What Is Moneymaxxing? From Budgeting to Life Planning
I recently spoke with CNBC about a financial trend I believe could be a real positive: MONEYMAXXING.
As I shared with CNBC:
To me, this goes beyond cutting subscriptions, using credit-card points or finding a better place for your savings.
Those are good starting points. But the more interesting question is:
What else can I do?
Beyond the Budget
That question can take financial planning much further.
Maybe you start by reviewing your spending and then realize you’ve never explored a 529 college savings plan for your children.
Maybe you’ve contributed to your 401(k) for decades but haven’t thought about how you'll eventually take distributions from it—or how those decisions may interact with taxes and other income in retirement.
Maybe a meaningful part of your compensation comes from RSUs or stock options, and you've never developed a thoughtful strategy around vesting, taxes and concentration.
Or maybe you're part of the sandwich generation, trying to help your children while your parents increasingly need your time, attention and financial support. That can lead to important conversations about insurance, estate documents, caregiving, retirement and how much assistance you can reasonably provide.
This is where moneymaxxing starts to look less like a trend and more like planning.
From Financial Planning to Life Planning
At Sun Group Wealth Partners, we often find that one financial question leads to another.
A 401(k) question becomes a retirement conversation.
A college-savings question becomes a discussion about balancing children's education with the parents' own future.
An RSU question can lead to conversations about taxes, diversification and longer-term goals.
A question about aging parents can uncover estate, insurance and caregiving considerations that the entire family hasn't discussed yet.
That's the progression I find interesting:
Financial planning → wealth planning → life planning.
Because ultimately, your accounts aren't separate from your life. They are there to support it.
Why This Matters Now
The numbers suggest Americans have good reasons to become more engaged.
The Federal Reserve's latest household survey found that only 63% of adults could cover a $400 unexpected expense using cash or its equivalent, while 59% experienced at least one major unexpected expense during the prior year. Only 35% of non-retirees believed their retirement savings plan was on track.
These aren't simply investment problems.
They are planning problems.
And sometimes the answer isn't to work harder at managing every individual dollar. It is to create a better financial system around yourself and your family.
“Why Not Me?”
There is another question hidden inside moneymaxxing that I especially like:
Why not me?
Why shouldn't I understand my 401(k)?
Why shouldn't I know more about taxes or investing?
Why shouldn't my family explore education planning?
Why shouldn't I understand my company stock?
Why shouldn't I have conversations with my parents about their financial wishes before a crisis makes those conversations harder?
For many people, this knowledge wasn't passed down. Money wasn't discussed at home, or our parents were busy trying to build their own financial lives.
We can learn now.
And perhaps we can make it easier for the next generation.
Technology, including AI, may help make financial information and tools more accessible. But information is only part of the equation. Eventually, someone has to decide which opportunities actually make sense for their life.
That's where thoughtful planning can matter.
The goal isn't necessarily to maximize everything. It's to understand the choices available to you, coordinate them, and keep asking:
What else can I do? Why not me? And who can help me navigate it?
Maybe that's the most useful version of moneymaxxing.
Not simply getting more from your money.
Getting more intentional about the life you're building with it.
Winnie Sun is co-founder and managing director of Sun Group Wealth Partners and a member of CNBC's Financial Advisor Council.
This material is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
Winnie Sun is a registered representative with and securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Sun Group Wealth Partners, a Registered Investment Advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.
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