Speaker 1: Hey, Hey, ba fam, it's Bandy here with another episode
Speaker 1: of Brown Ambition, and today is the ba Qa. I
Speaker 1: miss Tiffany, y'all. She's saying it so good and I
Speaker 1: feel so awkward singing it out loud. So if you're
Speaker 1: at home right now, can you please help me sing
Speaker 1: the b a qa, the VK wait the va qa.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. I miss Tiffany. We wish her all
Speaker 1: the best as she is on her healing journey. But
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, you guys are finding out which one
Speaker 1: of us was really musically inclined in which one of
Speaker 1: us would just be in the background awkwardly two stepping. Okay,
Speaker 1: that was me, But we are here with the va qa.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to answer some of your questions, and
Speaker 1: y'all have been sending us so many, keep them coming.
Speaker 1: Hit us up at Brown Ambition Podcast on Instagram, or
Speaker 1: you can email us at Brown Ambition Podcast at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com, or skip on over to Brown Ambition Podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. You can check out not only were to
Speaker 1: submit a question through our website, but also cepast f
Speaker 1: episodes and coming soon, I'm finally gonna have transcripts for
Speaker 1: y'all because you've been asking for seven years, and I
Speaker 1: took my damn time, but they're coming. All right, Okay,
Speaker 1: well let's jump in. Let's see what kind of questions
Speaker 1: we've got from today. All right, Amanda, Hey, name twin.
Speaker 1: Amanda says. One of the first episodes of Brand Ambition
Speaker 1: I heard was was your interview with Jamila su Front
Speaker 1: from Journey to Launch. You both mentioned that you use
Speaker 1: online savings accounts. I'm wondering if there's any particular account
Speaker 1: that you would recommend. Hey, Amanda, thank you for your question. Listen,
Speaker 1: the same way that I talk about not being loyal
Speaker 1: to any one particular employer, because you know they'll drop
Speaker 1: you in a minute anytime they want to, I feel
Speaker 1: the same way about bank accounts, because, honestly, bank accounts,
Speaker 1: I feel for a lot of us, you know, we
Speaker 1: get the first bank account when we're like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: old enough to have a job, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen or
Speaker 1: after college, and then we just kind of stick with
Speaker 1: it for years and years and years, even when it
Speaker 1: may be the worst thing for you financially. And because
Speaker 1: of the growth of online savings accounts and online banks
Speaker 1: in general, if you haven't looked at who you're banking with,
Speaker 1: and then the last I don't know, three to five years.
Speaker 1: It's definitely worth taking a new look and potentially switching
Speaker 1: banks if you were finding better deals out there. So
Speaker 1: I think the fact that you're asking this question is great.
Speaker 1: I think everyone should be shopping for the best bank
Speaker 1: account on a regular basis. There's a couple of things
Speaker 1: that you should be looking for, especially when it comes
Speaker 1: to online savings. Yes, you want to find the highest
Speaker 1: interest rate possible, because this is the money that banks
Speaker 1: are paying you to let you park, for you to
Speaker 1: pick their bank to park your money at. Because of
Speaker 1: the pandemic, and because the FED has increasingly decreased rates,
Speaker 1: I was a little confusing. Why did I say it
Speaker 1: that way? Because the FED kept slashing rates through the pandemic,
Speaker 1: that directly impacted savings rates, so we saw savings rates
Speaker 1: just plummet. I mean, they're pretty crappy these days. So
Speaker 1: even the highest high yield savings accounts are not that amazing.
Speaker 1: So what's become you know, that's become an important factor,
Speaker 1: but like less important. So I would also look at
Speaker 1: things like minimum balance requirements, and then just for your
Speaker 1: own convenience, you know, how do they make it? Do
Speaker 1: they make it easy for you to transfer funds to
Speaker 1: your savings accounts so you can continue growing that fund?
Speaker 1: Do they charge things like do they charge fees for withdrawals?
Speaker 1: Do they charge you a fee for not keeping a
Speaker 1: minimum balance? Like look at all that fine print. But yeah,
Speaker 1: like I said, rates are not that sexy right now.
Speaker 1: So a couple of years ago, it was like two percent,
Speaker 1: you know, which was actually really amazing, and now it's
Speaker 1: just so abysmal. Particularly which banks do I recommend? There's
Speaker 1: a bunch out there. I could list off any any
Speaker 1: of them. There's vo v Roo, There's Chime, there's Ally,
Speaker 1: of course there is Oh my gosh, oh Marcus by
Speaker 1: Goldman Sachs AMX has a decent online high yeld savings accounts.
Speaker 1: The point is it's never been easier to go online
Speaker 1: and shop and compare bank accounts and see which ones
Speaker 1: offer which you can actually go to my former employer,
Speaker 1: I still love them, Magnifi money dot com. This is
Speaker 1: a place where you can actually go to and compare
Speaker 1: savings account rates right in one place, and you can
Speaker 1: kind of see what all the different banks were offering.
Speaker 1: So if you're on the fence. Start with a site
Speaker 1: like Magnifi money dot com. You can also check out
Speaker 1: nerd wallet. There's just so many options. Google is your friend. Okay,
Speaker 1: all right, thank you for your question, Amanda. All right,
Speaker 1: moving along, we have a question from listener Ali. She says,
Speaker 1: I'm thirty nine years old and I'll be turning forty
Speaker 1: next December. I feel like I'm extremely behind on my
Speaker 1: journey to become financially independent. I have about eighty five
Speaker 1: thousand dollars in student loan debt, five thousand dollars left
Speaker 1: that I owe on my car, and eight thousand dollars
Speaker 1: in credit card debt. I've been listening to your podcast
Speaker 1: on the Fire movement and I calculated my fire number
Speaker 1: and it's almost five hundred thousand dollars. I make forty
Speaker 1: five thousand dollars right now per year, and I rent
Speaker 1: my house. How do you start working on financial independence
Speaker 1: when you're late in the game. Can I start at forty?
Speaker 1: Is it too late? I really feel like I'll be
Speaker 1: one of those who'll be working forever. What advice or
Speaker 1: suggestions do you have for people who are starting in
Speaker 1: their forties. Also, I have a photography business. But it's
Speaker 1: not making a lot of money, so it's a hobby
Speaker 1: until I feel like I can improve and meet my
Speaker 1: target audience. Hey, Ali, all right, I feel the stress here.
Speaker 1: I feel the anxiety. Forty is not that old, Ali.
Speaker 1: You are fine. You are so so fine, and honestly,
Speaker 1: it sounds like you're not even in as dire shape
Speaker 1: as you may think. Okay, yes you have some student
Speaker 1: loan debt, and yes that eight thousand dollars of credit
Speaker 1: card debt that is concerning, but it's not insurmountable. And
Speaker 1: I think, stop worrying about your age so much and
Speaker 1: just start making small decisions today that can put you
Speaker 1: on that track toward a big goal. I know that
Speaker 1: you've went in and calculated your fire number, and for
Speaker 1: those of you who aren't listening, you can google around
Speaker 1: and find like a fire calculator. A really easy rule
Speaker 1: of thumb is to take your household income and then
Speaker 1: multiply it by twenty five I think, to get your
Speaker 1: fire number. But what you'll find is, like people like Ali,
Speaker 1: for example, you get that fire number, so hers is
Speaker 1: fift five hundred thousand dollars, and then you're like houseway
Speaker 1: where the math is not math thing. How do I
Speaker 1: actually get there? And that is where the fire number
Speaker 1: I think can be a little bit. I don't know,
Speaker 1: it can It can sometimes do more damage than good.
Speaker 1: It's nice to know where you want to end up,
Speaker 1: but you also need to realize that it's going to
Speaker 1: take you time to get there. It's going to take
Speaker 1: time and small decisions every day. So Ali, if we're
Speaker 1: going to sit down and look at your finances, you know,
Speaker 1: how much money do you have left over after you're
Speaker 1: paying your expenses and how much more can you be
Speaker 1: putting toward that credit card debt that you've got. Are
Speaker 1: there things that you could be doing to pay that down,
Speaker 1: like taking out a debt consolidation loan, for example, or
Speaker 1: doing a balance transfer where you're transferring credit card debt
Speaker 1: to a new credit card that's off for you some
Speaker 1: sort of promotional rate like zero percent for twelve months
Speaker 1: or something like that, Because I definitely want you to
Speaker 1: get that credit card debt down. At the same time,
Speaker 1: you say that you have a photography business and that
Speaker 1: it's a hobby, and it sounds like you're working nine
Speaker 1: to five. At the same time, I would look at
Speaker 1: some ways to increase and better monetize your photography business.
Speaker 1: It could be that maybe you're looking at traditional, you know,
Speaker 1: sources of income for your photography business, which could be,
Speaker 1: you know, weddings, I don't know, events. Are there types
Speaker 1: of photography that you could, you know, start offering that
Speaker 1: people are looking for, even just looking at who your
Speaker 1: target audience is and what is it that they're asking for.
Speaker 1: I know all the time I have clients of mine
Speaker 1: who are looking for professional headshots. Oh my goodness, now
Speaker 1: that I'm a mom. I don't know if it's just
Speaker 1: because I'm a mom now or if this is happening
Speaker 1: more and more, but I feel like there every month
Speaker 1: there's a new reason to do a photo shoot for
Speaker 1: a baby or for kids. So maybe it's family photos.
Speaker 1: But what different types of photography can you start getting
Speaker 1: into to actually increase your business Or it may not
Speaker 1: be necessarily the types of photography that are your passion,
Speaker 1: but could you do some commercial photography or could you
Speaker 1: use your skills to support an events planning firm or
Speaker 1: like a wedding planning firm who is looking to have
Speaker 1: a photographer you know on speed dial so that they
Speaker 1: can use them for different events. Really start working your network,
Speaker 1: asking people, asking fellow photographers for advice on how to
Speaker 1: increase your income. It may feel like it's outside your
Speaker 1: comfort zone. But when I talk to women, especially who
Speaker 1: are feeling stuck, like in their career or with their
Speaker 1: business and like they're not able to get to that
Speaker 1: next level time and time again, the real magic, the
Speaker 1: real key for them is talking to other people and
Speaker 1: talking to people who are either in their business or
Speaker 1: understand their business really well. So who's actually on your
Speaker 1: like what I call personal advisory board? Who can you
Speaker 1: talk to fellow photographers, people who are in the space
Speaker 1: and work with photographers, and just really start asking questions.
Speaker 1: You know, here's my business model. Do you have any
Speaker 1: ideas this is the type of photography that I'm doing?
Speaker 1: But what are you seeing clients or you know, clients
Speaker 1: asking for Because the key for you, you know, you say,
Speaker 1: you're making forty five thousand dollars a year and you've
Speaker 1: got this debt. So I feel like the key for
Speaker 1: you is not so much scrimping and you know, budgeting
Speaker 1: and maybe that is part of it, decreasing your expenses,
Speaker 1: but you're gonna also want to actually ratchet up your
Speaker 1: earnings so that's why I'm like immediately going to that
Speaker 1: photography business and wanting you to like really push yourself
Speaker 1: to find ways to better monetize it so that it
Speaker 1: can become, you know, a more meaningful source of income
Speaker 1: to not only paid on your debt, but also get
Speaker 1: you moving toward fire. And then you know, the key
Speaker 1: to fire is not about squirreling away money into a
Speaker 1: safe means account that's just going to sit there and
Speaker 1: barely beat inflation. I mean, especially with inflation right now,
Speaker 1: there's no way in hell y'all that any savings account,
Speaker 1: no matter how high yield it is these days, is
Speaker 1: ever gonna come close to beating inflation. So it's more
Speaker 1: important than ever to learn about investing and to learn
Speaker 1: how to invest for long term growth. I highly recommend
Speaker 1: checking out Our Rich Journey. That's Christina and Amman. We
Speaker 1: had them on the show before. They have a wonderful
Speaker 1: YouTube channel with so much content, so much educational content,
Speaker 1: and they specifically have an episode all about fire after
Speaker 1: forty okay, allie, So I feel like I need to
Speaker 1: go dig up that episode and just send it to you,
Speaker 1: because they truly prove that it's possible and they honestly,
Speaker 1: you know, were able to save and increase their income
Speaker 1: to the point where they could retire early. And they
Speaker 1: are the real deal. So I love Christina and a
Speaker 1: Mon from our Rich Journey and I feel like they'll
Speaker 1: really inspire you to not get so tied up in
Speaker 1: your age and what that can mean for you. Okay,
Speaker 1: I hope that was helpful. Thank you so much again,
Speaker 1: Ali for your question. We are going to take a
Speaker 1: quick break and I'll be right back with more Baq
Speaker 1: and A. Hey, Hey, ba fam. All right, I am
Speaker 1: back with our last question for Baq and A this week. Again.
Speaker 1: If you want to send us your questions, hit us
Speaker 1: up Brondambission Podcast at gmail dot com or go to Instagram.
Speaker 1: We are at Brandabission Podcast. All right, this comes from anonymous.
Speaker 1: Anonymous says, I am thirty four years old. I have
Speaker 1: a I have an old four oh one k from
Speaker 1: a previous job with about ninety thousand dollars in it,
Speaker 1: and I just opened up a roth iray that basically
Speaker 1: has nothing in it. Yet I'm about to get a
Speaker 1: windfall of five thousand dollars soon and I'm wondering what
Speaker 1: I should do with it. I have about thirty thousand
Speaker 1: dollars in student loan debt, and I'm wondering if it'd
Speaker 1: be better to take that five thousand dollars and add
Speaker 1: it to that, or pay use it to pay down
Speaker 1: that student loan debt, or put that five thousand dollars
Speaker 1: into my roth iray. I'm excited to start contributing to
Speaker 1: my wroth as much as possible, and I hope to
Speaker 1: be able to max it out this year. Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure which way to go, all right, excellent questions.
Speaker 1: So she does specify in her note here. I was
Speaker 1: trying to summarize it that this is federal student loan debt,
Speaker 1: which means until I believe May of this year, you're
Speaker 1: not actually owing anything on that federal student loan debt.
Speaker 1: Which you know, if you take that five thousand dollars
Speaker 1: and you use it to put it toward your student
Speaker 1: loan debt, that's, you know, potentially great because you're not
Speaker 1: having to worry about any additional interest. So all that
Speaker 1: money is going toward your principle, which sounds good. But
Speaker 1: let's think a little strategically here. Your wroth iray is
Speaker 1: an excellent vehicle to start investing and growing your wealth. Right,
Speaker 1: you've got your four one k from your previous job.
Speaker 1: I'm going to assume that you're contributing to your four
Speaker 1: to one k from your current job now, and that
Speaker 1: your roth iray is really for wealth building. You have
Speaker 1: five thousand dollars coming and this is this is my
Speaker 1: personal opinion, this is what I would do. I honestly
Speaker 1: would take that five thousand and put that into your
Speaker 1: roth thigh array and let that start working for you.
Speaker 1: Your interest rate on your federal student loan debt, you say,
Speaker 1: is about six percent, but history has shown the stock
Speaker 1: market will beat that rate. Of course, you can never
Speaker 1: predict what the stock market does. But you're thirty four
Speaker 1: years old. You've got plenty of time to recover and
Speaker 1: plenty of working years to recover from any you know,
Speaker 1: downturns in the market in the future, which will always come.
Speaker 1: The market just goes up and it goes down, and
Speaker 1: it goes up and it goes down. It's just how
Speaker 1: it rolls, okay, But personally, I would say, a nice
Speaker 1: little windfall like that, go ahead and invest it, and
Speaker 1: then make sure that you've got a payoff plan for
Speaker 1: your student loan debt. You've got thirty thousand dollars that
Speaker 1: you're working to pay down. You're thirty four years old.
Speaker 1: You were able to save you know, ninety thousand dollars
Speaker 1: in your four to one K, So that tells me
Speaker 1: that you've got money on the side that you can
Speaker 1: start pumping toward, you know, that student loan debt payment
Speaker 1: and really get that paid off not that long you know,
Speaker 1: down the road from now. So that is my opinion. Again.
Speaker 1: I really feel like when it comes to wealth building,
Speaker 1: the sooner you start, the better. And when you've got
Speaker 1: an opportunity like this windfall and you don't have things
Speaker 1: like a bunch of credit card debt, which you say
Speaker 1: you don't have, it doesn't sound like you're struggling to
Speaker 1: meet other expenses, you know. I hope you've got a
Speaker 1: little bit of a savings fun on the side. But
Speaker 1: if all those things are true, and you've got this
Speaker 1: five thousand dollars coming to you and the federal student
Speaker 1: loan bill is not going to be due at least
Speaker 1: until after May of this year, girl, I would just
Speaker 1: invest that and let that money start growing for you. Okay. Again,
Speaker 1: personal opinion. Not a financial advisor. Not your financial advisor,
Speaker 1: but that's how I'm feeling. I'm feeling a little very
Speaker 1: bullish on investing right now. Okay, so thank you so
Speaker 1: much for your question, Anonymous. And that is it, y'all.
Speaker 1: I am Mandy again with Brown Ambition. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for listening and supporting the show. Listen y'all. If
Speaker 1: you want to really support us, why don't you go
Speaker 1: to iTunes right now, leave us a five star review,
Speaker 1: take us shot and post that ish on Instagram. Okay,
Speaker 1: tag us at Brown Ambition Podcast. You can tag me
Speaker 1: at Mandy Money. We will reshare it. I will give
Speaker 1: you all the heart emojis. It merely does mean a lot.
Speaker 1: Not only does it help us on the rankings on iTunes,
Speaker 1: but it also tells people or sorry Apple podcasts, but
Speaker 1: it also helps tell people more about our show and
Speaker 1: help spread the word. So we really appreciate your support
Speaker 1: and thank you again. Until next week. This is Mandy
Speaker 1: with Brown Ambition. Thank y'all again for all your support.
Speaker 1: Can I just say that I really miss Tiffany? All right,
Speaker 1: I'm done now