Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA, CFEI

Janet Berry-Johnson, CPA, CFEI I'm a CPA, Daily Money Manager, Financial Coach, and Tax and Accounting Content Writer. I help families get financially organized.

06/17/2026

You left a job. Your old 401(k) didn’t. Leaving it where it is might be the path of least resistance but it’s not a good idea long term. Here’s why you should roll it into an IRA instead.

Do you have an old 401(k) gathering dust? What’s stopping you from dealing with it?

The next confession? "I've opened the same piece of mail four times and put it back in the pile four times."The fifth ...
06/17/2026

The next confession? "I've opened the same piece of mail four times and put it back in the pile four times."

The fifth time is going to be different though.

Drop a 📬 if that envelope is still there right now.

You think your parent has a will. Maybe. You're pretty sure you remember them mentioning it once.But you don't know wher...
06/16/2026

You think your parent has a will. Maybe. You're pretty sure you remember them mentioning it once.

But you don't know where it is. You don't know when it was last updated. You don't know whether it still reflects what they actually want or whether their situation has changed enough that it no longer matters.

And you haven't asked. Because asking feels like you're rushing something. Like you're being presumptuous. Like you're already thinking about a day you're not ready to think about.

So it just sits there. Unconfirmed. In the back of your mind. Adding to the quiet hum of worry that follows you around.

I want you to know getting this sorted isn't morbid. It's one of the kindest things you can do for your parent, and for yourself.

I help women figure out exactly what documents their parents have, what's missing, and what needs to be updated while there's still time to do it calmly and together.

If you've been putting this off, this is your sign. My link in bio is a good place to start.

"I'm just not good with money."I hear this a lot from women who manage careers, households, aging parents, and about fou...
06/16/2026

"I'm just not good with money."

I hear this a lot from women who manage careers, households, aging parents, and about fourteen other things simultaneously without breaking a sweat.

I want you to know the problem isn't you.

When your money is scattered across multiple accounts, a handful of credit cards, subscriptions you forgot you had, and savings that don't have a clear purpose, your brain reads that chaos as personal failure. It isn't. It's just a system problem. And system problems have system solutions.

You're not bad with money. You've just never had a clean, simple structure that works with your real life instead of against it.

That's exactly what changes when we work together.

A recent U.S. News survey asked 302 American caregivers about the real cost of what they do every day. They found 26% of...
06/14/2026

A recent U.S. News survey asked 302 American caregivers about the real cost of what they do every day.

They found 26% of caregivers provide more than 40 hours of care per week. A full-time job's worth of work, unpaid, on top of everything else in their lives.

Plus:
- 42% feel constantly or often overwhelmed
- 27% have given up their hobbies and leisure time
- 21% have lost time with friends and family
- 14% have resigned from their jobs entirely
- 30% feel more isolated and lonely than before they became caregivers.

The survey can't fully capture the compounding financial damage. Lost income and retirement contributions. No accumulating Social Security credits.

Another study from PensionBee estimates a five-year caregiving career break can cost nearly $346,000 in retirement savings. Women, who make up roughly two-thirds of caregivers, absorb most of that loss.

The people doing this work need more than tips for avoiding burnout. They need policies that recognize what caregiving costs, what it contributes, and what it takes from the people doing it.

If you've been waiting until you feel ready to get your finances in order, I have news for you.Ready doesn't come first....
06/12/2026

If you've been waiting until you feel ready to get your finances in order, I have news for you.

Ready doesn't come first. Action does.

You don't need a perfect plan. You don't need to know every step. You just need to do the next one, and then the one after that.

That's how the pile gets smaller. That's how the conversation finally happens. That's how the woman who avoids becomes the woman who handles it.

Start today.

06/11/2026

The AARP Valuing the Invaluable 2026 Report put a number on it. Family caregivers provided $1 trillion in unpaid care in 2024.

That's 49.5 billion hours of work. Done mostly by women. Mostly without pay. And in many cases, while also holding down a job, raising kids, and trying not to completely abandon their own financial future.

The average caregiver is now putting in 27 hours a week. More than half are handling complex medical tasks that used to be done by professionals.

The AARP doesn't say it, but most of those caregivers are also watching their own retirement fall apart. They've paused contributions or are pulling from their retirement accounts to cover the cost of care because their parent makes just over the limit to qualify for Medicaid.

The work you're doing for your family has real economic value. So does your own financial future. Both things are true at the same time, and you deserve a plan that accounts for both.

What's one financial task you've been putting off because caregiving took over?

06/11/2026

The Magic 8 Ball and I agree on one thing: guessing isn’t a plan when it comes to dealing with your aging parents.

06/11/2026

If you're in the sandwich generation, still supporting your kids while helping your aging parents, you already know how easy it is to put your own finances last. But that decision has real costs that sneak up on you.

In my latest Substack newsletter, I cover two specific places women in this situation leave money on the table: car loans that cost more than you think, and insurance premiums that get out of control because you put them on autorenew.

I'm also sharing some news about where this newsletter is headed. Click the link to read it. And if it resonates, pass it along to a woman you know who's doing it all.

This week's confession: "My accountant asked if I had any questions. I had seventeen. I said 'nope, I think I'm good!'...
06/10/2026

This week's confession: "My accountant asked if I had any questions. I had seventeen. I said 'nope, I think I'm good!'"

The questions are still in there. Aging like fine wine.

Drop a 🙋‍♀️ if you've ever nodded confidently at a financial professional and understood maybe 40% of what they said.

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