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Kristin Burton earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Health Services from Butler University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Butler University, graduating with high honors throughout.
As a certified physician assistant, Burton has spent the last five years practicing medicine with a specialty in pulmonary/critical care. She’s also an affiliate faculty member at Butler University, an adjunct faculty member at Franklin College and frequently speaks to graduating classes about life after PA school.
In 2019, she went on to found Strive Coaching, a financial coaching firm offering both one-on-one guidance and online self-paced courses to help people get their financial life organized and moving forward. It was her own journey of paying off $161K in student loan debt in 16 months — all while attending graduate school — that inspired her to share her learnings with others. She recently launched a brand new money boot camp designed specifically for new healthcare professionals.
From guest appearances on money podcasts to speaking to graduating PA students, here are just a few of Burton’s accomplishments over the last decade.
We asked Burton to flex her expertise on financial planning and paying off debt by answering a few questions.
“The best way to pay off debt is to create a detailed budget and assign a specific amount of money each month to extra debt payments. List your debts from highest interest rate to lowest. Through your loan servicer, set up a monthly auto payment with your extra money to go to your loan with the highest interest rate. Continue until it’s paid off, then move on to the next loan on your list. This will give you the mathematical advantage of clearing high interest debt first, while avoiding some of the behavioral aspects that make debt payoff hard through automation.”
“Have an annual money meeting that starts with dreaming of your ideal future together. This allows you to create a joint vision, and then set large financial goals together that will help you arrive there. Before each month begins, have a shorter budget meeting to ensure both partners have a shared interest in creating the budget for the month ahead. Above all, give each other some grace!”
“The most common mistake made during student loan payback is approaching the situation without a plan. If you have low-interest student loan debt, you may make an intentional choice to make minimum payments while aggressively investing. If you have high-interest student loan debt, your plan may either be aggressive payoff or refinancing. All student loan debt isn’t the same. Ensure you know the details of your specific loans, and have a plan created from the very beginning.”
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