“I dislike all this money talk. It isn’t refined.” – Meg, to her sisters, in the film Little Women

I teach writers, artists, and other creative types of all stripes about investing and retirement planning.

If you don’t feel confident in your investing skills and retirement savings projections, you are far from alone. Why? No one taught us how to do it, it’s considered impolite to talk about it, and the industry is bound up in silly, unnecessarily complicated jargon.

Although I'm a writer, I’ve always liked math and am by nature a type A planner with a deep love of spreadsheets. I regularly cover investing, economics, and finance for publications at the Yale School of Management and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and I’m the kind of person who enjoys spending my evenings learning about topics like municipal bond funds, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, and required minimum distributions. At some point I realized that although this knowledge was readily available to anyone who wanted to read about it, most people probably didn’t, and I could help my fellow creatives — that’s you.

Workshops

The workshop is now full. To be added to a waitlist and/or to receive advance notice of the next workshop, email me at robertakwok (at) gmail (dot) com.

I’m teaching my next workshop on investing and retirement planning in fall 2025. If you identify with any of the following statements, this workshop might be for you:

  • I don’t know if I’m saving enough for retirement, and it’s stressing me out.

  • I ran a retirement calculator and it told me to save an impossible amount of money. Now what?

  • I invested my money in a target date fund, but I don’t really understand what’s in the fund and whether I’m doing it right.

  • I’m nervous about investing in the stock market.

  • I feel weird investing in companies whose values I don’t agree with.

  • My parent/sibling/friend/coworker told me I should do XYZ, but I don’t know if I should take their advice.

  • I want to get my finances in order, but I desperately need motivation.

  • I want to pursue a big passion project/go on a creative sabbatical/pivot to a new career/take time off for caregiving, but I’m worried that the temporary drop in income will throw me off track for retirement savings.

I’m here to tell you that it’s okay! We’re going to address all these issues and more.

When: The workshop will have three 1.5-hour sessions, which will take place over three Thursdays: Oct. 16, Oct. 30, and Nov. 20. The sessions will be from 1:00 to 2:30pm Pacific time.

What: Here’s a high-level overview of what we’ll cover. You can read a more detailed syllabus here.

Day 1

  • Investing 101: Stocks, bonds, returns, and mutual funds

  • The “small” fees that can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars (that’s not a typo)

  • Your biggest decisions: Risk tolerance and asset allocation

  • Choosing the target date fund that’s right for you, not just the default

Day 2

  • Retirement accounts galore, including SEP IRA vs solo 401(k), the secret spousal IRA, and the Roth-ification of everything

  • Nuts and bolts: Brokerages, fund providers, and DIY portfolios

  • Is it possible to invest ethically?

  • How to calculate your nest egg target: Your two most important numbers

Day 3

  • Whether (and how much) to count on Social Security

  • There’s no way I can save that much, now what?

  • The pitfalls of retirement calculators

  • How to find a trustworthy financial advisor

Who: For writers, artists, and other creative types, at all ages and career stages, including freelancers and employees at traditional organizations. The group will be limited to 10 people.

Where: Zoom. (Please note that I do ask participants to keep their cameras on if possible. I like to connect with the people I’m teaching, and that’s hard to do when I can’t see them.) The sessions will not be recorded.

Registration: Fill out this form to sign up. If the class is full, I’ll add your name to a waitlist and notify you if a space opens up. If you have any problems accessing or submitting the form, just email me at robertakwok (at) gmail (dot) com to register.

Cost: Free. For now, I consider this to be my idiosyncratic form of volunteer service for the creative community. (And no, I won’t try to sell you a timeshare in Florida at the end.)

Disclaimer: This workshop is for educational purposes only. It does not create an advisory, fiduciary, or professional services relationship, and it’s not a replacement for getting personalized advice from a certified financial planner, certified public accountant, or lawyer.

Questions? Email me at robertakwok (at) gmail (dot) com.

Testimonials

"This was supremely useful. I came away from this feeling more prepared and less freaked out than I thought I would. It's empowering to have that new knowledge, but beyond that, to know where to look for additional next steps now that I know I have a handle on the basics. I’m blown away by how much time and expertise you put into creating these resources — I know I will be coming back to them in the future!" — Jane Hu, freelance science journalist

"This was so amazing! I so appreciate the way you've organized all this incredibly useful info. I loved your dynamic, genuine and funny delivery, and your approach was very reassuring too. I feel much less nervous about digging deeper into the morass of retirement planning now!" — Deirdre Lockwood, poet, fiction writer, and journalist

“Roberta's course gives you everything you need and more to make important decisions about your retirement savings. Her thorough research and deep financial knowledge really come through in the talks, and she has answers to pretty much any money question you can think of, from basic to niche.” — Rachel Tompa, freelance science writer and editor

"Roberta's webinar is invaluable for anyone who, like me, has been embarrassingly naïve about planning for retirement. She broke down complex concepts with clarity and practicality. I now feel far more empowered to take control of my finances and my future." — Lynne Peeples, author and journalist

"There are always a million tasks that seem more pressing (and exciting) than retirement planning. But Roberta helped me break down the top ways I could be doing it better right now. I used the whole experience to light a fire under me." — Ashley Braun, freelance science and environmental journalist

Writing

Here are examples of articles I’ve written for the Yale School of Management and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Investing

Economics

Labor

FAQs

Do you have any formal certifications?

No, I’m not a certified financial planner (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA), or registered investment advisor (RIA). I’m just a massive personal finance nerd who likes helping other people understand money.

Do you earn commissions?

I don’t sell investing or insurance products, and I don’t earn any commissions. I’m not affiliated with any banks, brokerages, or other financial institutions. I also don’t actively manage investments.

How are your services different from a certified financial planner (CFP)’s services?

I see myself as an educator who acts as a bridge to a CFP. I particularly want to help early- to mid-career workers who may not be able to afford a CFP yet but could greatly benefit from getting on the right investing trajectory. At this critical stage, compounding returns can still make a tremendous difference to their future financial security.

I focus on teaching basic principles of investing and retirement planning. If you're looking for help with the following areas, I would recommend hiring a CFP and/or CPA:

  • A thorough, holistic assessment of your entire financial situation, including areas such as paying off debt, buying a home, credit scores, taxes, life/disability/umbrella insurance, saving for college, supporting aging parents, and estate planning

  • Help with tax planning issues such as tax loss harvesting, Roth conversions, and managing taxable vs tax-deferred vs tax-free accounts

  • Advice on more complex retirement decisions, such as when to claim Social Security, whether to purchase an annuity (and what type), how to plan for long-term care, how to navigate Medicare, whether to consider a reverse mortgage, and flexible withdrawal strategies to mitigate sequence of returns risk while optimizing your standard of living

What is your teaching based on? Where do you get your information?

I read books by a wide variety of experts from different fields, synthesize their knowledge, and land on reasonable, middle-ground strategies. These include books by:

Couldn't I learn all this stuff on my own then?

Yes, you absolutely can! I’d suggest reading books by the authors listed above, most of which should be available from public libraries. The Bogleheads are an active community of DIY investors who generally give very solid advice, and their no-nonsense guides to investing are a great place to start (though some information may be slightly out of date by this point). I also like the podcasts HerMoney with Jean Chatzky and MoneyWatch and Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger (CFP).

What’s your personal investment strategy?

I prefer a portfolio of low-cost index funds that is simple to understand and maintain. I don’t buy stock in individual companies, I don’t try to time the market, and I hold investments for the long term. During market downturns, I continue buying stocks in line with my planned asset allocation, ignore the news, and wait for the recovery.

I make a moderate effort to be smart about tax efficiency (that is, placing assets that are likely to be taxed more heavily in tax-advantaged rather than taxable accounts). However, I don’t tie myself in knots to minimize taxes because I find that this leads to situations where, for instance, I’m spending precious free time on a weekend poring over bond fund yields instead of living my real life. It’s at moments like these that I go back to my mantra for investment: simple to understand, simple to maintain.

Image credit: ArisSu