On Trajectory With Tyson Koska
Episode 149
Episode Guide
Episode Timestamps
ChooseFI Podcast - Episode Summary & Show Notes
Episode Title: Financial Independence Insights with Tyson Koska
Guest: Tyson Koska, Founder of OnTrajectory
Episode Summary
In this episode, Tyson Koska shares his journey into the financial independence community and the creation of OnTrajectory, a financial planning calculator designed to empower users in achieving their financial goals. Tyson recounts his early experiences with debt and consumerism while serving in the army, leading to the development of a systematic approach for tracking finances. He emphasizes the importance of saving, investing, and having a solid financial plan for a stress-free life.
Key Takeaways
-
Importance of a Financial Plan: A solid financial plan provides peace of mind and a clear path toward financial independence.
- "Having a solid financial plan is crucial for peace of mind."
-
Transition from Debt to Independence: Tyson's journey illustrates that recognizing spending habits and learning from mistakes can help turn financial situations around.
- Discussion on how his military service allowed him to pay off debt by focusing on saving while deployed.
-
Creating OnTrajectory: The inspiration behind OnTrajectory came from Tyson's need for a comprehensive tool to visualize his financial future amid changing life circumstances.
- Insights on how OnTrajectory was developed to meet user needs for financial planning.
-
Value of Financial Education: Discussion on the need for financial literacy and the significance of using innovative tools like OnTrajectory.
- "Passion is essential for sustainable success."
-
Mastering Credit Card Rewards: Utilizing credit card rewards effectively can enhance financial outcomes when managed properly.
- "Mastering credit card rewards can be a significant asset."
Timestamps & Chapters
- Podcast Intro
- Introduction to OnTrajectory
- Tyson's Early Financial Experiences
- Transition to Financial Independence
- Creation of OnTrajectory
- The Hot Seat Segment
- Guest's Favorite Blog, Article, and Life Hack
- Discussion of Credit Card Rewards
- Related Resources and Free Tools
- Podcast Extro
Actionable Takeaways
- Build a solid financial plan to ease anxiety and uncertainties about your financial future.
- Leverage financial planning tools like OnTrajectory to visualize financial goals and stay on track.
- Start saving early, even if it’s a small amount, to benefit from compound growth over time.
Related Resources
- OnTrajectory: Visit OnTrajectory for tools to help visualize your financial future.
Social Media Snippets for Sharing
- Quote: "A solid financial plan is crucial for peace of mind." [Timestamp 00:03:03]
- Quote: "Master your credit card rewards for financial empowerment." [Timestamp 00:41:28]
FAQs
-
What is OnTrajectory?
OnTrajectory is a powerful financial planning calculator designed to help users visualize and track their financial path toward independence.
[Timestamp: 00:24:51] -
How did Tyson get into financial independence?
Tyson became interested in financial independence after realizing the stress of debt during his early military career.
[Timestamp: 00:03:29]
Conclusion
Tyson's experience and insights provide valuable lessons on achieving financial independence, the significance of a well-structured financial plan, and the use of tools such as OnTrajectory for managing financial futures. Join us next time on ChooseFI as we continue to explore pathways to financial independence.
Unlocking Financial Independence: Insights from OnTrajectory Founder Tyson Koska
Achieving financial independence (FI) is a goal that many aspire to, yet the path often seems unclear or filled with obstacles. In this article, we explore actionable strategies and insights shared by Tyson Koska, founder of OnTrajectory, on the journey toward financial empowerment.
The Importance of Having a Financial Plan
A solid financial plan is crucial for peace of mind. It provides a framework that helps you navigate your financial future, allowing you to make informed decisions about your spending, saving, and investing. Many people struggle with anxiety about their finances because they lack a clear plan. This uncertainty can be overwhelming, but having a clear trajectory not only alleviates stress but also enhances your confidence in reaching your financial goals.
Actionable Insight: Create Your Financial Plan
-
Assess Your Current Financial Situation: Start by detailing your income, expenses, assets, and debts. Understanding where you currently stand financially is the first step to building a plan.
-
Set Clear Financial Goals: Determine what financial independence means to you. Define short-term and long-term goals, such as saving for retirement, paying off debt, or investing in real estate.
-
Utilize Planning Tools: Tools like OnTrajectory can simplify the planning process by allowing you to visualize your financial future with different scenarios, helping you track progress and adjust goals as necessary.
Overcoming Debt and Consumerism
Tyson's early experiences with debt highlight a significant barrier to financial independence. His time in the military saw him struggle with consumerism, leading to substantial debt. Through these challenges, he learned valuable lessons about managing finances.
Actionable Strategies for Debt Management
-
Understand Your Spending Behaviors: Reflect on your spending habits and the circumstances that lead you to accumulate debt. Recognizing triggers can help you make conscious spending choices moving forward.
-
Create a Debt Repayment Strategy: Prioritize paying off high-interest debts first, or consider methods like the snowball or avalanche methods to reduce your overall debt load effectively.
-
Reframe Your Mindset on Money: Shift your focus from consumerism to valuing experiences and savings. This change can reduce the desire to keep up with lifestyle inflation, which often leads to unnecessary debt.
The Value of Financial Education
Financial education is fundamental in navigating the complexities of personal finance. As Tyson navigated his financial journey, he recognized that self-education was key to understanding investment strategies and managing savings.
Building Financial Literacy
-
Seek Out Resources: Utilize books, podcasts, and online courses focused on personal finance to enhance your understanding of saving, investing, and managing debt. Aim to learn at least one new concept each week.
-
Join Communities: Engaging with the financial independence community can provide support, motivation, and shared learning. Online forums, local meetups, and social media groups dedicated to FI can expand your network and knowledge base.
-
Leverage Financial Tools: Implement tools like budgeting apps and financial calculators (such as OnTrajectory) to gain insights into your financial habits and plan effectively for the future.
Investment Strategies for Financial Independence
Investing wisely is a crucial component of achieving financial independence. Tyson emphasizes the importance of starting early and understanding various investment vehicles.
Actionable Investment Tips
-
Start Investing Early: The earlier you begin investing, the more you can benefit from compound interest. Even small, consistent investments can grow significantly over time.
-
Diversify Your Investments: Create a balanced portfolio that includes a mix of stocks, bonds, and other assets. Diversification can help mitigate risk while aiming for long-term growth.
-
Maximize Retirement Accounts: Utilize employer-sponsored retirement accounts and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) to secure your financial future. Make it a goal to contribute enough to take full advantage of any employer match available.
Mastering Credit Card Rewards
Tyson points out that masterful utilization of credit card rewards can significantly help you in your financial journey. When used responsibly, credit cards can offer perks without incurring debt.
Utilizing Credit Card Rewards Effectively
-
Choose the Right Cards: Look for credit cards that offer rewards aligned with your spending habits, whether it's travel rewards or cashback. Select a card that complements your financial goals.
-
Pay Off Balances Monthly: To reap the benefits without succumbing to debt, ensure you pay your credit card balances in full every month.
-
Track Your Rewards: Use tools or apps to keep track of your credit card rewards and know when to redeem them for maximum value.
Final Thoughts
As you consider these strategies for reaching financial independence, remember that the path can be unique to your circumstances. By implementing a well-thought-out financial plan, educating yourself, managing debt, investing wisely, and mastering credit rewards, you can take significant steps toward achieving your financial goals.
Embrace Your Journey to Financial Independence
Take action today! Start by assessing your current financial situation, setting clear goals, and seeking out educational resources. Tools like OnTrajectory can simplify your journey, providing the necessary insights to track your progress and adjust your plans based on your evolving financial landscape. Your financial independence journey begins with a single step; make that step today and empower yourself toward a financially free future.
Tyson Koska shares his On Trajectory tool and what led him to his own path of Financial Independence. They discuss how Tyson got started with FI and how On Trajectory tools cover net worth tracking and digital options.
[elementor-template id="143609"]Tyson's Story
Brad and Jonathan had heard about Tyson from many members in the FI community. His tool, On Trajectory, is a comprehensive way to digitally track your net worth. He had been a part of the FI community even before he built this tool. Although he started practicing FI principles on his own, he joined the community with full force once he found it.
I mean, I couldn't sleep at night if I didn't have some sort of plan to know that there was a time when I could just stand up and walk off my job and not have to worry about the, you know, where I was going to get my next meal.
However, Tyson was not always inclined to follow the path towards FI.
Early Days
Tyson grew up in an affluent area without actually being very affluent. Due to that, he was constantly comparing himself to others. He knew that he had no chance of getting the things they had unless he had a plan to get there.
After graduating high school in 1986, Tyson joined the military and started earning a steady paycheck. He went into the Army as a warrant officer in order to learn how to fly helicopters. As a warrant officer, you get paid almost the same as a regular officer but you don't need a college degree.
At that point in his life, he felt a strong desire to 'keep up with the Joneses.' That desire caused him to start spending more than he was making.
With that, he got himself into the biggest debt of his life. Opening store cards and purchasing a new vehicle were just a few of the choices he made during this period. It led to thousands of dollars of credit card debt to carry around. He quickly realized that this feeling was not a good one.
Turning Point
At some point, Tyson decided that he wanted to turn his financial picture around. Around this time, he was sent to a combat zone in Iraq. Tyson says jokingly that this order got him out of debt. He was living in a combat zone without anything to spend money on. Plus, he was earning more money because he was in a combat zone.
As soon as he got out of the military, he decided to pay everything off and start investing.
That sense of safety and security that was created, knowing that I had a path that was an upward trajectory instead of the downward trajectory that I had been on, having that sense of freedom and wellness was an emotional moment for me and I never wanted to lose that again.
From there, Tyson started moving along his path to Financial Independence.
College
After the military, Tyson left with all his debt paid off and extra money in the bank. Plus, he was entitled to the GI Bill. He chose to double major in English with a concentration in writing, and a minor in Philosophy.
Although he did not have immediate job prospects upon graduation with a liberal arts degree, he still valued that degree. It taught him skills such as thinking, writing, and argumentation that have served him well.
I really value the skills that I learned in my liberal arts time. The thinking and the writing and the clarity of argumentation and all of those great things. Plus, I fed my brain, all the nourishment that it wanted.
Listen: A Military Path To FI With The Military Dollar
Inflection Point
Without any job prospects, Tyson turned to teaching. He became a long-term substitute teacher for 7th grade English. However, that did not last long.
Tyson did not seem to have a path. But he had always been tech-savvy, so he switched to teaching computer courses. The adults taking the classes were much easier to work with than middle school kids. At the same time, it allowed him to rekindle his tech background and build on it. While he taught classes, he took other tech classes at the same school for free. Within 18 months, he landed a programming job and transitioned to a career in IT.
It is likely still possible to land a similar gig. Learning centers for adults still exist and it is a way to get your foot in the door.
Don't let your own limiting beliefs hold you back. The struggle with imposter syndrome can be difficult to overcome for new teachers. Tyson struggled with this, yet his professor ratings online are very high.
Career In Tech
Once Tyson transitioned into tech, he never left. With a larger paycheck, Tyson's savings went through the roof. Although he had always managed to save something, a bigger paycheck meant more possibilities.
Along the way, he started tracking his journey to FI with a smattering of spreadsheets and calculators.
On Trajectory
Tyson founded On Trajectory within the last five years. The impetus for building this tool was the arrival of his second child and the unknown impacts on his FI goals. It was not a simple process to calculate these changes even with a robust spreadsheet.
He knew what he wanted and was tired of waiting for someone else to build it. So, he used his software engineering background to build his own prototype in Excel. It was built with the FI community in mind and is regularly tweaked to add new interests.
Everything is built for a regular consumer, a regular person just to find out the answer to that question 'What does the arch of my financial life look like? If I add this complexity in and do this other stuff, when can I be done or what are the options that I have?' It's built just to answer that question.
On Trajectory is responsive to the communities' needs as they arise. However, the larger pieces have remained consistent for years.
The tool is meant to be a complementary tool to Mint and YNAB and a direct competitor to Personal Capital. On Trajectory is very similar to Personal Capital, but it came out two years earlier. On Trajectory offers the chance to add smaller pieces to your financial life such as modeled expense stream across different periods of your life. It also takes different steps to reflect the inflation of certain expense streams.
The kind of control that you get is well well past anything that Personal Capital offers but from a basic usability standpoint that's probably the closest competitor out there.
Building A Business
In order to get started with a software tool, the idea of a minimum viable product is important. There is always something more that you could add but you need to work through iterations quickly.
The "minimum viable product" thing is key. You have to, hopefully you've got a pretty good idea of [what] the market place could use and hopefully you've got some support around you, you're not doing it completely alone...but you do have to get something out quickly and not be afraid of criticism.
At first, he thought that everyone would love it. Of course, every consumer has a different opinion. However, Tyson says the tool only exists because he likes to use it himself. With that, he knows there will always be at least one person in his audience.
Keeping that fun, that enjoyment, that passion--let's just say it this way; you'll never be able to keep your passion, about your whatever product you're trying to build or lifestyle you're trying to pursue, you'll never keep up that passion if it's not something you don't really love and enjoy doing.
The On Trajectory team consists of four key partners. As the tool continues to grow, Tyson is learning to manage a business in addition to maintaining a useful FI calculator.
If On Trajectory sounds useful to you, then check it out here.
Listen to the Friday Roundup of this episode here.
How To Connect
You can connect with Tyson through OnTrajectory.com. He has links to his personal phone number and email at [email protected]
The Hot Seat
Favorite Blog: Budgets Are Sexy
Favorite Article: A Ted Talk about building a tower of spaghetti with a marshmallow on top.
Favorite Life Hack: Credit card reward points.
Resource: Learn about travel rewards with ChooseFI's free course.
Biggest Financial Mistake: Signing up for and maxing out every credit card he could.
The advice you would give your younger self: Try saving a little earlier.
What is the purchase that you've made in the last 12 months that has added the most value to your life? A retractable Bluetooth headset.
Related Articles
- Podcast Episode: From Addiction To FI With Ms. Fiology
- How To Calculate Your Savings Rate
- Personal Capital Review: The Ultimate Net Worth Tracker
New to FI? Be sure to check out Episode 100: Welcome To The FI Community!
