Never Underestimate How Personal Money Is — Especially in Business
At the risk of stating the obvious: personal and business finances are different. They’re two distinct “buckets” of money — serving different goals, and carrying their own unique complexities.
From side-hustlers to full-time entrepreneurs and business owners, we’re told to keep those buckets separate — different bank accounts, different credit cards, different boundaries.
And there are plenty of good reasons for that, including:
Limiting liability and tax exposure & obligations
Having better transparency in order to assess the “real” health of your personal and business finances
Enhancing your credibility with clients, vendors, and/or lenders
Ensuring business hardships don’t have a negative impact on your personal credit scores
Improved financial planning - for your company and your household
Plus, keeping these “buckets” separate makes tracking the pieces that make up the whole more manageable.
But what often gets lost in all the practical advice about separating your finances is the mindset that overlooks just how intertwined these buckets actually are.
Any business decision you make will have a ripple effect on your household.
And any goal or need your household has will impact the business decisions you make…or don’t make!
I’m thinking of a client who needs to temporarily scale back from her business in order to tend to family matters, and how we’re thinking of ways to maintain her revenue given her reduced capacity.
Or, the client who needs to actually amp up her sales and marketing, because she’s getting ready for college tuition next year.
In my case? My health insurance premiums increase each year, so I wasn’t surprised when I got the notification of their rate increase starting in 2026. In the same week, my therapist officially notified me of his rate increase that will go into effect in 2026. It’s been two years since he raised his fees.
Getting these notifications reminded me of two things:
Some businesses increase their fees every year, no matter what. (Btw: I’m happy to pay my therapist his fee, but I’m looking sideways at my health insurance provider who raises my premium every year but makes getting care unnecessarily difficult.)
It’s been almost two years since I increased my coaching fees.
Like I always say: None of us make choices in a vacuum.
That includes you, my friend.
So, what business (or professional) situation are you facing right now and how is that shaping the financial choices you’re making or are planning to make?
Here are a few prompts to help you tease out the connections:
How might your household priorities be asking your business (or career) to evolve?
Is your pricing keeping pace with your life — not just your market?
Where are you absorbing a cost (financial or emotional) that your business could be designed to support instead?
Sometimes, I think the financial industry would prefer you see your personal and business finances as two separate circles that maybe touch at the edges.
But in reality? A Venn diagram is more accurate.
Those overlapping circles better represent how intertwined these buckets really are — financially and emotionally.
So yes, keep the logistics separate. But never underestimate just how personal money is…especially in business.
Because it always starts where it always starts: What do you need money to do for you, personally?!
And if you’d like support with answering that question, let’s talk. We can explore if working together is a fit.
About Jacquette
I love to ask questions and spark aha moments. I love to talk about why success with money is about more than just the numbers, and how the cultural impact on the intersection of money, business, and life matters–A LOT! And, I really hope I help people feel seen, heard, and not judged—especially since money is emotional and personal.
