
I’m a personal finance reporter — here’s how I did a mid-year financial checkup in under an hour
A mid-year checkup is the most effective way to ensure my finances are on track.
About the author
As a principal data reporter at Bankrate, Alex Gailey writes data-driven stories that break down complex financial topics and help consumers make better money decisions. When she’s not crunching numbers together for broader money stories, she’s covering consumer finance from the perspective of financially vulnerable groups, including women, people of color and low-income families. As part of her beat, she analyzes how these groups navigate financial challenges, the workplace, building wealth and other emerging trends related to money. She’s covered consumer finance for seven years and before that, she reported on economic development in Atlanta.
Alex has interviewed hundreds of personal finance experts, from certified financial planners and economists to career advisors and financial therapists. She believes in thorough reporting and interviewing experts to have a pulse on consumer finance trends and news. She also spends a lot of her time talking to everyday people to better understand their money experiences.
Before joining Bankrate, Alex worked for NextAdvisor in partnership with TIME Magazine, The Boston Globe, Atlanta Business Chronicle and Charlotte Business Journal. Her work has been cited by the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, CBS News and more. She’s a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW), Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and was selected as a Goldschmidt data fellow in 2024.
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A mid-year checkup is the most effective way to ensure my finances are on track.
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