Hi, I’m Kevin and I’m an attorney, writer, side hustler, and the blogger behind Financial Panther.
I like to think that I’m your typical millennial for the most part. I graduated college in May of 2009 – right in the midst of the financial crisis. Naturally, it wasn’t a great time to be finishing school. Finding myself underemployed, I did the thing almost everyone does when they have no clue what to do…I headed off to law school. And like most law students, I ended up taking out a bunch of student loans in order to do it. $87,000 worth to be exact!
You never fully understand the impact of student loans until you actually have to start paying them back. On paper, $87,000 didn’t seem like all that much. It was just a number to me. But once the bills started coming in, it began to dawn on me that I now had this huge bill to pay for the next decade or more of my life!
Luckily, I was “fortunate” enough to land a job at a big law firm making a great salary. I had plenty of money coming in – more than enough to live a totally normal life as a big shot lawyer. But a normal life meant spending money on stuff that didn’t really matter all that much and seeing much of my paycheck going out the door to pay student loans and other bills. It meant being stuck in a job that I might not really like all that much. If I fell into the trap of lifestyle inflation (i.e. living like every other lawyer), the big paycheck wouldn’t mean all that much. I could have nice things if I wanted. But all of my income would just be going out the door to pay for those nice things. I’d be trapped, just like everyone else.
After graduating in May 2013 with $87,000 worth of student loans to my name, I gave myself one goal – to pay that debt off as fast as I could. I started my first real job at the end of 2013 and began seriously repaying my student loans in January of 2014. I made my final student loan payment in June of 2016, just two-and-a-half years after I started my debt payoff journey.
With my student loans gone, I then left my high-stress, big law firm job, and took a government attorney job paying me $50,000 less per year! But because I had gotten so used to living on less, I took the job and didn’t even notice the pay cut! Most people get so reliant on their paycheck that they’re forced to stay in jobs they might not like all that much. I didn’t ever want to be in that position again.
While I was in law school, I was fortunate enough to meet my now wife. She was in her second year of dental school at the time, and like almost all dentists, she also took out a ton of student loans. She graduated from dental school a few years ago and is currently completing a residency. Her plan is to start up her own practice once she’s done.
Besides the two of us, our household also has a small dog – we’ll call her Financial Pup. She spends most of her days sleeping, barking at the mailman, or trying to steal food.
Discovering The Personal Finance Community
At the beginning of 2015, I started trying to figure out what I was doing with my 401k and stumbled upon the personal finance community. The stuff I learned was amazing and the stories people shared helped push me along in my own debt payoff journey. I couldn’t believe that normal people could know so much about how to handle money!
During this time, I also stumbled upon the world of side hustling using all of the new sharing economy and gig economy platforms. I ended up trying my hand at a number of side hustles, including:
- Starting up a dog sitting business using DogVacay and Rover
- Renting out a spare bedroom on Airbnb
- Delivering food via bike on Postmates and Caviar
- Selling furniture and other items I found in the trash using eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp.
A lot of people thought I was nuts. Big-shot lawyers aren’t supposed to be doing weird stuff like this.
But I didn’t care. Normal meant having a ton of student loan debt and spending money on stuff that didn’t really matter. It meant being stuck.
I wasn’t trying to be normal. I wanted to be weird.
What’s This Blog About?
I started this blog to share what I’ve learned about money and side hustling over the years, as well as to document my own journey towards financial independence.
It’s my hope that my experience and knowledge can help you out in some way. As a lawyer and dentist couple, I like to think that this blog can be a particularly helpful resource for future or current lawyers, doctors, dentists, or anyone else with a solid income, too much debt, and not enough knowledge about what to do with it.
Some of the topics you’ll find on this blog include:
- Personal Finance Stuff
- Investing
- Paying Off Debt
- Journeying Toward Financial Independence
- Merging Finances With Your Significant Other
- Side Hustling Using Sharing And Gig Economy Platforms
- Sharing Apps That Have Helped Me In My Personal Finance Journey
- Finding And Selling Sweet, Sweet Trash
What Is A Financial Panther?
The name Financial Panther comes from an episode of the Simpsons, where Homer mishears the words “financial planner” for the words “financial panther.” I’ve always chuckled at this joke. You can see a clip from that episode below:
Whenever I need a definition for a weird word, I look over to the good folks at Urban Dictionary. They define a Financial Panther as:
A large jungle cat that can be trained to maul a person’s creditors and bill-collectors if that person is short on money.
That seems like a pretty good definition to me. I think we could all use a Financial Panther in our lives.
If you’re interested in following along, be sure to sign up for my free email list below. It’s a great way for you to stay up to date with all of my newest posts. I promise you won’t regret it!
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:
- Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
- Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
- Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
- Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
- KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
- Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
- Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
- Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
- Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- Moomoo (15 free stocks and 1 stock of Tesla or Google) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 3 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (12 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 12 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($150) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Upgrade ($150) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $150 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $150 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- US Bank Business ($800) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- GO2Bank ($100) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $100 referral bonus.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Netspend ($40 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $40 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $40 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- 5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.25% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $800 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
G’day mate, nice to discover you online and read your story. Great work on paying off your student debts so quickly – and law school isn’t cheap! I know because it’s almost as expensive as flight school (my ATPL cost me just over AUD $300k). Looking forward to reading through your blog. Cheers, Capt. FI
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for your informative blog. I have CDs expiring and have been looking for a secure place to reinvest the funds. I really enjoyed reading about all your side hustles as a I too quit my RN nursing career after 10 years and paying off my school loans. Enough cannot be said about having a quality of life. Thanks for sharing all your info. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
Thank you Elsa!
Hi Kevin,
I’ll be finishing up my book with Portfolio/Penguin as well, this month, and one chapter I have is on side hustles. Maybe I can feature you and your story? I don’t know what your e-mail address is, hence this comment.
If interested, I would need around a four paragraph blurb about what you did,, roughly how much you made at your day job, what side hustle you started doing while working, how much it’s now making, and how it’s going, whether you are still working a day job. An income range would be good if you don’t feel comfortable with specifics.
No worries if not interested!
Regards,
Sam
Hey Sam,
Definitely am interested. I’ll send you an email to confirm.
Hi Kevin
I’m Johan
I stumbled with your NetSpend Article in search of making my money work for me and also for my son, that’s currently overseas. Yup! he’s a Marine. I would love for him to learn make smart financial decisions and I’m here to guide him. Something that some of our parents never taught us.
We have plans to open a few NetSpend accounts this weekend.
By the way, I love your journey and also the fact that you’re helping others meet their financial goals.
Thanks Johan! Appreciate the kind words.
Hello Kevin
Im Lucchesi
In a quest to findout what or where to put or do with my money to Grow, Work or Generate Profit, I stumbled with your NetSpend Article and it Got my attention immidiatelly and I already started the proccess and found out that they offering 6% APY.
While doing seach for onlines banking I notice Axos Bank kept coming up, highly recommended by other experts, I was wondering if you had any Intake or Opinion on it ??
Not a fan of Axos Bank. I opened accounts with them just for the bonuses. But otherwise, I don’t recommend them.
Love your whole platform! Not a lawyer but my best friend is! I’m a school counselor by day and therapist/clinician by night (I’d say my 2nd job is my side hustle b/c it’s profitable & I get to help a lot children and families)
You’re welcome! I’d say owning my own business. My friend and I started a kickboxing business, and I am working to turn my personal finance website into a full job (I am not quite there yet — there has a lot to be done. I just like to control my time.
I also don’t want to leave the law altogether. I will volunteer my time at this nonprofit organization, giving free legal services to those who cannot afford a lawyer.
Great story! I am myself an attorney who’s trying to get out of the game. Like you did, I also feel trapped. Yes the money is good, but the lifestyle of a typical attorney (nice suits, shoes, drinks after work, etc…) + student loans and other monthly bills, leave you with no money at the end of the month.
I’m glad you were able to get out of it and enjoy like like you should.
Thanks! What are you trying to transition too? I’ve seriously never felt better and have never been happier since getting out of the law game.
Wow, this is written for me! I graduated law school in 2011 with about $35k, which I paid off as soon as I could. I did full time lawyering, freelance/contract lawyering, some teaching on the side, now working full time in a non practicing role for the state government. I’m newish to the Dave Ramsey/FIRE personal finance world, but I am setting BIG financial goals for myself. Definitely interested in exploring side gigs geared towards my skill set. Excited to read more of your work!
I just stumbled across your blog within this past month. It’s very interesting, informative and entertaining. I am a fan!
Thanks Andrew! Glad you enjoy it. Let me know if there’s any topics you think I should cover.
This is great. Love the Simpsons joke. Congrats on paying down that debt!
I totally look up to your blog, I recently started mine a few days ago. It’s funny following bloggers with 203k monthly views on Pinterest and mine says 3 cx
Glad I can come by and leave some feedback hope to read more! Thank you FP
Thanks John! Appreciate the kind words. Keep at it. This whole blogging and online thing is definitely about the long game.
Just found your website, and I love it thank you! Can you please email me who your website company is? I love the layout, colors, etc., and would like to do something similar in my new company (I’m already a real estate broker/owner). LOVE your caricature, also! 🙂 Thanks in advance.
Hey Amy, my business partner does the website for me. Shoot me an email and I can send you along his contact info.
Found your blog this morning while the hubby and i were researching charging limes and birds. We have about 100K in student loans. Thank you for sharing your story and knowledge. I am 46 and want to be debt free by 50. We have no other debt except our home.
Thanks so much for stopping by Marcia! If you have any questions or want me to cover any specific topics, just let me know!
Mr. FP – I have enjoyed your thoughts and writing. I am 61 and sorta retired from a desk job but I can’t stand still. I started out with inspection gigs with OnSource and WeGoLook jobs here and there and bridged into lender inspections for repairs on insurance losses and checks on properties behind on payments. After reading blog, you have inspired me to think differently about what I’m doing and have expanded my side-gigs into the short surveys, receipts, and adding JobSpotter as well as EasyShift/GigWalk/FieldAgent where it makes sense. I was visiting family over the weekend and mentioned I was going to make money on my morning walk, so I did a half mile walk to a Field Agent rental inspection and caught 4 or 5 hiring signs on the way back with about 1-1/2 mile walk in total. I got good exercise and I pocketed $8 or $9 – I think they were at least a bit amazed! I really like your thinking on incorporating these sidegigs into what I would be doing anyway and have begun putting it into practice. I have shared this with my kids and have inspired a few to at least try some of the more passive things. So FP, thank you. Keep up the good work! I wish you well, in all of your endeavors.
Thanks so much and glad to see you around here! That’s the great thing about what you’re doing – since you’re incorporating it into the stuff you’re already doing, it doesn’t have to take up much of your time and it can be fun and give you a benefit beyond just working. $8 or $9 to go for a walk, something you would do anyway, is not a bad deal at all. Stay healthy, live longer, and get paid to boot!
so glad to happen upon your bolgs i have shared your social info to help loved ones, i found you by reading your article on the prism app which i started using this week. I am very interested in your side hustles which i do uber eats on my days off of my regular job working for the state of texas. keep the good info comimg and im glad to have found you so i can do better myself financially.
Thanks Lori! Glad you found your way here and that my stuff is useful to you!
I’m fairly new to your website, but I love it! I know you’re planning on baristaFIRE, but do you have any blog posts about how close you are to achieving that?
Thanks Scott! I haven’t written any specific post about how close I am to that – to be honest, I’m really far away from it still. Makes the blog a little different because I basically am starting from zero (actually from negative now). But I’ll think about how I can incorporate a post about that info, since it’s helpful info to know.
Hi Financial Panther,
I chanced upon your blog recently, and I have to say, you might just be a long lost twin!
My real name is Kevin as well, I used to be in big law (London and Singapore) until recently, and I run a financial blog called Financial Horse ( http://financialhorse.com/ ).
The similarity just blew me away, and thanks for making my day. I’m based in Singapore now, so if you’re ever in the area, don’t hesitate to hit me up!
Great blog btw, absolutely love it. 🙂
Cheers
Hey Financial Horse! Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words. We might very well be twins! What kind of work are you doing now?
Hi Financial Panther. I am working as a corporate counsel now. Not entirely removed from the law, but I am enjoying it. 🙂
Great blog! I love the side hustles and the Simpsons anecdotes!
How many hours are carved into the week for your deliveries and are most of these activities on the weekend? Impressive that you are able to side hustle with your full-time job.
Thanks Smart Money MD! I don’t try to carve any specific time to do these. In the summer, I like to try to get an hour of bike riding in after work, so I’ll often just do an hour or so of deliveries if I feel like it. Same with some weekends. I’ll just wake up and do some deliveries in the AM on my bike, again, for the exercise. The key is, I find it fun and I’m getting exercise. But I don’t really purposely set any hours to do these gigs.
Saw you post on another blog and just KNEW you had to be a Simpsons fan! Loving all your side hustles, got to see which I can start doing 🙂
Thanks Mr. SLM! I’m a big Simpsons fan, at least up until around Season 10 or 11. Glad you enjoy the side hustles and you should totally see which ones work for you.
Thanks for sharing your story. Where are you guys based?
I’ve had a lot of friends who stopped practicing law after 5-10 years to do something else. Have you noticed this trend as well? The law industry seems to really spit people out after chewing them up, just like the banking industry.
Sam
Hi Sam! We live in the Twin Cities, which has a lower cost of living, but still pays pretty good salaries. It’s not rock bottom cost of living here, but combined with the good incomes folks seem to make, you can really carve out a comfortable life.
You are correct in your observation of the legal industry. The attrition rate in “big law” (which is what we call working at the largest firms in the country) is horrendous. The pressure of billable hours wears you down. Plus, dealing with multiple bosses (every partner is basically your boss), competition between associates, and the general unpleasant atmosphere means that the vast majority – anecdotally, I’d guess 80% or more – will move on to a different type of legal environment within the first 3-7 years. I do know some lawyers that have left law altogether, but lawyers are a pretty conservative bunch, and I’d wager that most will just stick around doing some type of law, just in a less high pressure environment. Most likely in-house or government.
The interesting thing about sticking it out in big law is the reward. You’re basically rewarded with even more work and worse hours. Once you hit partner, you don’t just get to sit back and do nothing. So if you’re miserable as an associate, there’s not really a light at the end of the tunnel for sticking it out and trying to make partner (other than making obscene amounts of money and spending it all on housekeepers and nannys to take care of your home, since you’re never home).
So long winded answer, absolutely, the law industry chews people up and spits them right out. It’s basically the nature of the money making machine.
Great story! I can’t wait to read more about how you paid off the debt so quickly, particularly with the side hustles. Did you do this while you were in Biglaw as well?
As a fellow lawyer blogger, welcome to the neighborhood!
Thanks! Love your blog as well. It’s got great info!
As to your question, I didn’t really start these side hustles until mid-2015, but have loved trying these new gigs out.
Thanks for sharing about your journey.