No, I’m not the character from HBO’s “Girls.”

Though we do share a pretty good name.

For years, I thought the solution to people's money problems was better information.

As a personal finance journalist, I wrote 1,000+ articles about every money topic under the sun. And, as a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®), I created dozens of financial plans that looked “perfect” on paper.

And I’ve seen the same pattern, over and over. People would look up information, ask for advice, nod, and promise to follow through — only to fall back into the same habits, feeling the same anxiety, carrying the same shame.

The problem was never information. It was psychology — and nobody was talking about it.

I understand it because I’ve lived it. My parents taught me the importance of saving and investing. I became a CFP®. I had every advantage imaginable — and yet I still developed anxiety about money — no matter how much I saved, how perfectly I budgeted, how "smart" my investments were. I was doing everything "right" and still felt like I was losing.

Eventually, I realized: I was using money to live someone else's life.

I had no idea what I actually valued. I was spending to signal identity, to prove I'd "made it," to match what success was supposed to look like. My anxiety wasn't about money. It was about control, worthiness, and living authentically.

Traditional financial advice couldn't help me because it only addressed the surface. It told me to save more, spend less, invest wisely.

But it never asked: What are you really trying to buy? Whose life are you trying to live? What forces are shaping your decisions without your awareness?

That's when I discovered money psychology. And everything changed.

Now I help others decode the hidden forces shaping their money decisions—so they can finally change the patterns that aren't serving them.

A bit more about me

I bridge the gap between financial planning and psychology — a combination almost no one has.

I'm both a practicing CFP® and a behavioral psychology expert, which means I can give you actual financial advice and help you understand why you struggle to follow it.I don't believe in financial shame or one-size-fits-all advice.

📜 CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®)

📊 BEHAVIORAL FINANCE EXPERT

  • Developed the "Structural Financial Psychology" framework: the first approach to address internal psychology, social forces, and systemic exploitation simultaneously

  • Speaker and consultant on financial behavior change

📰 FINANCIAL JOURNALIST

  • Former editor at Bankrate and JPMorgan Chase

  • Financial journalist whose work has appeard in Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Business Insider, Inc Magazine, and more

🎤 MEDIA EXPERT: Regular media appearances providing expert commentary on financial psychology and consumer finance

Featured in: NBC News | CBS News | CNBC | Yahoo Finance | Fox Business

💼 CONTENT STRATEGIST

  • Launched financial content partnerships for Fox Business and Wall Street Journal while at Bankrate

  • Consulted for dozens of consumer fintech startups on audience messaging and content strategy

  • Deep understanding of how companies communicate about money — and how consumers respond

My approach

I teach you to see three interconnected forces shaping every money decision:

🧠 Internal Forces: Your money scripts, cognitive biases, emotional triggers, and autopilot behaviors

👥 Social Forces: Status signaling, comparison culture, family expectations, and algorithmic manipulation

⚙️ Structural Forces: Product design that exploits psychology, economic policies that create barriers, and systems engineered to separate you from your money

Most financial advice ignores these forces — or worse, blames you for struggling against them.

I help you develop what I call "double consciousness": Seeing yourself clearly AND seeing the systems clearly. Then taking action on both levels.

Because individual solutions alone will never work. But neither will just understanding the system.

You need both. Always both.

Podcast & media appearances

Let's connect

Let's connect

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For media inquiries: hanna.horvath13@gmail.com

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