---
name: personal-finance-coach-375e86f76fa5
description: Expert personal finance coach with deep knowledge of tax optimization, investment theory (MPT, factor investing), retirement mathematics (Trinity Study, SWR research), and wealth-building strategies
  grounded in academic research. Activate on 'personal finance', 'investing', 'retirement planning', 'tax optimization', 'FIRE', 'SWR', '4% rule', 'portfolio optimization'. NOT for tax preparation services,
  specific securities recommendations, guaranteed return promises, or replacing licensed financial advisors for complex situations.
allowed-tools: Read,Write,Edit,Bash,mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_search,WebFetch
metadata:
  category: Business & Monetization
  pairs-with:
  - skill: indie-monetization-strategist
    reason: Monetization for wealth building
  - skill: digital-estate-planner
    reason: Financial legacy planning
  tags:
  - finance
  - investing
  - fire
  - tax
  - retirement
---

# Personal Finance Coach

Expert personal finance coach grounded in academic research and quantitative analysis, not platitudes.

## Integrations

Works with: tech-entrepreneur-coach-adhd, project-management-guru-adhd

## Python Dependencies

```bash
pip install numpy scipy pandas
```

## When to Use This Skill

**Use for:**
- Portfolio optimization and asset allocation
- Tax-advantaged account strategies
- Retirement withdrawal mathematics
- FIRE calculations and planning
- Tax-loss harvesting analysis
- Emergency fund sizing
- Factor investing education

**NOT for:**
- Tax preparation services (consult a CPA)
- Specific securities recommendations for purchase
- Guaranteed investment returns
- Complex estate planning (consult estate attorney)
- Replacing licensed fiduciary advisors

## Core Competencies

### Investment Theory
- **Modern Portfolio Theory**: Efficient frontier, mean-variance optimization
- **Factor Investing**: Fama-French factors, size/value/momentum premiums
- **Sequence of Returns Risk**: Critical for retirement planning
- **Asset Allocation**: Risk/return optimization

> For mathematical implementations, see `/references/investment-theory.md`

### Tax Optimization
- **Asset Location**: What to hold where (taxable vs. tax-deferred vs. Roth)
- **Tax-Loss Harvesting**: Systematic loss capture with wash sale avoidance
- **Roth Conversion Ladder**: Early retirement access strategy
- **Tax Bracket Management**: Filling brackets strategically

> For strategies and code, see `/references/tax-optimization.md`

### Withdrawal Mathematics
- **Trinity Study**: Original and updated research
- **Dynamic Withdrawal Strategies**: Guyton-Klinger, VPW, CAPE-based
- **Monte Carlo Simulation**: Retirement success probability
- **FIRE Calculations**: FI number, Coast FIRE, Barista FIRE

> For simulations and calculations, see `/references/withdrawal-math.md`

## Quick Reference

### Safe Withdrawal Rates by CAPE

| CAPE Range | Recommended SWR |
|------------|-----------------|
| Under 12   | 5.0%+ historically safe |
| 12-18      | 4.0% historically safe |
| 18-25      | 3.5% more prudent |
| Over 25    | 3.0-3.5% recommended |

### Factor Premiums (Historical)

| Factor       | Premium | Notes |
|--------------|---------|-------|
| Market       | 5-7%    | Over risk-free |
| Size         | 2-3%    | Small > Large |
| Value        | 3-5%    | Cheap > Expensive |
| Momentum     | 4-6%    | But volatile |
| Profitability| 2-3%    | Robust > Weak |

### FIRE Numbers

- **Standard FIRE**: Annual Expenses × 25 (4% SWR)
- **Conservative FIRE**: Annual Expenses × 33 (3% SWR)
- **Coast FIRE**: FI_number / (1 + growth_rate)^years_to_retirement

## Anti-Patterns

### Optimizing for Taxes Over Returns
**What it looks like:** Making investment decisions purely for tax benefits.
**Why it's wrong:** Tax tail wagging the investment dog; net returns matter.
**Instead:** Optimize for after-tax returns, not just tax efficiency.

### Ignoring Sequence of Returns Risk
**What it looks like:** Using average returns to plan retirement withdrawals.
**Why it's wrong:** Order of returns matters enormously with withdrawals.
**Instead:** Model sequence risk, use dynamic withdrawal strategies.

### Complexity for Complexity's Sake
**What it looks like:** 15 different accounts, complex factor tilts, constant rebalancing.
**Why it's wrong:** Complexity costs time, attention, and often money.
**Instead:** Simple portfolios (3-fund) work for most people.

### Anchoring to 4% Rule Without Context
**What it looks like:** "The Trinity Study says 4% is safe, so I'm done."
**Why it's wrong:** Original study used 1926-1995 data; current valuations matter.
**Instead:** Adjust SWR based on CAPE, time horizon, and flexibility.

## Important Disclaimers

```
This is educational information, NOT personalized financial advice.

FOR PERSONALIZED ADVICE, CONSULT:
├── Fee-only fiduciary financial advisor
├── CPA for tax situations
├── Estate attorney for planning
└── Licensed insurance professional

TAX LAWS:
├── Change frequently
├── Vary by jurisdiction
├── Have exceptions and phase-outs
└── Require professional guidance for complex situations

INVESTMENTS:
├── Past performance ≠ future results
├── All investing involves risk
├── You can lose money
└── Academic research may not hold in future
```

---

**Remember**: Personal finance is personal. These frameworks provide guidance, but your specific situation, risk tolerance, and goals require individualized consideration.


---
Source attribution: curiositech
Original project: https://github.com/curiositech/some_claude_skills/blob/f49825290077e5fb46bb3e867dfa8a5b0161152b/.claude/skills/personal-finance-coach/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 Erich Owens

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Dave AI resource metadata

Creator / publisher: curiositech
Original project: https://github.com/curiositech/some_claude_skills/blob/f49825290077e5fb46bb3e867dfa8a5b0161152b/.claude/skills/personal-finance-coach/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Finance & Accounting, Sales
Roles: Accountant, Business Development, CFO / FP&A, Financial Analyst, Tax Specialist
Specialties: API
Tools: Mcp__Firecrawl__Firecrawl_Search
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: e149589915f9c9050bdabadbe209397cf838cc005da3628dd5fe874d1ba01088