WEBVTT - Beating Down the Biggest Money Obstacles You Face #557 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.720 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt, and 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:05.720 today we're talking about beating down the biggest money obstacles 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:27.880 you face, dude, a beat down. You're talking all all 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:29.960 violet over here. It's like folks are gonna think you're 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.640 into mixed martial arts or or something like. No. I mean, 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.240 I hear good things. It sounds like fun, but too 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.040 intense for my lessons. It sounds like fun until you 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:38.959 get clocked in the face, like my neighbor did. He's 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.320 really into it, and he was, you know, grappling with 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.720 a guy. I think that's the term grappling. There's no 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:45.960 there's no punching right, there's no strikes. But he said 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:47.400 he was trying to get out of a hold and 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.919 the guy he was grappling with swung his arm back 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:51.599 at the same time that he quickly moved his head 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:54.240 to try to evade, to try to escape or whatever, 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.720 and he caught an elbow right above his eye. He said, 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:58.920 its swelled up to the size of a tennis ball. 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.040 But when I saw him, the swelling went down, but 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.800 the blood had flown from his head to his eyeball. 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:09.240 So he looked very, very evil. He looked you look terrible. Yeah, 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.720 so that that's probably that's gonna be at least my 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.240 excuse why I'm avoiding jiu jitsu because I gotta keep 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:16.279 his face looking pretty kind of keep that money money 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.399 maker looking freshman. We're podcasters, so it's not necessarily my 0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.200 money maker. But but you know, I still don't want 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:24.400 to get clocked in the face. That it doesn't sound 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:26.679 like fun nor do I mean literally, that's the reason 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:28.840 I work out is to avoid getting hurt, and so 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:30.920 to put myself in harm's way. It sounds like the 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:33.319 opposite of what I personally want to do. Although there 0:01:33.319 --> 0:01:36.520 are others out there who I'm sure really enjoy makes 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:38.320 martial arts. But that's what we're gonna be doing today. 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.160 When it when it comes to your money, that there 0:01:41.160 --> 0:01:44.720 are different obstacles that just like pop out of nowhere oftentimes, 0:01:44.880 --> 0:01:48.440 and we want you to completely destroy these obstacles so 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.160 that you can achieve your financial goals. And and it 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:53.200 makes me think of ways mad how waves will be. Like, hey, 0:01:53.280 --> 0:01:54.960 up in the future, there's this thing if you're gonna 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.560 encounter in road, there's a police up there and half 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:00.840 a mile, like moment is a little down it would 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.920 be funny. Ways actually changed his voice like that. It's 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:07.280 like obstacle in road. Well, there's a there's a cop 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.840 up there on the ride, you might want to slow down, Joel, 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.520 stop in an idiot and but yeah, those obstacles up 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:14.880 if you can have someone point them out to you, 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:16.720 these are the kind of things that are probably gonna 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.560 impact your personal finances. Negatively, look out for them, start 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.200 thinking about how you would react if you were to 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.400 encounter that. That's kind of what we're gonna do on 0:02:24.400 --> 0:02:27.200 on today's episode. But Matt, quickly, before we get to that, 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.480 I wanted to mention I. I talked about the upgrading 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:33.040 to a new phone, and I had hoped on holding 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.480 out longer, which, by the way, did did you ever 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.560 get a case for your phone? Still? Okay, so you're 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.440 still caseless? What you think about this? Right here? Oh 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.160 that looks good. Finally, so I've had my phone for 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.839 a year. Finally got a case nice and still nice 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.680 and thin. Yeah, I got the screen protector on there. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.520 Making better cases, thinner cases. These they used to be 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.440 like these giant hunking You have to get the autter 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:54.560 box and made your phone three times the size, right, 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.160 which terrible. I mentioned that Google was going to hit 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.480 me two and sixty two dollars before my old phone 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.720 that i've for and I was like, that's pretty good, 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.280 thanks Google. But they ended up paying me three for 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.760 that phone. I sent it in and they said, actually, 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:12.760 you underestimated the value. Will give you three hundred bucks. 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:14.440 The same with my wife phone, which also had just 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.359 this even more even worse cracks than than mine. So 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.079 you can thank the semiconductor shorteras for that one. Friends, 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:25.560 it's like supply chain problems. I think it was pain 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.480 it is my game. I think it was less that 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.200 they're paying for the actual value of the phone, and 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.760 they're more just kind of trying to build customer loyalty 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:33.440 because there's no way they're gonna be able to make 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.880 their money back on that phone, Like no way at all, right, um, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.680 and so so really because everyone else was saying, we'll 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.560 give you eighty bucks for it or ninety bucks, and 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:44.640 so that's definitely above the market value. But you know, 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:46.600 Google got me to trade on my own one that 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:48.800 was busted for one that's just you know, not busted, 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:50.680 and that's a sweet deal, dude. Yeah, just to get 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.240 more money than you're expecting. Just feels like, I don't 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:57.160 know prayer emoji hands. I'm just like thankful, blest hashtag 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.400 blest due. That's enough to almost make me consider switching 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:02.880 switching over to a pixel, but not quite because I 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:05.360 don't want to be the green text guy. I know. Yeah, 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:07.960 that's your role. Literally get a crap for that last 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.160 night from a friend and he's like, I would text 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:12.760 you back, but I'm like, dude, come on, I was 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:15.280 thinking about liking it, but then I realized that I couldn't, 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.000 and instead it was gonna not give it the thumbs 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:19.640 up and instead would have typed that out. I'm not 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.040 gonna do it. Well, you know me, I'm a dent extrovert. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.200 So if I realized that this phone is inhibiting my 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.120 ability to make friends, I might have to make a 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.120 sorry we told you that. I like that. I would 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.560 text you more. Yeah, but I get enough time with 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.240 you already. But if it's inhibiting other friendships, maybe I'll 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.480 make Yeah, we get enough of that face to face time. Well, 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.719 let's mention the beer we're having on today's episode. This 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.719 one is called Bibo. It's by Creature Comforts, one of 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:45.240 our favorite Georgia Brewery's it's straight up pills nurse. We'll 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.000 give our thoughts on this beer at the end of 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:49.480 the episode, but let's move on, mat Let's get to 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:52.400 the topic at hand. We are talking about money, obstacles, 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.040 how to beat them down, And I'm not sure if 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:57.520 our gen Z listeners are going to get this reference. 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.279 But when I was thinking about beat down, so thinking 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:04.160 about American Gladiators, which was the o G American Ninja 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:08.839 Warrior right, thinking about them with the giant what is it? Yeah, 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:11.599 Like that's that's the most beat down people would get 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:13.680 is when they're just standing there on that pedalestal, just 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:16.920 getting just hitting hammered, getting whacked in the head over 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.240 and over again until they just fall off. Still, just 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.680 a fantastic show if you go, if you go um 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:23.320 back back and watch it. What was it? It It was 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:26.880 late eighties, early nineties something. Yeah, And so just the style, 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:28.560 the look, kind of the field of the show is 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:32.240 just kind of fun, fun nostalgia to partake in. But 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.080 I could see some hipster breweries being like, all we 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.840 do just play American Gladiators on TV. Like one of 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:42.320 our favorite breweries always shows like these idyllic sheep, hurting scenes, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.520 throw whatever over In Europe, it's just their thing. For 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.880 whatever reason. They like their show show like the European Countryside, 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:50.760 but there should be another brewery and all they do 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.080 is just show American glad Well, if we ever start one, 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:55.320 that's gonna be our amout. I would be all about 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.839 that well. And so when I was in college there, 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.360 for some reason, one of the dining halls that's all 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.560 they played was American Gladiator rerun at least when I went, like, 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.839 that's what was on TV, and so I just remember 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.600 that's that was where my affinity for American Gladiators started. 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.359 But yeah, if you don't know the show, basically a 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.200 couple fairly fit young folks. They would compete to win money. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.839 They would uh. The only thing standing in their way though, 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:22.480 was some incredibly ripped dudes and females who wanted to 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.720 punish them physically. And so the Gladiators basically is what 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:28.080 they were known as. They were always throwing obstacles in 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:30.840 your way, slamming you down or to knock you up 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.960 a pedestal, shooting stuff at you, literally tackling you. I mean, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.000 whatever it took to prevent you from scoring points. And 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.960 so yeah, real life, it's not really like American Gladiators, sadly, 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:42.719 I guess in a lot of ways because it would 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:46.800 be pretty cool. But but obstacles are reality in basically 0:06:46.839 --> 0:06:50.200 every arena of life. And that's just that's incredibly true 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.120 when we're talking about the area of personal finance. And 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:55.320 today we're gonna talk about, you know, those gladiators, like 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.719 obstacles standing in your way that are trying to prevent 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:59.479 you from reaching your goals. We're gonna like put those 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.760 on the horizon, tell you which ones might be coming, 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:04.560 and and also talk about how to beat down those 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.320 obstacles you can succeed with your money. Yeah, because chances 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.480 are it hasn't been only smooth sailing, you know, on 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.960 your route to paying off debts or investing for your 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:16.160 for your future. Getting stuck and not being able to 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:17.960 make progress as a problem that I think all of 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:20.280 us has have faced at times. Uh. And so yeah, 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.600 we're gonna spend this episode running through some of the 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:26.920 different obstacles that are attempting to derail you on your 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:29.880 path to financial freedom, uh, and then specifically what to 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:32.080 do about them. But Joel, you know, like going back 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:34.040 to the American Gladiators, I think one of the best 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:38.400 parts of the show were the gladiator's names, like like 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.120 Elektra or like Laser. Those are a couple that that 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.679 stand out in my mind. But similarly, it is important 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.560 to name and identify these financial obstacles as well, because 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:49.720 you know, if they're lurking in the shadows without you 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:53.400 even realizing that they're there, you're gonna get completely blindsided. 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.800 And that is what we're trying to avoid today. Yeah, 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.240 and I'm gonna guess Malibu was your favorite of the 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.400 Gladiator which I don't. I don't, which had like the 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:04.240 really long hair California guy, but still like super Bike, 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.480 you I do remember that they're all super they're all 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:09.240 totally ripped. YEA. Well, it turns out that we all 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.760 have varying degrees of control over the financial obstacles that 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.480 we face. So maybe let's let's start Matt with some 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.960 of the obstacles that are going to feel the most unexpected, 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.400 the most out of our hands. And so one of 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:25.320 those things that we're feeling acutely right now is rising prices. Right, 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.080 and no matter how much we complain, none of us 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.800 are gonna be able to have an impact on something 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.400 like the cost of eggs. So part of that is 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:35.160 just general grocery inflationship and then part of its the 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.240 Avian flu going around, and so now eggs are a 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:40.680 lot more expensive than they were just twelve months ago, 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.320 and so but it's still a very affordable way to 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:46.520 get high mus a protein. To get that protein. Agree, Man, 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.240 we're talking a lot about physical films. It was tough 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:51.120 to get. Like the other day, getting a dozen eggs 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:52.480 for three bucks, I was like, man, this used to 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.839 be a dollar fifty nine. And so it's it's tough 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:56.320 to stomach that, but you're right when you think about 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:00.320 it logically, it's like it's yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, but 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:04.760 the reality of rapidly increasing costs basically everywhere return is 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:06.599 something that none of us could have expected just a 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:09.480 couple of years ago. It's it's been forty years where 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.520 we've had pretty stable inflation along the lines of two 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:14.640 percent a year. It's kind of been like clockwork, and 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:17.960 so we've we've we know that inflation is occurring, but 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.040 most of us don't feel it in any meaningful way, 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.560 and so we don't think about it. But you know, 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.680 that this experience can actually be helpful, I would say, 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:29.079 in making us realize that there are more possible unknowns 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:31.760 than we had previously considered. I mean, the pandemic is 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:33.959 is just a perfect example of that, Matt. When we 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.119 talk about obstacles that we have to overcome, some obstacles 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:40.439 we can predict. Other obstacles we can't. They're unknown, and 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.960 we still have to be prepared for unknown potential obstacles too. 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.360 That's right. And the lesson from these obstacles, these things 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.120 that are completely out of our control, is that being prepared, 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.560 even for things that we can't fully imagine like that, 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:55.520 that is still an important thing to do. And specifically 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.240 this means saving and spending our money so that we 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:02.000 have some financial margin. This is going to be incredibly important. 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.200 And so if you're spending every single dollar that you 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.160 make and you're living paycheck to paycheck, then the financial 0:10:07.160 --> 0:10:10.360 impacts of something like inflation right of rising prices, it's 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:13.000 going to have a much more severe impact on your 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:16.080 life than someone who's only you know, spending like half 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:18.719 of their paycheck. If you're you're spending less than you make, 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:20.400 then it shouldn't take long for you to have a 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.320 degree of margin within your life, because man, if you 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.360 are living on the edge, if you do not have 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:29.080 any of that margin. Uh, as expenses continue to get 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.240 more expensive, well, where does that put you? Right? Like 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.600 that put you on the on this precipice of falling 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.319 into this abyss where you might even be reliant on 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.000 credit cards, right on debt in order for you to 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:43.800 just maintain the standard of living. It was maybe feasible 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.520 for you to do that yesterday, but today, with prices 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:48.800 being where they are, it's a lot more difficult. Yeah, man, 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.240 I agree. I think margin is one of those important 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.400 words in personal finance. You want to have more of it, 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.240 even though you don't necessarily know the scenario that you're 0:10:56.280 --> 0:11:00.720 preparing for. Having more margin allows you to pivot in 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.640 the moment, even when something unexpected, because it's the best practice. Yes, 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.040 I would say, yes, it is. And shifting from like 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:09.480 the macro to the micro because inflation is this macro 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:11.600 thing that affects all of us. Well, let's kind of 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.520 talk a little more personal finances because you know, unexpected 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:17.560 expenses that we experience in day to day life are 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:19.480 obstacles that can mess us up in a big way. 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.120 So this is not something that's affecting every single one 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.320 of us in a very similar way. This is what 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.200 if the you you suddenly find that some of the 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:28.600 pipes are leaking in your house, or that your crawl 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:30.920 space is taking on water. You know, those are tough 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.839 obstacles that cost real money to remedy. Man I was 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.880 actually doing some research for an upcoming interview, and she 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:38.800 was talking about some some housing issues she had had 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:42.800 on whatever YouTube videos and how she it cost her 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:45.200 some real money to to prevent some of those water 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:48.920 issues from from messing up her her investment property. And 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:53.000 so basically like, if you turn a blind eye to 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.280 these issues, you're gonna find yourself in a worse situation. Right, 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.040 if you don't put in the French train, uh and 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.360 you flood the basements, you find yourself in a worse 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.680 situation tsking you even more money, or even something like 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.880 car issues, right, even though you're you're probably not assuming 0:12:05.920 --> 0:12:09.120 that your transportation is gonna bite the dust tomorrow, being 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.320 prepared is still important. I had a Subaru back in 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.880 the day. Suber is a great cars, but for some reason, 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.680 my engine just crapped out on the freeway and it 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:19.560 was one of those things where it was a really 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.640 really expensive fix. I wasn't planning on that, Like, it 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:25.240 wasn't something where I was like, cool, I think this 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:27.640 could happen sometime in the next six months, but it 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.560 was still something I was financially prepared for, even though 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:33.679 it hurts, like the dickens to pay for that fix. Yeah. 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:36.280 Medical debt is another example of one of these you know, 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.240 some of these stumbling blocks that people don't plan for. 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.880 But it can be debilitating on multiple fronts, right Like, 0:12:41.920 --> 0:12:44.679 not only can medical expenses cost you a ton of money, 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.640 but there's a chance that something has happened that might 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.080 keep you from being able to work, which would keep 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:53.480 you potentially from earning an income, right Like, it hits 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.440 you on the way in and on the way out. 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.600 This is one of those problems that exists across our 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.240 society that we need to find and a better way 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.480 of addressing. But there are some ways of preventing possible 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.360 medical issues. Specifically, there are personal physical steps that we 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.160 can take, like not smoking, eating well, actually exercising from 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.640 time to time. Maybe not the jiu jitsure though, yeah, 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:18.160 which causes uh increased medical medical bils, but there are 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.640 other ways to push back against medical debts that is 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.319 egregious as well. We talked about that in episode for 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:27.719 nine with Marshall Allen. But aside from some of the 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:30.800 I guess financial steps that you can take to keep 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.160 medical debt from becoming this obstacle that's going to take 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.280 you out, there are some of these smaller additional ones 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:39.480 as well. And the reason we highlight medical debt because 0:13:39.520 --> 0:13:41.960 with it being the number one reason for personal bankruptcy, 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.160 it is something that you should be thinking about. Yeah, 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.280 and we often don't think about those little steps that 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.360 we can take ahead of time, but those are crucial, right, 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.520 So if you want to avoid health problems, like just 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:54.640 going for a walk around your neighborhood four or five 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.320 days a week for twenty minutes is gonna be like 0:13:57.320 --> 0:13:59.840 this preventative health step that's going to have a positive 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:03.760 tacon on your body and on your ability to withstand 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:07.959 future hurdles that life throws at you from a physical stance. 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:10.200 But but so often we discount those things and we 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.280 don't think of them as important even though they are. 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:14.720 And you know, it makes me think about this, uh, 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.560 this Mike Tyson quote Matt that I think I think 0:14:17.640 --> 0:14:20.560 this was something he said. He basically said, everybody has 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.880 a plan until they get punched in the mouth. So 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.920 he's talking about his opponents typically who got rocked pretty 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:27.440 hard because they're like, oh, this is all I'm gonna 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:29.440 beat Mike, and then they get punched in the face 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.600 one time and they're planning shifts dramatically, um typically into 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.000 survival mode. But so even though you don't know which 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:39.280 setback you're gonna face, whether you're gonna face we're gonna 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.680 face something on a macro level, or you're gonna face 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:45.440 some sort of micro economic catastrophe in your life, planning 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:48.440 head is so important, and building up that emergency fund 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.000 is really what we're talking about here. It's gonna give 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:55.000 you the ability to endure those setbacks without completely derailing 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.720 your progress and crumbling your goals in the process, because 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.640 you've got cash to back you up. When those problems 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.320 do arise, like and they're gonna happen for all of us, right, 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:09.200 you can't prevent them from happening, but you can minimize 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:12.160 their impact on your psyche and on your finances, and 0:15:12.240 --> 0:15:14.640 that is so important. So partly what we're talking about 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.240 here is is having that base emergency fund set up. Matt, 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:19.400 we you and I we've always given the number two thousand, 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.800 four hundred and sixties seven dollars as being the base 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:23.680 amount to shoot for. If you don't have an emergency 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.760 fund in place yet, or you have less than that, 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:27.520 that's the number you want to hit because that's going 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.960 to allow you to to overcome a lot of those 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:33.400 financial obstacles that your mind the counter without going broke 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.280 or without taking on debt, and then you know the 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:38.520 next goal is to have somewhere between three and six 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.320 months of expenses saved up. Once you get to a 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.960 place like that, those obstacles they feel a lot smaller, 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.920 They don't feel like as big of a deal because 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.040 in your bank account, you've got enough money to be 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.040 able to handle that, and then you can work to 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:56.360 replenish that you're not just immediately screwed when something unexpected occurs. 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.320 That's right, And I think it's good too that we 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:00.760 started with margin, right, How how we talked about how 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:03.600 that's the solution oftentimes, uh, and then we moved on 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.600 to an emergency fund, because in order to create an 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:08.920 emergency fund, you need to have margin within your life 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.320 when you have some small amounts of margin like that 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:13.880 will allow you to overcome something like inflation, that that 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:17.160 allows you to overcome small price increases. But what we're 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.360 talking about with an emergency fund is the ability to 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.160 overcome some of these larger hurdles, some of these bigger 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.760 expenses that are going to crop up in our lives 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:27.160 that do have the potential to to derail us. And 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.680 so it's important, uh, not only to have margin, but 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:32.200 then to beyond that, be working towards having, like you said, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:34.960 ultimately three to six months worth of living expenses in 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:36.880 the bank. But you we actually are going to get 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:39.680 to several other obstacles that get in our way when 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:42.480 it comes to handling our money. Well ways for us 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.120 to beat down those obstacles, and in particular, we're gonna 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.120 get to a couple that are within the realm of 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.280 our social lives. And so we will get to those 0:16:50.280 --> 0:17:02.360 plus others right after this. Alright, let's keep let's keep going. 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.520 Let's keep talking about money obstacles and and how our 0:17:05.560 --> 0:17:07.920 listeners can beat them down in order to continue making 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.200 financial progress. And some of these goes again with this 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.200 violent rhetoric, punch it in the face. You know, like, uh, yeah, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.760 you have thinking of those of the pants, those of 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:19.280 the clown things that I had when I was a kid, 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:20.679 and you you could punch it and it would pop back up, 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.200 and oh yeah, I love those things. I think about 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:26.159 your money obstacles kind of like that. Well, And and 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.239 some of our listeners, you know, they're gonna face We're 0:17:28.240 --> 0:17:30.800 gonna face mac or we're gonna face micro challenges. We're 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:34.119 gonna face like the our own particular set of obstacles. 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.399 So it's not gonna be one size fits all necessarily, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.280 and we're gonna talk about internal and external obstacles which 0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:42.840 all have just kind of different impacts and they need 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.600 different reactions from us. But but some of our listeners 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:47.399 might be saying, you know what my obstacle is, I 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:50.680 don't make enough money. And that's a real obstacle to that. 0:17:50.800 --> 0:17:53.480 Some people face a lack of income, which is reality 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:56.040 for a decent chunk of folks. And the reality is 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:58.760 we're just talking about rising prices that you know, it's 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:00.879 gotten harder to put it on the table and to 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.040 pay rent, especially as both of those items in particular 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:07.640 have become more expensive. Inflation is eating into the real 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.760 wages of lots of people too, making it feel like 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:12.760 they're they're earning less than they used to. Even if 0:18:12.760 --> 0:18:14.960 their paycheck's got up a little, it's like, yeah, but 0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:17.000 it doesn't go as far on the things that I'm buying. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.600 And and even if that person are that listener recently 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.480 got a raise. And it is true that making more 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.480 money isn't going to solve all of your financial problems. 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.840 But and there there are way too many folks living 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:33.640 paycheck to paycheck who makes six figures, but finding ways 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.160 to make more would help a lot of people. And 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:40.240 and that's that's an important solution to this personal finance 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:42.719 opticle on this right. But that being said, it is 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:46.480 easier said than done. Some folks who are employed and 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:48.880