Booked and Busy Isn’t a Retirement Plan: Tyler Carlson on Investing Behind the Chair

Carlson is clear that he isn’t a financial advisor or CPA and encourages anyone building a plan to sit down with one, but his order of operations is refreshingly straightforward. First, clear credit cards and bad auto loans, since high-interest debt quietly eats away at everything you earn. Next, build an emergency fund covering at least three months of total expenses in a high-yield savings or money market account. If your life costs $3,000 a month, aim for around $10,000.

From there, Carlson opens a Roth IRA, an account available to booth renters, commission stylists, independent contractors, and W-2 employees alike. For 2026, the maximum contribution is $7,500, or $625 a month.

For hairdressers and barbers whose income swings from week to week, automation is the secret. Know your fixed expenses, then schedule a monthly transfer that comes right after rent and core bills, before anything extra. Even $100 a month counts. “Pretend like that was never your money in the first place,” he says.

The biggest mistake Carlson sees is funding a Roth IRA and never investing it, which leaves the money sitting idle. He keeps his retirement money conservative in S&P 500 index funds and resists checking the balance every month. Money you’ll need soon, like next year’s down payment, stays in high-yield savings instead.

None of this works if your pricing doesn’t leave room to invest. Carlson opened his shop at 22 and set a $30 haircut on gut instinct alone. He quickly discovered that “business doesn’t run on feelings, it runs on data,” he says. If you’re self-employed, what you earn behind the chair has to cover your business, your life, and your goals, so profit should be built into every service.

For barbers, the number he wants tracked is rebooking rate, which makes price increases far easier to justify. For hairdressers, it’s knowing your true bottom line, meaning what it really costs to run your business and your life.