310: [Jaricka Thomas] Dollars and Dates: Navigating Finances Together
Let's talk about the nitty-gritty of money chats in relationships! We dive right into why having open conversations about finances is not just a good idea—it's essential. Whether you're in the early dating phase or getting serious, discussing what you want financially can set the stage for a more stable and secure future together. Our special guest, Jaricka Thomas, shares her insights on how these conversations can help ensure that both partners are on the same page, especially when it comes to planning for unexpected events like illness or loss. We also explore practical strategies for couples, from budgeting to bucket lists, and how to avoid the pitfalls of keeping financial secrets. So, grab a comfy seat and let's get ready to turn those awkward money talks into a breeze!
Chapters:
- 00:00 - Navigating Financial Conversations in Relationships
- 06:11 - Navigating Financial Conversations with Family
- 10:42 - Understanding Financial Literacy and Its Impact
- 18:30 - Understanding Survivor Benefits and Financial Security
- 27:30 - Navigating Financial Conversations
- 31:22 - Navigating Financial Conversations in Relationships
- 38:21 - The Importance of Open Money Conversations
- 41:46 - Wealth and Its Lessons
Takeaways:
- Having money conversations early in a relationship can set a solid foundation for financial support and understanding later on.
- Using budgeting apps and tracking spending can help couples visualize their finances, leading to more informed decisions about their money.
- Having a financial plan and involving your partner in it can enhance trust and cooperation, ultimately leading to a stronger relationship.
More about Jaricka Thomas:
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Episode 310
Transcript
When you were dating someone.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:When you're dating someone, you need to start having these money conversations, like, what do you, what do you want financially with your life?
Speaker A:Like, what do you want life to look like?
Speaker A:And how is money going to help support you in that?
Speaker A:Because you don't want just money just for the sake of money and then do nothing with it.
Speaker A:Have those conversations and then when you're starting to get serious with someone, let them know, like, hey, if something happens to either of us, I need to make sure that both of us have some form of protection so that we're not left hanging.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I want to be able to make sure that I can help pay for your expenses or you can help pay for mine.
Speaker A:If there's one spouse who's working and the other one who is either at home as a caretaker or doesn't have the ability to work, make sure that person also has the ability to be a part of the financial conversations that you have with either your benefits coordinator at work.
Speaker B:Welcome to the About Thy Water podcast show where we help the sandwich generation build strong financial habits so that they can spend money, talk about money and enjoy their money with confidence.
Speaker B:Today I have somebody who is, no, I gotta say, they not new to this, they true to this.
Speaker B:And her name is Jerica Thomas.
Speaker B:And how you doing today?
Speaker A:Doing very well, thank you.
Speaker A:How are you?
Speaker B:It's another day in the neighborhood.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Because you know, going through life, you feel about like you always feeling behind and you never have enough.
Speaker B:And it's one of the things that I feel as though we don't talk about it enough, which is the savings aspect of it, of finance.
Speaker B:And we know how to make money, we know definitely know how to spend it.
Speaker B:But saving has always been one of those things we have to always come back to and try to make it our everyday thing, make it a lifestyle.
Speaker B:So, you know, for you, how do you make finances long lasting and something that we can control over our lives?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I'm someone who very much did not grow up saving money well.
Speaker A:And I think my mom tried her best to tell me like, save your money, but I didn't know what I was saving for.
Speaker A:So obviously as a child I was very impulsive and I just didn't understand what I was supposed to do with that.
Speaker A:But now that I've, you know, gotten my, my grown woman job and I've been paying my own bills and you know, suffering the consequences of those actions earlier in my life, I realized like the saving is so that I can Spend the way that I want to, and it just helps me to kind of create a plan.
Speaker A:So I'm very strategic with the way that I use my money.
Speaker A:I use credit cards for a lot of things just for, like, you know, points or cash back.
Speaker A:And then I have those cards attached to a budgeting app where I'm allowed to then, I guess, categorize the way that I'm controlling my spending.
Speaker A:And every single time that I get paid, there's this very specific system that I use where a specific amount goes straight into my savings, and then those savings are split into different buckets.
Speaker A:And it just allows me to have a lot more control.
Speaker A:And it doesn't feel restrictive.
Speaker A:It just.
Speaker A:It helps me feel so much more free with how I'm using my money, and I just feel like I'm allowed to do so many things.
Speaker B:Yeah, we always hear about savings.
Speaker B:Is it, like, a percentage, or you just do, like, a dollar amount?
Speaker B:How do you do your.
Speaker A:Yeah, so I actually do a percentage amount that comes straight out of my direct deposits.
Speaker A:Generally, whenever anyone starts a job, when they're signing up their direct deposit, they'll just put one account and move on.
Speaker A:I actually do two accounts.
Speaker A:I'll do 70% goes into my checking, 30% goes straight into my savings.
Speaker A:So I'm looking at my spending money, and it's really only that 70%.
Speaker A:That other 30% goes in my savings, and I don't miss it because I don't see it.
Speaker A:And that then gets reallocated as different goals, and then I can spend that as I want to.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And, you know, if I want to travel or if I want to do something extravagant, I'm not worried about, you know, can I afford that this month?
Speaker A:Because I've saved that into a different bucket with my savings account.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Was this something that you grew up.
Speaker A:Learning or not at all?
Speaker B:When did you discover this?
Speaker A:Not at all.
Speaker A:I did a lot of research with personal finance as I got my first job, you know, as.
Speaker A:As a millennial.
Speaker A:I. I came out of school with so much student loan debt, and I was like, I need to get this together as fast as possible.
Speaker A:And it really took a lot of, like, reading and watching videos and listening to podcasts.
Speaker A:And I at that point realized, like, oh, I have to just create a system and it'll work.
Speaker A:And really, that's the hard part.
Speaker A:Like, once you figure out, like, what your system is, everything else flows, and it just becomes a lot more easy.
Speaker A:But, no, unfortunately, I didn't learn that growing up.
Speaker A:I had A single mom who did her very best, and she's brilliant, she's excellent at what she does, and.
Speaker A:But she also didn't know everything, and I think that was also passed down from her parents as well.
Speaker A:So I had to take a lot of that into my own hands.
Speaker B:So what age are we looking at when you said, like, high school?
Speaker B:Like high school or college after college?
Speaker B:It was after college.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was still impulsive all the way through college.
Speaker A:I'm not even going to lie.
Speaker A:I will not get okay with the.
Speaker B:Parties on the weekends.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was just like, you know what?
Speaker A:I want pizza.
Speaker A:I have $10 in my account.
Speaker A:We're getting pizza.
Speaker A:You know, it was.
Speaker A:It was like that.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker B:Did you.
Speaker B:So as you were going through this, through college, did your.
Speaker B:Did you ever, like, talk back to your mom?
Speaker B:Like, at post college, as you were learning this, did you like, hey, Mom, I've just found this out.
Speaker B:You should try this?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Actually, as I began to learn more, my mom and I are really close.
Speaker A:We talk all the time.
Speaker A:I would tell her, like, hey, I just learned about this.
Speaker A:Did you know that?
Speaker A:And there was some stuff where she's like, yeah, I kind of had an idea.
Speaker A:Or, no, I actually had no idea.
Speaker A:Like, where'd you learn that from?
Speaker A:And so my mom is of the.
Speaker A:Of the kind of the Gen X generation where they have a lot of things kind of set up already in their mentality, but she is so open to learning.
Speaker A:So the dialogue that we had back and forth actually helped her to be more educated as well.
Speaker B:That's really good.
Speaker B:What is one thing that stuck out to you that you were surprised that your mom didn't know?
Speaker A:Ooh, investing.
Speaker A:And, you know, and I'm not surprised.
Speaker A:I'm surprised, but I'm not surprised.
Speaker A:Knowing the history of our people.
Speaker A:She just didn't know a whole lot about investing.
Speaker A:So as I learned and as I talked to her more, she's like, okay, so she had a lot more questions because she was curious and wanted to learn for herself as well.
Speaker A:But, yeah, it just wasn't something that she obviously didn't grow up learning.
Speaker A:So she didn't know to pass that information down to me.
Speaker A:It was definitely something I needed to learn for myself and I was able to share with her, and she was able to start investing in the ways that best fit her life and.
Speaker A:And her retirement goals.
Speaker B:So as a daughter of a single mother, like, how was that conversation?
Speaker B:Did it just kind of like, hey, for the person that's listening, right now they got a parent and they was like, you should start investing.
Speaker B:What was that conversation?
Speaker A:Look like, what was that conversation?
Speaker A:I'll definitely say it was something that, like, I'm pretty sure I just brought up, like, hey, I've been reading this.
Speaker A:Did you know about X, Y and Z?
Speaker A:And she's like, no.
Speaker A:And she's never one to shy away from new information.
Speaker A:She's not really afraid of anything.
Speaker A:I have a very, very resilient mother.
Speaker A:She takes, she takes necessary risks.
Speaker A:She's not going to, you know, gamble her life away, but she takes necessary risks when she knows that there's a good outcome on the other side.
Speaker A:She just needs a lot of information.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:She wants to make informed decisions.
Speaker A:So when we had that conversation or when we started having those conversations, I would share with her, like, hey, I'm, I'm learning about, you know, these Roth IRAs.
Speaker A:Like, I know you're not at this income limit, but like, have you started part of this?
Speaker A:Have you heard about it?
Speaker A:I started doing this.
Speaker A:This is what it's doing for me.
Speaker A:Just sharing my experiences and being transparent with her so that she could, she could understand it for herself and see what she was able to do on her end.
Speaker B:And that's really good to dive into it first before you talk to your parents.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker B:Because sometimes they feel like, you know, the diaper mentality, they also want to listen, like, yeah, I told you this before.
Speaker B:And then they listen to somebody else like, oh, they got the right answer.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And I think for her, there's, she's had conversations come up throughout her lifetime or throughout her career, and it just wasn't explained in a way that she felt she could benefit.
Speaker A:And I think that happens a lot where people are like, yeah, I heard about it, but I don't know how this works for me.
Speaker A:And so then things seem so inaccessible because you're like, all this information is out here.
Speaker A:What am I supposed to do with that?
Speaker A:So if, if it's not made to be relatable or if it's not meant to be goal oriented to, hey, you're going to need this.
Speaker A:Because as you retire, you want less money lost to taxes and you want more money grown that you can use for yourself, and that gives you more freedom to do what you want, then it starts to click.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:But if you just say, oh, you need to invest because it works, that doesn't mean anything to a lot of people.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So for the person that's listening to this right now, and we're talking about the Gatekeeping side of the house, which is through jargon or through different processes to create these different barriers to get into it or even just have an amount of money just to even start to invest.
Speaker B:What would you.
Speaker B:What is one practical advice that somebody can get started today?
Speaker A:Google is your best friend.
Speaker A:It really is.
Speaker A:Like, AI is great, and I think, you know, there's a lot of integration of AI inside of Google.
Speaker A:But if you just want like a simple answer to like, a simple circumstance that you may have, like, ask Google.
Speaker A:Google.
Speaker A:There are so many resources out there and sometimes you're going to get a lot of marketing and ads, but like, just keep, just keep searching until you feel like you've gotten the most authentic answer that you can get.
Speaker A:It's very easy, especially in the finance world, for everything to feel like it's being gatekept, right?
Speaker A:Because they use these big words like you mentioned, jargon that people just don't understand.
Speaker A:And it seems so intimidating that people are like, no, I don't want to hear this anymore.
Speaker A:I'm just going to log out.
Speaker A:And you have to make it so, so much more accessible.
Speaker A:And you have to make it relatable.
Speaker A:Like, hey, like, if you want your kids to go to college and spend less money towards student loans, like, these are the options for you.
Speaker A:And you can start really small and build it as you increase your income or as, you know, your kids start working and just make it really simple.
Speaker A:Break it down to a level where people feel like they're being met, where they're at.
Speaker A:But yeah, I think that there's just so much information out there that it just gets overwhelming.
Speaker A:So people get a lot of analysis paralysis where it's just, oh, this is too much, I'm done.
Speaker A:I don't want to hear it anymore.
Speaker A:And that is one of the worst things that we could do for ourselves.
Speaker A:But having more open conversations with each other and making finance a natural conversation is very essential, especially for our people who are needing to kind of get out of the mud and do it for themselves because they cannot rely on, on any systems or any programs to do it for them.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Why is this so passionate for you?
Speaker A:I've.
Speaker A:I've seen too much.
Speaker A:I've seen, I've seen too many people be at such a large disadvantage because they just didn't know.
Speaker A:And some of that being some of my own family, some of that being clients that I've worked with.
Speaker A:I'm also a clinical occupational therapist, so I work with people mostly in their homes, and I see how they Just can't really survive.
Speaker A:And they're really hoping that you can come in and save the day for them.
Speaker A:And a lot of it has to do with just lack of resources, and resources cost money.
Speaker A:And I look at them and I think to myself, you know, not pity, but just what a disservice that's been done to them.
Speaker A:You know, people have worked so hard for such a long time and it gets, you know, they get to be 70, 80 years old and some of them have nothing to show for it.
Speaker A:And it's not their fault.
Speaker A:I don't blame them.
Speaker A:Financial literacy is something that's been kept away from people to keep some people at a lower end.
Speaker A:And they don't even realize that that's been done to them.
Speaker A:They just know that for some reason I'm suffering and I don't even know what I could have done to fix this.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's a sad thing.
Speaker B:And some of the times is really the small stuff.
Speaker B:You're like, hey, just even putting away 10% or even $5.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Could actually help you out.
Speaker B:But also with the older folks, like you said, those resources not knowing what's out there for them in the community, just even going, like you said, Google is right there.
Speaker B:But some people don't even know what to Google.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker A:That's true.
Speaker B:And so they don't.
Speaker A:Some people don't know what their struggle is because they're only in their own head about their own perspective.
Speaker A:They don't.
Speaker A:They may not understand, like, people aren't going through this like I am.
Speaker A:I didn't, I didn't realize that.
Speaker A:And I think too, especially for the older generation, there's so much traditional nuance that just seems as though, like, this is just the way it is.
Speaker A:But realistically, they've been kind of placed into a level of poverty that they may not be aware of.
Speaker A:Was.
Speaker A:Was a system that was put in place to keep them there.
Speaker A:And that's really unfortunate.
Speaker A:And to, to be on the other side of that and to witness that.
Speaker A:I don't tell them to their face like, hey, do you know you're being disserviced?
Speaker A:But I, I try to show them like, these are the resources that you probably need.
Speaker A:But in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, we've gotta make sure people aren't gonna be doing this for forever.
Speaker A:Like, this isn't necessary.
Speaker A:The struggles that people are going through aren't always necessary.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And on your website.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Provides several services on there are there resources that are like your Go to resources for a lot of people.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I have a debt payoff calculator on the website that I usually try to point people in the direction of because obviously, you know, if you need a vehicle to get to work, cool.
Speaker A:If you, if you have a house and you, you need shelter for your family, that's cool too.
Speaker A:And I want people to understand how much money they could be losing to the interest rates of their debts.
Speaker A:Debt sometimes is just very necessary.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Debt is almost a privilege because if you get a, if you get a lower rate, you're using it kind of as leverage.
Speaker A:If you're getting it at a higher rate in some way, it's, it's robbing you down from your savings potential.
Speaker A:So I try to make sure that people are very aware of what their debt is actually costing them and how that is kind of taking away from their savings potential.
Speaker A:But that, that's one good resource on the website.
Speaker A:I have a resources page and I always encourage people, you know, if you need a place to start, if you can't save money right now and you know that you have a lot of debt, go to the resource page, download the debt payoff calculator and just work with the numbers there.
Speaker A:I created the formulas in there.
Speaker A:You just have to put your numbers in and see what that looks like so you can start freeing up some cash for yourself.
Speaker B:Awesome.
Speaker B:It's actually a really good form.
Speaker B:I texted thank you.
Speaker B:So pretty cool.
Speaker B:So, you know, obviously going through the debt is one thing, but we also dealing with the family dynamics.
Speaker B:So I understand you got, you know, your pet babies, the three cats.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So how is maintaining their bills along with your own bills because of your day to day life?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I would say for me, the most expensive thing that I normally have to deal with doesn't happen often.
Speaker A:So it's not like a month to month expense.
Speaker A:That's kind of the beauty of just having pets for people who have children.
Speaker A:Like there are months, there are week to week expenses or day to day expenses.
Speaker A:So then that adds up to their, their month to month allocation of their money.
Speaker A:But I kind of just build in my, my expenses into the miscellaneous category.
Speaker A:So when my wife and I are doing our monthly money meeting, we will go through our savings, our investments, our debt payments, and then groceries, shopping, travel expenses, and then the miscellaneous is kind of everything else that follows that falls under that.
Speaker A:And so the pet expenses kind of fall in because they don't, they don't cost that much.
Speaker A:I think we did our monthly meeting two days ago, we spend maybe about $60 a month for three cats.
Speaker A:Like, it's not that much.
Speaker A:And I know that for people who have children, they're spending probably $60, maybe a day, depending on the child.
Speaker A:You know, my, my expenses there aren't, aren't that much.
Speaker A:But in order for people to understand more about like, where their money is going, like, you have to track it.
Speaker A:Like, you really can't escape that.
Speaker A:You really have to track it.
Speaker A:Whether you call it a spending tracker or a budget.
Speaker A:I know people don't like that B word, they don't like budgets.
Speaker A:But, but you have to do it.
Speaker A:You have to just know what's happening so you can get in control.
Speaker A:And I don't look at it as restricted or I just look at it like this is the information I need so I know how to move forward from here.
Speaker B:Was this something that you put into place when you were paying off the $75,000?
Speaker A:Yeah, I had to because I, I, I didn't know what, where my money was going or really, I didn't even know how much we were making in total.
Speaker A:So when we put our money into the same tracker and started looking at, you know, where are we spending our, are we even saving?
Speaker A:Okay, great, we have a lot of leg room.
Speaker A:And at that time, I paid off most of my debt before we even like had pets, before we even bought a house.
Speaker A:So I had a lot more room to kind of explode through the, through the debt payoff process.
Speaker A:Now I've still been able to pay off a lot of debt even as I accrued on more debt through the house and through buying a vehicle.
Speaker A:But it really took the work of understanding, like, where is it going first?
Speaker A:So I know how to allocate that out later.
Speaker B:So now that you paid yours off, what are your thoughts on actually having the student loan, like forgiveness for the others?
Speaker A:We still need it.
Speaker A:We do.
Speaker A:I believe that the education process has become way too expensive just for the average person.
Speaker A:Especially if people are coming out of college with, you know, 50 to $100,000 of debt and they're not even making that much on a year to year income income.
Speaker A:When I was in grad school the, the summer that I started my graduate school program, at the time, our department of education was being run by Betsy Devoe.
Speaker A:They had increased the interest rates of the student loans while we were in class.
Speaker A:So there was a whole announcement where someone came and was like, hey, the interest rates are going up, so you guys want to take out as much as you can.
Speaker A:Right now because as of next year, that rate's going to change.
Speaker A:We're freaking out.
Speaker A:None of us know what we're doing.
Speaker A:We don't, we don't know anything.
Speaker A:Like, we're still trying to get our careers off.
Speaker A:And all I'm thinking is, oh, Jesus, like, am I going to be able to afford this?
Speaker A:I don't even know like, how much I'm going to make when I leave this program.
Speaker A:And I just know that grad school is really expensive.
Speaker A:And of course you know that the graduate loans are a lot more expensive as the interest rates are per, I guess, compared to undergraduate with subsidized loans.
Speaker A:But yeah, I think that the student loan repayment program is definitely needed and the student loan forgiveness would have been nice.
Speaker A:I think the preface of, oh, well, you took it out, so you need to pay it back.
Speaker A:I, I just don't think it's, I don't think it's that simple anymore.
Speaker A:And I, and I don't see the purpose of, you know, robbing people of the opportunity to get debt free so that they can afford other things.
Speaker A:Like realistically, from a capitalism standpoint, people can afford to spend more money in other areas if they had less debt.
Speaker A:Yeah, I just, I don't understand, I don't understand.
Speaker A:I'm like, if you're paying student loans, you're not getting that.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But if they get their pay, their loans paid off and they're able to buy, you know, three Samsung TVs, then that's more money in your pocket.
Speaker A:Samsung, like, what are you supposed to do about that?
Speaker A:So, yeah, I, I, I still want that for people.
Speaker A:Do I think it's going to happen anytime soon?
Speaker A:Not in this current state, but I do hope that that is something that will occur here in the near future.
Speaker A:Of course.
Speaker B:All right, well, let's hope your predictions are correct because I still got my hanging around.
Speaker A:I hope it is too.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Because one of the things that you wanted to talk about today was really talking about the survivor benefits of one spouse.
Speaker B:Why, why is this so important that people learn about this?
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that especially for women, because this happens more often to this demographic.
Speaker A:There is this notion that if you, and for straight women, of course, there's this notion that if you are someone who is kind of like the, the caretaker and you have, you know, a male partner or a husband who provides financially, that, that they're going to take care of you.
Speaker A:But I think it's very realistic that not even all men understand all the implications of finance and they're just as easily taken advantage of by financial systems as women are.
Speaker A:But there are supposed to be these providers, which I can see that, you know, if you have those traditional values, that that is something that you really want to uphold.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And I respect that.
Speaker A:However, I do believe that there needs to be a better conversation between men and women of what the financial outlook may hold if one person passes away.
Speaker A:And that's not just if the husband passes away, that's also if the wife passes away.
Speaker A:What do these things look like?
Speaker A:But when it comes to survivorship benefits, I've seen far too often that women who have lost their male partners because women have a much higher life expectancy, especially because most times men just aren't going to the doctor or they're ignoring their health crises.
Speaker A:And then it becomes this whole thing that the women just don't feel like they have anything.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:They're like, I don't know any of the passwords to the account.
Speaker A:How do I, you know, contact, you know, Social Security office to get this money?
Speaker A:Do we even have Social Security?
Speaker A:How do I, you know, do X, Y and Z?
Speaker A:And it leaves the women in a very vulnerable state where they don't know if they're going to be financially supported and they don't know who to ask.
Speaker A:Because these conversations haven't been bad before.
Speaker A:But there's a scenario that I spoke with my audience about here previously that's still generating a lot of conversations of a woman that I spoke with.
Speaker A:Her husband passed away, and he was a state employee, a public employee for the state of Texas.
Speaker A:He didn't have Social Security and his pension did not have survivorship benefits.
Speaker A:So that left her with only the amount of money that they had in her savings, which she quickly blew through due to funeral expenses and things like that.
Speaker A:So it's scenarios like that where she's like, okay, now what am I supposed to do?
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:She's having to try and depend on her children, who don't also have a whole lot of money and they have their own families, and it's just.
Speaker A:It becomes a systemic burden for the family.
Speaker A:And those aren't scenarios that people want to deal with, but it's a conversation that definitely needs to be had as soon as possible.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But how do they.
Speaker B:Like, what resources or what do you feel is like a checklist?
Speaker B:If you were to generate a checklist right now, what would it be?
Speaker A:So a good checklist would be, let's start from the beginning, when you were dating someone, okay.
Speaker A:When you're dating someone, you need to start having these money conversations.
Speaker A:Like, what do you, what do you want financially with your life?
Speaker A:Like, what do you want life to look like?
Speaker A:And how is money going to help support you in that?
Speaker A:Because you don't want just money just for the sake of money and do and then do nothing with it.
Speaker A:Have those conversations.
Speaker A:And then when you're starting to get serious with someone, let them know, like, hey, if something happens to either of us, I need to make sure that both of us have some form of protection so that we're not left hanging right.
Speaker A:I want to be able to make sure that I can help pay for your expenses or you can help pay for mine.
Speaker A:If there's one spouse who's working and the other one who is either at home as a caretaker or doesn't have the ability to work, make sure that person also has the ability to be a part of the financial conversations that you have with either your benefits coordinator at work or with your retirement planner.
Speaker A:If you have a separate retirement account outside of your employer, like, make sure that your spouse is involved in those conversations.
Speaker A:It should not be a secret.
Speaker A:So start having those conversations.
Speaker A:Build in your beneficiaries of your spouse or whoever you need to be the beneficiary of your account.
Speaker A:If something happens to you, those things need to be in place and that's pretty quick.
Speaker A:Like, you can do your beneficiaries within two or three minutes if you just log onto your account and put their name and usually their social in.
Speaker A:Very easy things to do, but it will help alleviate a lot of the stress of if something happens to me, are they going to be set.
Speaker A:Another one is make sure you have life insurance.
Speaker A:You don't have to have a full life policy.
Speaker A:You can have a term policy that's very cheap.
Speaker A:My wife and I, before we got married, we took out life insurance for each other.
Speaker A:Pay.
Speaker A:I pay $21 a month.
Speaker A:She pays 18.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Our policies are very cheap.
Speaker A:And if something were to happen to either of us, we've, we've created a plan.
Speaker A:We've had the conversation.
Speaker A:I'm not keeping this house.
Speaker A:I don't want it.
Speaker A:Like, you know, I'll make sure that you're taken care of and then I'll do whatever I need to to get rid of this house and then whatever else needs to happen after that.
Speaker A:Take time off to grieve.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's horrible when people have a spouse that passes and then they're forced to go back to work because they have no PT they don't have any money to sustain, you know, the, the time it takes for their mental and emotional health to, to get back on level, that's necessary to be functional day to day at their job.
Speaker A:Those things are super, super important.
Speaker B:Okay, and you mentioned earlier about the passwords.
Speaker B:Do you recommend like a.
Speaker B:Just a regular notebook with all the passwords.
Speaker B:Should it be like bright colored or the special box or something like that?
Speaker A:Whatever your preferences.
Speaker A:I have some clients that I've talked to, they do like a, you know, on pen and paper or they type it out and they put in a secure lockbox with a key, whatever.
Speaker A:Or some will do like a digital file.
Speaker A:I have a digital file that's password protected, however you want to do that.
Speaker A:I just try to make sure that like everything, every account that I have, you have access to that.
Speaker A:And if I update those passwords, thankfully with my digital, with my digital file, like those passwords will update with it.
Speaker A:So if something happens to me or if even I don't have to be like dead and gone, but even if I'm just incapacitated.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I may be in the hospital.
Speaker A:I need you to be able to access these things because if I can't talk and you're like, well, I don't know, then we're both in a bad situation.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think having those things in a secure location where both of you know, like, hey, this is my information, your information, all in one secure spot.
Speaker A:If something happens, this is what we do next.
Speaker B:That is really good reminder for a lot of people who, like you said with your mom, she might have known about it, but did you do anything with it?
Speaker B:A lot of people just don't know where to go coming up with that checklist.
Speaker B:I don't know, maybe we should come together and just create a checklist.
Speaker B:Yeah, call it like wallet sense or something.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think that would be great.
Speaker A:People, people really need the direction, I believe.
Speaker A:You know, we could talk all day, have these conversations.
Speaker A:But like you said, if they, if they walk away and they move on and they forget, like they've done nothing with it.
Speaker A:But we want that information to be productive information, like take it and go with it.
Speaker A:Do something with it.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I watched too many snapped or investigation discovery things.
Speaker B:So when the other person found out, oh, you got life insurance on me.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Hey, right.
Speaker B:You know, talking to the boyfriend, trying to murder the guy.
Speaker B:And I was like, what, do you not think that you'll be connected to go to jail as well?
Speaker B:Come on now, now the money's just sitting in limbo, you know, it's ridiculous.
Speaker B:So one of the things that I. I do try to recommend is also is to do like a POD or a tld, like transfer on death or pay on death.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:When somebody's in the same bank account, so it's a lot easier to transfer that money instead of them.
Speaker B:Like, hey, I need to password to this account.
Speaker B:Can you give me this account?
Speaker B:We can just show up with the death certificate and they'll just transfer the money on you.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And again, all you need is just a social, I believe the social in the name of the person.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So the, the transfer on death stuff is really good.
Speaker A:And I would say, you know, if you're someone who maybe you're.
Speaker A:You're not married, maybe you're single, and.
Speaker A:But you have family members that you want to make sure have access to your estate.
Speaker A:If something were to happen to you, you want to make sure that that is something that's in place.
Speaker A:My wife and I have shared accounts, so my name and her name is on the account.
Speaker A:So if something happens to me, she doesn't have to go through.
Speaker A:She doesn't have to jump through loops to get to the money because it's equally legally hers.
Speaker A:Now, there are some accounts that I only have access to, just like she has some accounts that she only has access to, but we're both the beneficiaries on those, so that helps with that as well.
Speaker A:But, yeah, doing that, doing the transfer on death documentation, also having a will in place is just very, very beneficial.
Speaker A:You just want to avoid as much hiccups in the probate process as possible.
Speaker A:But even if it's not death, if it's disability and you need POA things involved, if it's.
Speaker A:If it's, you know, hospitalization and you're incapacitated and you need someone to be able to act on your behalf, you want those things to also be involved as fast as possible because you just.
Speaker A:You just never know.
Speaker A:I could be in a car accident tomorrow, but I don't want that to happen.
Speaker A:But if it happens, I want to make sure that the person.
Speaker A:My wife has access to everything she needs to as soon as she needs it.
Speaker A:I don't want to have to wonder, will she be able to take care of this?
Speaker A:Yes or no?
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's the worst thing I could do for the person that I love.
Speaker B:What is the most recent money conversation that you had with your wife?
Speaker B:Because now I'm thinking about, you know, you talk about survival Benefits.
Speaker B:But now it's like, you're alive now.
Speaker B:So like, what is.
Speaker B:Yeah, what are those conversations like now?
Speaker B:And then how did it start, if you don't mind me going back that far?
Speaker A:Yeah, so we started having money conversations.
Speaker A:Actually.
Speaker A:Before we started dating, we were just friends and we were in grad school together.
Speaker A:That's how we met.
Speaker A:And so when the interest rates went up, we were like, oh my goodness, what are we supposed to do with this?
Speaker A:So we were actually helping each other kind of go through the loan process and trying to figure that out and like, what that was going to mean for us.
Speaker A:And then, you know, after we graduated, we were on the same page of like, we have all these student loans, like, what are we supposed to do with this?
Speaker A:And we shared expenses at this point.
Speaker A:So it was like a no brainer.
Speaker A:Like, we need to start figuring this out as fast as possible.
Speaker A:We, together as a couple, went through a financial program and it was, it was insightful.
Speaker A:We learned a lot.
Speaker A:There was a, there was a lot of things that, you know, we started having more organic conversations about outside of the program that we were like, I don't really agree with that.
Speaker A:And this doesn't really align with what we want.
Speaker A:And then we just started to naturally talk about, you know, what do we want out of our life?
Speaker A:What do we want to see with our money?
Speaker A:How is that going to serve what we're, what we're wanting to do?
Speaker A:And it became very important for us to have these conversations because we're very giving people.
Speaker A:We wanted to make sure that, like, you know, if we're going out with friends or going out with family, if there's, you know, someone's meal that we can cover, we're looking at each other like, hey, can, you know, can we pay for this person?
Speaker A:Like, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker A:Or we have that conversation before we leave the house.
Speaker A:But, you know, every single month it became a habit of we need to just sit down and just look at it because it gets overwhelming.
Speaker A:Like, if I swipe my car 60 times 1 month, I don't want to look at all those transactions.
Speaker A:So, you know, we just designate one day out of the month.
Speaker A:Usually it's at the end of the month to review over what we did and then to also talk about what's coming up.
Speaker A:So for, for me, that's super exciting.
Speaker A:And for her, she's always looking, you know, a couple months in advance because she's like, I want to do this, I want to do that.
Speaker A:She's a very, very good planner.
Speaker A:And for me, I'm like, okay, what's coming up right away?
Speaker A:And we're using kind of our strengths in that aspect to have those conversations together to.
Speaker A:To gear that next step for what we're going to be doing with our finances moving forward.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I think that, you know, the last conversation we had, we went over our.
Speaker A:Our money, our monthly money meeting, and we were just talking about, like, the trips that we want to take coming up pretty soon.
Speaker A:And some of that is, you know, financially, we gotta be prepared for that.
Speaker A:But I also use a lot of credit card points.
Speaker A:I love.
Speaker A:I love the points and miles game.
Speaker A:I just love credit card points.
Speaker A:And I've.
Speaker A:I've been on many trips where I don't spend almost a dime, and I just love that.
Speaker A:And to me, it's.
Speaker A:I've gamified that, so I spend less money.
Speaker A:And that's such a hack.
Speaker A:If no one.
Speaker A:If y' all aren't doing that now, that is such a hack, and you need to do it.
Speaker A:But, you know, we have a big trip that we're trying to plan for next year, and we are trying to build up the most amount of points as possible, but we're doing so within our budget.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We are still looking at our monthly money, trying to make sure that we're staying in budget.
Speaker A:We're not putting ourselves in credit card debt.
Speaker A:Never do that.
Speaker A:But we're making sure, like, okay, this bonus is coming up.
Speaker A:Let's make sure, you know, if we're going to go here, we're going to use this card to hit that bonus, get these points, and it becomes fun.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We try not to make it a very detrimental conversation.
Speaker A:We don't argue about our money because we're having conversations organically.
Speaker A:We may have a couple of different goals.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But we're building that in so that we can accomplish them together.
Speaker A:There may be something that she wants.
Speaker A:And I'm like, okay, yeah, let's see what we can do about that.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then there's something I want.
Speaker A:She's like, all right, cool.
Speaker A:Yeah, let's work on that, too.
Speaker A:It's never a.
Speaker A:Well, I want that.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:No, it's.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And let's figure that out together.
Speaker A:Always.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:Now, is this, like, do y' all do this at a dinner table or just kind of like a special place in the house where y' all have y' all certain discussions?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So sometimes we have it just kind of chilling in the living room, just.
Speaker A:So it's a.
Speaker A:We.
Speaker A:We try to do it In a very relaxed environment.
Speaker A:There's a couple of occasions where we've, like, gone out to a restaurant and did, like, a whole thing.
Speaker A:We're like, let's have a money date.
Speaker A:And we just made it fun.
Speaker A:Like, we're having a good meal.
Speaker A:We're having, you know, our favorite food.
Speaker A:I think we went to a ramen restaurant, ate some takoyaki, ate some ramen, and just had a grand old time.
Speaker A:Pulled out our laptops and started doing some work and talking about our money.
Speaker A:And we just try to make it an enjoyable experience, because when we tie that emotion to it, it becomes easier.
Speaker A:But if it's constantly an agitating experience, this.
Speaker A:That's why couples don't have those conversations.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Would you think y' all would've worked out if you didn't?
Speaker B:We all weren't on the same expectations when y' all had those money discussions.
Speaker A:Ooh, I don't know.
Speaker A:That's hard to say.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:That's hard to answer.
Speaker A:Um, well.
Speaker B:Cause it's working now.
Speaker A:It's just working.
Speaker A:We're very.
Speaker A:We're both very exploratory.
Speaker A:And I would say, kind of financially, I was a little bit more structured in the beginning of, like, this is what needs to happen.
Speaker A:That's what needs to happen.
Speaker A:But then I also learned, like, I can't be the money person, because if something happens to me, I want her to feel confident, to be able to do things on her own.
Speaker A:So when I open up that conversation, like, hey, I can't be the one to just do this.
Speaker A:Like, I really want you to be a part of this.
Speaker A:Because I also felt the need that, like, she, as a woman, also needs to just be empowered to know, like, if I'm not here, for whatever reason, you got this, or if we don't make it, for whatever reason, you got this.
Speaker A:And so it was very easy for her to be like, oh, okay, yeah, yeah, let's make sure that we have those conversations together.
Speaker A:And it kicked off from there.
Speaker B:That's really good.
Speaker B:That's how you know you have a healthy, healthy relationship, especially with the expectations.
Speaker B:Because I've heard one of my clients said that she just gives her money to the husband and that's it.
Speaker B:And she was like, well, I just need my money when I do it, or.
Speaker B:And she's just like, we put the money into the account and that's it.
Speaker B:And she just get whatever she needs.
Speaker B:So what are your thoughts on, like, combining?
Speaker B:Like, obviously, there's three different ways.
Speaker B:What are your thoughts on combining accounts versus having separate accounts, I think you should have both.
Speaker A:I think everyone should have both, quite honestly, especially if you live together.
Speaker A:Now, I know there's that, you know, small percent.
Speaker A:I wouldn't even say small.
Speaker A:I know there's a percentage of people who, you know, they're with their partner for a period of time, and maybe they're long distance or maybe they just like having their own space.
Speaker A:Maybe you don't need to share expenses then, because your.
Speaker A:Your home expenses are a little bit different.
Speaker A:But for the vast majority of people, kind of in those very traditional, like, you're with your partner, you live with your partner, you guys share groceries and house expenses, and, you know, you probably do certain things and around holidays and stuff like that.
Speaker A:I do believe that you should have a combination, have a shared, at least shared savings accounts.
Speaker A:Checking is a little bit different, in my opinion, just because I don't really.
Speaker A:We don't really use our checking account.
Speaker A:Like, our checking account pays our.
Speaker A:Our credit cards.
Speaker A:That's just the way that we use them.
Speaker A:So for us, it's not really that necessary.
Speaker A:Having shared savings accounts and then having savings accounts for yourself.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We have three accounts that we share, and then I have three of my own, and I think she has two or three of her own.
Speaker A:But when we're looking at our shared money, we're looking at those shared accounts, and I put an equal amount into the shared account just as she does.
Speaker A:So that we're always looking at, what have we contributed to that?
Speaker A:What does that mean for us?
Speaker A:We got something coming up.
Speaker A:Okay, I'm going to put some in.
Speaker A:You're going to put some in?
Speaker A:We're good.
Speaker A:But it allows us to feel like we have freedom but that we also have some cohesiveness with what we want to be able to accomplish financially.
Speaker B:Okay, so when you say equal amount, y' all meaning like y' all both make the same, that y' all okay to contribute the same, or is it just like, how's that?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So we actually do make about the same.
Speaker A:My wife is an occupational therapist.
Speaker A:I'm also an occupational therapist, and we graduated at the same time.
Speaker A:So our years of experience is the same.
Speaker A:Like, we do the same job, we make the same.
Speaker A:Now, that doesn't work for everyone.
Speaker A:We just have a very unique circumstance.
Speaker A:So, you know, if one partner is making 120 and the other one's making 60, that's a different conversation.
Speaker A:Split it up into percentage.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So if you guys have, you know, an emergency fund that you're building.
Speaker A:Maybe one spouse can put in 20% and the other puts in their 20%.
Speaker A:Make it work for you.
Speaker A:But don't, you know, Well, I make 120, so I'm going to put in a thousand a month.
Speaker A:You also got to put in a thousand a month.
Speaker A:You're going to make that other person broke while you're just kind of like, riding on.
Speaker A:On.
Speaker A:On.
Speaker A:On freedom there.
Speaker A:So that's just not going to be beneficial.
Speaker A:But whatever feels natural usually go with that.
Speaker A:And also just have those conversations.
Speaker A:And you will find out just by talking, like, what feels fair.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We don't always agree on everything.
Speaker A:Sometimes it's just, let's have a conversation to understand what we mean.
Speaker A:Because sometimes I may suggest something, she's like, well, no, that.
Speaker A:That doesn't work.
Speaker A:And then she'll give me her perspective.
Speaker A:And I'm like, okay, I see what you mean.
Speaker A:Like, it's just about having the conversation.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And one thing I do admire that y' all have those comfortable conversations of understanding.
Speaker B:Like, hey, this is something that is important to me, and I really want to make sure I understand what you're saying.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, We.
Speaker A:We have to.
Speaker A:I mean, and we may talk about.
Speaker A:I mean, we talk about everything.
Speaker A:And I think that is something that not everyone is used to.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:There's also going to be a difference in dynamics between couples.
Speaker A:Not everyone has that availability.
Speaker A:And we're also very emotionally vulnerable with each other, which not everyone has.
Speaker A:So I may talk with some of my clients and ask them, like, what do you want out of your money?
Speaker A:And you're like, I don't know.
Speaker A:I just know I'm not doing it right.
Speaker A:And it's like, okay, now we have to.
Speaker A:I also.
Speaker A:I also have to kind of be a therapist to figure out, like, what do you value what.
Speaker A:What means the most to you?
Speaker A:Like, okay, you want to be able to see your family in New York on Christmas.
Speaker A:Like, you want to spend Christmases in New York.
Speaker A:Okay, great.
Speaker A:What does that look like as far as your.
Speaker A:What are your resources right now?
Speaker A:How are we going to be able to afford that?
Speaker A:Because money gives you the freedom to do the things that you want to do.
Speaker A:And when people don't have enough of it, then they're left with less resources.
Speaker A:So we got to work on building that up.
Speaker A:And it's like, well, I don't really care about money.
Speaker A:I just care about this.
Speaker A:And it's like, you care about this, but you need money to get there.
Speaker A:And so sometimes we have to do that back and forth.
Speaker A:We have a good system where we just have those conversations.
Speaker A:We're open.
Speaker A:Not everyone is emotionally available like that.
Speaker A:So it really takes having those conversations and just kind of digging in.
Speaker A:It's not all about money.
Speaker A:I don't care about money as much as I care about the value of my life.
Speaker A:I want to maximize my life and my travel and my experiences and my happiness as much as possible.
Speaker A:But I know that I can do that when I have money.
Speaker B:So, yeah, it does provide some.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:Money buys happiness.
Speaker A:I don't know who said it doesn't, but it does.
Speaker B:Totally agree.
Speaker B:Because this brings up to the third segment, which is the features.
Speaker B:And again, talking about the values that you have.
Speaker B:So, like, what areas of focus do you feel as though that you need to prove upon in your life?
Speaker A:Spontaneity.
Speaker A:Spontaneity, for sure.
Speaker A:I'm a very structured person, not just with finances, but just like, with my routine.
Speaker A:Like, someone wanted to, you know, stalk me and figure out what I do.
Speaker A:They could easily find that out in two days.
Speaker A:Like, oh, she's pretty consistent with everything.
Speaker A:So I'm not very spontaneous.
Speaker A:And my wife really tries to get me out of that.
Speaker A:Like, you just do the same thing every day.
Speaker A:And I'm like, yeah, because that works.
Speaker A:Like, it's working, you know, and so that's one thing.
Speaker A:And I think that too, you know, right now, as we are still building upon the life that we want to have, I think that that spontaneity will come more naturally.
Speaker A:But I know I also need to be forced out of that space.
Speaker A:So for me, you know, my goal is I don't want to work until I'm even 55.
Speaker A:Like, I'm trying to get out of there, you know?
Speaker A:And so for me, it's like, boom, I gotta do this, I gotta do that, gotta do this, gotta do that.
Speaker A:And it's like, well, you also have to have fun in the middle of that.
Speaker A:So you have to maximize what your life looks like in all aspects of that.
Speaker A:Because I may not be here to even look at, you know, what.
Speaker A:What will my retirement years look like?
Speaker A:I'm planning for it, but there's no guarantee that I'll be here for that.
Speaker A:So I do need to do better, of course, with just maximizing every single day that I have right now.
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:Anything that you wanna talk about to the audience before we get into the final four questions?
Speaker A:Oh, my.
Speaker A:My number one recommendation for literally everyone is make money conversations, normal and natural.
Speaker A:Don't be afraid to talk about it if you're.
Speaker A:If you're not afraid to, you know, talk about sex or talk about alcohol or talk about other things, like, don't be afraid to have conversations about money, because the lack of those conversations means that you're probably being underpaid, means that you're probably not maximizing the power of what your dollars can actually do, and also means that you don't know what would happen if for some reason you stopped working or maybe you got in a car accident, you're not able to return to your job, or, you know, your.
Speaker A:Your parent falls ill and they have to come live with you, and you have to file for fmla, but you're not making money.
Speaker A:You don't know what those things look like.
Speaker A:So start having very normal and natural conversations.
Speaker A:It may not feel natural in the beginning, but the more often you do it, practice will make that a lot more attainable and a lot easier to do.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, just don't be debilitated by the fact that it just seems scary.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Okay, now that sparked the question.
Speaker B:Well, if you don't feel comfortable, like, because if you're scared in that relationship to even open up about money, is that a.
Speaker B:Is that a, like, red flag or a sign to say, like, hey, I need to leave this relationship, or do I need to try to find other ways, so I need to bring in a third party.
Speaker B:Like, what should they do if they don't feel comfortable?
Speaker A:I would definitely say it's not a red flag.
Speaker A:Not yet.
Speaker A:I think there's a level to that, but it takes effort.
Speaker A:So if you're not comfortable yet, and I know that not everyone grew up with the.
Speaker A:With like, maybe emotionally available parents.
Speaker A:Sometimes we bring to the table what we've been presented with and what we were raised with, and we have to learn how to break those cycles.
Speaker A:If you need to bring in a third party, if you need to have maybe your own personal therapist first, or maybe you need to have, you know, a couple's therapist, like, do that.
Speaker A:Therapy has absolutely changed my life.
Speaker A:Not financially, because I didn't have that problem, but I had other things that I needed to deal with that allowed me to evolve as a person for myself and evolve as a.
Speaker A:As a wife.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I mean, having.
Speaker A:Having a way to break down, like, what is in the way of me being able to open up and be vulnerable?
Speaker A:Maybe you don't feel safe, or maybe you've never felt safe and you didn't know that that was even a thing for You.
Speaker A:You don't know what you don't know sometimes.
Speaker A:But if you realize, like, hey, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm afraid to have certain conversations.
Speaker A:It could be money, it could be, you know, kids.
Speaker A:It could be future things.
Speaker A:I'm afraid to have these conversations with a person that I want to spend my life with.
Speaker A:Like, what is that about?
Speaker A:If you're not questioning that and if you're not trying to do the work for it, sometimes it's okay to bring in that third person, and sometimes it's just really necessary to do so.
Speaker B:That is awesome.
Speaker B:Good stuff.
Speaker B:Good stuff.
Speaker B:Love it.
Speaker B:All right, so you ready for the final one?
Speaker B:All righty.
Speaker B:So for those of you who are new to the show, the final four questions are the final four questions that we ask every guest that's only about that wallet show.
Speaker B:So we can learn a little bit more about them.
Speaker B:Or maybe you might want to have them back on the show.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:Just leave a comment.
Speaker B:Alrighty.
Speaker B:Number one, what does wealth mean to you?
Speaker A:Wealth means, to me, unlimited possibilities for the things that I want.
Speaker A:Wealth also means being able to buy my way out of situations I no longer want to be a part of.
Speaker A:Like, all seriousness, if I don't want to be here, I can buy my $30 Uber and get out.
Speaker A:I'm leaving.
Speaker A:So, I mean, wealth just gives me the options to protect my peace.
Speaker A:Wealth will give me the options to enjoy myself without restrictions.
Speaker A:All of those things.
Speaker B:About that.
Speaker B:Number two, what was your worst money mistake?
Speaker A:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker A:I've talked about my.
Speaker A:I talked about this with my audience before buying my truck.
Speaker A:I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker A:I was still deep in student loan debt when I bought it, but it was during the pandemic, and I was depressed, and I was like, I need a truck, and I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker A:It's paid off now because I realized that that was really dumb and I shouldn't have done it.
Speaker A:And the car I had was perfectly fine.
Speaker A:There was nothing wrong with it.
Speaker A:I just wanted something new.
Speaker A:But, yeah, that was my.
Speaker A:That's definitely my worst mistake.
Speaker B:I think we had those moments.
Speaker A:It happens.
Speaker A:I know it's normal for a lot of people, but, like, don't do it.
Speaker A:Don't do what I did.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Number three, is there a book that inspired your journey or changed your perspective?
Speaker B:Ooh.
Speaker A:Okay, I have two.
Speaker A:Can I give you two books?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:My very.
Speaker A:The very first book is the Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
Speaker A:That is such a good book.
Speaker A:Like, if you are not sure.
Speaker A:Like where your money habits or behaviors or maybe fears around money are coming from.
Speaker A:Read that book, the Psychology of Money.
Speaker A:Great book.
Speaker A:The next book, I will say, especially for those type A people, if you're type A, listen to this.
Speaker A:You need to read Die With Zero by Bill Perkins.
Speaker A:Excellent book.
Speaker A:Because if you are someone who's just like, go, go, go, work, work, work, and I'll retire later, you do not realize that your body cannot sustain all the things that you've saved over the years to do.
Speaker A:You want to start maximizing your life right now.
Speaker A:So, yeah.
Speaker A:Die With Zero by Bill Perkins and In the Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel Highly recommend.
Speaker B:I just read that was Zero.
Speaker A:Did you love it?
Speaker B:And I was telling me you love it.
Speaker B:I totally enjoy.
Speaker A:So good.
Speaker B:I gotta.
Speaker B:I need to.
Speaker B:Because I was going to put my two lists up, my bucket list and my availability list.
Speaker B:I think the other list.
Speaker B:Just because, like, these are the things that I want to do while I still have the energy.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And available.
Speaker B:Because it's so stored that right there.
Speaker B:Put it together for me.
Speaker B:Like, I. I can ignore the rest of the book, but the end of it was.
Speaker B:Was for me at that point.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, we can geek out about books later.
Speaker A:I got.
Speaker A:I got a lot of books that I love, but those are my two tops right now.
Speaker B:Recommend number four.
Speaker B:What is your favorite dish to make?
Speaker B:Ooh.
Speaker A:I love to cook, so this one's actually really hard.
Speaker A:And I don't have, like, a specific genre of meals.
Speaker A:I will say I really, really love doing homemade wings and fries.
Speaker A:I don't know what it is.
Speaker A:It's just.
Speaker A:It's so good.
Speaker A:And really, I do it outside.
Speaker A:I do it on the grill mostly because it causes a lot of heat here in Texas to do that inside the house.
Speaker A:But that's one of my favorite things to make.
Speaker A:Homemade wings and homemade fries, like, straight from the potato itself with, like, a good garlic aioli sauce.
Speaker A:That's the best part, too.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I usually do spicy mayo, but the aioli, I need to get some.
Speaker A:Yeah, if you make it fresh, it's good.
Speaker A:Garlic aioli.
Speaker A:Garlic, you know, parmesan, parsley fries, spicy wings.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I mean, I need to go get something to eat at that.
Speaker A:I hope I make you hungry.
Speaker B:You sure did.
Speaker B:This is the last question of the show, which is where could people find out more about you?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So if you're interested to learn more, you know, kind of get connected with the community, I'm on Most social media platforms except for Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok at Saving Sense HQ.
Speaker A:And you can also find resources like the debt payoff calculator at the resource center on savingsense.org Also, there have some really good services if you need something kind of one on one or if you want to get, you know, connected with a group service where you can learn in a setting amongst other people.
Speaker A:All my services are virtual, so I do it right here.
Speaker A:Um, so that you can be in the comfort of your home.
Speaker A:I'll do the same.
Speaker A:Um, I also do some savings audits as well.
Speaker A:If you're like, hey, I don't even know if I can afford anything just yet.
Speaker A:I'll help you just find your savings for you.
Speaker A:No problem at all.
Speaker A:But, yeah, check me out savingsense.org or on social media platforms at Savingsense HQ.
Speaker B:All right, if you need a black Susie Orman, you know where to go.
Speaker B:This was so fun.
Speaker B:Thank you so much for sharing your story, your insights, and, I mean, I can't wait to see where you go from here.
Speaker B:So for you who are listening, I want you to take a moment to remember that you have to learn how to put one shoe on at a time.
Speaker B:Because trying to put them on at the same time, you can get confusing.
Speaker B:You might hurt yourself.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker B:So just keep it nice and simple.
Speaker A:Exactly.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Don't do too much at once.
Speaker A:For sure.
Speaker A:Yeah, Just start small, One step at a time, literally.
Speaker B:There we go.
Speaker B:And thank you, everybody.
Speaker B:Y' all be safe.
Speaker B:Yeah, we out.
