WEBVTT - Battling Money Anxiety #197 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.759 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and Matt. 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:25.919 Today we're discussing battling money anxiety. Yeah, Joel, I just 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:30.120 saw a report by a financial services organization and they 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:35.240 reported that eight of Americans experienced anxiety around their money. 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:39.519 These negative impacts have effects on their health, their social lives, 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:42.360 and their careers as well. So I think it's very 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:46.000 timely and important that we're talking about anxiety specifically, you know, 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.279 our anxiety and how it pertains to our money. We're 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.120 gonna talk about mental health a little bit, and we're 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.680 gonna talk about some specific ways that we can reduce 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.440 the amount of anxiety that we have surrounding our money. Yeah. No, 0:00:56.520 --> 0:00:59.720 I think that's so helpful because money anxiety is is, 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.040 like you said, a huge problem. It affects eight and 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.280 a half out of ten of us. So that, yeah, 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:05.640 that's that's quite a bit of people that are that 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:08.160 are affected by money anxiety. And I think there are 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:10.120 you know, really good tips so we can give to 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.440 help mitigate. Some of them are our mental things, ways 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:15.000 that we need to approach our money, and then other 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.080 things that we need to discuss our money moves that 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:18.640 we need to make in order to be able to 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.120 reduce the anxiety that we feel about our financial situation. 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:24.280 So we're gonna get into all that stuff today on 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:26.440 the show. But Matt, before we get to that, we 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:29.240 had a listener right in about a strategy to to 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:31.440 save money at the grocery store. And I know you 0:01:31.520 --> 0:01:33.880 responded and you mentioned the credit card that you use 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.680 at the grocery store. But what was his take? And 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.399 kind of, yeah, what what do you think about using 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.240 what was a prepaid card? Yeah? Prepaid cards, and that's 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:43.840 not something we've talked about before, but he was mentioning 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.440 this specific card. It's called a Kimbo a k I 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.720 m b O makes me think to Kimbay Mutamba, who 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:51.480 was a basketball player for the Hots for a long time, 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:53.080 and he used to wag his finger and people's faces 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.440 after he blocked their shot. Yeah, yeah, no, no no, 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:57.320 but yeah, he just smushed his name together. And you 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:00.320 get this card, the paid card. So what's interesting about 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.440 going with prepaid cards? And this isn't something we've really 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:05.560 talked about before. When it comes to budgeting, we tend 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.680 to go to the extreme of saying, hey, if you 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:10.959 really needed to take control of your spending. Look to 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:12.799 the envelope system. A lot of people do that where 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:15.160 they will withdraw a certain amount of cash and they 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:16.760 literally will have that cash on them and they will 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:18.400 only use that amount of cash and once they're out 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.440 of money, they're out of money, right, And so you 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.119 can see this really playing out well when it comes 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:24.760 to groceries. When it comes to entertainment, there's a hard 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.280 limit really helpful for a lot of people. Exactly you 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:30.920 you would have to go and withdraw more cash, you know, Yeah, 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:33.280 so it would be a more painful process to kind 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.400 of cheat, right, there's something tangible that runs out versus 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.200 you know, you're putting that money on a credit card 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.120 and there isn't a tangible limit necessarily, and so I 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:44.680 think prepaid cards, first of all, can be a great 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:47.440 alternative to using cash because you can put a certain 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.960 amount of money on that card. And what's great about 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:51.680 that is once you run out of money on that card, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:53.359 well that's it. You know, like you need to wait 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:55.320 until the first of the month before you're able to 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:59.360 replenish that money. But with this specific card, one of 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:01.519 the things that was the coolest feature about the Akimbo 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:04.080 card was that you can set up text alerts, and 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.359 so every time you make a purchase with that card, 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.560 it'll a tell you how much you just spent and 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.520 be it'll tell you the remaining balance that you have 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.480 left on that card. And that is kind of a 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.280 game changer, man, because it's because you were doing that manually. 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:22.440 And that's because you text your wife like a couple 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.320 times a month, a couple of times about what the 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:27.799 balance is on the grocery budget or her specific money 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.520 or yours. I mean, like you're updating the entertainment funds, 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:32.160 that kind of stuff. And he was like, dude, let 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.520 a Kimbo do it for you. Yes, yes, yes, you 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.720 know exactly because Kate, she's interested in our finances, but 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.400 not to the extent that I am, right, And so like, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:43.600 she wants to know what these updates are, but she's 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:45.760 not going to go seek them out herself. And so 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.800 if she automatically got these updates, because you know, in 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.160 our family she handles the groceries, that's one of her 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.200 areas of expertise and what she purchases, but if she 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:56.760 were to get an update on her phone that told 0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:00.000 her how much was left, man, she has perfectly up 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.920 to date information automatically. She doesn't have to come check 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:04.880 in with me, you know, a couple of times a month. 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.440 That's assuming that I haven't been proactive and sent her 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.400 that information ahead of time. But it just streamlines things. 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.640 It makes things easier. And so the big question, though, 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:15.480 is is it worth me not getting my six percent 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.760 on groceries? Because I think I just mentioned this to 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.360 you recently on an episode, But I got that blue 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:24.119 Cash Preferred American Express card and we get six percent 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.200 on groceries and that is the highest percentage you can 0:04:26.240 --> 0:04:29.440 get cash back on a regular card. So regardless, I 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.279 think we are going to try this out though, because 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.359 I want to just try not and just to know 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:36.200 what that feels like, see how it changes maybe me 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.760 and Kate's relationship, the dynamics there a little bit. And 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.800 if it works out better and in the end, if 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.920 we end up not going over budget slightly because that 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:47.320 information is readily available, well then it's worth not getting 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:49.720 that six percent back, right, Uh, it might be worth 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:54.880 not having these, you know, small arguments over over the 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:58.599 monthly budget. I'll I'll gladly lose six percent back to 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.040 avoid some arguments exact. But I'm a numbers guy, and 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:02.880 I see six percent that I'm leaving on the table, 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.000 you know, of about five bucks a month, which is 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.640 what we spend on groceries, and that's not jump change essentially, 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:10.320 that's that's sort of the fee that I'm paying in 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.360 order to go to a system that would be a 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:14.560 little bit easier. Yeah. Well, I'll say I haven't really 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.000 looked into the Kimbo card. I know there are lots 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:19.320 of different kinds of prepaid cards out there, and so yeah, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.240 one thing I think is important to mention here if 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.600 someone is thinking about doing a prepaid card, A lot 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.640 of prepaid cards have a lot of nasty fees associated 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:29.880 with them. So that's something to be aware of before 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.840 you do jump into using prepaid cards in order to 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:35.800 kind of help you budget it. Yeah, it could. If 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.640 there are zero fee prepaid cards that make it easier 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:41.920 for you, right and provide text alerts like this, then 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:44.120 it can be a win win to to be able 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.039 to help you budget well, but not have tons of 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.560 cashing in your pocket because that's an awkward place to 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:51.839 be too. But yeah, just something for people to be 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:53.920 aware of. A lot of these prepaid cards come with 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.719 monthly fees. Come with lack of usage, fees and stuff 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:58.640 like that, and so you just don't want your money 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.599 to be drained. That's on the hard because you chose 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.120 that route instead of instead of something else that that 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.200 just wouldn't fee you to death exactly. So yeah, it's 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:10.520 a lot to consider because you have the behavioral relationship 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.240 side of it, and then you've got the numbers and 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:14.040 sense side of it as well. You need to take 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.680 all those things into account. But but yeah, hopefully this 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:18.359 is something we can try out soon and I'll let 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:19.960 you know how it goes. All right, sounds good. I'll 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:21.919 look forward to hearing. All right, Matt, let's mention the 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:23.480 beer that we're having on the show today. We're drinking 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.240 a beer called Sour Opal. It's an American wild Dale 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:29.159 buy Firestone Walker Big brewery out of California, and our 0:06:29.200 --> 0:06:31.240 buddy Josh sent this one to us. So, yeah, looking 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:32.960 forward to having this one with you. Man. Yeah, he 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:34.520 was kind of enough to send us a bunch of beers. 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:35.920 This is one that was kind of sitting in the 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:38.320 back of the fridge. We had a bunch of his 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:40.960 a few months ago. Uh, I'm really excited about this 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.279 one and we'll definitely share our notes and what we 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.520 think about this beer at the end of the episode, Yeah, 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:47.400 for sure. But now onto the subject in hand, Matt. 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.560 We're talking about battling money anxiety, and it is just 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.880 a highly relevant issue, even more relevant right now. People's 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.200 money anxieties are flaring up. As you know, the unemployment 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.760 numbers are are pretty dismal, and people are just having 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.800 a tough time with their personal finances in a rough economy. 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.120 And it's also important to note that money anxiety doesn't 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.120 just play low income earners right. More and more stories 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.760 have been written in recent years about well off people 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:16.200 admitting their own money anxieties, their own difficulties with money. 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:18.840 People making a hundred thousand dollars or more are living 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.200 paycheck to paycheck, just like half of Americans are. So 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.480 that anxiety that comes with managing your money, it's not 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.080 something rare or unique. You're not alone if you are 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:32.400 somebody who does find their personal finances to be an 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:36.360 anxiety producing area of their life. And people prone to 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:40.760 anxiety or depression are less likely to have a retirement 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.240 account where they're saving for the future. That's not good 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:47.000 and that's according to a seventeen finding from a Cornell study, 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:49.760 these anxieties are doing great harm to the reality on 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.680 the ground of people building up and saving for their 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.560 future matts. So it's not just that we feel these things, 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.600 but but these feelings that the anxious feelings that come 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.320 along with not handling our money well or or being 0:08:01.400 --> 0:08:05.200 unsure about how to go about handling our money. Uh, 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:09.040 it produces actually an inability to to take positive action 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:10.800 in the future. And so it is a topic that 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:13.120 we really do need to cover. Yeah, well, really that 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.480 the question is what came first, the chicken or the egg. 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.920 Do they not have a retirement account because they're anxious, 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.200 or are the anxious because they don't have any money 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.240 in the bank? Man, could be a little bit of both, Yeah, 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.760 and I think it is. And obviously, like it's not 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.280 a one size fits all sort of situation, Like people 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.120 have varied circumstances with lots of different things going on 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:34.600 in their lives, and you know, our finances are only 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:36.320 a small part of it. Obviously, that's what we're gonna 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.000 be focusing on today, is the money aspect of it 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.160 and how that anxiety is sort of manifesting itself in 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.640 our finances, you know, and this the stress and this 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:46.720 anxiety that we have, it seems to be getting worse. 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:51.080 The president of the American Psychiatry Association and need to Everett. 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:55.280 She said that US adults are increasingly anxious, particularly about health, 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.760 safety and finances. Right in COVID nineteen, it hasn't done 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:02.120 anything to lessen the pact of anxiety on our nation. 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.920 Most of us are feeling familial and financial stressors even 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.199 more now than we normally would. Uh. There's some new 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.880 research from qual Tricks, and they show that since the 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:16.000 health crisis began, that thirty of folks reported increased insomnia, 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:19.640 half of respondents felt more irritable, and six of people 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.920 say that they have higher levels of stress altogether. Man, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:25.720 I know, for me, I guess this isn't really money related, 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:27.559 but like just going to the grocery store stresses me 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.720 out a little bit. I know, before there was a 0:09:29.760 --> 0:09:31.480 whole lot of good data out there as far as 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:34.040 what you were supposed to be doing. The CDC hadn't 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.600 uh instituted the you know the face coverings, you know 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.120 mask rule essentially. But like I would go into the 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:40.760 grocery store and I would kind of hold my breath, 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:43.280 like like when I would walk past groups of people 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.520 because like I didn't know what else to do. And 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:47.840 I realized that holding your breath really stresses you out 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.160 while you're trying to run around the grocery store with 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:52.800 a shopping list. I do not recommend that, but yeah, 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:55.280 I mean the stress shows itself in all sorts of 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:57.440 ways in our lives, and yeah, we see that played 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:58.920 out in a big way when it comes to our money. Well, 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:00.199 I'm glad I didn't find you past out in the 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:01.760 bacon aisle with the blue face or something like that. 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:03.280 I'm like shooting for the exit, and I'm like, I 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:04.679 think I can make it. I think I can make it. 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.800 I can't make it. I can't make it, And down 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.440 goes Matt. Well, that I gotta say too that this 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.600 issue in particular is is pretty personal in my life. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:18.240 My wife struggles with anxiety. It's been something that that 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.120 we've had to talk about more and more through the years. 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.160 It's something that we have to kind of maintain constic 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:24.720 communication on, like how are your anxiety levels. It's something 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.800 that we've kind of grown accustomed to having be a 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.720 part of our lives. And I've learned a lot about 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.440 it as we've grown together through dealing with the difficulties 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.440 that come with kind of some of the anxious tendencies 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.760 that she has. Medications help some, but we've also had 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.800 to be just really intentional in order to combat these 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.559 anxieties together as a couple. And so, yeah, we're fortunate 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:47.360 that that money isn't one of the reasons behind her anxiety, 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:49.840 because you know, we have done a pretty good job 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:52.040 over the years of handling it well. But that's why 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.400 I think tack tackling this topic feels so important is 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.200 because it is personal in a lot of ways to me, uh, 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.920 into our family. Well, dude, thanks for sharing that. You know, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.160 money anxiety just financial stress in general, Like, that's something 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.280 that most all of us deal with in one way 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.959 or another. Right, It's a very real thing. And even 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.120 though a lot of us we might try and deny it, 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:14.000 were all more susceptible to it. Then we realized one 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.119 of the biggest problems, I think it's not even realizing 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:18.920 that we might already have this anxiety, you know, it 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.960 might be present in our lives now. And so what 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.720 we want to talk about next are the different signs 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:28.280 the symptoms of some of this financial stress, and we'll 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:39.760 talk about those right after the break. All right, now 0:11:39.760 --> 0:11:42.240 we're back from the break. We're talking about battling money anxiety, 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:44.839 and in particular, people need to know what the signs 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:46.160 are that they might be dealing with it. I mean, 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:48.360 I think some people might be like, duh, I'm pulling 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.000 my hair out over here, like looking at my bank statement, 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.080 and so some people might just automatically know that they're 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.200 suffering from from money anxiety. Some of our listeners who 0:11:57.240 --> 0:12:00.280 are handling money really well might not have as much 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.360 of a clue though that it still does plague them. 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:03.680 And I know that can be the case for me 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.320 that sometimes, you know, money issues do come up in 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.120 my brain that cause me some anxiety. But it's not 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.040 because I'm living hand to mouth, I'm living paycheck to paycheck. 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.079 It's just because I'm not thinking or handling that situation 0:12:15.480 --> 0:12:17.160 very well. And yes, so so so knowing some of 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.800 these signs can be can be really helpful and and 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:22.520 really shine a light on what might actually be happening 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.840 beneath the surface. Some of these symptoms might be more 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.640 subtle than we realize. Yeah, completely, Yeah, So let's get 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.120 into a few of them real quick. And one is 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:32.960 paying too much attention to the stock market, financial news, 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:35.160 and your four oh one K balance. In this down term, 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.160 we've experienced a lot of stock market volatility, and so 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.240 if you're tending to head to CNBC way more than 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.520 you used to, you're checking your four o one K 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.400 balance on a daily basis or a weekly basis, well, 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:50.680 that's a sign that you have some financial anxiety. And 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:53.120 if you can't let it go, if you can't turn 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.240 those things off, then that is definitely a sign you 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:57.000 need to watch out for. Yeah, man, I think this 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.520 is especially true too for us, You and me, like 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:01.520 we're relatively young, and we we've got a lot of 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.720 younger listeners, and so if you are investing for the 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.439 long haul, you don't need to look at your your 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.880 balances daily or even weekly because it doesn't really matter. 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.600 It doesn't matter what the market is doing right now, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.760 because the impact of these fluctuations that we have currently 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:19.720 are going to have such a small impact on the 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:21.520 amount that we have in our nest egg, you know, 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:23.719 twenty and thirty years from now. So if you are 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.120 a younger listener in particular in your twenties or thirties, 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.199 checking your portfolio and looking at your balance that really 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.120 shouldn't even be a practice you have at all. Yeah, 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.440 So that's one sign feeling depressed when you even start 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:36.520 to think about money, budgeting and saving. I mean just 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:38.880 kind of realizing, Matt, that you have to get a 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:41.600 handle on things that you need to take some action, 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.520 and just getting into a funk because of it, not 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:47.720 being able to even make that first stab at opening 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.480 up a mint account or wine ab account to start tracking, 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.920 and just feeling a general kind of sense of malaise 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.880 when when you are trying to confront some of the 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.360 money issues that do exist in your life. That another 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:03.680 sign that you are financially anxious. And another one too, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:07.280 is is too much emotion associated with attempts at frugality. 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.400 So if you are trying to make some frugle moves, 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:13.000 you're trying to cut back on subscription services, you're trying 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.520 to cut the cable cord, you're trying to lower your 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:18.080 your internet bill, whatever it is that you're trying to 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:20.240 do to to change the way you handle money and 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.760 to save money, but the way you handle it emotionally 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.800 is just a little chaotic then I would say that's 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.960 a sign that you're you're too money anxious and something 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:31.280 needs to change, you know, Joel. And what's interesting about 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.560 like that point too, is that a lot of those 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.400 things you talked about, you know, like cutting your subscriptions, 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.440 like finding ways to save more money, investing more like 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:39.760 these are all things that we talk about all the 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.480 time on the show. It's basically, maybe what we're saying 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:45.600 is that by listening to our show, maybe that's causing 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.320 you anxiety. So stop listening. No, that's not what we're saying. No, 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.360 that's a terrible idea. These are still good things to 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.120 know and to be aware of, right, Like, you need 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.680 to have that knowledge. But at the same time, we 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:59.800 need to strive after not judging our worth based on 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.000 how much we're able to reduce our expenses, how much 0:15:03.000 --> 0:15:05.320 we're able to increase our saving. Right, it's good to 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.800 do these things. But if we are, you know, like 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:09.520 you said, if we're being too chaotic, if we're being 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.520 too emotional about it, if we're tying our worth to 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.840 how much of this we're actually able to get done, 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:16.840 if we're trying our personal worth, you know, to our 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.400 net worth, how much we actually have in the bank account. Well, like, 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:23.240 that's when it can become unhealthy. Right, So a lot 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:24.720 of the things that we're gonna talk about today are 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.680 are good things to do. So I just wanted to 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.480 mention that quickly because just to kind of reframe what 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:30.840 it is that we're talking about here, A lot of 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.160 the stuff that we talk about are good things, but 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.200 can always be taken to an unhealthy level. Yeah, and 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.160 there are a lot of people to Matt who are 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.720 handling their money really well, but they have an unhealthy 0:15:40.760 --> 0:15:45.359 frugal obsession, and over frugality can really harm a relationship, 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.600 it can harm you as an individual. So, yeah, we 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.640 love frugality, but there's a balance, right that that comes 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.440 along with everything in life, and I think we try 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.720 to approach money from a balanced standpoint where we don't 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:58.440 want people to to cut to the bone in order 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.800 to to save a few extra dollars. There's a place 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.240 where we can approach frugality, cutting back, being thoughtful with 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.880 our money in a way that doesn't necessarily pile on 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.480 to our anxious feelings. Yeah, and so another couple maybe 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.720 symptoms of financial anxiety is maybe the opposite of what 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.000 we're talking about here instead of beings so frugal, maybe 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:17.960 you just don't really care anymore and you're letting others 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.360 take the reins and completely resigning yourself from even thinking 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:23.960 about money. Yeah, that could be a spouse, a partner, 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:27.200 or that could also be a financial advisor, either one 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.400 of those people. And if you're just letting the reins 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.600 go completely, that's a sign that maybe you've let money 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.560 anxiety take over the point that you've relented completely from 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:37.240 from even thinking about it. Yeah, and even on the 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:38.960 flip side of that as well, is maybe if you're 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:41.560 trying to take full control over all of your finances, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.040 including the things that we don't have control over. We're 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.240 gonna talk more about that later on, but you know, again, 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:48.480 there's there's two sides of the coin. Another sign you 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:51.040 might be suffering from some financial anxiety is if you 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.920 go on some shopping spreeze when you're not feeling so great, right, Like, 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:56.680 if you go on these spending binges to help you 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:58.680 to feel a little bit better, maybe spending some money 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:00.400 after you've had a hard day out where or maybe 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.560 you've had an argument with your partner, or if you 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.200 find yourself spending money regularly. You know, it doesn't even 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:06.479 have to be a lot of money, but even if 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:08.199 it's a small amount, but it's something that you do 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.119 every single time to kind of lift your spirits a 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:11.760 little bit, that could certainly be a sign of some 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.800 financial stress. And so those are just a few examples, right, Like, 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:18.240 we we all let our money anxieties, uh, manifest themselves 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.960 in our lives in different ways, but it is important 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:25.280 to think about what ways those anxieties are triggered in 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.320 order to deal with them at all. Yeah, Matt, So, 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.000 so let's talk about some practical ways to combat the 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.240 anxiety that people might be feeling. If they realize that 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.920 some of those symptoms of money anxiety, that those were 0:17:36.440 --> 0:17:38.520 true to form for them, that that they exist in 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.199 their life, Well, how do we start combating that? And 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:42.960 a few of the first things are are we well, 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.480 we need to talk about resiliency and mental health. And 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:47.679 first it's I think it's really important to recognize that 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.720 anxiety is normal. You gave the stat of Americans suffer 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:54.560 from some sort of money anxiety, and anxiety is kind 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:57.360 of just a part of the human condition overall. None 0:17:57.400 --> 0:17:59.919 of us can completely avoid it, and it's helped us 0:17:59.920 --> 0:18:03.720 to survive unprecedented things throughout our history. Right, anxiety actually 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.679 has a positive effect in some ways, it's almost a 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:11.000 physical necessity. But it's also important to mitigate unhelpful anxious feelings, 0:18:11.240 --> 0:18:14.200