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Speaker 1: Happy spring break to you, buddy. This is our spring break.

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Speaker 1: So we aren't actually here at the mics, we or

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Speaker 1: somewhere else enjoying some time off.

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Speaker 2: Maybe Penia Coladas, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: We did not want to leave our listeners hanging though,

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Speaker 1: So we actually do have a besty episode here forging

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Speaker 1: financial flexibility?

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Speaker 2: What was it in an uneasy economy? And that's it's

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Speaker 2: funny because this came out three years ago, and.

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Speaker 1: Doesn't it just seem as relevant as ever, like as

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Speaker 1: every period of uncertainty and the economy going to make

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Speaker 1: us think, oh, it's is it different this time? There

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Speaker 1: are reasons I think that it's different this time.

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Speaker 2: What I think perpetual uneasiness exists in an economy, Like

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Speaker 2: there's always something to point to on the horizon that

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Speaker 2: could be bad, whether it's a change in who's running

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Speaker 2: the country or political leadership, right, whether it's uh market conditions.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's consistently dynamic. There's always mooron.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well there's always something that could go wrong, yeah,

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Speaker 2: just like in real life. Right, And so you could

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Speaker 2: either put yourself in a padded room until the day

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Speaker 2: you die, or you could find ways to kind of

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Speaker 2: negotiate the reality of human existence. And that's what we

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Speaker 2: have to do with the economy too, is say, like,

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Speaker 2: there are these potential things that could happen, I have

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Speaker 2: to kind of plan ahead for them. How can I

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Speaker 2: best set myself up for the best possible future. I

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Speaker 2: like coul choose your own adventure book, like let me

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Speaker 2: take me to page sixty two. But I'm the most

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Speaker 2: prepared that I can be. But you also can't be

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent fully prepared at all times. But hopefully

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Speaker 2: this episode can help you figure out because there's more

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Speaker 2: uneasiness ahead, sure how you can be prepared?

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and we did. We were speaking to some specific

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Speaker 1: things that were going on a couple a few years ago,

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Speaker 1: but the principles remain the same.

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Speaker 2: So, without further ado, welcome to How to Money. I'm

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Speaker 2: Joel and I am Matt, and today we are discussing

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Speaker 2: forging financial flexibility in an uneasy economy.

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Speaker 1: Hitting them with the old triple F. Joel, we are

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Speaker 1: talking about specifically flexibility. It's not often that we dedicate

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Speaker 1: an entire episode to a singular characteristic, but that is

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Speaker 1: what we're doing today. We think that, honestly, that this

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Speaker 1: is an underrated characteristic. I think with this one attribute,

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Speaker 1: you could take somebody who's you know, kind of like average,

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Speaker 1: maybe even below average with their finances, but if they

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Speaker 1: have the ability to be flexible when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the money and the different opportunities that they're presented with,

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Speaker 1: and just flexible in all the different ways that we're

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Speaker 1: going to talk about today, that they all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden go from like zero to hero.

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Speaker 2: Maybe not as impactful as grit, because we talked about

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Speaker 2: that allow for how grit can make like a massive

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Speaker 2: difference in your ability to make progress with your finances.

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Speaker 2: Someone with grit but the same income as someone who

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Speaker 2: doesn't have the grit, well we would say that you're

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Speaker 2: gonna have a much better chance of sustaining and making progress.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, all right, person A, they've got grit, but

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Speaker 2: they're not flexible. All person B, they've got very little grit,

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Speaker 2: but they're incredibly flexible. I might actually side with.

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Speaker 1: The person who's got some flexibility, right because like the

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Speaker 1: person who's flexible, they're just more resilient. And honestly, that's

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Speaker 1: a lot of what we're gonna be talking about today

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Speaker 1: is being resilient. Everybody on a discount grit as well, specific.

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Speaker 2: Ways in which you can be flexible in order to

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Speaker 2: pounce on opportunities, and especially as like the title says,

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of economic uncertainty right now, but there's

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Speaker 2: a reality that you can actually use that to your advantage.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, But first, man, I told you that I'm going

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Speaker 1: to get the Companion passed next year. That's my goal.

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Speaker 1: We've got the Chase Southwest credit card. But this is

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Speaker 1: a new little bit of information. Starting next year, they

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Speaker 1: increased the number of points that's going to take to

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Speaker 1: get the Companion pass. They did an all bait and

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Speaker 1: switch on me because I had already applied. Is it

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Speaker 1: like one hundred thousand more points now one hundred thousand one?

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Speaker 1: It used to be one hundred and twenty five thousand

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Speaker 1: points now one thirty five, So it's not a massive uptick,

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Speaker 1: but it's still This is one of the ways that

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Speaker 1: we're seeing inflation impact some of the different rewards that

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Speaker 1: you earn with different airline, different carriers, but also the

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Speaker 1: different bonuses that you receive from the credit card.

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Speaker 2: You're going to still be able to make this happen.

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Speaker 2: Are you be so flexible enough to.

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Speaker 1: The real question is if I identify that this is

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Speaker 1: no longer going to be worth it, will I continue

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Speaker 1: down the path and earn the companion path? Just because

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Speaker 1: I have stated that it's something that we're going after.

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Speaker 1: But I think we'll be.

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Speaker 2: At all into the sun cost fallacy that three thousand bucks.

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Speaker 1: You guys, spend three thousand bucks and you get the

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Speaker 1: seventy five thousand points plus they throw in like an

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Speaker 1: additional ten thousand points plus the initial three thousand and spend,

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Speaker 1: So right out of the gate, you're starting with eighty

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Speaker 1: eight thousand points. Okay, you're most of the way there,

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Speaker 1: most of the way there exactly. So this is a

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Speaker 1: card that we're hoping will allow us to obtain that

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Speaker 1: coveted companion pass. It's just something that we've never done before.

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Speaker 1: Me there's how we've talked about it before, I guess,

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Speaker 1: just but what makes it a companion pass so phenomenal,

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Speaker 1: so valuable because once you get it, So once I

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Speaker 1: get it, I can buy a ticket to go somewhere,

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Speaker 1: to fly somewhere, and then a companion gets to come

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Speaker 1: along with me for absolutely free.

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Speaker 2: Well, you have to pay like the taxes for that

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Speaker 2: tick where are you taking me? But I guess is

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Speaker 2: a big question.

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Speaker 1: Luckily for you, I can change the companion. You can

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Speaker 1: change your companion like multiple times in a given year,

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Speaker 1: and so I can change it from Kate to you,

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Speaker 1: from you to my daughter. There's all sorts of options available.

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Speaker 1: Let's start with me and go to Hawaii though, can

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Speaker 1: we do that? That's one of the Southwest cards where

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Speaker 1: they're hooking you up with a lot of points. And

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Speaker 1: by the way, this is a card that you can

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Speaker 1: learn more about via our credit cards tool howdomoney dot

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Speaker 1: com forward slash credit cards. And if you are actually

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Speaker 1: not a fan of Southwest, you can actually sort it

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Speaker 1: by some of the other airlines as well. If you're

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Speaker 1: a Delta guy, maybe you're into American airlines, those options

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Speaker 1: are there for you as well.

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Speaker 2: You can check that out straight up cash back to

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Speaker 2: I mean, Mason, spend this which is going to help

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Speaker 2: you the credit card that's going to be best for

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Speaker 2: how you spend. But and Matt, the reality is if

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Speaker 2: you have a Southwest, if Southwest flies from the airport

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Speaker 2: nearest where you live, that companion pass can be just

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Speaker 2: a massive benefit because you're gonna have that for two

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Speaker 2: years so, yep, it's a really really cool that. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's a really cool perk. We should actually probably flesh

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Speaker 2: that out and write an article about that on the

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Speaker 2: website or something like that. But the Southwest Campaigning Pass

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Speaker 2: is this like perk that's not as well known about it.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't get talked about enough. But if you can

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Speaker 2: meet that spend threshold, get those points and get the

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Speaker 2: Commanding Pass, and if you travel enough to make it

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Speaker 2: worth it, it can be like one of the greatest values

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Speaker 2: when it comes to credit card rewards. And that's right.

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Speaker 2: But let's move on. Matt. Let's mention the beer we're

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Speaker 2: having on the show. This one is called six. It's

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Speaker 2: a Sayson style beer by Upright Brewing on a Portland organ.

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Speaker 2: We'll give our thoughts on this one at the end

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Speaker 2: of the episode, but let's get onto the topic at hand.

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Speaker 2: We are talking about the triple fs forging financial flexibility

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Speaker 2: in an uneasy economy. We just love alliteration. Sorry, we

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Speaker 2: won't apologize.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of our favorite thing, at least for now.

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Speaker 1: Maybe we'll switch it up. Yeah, well, but if all

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Speaker 1: of our future titles of our episodes are just all puns,

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Speaker 1: I think people would hate worse.

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Speaker 2: I don't know. It's a good question, okay, but we

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Speaker 2: might start getting more hate mail, which I think I'm

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Speaker 2: okay with. But let's thinking about this this topic, Matt.

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Speaker 2: It made me think of actually our summer vacation this year.

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Speaker 2: We went to Tybee Island, which is like our favorite

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Speaker 2: place to go just outside of Savannah, Georgia for a

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Speaker 2: week as a family. And fortunately it wasn't until right

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Speaker 2: after we left, but there was this massive swarm of

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Speaker 2: jellyfish that descended in the water. They're basically right right

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Speaker 2: after we departed.

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Speaker 1: Since it's jellyfish, aren't they wouldn't it technically technically be

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Speaker 1: a school of jellyfish? Maybe swarm they do sting? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I guess why. Yeah, okay, okay, but you're probably right.

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Speaker 1: But they're not even really an army of jellyfish. Are

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Speaker 1: they actually fish either? Technically? No?

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Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, because they're like blobs. Yeah, I think that's

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Speaker 2: that's the scientific definition of jellyfish blobs. But there's this

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Speaker 2: article actually published by the local TV station right after

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Speaker 2: we left, saying that lifeguards had to treat three hundred

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Speaker 2: folks for jellyfish things in a single weekend, and it's

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Speaker 2: not like Tybee's really that bad, but it's like everybody

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Speaker 2: that was there right exactly, And so we ended up

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Speaker 2: seeing a few while we were there. My oldest daughter

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Speaker 2: she even got stung a couple of times. But after

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Speaker 2: we left, the conditions got worse by a meaningful amount,

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Speaker 2: which which meant like swimming in the water, it's just

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Speaker 2: not that fun with all those jellyfish hanging around, And

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Speaker 2: those changing conditions meant that folks had to react differently.

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Speaker 2: People coming to the beach that week had to take

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Speaker 2: a different tactic, had to enjoy themselves on the beach

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Speaker 2: in a different way, maybe a little less bodyboarding, a

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Speaker 2: little more BATCHI ball on the beach, Right, So you

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Speaker 2: have to change your plans just a little bit because

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Speaker 2: of the environment that you're in. I would say the

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Speaker 2: same is true for us and for our money, right,

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Speaker 2: if we want to make the money we're given, go

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Speaker 2: the furthest It's important to know the basics, but it's

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Speaker 2: also crucial to get a read on the overall environment

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Speaker 2: that we're doing business in. And just like you might

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Speaker 2: need to adapt your vacation plans if jellyfish have taken

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Speaker 2: over the water, seeing the current trends right in the

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Speaker 2: in the financial space can help us optimize our decisions

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Speaker 2: in order to avoid unnecessary pain and you know, grow

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Speaker 2: our wealth more quickly and more efficiently too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, this is always important to keep in mind,

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Speaker 1: but even more so considering that we're living in an

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Speaker 1: incredibly like dynamic environment right now, right like, we've seen

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Speaker 1: more change in the past two years than we would

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Speaker 1: typically see in a decade or honestly even longer. And

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Speaker 1: aside from what we've recently experienced, and I'm talking about

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Speaker 1: the pandemic, stimmy checks, economic doomsday scenarios which then flipped

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Speaker 1: into a booming recovery and then again now inflation and

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Speaker 1: the fear of recession. Like all of these things, the

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Speaker 1: truth is that nothing ever stays the same. There are

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Speaker 1: definitely some core principles and fundamentals that are that are

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Speaker 1: pretty much always going to be true out there, but

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Speaker 1: everything else around us is going to continue to evolve

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Speaker 1: with change. It's the only constant, right And if we

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Speaker 1: decide on a course of action and stick with it,

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Speaker 1: stick to it, no matter what the market is doing

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Speaker 1: around us, we're going to be financially worse off and

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Speaker 1: that's why it's important to maintain a level of financial flexibility,

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Speaker 1: which is what we're talking all about today.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and it makes me think of Atlanta traffic, Matt.

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Speaker 2: If you know that going downtown at five pm, clearly

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Speaker 2: it's going to be the worst possible time to hop

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Speaker 2: in your car and try to head into the heart

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Speaker 2: of the city, and so you might want to change

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Speaker 2: your plans. Accordingly, if you could do a noon lunch

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Speaker 2: with that friend or coworker instead, you might opt for that.

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Speaker 2: And so you have to be flexible in order to

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Speaker 2: avoid pain in this world. But let's talk about how

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Speaker 2: like something specific in regards to that or that people

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Speaker 2: have been hearing a lot more lately, is the word recession, right,

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Speaker 2: especially if you turn on CNBC for any amount of

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Speaker 2: time or read the financial media. Will we have one?

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Speaker 2: Are we in one? How bad is it going to be?

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Speaker 2: Those are big kind of questions that are being talked about.

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Speaker 2: And I'm sorry if you turn into hear the answer

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Speaker 2: to that question. We don't have it. We don't know.

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Speaker 2: But especially when economic storm clouds are on the horizon,

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Speaker 2: we would say that your ability to flex to be flexible,

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Speaker 2: is even more necessary. We are seeing some warning signs, right,

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Speaker 2: layoffs are happening with greater rapidity. We're hearing a hiring

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Speaker 2: freezes happening at companies like Amazon. Matt, my friend, he

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Speaker 2: works at a big, major tech company, and he was

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Speaker 2: like a shoe in for this new position and it

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Speaker 2: was going to come with a little more pay as well,

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Speaker 2: and they freezed all sorts of pain increases across the board.

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Speaker 2: So right as he was on the precipice of getting

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Speaker 2: this new job, they shut it down, and so he's

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Speaker 2: gonna have to be content where he is for a

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Speaker 2: little bit longer. The reality is a lot of this

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Speaker 2: is happening in the tech sector, and it's hard to

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Speaker 2: know if we're in store for some incredibly minor economic

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Speaker 2: pains that are keenly felt in just a few of

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Speaker 2: these specific sectors, or if the entire economy is likely

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Speaker 2: going to feel some of the wrath. But yeah, despite

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Speaker 2: our inability to predict the future, to predict the reality

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Speaker 2: of a likely recession or not, the truth is more

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Speaker 2: economic pain is probable.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, what the Fed is attempting to do

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Speaker 1: by rationing up interest rates is exactly that, right, Like

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Speaker 1: they're trying to cool the economy off. They're trying to

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Speaker 1: curb demand and thereby slowing the rate of inflation, and

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Speaker 1: what that means for a lot of folks. It's probably

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Speaker 1: gonna mean lost jobs. And so if you're paying attention

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Speaker 1: to the different macro trends out there, the ritting, it's

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Speaker 1: been on the wall. And you know, we're not saying

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Speaker 1: that you need to start watching CNBC regularly or that

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Speaker 1: you need to read the detailed minutes from each FED

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Speaker 1: meeting and see what Jaypal has to.

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Speaker 2: Say, although you like to do that with your monocolon sometimes.

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Speaker 1: In order to know how it is that you should

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Speaker 1: handle your money and what you should be doing. But

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Speaker 1: we are saying that getting at least a sense for

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Speaker 1: which way the economic winds are blowing, you know, just

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Speaker 1: like lick your thumb, kind of stick your thumb out

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Speaker 1: there and see which way the winds are blowing, that

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Speaker 1: can be helpful and it can allow you to use

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Speaker 1: those winds, those readings to your advantage as opposed to

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Speaker 1: just getting tossed around by them. I don't know much

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Speaker 1: about sailing, but you want to face your sales in

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Speaker 1: a way that captures the wind.

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Speaker 2: Well, basically, got airplanes if you're flying across the world,

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Speaker 2: why is there a two hour difference between your flight

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Speaker 2: there and your flight back. It's head winds and tailwinds, right,

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Speaker 2: And if you're using tailwinds to your advantage, you're gonna

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Speaker 2: arrive your destination more quickly. And I think the same

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Speaker 2: thing can be true with our money. If we stay flexible,

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Speaker 2: then we are more liable to take those headwinds and

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Speaker 2: turn them on their face and actually make them more

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Speaker 2: beneficial to us while everyone else is just suffering from

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Speaker 2: the reality. If we can see the direction in which

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Speaker 2: things are headed and plan and react accordingly, we can

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Speaker 2: be in a much better position to pounce when things

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Speaker 2: are difficult, right exactly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, instead of sailing into the wind, figure out where

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Speaker 1: the wind's blowing and say, well, I kind of want

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Speaker 1: to go in that general direction, and that I can.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. Again, I don't know anything about sailing.

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Speaker 1: You use the rudder and you kind of points your

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Speaker 1: boat that direction starboard. I don't know, port, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: But the truth is that economic cycles are a fact

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Speaker 2: of life too, right, So that deserves to be talked about.

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Speaker 2: It's not like these headwinds that we're starting to see

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Speaker 2: that we've never seen them before, or that they're impossible

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Speaker 2: to identify, which.

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Speaker 1: We just haven't realized them. We haven't experienced them recently

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Speaker 1: like we have in the recent past.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, And the truth is that the more we

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Speaker 2: know about history, the more we can see. If you're

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Speaker 2: only looking at the past twelve years of history, you

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Speaker 2: have a limited scope, a limited knowledge. That's why what

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Speaker 2: the folks who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

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Speaker 2: And the more we can know about the history of

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Speaker 2: economic cycles, the more we can be prepared to be

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Speaker 2: in a position to flourish when the next downward economic

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Speaker 2: cycle comes along. And the reality is that there are

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Speaker 2: fluctuations between periods of economic growth and contraction. We've had

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Speaker 2: a pretty good growth run over the past twelve ish years,

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Speaker 2: something like one of the longest sustained bowl runs in

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Speaker 2: history until the beginning of this year. But it appears

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Speaker 2: that not just the stock market heading for a down period,

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Speaker 2: which we've experienced in a big way this year, but

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Speaker 2: then we might be headed for a period of contraction

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Speaker 2: economic contraction in the near serm future. Part of that

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Speaker 2: is because our economy at least partially experienced some of

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Speaker 2: that sustained growth thanks to historically low interest rates which

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Speaker 2: incentivized that growth. But when you start to see that

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Speaker 2: these cycles happen regularly, it's easier to see how you

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Speaker 2: can maybe use them to your advantage in small ways,

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Speaker 2: making hey while the sun shines and Matt, let's give

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Speaker 2: one quick example of this. You know, we talked ad

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Speaker 2: nauseum about refinancing mortgages mortgage debt when rates were historically low.

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Speaker 2: I feel like maybe it felt like we were beating

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Speaker 2: a dead horse. After well, like we were the boys

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Speaker 2: who cried Wolf.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, we made a video and stuck it up on

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Speaker 1: Instagram for encouraging people to refi while rates were low.

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Speaker 2: We kept saying, rates are not likely to get much

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Speaker 2: better than this.

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Speaker 1: We didn't know if they're going to continue to go ower.

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Speaker 1: But I guess what I'm saying is I don't want

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Speaker 1: to be like, well, we knew that they were going

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Speaker 1: to go up. We didn't know.

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Speaker 2: We didn't know they're going to go up.

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Speaker 1: But what we did know at that point in time

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Speaker 1: was that our rates right now the lowest they've been

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Speaker 1: in basically the history of mortgages. Yes, and so you

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Speaker 1: have to take that truth that you know the facts

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Speaker 1: on the ground, what you know now, and take action

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Speaker 1: based on those facts.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. So while we didn't know what the future held,

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Speaker 2: we didn't know rates were going to spike in the

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Speaker 2: way that they have. We didn't know that inflation was

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Speaker 2: going to do what it's done. We couldn't have predicted

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Speaker 2: that either. The truth is, you could have locked in

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Speaker 2: an uber low mortgage rate for thirty years to come,

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Speaker 2: not knowing what the future holds, but being able to

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Speaker 2: take advantage of at least what the present's giving you. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And speaking of inflation, I mean we're literally in a

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Speaker 1: cycle of inflation right now, of higher inflation. Even different publications,

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Speaker 1: different media outlets out there, like the Wall Street Journal,

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Speaker 1: they literally created an inflation calculator so that you could

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Speaker 1: figure out what your specific rate of inflation is. Right,

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Speaker 1: And so, for instance, did you buy a house this

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Speaker 1: past summer, Did you also happen to eat a lot

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Speaker 1: of bacon and then you also bought a new luxury

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Speaker 1: ev at the same time. Well, if so, then you

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Speaker 1: experienced peak inflation. Yeah, for a bunch of goods simultaneously

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Speaker 1: at the same time. But a financially flexible individual instead

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Speaker 1: would want to make different choices. Right, they would have

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Speaker 1: maybe opted to have kept on renting. They maybe wouldn't

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Speaker 1: have bought any bacon, and they they would have kept

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Speaker 1: driving their old mini van. And so when it comes

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Speaker 1: to spending, attempting to be financially flexible means adapting your

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Speaker 1: buying decisions based on what's happening with prices, and so

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Speaker 1: inflation is one of the major players. It's one of

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Speaker 1: the big factors that has a dramatic impact on what

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Speaker 1: it looks like in our current economy, in our current environments.

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Speaker 1: But we're actually going to talk through some other examples

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Speaker 1: of what it looks like to be financially flexible in

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Speaker 1: your life. We will get to that and more right

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Speaker 1: after this.

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Speaker 2: All right, man, let's keep talking about financial flexibility. It's

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Speaker 2: a really important skill to adopt because when, yeah, those

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Speaker 2: headwinds are staring you down in the face, if you

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Speaker 2: don't adapt, you're just going to move slower. It's going

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Speaker 2: to feel like you're marching up hill like our parents

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Speaker 2: had to do to school both ways when they were kids. Right,

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Speaker 2: We heard that a lot.

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Speaker 1: But honestly, you know what this reminds me of. It

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Speaker 1: reminds me of did you ever do, like in school

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Speaker 1: where you had to create a structure out of either

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Speaker 1: Plato or something like that, Plato or or something that

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Speaker 1: was more flexible. I forget what it was, like jelly

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Speaker 1: or something like that, and you connected toothpicks with those

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Speaker 1: different materials and I was like, Okay, which one of

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Speaker 1: these structures is going to be able to withstand shaking

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Speaker 1: or whatever? And I don't know why, but nobody thought

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Speaker 1: that the flexible structure was actually going to stand. And

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Speaker 1: I was like, oh, of course, the one that's solid.

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Speaker 1: And you slowly shake that one and it falls apart

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Speaker 1: because there is no flexibility in the joints. But the

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Speaker 1: structure that's made with the more flexible joints, it shook

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Speaker 1: around a little bit, but guess what, it did not

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Speaker 1: fall over. That's basically what we're talking about. When it

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Speaker 1: comes to being financially flexible. You want to have a

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Speaker 1: little bit of give in the joints. You want to

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Speaker 1: be able to be adaptable when it comes to the

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Speaker 1: different circumstances that we face.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and one of the simplest ways we can gain

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Speaker 2: more financial flexibility in our lives is by living frugally,

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Speaker 2: by keeping major expenses in particular to a minimum in

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Speaker 2: your life, and so the largest sections of your monthly budget,

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Speaker 2: they're likely housing and cars. And if you act those

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Speaker 2: two line items in a meaningful way, that's going to

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Speaker 2: have a massive effect on how flexible you can be.

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Speaker 2: So let's say you're an house hacking, right, you slash

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Speaker 2: that expense even more. Like, that's financial flexibility on steroids.

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Speaker 2: You're able to turn your living situation potentially into a

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Speaker 2: profit generator, which just gives you an insane amount of

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Speaker 2: flexibility instead of turning something that is a defis every

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Speaker 2: month turning it into an asset every month is That's

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Speaker 2: an impressive way to change your trajectory of your personal finances.

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Speaker 2: You can become insanely financially resilient doing that. And not

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Speaker 2: everyone wants to rent out a room in their place

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Speaker 2: or wants to sleep in the living room, like our

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Speaker 2: friend Craig Kerlop did. Matt, that was an interesting choice

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Speaker 2: on his part, but it certainly he would credit that

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Speaker 2: to a lot of the reasons. He's been able to

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Speaker 2: accomplish his financial goals a whole lot sooner in his

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Speaker 2: twenties and early thirties. And I get that that's not

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Speaker 2: for everyone, but it's important to mention that the more

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Speaker 2: you can reduce the bigger line items in your budget,

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Speaker 2: cutting a car out of your life or at least

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Speaker 2: reducing rent by moving into a smaller place, I don't know,

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Speaker 2: there are other options out there for you. The more

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Speaker 2: creative you can get, though, you become so much more

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Speaker 2: financially limber, and that's going to have a massive impact

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Speaker 2: on your ability to withstand an adverse or an uneasy

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Speaker 2: economy moving forward.

435
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:09,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we do like to focus on those big expenses,

436
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 1: right because we want you to get some of those

437
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,159
Speaker 1: big wins under your belt before, certainly before you're kind

438
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,400
Speaker 1: of just fretting and pouring over these really small expenses.

439
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,479
Speaker 1: But like the small things in life matter too. Obviously

440
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,240
Speaker 1: they're not going to move the needle quite as much,

441
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:27,320
Speaker 1: but you know, getting those small, specifically recurring bills reduced

442
00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,720
Speaker 1: is really important. And I think that's the key word,

443
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,720
Speaker 1: is the fact that they're recurring. That's how these small

444
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,000
Speaker 1: expenses go from being something that seems like you shouldn't

445
00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,359
Speaker 1: be paying any attention to maybe giving a little bit

446
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:40,440
Speaker 1: more of your time and attention because there is this

447
00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:43,560
Speaker 1: outsized impact that they have because the fact that they

448
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,720
Speaker 1: repeat again and again and so on one hand, it doesn't

449
00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,639
Speaker 1: seem like a big expense. But if this is a

450
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: recurring expense or like a subscription and you never cancel it,

451
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 1: like we're talking about like a you know, it makes

452
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:56,520
Speaker 1: me think of like scrabble you get like a double

453
00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 1: triple word score. This is like a sixty x multiplier impact.

454
00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,280
Speaker 1: If this is an expense that you have potentially.

455
00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 2: For the rest of your life. And like we talked

456
00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:07,080
Speaker 2: about it on a recent Friday flight, people underestimate the

457
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,080
Speaker 2: amount of money they're spending on subscriptions and so they

458
00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,439
Speaker 2: downplay it like, oh, yeah, I know, I've got some

459
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,520
Speaker 2: monthly recurring expenditures that I probably could acts, but it's

460
00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:18,560
Speaker 2: not that bad. Yeah, But a truth is for most people,

461
00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,200
Speaker 2: it's it is bad. It's worse than they think.

462
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,160
Speaker 1: Exactly, Like even your self in service, so your internet

463
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,920
Speaker 1: bill or a gym membership, what you are paying for insurance,

464
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 1: all of these things matter, even something as small as

465
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,639
Speaker 1: you know, trading down from a name brand to a

466
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,320
Speaker 1: store brand or opting for like a cheaper cut of meat.

467
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,320
Speaker 1: You know, all of these moves are you showing some

468
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 1: flexibility to save when costs are rising.

469
00:21:39,119 --> 00:21:42,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's a good point. Like these are all specific,

470
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:45,480
Speaker 2: tangible ways that you can make yourself more financially resilient

471
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,320
Speaker 2: and more financially flexible by cutting spending in the big

472
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,640
Speaker 2: ways and the small ways. And that we talked about

473
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 2: creating a bare bones budget back on episode three sixty two.

474
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,680
Speaker 2: I think that's an episode that that most folks should

475
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,560
Speaker 2: go back and listen to if they haven't heard it,

476
00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 2: because having one of those in place is a great

477
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,879
Speaker 2: way to be able to pivot if and when you

478
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,040
Speaker 2: need to. And so basically what we mean by a

479
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 2: barebones budget is you've got your normal budget and you're saying, like,

480
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 2: this is what I spend typically every month, but there's

481
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:10,480
Speaker 2: a lot of fluff in there. There's a lot of

482
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,680
Speaker 2: things that are nice to have a lot of luxury,

483
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,120
Speaker 2: but they're not need to have, right the roof over

484
00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,159
Speaker 2: your head, maintaining insurance, like putting food on the table,

485
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,680
Speaker 2: those are need to have. And so creating a barebones

486
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,960
Speaker 2: budget that helps you see exactly all the fluff you

487
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,360
Speaker 2: can cut instantaneously if the worst possible thing happens. Let's

488
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:30,440
Speaker 2: say you do lose a job or something like that.

489
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 2: If you saw a reduction in income, knowing that you

490
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:36,439
Speaker 2: can immediately pivot to the barbones budget versus the one

491
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,760
Speaker 2: you normally use and reduce those expenses in a meaningful way,

492
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 2: basically overnight. By implementing the bearbones budget, that allows for

493
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 2: a whole lot more peace of mind, and it provides

494
00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,439
Speaker 2: you additional time to find another job or restore that income.

495
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 2: We've heard from listeners Matt who have implemented something like

496
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,480
Speaker 2: this and they've said, you know what, and they have

497
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 2: lost a job and they've let us know, guess what.

498
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 2: Having more money and say and having a bare bones budget,

499
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 2: those two things dramatically impacted my mental health while I

500
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 2: was out of work. It made me feel less like

501
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:10,919
Speaker 2: behind the eight ball and more like I had some

502
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,560
Speaker 2: breathing room, I had some margin, and I could take

503
00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 2: my time to see what was next, as opposed to

504
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 2: feeling like you got to go out there and get

505
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 2: the first crappiest job that you that you get offered.

506
00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's a hard financial tool, and that it

507
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,920
Speaker 1: allows you to see how much money you're actually spending,

508
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,600
Speaker 1: but it's it's sort of like a softer tool as well,

509
00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,320
Speaker 1: Like it's a boost, it's it's an emotional boost that

510
00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:32,480
Speaker 1: gives you the confidence to know that things are likely

511
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:34,800
Speaker 1: going to be okay. And so let's kind of talk

512
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: through some different scenarios, some ways where you might see

513
00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:41,760
Speaker 1: financial flexibility play out in your life. And like, one

514
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: of the ones I'm thinking of is that the more

515
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,400
Speaker 1: flexibility you have, the more that you're gonna be able

516
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 1: to pounce on a deal when it comes along budgeting.

517
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: It's a great way to play in your spending Wisely,

518
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,879
Speaker 1: I always like taking that approach. But what if you

519
00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:56,880
Speaker 1: come across a deal that's just too good to pass

520
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 1: up but you haven't.

521
00:23:58,160 --> 00:23:58,800
Speaker 2: Budgeted for it.

522
00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:00,479
Speaker 1: Are you going to be like a hard hardliner? Are

523
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 1: you gonna stick with the budget and be like, oh,

524
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,960
Speaker 1: well I didn't budget for it, therefore I have to

525
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,120
Speaker 1: pass up on this, right, Well, this is where having

526
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:09,720
Speaker 1: some financial flexibility can come in handy you. Obviously you

527
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 1: don't want to overdo this, right But the truth is

528
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,439
Speaker 1: that having an additional chunk of money set aside for

529
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:19,280
Speaker 1: killer deals like a like an outrageously cheap flight or

530
00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:21,919
Speaker 1: a mountain bike that's fifty percent off, that can be

531
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 1: really nice and it can allow you to feel like

532
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,919
Speaker 1: you can make that a priority when you otherwise may

533
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 1: have just walked away all bumbed, realizing that like, well,

534
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,680
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to maybe I'll budget for that next year.

535
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 1: It's like, no, pounce on the deal. Take advantage of

536
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,680
Speaker 1: the situation and being flexible and having that extra cash

537
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,520
Speaker 1: on hand is what's going to allow you to do that.

538
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:40,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, it makes me, But I don't really have to

539
00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:43,200
Speaker 2: be saving for those cheap flights, Matt, because I'm gonna

540
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:44,880
Speaker 2: be your free companion from here on out, which is nice.

541
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,080
Speaker 1: Still going to cover the fees and taxes, dul That's.

542
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,840
Speaker 2: True, but those are cheap. Those are very cheap. But

543
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,040
Speaker 2: let's talk to financial flexibility. It also means being flexible

544
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 2: with your timeline and your goals based on what's happening

545
00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 2: with the economy and with the market in general.

546
00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like a mental flexibility.

547
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. You can see this really acutely right now.

548
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 2: In the housing market. Let's say that for a couple

549
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 2: of years you've been saving up and looking to buy

550
00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 2: your first house, which is exciting, right, That's something you've

551
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 2: been looking forward to. It was exciting, It's not exciting anymore.

552
00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,480
Speaker 2: A lot of folks, it's actually quite scary now. They're

553
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,680
Speaker 2: not excited about it, right because and maybe you're getting

554
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:19,680
Speaker 2: close to that ideal twenty percent down payment amount and

555
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 2: you're like, man, I've been listening to how the money

556
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,400
Speaker 2: and I have gotten so much better with my finances,

557
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,159
Speaker 2: and I am socking away more and like we are

558
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 2: at this point and we are ready to buy. But

559
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,440
Speaker 2: now because of rising interest rates, housing has become way

560
00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,320
Speaker 2: less affordable. The question is like, should you still pounce?

561
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 2: And so much of that depends on so many specifics

562
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,919
Speaker 2: of your situation. We can't speak to that directly. But

563
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:42,680
Speaker 2: highly flexible folks, a lot of highly flexible folks would

564
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:45,879
Speaker 2: opt to wait, hoping to see price declines in the

565
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 2: coming months. But let's say the house of your dreams

566
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 2: comes along, A highly financially flexible person might also choose

567
00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 2: to buy the home and then refinance at a later

568
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:57,760
Speaker 2: date when rates do eventually go down. But being financially flexible,

569
00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 2: it's all about holding out for a better environment or

570
00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,200
Speaker 2: waiting for the right thing to come along, instead of

571
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,040
Speaker 2: kind of forcing the issue. Opting to become house poor

572
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:10,120
Speaker 2: by overspending is doing the exact opposite of staying financially flexible.

573
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,679
Speaker 2: You're you're locking yourself into something that is going to

574
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 2: prevent your financial flexibility in the future.

575
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: That's right, Yeah, changing your spending, changing your financial goals,

576
00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,360
Speaker 1: shifting your timeline. That'll make sense based on what's happening

577
00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: in the economy. But how can you be more financially

578
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,880
Speaker 1: flexible when it comes to earning money. Let's talk about

579
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: that here for a second, because one thing that goes

580
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 1: a long way in that endeavor that's worth discussing is

581
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,600
Speaker 1: to focus more on amassing peace out money. I don't

582
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,679
Speaker 1: even remember what episode it was, but we'll link to

583
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 1: it in the show notes. When we originally talked about

584
00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,760
Speaker 1: peace out money. This might even be in the sub

585
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,239
Speaker 1: one hundred episodes ranged all the time ago. But some

586
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: of our listeners might have their minds entirely focused on

587
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 1: fire on financial independence, retiring early. They want to amass

588
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: a bunch of money, They want to stop working way

589
00:26:56,640 --> 00:27:00,159
Speaker 1: earlier than most folks. That's not a bad aim, but

590
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,119
Speaker 1: the reality is that financial independence it's more on a spectrum,

591
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: and it's not only achieved by amassing Typically, what we'd

592
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,159
Speaker 1: say is twenty five times your annual expenses and then

593
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 1: quitting your job. Because the more money that you're able

594
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 1: to bank, the more cash backup that you have, the

595
00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:20,000
Speaker 1: boulder that you can be in your choices, essentially buying

596
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,280
Speaker 1: yourself some freedom. And we would say that having a

597
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,040
Speaker 1: fatter bank account, having more cash on hand, can empower

598
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: you to do something like change careers, to switch to

599
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:30,320
Speaker 1: a career that might pay a little bit less but

600
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: gives you more of what you're now looking for in life.

601
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,919
Speaker 1: It can allow you to seek employment just elsewhere, or

602
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 1: to even ask for a promotion or for a raise

603
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:41,479
Speaker 1: that you might be nervous to ask for. All of

604
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,760
Speaker 1: these things are more possible when you've got that piece

605
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:45,200
Speaker 1: out money.

606
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you mentioned seeking employment maybe that might not

607
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 2: pay you as much, or maybe going to work for yourself, right,

608
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 2: that's another thing you can consider. It feels like when

609
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 2: you have more financial flex when you have more peace

610
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,720
Speaker 2: out money, more money sitting in your bank account makes

611
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 2: you feel more confident, more run way to go start

612
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,440
Speaker 2: your own thing and see what happens. It's also important

613
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,639
Speaker 2: to mention that having multiple streams of income is another

614
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 2: way to make yourself more financially flexible. Not putting all

615
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,640
Speaker 2: your eggs in one income basket can help you feel

616
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 2: more at ease and offer you more flexibility. Especially when

617
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,919
Speaker 2: you're seeing nasty economic headlines and you're worried about your

618
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 2: own financial future. Well, not having it all tied to

619
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,840
Speaker 2: one company or one paycheck can help alleviate least some

620
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,359
Speaker 2: of those fears. If you lose your main job and

621
00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:29,560
Speaker 2: you've got no other income coming in, that can be

622
00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 2: really scary. And so that's part of what we like

623
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,520
Speaker 2: about owning rental properties, the cash flow that they produce

624
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 2: each year and each and every month. It means that

625
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 2: we don't have to solely rely on our small business income.

626
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 1: But there are a lot of money may not always

627
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,680
Speaker 1: be around. Hopefully it will hopefully yeah, well, and hopefully

628
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: please don't yeah right, exactly what if Matt says something

629
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 1: completely ridiculous, which is highly likely, highly unlikely, and then

630
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 1: it's going to be you. If anyone gets canceled, it's

631
00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: going to be Joel.

632
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 2: That's probably true, but they're also sorts of things that

633
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,520
Speaker 2: could happen to dry up some of our income, like

634
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 2: ad spending could dramatically reduce, So that's true. That's a

635
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 2: big part of our livelihood. But having another stream of income,

636
00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,640
Speaker 2: having other sources where we make income every month means

637
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,560
Speaker 2: we're not as reliant specifically on the podcast to make money.

638
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 2: And so that's something you can implement into your life

639
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 2: as well. And it's important to mention not all the

640
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,920
Speaker 2: ways that you can generate additional income streams are not

641
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 2: created equal. But side gigs are one way to do it.

642
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 2: Although here's the thing, you're straight up trading time for

643
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 2: money when you choose to drive for Lift or uber

644
00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,280
Speaker 2: or something like that. Having a side hustle is kind

645
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 2: of different. It allows you to start building up your

646
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 2: own business, which can be another effective route and it's

647
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 2: often more sustainable, but it often takes a little more

648
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 2: time for that to pay out from a financial perspective.

649
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 2: But we would say building up other streams of income

650
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 2: over time so you aren't reliant on a single job

651
00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 2: or a single employer is massively helpful. It makes you

652
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 2: a more financially flexible person. Right.

653
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, So on that note, actually, it's important to keep

654
00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: you your eyes open to where opportunity exists, right and

655
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: to be able to strike when you know while the

656
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 1: iron is hot. Weird economic times they have often been

657
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,800
Speaker 1: the best time for people to in particular, let's start

658
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 1: their own businesses. This kind of seems counterintuitive, but it's

659
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: totally true. We've actually seen the pandemic accelerate the rate

660
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 1: at which small businesses are being created. We think that's

661
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,360
Speaker 1: a good thing. Before the pandemic, they were around is

662
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 1: something on average like two hundred ninety thousand new businesses

663
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 1: being formed every month, but then by July of twenty twenty,

664
00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,880
Speaker 1: that spiked to over five hundred and fifty thousand new

665
00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 1: businesses formed in just one month. It's like almost double yeah,

666
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,400
Speaker 1: and you know it's leveled off now according to the

667
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,120
Speaker 1: data from the Census Bureau, we're holding steady at around

668
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,640
Speaker 1: four hundred and fifteen thousand new businesses per month. But

669
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 1: that is a large number of individuals who discovered that

670
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 1: they were either a unhappy with the work that they

671
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,320
Speaker 1: were doing and decided to make a change, or b

672
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 1: At the very least, it's a large number of entrepreneurs

673
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,920
Speaker 1: who have identified a problem, right they focused in on

674
00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: a whole in the market that they are seeking to fill.

675
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 1: Anytime there are changes within the economy, there's also going

676
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,080
Speaker 1: to be opportunity there. You have to be able to

677
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 1: recognize those problems and how it is that you can

678
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 1: provide value. It makes me think about Joel, like Whenkate

679
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: and I started our photography company, oh my gosh, like

680
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 1: thirteen fourteen, fifteen years ago, I didn't can't even do

681
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:26,280
Speaker 1: the math now, but nobody was basically providing the kind

682
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 1: of photography that we knew that we could provide. And

683
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 1: so I say that because it sort of sounds like

684
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:35,720
Speaker 1: a cold, emotionless business decisions like, oh there's a need

685
00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 1: in the market, Oh, there's value to be provided, But

686
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 1: that's so important in order for a business to be

687
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 1: able to sustain itself, right. I think a lot of

688
00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 1: times when folks talk about entrepreneurship, they use words like passion,

689
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,479
Speaker 1: They use word like they try to over romanticize it,

690
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: and it's about, I don't know, just like all of

691
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 1: these kind of gooey, mushy terms when it comes to

692
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: the business and how it's this thing.

693
00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 2: That they're really excited about.

694
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: There's a lot of emotional words attached to it as

695
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: opposed to some of these harder, more business types of words.

696
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 1: But it can't just be about passion and what it

697
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:10,680
Speaker 1: is that you want to do you have to actually

698
00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: identify a market. And so I think it just really

699
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: pays to be aware to the different opportunities that might

700
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,280
Speaker 1: be revealing themselves to you in this current economy.

701
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 2: Possible to be passionate about something that actually loses you

702
00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 2: money instead of makes you absolutely that's called a hobby,

703
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 2: yeah right, or internet gambling, which is a bad idea. Well,

704
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,840
Speaker 2: it makes me think too. Talking about like flexibility and

705
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 2: kind of pouncing on opportunity, Matt and starting your own business.

706
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 2: That just makes me think of a conversation I had

707
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 2: with someone when we went to FINCN this year, which

708
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,480
Speaker 2: is our nerdy financial media conference, and someone told me

709
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 2: about getting a stimulus check and how that revolutionized it

710
00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 2: changed her life. And it's amazing how just like this

711
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 2: small influx of cash from the government unexpectedly, when everything

712
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 2: else was going well in her life, she was able

713
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 2: to still meet her other financial obligations. It was like

714
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 2: seed money for her to start her business. Yea, And

715
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 2: now she's massive, like she's making meaningful income from that business.

716
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 2: She's been able to quit her regular job. These are

717
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 2: the kind of things like this is what we're talking

718
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 2: about with financial flexibility. What do you do when an

719
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,440
Speaker 2: unexpected sum of money drops in your lap and you

720
00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:17,200
Speaker 2: know what Matt coming soon in a few months. A

721
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:18,959
Speaker 2: lot of people are going to experience that with a

722
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,400
Speaker 2: tax refund. What are you gonna do when that drops

723
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,000
Speaker 2: in your lap? Are you going to use it to

724
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 2: fund your next venture, to start something, or are you

725
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 2: gonna spend it on stuff? We would say the financially

726
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 2: flexible person would take that as an opportunity to start

727
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:35,960
Speaker 2: something meaningful as opposed to just soaking it up and

728
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 2: making some more random purchases. That's right.

729
00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 1: So yeah, these have been a few different examples of

730
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:45,239
Speaker 1: how financial flexibility can manifest itself in your life. But

731
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,720
Speaker 1: we're gonna continue down the practical side of things. We

732
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,160
Speaker 1: want to make sure that you have some practical steps

733
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: that allow you to achieve a financial flexibility and we

734
00:33:54,360 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: will get to those right after this. With all right,

735
00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 1: let's keep growing. We're talking about how to become more

736
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,080
Speaker 1: financially flexible. And the reality is, like most Americans, the

737
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,600
Speaker 1: financial state they're in, they've got no flexibility.

738
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 2: Right. Their income barely exceeds their outgoing. They don't have

739
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 2: enough margin to be flexible. They're living paycheck to paycheck,

740
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,280
Speaker 2: and we've talked about the stats of how even people

741
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 2: making significant amounts of money six figures in many cases

742
00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:34,040
Speaker 2: are still living paycheck to paycheck. It's a real problem.

743
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 2: And so what we want for our listeners, no matter

744
00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 2: what your income is, we want you to have flexibility

745
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 2: in your life so that you can make choices that

746
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,719
Speaker 2: are best for you and your family no matter what's

747
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,520
Speaker 2: happening in the broader economy as a whole. And so

748
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:47,920
Speaker 2: far we've painted a picture of what it could look

749
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 2: like if you're financially flexible. Hopefully we've laid out a

750
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,560
Speaker 2: few different scenarios that you can grasp onto where you

751
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,319
Speaker 2: can see, oh, this is a way in which I

752
00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:57,479
Speaker 2: could take advantage of this low rate at this period

753
00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 2: of time, or a way in which I could pounce

754
00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:00,960
Speaker 2: because I got some extra cash, or a way in

755
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,360
Speaker 2: which I could modify my behavior based on what's happening

756
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:07,359
Speaker 2: around me. But let's let's do more. Let's get super

757
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 2: specific and practical. What steps do you need to take

758
00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:11,560
Speaker 2: to become more financially flexible in your life? And we

759
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 2: would say having solid savings is a foundational element of

760
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,440
Speaker 2: flexible finance. Right Being in a strong cash position is

761
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:21,799
Speaker 2: kind of the bedrock of being able to do so

762
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 2: much what we have already discussed. So whether that's the

763
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 2: ability two pounds on a deal because companies are liquidating inventory, right,

764
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,640
Speaker 2: or whether that means having the financial margin on hand

765
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,360
Speaker 2: to be able to launch that new business venture, whatever

766
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,520
Speaker 2: it is you're looking to do. It's it's crucial to

767
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,279
Speaker 2: have at least that basic e fund amount that we

768
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,280
Speaker 2: always talk about, twenty four hundred and sixty seven dollars,

769
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:44,640
Speaker 2: and after that you want something like three to six

770
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:48,839
Speaker 2: months worth of expenses in your savings account on hand.

771
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 2: That in and of itself is going to make a

772
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,480
Speaker 2: massive difference. And how much, by the way, depends on

773
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 2: your specific financial situation. But getting to that level, getting

774
00:35:57,520 --> 00:35:59,800
Speaker 2: to that point, if you're not there yet, you'll be

775
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 2: some prized at just how mentally free you feel and

776
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,880
Speaker 2: how much actual backstop you have to make different decisions

777
00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:07,200
Speaker 2: in your life based on what's happening.

778
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I mean speaking of mental freedom, right, like

779
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:13,120
Speaker 1: having that cash on hand, it has these non monetary

780
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 1: benefits as well. It's going to reduce stress in your life.

781
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 1: More cash equals more peace of mind, and when you

782
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 1: are living.

783
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 2: Paycheck to paycheck.

784
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,400
Speaker 1: You know where you're on the financial precipice. That is

785
00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 1: a stressful place to be, and it can also get expensive.

786
00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,480
Speaker 1: Folks who have no margin are more likely to overdraw

787
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:32,879
Speaker 1: their checking account, for instance, leading to fees that can

788
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 1: exacerbate the problem. If that's the case, if you're banking

789
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 1: with a bank that is charging you crappy fees, we

790
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,200
Speaker 1: would recommend that you bank elsewhere, go with one of

791
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,640
Speaker 1: the great online banks that we talk about all the time.

792
00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,279
Speaker 1: But you're also going to be more likely then to

793
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,680
Speaker 1: turn to worse financial products or to even get worse

794
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: deals from companies that you end up doing business with,

795
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:54,120
Speaker 1: for instance, payday loans, or if you're in a bad

796
00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 1: financial state, let's say your credit isn't so great, well,

797
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,080
Speaker 1: you're going to pay more for car insurance in most states,

798
00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,440
Speaker 1: making it even harder to get ahead. And then, no surprise,

799
00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 1: right scrambling to pay all of these additional fees, all

800
00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,400
Speaker 1: of these new bills, these new payments that you have

801
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 1: every month, is going to continue to take a toll

802
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,760
Speaker 1: on not only your mental health, but just the impacts

803
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,399
Speaker 1: that it's going to have on your physical well being

804
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:15,799
Speaker 1: as well.

805
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, less financial flexibility means just you're beholden more to

806
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 2: companies you're doing business with, and that creates additional financial

807
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,359
Speaker 2: hardships and mental stress too. And it's important to note

808
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:28,600
Speaker 2: as well that there are actually some financial tools that

809
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:30,920
Speaker 2: can help you be more flexible. So we would say

810
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:34,000
Speaker 2: savings is a part of that. It's a crucial step

811
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 2: in order to become more financially flexible. But let's talk

812
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:41,359
Speaker 2: about some actual tools you can use simultaneously that might

813
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:44,200
Speaker 2: help you, that might aid you in being more flexible.

814
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 2: Let's start with like, if you own a home, write

815
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 2: a home equity line of credit that can allow you

816
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,160
Speaker 2: to reduce the emergency fund that you have to have

817
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 2: on hand, allowing you to potentially invest a little bit

818
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 2: more if let's say all the markets down right. It

819
00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 2: still offers a bit of financial backstop at much less

820
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 2: egregious interest rates than credit cards. Because if you don't

821
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,600
Speaker 2: pay your credit card bill off on time and in

822
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:08,840
Speaker 2: full every month, we're not cool with that. That doesn't

823
00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:11,920
Speaker 2: provide you financial flexibility that makes you beholden to the

824
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 2: banks into the credit card providers. So the goal is

825
00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,840
Speaker 2: to not tap that helock, but to have it available

826
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,320
Speaker 2: should you need it in case of an emergency. And

827
00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 2: we don't think this takes you off the hook for

828
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 2: having cash on hand. It doesn't mean we want you

829
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 2: to be comfortable having fifteen hundred bucks in savings like

830
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,480
Speaker 2: that's not enough. But it can be an effective backup

831
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,360
Speaker 2: to the backup. That's how we think about it. And

832
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:35,160
Speaker 2: the same is true with a roth IRA because that's

833
00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:38,399
Speaker 2: actually one of the most flexible accounts you can sock

834
00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 2: away investment dollars into. You're putting in after tax dollars.

835
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:44,440
Speaker 2: You have the ability to take all of those contributions

836
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,200
Speaker 2: out tax and penalty free because of the way the

837
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,840
Speaker 2: roth is constructed, and so if you've been contributing for

838
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Speaker 2: a bunch of years some of that wrath money, it

839
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,240
Speaker 2: can act as a backup to the backup too. Again,

840
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:58,040
Speaker 2: like tapping that helock, tapping your wrath to pay for

841
00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:00,960
Speaker 2: consumption really bad idea. But the fact that you can

842
00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,600
Speaker 2: have both of these tools acting as extreme backups does

843
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,560
Speaker 2: allow for more financial flexibility. It means you do have

844
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:10,960
Speaker 2: a last line of defense basically if something does go wrong.

845
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,920
Speaker 1: But also investing that is important as well. And specifically,

846
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 1: let's talk about being opportunistic because investing more when the

847
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:20,480
Speaker 1: stock market is on sale. That can be a way

848
00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:24,080
Speaker 1: to take advantage of some not so great economic news

849
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: of a not so great economic cycle. That being said,

850
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,320
Speaker 1: it's easier than done than done right. Like some folks,

851
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:31,960
Speaker 1: they will sit on cash for far too long in

852
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:34,640
Speaker 1: an effort to invest while the market starts to sag

853
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:37,080
Speaker 1: at They want to catch it at the bottom basically,

854
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 1: But then that often means that they're missing out on

855
00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 1: opportunities along the way if they get the timing wrong

856
00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:45,799
Speaker 1: and they're trying to time it perfectly. But in the

857
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:47,799
Speaker 1: same way that we want you to be able to

858
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:49,640
Speaker 1: pounce on a deal when you see an item marked

859
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,120
Speaker 1: down or an item that's on clearance, we want you

860
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: to adopt that same mentality when it comes to your investments.

861
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,320
Speaker 1: And that's great news if you are in the wealth

862
00:39:57,400 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 1: growing stage of your life. But let's say you're getting

863
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 1: closer to retirement. Maybe you'd love to quit tomorrow, but

864
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,200
Speaker 1: you've seen a fairly dramatic decline in your retirement account. Well,

865
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 1: this is where making an intentional effort to be flexible

866
00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,359
Speaker 1: is really going to pay off. You've got a couple

867
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:13,920
Speaker 1: options here. You could continue to work a little bit longer.

868
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 1: Where you are, you're keeping that revenue stream alive while

869
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 1: giving your investments time to recover. Or you could opt

870
00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 1: to reduce your lifestyle right like maybe pushing off some

871
00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,560
Speaker 1: of the some of the expensive travel that you've been

872
00:40:25,560 --> 00:40:27,680
Speaker 1: hoping to do. Either way, that would allow you to

873
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 1: sidestep that sequence of returns, risk that risky face by

874
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,600
Speaker 1: immediately taking out too much of your portfolio immediately after retirement,

875
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,160
Speaker 1: hamstringing your retirement plans. And you know you do this

876
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,960
Speaker 1: by not tapping those accounts, allowing them time to recover.

877
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:45,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, you're what you're saying there too? Is it?

878
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,960
Speaker 2: So much of it depends on your specific personal financial situation, right,

879
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 2: how you're able to be flexible and how you're able

880
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,520
Speaker 2: to pounce, Because it's going to look different for someone

881
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:55,920
Speaker 2: who's in their twenties versus someone who's in their sixties.

882
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:58,719
Speaker 2: And that's a good point, Like, but what can you do?

883
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:01,680
Speaker 2: I think it feel pretty crappy if you're in your

884
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:04,360
Speaker 2: sixties and you were ready to retire this year or

885
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,360
Speaker 2: next year or something like that. But the truth is,

886
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 2: there are options available to you. They can allow you

887
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 2: to be more flexible and it's not always a fun

888
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 2: or easy decision. But the truth is, like you have

889
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 2: more ability, more say over your life than you think.

890
00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:22,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like it kind of reminds me of traveling by

891
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,680
Speaker 1: car because maybe, like the older school method would be

892
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 1: you pull out the Ray McNally, you look at the

893
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,279
Speaker 1: map whenever you print off the directions via map quest,

894
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 1: and you've got all the pages there sitting in your

895
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 1: passenger seat, and you've identified.

896
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:35,839
Speaker 2: A route, a path that you're going to take. Even

897
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 2: by the we're not old enough to have done that.

898
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:38,879
Speaker 2: So I never did that. I printed out a map

899
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:40,680
Speaker 2: Quest directions back in the day, but I.

900
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:42,640
Speaker 1: Grew up as a kid sitting in the passenger seat

901
00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:45,160
Speaker 1: looking at the alice. Oh yeah, dude, I loved it.

902
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:47,480
Speaker 1: I was like I had the binoculars. I would like

903
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:52,200
Speaker 1: look off in the distance for police, just in case

904
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,600
Speaker 1: that happened to be going h going too fast. Never

905
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:57,759
Speaker 1: worked out though, because it's so shaky, But like that's

906
00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 1: kind of the old school method, and that's what it

907
00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 1: looks like to not be flexible because we didn't have

908
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:03,640
Speaker 1: the information to let us know that there is a

909
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 1: better route. But today what do we have. We've got

910
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: ways and all of a sudden, it's like rerouting. By

911
00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,360
Speaker 1: going this route, you will say, however much time and

912
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,400
Speaker 1: tells you when police are on the coming up. But

913
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,319
Speaker 1: there's those there is a degree of flexibility when it

914
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 1: comes to following directions like that. But I mean, in

915
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:24,480
Speaker 1: my experience, I have always followed those instructions because they

916
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:25,720
Speaker 1: do get you there faster.

917
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 2: And so it.

918
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:30,440
Speaker 1: Takes having a more open spirit, a willingness to try

919
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,680
Speaker 1: something different even though that wasn't your original intent.

920
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:35,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, and by the way, I think it's important to

921
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 2: mention that there are ways in which you could attempt

922
00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,920
Speaker 2: to be financially flexible, taking advantage of different cycles that

923
00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:44,239
Speaker 2: might actually produce the wrong results. Let's say you're like,

924
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 2: wait a second, this stock is down ninety five percent,

925
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:50,359
Speaker 2: Maybe I should invest now because because it's not doing

926
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,000
Speaker 2: so hot, But that that would be different than what

927
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,360
Speaker 2: we'd recommend. We don't want you to invest in individual

928
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 2: stocks basically, no matter what, unless you're just it's play money,

929
00:42:57,840 --> 00:42:58,960
Speaker 2: right that you're messing around with.

930
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, but there's a fine line between being opportunistic and then.

931
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:05,640
Speaker 2: Speculating, yes, speculating being stupid. Yeah, the truth is, like,

932
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 2: how can you become more financially flexible. Well, it makes

933
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,080
Speaker 2: me think about just physical flexibility, Matt. My body. I

934
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,440
Speaker 2: am not the most flexible guy. I remember in elementary

935
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,600
Speaker 2: school my gym teacher would say, like I would be

936
00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 2: doing the sit in reach and they be like, really no,

937
00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:18,840
Speaker 2: but for real, you should try. I'm like, no, I

938
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,840
Speaker 2: am trying. I'm just not flexible. The Presidential Fitness Challenge

939
00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:26,800
Speaker 2: is yes, and I was horrible at it, largely because

940
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:28,160
Speaker 2: I'm not flexible at all.

941
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,480
Speaker 1: But it's like you can do a decent number of

942
00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:33,040
Speaker 1: jump ropes right or whatever. I can't remember what else

943
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 1: we got the rulers sit in reach thing, Like I

944
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:36,360
Speaker 1: was terrible at your foot against the box, you have

945
00:43:36,400 --> 00:43:38,640
Speaker 1: to like reach past. Yes, not happening for Joel.

946
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 2: I couldn't do it, but I probably could, right if

947
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:42,920
Speaker 2: I started working on it and I wanted to get there,

948
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,759
Speaker 2: and I was doing a certain amount of stretching every

949
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:46,239
Speaker 2: single day.

950
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:47,919
Speaker 1: There's a way that you can forge it, Joel.

951
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,719
Speaker 2: Right, I just need to make it a priority. But

952
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:52,640
Speaker 2: my lower back would probably feel better if I did too.

953
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:55,239
Speaker 2: But as James Clear says, Matt, I love this quote.

954
00:43:55,239 --> 00:43:57,960
Speaker 2: He says, the ultimate form of preparation is not planning

955
00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,920
Speaker 2: for a specific scenario. But I'm mindset that can handle uncertainty.

956
00:44:02,120 --> 00:44:05,000
Speaker 2: So we didn't talk a lot about mindset. We talked

957
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 2: a lot about We try to give a lot of

958
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: practical advice in this.

959
00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:09,640
Speaker 1: Episode a little bit, just as far as shifting your

960
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:13,000
Speaker 1: goals and changing what it is that's an acceptable financial

961
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:13,520
Speaker 1: goal for you.

962
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, And the truth is, you can just shake your

963
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:19,000
Speaker 2: fist at the economic conditions, right or you can adapt.

964
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 2: You can be the get off my lawn type person

965
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 2: who is just angry at the situation, or you can

966
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:28,600
Speaker 2: make a change. And you can't plan for every potential

967
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 2: scenario that might occur. That is true, but most of

968
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,600
Speaker 2: us have more wiggle room and more say over where

969
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: our dollars go than we think. And the reality is

970
00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:39,759
Speaker 2: that all of us can plan more effectively for uncertainty,

971
00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 2: which of course is something you're going to regularly encounter

972
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 2: for the rest of your life. Uncertainty change. Like you

973
00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:48,759
Speaker 2: said earlier, Matt, is the only constant. Uncertainty is a

974
00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:50,960
Speaker 2: reality of life, and so it's worth spending more time

975
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,520
Speaker 2: preparing yourself and your finances so that you can be

976
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:56,279
Speaker 2: more adaptable, especially like who knows what the future holds.

977
00:44:56,280 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 2: We couldn't have predicted a lot of the things that

978
00:44:57,719 --> 00:44:59,680
Speaker 2: are happening now. We don't know what's going to be

979
00:44:59,719 --> 00:45:02,520
Speaker 2: happening over the next year or two. Will inflation be tamed,

980
00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 2: will mortgage rates come down? We don't know. But the

981
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:08,440
Speaker 2: more adaptable and flexible you can be, the more you

982
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,200
Speaker 2: can take advantage of economic cycles as they shift.

983
00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:12,719
Speaker 1: And you know it, all right, man, Let's get back

984
00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 1: to our beer you and I enjoyed on this episode six,

985
00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:21,000
Speaker 1: which is a dark rye Seyson with layered malt flavors,

986
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:24,400
Speaker 1: pleasant stone and mineral notes and a dry finish. I

987
00:45:24,440 --> 00:45:26,920
Speaker 1: didn't even launch into my tasting notes yet. That's just

988
00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:27,879
Speaker 1: a bottle reading what.

989
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:28,719
Speaker 2: The bottle said.

990
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:31,960
Speaker 1: This is by Upright Brewing out there in Portland, Oregon.

991
00:45:32,239 --> 00:45:33,720
Speaker 1: What were your thoughts on this one, buddy?

992
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:37,919
Speaker 2: So when I opened this bottle, I thought, Sayson, great,

993
00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:40,080
Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to this one. It was so very

994
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,440
Speaker 2: different than I expected it. Actually, I didn't think it

995
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:44,839
Speaker 2: was gonna look like this or taste like this.

996
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:49,040
Speaker 1: It didn't. Yeah, didn't have those typical traditional season notes.

997
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:51,279
Speaker 2: That being said, I liked it in a lot of ways.

998
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:54,200
Speaker 2: It was more like Belgian du bell in my opinion,

999
00:45:54,239 --> 00:45:56,040
Speaker 2: O it had like some of those spices. It was

1000
00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:59,440
Speaker 2: actually darker than I expected. Most sexons are are lighter.

1001
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,040
Speaker 2: It's not my favorite style, but it is a decent

1002
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:03,920
Speaker 2: fall beer as kind of like the perfect time to

1003
00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:06,680
Speaker 2: drink it, if we're gonna drink this beer early winter beer. Yeah,

1004
00:46:06,719 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 2: so I'll say I liked it even though it was

1005
00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:12,359
Speaker 2: not what I was what you're expecting when I popped own.

1006
00:46:12,960 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 1: It kind of has like this unrefined character to it,

1007
00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:17,239
Speaker 1: Like it almost kind of feels like a like tastes

1008
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:18,200
Speaker 1: like a really good homebrew.

1009
00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:19,719
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, kind of like kind of like

1010
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:21,360
Speaker 2: you unrefined, unrefined like me.

1011
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:24,439
Speaker 1: It's so like the the malts. I feel like, are

1012
00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:27,000
Speaker 1: you I mean you mentioned a double or a du bell?

1013
00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:29,440
Speaker 1: I feel like it tastes more like a Belgian quad

1014
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:33,480
Speaker 1: but then without the big robust backbone, Like it's got

1015
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:37,839
Speaker 1: those darker notes and some raisin vibes, totally raisings going on,

1016
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 1: but it doesn't have those Belgian yeasts that give it

1017
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 1: that super Belgian flavor.

1018
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:43,880
Speaker 2: Just has those darker flavors.

1019
00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:48,000
Speaker 1: It's real brown bread raisins. It wasn't overly sweet as well,

1020
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:51,400
Speaker 1: so it definitely had that dry character, but simultaneously it

1021
00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:53,359
Speaker 1: was dark, right, So I feel like you don't often

1022
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:56,440
Speaker 1: get dry and dark in the same bottle normally. If

1023
00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: it's dark, that means there's a lot of sugar in it.

1024
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,400
Speaker 1: And the fact that this is dark and dry, it's

1025
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:04,680
Speaker 1: almost as if it doesn't compute, like these two sort

1026
00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: of flavors shouldn't belong.

1027
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:07,720
Speaker 2: Together, like an enigma beer.

1028
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:11,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's it's very very interesting. It's not a

1029
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:12,480
Speaker 1: combination that you would expect.

1030
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:13,080
Speaker 2: But I liked it.

1031
00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,160
Speaker 1: I would say pretty good. And it's always fun to

1032
00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 1: have a beer, a different kind of beer than what

1033
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:21,000
Speaker 1: we're typically used to, as well as a beer by

1034
00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,000
Speaker 1: a brewery that we've never had before. We've never had

1035
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:25,719
Speaker 1: an upright brewing beer. Looks like it's got a bass

1036
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,120
Speaker 1: left on that hop, so it says upright. I wonder

1037
00:47:28,120 --> 00:47:30,680
Speaker 1: if it's like an upright base or something. I wonder

1038
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:33,640
Speaker 1: if that's like the origins of this brewery. But appreciate

1039
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:34,880
Speaker 1: you picking this one up, and I'm glad that you

1040
00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: and I got to share it today.

1041
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:38,320
Speaker 2: Agreed, all right, that's going to do it for this episode.

1042
00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:40,160
Speaker 2: If you want show notes links to some of the

1043
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,120
Speaker 2: articles or previous episodes we mentioned. You can find those

1044
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 2: up on our website at howtomoney dot com.

1045
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:46,880
Speaker 1: That's right, buddy. So that's going to be it until

1046
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,799
Speaker 1: next time. Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out

1047
00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:01,320
Speaker 2: Four