Creative Money

Seattle, United States

4.9

Open now

20 reviews

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Telephone:
Not provided
Website:
www.creativemoney.biz
Address:
2110 N Pacific St Ste 100, Seattle, WA, 98103
b/t N Bagley Ave & 34th St
Wallingford
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
840 ftWallingford Ave N & N 35th St
920 ftN 35th St & Wallingford Ave N
0.3 miWallingford Ave N & N 37th St
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Today

Today 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Seattle) 1:02 PM Friday, November 29, 2024

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

As a Certified Financial Planner practitioner, Creative Money uses the principles of financial planning in an all advice, zero product relationship. We help you take a much more creative down-​to-​earth approach, to give you back control of your money – so it doesn’t always control you.

History

Established in 2004.

Creative Money is the culmination for Mindy Crary, MBA CFP® of working for years as a financial advisor and always having to consider product sales in conjunction with her advice.

There are plenty of good, ethical people in financial services, and Mindy is one of them. Yet, she knew there must be a better way…

When doctors prescribe a medication, they write a prescription for the patient to go fill at a pharmacy. They can never view prescriptions as a revenue source because that option has been removed for them.

Following that analogy, creative money doesn’t offer products or investments – in fact, the unique combination of financial education, planning and coaching empowers you to take back control your own financial life, independent of the confusing and ambiguous information around you.

Meet the Business Owner

Mindy C.

Business Owner

Mindy – certified life coach and certified financial planner practitioner – is the brains and energy behind creative money It’s her company.

Having fifteen-​plus years of financial planning experience (along with an actual sense of humor that didn’t require any particular certification), Mindy is certified in helping both your money AND you succeed. From growing your wealth and/​or small business to the actual person behind it, we help to bridge the gap between the energetic, spiritual and practical financial services industry, but doing it with a creative twist.

Every single planner working at Creative Money follows her philosophy and Mindy oversees every detail of every plan. With Creative Money, you’re getting a team of people who care about you more than your money.

Looking to give you the most comprehensive information about your money and you, we look to make your experience fun. Effective. Real. And practical.

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20 reviews of Creative Money

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
If you’re snooping around these parts, you’re probably looking for financial advice, so I’m about to give you some, ready? Call Mindy and her peeps. Do it now. Creative Money is off the chain, and Mindy is the total package – sharp, financially savvy, real world street smart and practical (because financial advice, or any advice for that matter, is only worthwhile if it’s actually do-​able), and super cool – she somehow made it fun for us to take on the daunting task of finally getting our grown up finances in order.
Mindy’s team is professional, organized, and easy to work with. After committing to a strategy session and some preliminaries with Creative Money over the phone, my wife and I began our homework of document and data gathering (aka: ‘The Mindy Project’). It paid off, since Mindy knew our situation inside out when we met in person. If you look around Mindy’s site, you can tell she knows what she’s talking about when it comes to finances – but on top of that, it was clear that she had a great understanding not just of our finances, but who we were as people. So basically it’s her people skills plus professional financial superpowers that made her advice (and data-​driven, well documented step by step plan) meaningful to us, easy to follow, and so in line with our goals (and dreams and lofty ambitions and touchy feely big picture stuff). As our circumstances change, we’ve felt great about keeping in touch with Mindy and running things by her – meet with Mindy and you’ll see what I mean, cuz you’ll be so glad you have this life coach in your life! Pleasure to work with, and exactly what we needed.
Place rating: 5
New York, NY
We couldn’t be more pleased with our meetings with Mindy and the financial plan she has laid out for us. She is honest, reliable, and realistic. We feel more confident than ever that we can achieve our goals and have such a positive view of our financial future. We can’t thank Mindy enough!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Mindy is the bomb! We started working with her for financial planning about 7 months ago to make sure we were in shape to meet all of our financial goals. My wife and I are extremely impressed with her knowledge, professionalism, and sense of humor that she gave us through her advice and ongoing support. Still to this day we feel very comfortable running things by her and getting advice (i.e.: we just bought a house and cleared all of the details by her). She was able to give us the confidence we needed to make big financial decisions and we feel like she has given us the right tools to meet all of our goals. We will definitely be using her services again and highly recommend her! She didn’t even scold us for having such a ridiculous budget for travel:)
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
My husband and I decided that this was the year to get our act together around our will, finances, life insurance, etc. I sought out Mindy after reading all her fabulous Unilocal reviews and I’m very glad I did!
Mindy’s process is super simple: You have an initial phone chat about your needs, you then drop all your pertinent docs in a Dropbox folder she’ll set up for you, Mindy crunches the numbers and then arrives at your home to review everything. That was all great (especially that she drove all the way to Mukilteo to see us!) and then she continues to follow up over email to make sure we are on track and answers all our post-​meeting questions. I kinda thought we were more or less on track, and we pretty much are, but Mindy pointed out some great things around life insurance (our policies through work were certainly not enough) and other future planning for our family.
I feel like Mindy’s fees are more than reasonable and would recommend her to anyone looking for not only financial planning advice, but really, life planning advice. Mindy will not bust you for spending too much at Starbucks. :) She’s more into the big picture and really focuses her sessions on the goals of her clients. She kicked off our meeting with our number one priority and moved through our other needs throughout the session.
Thanks Mindy for helping up on the right path!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
As good as it gets; absolutely.
I won’t dig into the details of the initial meeting my husband and I had with Mindy — she’s got a ton of descriptive reviews here and her website is very informative. We got a great plan that we’ve continued to followed since meeting with her a year ago.
I think the true differentiator for Creative Money and Mindy is that just this weekend, almost a year after we met, she is still available for us to ask any question at any time, without additional fees. And this isn’t the first time we’ve reached out with questions. She remembers us and our situation as clients and helps steer us in the right direction regardless of the question. She is honest, approachable, responsive, and just a gem! Worth every penny and we will use her services again!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
I’ve been working with Mindy for about a year now and I am so happy I met her. She advised me last fall, when I was faced with a unique financial situation and made a plan with me so that I could work toward personal and financial goals.
Since then, I’ve bought my first house, have a tax strategy, and feel so much better about the shape of my financial future. I couldn’t have done it without Mindy!
If you have the idea that financial planning is scary, expensive, or boring — then you need to call Mindy. She’s anything but those things! She’ll walk you through everything, and with her caring, friendly, and affordable approach, you really can’t go wrong.
Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA
My husband and I loved working with Mindy and would recommend her to all who are interested in solid advice from a smart, candid, financial professional. We opted for the Comprehensive Package and met with Mindy in our home (which was such a bonus) to create an investment plan for our retirement as well as education goals for our triplet boys. With Mindy’s help, I feel so much more in control and educated on our financial future. Thank you Mindy!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
It’s very infrequent that someone wows me as much as Mindy did, but she’s absolutely amazing. Let me count the ways:
1. She charges a more than fair price for her packages, given the amount of time and depth of thought she put into her financial recommendations for us.
2. She comes to your house (or office, or wherever), which is incredibly convenient.
3. She’s fun, approachable, and doesn’t ever guilt trip you about money.
4. Even after the extremely thorough report she provides, she’s extremely responsive on email and answered some questions we’ve had in the months following our consultation. And when we had some urgent questions about a house we were about to put an offer on, she called and helped us clear some things up (and calmed my nerves as a first time home buyer.)
5. Mindy even started sending us houses she found in some of the areas we were looking, because she knew we were in the middle of a house hunt and she got excited about it when she found some cool places. :)
6. She suggested some options for our money that we wouldn’t even have considered, and printed out some great and clear examples that made us confident in our gameplan.
I also love that Mindy charges for time rather than how much money she might make you. I’m leery of financial advisors who profit from your profit. I’m sure there are some good ones out there, but all the ones we met previously were like sharks. The incentives are just very clearly different.
I recommend Mindy to everyone who’s looking for clarity on retirement, how much home they can afford, or any other pressing financial questions. She demystifies a lot and is simply awesome. What more can I say? :)
Place rating: 5
Bow, WA
My husband and I purchased the comprehensive package from Mindy/​Creative Money, and are so happy we did. Neither of us are interested in the task researching and finding the right investments. Mindy took care of that for us and explained it to us in the most layman’s terms possible. She can geek out with financial jargon too but it’s easy to bring her around to your level of expertise (which is very low for us). She is passionate about her job and seems to enjoy the challenges we present to her. She also painted a clear picture of a few different financial scenarios for us, including real estate investments. We feel more organized than we did before and have a clearer idea of where our money is going. She is very accessible via email and promptly answers any follow up questions I have.
We researched other fee only financial advisors and felt overwhelmed by their requirements from us. Mindy lays it out there for you but doesn’t make it feel like you have to get it all done by a certain time. I feel confident with her knowledge of the market. She is constantly researching and has even emailed me about specific ideas regarding a business we want to start up. She didn’t have to do that but she takes initiative and seems to genuinely take interest in your situation.
I highly recommend her for anyone who wants to get their financial ducks in a row but also for business owners who need to bounce some ideas around.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
It’s tough work to get an ex-​Elite Unilocaler to come out of review-​writing retirement, but for Mindy (and for all you potential future clients of hers), I feel compelled to share my awesome experience.
I went with Mindy’s Strategy Session, and I truly feel it was worth every penny. I feel much more confident in my retirement, and in the money that I’m setting aside for larger expenses in the next couple of years.
If, like me, you’re wary of financial planners and have some anxiety, let me tell you — I’ve been there! It’s hard to feel comfortable and trusting when the other person knows so much more about finances than you do! But Mindy put me right at ease for a few reasons:
1. She’s not affiliated with a particular bank, so she isn’t required to sell certain investment funds or other products.
2. She explains things really well, and I felt comfortable with all the recommendations she made. I felt like I understood what was happening with my finances!
3. She is willing and able to provide alternatives. Don’t like a particular investment fund? She’ll find an alternative. Feeling a little more risk averse than you thought when you met with her? She’ll make some adjustments to help you feel more comfortable.
4. Her post-​meeting checklist is awesome. I felt so accomplished after I worked through that list! It made me feel more in charge of my finances than I had in a long time, and now I feel like I know what to look for in financial statements to check on the status of my accounts.
5. She keeps in touch! One of the best things with Mindy is that you can send a quick email if you have a follow-​up question. I’ve sent along a couple questions after our initial session, and Mindy always responds promptly.
If, like me, you have a tough financial problem and need someone trustworthy to give you advice, look no further! Mindy’s the best, hands down.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Mindy /​Creative Money was a great decision for me and my husband. All the other Unilocal reviews paint an accurate picture of what to expect.
We went with the «Virtual Wonder» package.
From Mindy’s website:
«Do you just have 1 – 2 questions? Sometimes people just want a debt payoff plan, an investment review or to know how to approach buying their first home (stuff like that). Then we just have a single coaching session. Here’s how it works:
You gather data and use tools that I provide beforehand to get you crystal clear on what you want accomplished via our sesh, then submit to me via dropbox
I crunch numbers, review the data and pull together data in a way that will bring relevance, clarity and organization to the status quo
We have an Hour Consult (via phone/​Skype only regardless of location)
You get an action plan with specific steps and advice that we discussed
You email if you have issues or need hand-​holding. No one gets cut off!
You can read about more logistics here or if you’re ready to jam, fill out a prospective client intake and I’ll get back with you to schedule a quickie phone call.
Your Investment: $ 500»
We ended up meeting for 1 – 2 hours in person but were charged for this package instead of the more expensive one.
One tiny thing to mention…
Mindy did not dress very professionally for our meeting, but it was early on a weekend morning. This made her seem more trustworthy in a way, (others here have described her as down-​to-​earth) but this also was off putting — at first.
Meeting with Creative Money is definitely a good thing for couples who want to make sure they are on the same path towards financial stability.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
All of these 5-​star reviews aren’t lying. My husband and I have always had different views on money, so we needed to bring in a professional. Mindy listened to our concerns, goals, and needs and came back with concise, easy-​to-​understand charts and paths to reach our goals. She also brought up a plethora of things we hadn’t even considered, but are definitely important. For the first time in our relationship, we feel financially solid for retirement, for potentially living abroad, for growing my small business, and having funds for emergencies. Mindy is magical.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
My husband and I met with Mindy as he was transitioning from a full time law student to the working world and we were considering many big changes in our lives including selling out of state real estate, purchasing a home in Seattle and starting a family. I did quite a bit of research before contacting Mindy and was sure that we wanted an independent financial consultant to provide us with tools and a system that we could implement on our own and wouldn’t be pressured to purchase product.
We chose the «Strategy Session» package that Mindy offers and she more than delivered on her service! She showed up at our meeting with worksheets filled out with our actual financial numbers, real life examples and objective advice that helped us revamp our über-​complex financial accounting system to one that was simple and intuitive. Meeting with her also tipped the scales on some big decisions that have positively affected our day to day stress levels around money.
Mindy truly acts as a coach, and has been very responsive to follow up questions we had after our session. I feel like we now have a knowledgable resource we can turn to as life continues to evolve and we’ll definitely use her expert services again at our next financial fork in the road.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
My husband owns a small business, and we needed advice about his retirement plan options as well as how to plan for future goals, including buying a house and having children. After meeting with several financial planners, we decided to go with Mindy because she was not only incredibly knowledgeable, but also would tailor her sessions to our specific needs.
Mindy came to our home and provided excellent financial advice, complete with diagrams and clear outlines of how we should proceed to meet our goals. She’s kept in touch with us since that meeting, and quickly responds to our financial questions via email. We highly recommend Mindy’s financial planning services!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
My fiancé and I are getting married in July and were looking for some advice on how to structure our finances as a married couple. This was both of our first experience working with a financial planner and we were so pleased!
We asked Mindy for her «strategy session» package and found that it worked really well for us. She did a tremendous amount of prep work before our meeting (which was at our house!) and we really benefited from her recommendations. Best of all, if you have questions for a year after your meeting, she’ll provide guidance over the phone/​email.
We highly recommend working with Mindy!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
I’ve had Mindy come in to do a session with each of my employees– I wanted them to be on top of their personal business so they could be on top of work at work–
Mindy is great– very, very step by step– getting paperwork in order is always half of the problem and having a time and place to have it reviewed makes organizing happen!
She is knowledgeable, not pushing products and has very good advice– I wouldn’t hesitate using her again.
EJ
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Mindy gave me and my husband great practical advice to help us get started on saving for retirement, for a house downpayment, and for general budgeting. She took the time to look over «the whole picture» of our financial situation, and provided useful advice. Since Mindy does not work for any particular financial institution, she is able to be neutral when giving her advice, so you don’t feel like you’re working with a salesperson. She offers super reasonable prices for her consultation! She is very friendly and easy-​going! She even offers follow-​up advice in the future for no charge! I was very impressed with Mindy Crary/​Save 9.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Mindy does an excellent job of breaking down the financial realm in simple, jargon-​free language. We had consulted with several potential advisors before meeting with her and we were immediately struck by her unpretentious attitude and the transparency of her thinking and methodology. Between her down to earth personality and her fee-​based payment structure, we had no question that she had our best interest in mind throughout the planning process.
Mindy created excellent visual aids to compartmentalize our overall financial picture. She helped us to organize our assets, plan for a home, retirement and education savings, and to plan for some interim goals, like an extensive vacation and starting a small business.
Thanks to Mindy, we now have a clear path forward and the confidence to know that we can manage our own financial future.
Place rating: 5
Kenmore, WA
Mindy provides a unique and important service to her clients without the pressure (and potential conflict) of selling her own financial products. Rather than just telling her clients how to «just do it,» she understands that financial decisions are tied up in larger emotional issues. She works with her clients with compassion, intelligence, and humor to help them «get right» with their money and plan well for their future. I highly recommend her services.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
My financial world had been neglected for several years, because I hate this stuff. I hired Mindy to help with a comprehensive financial review. She helped me:
* Figure out whether to take a permanent position or remain as a contractor with my employer
* Analyze my expenditures and get connected with resources to help me EASILY manage my money
* Determine how much I need to save for retirement and which funds I should have it in – using my existing Vanguard structure
* How much house I could afford (I’ve since bought one).
I can’t think of any down-​sides of working with Mindy. She is easygoing, practical and she knows what she’s doing. I feel a greater sense of peace and order over my finances than I have in years.