Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and
Speaker 1: Matt and today we're discussing financial lessons learned during COVID
Speaker 1: m Yeah, Joe, it's safe to say that our lives
Speaker 1: look a lot different now than they did at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year. You know, a lot of our
Speaker 1: personal finances have really taken a hit, a lot of
Speaker 1: our incomes are are maybe a good bit lower than
Speaker 1: they used to be. This pandemic that we've lived through
Speaker 1: has certainly taught us a lot of lessons. And the
Speaker 1: thing is, these are lessons that we knew to be
Speaker 1: true before, but the coronavirus has heightened, you know, our
Speaker 1: awareness of these truths and the impact that we have
Speaker 1: on our lives. And so that's what we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about today. Man, We're gonna talk through these different lessons
Speaker 1: that you and I that we've learned, that others have
Speaker 1: learned during this time of financial stress. Yeah, Matt. And
Speaker 1: it's been said that those who cannot learn from history
Speaker 1: are doomed to repeat it for that before, right, It's
Speaker 1: a popular phrase. Uh, And and so I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: if we don't learn these lessons, if we don't kind
Speaker 1: of document them, discuss them and basically learn from what
Speaker 1: we've gone through, right, I mean, we are learning a
Speaker 1: lot on the health front that is gonna hopefully help
Speaker 1: us in the case of, you know, a potential future pandemic,
Speaker 1: which I hope never happens, because this one's been pretty
Speaker 1: horrible in and of itself. But there are financial lessons
Speaker 1: that we should all be learning and we should put
Speaker 1: to use for our future, because I think you can
Speaker 1: help us whether upcoming storms, hopefully not pandemic storms in
Speaker 1: our financial future, but but other financial storms that we
Speaker 1: are going to go through, because they inevitably happen in
Speaker 1: life to all of us at one point or another.
Speaker 1: But before we get to that, Matt, I think a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a new power line
Speaker 1: internet solution that that we purchased uh for homeschooling to
Speaker 1: help increase the Internet in our house. And I'm sure
Speaker 1: people have heard of this on the show before, but
Speaker 1: you know, Emily and I are family. We basically live
Speaker 1: in this duplex that we used to have somebody living
Speaker 1: in the back of our house, and now we kind
Speaker 1: of taking it all over, but we still have this
Speaker 1: kitchen in the back like a second kitchen, and we're
Speaker 1: five people. We don't need two kitchens. Almost nobody actually
Speaker 1: needs two kitchens. This is our breakfast kitchen, and lunch
Speaker 1: and dinner kitchen is up front. Yeah, that sounds like
Speaker 1: something a fancy person would have, right, you are pretty fancy,
Speaker 1: that's true. But yeah, so this kitchen basically there, it's
Speaker 1: used to storage, Like we put our bikes back there
Speaker 1: and stuff right now, and we realize, man, this is
Speaker 1: a perfect space to try to do homeschooling with the kids.
Speaker 1: And so I'm in the process of ripping everything out
Speaker 1: of the kitchen and selling off everything I can and
Speaker 1: just making it a conducive space to do homeschooling. And
Speaker 1: it's something that we probably wouldn't have thought about, and
Speaker 1: we probably would have just left it as is for
Speaker 1: a while longer or it not for this realization that, like,
Speaker 1: we need extra space. We can't just be doing everything
Speaker 1: in the girl's bedrooms. They already share a bedroom. If
Speaker 1: we put all the schooling in there plus their toys,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just gonna be it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: close lot of stuff. Yeah. So yeah, I'm curious to
Speaker 1: know kind of what our listeners are doing and maybe
Speaker 1: what you're doing to Like, I'm sure so many people
Speaker 1: are reconsidering their the space in their home for how
Speaker 1: they're going to do childcare and schooling and all that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff, because we're all in a completely different
Speaker 1: boat right now. Yeah, man, And you know that's something
Speaker 1: that a lot of families here in Atlanta, I guess
Speaker 1: l A just other cities where schools are not opening
Speaker 1: in person, where they're only opening virtually or online this fall.
Speaker 1: But the thing is, in order to do that, you
Speaker 1: have to have somebody to help facilitate that, someone to
Speaker 1: watch the kids actually during the day. And men, you
Speaker 1: and I were our families are in a position where
Speaker 1: our wives it's maybe a little old school, but we're
Speaker 1: lucky enough to have them be stay at home moms.
Speaker 1: Those are some decisions that we have proactively made. But
Speaker 1: what that means is that we're lucky enough to have
Speaker 1: someone to oversee and facilitate that learning while the kids
Speaker 1: are at home. But man, we know that that is
Speaker 1: not the case for everyone. There's a lot of individuals
Speaker 1: who you know, we're both parents need to work, or
Speaker 1: if it's a single parent household, like that parent has
Speaker 1: to go back to work. Uh, and they're in a
Speaker 1: tough position to where they're having to figure out what
Speaker 1: childcare looks like for them as they go back to work,
Speaker 1: you know. And the thing is, not very many employers
Speaker 1: are offering any type of backup childcare or any additional
Speaker 1: benefits to help take care of those situations. Yeah. Sure,
Speaker 1: that's a stressfhold place to be in if especially if
Speaker 1: you have to go into a physical location to work.
Speaker 1: If you're working from home, that's hard enough, right to
Speaker 1: multitask and do both, But if you actually have to
Speaker 1: hop in the car go somewhere for work, how in
Speaker 1: the world if you're a single parent or both parents
Speaker 1: have to go into work, do you even come close
Speaker 1: to making sure your kids taken care of. We talked
Speaker 1: about pod schooling a while back, and that's one thing
Speaker 1: that some people are considering, and I think that can
Speaker 1: be helpful a small group of people and in your
Speaker 1: community doing school together with other kids that are in
Speaker 1: the same class or same grade. I think too, it's
Speaker 1: really important for a lot of parents right now to
Speaker 1: petition their their boss, to talk to someone in HR
Speaker 1: and see what's available, and to see if that company
Speaker 1: is willing to make more resources available when it comes
Speaker 1: to childcare, because obviously we're all just kind of winging
Speaker 1: it at the end of the school year last year.
Speaker 1: But at this point, I think employers have had enough
Speaker 1: time to kind of put some thought into Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: asking you to come back to work, I need you
Speaker 1: to be this productive. But at the same time, the
Speaker 1: options are pretty slim when it comes to how you
Speaker 1: handle childcare. And and so, yeah, I think employers do
Speaker 1: have a role to play in this conversation. And as
Speaker 1: an employee, I think you have every right to ask
Speaker 1: for your employer to help be a part of the
Speaker 1: solution in that case. Yeah, And personally, what I wouldn't
Speaker 1: want to see is like an employer trying to create
Speaker 1: their own daycare but instead, like you kind of hinted
Speaker 1: at this, but like just compensation, right, like additional funds,
Speaker 1: additional money, uh, that's kind of earmarked for childcare, you know,
Speaker 1: and then allow the individual employees to to figure out
Speaker 1: what is going to work best for them, because maybe
Speaker 1: for someone they were going to have a parent come
Speaker 1: and watch the you know, the kids, the grandkids, but
Speaker 1: knowing that there's compensation evolved might make that decision a
Speaker 1: lot a lot easier. Um, it's not a matter of
Speaker 1: having to create, uh, you know, this daycare program there
Speaker 1: on site or something crazy like that, although some employers
Speaker 1: are doing at But I think it would be more
Speaker 1: efficient and just a smarter use of time and money
Speaker 1: if you're able to to leave it up to the individual.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I couldn't agree more though. It's just to
Speaker 1: advocate for what it is that you need, because I mean,
Speaker 1: in the end, it's sort of supply in demand, right
Speaker 1: Like if employeers are seeing that, man, a lot of
Speaker 1: employees are demanding this, there's this other employer that is
Speaker 1: offering this. Well, you know, those employees are gonna see
Speaker 1: that that's a benefit that another company offers and they
Speaker 1: don't want to lose those those great employees. You know,
Speaker 1: It's it's expensive to train and recruit rehire employees. And
Speaker 1: at the very least, I think if your employer isn't
Speaker 1: doing anything to help you out when on the childcare front,
Speaker 1: you need to start the conversation now based on kind
Speaker 1: of what your school is doing, whether your kids going
Speaker 1: back to school or whether your kid is is homeschooling
Speaker 1: for the fall. You need to have that conversation now
Speaker 1: about what your work days look like and what the
Speaker 1: level of productivity expectation can be. And employers are definitely
Speaker 1: gonna have to be flexible on that front. I know
Speaker 1: if I was a single parent with two kids at
Speaker 1: home going to school trying to work as well, my
Speaker 1: productivity would would suffer greatly and I would hope that
Speaker 1: my employer would be understanding. And that's a conversation. I
Speaker 1: think that needs to start now, if if it hasn't already, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the sooner the better, for sure. On that, Let's go
Speaker 1: ahead and introduce our beer for this episode. Man, we
Speaker 1: are having Modus the Vendi and this is by the
Speaker 1: Wild Beer Company, and I'm looking forward to sharing our
Speaker 1: thoughts on this one, Buddy at the end of the episode. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this breweries out of the UK. Looking forward to having
Speaker 1: a foreign beer on today's episode. Yeah, so all right,
Speaker 1: But let's get onto the topic at hand, financial lessons
Speaker 1: learned during COVID, Matt. I don't think any of us
Speaker 1: ever expected to live through a pandemic. It wasn't not
Speaker 1: my radar. I know my mom was reading books about
Speaker 1: ebola back in the nineties and she's a nurse. She's
Speaker 1: a nurse, so she's like an upper ally. Yeah, she's
Speaker 1: interested in that stuff. And and so I was always like,
Speaker 1: all right, cool, that sounds like that's it's like a
Speaker 1: Grisham novel or something like that, But it never felt
Speaker 1: like it could actually be reality. But it is our
Speaker 1: reality right now. Right the current health crisis has had
Speaker 1: this domino like effect on so many other areas of
Speaker 1: our lives. We just talked about childcare, but of course
Speaker 1: finances as well. Some of our listeners have filed for
Speaker 1: unemployment for the first time, others have been furloughed, and
Speaker 1: others have just kind of seen what's happening around them
Speaker 1: and felt this keen sense of a need to say
Speaker 1: more money. Right. And so today on the show, Matt,
Speaker 1: you and I were gonna share some of the financial
Speaker 1: lessons that really seem to stick out like a sore
Speaker 1: thumb due to the impact of COVID on our lives.
Speaker 1: Because again, there are things we can take away there,
Speaker 1: there are lessons we can learn that are gonna help
Speaker 1: improve our financial trajectory from today moving forward. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: And you know, some of these lessons we're going to discuss,
Speaker 1: they are probably something you've thought of already because you know, like,
Speaker 1: how could you not, especially if you've you know, listened
Speaker 1: to the show for a while. But there are gonna
Speaker 1: be some other financial lessons that we're gonna share that
Speaker 1: might feel brand new to you. But the impact of
Speaker 1: COVID has certainly taught us all a good bit. There
Speaker 1: are some broader macro money lessons that we've learned as
Speaker 1: a just as a whole society, But we're gonna stick
Speaker 1: mostly to you know, personal finance in this episode because
Speaker 1: that's what we do, man, That's what we talk about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure, Matt. I think one of the first lessons
Speaker 1: that we need to mention that sticks out to me
Speaker 1: that I've learned through going through a pandemic was that
Speaker 1: emotions influence how we handle money in just a major way.
Speaker 1: Human emotion can be this simultaneously wonderful and terrible thing.
Speaker 1: Emotions can create the most beautiful feelings that lead to
Speaker 1: wonderful action, right, like like an incredible piece of art.
Speaker 1: Often those are inspired by an overwhelming emotion, right, But
Speaker 1: it can also lead us to eat a whole pint
Speaker 1: of ice cream in one sitting. I know you're eating
Speaker 1: the all the ice cream though in one sitting Matt,
Speaker 1: if if that happens to you, I have been known
Speaker 1: to lack some self control when it comes to eating
Speaker 1: ice cream, especially the good all these stuff. Right, But yeah,
Speaker 1: we're we're all dealing with a lot right now from
Speaker 1: the pandemic. Racial injustice is a real issue in our
Speaker 1: country right now, and it's an election here, so emotions
Speaker 1: are running high, and because of that, many of us
Speaker 1: are dealing with wider emotional swings. And it's just to me,
Speaker 1: it's so clear that the emotions that are happening around
Speaker 1: us interpersonal emotions to Matt with with people that were
Speaker 1: close to It's harder on parent child relationships, it's harder
Speaker 1: on partner relationships right now. And I think the increased
Speaker 1: emotional tension is affecting the way people actually handle their
Speaker 1: dollars and cents too. Yeah, like you mentioned, even on
Speaker 1: a personal level, right you know, Like we just talked
Speaker 1: about childcare difficulties at the top of the show, but
Speaker 1: even that can create higher psychological distress levels. Our emotions
Speaker 1: can cause us to follow these different urges to maybe
Speaker 1: spend more money or to sell stocks in a panic.
Speaker 1: Even just being aware of the fact that emotion can
Speaker 1: wreak havoc on our finances that can help us to
Speaker 1: take solid action to do something hopefully differently, in something
Speaker 1: that's a little bit more smart. You might just need
Speaker 1: to to reframe things mentally, or you know, you might
Speaker 1: need a trusted friend to talk to you off the
Speaker 1: ledge before maybe making a harmful money move. Yeah, sometimes
Speaker 1: it's hard to recognize kind of the emotion that's overtaken
Speaker 1: us until we've made the poor decision, Until we see
Speaker 1: the empty ice cream pint on the couch next to us,
Speaker 1: we're like, oh, yeah, that's what happened. And that's just
Speaker 1: common for so many of us. It's hard to see
Speaker 1: it coming on. It's hard to know that the emotion
Speaker 1: is overtaking us and is leading to disastrous results. And
Speaker 1: so yeah, I think Matt kind of putting things in
Speaker 1: place that can help you realize those emotions. Having, like
Speaker 1: you said, uh, someone to bounce something off of so
Speaker 1: you don't make a catastrophic money money move in a
Speaker 1: particularly emotional time is incredibly beneficial. And then right if
Speaker 1: you've made a bad financial move, I feel like that
Speaker 1: then feeds into feeling more stressed and it becomes this
Speaker 1: kind of perpetuating cycle if we can't stop it, and
Speaker 1: over time, like money in security leads to poor mental health. Matt,
Speaker 1: We've talked about this on the show before, but but
Speaker 1: not having a solid financial foundation leads to increased levels
Speaker 1: of stress and that UH studies then show that your
Speaker 1: i Q decreases by about a dozen points when your
Speaker 1: stress levels go up. There are very few of us
Speaker 1: who perform better at work and make better financial decisions
Speaker 1: when our brains feel fried. And so I just think
Speaker 1: that's where a lot of people are right now. And
Speaker 1: it's so so important to realize the impact that emotions
Speaker 1: can have on the way that we we handle our
Speaker 1: money because they have so much more power than we
Speaker 1: typically realize. And on a personal finance show, Matt, we're
Speaker 1: talking about the steps are the numbers, But emotion play
Speaker 1: such a huge part of how we handle our personal finances,
Speaker 1: and I think that needs to be acknowledged and it's
Speaker 1: something that more people in the personal finance fear should
Speaker 1: be talking about. Yeah, that's a lot of talk about
Speaker 1: emotions in our minds, right, but you know, we do
Speaker 1: feel that that's an important place to start because so
Speaker 1: much of personal finance has to do with what goes
Speaker 1: on inside of our heads. It's not just about knowing
Speaker 1: the right actions and right steps to take, you know,
Speaker 1: it's not just about the tips and tricks. Psychology and
Speaker 1: our our human behavior that plays a large role. You know.
Speaker 1: Now that we've covered all of that, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and get to some more of these, maybe more tangible
Speaker 1: financial lessons that we've learned due to COVID and we'll
Speaker 1: get to those right after the break. We're back from
Speaker 1: the break. We're talking about financial lessons that we've learned
Speaker 1: during the pandemic, and Matt, let's talk about some of
Speaker 1: the takeaways that that we've had, things that we knew
Speaker 1: but but things that have become even more apparent of
Speaker 1: their level of importance. And one thing I think that
Speaker 1: just sticks out like a sore thumb, probably the thing
Speaker 1: that most people are feeling right now, is the importance
Speaker 1: of having a solid emergency fund, of having cash on hand.
Speaker 1: Right even though I think over the last ten years,
Speaker 1: in particular, the idea of having more cash in the
Speaker 1: bank has become downplayed. A lot of people were prone
Speaker 1: to prode you to invest that money, because why are
Speaker 1: you letting it sit around? And savings earning very little, right,
Speaker 1: especially as the stock market has been performing incredibly well,
Speaker 1: it just became more popular to frown on holding cash
Speaker 1: in those savings accounts, but then having money in the
Speaker 1: bank a minimum of roughly tred but you know, you
Speaker 1: and I are fans of people having six plus months
Speaker 1: of living expenses in the bank that they have a
Speaker 1: liquid access to. It became so much more vital as
Speaker 1: Americans were were no longer able to work and earn
Speaker 1: an income. So many Americans I think of Americans the
Speaker 1: last I saw, had their income negatively affected because of
Speaker 1: the pandemic, whether that was a full on job loss
Speaker 1: or even just being able to earn less because of
Speaker 1: what's opening. Yeah, and having cash on hand. Essentially, what
Speaker 1: we're talking about here is an emergency fund, right and
Speaker 1: hopefully you rarely need to tap that emergency fund, but
Speaker 1: if you do, it is important to have a financial
Speaker 1: fire drill in place, knowing how you'll respond to different
Speaker 1: financial scenarios that can take the stress down quite a bit.
Speaker 1: Even if you're barely saving any money currently, Knowing what
Speaker 1: and how much you can cut back if times get tough,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be comforting to you, you know, man for us,
Speaker 1: I know that we typically spend around four hundred bucks
Speaker 1: every month just to go about to eat, but I
Speaker 1: know that we don't need to do that every month.
Speaker 1: We also put a set amount towards saving for Christmas
Speaker 1: gifts as well as vacation every year. But again, I
Speaker 1: know that if we were in a tight spot, we
Speaker 1: could hit pause and get by on a whole lot less.
Speaker 1: And so having that plan and knowing how it is
Speaker 1: that we could cut back, you know, just knowing that
Speaker 1: there's some legal room there that definitely gives me some
Speaker 1: peace of mind. Yeah. I think in in middle school
Speaker 1: or something like that, Matt, we were supposed to kind
Speaker 1: of figure out our house how we would escape in
Speaker 1: the event of a fire. And I totally remember that right, like,
Speaker 1: we were supposed to meet as a family in one
Speaker 1: particular area, this is the best way to get out
Speaker 1: of the house, all that kind of stuff, And and
Speaker 1: that's a good exercise to go through as a family,
Speaker 1: to actually think about what would happen in the event
Speaker 1: of a legitimate fire in your house. But then, but
Speaker 1: I agree, doing something similar with your finances and thinking through, Okay,
Speaker 1: if stuff hits the fan, what do we do and
Speaker 1: and what are the first things that we cut immediately?
Speaker 1: What could our budget look like? What could we live on?
Speaker 1: That's so so helpful and and having that financial fire
Speaker 1: drill in place is something I think so many people
Speaker 1: would would benefit from. Yeah, man. And you know what's
Speaker 1: interesting too, is that we've seen people make changes to
Speaker 1: their spending. I think even if they haven't really thought through,
Speaker 1: you know, what steps they could take. We've seen because
Speaker 1: of the pandemic that upping your savings rate by spending
Speaker 1: less that it is almost always possible. Hopefully a less
Speaker 1: in our country has learned from the pandemic is that
Speaker 1: we don't need to spend as much as we are
Speaker 1: actually guilty of spending. Uh. The recent increased savings rate numbers, man,
Speaker 1: that's evidence that it actually can be done. As job
Speaker 1: losses piled up there, there were just millions of people
Speaker 1: getting laid off in an incredibly short period of time,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, we saw the savings rate
Speaker 1: in America that it was actually increasing. That is in
Speaker 1: large part because we couldn't go out and spend money
Speaker 1: like we usually would, and that has led to a
Speaker 1: realization for many that we can get by by spending less,
Speaker 1: and that our budgets are more in our control than
Speaker 1: you know we sometimes think. Yeah, So another lesson learned,
Speaker 1: upgrading your savings rate by spending less is almost always possible.
Speaker 1: I feel like that's one of the most common excuses
Speaker 1: when people talk about personal finance. It's I can't cut anymore,
Speaker 1: like there's nothing left. And for so many people that's
Speaker 1: just not the case. We found that out. And if
Speaker 1: you actually look at your budget and you actually comb
Speaker 1: through your credit card bills and you see what you're
Speaker 1: spending money on every single month, I guarantee there's something
Speaker 1: that ninety five plus percent of us could find that
Speaker 1: doesn't need to be there, or a bill that can
Speaker 1: be slashed in some way, form or fashion. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: upping your savings rate it's almost always possible. I think
Speaker 1: that's something that we've we've learned as we've seen, like
Speaker 1: you said, historic job losses, and yet UH savings rates
Speaker 1: increases across the board at the same time. Another lesson, though, Matt,
Speaker 1: that we've learned during the pandemic is that prioritizing debt
Speaker 1: payoff is almost never a bad idea. And I do
Speaker 1: stress almost and I'm gonna get to that in just
Speaker 1: a second. Why. But yeah, working towards not having debt
Speaker 1: is this foundational, uh personal finance principle right at the
Speaker 1: core of wealth building. It's in the fact that we
Speaker 1: need to be earning interests and not paying it out
Speaker 1: to the banks that it puts us in a tough position, right,
Speaker 1: And so you and I were fans of helping people
Speaker 1: think through debt payoff in order to get in a
Speaker 1: stronger financial position. But at the same time, while eliminating
Speaker 1: debt is so helpful to a person's financial journey, it's
Speaker 1: actually even more important when the infected respiratory droplets hit
Speaker 1: the fan, right, the entire country stays at home and
Speaker 1: you lose your job. So like, while student loan deferments
Speaker 1: and other programs to postpone debt payments, they've been nice,
Speaker 1: but think about how much better it would be if
Speaker 1: you didn't have those loans altogether, if you had come
Speaker 1: up with a plan to pay off those debts quickly.
Speaker 1: I did say that the lesson was that it's almost
Speaker 1: never a bad idea, right. So on the flip side,
Speaker 1: eliminating that emergency fund that we just talked about in
Speaker 1: order to get rid of your debt more quickly. Places
Speaker 1: too high of a priority on debt elimination in most cases,
Speaker 1: because in the event of job loss, it's nice, of
Speaker 1: course to not have a student loan payment, It's nice,
Speaker 1: of course to not have a mortgage, but if you
Speaker 1: paid those off quickly at the expense of having any
Speaker 1: cash in the bank. To whether you throw any sort
Speaker 1: of storm, that is I would say when you put
Speaker 1: maybe a little too much emphasis on the debt payoff thing, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: hot priority is maintaining that emergency fund, having that cushion,
Speaker 1: having that financial margin. Another lesson that we've learned man
Speaker 1: from the pandemic is that no career is completely solid. Man,
Speaker 1: And this is a lesson that I can speak to
Speaker 1: you from personal experience. Okay, Now, we began shooting weddings
Speaker 1: full time back in two thousand and eight, and at
Speaker 1: the time business grew like crazy. Man, like you, we
Speaker 1: would quickly realize that, like wow, this is an industry
Speaker 1: that is basically a recession proof. No matter what is
Speaker 1: going on with the economy, people continue to get married
Speaker 1: even during the Great Session. But you know, while the
Speaker 1: wedding industry is recession proof, it's definitely not pandemic proof.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, uh, there have been many many weddings
Speaker 1: that have been canceled or postponed, which also means that
Speaker 1: there have been many wedding professionals who have had their
Speaker 1: income canceled or postponed. So thankfully, man, if you know,
Speaker 1: in our case, we're doing fine. Over the years, we've
Speaker 1: transitioned to taking on fewer weddings, and we have diversified
Speaker 1: or income through real estate and even side gigs like podcasting.
Speaker 1: But it's important to develop alternate ways to to make
Speaker 1: a living. And ideally, again we're you're doing this before
Speaker 1: you actually need it, because sometimes if you're gonna wait
Speaker 1: until you need it, it's a little bit too late. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It makes me think about a long time ago when
Speaker 1: we had Jordan Harbinger on the show and he gives
Speaker 1: the example of digging the well before you're thirsty. He
Speaker 1: specifically talks about networking right and how having those contacts
Speaker 1: before you lose your job or before you go through
Speaker 1: a tough career situation, that having those relationships and staying
Speaker 1: in contact with people that can be influential in your
Speaker 1: future job decisions is so a clutch and I love
Speaker 1: that idea. I also love that idea of digging that
Speaker 1: well before your thirsty when it comes to having multiple
Speaker 1: streams of income, Matt, if you hadn't thought about that
Speaker 1: years ago, if you weren't working towards a more diversified
Speaker 1: way of earning money, you'd probably be going through a really,
Speaker 1: really difficult time right now seeing a lot of those
Speaker 1: weddings basically just vanished. Try out. Yeah, So I just
Speaker 1: would encourage everybody out there to know that their career
Speaker 1: as solid as they might have thought it was. The
Speaker 1: industry maybe that was recession proof, or maybe they're the
Speaker 1: number one producer at their job, but that industry has
Speaker 1: been affected just in a massive way right now, and
Speaker 1: maybe they're not on solid footing anymore. Realizing that your career,
Speaker 1: that no career is completely solid is is definitely I
Speaker 1: think one of the lessons that we've learned during this pandemic,
Speaker 1: and it's something that we can take to heart and
Speaker 1: we can make changes to actually strengthen our personal finances
Speaker 1: in the future. And ultimately maybe it's just a call
Speaker 1: to say, be a little clear eyed about this and
Speaker 1: don't just assume that the job that you're in is
Speaker 1: going to continue to provide for you no matter what.
Speaker 1: It's important for you to have a plan, even for
Speaker 1: the unlikeliest of situations. Yeah, I like what you said, man,
Speaker 1: about your specific job. You might feel pretty secure about that.
Speaker 1: You know, you might feel really good about your specific company.
Speaker 1: But aside from whether or not your specific company is
Speaker 1: doing well, like the industry as a whole might collapse,
Speaker 1: you know, like it did for us. And so, Man,
Speaker 1: at the heart of it, what we're talking about here
Speaker 1: is diversification of income. But after the break, we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about diversification in another way. We're gonna talk about it, uh,
Speaker 1: in your portfolio, in what it is that you invest in,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to that right after the break. We're
Speaker 1: back from the break. Of course, we're talking about the
Speaker 1: pandemic and how it has affected our finances, and there's
Speaker 1: some lessons that we can learn and we can take
Speaker 1: those lessons and kind of implement them into how we
Speaker 1: begin to build our financial lives from today moving forward.
Speaker 1: And that we just talked about how no career, no
Speaker 1: specific job, is completely solid, right, and so it's in
Speaker 1: iportant for us to be diversified when it comes to
Speaker 1: how we make money. But yeah, diversification in in what
Speaker 1: we invest in is crucial to the stock market was
Speaker 1: hammered right in March and April, and some individual stocks
Speaker 1: in particular are still feeling the pain and and they
Speaker 1: haven't recovered in the slightest. Other companies have seen increased
Speaker 1: demands for their products and services due to COVID, and
Speaker 1: the market is reflecting that right their stocks are sky high.
Speaker 1: But but who could have predicted these exact outcomes? Now,
Speaker 1: you or I'm at I wouldn't have predicted Tesla's meteoric rise.
Speaker 1: And diversification in your investing is always key because it
Speaker 1: is so hard for us as individuals one to know
Speaker 1: what's coming and then too to know how that's going
Speaker 1: to influence the markets and businesses and and their demand
Speaker 1: for their services. Yeah, that's right, man, And that's why
Speaker 1: we don't recommend single stock investing. We recommend buying the
Speaker 1: entire stock market, basically investing into the entire U S economy.
Speaker 1: Another lesson that we we've learned due to the pandemic
Speaker 1: is that we need to invest for decades, not for years.
Speaker 1: You know, if you many ay changes to your investments
Speaker 1: this past spring, maybe other than buying as much as
Speaker 1: you could, Uh, you need to rethink you're investing prime horizon.
Speaker 1: We wouldn't recommend investing money in the stock market unless
Speaker 1: you're willing to not touch it for five or you know,
Speaker 1: ideally seven years. If you're looking to the headlines and
Speaker 1: you know you're buying and selling stocks on a daily basis,
Speaker 1: that's not actually investing. It's just speculating. Yeah, boy, And
Speaker 1: isn't that Another lesson that we've learned in the COVID
Speaker 1: times is that speculating can cause a lot of financial harm.
Speaker 1: There's been so many stories written about Robin Hood training
Speaker 1: and youngsters in particular getting into the stock market in
Speaker 1: this kind of tumultuous and volatile time, and so many
Speaker 1: of them it looks like for a minute that they've
Speaker 1: just made a ton of money and then they get crushed.
Speaker 1: And you're right, Matt, that speculation that is not investing.
Speaker 1: So another lesson we need to learn is what our
Speaker 1: investing strategy should be. And I think there's a quote
Speaker 1: from Warren Buffett that sums us up well. He says
Speaker 1: that we should be fearful when others are greedy, and
Speaker 1: greedy when others are fearful, and there will be volatility
Speaker 1: in the market. We've talked about that before, but we
Speaker 1: have to train ourselves to kind of see those drops
Speaker 1: as the market going on sale, not as a sign
Speaker 1: that we're gonna lose everything and it's time to bail
Speaker 1: out of our investments. But at the same time, not
Speaker 1: buying individual stocks when they're on sale, because we do that,
Speaker 1: especially as so many people are doing right now, is
Speaker 1: kind of armchair investors without much knowledge going into the
Speaker 1: trades you're making on specific companies. That's when you put
Speaker 1: a whole lot of your personal wealth at risk. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: So those are some thoughts on investing right. Another lesson
Speaker 1: that we've learned is that it is important for us
Speaker 1: to prepare for the inevitable. People are dying, man, but
Speaker 1: you know, because of a virus that most of us
Speaker 1: didn't see coming. But we all know that, like someday
Speaker 1: that we are going to die, right, and so making
Speaker 1: sure that we are preparing for that is important. Uh. This,
Speaker 1: you know likely means that you need to make sure
Speaker 1: that you have a will and creating steps maybe for
Speaker 1: your your significant other, your partner to know how to
Speaker 1: handle the finances if you were to die and that
Speaker 1: was you know, one of the roles that you took
Speaker 1: on in your relationship. I mean, at the very least,
Speaker 1: it's important for them to know where the passports are,
Speaker 1: you know, like for them to be able to log
Speaker 1: in the accounts that you jointly hold together. That way
Speaker 1: their personal finances can continue, that way their financial life
Speaker 1: doesn't get up ended. Yeah. Man, that provides so much
Speaker 1: peace of mind in the here and now when things
Speaker 1: are kind of in a crazy state all around us.
Speaker 1: Knowing that you have a will in place, that you
Speaker 1: have life insurance, that you have access to those passwords,
Speaker 1: and that you've communicated well about you know, the inevitable happening.
Speaker 1: It's such a healthy conversation to have, but nobody wants
Speaker 1: to have it. It's not fun. But it is one
Speaker 1: of those things that that I think we've seen as
Speaker 1: a lesson is that it's important, and it feels like
Speaker 1: it's even more important right now. Yeah, so true, But
Speaker 1: like you said, it's not fun, Like, that's not a
Speaker 1: conversation with My wife wants to hear me say. It's like, Hey,
Speaker 1: when I die, here's how you can log into everything
Speaker 1: and make sure that you continue living your life, you know,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean it's any less important, Joel. One
Speaker 1: other lesson too, that we've learned is that money, man,
Speaker 1: it's not everything. You know. The pandemic has for for
Speaker 1: many of us, helped us realize that while being financially
Speaker 1: secure through smart money management, it's great, but money does
Speaker 1: have its limits. Many of us have been separated from
Speaker 1: family and from friends, and hopefully a lot of us
Speaker 1: have realized that those relationships that they mean so much
Speaker 1: more to us than having a padded bank account, than
Speaker 1: having all of our ducks lined up and where we're
Speaker 1: not having to worry about our finances quite as much.
Speaker 1: Relationships also mean a whole lot to us. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: whether we've kept our job or we've had a pay cut,
Speaker 1: what whatever position we're in, I think there's a lot
Speaker 1: for us to be thankful for and grateful for, even
Speaker 1: if COVID has thrown kind of a wrench in our
Speaker 1: plans and and a wrench specifically in some of our
Speaker 1: financial plans. I think also too, you know, money isn't everything. Yes,
Speaker 1: that's an important lesson to learn, and at the same time,
Speaker 1: being thankful for the good health that we'd have. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know, I'm acutely aware of the fact that, you know, one,
Speaker 1: we haven't gotten COVID, and too, I've been able to
Speaker 1: enjoy my healthy body, like during these times going on
Speaker 1: bike rides with the kids, and when you look at
Speaker 1: the mounting cases of COVID and the people battling for
Speaker 1: their lives and and many people having lost their lives,
Speaker 1: I think we've definitely learned that not taking our health
Speaker 1: for granted is important. We're not promised tomorrow, none of us, right,
Speaker 1: and so be thankful having gratitude for what we currently
Speaker 1: do have in our lives, the relationships, but then also
Speaker 1: good health. That's certainly a lesson I want to learn
Speaker 1: and I want to kind of continue to implement in
Speaker 1: my life from from here on out. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: COVID it's impacted us all in different ways, but hopefully
Speaker 1: we've all learned some financial lessons in the midst of
Speaker 1: all of this insanity. You know, Let's let's hope that
Speaker 1: we can make some meaningful changes based on on what
Speaker 1: we've learned. And like you said at the beginning, Joel,
Speaker 1: it's important for us to to cover these things in
Speaker 1: order that they stick and that we don't allow history
Speaker 1: to repeat itself. And unfortunately, you know, there are some
Speaker 1: of us who have learned these lessons the hard way,
Speaker 1: and so by talking about these lessons, hopefully we can
Speaker 1: help others to completely avoid them all together in their lives. Yeah,
Speaker 1: learn the lessons from listening to a podcast as opposed
Speaker 1: to going through incredibly difficult times and not being prepared. Yes,
Speaker 1: so I think we can be more prepared based on
Speaker 1: these lessons. And of course, hopefully we don't encounter another pandemic,
Speaker 1: but financial pitfalls and difficulties and emergencies come up for
Speaker 1: all of us at different times, and they will happen,
Speaker 1: and they're going to happen, and we can be more
Speaker 1: for paired than we currently are. And I think these
Speaker 1: are just some of the ways that we can learn
Speaker 1: a lesson, implement some change, and make a difference for
Speaker 1: our future selves. All right, let's get back to the
Speaker 1: beer that we had on the show today. We drank
Speaker 1: a beer called Modus Vivendi by the Wild Beer Company
Speaker 1: out of the UK. I've actually had this one kind
Speaker 1: of stored away in my quote unquote beer seller, which
Speaker 1: means my kitchen country. Yeah, for like two and a
Speaker 1: half three years now, but I decided to pop it
Speaker 1: out for for this episode with you. Man, what were
Speaker 1: your thoughts on it? Sometimes you gotta bust it out
Speaker 1: for a special occasion podcast or not special occasion, just
Speaker 1: random recording day. Yeah. I will say, this is a
Speaker 1: beer I've had before, and every time I have it,
Speaker 1: I really enjoy it. You know. It doesn't necessarily say
Speaker 1: on the bottle that it's a Flanders red but it
Speaker 1: drinks just like a Flanders Red ale. For for the
Speaker 1: non beer nerds out there, let's just mention that Flanders
Speaker 1: read is this incredibly tart beer with like a vinegar
Speaker 1: profile that is typically found in the Flanders region of Belgium. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: And that's exactly how I would describe this beer. You know,
Speaker 1: it was acidic and so it was nice and bright,
Speaker 1: but at the same time it had uh it was
Speaker 1: Asian oak barrels, and so it had this kind of
Speaker 1: oak tannon flavor that complemented the acidity very well. It's
Speaker 1: a it's a flavor profile that I can always turn
Speaker 1: to and I know that I will enjoy and this one,
Speaker 1: in particular Modus Vivendi by the Wild Beer Company. I
Speaker 1: feel that this is a perfect example of what this
Speaker 1: style should taste like. Really enjoyed it, buddy, Thank you
Speaker 1: for sharing. What are your thoughts on this one? No, man,
Speaker 1: I totally agree. I really like this beer. I don't
Speaker 1: know why I held onto it for so long without
Speaker 1: drinking it, but now I'm glad I did. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I think to what you said about it being aged
Speaker 1: in oak barrels. It's so massively mellows the those uh,
Speaker 1: those Harsher flavors, and actually really like those Harsher flavors,
Speaker 1: but when you mellow them out with the oak, I
Speaker 1: feel like it actually opens up a whole lot of
Speaker 1: other flavors that are going on in the beer. It's
Speaker 1: not overpowering in its hardness because of the oak. So yeah,
Speaker 1: this was like expertly done right, because some people can
Speaker 1: make a Flanders Red and it can just be like
Speaker 1: a punch to the mouth. It can be a little
Speaker 1: bit too much sometimes, you know, or sometimes even not enough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: either one, and I feel like, yeah, they kind of
Speaker 1: did hit it perfectly on this one. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: really like this beer. Cool man, Well that's going to
Speaker 1: be it for this episode. Listeners. You can find our
Speaker 1: show notes up on our website at how to money
Speaker 1: dot com. And if you've been listening for a while,
Speaker 1: thanks so much. If you're a new listener, don't forget
Speaker 1: to hit that subscribe button so you continue to get
Speaker 1: notifications of every episode that Matt and I put out.
Speaker 1: So all right, Matt, that's gonna do it for this
Speaker 1: one until next time, Buddy, best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.