The €200K paycheck that brought no peace of mind
Ditch the earn-more, spend-more trap
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He wasn’t broke. He wasn’t clueless. But he was paralysed.
Juan worked in tech sales in Dublin. Earning over €200k. Saving ~€7.5k a month. Already maxing out his pension.
Still, he couldn’t shake the anxiety.
“I didn’t know if I am doing the right things. It keeps me up at night.”
That’s what brought him to me.
He wasn’t looking for a crash course in finance. He didn’t want a budgeting app or a TikTok strategy.
He wanted peace of mind.
So we got on a call.
Step one: calm the chaos
Juan had been overthinking everything.
He had €190k sitting in cash. Investing a bit here and there in ETFs. Tracking some numbers in a Notion doc he’d built himself. But none of it felt like a real plan.
“I needed to know how much to invest. How much to keep. And how to make it all work if I left Ireland or changed jobs.”
In one 90-minute session, we mapped it all out:
•His ideal annual spending
•How much cash to keep liquid
• How much to drip into the market
• A net worth snapshot that made him feel proud, not panicked
• A step-by-step plan to max his pension without thinking about it again
He walked away knowing exactly what to do next.
Step two: trust the plan
That was the shift.
Not more spreadsheets. Not a better salary. Not some hypey new fund.
Juan finally saw that he’d already done the hard part: earning and saving.
What he needed now was confidence in the system.
He told me:
“Before, I was always questioning if I was missing something. Now I know I’m good. I just have to let the engine run.”
Step three: feel free again
A week later, Juan started investing more confidently. He automated his pension. He tracked his net worth properly.
And he finally let go of that low-key dread hanging over him every time he opened his banking app.
That feeling (clear, calm, in control) is what this is all about.
Not early retirement at 40. Not beating the market. Just knowing your money is working for you, not haunting you.
If you’ve got high income and high anxiety…
You don’t need another finance book. You need a guide.
That’s what I do.
We hop on a call. We map it all out. You leave with a plan you trust.
Simple.
There are still 4 spots left if you'd like to start in August but they fill up fast!
That is it for this week. I am going to finish the last leg of the strand6daagse, arriving in Den Helder today.
Have a great one. See you next week.
To your financial freedom,
Sjoerd
P.S. I am working on something exciting aimed at junior Account Executives, SDRs and BDRs. Stay tuned!
Quick reminder: I'm not just a coach - I'm someone who's walked this path myself. Left corporate after 11 years at Salesforce, built my own financial freedom, and now I help others do the same.
Real experience.
Real results.
Real transparency.
