve found your dream home, and you’re feeling both excited and nervous to put in an offer. Then you find out you need a pre-approval letter. But what exactly is a pre-approval letter?

Years ago, when we were first married, Jackie and I sat down together to talk about whose bank we would merge our accounts under. Like any educated, responsible adults about to embark on their first serious decision together, we used a coin flip. I lost, and nearly a decade later, we are still using my wife’s bank.

Let’s talk about the digital envelope system. It’s 2020, so the old-school envelope-full-of-money system doesn’t really make sense anymore. That system can be put in place digitally though, as Jackie and I have done.

I never thought we would see 30-year home loans touching interest rates in the high 2s, but 2020 was a weird year for all sorts of things.