WEBVTT - The Path From Debt to Financial Freedom with Bernadette Joy 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.280 Hey, b a fam, It's Friday. Y'all know what time 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:23.599 it is. It's time for the b a qa a, 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.480 the b a q a What you say the v 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:30.560 a q a with Manda, the b a q a 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:35.880 the b a q a A b a fam Happy Friday. 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:38.519 I'm kind of getting used to singing that song. I 0:00:38.600 --> 0:00:40.120 kind of like it. I might need to lay down 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:41.879 a track like I might just need to like you know, 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:43.680 get in the booth, you know what I mean, Like 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.800 get in the studio, do my man in the garden 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.479 like Kendrick Well, b a fam. I am thrilled because 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.800 I don't know about y'all, but when I do ba 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:59.760 QA solo, I just miss Tiffany so much because talking 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.840 to myself and answering questions, I just miss having another 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:05.200 perspective because I know for a fact I do not 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.560 know everything. So I'm excited. I feel like in this 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:11.720 new chapter of ba I want to do more guests 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:15.720 on QA days, just like another brain partner. And I 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:20.160 could not feel luckier than to have and more excited 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.319 for you guys than to have my pal. The new 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:27.640 author s of her book Baby Crush Your Money Goals, 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.679 We have Bernadette Joy in the house. Welcome to the 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:33.920 show again. Is this your first time? 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:35.800 I can't remember my first. 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:38.600 Time because we've talked. I mean, shoot, I can't even 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.240 I'm like when it's all blurred. But welcome to the 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.160 BA Studio. Bernadette. 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:45.160 Thank you. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:46.720 I know it feels weird to say it's the first 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:48.560 time because you and I feel like every time we 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:50.520 talk it could be a good podcast episode. 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.240 So right, that's when you know you got a good vie. 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:55.520 That's when you know you got a good vibe going. 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:57.680 It's like, let's get the core. 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:00.080 This is juicy. 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:00.640 I know. 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:01.200 I love that. 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:05.400 I will tell you that my be a success story 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:09.839 is one of my longtime clients messaged me two years 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.080 ago and she was just like, I heard Mandy mentioned 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.640 your name on the podcast you have made it. I 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.320 was like, oh my god, I have made That was 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.640 after finn Con in twenty twenty two, and so've you 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:24.560 said my name that time before, But this is the 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:25.520 first time I'm here. 0:02:25.960 --> 0:02:28.320 In the flesh. Oh that was such a special fin 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:29.720 Con for me. It was my first it was my 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.040 first big outing after having a kid, professionally and starting 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:38.440 my business. So yeah, me, you all the like Jeanie Nace. Yeah, 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.600 everyone hanging out. It was amazing. But I've just really 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:44.440 loved to be like a fan of yours and love 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:47.800 to watch sort of your journey professionally, and it just 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:50.320 doesn't strike me that you're afraid to try anything and 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:53.959 to like, you know, even this whole era you're having 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.600 as the hostess with the mostess and hosting all the 0:02:56.639 --> 0:03:01.600 finn Con events and really becoming like almost a legend 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:06.360 or just like a leader in the fin Con financial 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:10.520 educator community, and I just think it's awesome. In the book, 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.440 you guys, Crush Your Money Goals, what's our subtitle? Twenty 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:16.639 five smart money Habits to save invest in fast track 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.440 your financial freedom. Thanks for coming burnand out. Okay, So 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.200 for people who are not have not been your fan 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:24.919 for as long as I have, give us a quick recap. 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.120 How come you wrote a Crush your Money Goals book? 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:27.880 What's your story? 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:32.840 So? How come I wrote the book was because I 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.080 got lucky that someone found me, a publisher found. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:36.520 Me to write the book. 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.560 But I have been writing this content for the past 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.200 eight years now, in twenty sixteen, so I am burned 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.120 at joy. I am the founder of Crush your Money Goals, 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:49.240 so the same name as the book. And I started 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.920 my personal finance journey in wanting to pay off my 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:54.520 student loans, and it led my husband and I to 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:56.880 pay off three hundred thousand dollars of debt and become 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:00.400 completely debt free now for the past five year years 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.680 and building our first one point eight I looked it 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:06.960 up this morning, one point eight million dollars of net 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:11.680 worth invested and having a chunk of savings. Where my 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.760 next chapter, alongside being an author, is I want to 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.640 work on becoming an angel investor, specifically in communities of 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:22.719 color and for women, because we already know this that 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.520 we're not getting enough investment, and I want to be 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.719 able to pay it forward to all of the women 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.520 who have helped support like you support this this. 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.920 Growth for my personal journey and my professional journey. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.760 That's amazing. You're not the first person I've heard who's 0:04:37.839 --> 0:04:41.960 like and my next act, my third act or you know, 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.200 after I've sort of become a seasoned entrepreneur is to 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.520 become an investor. I've heard Tiffany talk about it. I 0:04:48.520 --> 0:04:50.599 I've heard Less from Pounds Black Girl talk about that, 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:54.640 and I love that you guys have given me something 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.520 to think about too. I'm like, oh, okay, so let's 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.920 just skip past the part where I become incredibly well 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.160 health and just consider it inevitability and that's come. Yeah, 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:06.760 that you'll be able to turn around and pour in 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.800 so great. I love that you're ahead of me in 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.160 that regard and I'm just excited to follow you there. 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:14.200 You don't just have the book, though, you also have 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.479 the Crush Money Crush Club. Yes, the Crush Club. Okay, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.400 so how can people find out about that? And like, 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.479 what do you get from that community? Yeah? 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.200 So the Crush Club, if you decide to pick up 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.360 the book. In there, you'll see multiple success stories and 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:33.400 it's from the initial part of the Crush Club, which 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.159 is what we call the Crush boot Camp. So we 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:39.000 have an intensive ninety days where I walk people through 0:05:39.040 --> 0:05:42.040 the five steps of Crush and actually get their plans together. 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.240 And I am one of what I learned is I'm 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:45.680 one of a. 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.000 Few financial coaches that will actually sit down with you 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.839 one on one and walk through your entire financial picture 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.479 and make sure that you're doing the things that you 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.039 need to be doing and come up with a plan. 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.000 And then people who end up wanting to stay beyond 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:02.720 the ninety days. Join the Crush Club, where we meet 0:06:02.800 --> 0:06:06.760 every Sunday morning nine to ten am Eastern time, and 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:11.680 we practice our habits, we hash out our challenges, and 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:12.560 this year with. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.039 The book, we're going to be going through the book 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:16.400 together habit by habit. 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.719 So I'm really looking forward to that next chapter of 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:23.320 Crush Club because all of these different habits that are 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.240 mentioned in the book were actually informed not just by 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.760 my own experience, but by all of these people who 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:30.880 I've coached now over the last five years. 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.320 That's incredible and what a great like, what a great 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.239 way to go ahead and do the thing like start coaching, 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.120 start working with clients, and then I feel the same way, 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:44.919 you're like collecting the case studies, you're collecting the feedback, 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.920 and you're you know, really shaping the I guess you 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.520 can call it curriculum or like the syllabus for your 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.800 your book. And then now the goal the challenges that 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.000 you're doing through Crush Club, and it just it just 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.520 makes so much sense. So that's something that I also 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:05.040 really admire. So with the Crush Club, you're meeting every 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.799 week and then you have to enroll in the ninety 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.160 Day Challenge basically the ninety day like work through the 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.960 Crusher Money Goals book. So who's the perfect person to 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.760 join this community? 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:22.400 Yes, selfishly, you know, anyone who listens to this podcast 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.720 would be a great candidate because you're already looking for 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:32.640 thought leadership, You're looking for a really practical, tangible money advice. 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.720 You are ambitious, and I think, what is really interesting 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.480 to me, and you know what has attracted me to 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:42.080 following you and Tiffany for a long time is this 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:47.320 this word of ambition of where there are a lot 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.360 of you and I were even just talking about this 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:50.760 right before we got on this. There are a lot 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:53.560 of women that I work with who are highly ambitious, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.760 but maybe sometimes sometimes to a fault where we don't 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:02.240 ask for help. And so a lot of the clients 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.000 who have come through the Crush boot Camp have been 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:07.560 really successful in their own right in some shape or form. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:09.960 Maybe they've had really good career success or they have 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:13.640 already started investing, or they've started a business, but then 0:08:13.680 --> 0:08:17.280 they've kind of hit this plateau where Okay, my ambition 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:20.000 has gotten me this far, but now I need a 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.600 next level of mentorship and resources. 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:25.840 That are going to get me to that wealth standing point. 0:08:25.920 --> 0:08:29.400 And so it's been really fun because the Crush Club 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.720 we seem to have attracted right now, there's about fifty members, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.040 and we intentionally keep it small. This is not one 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:37.920 of those memberships that it's like, oh, you come in 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:38.760 and like there's a. 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:39.600 Thousand people in there. 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.440 I'm an introvert, so I can't do that, So we 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:46.840 keep it intentionally small around fifty people. And the ideas 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:49.959 that you continuously roll people in and out until they 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.360 got what they needed. It's not intended for someone to 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.000 be there for the rest of their life because the ideas, 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.560 if I did my job, then I would have helped 0:08:57.559 --> 0:08:59.440 you at this level and then there might be other 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.320 resources for you to get to that next point. So 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.680 I really specifically also found that there's a lot of 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:11.360 folks who had made good money, so like, you're so 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.280 great at helping people with the negotiation tips and building 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:19.240 those those book strategies around growing your income. And I 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.800 think where we can we are complimentary is that we provide, 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.000 you know, the habits and the tools and the resources 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:27.760 on like how to make sure that the money that 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.720 you've already made is being deployed the way that you 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.440 want to and beyond just kind of the traditional advice 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:34.800 you get of like oh, put into the s and p. 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:35.440 Five hundred. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.400 We actually work with people and aligning their investments with 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.079 what they care about IEME with Angel investing. 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.560 Yeah, that's amazing. I'm such a good book promoter. Don't 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:47.120 you think like you have a publicist like this is 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.680 what they dream of. Show the book, talk about the book. 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:51.640 We're getting all that out of the way first because 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.840 I want people to get to know you better. Yeah, so, 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.080 BA fan, you got to check out the book. We 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.480 are here for the BA fan and I'm so excited 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.880 that Burnett is here to help me answer y'all's questions. 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.360 So just we're going to do our disclaimer. Okay, me 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.560 and Bernadette are not your financial advisor. We are not 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:12.160 your financial planners. We're not your stockbroker. We're not your doctor, 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.080 your lawyer, your therapist. We're none of those things. We 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.360 are just two beautiful ladies on the Internet who have 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.360 a little bit of knowledge to share. So this is 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.400 all for entertainment purposes. Please don't sue me. You can 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:29.800 try to don't see her. Yeah, yeah, this disclaimer just completely, 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:36.280 you know, like it fixes everything I've been told, full protection, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:39.400 full amnesty. All right, we've got a couple of great 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.600 questions from IG, y'all. I have told y'all before that 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:47.560 in twenty twenty five, I am going to be purging 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:51.560 the inbox, purging the spreadsheet where we track all these questions. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:55.200 There's like a couple hundred, and I want y'all to 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.480 submit new ones. So you got to go to Brown 0:10:57.559 --> 0:11:01.440 Ambition Podcast dot com and click con or submit your question, 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:05.400 or you can ig on ig slide into our DMS. 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.120 We love getting a DM it's so simple. We're at 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:11.480 Brand Ambition Podcast where you can email directly Bronambition Podcast 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:15.360 at gmail dot com. Give me some incredible, juicy questions 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:21.920 for the new year's from debt to investing, to career, negotiating, relationships, health, whatever, 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:25.559 let's get you know, let's tackle these together. So today, 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.200 Miss Bernadette, we're gonna start with a question from IG. 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:33.440 This question comes from listener dart Nishe okay, Dernisia says, 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.000 oh nope, I just read that wrong. This question comes. 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.240 Our first question is going to come from a listener 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.560 from IG called a Gile and Gile we'll go with 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:47.480 that pronunciation. Okay. So Angile's in a tricky spot, Bernadette, 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:50.720 she says, I need help. I don't know where to start. 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:54.360 I just started listening to your podcast. The backstory is 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.559 that I was homeless in twenty sixteen with a teenage daughter. 0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:59.800 I lived off of two credit cards that had a 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.360 total three thousand dollars credit line, and I put everything 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:06.000 from groceries to gas on my cards. And when I 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.640 got paid my entire track, my entire check went to 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.160 paying them down. My credit score actually increased. Then I 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:16.440 switched careers and I graduated nursing school in twenty nineteen. Amazing. 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.200 The pandemic hit and I went from being broke to 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:22.760 making six figures as a travel nurse. My daughter entered 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.600 her dream school in twenty twenty, and since then I've 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:30.720 acquired more credit cards. Now I have about seventy thousand 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:35.439 dollars of credit card debt that includes leisure spending, from 0:12:35.600 --> 0:12:39.080 paying for college housing to some medical care. I have 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.360 put it all on my cards. Now I'm dealing with 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.760 the situation where the rates for travel nurses are lower. 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.440 I'm currently making sixty two dollars an hour and working 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:54.000 thirty six hours per week. My daughter's graduated and luckily 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:56.360 she has no college debt and a seven to fifty 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.360 credit score. Meanwhile, I have parent plus loans on top 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:04.440 of my credit cards. My score has taken a drastic hit. 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.400 I would love any guidance in education on how to 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:13.280 start paying down this debt and rehabilitating my credit score 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:19.040 and gile woo. So that's a lot. 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:20.760 That's a lot. 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.040 It's and you know what, honestly, I was thinking while 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.640 you were talking about crush club and like the twenty 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.320 five you cover twenty five habits to start to crush 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:30.720 your goals, And I was like, is one of them 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:36.120 just don't have children? Because I can just the way 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.240 that these kids, the way that these kids will come 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:43.600 for your coins and will have you doing things like 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.840 take out lots of debt to give them the life 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.000 that you imagine for them, the life that you want 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.960 for them. It's so heartbreaking sometimes because I'm like, I 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:56.960 can see why you made these choices. It feels like 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.839 an investment. Do you have people in your crush club who, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:03.880 like you know, who have kids and have found themselves 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:07.080 in like a similar situation to Angile, And like what 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.319 would you say to them. 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:09.800 Yes, I've had. 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:15.920 Interestingly, I've had a couple of different cases that sound 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.640 a lot like angile. One is Okay, first thing is 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:21.120 I'm Filipino. So everyone in my family is a nurse. 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:23.600 Okay, I didn't know that. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.640 Yeah, Philippin we are the large largest exporter of nurses 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:31.920 in the world. So here's a fun thing for y'all. 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:34.200 If you visit your local hospital. 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.240 Count how many of the nurses are Filipino. It's probably half. 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.760 So that being said, so, my my mother in law 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.680 was a traveling nurse, traveling physical therapist, and my father 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:44.760 in law is a nurse. 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:45.720 Uh. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:50.000 And it is a very challenging especially once you said 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.600 traveling nurse. It is a very challenging type of role 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.720 because imagine that you're dealing with, you know, people who 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.680 are not healthy, uh, sometimes in the last stages of life. 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.280 For all these things, and traveling nurses, the reason they 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.360 make more money is because they will often go to 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.960 other hospitals that are low low in staff. 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.240 To basically fill in slots that aren't filled. 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.200 So now imagine that you're going into an understaffed place 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:20.360 right where they needed people so bad that they're they're 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.600 paying a little bit more money to people will come 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:24.680 in from the outside, so you have that. Then what 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.320 I heard from the story was she started off with 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:34.520 I was homeless, right, and I think in twenty sixteen, 0:15:34.560 --> 0:15:37.240 which was not that long ago, which was eight years ago. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.600 And and you know now that she's had all of 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.800 these different things happening, things are actually in her put 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.720 in her path to help her get out of this. 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:50.880 But what I heard though, is that. 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:55.600 She has continued to prioritize one particular thing which she 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:57.680 mentioned it two or three times in that which was 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:58.400 the credit score. 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.560 Right. Yeah. I'm almost like, is that the goal? Just 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:03.600 a good end score? 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.640 And the answer, in my opinion is no, right. 0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:07.160 Uh. 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:09.920 The you know, she's like, she said, I had a 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:10.880 terrible credit score. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:12.600 I had a bad I still have a bad puss 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:14.320 with my daughter has a great credit score, but I 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.560 have a bad credit score. I'm like, that's actually not 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.320 the concern, that's the that's the least of your worries. 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:21.760 And I think that is something that I've also found 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:25.800 with a lot of communities, particularly I've noticed this in 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.680 the Filipino community. So I can't speak, uh, you you 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:30.720 can tell me what you've heard kind of in like 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.120 the the black and brown communities, right of, Like this 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:38.200 credit score thing is like where people pay so much 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:42.120 attention to and I have to unlearn help people unlearn 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.440 that that is not a measure of wealth. And so 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:49.320 just as a reminder to this person in particular, a 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.200 credit score does not take into account what your income is, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.680 It doesn't take into account what your education level is, 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.200 It doesn't take into account how much money you have 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:01.080 in the bank, all it all. But it measures is 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:05.280 how good you are at paying back your debt, which 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:07.840 now we understand why the credit score is really low 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.280 in this case because she has seventy thousand dollars worth. 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:11.800 Of credit card debt. 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.159 So the crazy thing, and this is something that I 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:20.399 think a lot of people don't understand, is that for me, 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:25.000 there was from twenty twenty to like twenty twenty two, 0:17:25.760 --> 0:17:26.920 I was not getting I could not. 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:28.240 Get approved for a loan. 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:31.960 Even though I had paid off three hundred thousand dollars 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.960 of debt and was approaching a million dollars of net 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.760 worth because I didn't have a credit score at the time, because. 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.879 I had paid off all my debt and I didn't 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:43.280 have at the time. Yeah, and I didn't have. 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.280 All my credit history went away when I paid off 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:49.479 all of those things and closed all those accounts. So 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:52.160 that just goes to show you that this credit card, 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.720 the credit system is does not care if you're good 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:56.240 with money. 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.600 Oh my god, I was just ranting about this on 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.280 the last BAQA. I'm like, it's all a scam. And 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:02.880 you asked about what sort of the black and brown 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:06.359 community my own dad he became. You know, my dad 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.920 went through oh so many financial struggles. I ain't trying 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.120 to put all his business out there. I'm sorry, Alton Woodruff, 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.399 I've been talking about your shit for so long. But 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:18.080 he's so proud of his high credit score. Now he 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:20.040 was able to get a mortgage and he got into 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.160 his house and like all that, and he's very proud 0:18:22.160 --> 0:18:24.679 of it and very like people get emotionally attached to it. 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:26.600 And I think it's because when you're a grown up, 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.520 there's not really many grades we get anymore. There's not 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.520 like very many like measurements that tell us how good 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.920 we're doing, and so credit score becomes like a proxy 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:39.800 for a GPA or a final exam. And yeah, so 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:42.879 I get that. I think that's not the biggest issue 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.760 here either. It's that seventy thousand dollars of debt and 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:50.280 parent plus loans. So she's basically she's given her daughter 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.760 a clean slate, like seven fifty credit score, no college debt. Fly, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.040 baby girl, Fly. And now I am carrying the burden 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.760 of this seventy thousand dollars on my back into a 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.399 challenging season in my career. Like she said her, the 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.399 rates for travel nurses have gone down. It was popping 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.440 after the recession. Everyone wanted to be a travel nurse. 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:13.760 They let me pack the bag real quick. Yes, And 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:17.200 so for that, I'm just like paying down parent plus loans. 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:19.280 The only thing that I can kind of find some 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.239 comfort in for her is that it's a federal it's 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.240 a federal loan. It's a federal student loan, which means 0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:27.639 that there should be income repayment plans that you can 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.919 contact your loan servicer and get on top of. But 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.280 as a parent, you are on the hook for that debt. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:39.080 It's all on your shoulders. And so I would say, run, 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:42.920 don't walk, to the to call your loan servicer and 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.000 get enrolled in one of those repayment plans. I was looking. 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.000 I pulled up a little was on my phone. I 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:52.240 was going to pull up the types they have. There's 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.680 a standard plan, which is like ten years, but then 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:57.800 you can do like a graduated plan, which is smaller 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.159 payments and then they gradually increase. You can extend it. 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:03.399 There's an extended payment plan. Now these probably I'll have 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.639 like requirements and eligibility requirements and things like that to 0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.200 look into. But there's one that's extended for twenty five years. 0:20:10.480 --> 0:20:13.480 There's one that can reduce your monthly payment to twenty 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.879 percent of your income based on a twelve year plan. 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:21.439 Then there's just the various income driven repayment plans. So 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:27.040 there's some options here, but like expecting them to go 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:32.080 away like that is not just going to happen quickly overnight. 0:20:32.080 --> 0:20:33.040 It's just a lot of debt. 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:37.800 Yes, it's a lot of debt. Realistically speaking as someone 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:38.640 who had seventy. 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:40.760 Two thousand dollars of student loan debt, which is what 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:45.639 kickstarted also in twenty sixteen. So you know, I will 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:49.360 tell you that I am definitely feeling your pain on that. 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:53.359 Here is what I would tactically speaking suggest without having 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.640 seen the ins and outs of this person's full financial 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:00.560 picture is you need to take In the book, I 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:02.800 talk about curating your accounts, and so what that means 0:21:02.840 --> 0:21:05.720