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Natalie Todoroff

Community Reporter
  • 5
    YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
Ribbon Icon EXPERTISE
  • Personal finance
  • Home lending
  • Homeowners insurance
Education Icon EDUCATION
  • Bachelor of Arts, Dickinson College

About the Author

Natalie Todoroff is a Community Reporter at Bankrate, where she bridges the gap between complex financial data and the lived human experience. In a landscape often dominated by numbers, Natalie’s mission is to ensure Bankrate’s coverage reflects the real-world stories, frustrations and questions of its audience. 

Whether she is sourcing stories from Reddit, conducting deep-dive interviews with financial experts or tracking consumer trends on social media, Natalie reports with empathy and clarity. Based in San Francisco, she is dedicated to elevating diverse perspectives and to help solidify Bankrate as a consumer-first advocate in the financial world.

Have a money story you want to tell? Natalie wants to hear it. Email her at ntodoroff@bankrate.com. You can also find her on TikTok @bankratenatalie.

How I think about money

I’ve always believed that money is rarely just about the math; it’s about the person. For most of us, finances are the single biggest stressor in our lives, and that stress is deeply rooted in our psychology, our upbringing and our sense of security. I think about money as a lens through which we see the world. My goal is to strip away the shame often associated with financial hurdles and replace it with empathy, helping readers navigate the emotional and systemic complexities of their bank accounts.

Natalie's Picks

3 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: Her lender said she could borrow $250,000. She borrowed half of that

When a lender tells you how much you can borrow, it feels like permission to spend. But eligibility and affordability are completely different things. First-time buyer Khyrunnessa Rabbini learned this [...]

2 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: He spent nine months in court trying to buy an affordable probate property

Breaking into the Los Angeles housing market, 32-year-old Benny To found a creative path to homeownership by buying a multifamily probate property. Despite being told the sale would be easy, a family dispute [...]

3 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: Priced out of her hometown, she boosted her purchasing power

For Ebony Martin, southern New Hampshire is home, but the housing market made it feel impossible to stay. Facing fierce competition as the region became one of the country’s hottest real estate hubs, [...]

2 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: She wants her son to be able to say, “I grew up here”

The path to homeownership is growing longer, with the median first-time buyer age now reaching a record high of 40. For Asia Ore, a 28-year-old widow and new mother, the journey requires a disciplined [...]

3 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: “Everything I made at my second job went toward my down payment”

At 24, Jocelyn Becerra ditched the rental grind for a mortgage in Bentonville, Arkansas.

3 MIN READ

Homebuying in America: “You can have what you want, you just got to really work for it”

Philadelphia housekeeper Ayesha Garnett is defying the housing market’s grim math.

9 MIN READ

The ‘attorney model’ loophole: How debt relief companies scam people seeking help

When Coya Davis sought help for her $27,000 debt, she thought she found a lifeline. Instead, she entered a predatory scheme where debt settlement firms “rent” law licenses to charge illegal fees.

6 MIN READ

With homes out of reach, renters are re-defining the American Dream

Rising home prices shift the American Dream as renters seek freedom and flexibility.

Natalie's latest articles