AI-powered Financial Consultant for Working Families Part of the Angel Cloud Ecosystem
HaloFinance is a comprehensive financial guidance system that runs as a Claude Project. It acts as your personal CFO — covering everything from tax season to retirement planning to financial independence — powered by structured knowledge files and a carefully crafted system prompt.
It is not an app. It's a knowledge architecture that makes Claude behave like a senior financial consultant who knows your situation, your state's tax rules, your employer benefits, and your goals.
- Working families who can't afford a $300/hr financial planner
- Anyone filing their own taxes who wants CPA-level guidance
- People trying to understand what their 401(k) actually does for them
- Families building toward financial freedom on a single income
- The ~800 million users Big Tech forgot (Pillar 6)
| Module | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Tax Strategy | Year-round tax optimization, filing prep, deduction identification, W-4 tuning |
| Employer Benefits | 401(k) contribution modeling, match maximization, insurance plan comparison |
| Retirement Planning | Compound growth projections, FIRE calculator, IRA strategy |
| Budgeting | Paycheck flow analysis, emergency fund sizing, expense tracking |
| Debt Strategy | Avalanche vs. snowball, refinancing analysis, payoff timelines |
| Financial Freedom | FIRE number, Coast FIRE milestones, net worth tracking |
| Insurance & Risk | Life insurance needs, disability gaps, coverage review |
| Small Business | Schedule C planning, entity selection, quarterly estimates |
ShaneBrain (Pi 5 · local AI · private)
└── Angel Cloud (VPS · public platform)
├── Pulsar AI (engine · enterprise)
├── HaloFinance (financial brain) ← you are here
└── TheirNameBrain (legacy AI · generational)
└── ~800M users losing Windows 10 support
This project operates under the ShaneTheBrain Constitution.
0. Read SECURITY.md First
DO NOT fork this repo for personal data. Forks stay public. Create a new private repo instead. Full instructions in SECURITY.md.
# Clone into your own private folder
git clone https://github.com/thebardchat/HaloFinance.git HaloFinance-private
cd HaloFinance-private
# Create a NEW private repo on GitHub (github.com/new → PRIVATE)
git remote remove origin
git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/HaloFinance-private.git
git push -u origin main
# Copy templates and fill in your data
cp -r templates/personal/ personal/- Go to claude.ai → Projects → New Project
- Name it HaloFinance
- Paste contents of
prompts/system_instructions.mdinto Project Instructions - Upload all files from
knowledge/into Project Knowledge - Start a conversation
Ask any of these:
- "If I raise my 401k to $200/week, what's the real cost to my take-home?"
- "What's my financial freedom number?"
- "Walk me through my 2025 tax filing checklist"
- "Should I itemize or take the standard deduction?"
See docs/SETUP.md for the full deployment guide.
HaloFinance/
├── CLAUDE.md # Claude Code operating manual
├── README.md # You are here
├── .gitignore
│
├── prompts/ # The brain
│ ├── system_instructions.md # ★ Main system prompt
│ └── persona_changelog.md # Version history
│
├── knowledge/ # The memory
│ ├── tax_2025/ # Tax year 2025 docs (6 files)
│ ├── retirement/ # 401(k), IRA, FIRE guides
│ ├── budgeting/ # Cash flow templates
│ └── financial_freedom/ # FIRE roadmaps
│
├── calculators/ # Interactive HTML tools
├── templates/ # Reusable checklists
│
└── docs/ # Meta-docs
├── SETUP.md # Deployment guide
├── ANNUAL_UPDATE.md # January update checklist
└── CONTRIBUTING.md # How to add modules
HaloFinance isn't magic. It's structured knowledge + a well-crafted prompt.
The system prompt (prompts/system_instructions.md) tells Claude:
- What persona to adopt (Senior Financial Consultant)
- What modules are available (tax, retirement, budgeting, etc.)
- What calculation engines to use (take-home impact, compound growth, FIRE)
- What tax parameters are current (brackets, limits, rates)
- How to format responses (dollar amounts, action steps, trade-offs)
- What disclaimers to include (not a real CPA/CFP)
The knowledge files give Claude:
- State-specific tax rules (Alabama by default — swap for your state)
- Dependent qualification logic
- Medical expense tracking guides
- Charitable giving strategy
- CPA review flags for borderline situations
The result: Claude responds with the specificity and structure of a real financial professional — personalized to your exact situation.
HaloFinance ships configured for an Alabama-based married couple filing jointly with dependents. It's designed to be forked.
- State tax rules — Replace
knowledge/tax_2025/alabama_tax_specifics.mdwith your state - Household profile — Update the filing status, dependents, and income sources in the system prompt
- Contribution amounts — Change the 401(k)/IRA defaults to match your employer
- Slider defaults — Update calculator starting values
- Federal tax brackets (same nationwide)
- 401(k)/IRA contribution limits (same nationwide)
- FIRE math and compound growth formulas (universal)
- Response format and structure (works for everyone)
- CPA review flags (universal safety net)
See CLAUDE.md → "For Contributors" for the complete adaptation guide.
Every January, update the tax parameters for the new year. HaloFinance includes a complete checklist:
# See the full checklist
cat docs/ANNUAL_UPDATE.mdKey updates:
- Federal tax brackets and standard deduction
- 401(k) and IRA contribution limits
- FICA wage base
- Mileage rates
- State-specific changes
Where to find the numbers: IRS publishes new brackets in October/November, contribution limits in November, and mileage rates in December. See docs/ANNUAL_UPDATE.md for exact URLs.
| Year | Status | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ✅ Active | main |
| 2026 | 📋 Planned | tax/2026-update |
HaloFinance follows the ShaneTheBrain Constitution:
| # | Pillar | How It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faith First | Honest guidance. No predatory strategies. Generosity built in. |
| 2 | Family Stability | Every recommendation weighs family impact. |
| 3 | Sobriety Integrity | Reduces financial anxiety through clarity. |
| 4 | Local-First AI | Knowledge lives in version control, not locked in a platform. |
| 5 | 80/20 Shipping | Working checklists over perfect apps. |
| 6 | Serve the Left-Behind | Financial planning for families, not hedge funds. |
| 7 | Open by Default | Fork it. Adapt it. Make it yours. |
| 8 | ADHD-Aware Design | Short blocks. Checkboxes. One next step. |
| 9 | Gratitude is Infrastructure | Credits IRS sources. Flags when you need a real CPA. |
| Partner | Role |
|---|---|
| Claude by Anthropic | Co-built the entire system — prompt engineering, knowledge architecture, calculations |
| IRS Publications | Tax law source of truth (Pub 501, Pub 970, Rev. Proc. 2024-40) |
| Alabama Dept. of Revenue | State-specific tax rules |
- Tax Strategy module (year-round)
- Employer Benefit Optimization (401k modeling)
- Retirement Planning (compound growth, FIRE)
- System prompt v2.0 (full financial consultant)
- Repo scaffolding and documentation
- Budget template (household cash flow)
- Debt payoff calculator
- FIRE roadmap knowledge file
- 401(k) optimization deep-dive guide
- Insurance needs calculator
- Schedule C / self-employment module
- Estate planning basics
- Education funding (529) guide
- Real estate analysis module
- Multi-state tax support templates
HaloFinance is open source. Contributions welcome — especially:
- New state tax files — Help us cover all 50 states
- Calculator improvements — Better UX, mobile optimization
- Module expansion — Deep-dive guides for planned modules
- Bug fixes — Tax math errors are critical bugs
See docs/CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide and CLAUDE.md for Claude Code conventions.
MIT — Use it, fork it, adapt it, share it. Financial literacy shouldn't be paywalled.
| Resource | URL |
|---|---|
| GitHub Profile | https://github.com/thebardchat |
| Constitution | https://github.com/thebardchat/constitution |
| HaloFinance | https://github.com/thebardchat/HaloFinance |
A working parent shouldn't need to pay $300/hour to understand their own money.
HaloFinance exists because the tools Wall Street uses to optimize wealth should be accessible to the family trying to figure out if they can afford to put an extra $100 into their retirement this week.
This isn't about getting rich. It's about getting free.
Free from money anxiety. Free from tax-season panic. Free from wondering if you're doing it right. Free to focus on what actually matters.
Built with faith, for family. Hazel Green, Alabama · @thebardchat Co-built with Claude by Anthropic
If what I'm building matters to you — local AI for real people, tools for the left-behind — here's how to help:
- Sponsor me on GitHub
- Buy the book — You Probably Think This Book Is About You
- Star the repos — visibility matters for projects like this
Built by Shane Brazelton · Co-built with Claude (Anthropic) · Hazel Green, Alabama
Part of the ShaneBrain Ecosystem · Built under the Constitution