WEBVTT - BA Q&A: Keep Your Hands Off Your Retirement Fund. 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:10.039 Well, it's time for the b A keep a Hey 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.680 keep a okay a q A. What you say the 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:18.560 b a q A with manday tip today? Oh you 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.400 don't gonna forget that next week? So yeah, commit that 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.160 to memory. It's starting for the Brown ambition question and answer. 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.600 You have questions. We have some answers to smart brown 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.720 girls who are not your financial advisor, not an attorney, 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:33.639 not let's. 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:35.920 Set the expectation right, we just talked about that job. 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.839 But what we are as smart and so you take 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:41.080 what did we say with a grain of salt and 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.440 certainly lean into those people in your life, like your 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.120 financial advisor, people you pay money to for professional advice. 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:52.360 I well, if you have a question you'd like answered, 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.120 where can they go manager to get questions answered? Oh? 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.440 So many options, but y'all's favorite seems to be Instagram. 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.320 You can hit us up, slide into our d We 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.600 are at Brandabision podcast on the Gram. You can also 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.360 send us an email where brannibisionpodcasts at gmail dot com, 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.360 or if you're old fashioned, just head over to brandibisionpodcast 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.120 dot com, click ask us anything or contact us and 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:15.920 you can submit your question that way. Looking forward to 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:20.200 hearing from y'all. Yeah, we got some juicy money questions 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:23.119 this week. Let's start with our first question. Who would 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.840 like to remain anonymous? Which is fine? So she or 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:30.640 he or they say, Mandra and tif I need help, 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.559 but I, oh, she's a little dramatic with lots of emojis. Truly, 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.120 I do need your help. I started my private dining 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.080 business several years ago, but was never really able to 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:42.880 grow and groom it because of all of my responsibilities 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:46.000 at my nine to five corporate job. As I'm approaching 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.919 forty years old in just two years and have experienced 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.600 an unfortunate amount of death of close loved ones over 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:56.040 the past two years, I've reflected and decided I do 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:58.760 not want to be in my sixties, saying I wish 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:01.880 I would have chased this dream or that dream. That said, 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.520 I've decided to level up the business I started and 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.080 take a leap of faith to invest in a food trailer. 0:02:07.440 --> 0:02:09.600 This is going to literally take my business to the 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.000 next level and give me the tools I really need 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.880 to go full force. The problem is I don't have 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:16.919 a ton of cash on hand, and because I want 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.960 to go full in on this, I'm considering taking money 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.880 out of my retirement account to cover the startup expenses. 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.480 I'm looking into grants and start up funding options, but 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.760 going directly to my retirement account would give me quicker access. 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.480 My plan would be to pay myself back as my 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:36.960 business grows and scales. What are y'all's thoughts on this? 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:39.680 Well, First, I want to say, let's give you a name. 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:44.440 We're going to call you thouty, Foody, so foody. I 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.440 just want to say one, I just want to, you know, 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.640 acknowledge that you have death of some close ones in 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:51.320 the last couple of years. You know, I know that. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:54.760 You know, I can't imagine what losing a number of 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:56.720 people must be like. So I just want to say, 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.200 you know, I want to acknowledge that. And Two, you 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.240 are doing something that my therapist who tapped me through 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.840 my grief is doing, which is a good thing. Which 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.160 is she said, grief. You have two choices with grief, 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.440 Tiffany grief can let you can constrict you. And you 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.120 know those are the folks who someone passes away, they 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.120 just decide never to leave their house. They're just basically 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:18.760 almost like waiting to die themselves, or they do less 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.720 and less and less or. She said, grief can expand you, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:28.919 and it makes you look around and say, I'm acknowledging 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:33.760 my humanness and my humanity and that we are here temporarily, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:35.560 and so I'm going to make the most of it. 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:38.400 So I'm going to expand. And it sounds like to 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.720 me that you are expanding. So I just wanted to 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:43.160 celebrate that awareness that you're like, you know what, I 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:45.880 don't want to be sixty and not happen live my life. 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.880 So I just want to be like, kudos to you 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.280 for allowing grief to expand you. I'm saying those goods. 0:03:51.280 --> 0:03:53.760 I'm doing the sandwich because girl, you better leave never 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:59.520 tire money alone. Because well, here's the thing. My concern 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.680 is this. She said something like she said, I'm looking 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:07.000 into grants and started funding, but to go directly to 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:11.080 my retirement account would give me quicker act quicker that girl, 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.800 I read that says foodie. Yep, girl, come sit down 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:16.760 next to me, man, right between those right between this foodie. 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:18.400 This is like in church when you act you guys 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.440 sit right between your parents and you're like you said, now, 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:24.480 if you said I have applied to ten different grants, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:26.520 I have da da da I have and I can't 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.200 find any funding, then maybe I might be like, huh, 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:33.120 but quicker access is not better access. It's just now. 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:35.680 And so I want you to do this food truck 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.359 thing because it sounds amazing and you sound awesome, but 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.000 I don't want you to do it to the detrite 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:41.520 of your future. I'm gonna just give you a I'm 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:43.000 gonna let many jump in, but I'm gonna give you 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.839 a tool that's really helpful. They help folks. If there's 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.760 this company called Rising Tide Capital, if you go to 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:54.440 Rising Tide tidecapital dot org or rg I used to 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:57.520 teach with them. They have like a six week course 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.920 from what I remember, where they teach onto Norse entrepreneurs. 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.640 And it's also on a sliding scale, so you don't 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:05.599 have to pay for price. I mean some people totally 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.840 go for free. And they also help to open you 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.320 up to grants and funding and things at the end 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:14.200 of that. So you get to learn everything from business 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:17.600 finance to marketing to all the things they teach you 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.280 in the six week program damn near for free. And 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:23.440 then like I said, you have access to potential funding 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:25.600 at the end. So I want you before you jump 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.440 into taking money that should be the last, last, last 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:30.920 case scenario, not your first jump in because it's. 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.719 Quicker, and so like, you know, girl, Yeah, that struck 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.400 me too, because I understand as someone who's also really impatient, 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.320 and I'm like, I just want the thing that I 0:05:40.440 --> 0:05:42.400 want now, and when I decide I want to do something, 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:44.440 I'm like, so, what's the quickest way to point B? 0:05:44.720 --> 0:05:46.040 Now that I'm at point A and I want to 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.560 get there? So that really resonated with me. But I agree, 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.720 I think that the fact that you haven't the one 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:57.480 thing about grants and looking for like other funding options, 0:05:57.600 --> 0:05:59.200 even if you were to do a friends and family 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.480 round of funding, you know, I would say the benefit 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:06.000 of going those yes, slower routes to get some funding 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.159 is that it kind of forces you to put together, 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.000 you know, a case for why they should invest in you. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:13.960 And I think ultimately that work of writing down a 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.040 business plan, a strategy, how are you going to cover 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.200 your expenses, what are your long term ongoing cost you know, 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.520 what kind of labor needs? Like having to actually explain 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.960 all of that is I think really good business practice 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.520 in and of itself to better prepare you. And so 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.160 my fear if you were to just kind of go 0:06:31.320 --> 0:06:35.120 the easy route and raid your retirement fund to buy 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.480 this trailer, is that then you're going to have the trailer, 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:41.000 But then what about like executing on that And are 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.240 you even ready for that trailer yet? You know, and 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.040 we don't know much about you. I don't know much 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:47.560 about your business. Maybe you are really ready and there's 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:49.840 just not that stuff that I don't know. But I 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:54.400 feel like sometimes when we go to ourselves first, it's 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.160 almost like we fear asking for help and we fear 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.200 asking for outside resources. But that is how so many 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.839 businesses are founded, you know, through friends and family rounds 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:09.440 of investing, through private investments, you know, through even funding 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.320 through traditional financial institutions. Like I wouldn't want you to 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:16.800 skip these other ways of investing and like seeking that 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:21.320 additional help versus, you know, putting your entire livelihood and 0:07:21.440 --> 0:07:24.200 your future on the line. It doesn't necessarily have to. 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.360 Be that way. Yeah, all right, foody, thank you for 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.120 your question. Yes, hopefully you know you take that with 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.000 the you know, with the love intended. 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.240 All right, let's take a quick break out and be 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.760 back with another of your baq and A's. 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:42.280 Next up. We have Ken with the question on all right, Ken, 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:47.000 Ken says, Hi, my name is Ken, twenty five years old. Oh. Also, yeah, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.960 I need your help badly. I feel like I'm drowning 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.480 in debt and it's causing me to be depressed. I'm 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.880 making eighty thousand dollars a year, but my car note 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.960 is seven hundred dollars. I'm financing and my insurance is 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.680 six hundred dollars. I live in New York City, which 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.120 explains everything you need to know. I pay two hundred 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:09.800 and fifty dollars a month for parking. Due to my 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.280 new role, I no longer need my car. I'm thinking 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.080 about giving my car back since I don't use it. 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:16.440 I also max up my credit card. I currently owe 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.080 seventy five hundred dollars and I have thirty thousand dollars 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:22.840 in student loans. I currently live with my parents, so 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:25.240 I don't pay much for rent. Can you please give 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:27.040 me advice on hacker role and my debt? Do you 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.320 suggest me giving back my car and also make a 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:32.680 settlement with my credit card. I eventually have to find 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:34.760 my own apartment, but I feel like I won't get 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:36.360 approved of my credit SCRD, which is a five to 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:38.719 fifty and I would barely be able to afford it. 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:41.920 I would literally do anything and everything you tell me 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.079 to do. Oh I can we love a listening A 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:49.280 listening abe man, right, we love a listening, man, man. 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.559 I know. So first, let's just acknowledge that, Like on 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.880 the surface, Ken says I make eighty thousand dollars, and 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:59.679 you're like ooh. And then Ken says I live in 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:03.520 near city. You're like, oh, so, Manny, you have lived 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.240 in New York. Tell us what eighty thousand dollars really looking? 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:07.640 Have you lived in New York? Ve you lived in 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:07.920 New York? 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.600 I lived in New York and I made eighty thousand 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.400 dollars at a certain point. Purpose yes, I'm an expert 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:18.439 at being underpaid in a very expensive city. But listen, Like, 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.000 the thing that stands out for me is, first of all, 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.360 you live in New York City. Why do you have 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.760 a car that's seven hundred dollars? I'm confused. Well, when 0:09:25.800 --> 0:09:27.760 he said when he said his car note is seven 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:30.680 hundred a month, my immediate thought was, damn, his credit 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:33.640 score is probably on the lower side because people with 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:35.920 lower credit And turns out it is it's five point fifty. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:37.959 When you when you have a low credit score and 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:39.560 your goal for when you go to finance a car, 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:43.319 you end up with like really long term loans very expensive, 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.640 and the interest prices, the interest rates are just so 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.240 high that it makes financing get really expensive. I would 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.600 say like, And he also says he may not even 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.480 need the car anymore because his job has changed or 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:57.400 something like that. So I would say, yes, I would 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.679 get rid of that car asap, a up so that 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:03.440 you can free up some cash. What kind of insurance 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:05.640 is six hundred dollars a month? Is that that can't 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:06.600 be auto insurance? 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:10.480 I think that's what I mean annual? No, he has 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:14.199 per month. Yeah, well that happens if you have low 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.319 credit and he has a brand new car, so you 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.319 have to get like the max insurance. And they probably 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:20.280 maybe have taken advance of him, because I'm not gonna 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:22.880 lie when Jirel is here. When I met him, between 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:25.840 his car note and his insurance, it was over one 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.480 thousand dollars a month. I was like, Brah, it was 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:29.640 the first thing that made him. 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:33.600 Get thank God. Yeah, yeah, well, Ken, we'll do anything 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.040 you tell him to do right now. Tiffany. So we're saying, 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:37.839 get rid of the car, can so? 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:38.280 Can? 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:40.320 I will take me a month for parking on top 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.360 of that, Like that's easily, that's well, that's almost two 0:10:43.400 --> 0:10:45.320 thousand a month, girl a la. 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.240 So that getting rid of the car. But now it 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.400 might not be as easy because you know you're financing. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:53.920 So look what it looks like to sell the car 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:56.800 back or maybe selling the car and then paying it 0:10:56.880 --> 0:10:59.320 off because I mean, used cars are still being sold 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.480 at a premium days because this ise you know. So 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:04.360 because here's the thing, because at the time I had Jirell, 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.040 he basically surrendered his car and they gave him whatever 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.240 cast value and he still owed like a couple thousand 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:11.800 on it. But that's that was before. That was like 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.120 I wouldn't say, like maybe like four years ago. But 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:17.040 it's different now because used cars go for a Remember, Mandy, 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:20.040 you guys sold your car right and you got damnar 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:22.920 what you paid for because right now, you know, parts 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:25.360 are slow to come by, and so you can sell 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:27.800 youth car for much more and that will save you. Listen, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:33.559 So what's seven plus seven is fourteen fifteen fifty? Is 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:35.280 that what he's like? So right now, that would save 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.080 you fifteen fifty a month. That's great. Okay, So now 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.319 your credit card, I don't necessarily think you need to 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.560 do necessarily like a settlement on your credit card. You don't. 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:44.199 I know, it seems like because you're twenty five that 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:46.839 you owe a lot. Relatively speaking, thirty thousand dollars in 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.120 student loans is not that bad. I know it sounds bad, 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.120 but it's not that bad. And seventy five one hundred 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:54.079 dollars on a credit card is also not that bad relatively, 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.280 you know. I'm like, oh, y'all, try what I owed 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:02.079 A good hundred thousand, so it's not that bad. I 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.160 wouldn't necessarily settle my credit card debt. I think you 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.520 can pay that off because look, if you are not 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.840 paying this car note, the insurance and parking, you can 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:14.120 put that toward your credit card and honestly have that 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:16.440 paid off in a few months. That's what I would 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:19.319 lean toward doing, and then so doing. By paying it off, 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:23.120 you're going to see your credit score jump, like Jordan, Okay, 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:27.760 also you might want to consider it. So credit cards 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.920 are what they call revolving debt, and so that is 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.240 one type of credit to pay back what you're already 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.760 doing with your credit card. If you divert some of 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.040 that car note money towards your credit card, you can 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.160 get that paid off in a year. I would also 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.240 consider there's a company called They ust be called self lender, 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.280 but I think they just call themselves self now. And 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:50.360 the way self works is that you quote unquote borrow money, 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:51.600 but they don't give it to It's like I think 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:53.560 I always tell people, choose the least amount of money. 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:55.520 It's like five hundred dollars. I think it's the smallest. 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:59.640 You borrow five hundred dollars, but they keep it in 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.320 a in a money market account basically a savings account 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:05.760 for you, and then every month you pay that money back. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.160 And so instead of evolving credit, you're showing creditors and 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:12.240 the credit reporting agencies that I know how to pay 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.480 off a installment loan. That's a different type of credit. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.199 And so sometimes credit agencies like to see that you 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:20.040 have that you know how to do both. You know 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:21.520 how to do credit cards, you also know how to 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.240 do loans, and so it's like I think it was 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:24.640 like I want to say, it's like forty one bucks 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.520 a month if you to borrow five hundred it's like 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.800 forty one bucks a month, give or take. And at 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:31.199 the end of the year you get your five hundred 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:33.079 dollars back because you know they never gave it to 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.040 you and you paid it off, plus a little bit 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:36.959 of the interest whatever the interest grew to. But it 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:38.880 allows you over that year span, so you're gonna be 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.440 paying down your credit card debt doing this like fake 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:46.120 fake out loan with with self lender, So two ways 0:13:46.160 --> 0:13:47.719 to show that you know how to manage credit. So 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.719 you should end the year credit card debt free and 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:53.920 hopefully a much stronger credit score, so you will be 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.360 ready then to get your own apartment in a year, 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.480 you know, which might seem like a long time, but 0:13:58.520 --> 0:14:00.079 it's not. I moved there. I moved that around the 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.000 same age you were, because same I wasn't making much 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:04.520 money and I was like, how can I afford this? 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.760 So that's what I would lean into. Ken is doing 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.600 those things and trying not to get into any additional debt. 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.880 You know, And if you have student loans that are 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.679 federal right now, I mean they're still because what is 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:19.400 the moratorium up, Mandy? Is it October? 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:21.720 Did they push in October end of September. 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:23.640 Yeah, yeah, so you might not and we'll see what. 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:24.880 We don't know what's gonna happen. So I don't know 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:27.520 if you have private student loans. It sounds like they 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.720 might be federal because they're not super high. So if 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.920 you have federal student loans, you're probably not making payments 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.600 on that now anyway, which is which is great. Don't 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:37.280 be afraid to pay just the minimum to that as 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:38.760 you take care of this credit card debt and then 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:40.920 bump it up, you know, as you as you can 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:42.760 pay more, and so don't you know, stay home with 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.680 the parents. I would give myself a year work this plan. 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:48.600 By then I would be looking on a mandy if 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:50.320 I was you. So you can make more money through 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:53.040 your career. Okay, again, you. 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.640 Know I'm worried for ken, Like, I'm not gonna lie 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:58.120 living at home eighty k a year. You should be 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.920 stacking like you should be stacking your coins like this 0:15:03.120 --> 0:15:04.840 is the time I remember when I was making eightyk. 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.240 You got me thinking back in my memories. Now, that's 0:15:07.320 --> 0:15:09.360 when husband and I decided to move back in with 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:10.600 his parents in New York. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:12.200 Oh God help us. 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:16.840 But to save money so we can save money. Oh 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.160 my god. The in laws anyway lived with them so 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.600 that we could purposefully save money so that we wouldn't 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:25.000 have to take on debt for our wedding. And it 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.080 was one of the smartest things we did. And it's like, Ken, 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:30.280 You're like, you're getting such a huge benefit of living there. 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:31.600 I don't know if they charge you rent. You don't 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.240 say that they do. So let's say they're like a 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.120 little bit, so a little bit of rents. Okay, gotcha. 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:39.560 And if you can get this, if you can get 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:43.520 that huge expense of the car off your plate, and 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.760 you know, you can cut whatever other expenses you can 0:15:46.840 --> 0:15:49.800 cut and get that credit card debt paid down. You're 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:51.920 still so young, but this is a really this is 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:54.480 a really crucial moment, Like when you're twenty five. The 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:57.400 financial choices you can make today will can dictate whether 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:00.720 or not you will reach like millionaire status down the line, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.440 and they can dictate whether you'll be able to buy 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:04.760 a house of your own someday. You're talking about renting, 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:08.160 but think bigger, like, you can make choices today by 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.240 getting rid of the car, paying down your debt, saving 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.160 and investing your surplus money and not letting it, you know, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:15.040 run away from you. 0:16:15.520 --> 0:16:16.400 That could set you up. 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.480 Like New York is really hell expensive, but you're twenty five. 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.520 Like if you start saving and investing now for home purchase, 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.040 like in your thirties, like that may be enough time 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.800 for you to accumulate the amount of money that you 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:31.080 will need. So like, think bigger than just what's in 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.520 front of you. And I feel like in New York 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.080 it's such a damn grind and it's also you do 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.720 have those influences from people around you too, Like I 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:42.480 get it, like you want to get out of your parents' house. 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:44.560 But I'm just saying think bigger. I'm kind of giving 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.480 you the same pep talk that I gave Husby back 0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:49.480 in the day when you know he had he moved 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:51.760 out of his parents' house like a Dominican household in 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.000 the heights. Like that's something you just didn't do until 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:56.960 you were like in your thirties because of how expensive 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:58.560 it is, Like people live with their parents for a 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:01.280 long time. But he move that onto his own and 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:03.400 he also found himself in a lot of debt, living 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.119 paycheck to paycheck. I just found out recently that he 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.440 used to really go hungry in between paychecks because he 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.920 was so proud, like he didn't want to go home. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:12.479 And I was like, your mom would be pissed. 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:18.359 What especially husby is like you said, the Dominican Dominican girl, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.760 not if they're Dominican baby going hungry, that's one thing. 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:26.680 No, she would kill him, but that's how you know. 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:28.600 But he was really thinking, like I want to get 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:30.320 my own place, and so he got his own place, 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:31.639 and it was like more. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:32.360 Than he could afford. 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:34.680 And like there's also the pressure to get a car, 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:36.360 because if you're not going to leave your parents' house, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:37.720 you at least want to be able to like go 0:17:37.880 --> 0:17:39.560 do your own thing on the weekends and like have 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.000 a little bit of freedom. But like I had to 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.280 help him think even bigger than that too, Like what's 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.639 the opportunity here. You can really become wealthy if you 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:50.439 take some steps today, and of course also increase your 0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.440 ergings at the same time. But I'm just like, come on, Ken, 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:57.720 take advantage of this gift that you have. And yeah, 0:17:57.760 --> 0:17:59.760 your credit is crappy now, but like Tiffany said, once 0:17:59.800 --> 0:18:01.800 you pay off this debt, you know, get rid of 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.359 that car, like jump like Jordan, I mean, I have 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:06.119 no doubt that your credit will bounce back, and then 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.840 it's about okay, let's keep it there and recognize how 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:11.520 do we get in the situation in the first place, 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.200 and like, let's try not to do that. Let's try 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.480 to do that again. Ken, we can help it and 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:18.960 then find your wife like me, and then you know 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:19.639 you'll be good. 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:22.159 Or partner. We don't know. 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.000 Oh, that's right, find yourself a partner who will help 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:29.280 be level up. All right, Ken, thank you for the question. 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.080 You can take every single piece of advice that we 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:34.440 gave you, but just remember we're your financial besties, not 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:40.320 your financial advisor or financial planner, so you know, take 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:43.639