IMC Financial Consulting

IMC Financial Consulting We offer a holistic comprehensive services to help clients prioritize and attain their life goals by making smart financial decisions.

Two-thirds of younger investors feel good about 2026. The harder question is where that confidence is coming from.A J.P....
05/29/2026

Two-thirds of younger investors feel good about 2026. The harder question is where that confidence is coming from.

A J.P. Morgan Personal Investing survey of 1,000 U.K. retail investors found confidence among younger investors rose to two-thirds, up from 58% the year before. More of them are now getting tips from social media, Reddit forums, and finfluencers instead of traditional research. J.P. Morgan pointed out the catch: acting on those tips can lead to poor decisions or scams.

It is a U.K. survey, but the lesson is universal. Before you act on any money "tip," consider the source. Who profits if you follow it? Are they actually licensed or credentialed? Do they ever show you the downside, or only the wins?

The red flags tend to repeat: promises you can't lose, urgency, the word "secret," and a trail of affiliate links.

This is the kind of media literacy we build into our work at IMC. Read the source before you read the recommendation.

planningimc.co

If you know a college athlete signing NIL deals, this is worth a two-minute read.NIL income is treated as self-employmen...
05/28/2026

If you know a college athlete signing NIL deals, this is worth a two-minute read.

NIL income is treated as self-employment income. The school or brand does not withhold taxes, so the athlete is personally responsible for the bill. They typically get a Form 1099-NEC and report it on a Schedule C, which means regular income tax plus a 15.3% self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) on top.

A few things that catch people off guard:

Non-cash perks count too. A car, apparel, a trip, even trading cards can show up as taxable income.

Since nothing is withheld, the IRS expects quarterly estimated payments (roughly April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15). Skipping them can bring penalties.

And for 2026, the 1099-NEC reporting threshold rises to $2,000. That is a paperwork trigger for whoever pays, not a tax exemption. Income under it is still taxable.

A common guideline CPAs share is to set aside about 35 to 40% of NIL income for taxes, then bring the real numbers to a tax professional.

This is the part of getting paid nobody teaches: plan for the tax before the check clears.

Car payments are quietly straining a lot of household budgets right now.The New York Fed reported this month that U.S. a...
05/27/2026

Car payments are quietly straining a lot of household budgets right now.

The New York Fed reported this month that U.S. auto-loan balances rose by $18 billion in the first quarter of 2026 to a record $1.69 trillion (Household Debt and Credit, Q1 2026). Total household debt is now $18.8 trillion.

Here is what we teach about it. A car does not cost a monthly payment. It costs four things at once: payment, insurance, fuel, and maintenance. Added together, that is your total cost of ownership, and it is the number worth watching, not the monthly payment by itself.

One common guideline some budgeting educators use is keeping total car costs under roughly 15 to 20 percent of take-home pay. Think of it as a reference point, not a rule.

So before you sign, add up all four, then measure them against what actually lands in your account each month. A "fine" payment and a "fine" total cost of ownership are not always the same thing.

What is the one car cost you wish you had planned for sooner?

05/27/2026

Summer never actually sneaks up on us. We know the travel, the camps, the weddings, the cookouts, and the gas are coming.

The hard part is that we leave those costs unplanned and then reach for a card when they land.

Here's a calmer way: a sinking fund. That's just money you set aside a little at a time for a known expense, so when it shows up, you already have the cash.

The method is simple. Name the expense. Estimate the total. Count the months until you need it. Divide. Automate one small transfer into a separate spot and let it build.

When summer arrives, it's already paid for.

What's the one summer expense that always seems to surprise people? Tell us below.

05/22/2026

Here is the number that stops most people in their tracks.

A single $1,000 invested at age 20, using a historical average annual return of 7%, grows to roughly $21,000 by the time you reach 65. That is 45 years of compounding doing the work for you. But if you wait until age 40 to put in that same $1,000? You end up with about $5,400 by retirement.

Same amount of money. Same return rate. The only difference is time.

That is compound interest: your returns earn returns, and the growth is exponential, not linear. The earlier you start, the more time that math works in your favor.

And you do not need a large lump sum to begin. The habit of automating a small recurring contribution, even $25 or $50 per paycheck, is what actually builds long-term wealth for most families.

These are educational examples based on historical averages, not guarantees.

Ready to build a plan? Visit planningimc.co.

If you have a student heading to college in the fall, this is worth a few minutes of your time.Federal student loan inte...
05/21/2026

If you have a student heading to college in the fall, this is worth a few minutes of your time.

Federal student loan interest rates for the 2026-27 academic year just went up. These rates are set every spring based on a U.S. Treasury auction, which means they can change year to year, and this year they moved higher.

For families in the middle of financial aid season, that is a real number that affects how much your student will owe and what monthly payments could look like after graduation.

Here is some context: total student loan debt in America now stands at $1.84 trillion. More than 42 million people are carrying student loans. And 69% of borrowers surveyed say they are at least somewhat worried that 2026 policy changes will affect their ability to save for emergencies.

The best time to work with these numbers is before the loan is signed, not after.

What does repayment look like at graduation? How does this debt fit alongside other financial goals? These are not questions that require a licensed advisor to answer. They require information and a framework. Understanding the loan before you take it is financial literacy in action.

Share this with a parent navigating college planning right now.

Parents, this one is worth bookmarking and sharing with the teenagers or young adults in your life.One of the most pract...
05/20/2026

Parents, this one is worth bookmarking and sharing with the teenagers or young adults in your life.

One of the most practical financial skills anyone can learn is how to build a credit score from scratch. The core moves are straightforward once you know what they are.

Move one: Pay on time, every time. This is the single most important factor in a credit score, making up about 35% of the total. This habit is the foundation.

Move two: Keep credit utilization under 30%. If someone's credit limit is $1,000, the approach is to keep the balance under $300.

Move three: Start with a secured card. You pay a deposit upfront and that deposit becomes the credit line. It builds real history without the risk of large unsecured credit.

Move four: Become an authorized user on a trusted person's account. Parents, if you add your teenager to a well-managed account as an authorized user, some of that history can transfer to their report. It is one of the fastest ways to give a new credit profile some depth.

Move five: Be patient and avoid multiple hard inquiries. Credit is a long game. Building slowly and consistently over time makes a real difference.

Share this with someone who is just getting started.

Here is a number worth sharing with every parent you know: about 1 in 5 teenagers score at the very bottom of internatio...
05/19/2026

Here is a number worth sharing with every parent you know: about 1 in 5 teenagers score at the very bottom of international financial literacy assessments, according to PISA data highlighted by the World Economic Forum in 2026.

Thirty states have now made a standalone personal finance course a graduation requirement. And still, the skills are not landing the way they should. The policy moved faster than the preparation.

What makes this especially striking: 68% of teens say they would take a financial literacy course if one were offered to them. These students want to learn. The system just has not met them where they are.

The FDIC has found that teens who receive personal finance education are significantly less likely to become unbanked adults. That outcome does not happen by accident. It happens when education is intentional and involves the whole family, not just one semester of required coursework.

That is the core idea behind the IMC Financial Freedom Project. The program operates across 5 cities in 4 states and teaches students, parents, and faculty at the same time. Financial literacy sticks when the whole household is speaking the same language. It is why the program was designed this way from the beginning.

Here is a number worth sitting with: 53% of Americans do not have sufficient savings to cover a $1,000 emergency, accord...
05/18/2026

Here is a number worth sitting with: 53% of Americans do not have sufficient savings to cover a $1,000 emergency, according to Bankrate's 2026 Emergency Savings Report.

That means more than half the country is one unexpected expense away from turning to credit cards, family loans, or worse.

The same report found the median emergency fund balance fell to $5,000 this year, while the U.S. personal savings rate was around 4% in Q1 2026, down from 5.2% a year earlier.

The good news: building an emergency fund is a learnable process, not a personality trait.

Step one is just reaching $1,000. It covers the most common single emergencies and changes how you relate to your finances.

Step two is automating a contribution to a dedicated savings account before you spend anything else.

Step three is calculating your actual monthly expenses and working toward 3 to 6 months of that number in an accessible account. Not your income. Your expenses.

The framework is available to everyone. Share this with someone who could use a starting point.

Manager engagement just hit a ten-year low, and it's reshaping how careers actually move.Gallup's 2026 report shows mana...
05/15/2026

Manager engagement just hit a ten-year low, and it's reshaping how careers actually move.

Gallup's 2026 report shows manager engagement fell from 27% to 22% in a single year, the steepest drop they've ever recorded. Average team size is up 50% since 2013. A Simon Sinek Optimism Co survey found 75% of middle managers report extreme burnout, with more than 1 in 4 planning to leave.

The takeaway for individual contributors isn't to blame your boss. It's to read the moment honestly. If career conversations have gone quiet, your manager is likely running ten directions at once with eleven other people to mentor.

This carousel walks through why it happened, what it means for your career, and four moves to make this quarter so your development doesn't sit in someone else's inbox.

Save it for the next 1:1 you schedule yourself.

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