About

About GRIP Financial Planning

A free education program built so anyone, at any age, can understand money and plan with confidence.

Portrait of Michael, host of GRIP Financial Planning, in a navy suit with a blue striped tie

What we do

The GRIP Financial Planning education program

GRIP Financial Planning offers free financial literacy education for everyone. There are no paywalls and no products to buy. Every lesson is built around four ideas, Growth • Retention • Income • Protection, and one framework, the GRIP Financial House™, so the pieces of a financial life make sense together.

Plain language. Concepts are explained without jargon, with simple examples clearly labeled as hypothetical.
For all ages. From a first paycheck to retirement income, there is something for every stage.
Educational only. General information, not personalized advice.

Real-life planning challenges, for all ages

Money questions look different at 22, 42 and 72. GRIP organizes its topics around the real situations people face, such as:

Starting a first job and making sense of a paycheck and benefits
Starting to invest, and sticking with it when markets are bumpy
Saving for college
Using different kinds of accounts to manage taxes (the “tax buckets” idea)
Investing for retirement, and then planning and living in retirement

Explore Learn by Life Stage

Videos and posts

Educational videos and posts

GRIP publishes short educational videos and posts. Every piece is tagged with the House floor it belongs to, so you always know where it fits.

Where to follow

Content is published on Instagram and YouTube.

What you’ll find

YouTube: episodes and short videos
Instagram: carousels and Reels on the same topics
On this site: each episode gets a page, with related resources

How the content connects to the House floors

House floors with example topics and the episodes that cover them
House floor	Example topics	Episodes
Legacy	Wills, beneficiaries, estate basics	We’ll cover these topics in the future.
Tax efficiency	Roth vs traditional, capital gains, HSAs, asset location	We’ll cover these topics in the future.
Distribution	Retirement number, Social Security timing, retirement income	How Much You Need to Retire
Accumulation	401(k), IRAs, investing basics, compound interest, rent vs buy	Don't Leave the Company Match on the Table - It's Free Money
Protection	Insurance basics, protecting income and family, managing market risk	We’ll cover these topics in the future.
Foundation	Budgeting, cash flow, emergency funds, credit	We’ll cover these topics in the future.

Floors are listed top to bottom, like the house.

Michael’s story

From advising to educating

I spent several years as a financial advisor, working in financial and investment advisory. Along the way I noticed something: the basics that matter most, like budgeting, saving, investing, protecting yourself and planning for retirement, are rarely taught in a way that is clear and unhurried.

I’m a former advisor today, and I’m building GRIP Financial Planning as a free program so that anyone can learn these ideas, whether you are just starting out, in the middle of your career, or approaching retirement. No audience is left out and nothing is behind a paywall.

You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust the sails.

That’s the heart of GRIP. We can’t control markets, the economy or the news. But we can learn how the pieces fit together and adjust our sails as conditions change.

My mission

To help you understand the financial concepts that shape your future so you can make informed, confident decisions. Everything here is for education only. It is general information, not personalized advice for your situation.

Watch the episodes Get in touch

How GRIP works

Four ideas, one house

Growth

Growing what you have, by putting money to work over time.

In the House: Accumulation

Retention

Keeping what you have, by managing cash flow, debt and taxes.

In the House: Foundation and Tax efficiency

Income

Generating income from your investments in retirement.

In the House: Distribution

Protection

Protecting it now and in the future from loss of life or market losses.

In the House: Protection

See how it all fits in the GRIP Financial House™ →