An essential guide to managing your money for artists, freelancers, tech workers, influencers, and innovators, from an irreverent financial advisor
There's a good reason why so many people feel like the financial system doesn't serve them: it wasn't made for them. The system was built for a narrow version of adulthood with one high earner, one caretaker, maybe a couple of kids. For everyone else? They're out of luck.
Too often, personal finance leaves the growing ranks of people who don't fit this paradigm – the happily single, the freelance artist, the equity-compensated – feeling like money's a language they don't understand. Creative Money is not just their translation guide, but an entirely new approach to personal finance that's anchored in how people actually live and work now. Through frank advice and actionable habits, this book teaches readers how to:
• Monetize your creative output
• Turn a windfall into financial security
• Invest without lifting a finger
• Rethink everything you know about buying a home
• Connect money to happiness
As a writer and founder of a successful financial advisory firm, author AJ Ayers offers the rare perspective of someone who has built a creative life and a career in wealth management at the same time. She is the wise friend perched on the barstool next to you, drawing on examples and anecdotes from her own life and hundreds of real client meetings. This book challenges our notions of what being "rich" means and gives readers the tools to achieve wealth, and maybe even happiness, on their own terms. Ally Jane (AJ) Ayers, CFP®, is the co-founder of Brooklyn Fi, where she combines a background in music and food writing with financial expertise to help creative business owners and tech professionals build lasting wealth. She specializes in equity compensation and tax planning, guiding clients through IPO windfalls and toward long-term financial independence. With a focus on bridging creativity and finance, AJ works with founders and freelancers alike to turn complex financial decisions into clear strategies. She is also a financial writer, speaker, and co-host of The Liquidity Event podcast, as well as the author of the Substack newsletter "Money Changes Everything." Her clear-headed and actionable insights have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.
