WEBVTT - Earning $400,000 and Still Drowning in Debt 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.040 It's time forward. The b a qa A, the v 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:24.040 a qa what to say? The b a qa with manday, 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.840 the b a qa the b a qa. 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:32.160 A, what's up? B a fam? 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:35.000 I am so excited to be here with y'all. I'm 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.640 a little raspy today, but I'm kind of into it. 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:41.519 I don't know about y'all. I'm into this. Let's getting older, 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:44.879 getting a little bit raspier, getting some grit on them 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:48.520 vocal cords. But today is the Q and A, which 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:52.280 means y'all got questions. I have some answers, but like 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.760 with a lowercase A. Okay, as I say, you got 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:58.480 to get those salt shakers out because everything that I 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:00.920 say on this show, take it with a grain of salt. 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.039 Don't sue me. You can call your attorney, but you 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:07.679 ain't going to sue me. Okay, this is for pure 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:13.320 entertainment purposes. I may be a fabulous career and money coach, 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.000 but I am not your personal career and money coach. 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:19.680 And honestly, we don't have all the details, right, so 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.600 if I say something, it's just for funzies and I'm 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.200 doing the best I can. But like obviously, we don't 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.920 have all the information, so again, don't sue us. Thank you. 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:32.560 All right, So our first question of the day comes 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.039 from Instagram and if y'all want to send us a question. 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.400 I keep saying us because it's like there were us, 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.319 but now it's me and it's like what do I 0:01:41.480 --> 0:01:43.959 do in this new era? Ba fam, Just know that 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:49.080 I'm trying. I'm trying. I'm still a little hung up 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.800 on my ex Love you tivity. All right, This question 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:57.600 is from Regina from IG y'all can hit us hit 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:02.120 me up. I'm Brown and Fission Pod on Instagram if 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.520 you want to have your question answered on the show. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.640 Also Brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com. All right, 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.480 Regina says, Hey, love all the content, y'all. Do I 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.560 have been following y'all for a few years now. My 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:17.200 question is that I have a four to oh one 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:20.679 K from a previous employer, still sitting with the original 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.720 brokerage I opened it in when I worked there, which 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.160 is TIAA. I am now with a new employer and 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.079 I have a four oh one K through that employer 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:33.200 through a different brokerage, which is Fidelity. Now I realize 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.720 I should roll my original four oh one K into 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:39.480 an IRA for ease. Should I just roll it over 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.840 to my new brokerage. If I do this and then 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.400 end up with another employer later in life at another brokerage, 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:49.520 would I then be able to roll both my IRA 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.720 and current active four oh one K over. I would 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.360 imagine I'd want to keep them together just so I 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:58.880 don't forget where my money is. Lol. Thank you so 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:01.520 much for your thoughts. And no, I won't sue my 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:06.760 brown besties. Thank you, Regina. Regina's got her Solis shake 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.480 care how ginos? Okay? But this is a great question, Regina, 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:14.520 and I think your instinct is important, which is like, 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.800 for you, you would want to keep them together because you 0:03:17.919 --> 0:03:19.880 worry that you might forget where your money is. And 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.600 that is a real concern here, right, is if you 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:26.280 have accounts in all different places, life is going to life. 0:03:26.320 --> 0:03:29.600 You may have several jobs over the rest of your career, 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:34.160 and it can It doesn't seem like it's, you know, possible, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.640 but it is very possible to forget that you have 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:41.120 some money left over. I myself have like fifteen hundred 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.400 dollars or something like that saved in a four to 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.160 oh one K that's now been rolled over into an 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.560 IRA from a previous employer, and I still have not 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.360 got around because every time I think about it, I'm like, yeah, 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.520 I gotta do that, and then I just don't do 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:56.640 it because I go to log in and I don't 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.600 know my password, and I'm like, I'll come back another time. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:02.040 And it's just, you know, it's a little bit there's 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.280 friction there. It's not so simple. It still like takes 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.240 effort to do it right. So and I'm like, well, 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.960 it's not going anywhere. But what if I forget I 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.040 had this fifteen hundred dollars. It's ad that's not a 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.440 lot of it's not a little bit of money, you know, 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.599 So we don't want that to happen, right, So if 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.080 you think you may be inclined to forget, it may 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.120 make a lot of sense to just take your previous 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.560 employers for one K and roll it over into an 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:32.039 IRA that you own, and then make that IRA your 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:35.800 destination for any future for a one K rollovers. Okay, 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:38.720 So that means if you leave the job that you 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:41.920 have now and you want to move your four to 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.039 one K out of that Fidelity account, you already have 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:48.920 this IRA opened with that that has your previous four 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.039 one K already rolled over, and then you can just 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.880 add that and then open up your new four one 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:58.440 K wherever your employer has their partnership with. Another reason 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:02.520 it's great to roll it over over is because your 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:04.720 four one K through your employer it may not have 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:08.760 all of the investing options that you want. They may 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.040 have very limited funds, or the funds that they do 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.600 have maybe more expensive than what you can find opening 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.680 your own brokerage account, like through a Vanguard or a Schwab. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:20.680 The good news is that I mean Fidelity TIAA. These 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.520 are both platforms that should have a wealth of options 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.880 for investing and low cost investments as well, So you 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:30.560 could be good, you know, just keeping your money parked 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.920 there in that account. But let's say the other side 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:38.320 of this is, okay, I don't want to open an iray, 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:40.919 even if I do designate that as my four to 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:43.799 one K rollover pot for the rest of my career. 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:45.920 I would rather just take my four to one K 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.240 from my previous employer and roll it over to this 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.920 new four oh one K at Fidelity. You can absolutely 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:56.279 do that too. That takes a couple of like cons 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.640 out of the equation. It means that you won't have 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.279 to keep track of that for a one K rollover 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.920 IRA that you would open, and it just sort of 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.640 gives you something to pick. It gives you something to 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.560 build on through your four to one K at your 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.520 new company. So those are a couple of pros, But 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.120 for me, it's really which option is going to work 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:23.240 better for you. The simplest, which means like I can 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.559 just do one thing and kind of get this ticked 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.599 off and I know that I'm not losing or keep 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:30.440 losing track of the money that I have, is just 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.120 to go ahead and roll that for a one K. 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:35.720 Tell TIAA, here's where you can send my money. They'll 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:39.080 roll it directly into your new employer provided for a 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.640 one K, and you can keep it moving. You can 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.680 keep doing that for the next job and the next 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:47.520 job and the next job, and you have this like 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.159 snowball of four one K balances that you're moving over. 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.719 But it can't hurt to take a couple of extra 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:58.080 steps to say, Okay, long term, maybe I should have 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.839 my individual broken where I can roll these accounts over 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.400 into and I can control what types of investing options 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:10.480 I have. There's no bad answer here, there's just slight differences. 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.520 And at the end of the day, it's up to 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.480 you and what you're willing to do, how much work 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.840 you're willing to put in, and how much effort, and 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.400 it's yeah, it's up to you. But that's a great question, Regina, 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:25.400 and thank you so much for sending that. I'm going 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:27.200 to take a quick break and be right back with 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:36.440 question two. All RBA fam we are back, and this 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.560 is a question from missus X from Instagram. She says, 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.640 love y'all, love your show, Tiffany will miss you girl, 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.240 me too. Okay, She says, my name is missus X, 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:50.440 and my husband and I make a combined income of 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.600 nearly four hundred thousand dollars. Yet we are in Hella 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:58.160 credit card debt to the point of almost paying hundreds 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:03.680 and overdraft fees overdraft feeds. I'm wondering why credit card 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:07.560 debt would cause overdraft fees. I'm gonna guess you mean 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:13.320 like late fees or interest fees. But regardless, you're paying 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.800 extra money on top of the debt. Right. We have 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.240 a child in private school and no one who will 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:22.040 be starting college. Oh, we have a child in private 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.920 school and one who will be starting college soon. Oh, 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.720 we also have a high ass monthly tax bill. We're 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.360 considering taking a loan to wipe out all credit card 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.120 debt and try to live off of one income or 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:36.800 live off of one income to save for college and 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:40.640 emergencies is not the right thing to do. Please help, 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.920 Thank you, oh missus X. Well, the first thing is 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:49.840 thank you for sharing this. I in the world of 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:55.000 like internet bullshitttery and where everybody has a microphone and 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.840 likes to cast judgment upon anyone who has something to 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.480 complain about, this is the kind of thing that would 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:04.800 like really piss Internet caught munchers off. It's like, oh, 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:08.560 missus X, poor you. You're making four hundred thousand dollars and 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.559 you're so bad with your money that you have all 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:13.840 this credit card debt and you have you chose to 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.280 put your kids in private school, so like this is 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:18.520 all your own doing and you're a piece of garbage. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.880 Blah blah blah nah. That's not why you're here, missus X. 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.240 You're here because I think you represent a lot of Americans, 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.320 a lot of working people who are making good money 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:32.880 and yet because of the inflation that's happening, and because 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.160 the best choices for our children often are more money. 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.320 And as a parent myself, I get it now, I 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:44.959 really get it. I make decisions not infrequently that are 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.680 not in my own best financial interests because they are 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:51.120 what's best for the kids. And that is so real, 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:55.439 so real. It's not like you can look at a 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:57.040 piece of paper. I feel like this is like in 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.840 the age of we'll call him Dr Yon. Know who 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:03.960 I'm talking about, These old school financial educators or financial 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:06.560 influencers who will look at someone like you and say, 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.720 take your kids out of private school. What's wrong with 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.040 the public school down the street. You know, you could 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:15.760 probably be saving sixty thousand dollars or however much your 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.400 annual tuition is and just put that money into paying 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.480 off your debt. But I get it because, like your 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.360 child's education, at least in my mind, it is one 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.520 of the most important investments you can make. And if 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.439 we're going to be scrimping and saving, is that where 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:35.000 we're gonna pull or trim the fat from to you? 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.800 That is up to you. That is your own damn business. 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.640 Missus X and mister y, that is up to you. 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.959 Y'all chose to put your kids in private school because 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.600 you want what you want for them, and that is 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:49.640 none of our business. That also doesn't help when it 0:10:49.679 --> 0:10:52.000 comes to just your overall question, which is like, we're 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:55.560 earning this much money, but we have this credit card debt. 0:10:56.360 --> 0:11:00.680 So now you're wondering, how can I get some relief 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.360 not just from the credit card debt, but from the 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:05.880 fees that are associated with it. And I'm in a 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.880 very similar position right now, missus X high earning household 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.840 started to put more and more expenses on credit cards, 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:18.480 got a little too comfortable doing that, and then realize 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:22.720 how quickly that debt can start to accumulate just because 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.120 you're paying interest on it, and those interest charges add up. 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.360 It's like the beauty of compound saving when you put 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.600 money in a savings account and you start to earn 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:33.520 interest on it, and then the money that you earn 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:37.080 interest gets added in there, and then you get more interest. 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:39.920 Then you're earning money. You're earning interest on the interest 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:41.880 you saved, and it's just like a flywheel of savings. 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.600 Right But the same thing happens when it comes to 0:11:44.640 --> 0:11:47.560 credit card debt. Okay, so it's very easy to see 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.640 how you can get overwhelmed. I'm just trying to like 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:55.240 validate that it's difficult. Right now, here's the uncomfortable truth 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.720 that I and my husband have had to face too, 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:02.240 and mostly me has. The other day, I was literally 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:04.160 I can't believe I'm telling you guys on this show, 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:10.319 I'm ready for this. I literally was in Target. It 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.520 was the day after Halloween. And when I tell you, 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:19.120 my buggy was stacked to the sailing was stuff because 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.120 they had their fifty percent off of all the Halloween stuff, 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.800 and those yellow clearance signs were up, and I was like, oh, 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:26.720 we need this for the kids for next Halloween, and 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.520 we have a Halloween block party, and I should start stockpiling, 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:34.360 you know, decor and plastic cups and disposable this and 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.959 that and decorations and all this like and goodie bags 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.679 and erasers and miniature bubbles and the shape of you know, 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.920 Dracula fangs and like all this nonsense. And not only 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.040 was the buggy stacked higher than me, I mean, like 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:52.080 I could not see I should maybe I'll post a 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.440 picture I could not see over the top of my 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:59.120 own frickin' Target cart y'all. 0:12:58.280 --> 0:12:59.079 And then. 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:05.400 Bring I look at my phone and there's an unidentified 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:07.880 number calling, and I'm like, oh, it's Paul An election campaign. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.080 But then I hear the doo doo doo, which is 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.560 my calendar, saying, hey, bitch, you have an appointment with 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.440 your financial planner right now. You forgot about it. And 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:21.200 not only not only did you forget that you had 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.640 this appointment, but bitch, you were standing in the middle 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:26.240 of Target with all their shit that you know you 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.160 shouldn't be buying. That you know you're gonna have to 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:31.680 put on your Target Red card, and you're gonna somehow 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:34.120 try to justify because you get five percent off on 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.320 the Target with five percent cash back on your Target 0:13:36.360 --> 0:13:38.760 Red card, and also it's all fifty percent, so really 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:40.120 we're saving money in the future. 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.280 Right. Oh my days. 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.160 I look. Once I realized who it was that call 0:13:46.320 --> 0:13:49.160 that was calling, I'm not proud of myself. I sent 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:53.040 it to voicemail. Okay, I sent it to voicemail, and 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.320 I kept on going, and my heart's sort of starting 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.200 to race, and I'm navigating the store and I'm trying 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.560 to like get down the aisles and I'm peeking around 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:06.080 this giant, fucking like ten foot tall pumpkin playing an 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.680 air guitar lawn decoration that I just had to have 0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.040 because I thought my son would think it'd be funny. 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.720 And I am trying and the skeletons, I'm not making 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:18.800 this up. Skeletons are following off of my cart because 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.680 it's too piled high and they're an awkward shape and 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.320 I'm trying to like tetrist them back into the buggy. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.800 I get to the checkout area, I look at my phone. 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:32.400 The guy from the financial planning firm has sent me 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.240 a text message, Hey, I'm so sorry. He doesn't seem 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.920 to we haven't seemed to be able to connect. Let 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.000 me know if you still have time, and I just 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:44.320 I'm not gonna lie. I started too sweat, and I 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.800 picked up that phone and I called him back. I 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.080 called him back, and I had one hand on my 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.840 cart and the other hand on the phone, and I'm 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.840 just standing near the checkout because I'm like, this guy 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:02.280 doesn't even know how diluted I've sort of become, not okay, 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.080 not diluted, but he doesn't even know how like I 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.960 have change. I have like tricked myself into thinking that 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.920 everything is fine and how I'm in such this like 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:18.560 spiral of overspending now and it's like it's really starting 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.280 to bury me. And now it's becoming it has become 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.040 an issue. But it was so humbling and so frankly 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:29.000 embarrassing and shame inducing. He can't even see me. We're 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.200 not on FaceTime, but just the fact that I am 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.760 talking to him and I have one hand on this 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.400 buggy full of Halloween shit that I do not need 0:15:36.440 --> 0:15:39.120 and I'm about to put on my credit card. Like 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:43.160 the shame, my inner shame is so high at this point, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:46.720 and I see the optics, like somebody snaps a picture 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:48.800 of me and puts it on the Internet with a 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:54.920 meme saying financial educator at Target spending beyond her means 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.640 on the phone with her financial planner to talk about 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.480 how to manage her credit card debt. Like I get it, 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.080 I get it. I can see it. And it's really Chris. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:06.160 It's like I don't even want to say crazy, because 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.560 I I it's something that we all, like so many 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.520 of us, go through right at certain seasons in our life. 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.080 So anyway, I'm talking to this guy, I'm and he 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.440 has all of my accounts uploaded because at this point, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.200 at least I have done the work to like get 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.200 all my accounts on the system, the platform so that 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.359 he can see where stuff is and all that. And 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.600 I'm telling him that, okay, yeah, we have, you know, 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.880 this credit card debt and right now a lot of 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.360 it is most of it is on zero percent interest 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.960 to credit cards that those intro periods are going to 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.720 be expiring over the course of the next year in 0:16:41.800 --> 0:16:45.480 different time periods. So but it's like it's gonna be fine. 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.800 I was just thinking, maybe we'll, you know, take out 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.440 a home equity line of credit, you know, just tap 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.240 into the equity in our house. And shouldn't we do that, 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:56.160 because you know, some banks they may pull back from 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.840 offering home equity loans because of the economy, because the 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:02.720 with it they did during the pandemic and past recessions, 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:05.600 they stop offering them so much. And so that means 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:09.080 it could just be smart, really just to take out 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:11.120 this whole equity line of credit just to have it 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:14.439 like as an emergency and also to pay off this 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.960 credit card debt. Like it seems to make sense, right, 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.800 And I wanted him to validate me. This poor guy, 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.359 by the way, this is our first session together, because 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:24.520 he came. I had like a free consultation through my 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.359 through my financial planning, my financial management platform. It's called empower. 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:31.960 Check it out if you want to. I don't get 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:37.200 paid by them. Maybe I ought to, but anyway, he said, 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:39.639 and I can tell he's like he's listening. He's like, 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.359 uh huh, uh huh. Well, here's the thing. If we 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:47.680 don't treat the underlying issue, which is that y'all are 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:52.200 spending more than you make, and it's in small bits. 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.720 It's not like any one huge spending spree has pushed 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.040 you so far over the edge. But for a you know, 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:04.800 extended period of time. Now, I've been I've been transparent 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:06.680 about how in twenty twenty three it was super hard 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:08.680 for me because I couldn't work, I had a baby, 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.119 I'm writing a book, I'm going through all this drama 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.480 with my dad being sick. I wasn't able to produce 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:15.560 the income that I needed. And now we're constantly like 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.879 trying to keep up with that, right, trying to build 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.000 back up. So that's an extended period of time. And 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:23.520 he's just like a homemack of the line of credit 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:26.399 won't fix it. And he wasn't this blunt but it 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:28.600 was pretty much what he was saying. The helock is 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.000 not going to fix it. It's just going to put 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:33.840 you in an even more vulnerable spot because now your 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.240 home is tied up in it. Now you could lose 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:38.240 your home if you can't afford to pay back the 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.320 helock if you draw, you know, put take a draw 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.919 off that line of credit. We've got to solve the 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:50.960 underlying issue of the overspending, and that is when we 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:54.880 can sort of move forward from there. And I when 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.960 I tell you, like, obviously that's the answer, Like I 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.600 know that, I know it very well. But it's like 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.439 when you have the fact in front of you and 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.520 the logic and the reasoning is there, it's really hard. 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.199 It's you sort of need that wake up call. I 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.239 think as a as a parent, because it is so 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:20.240 easy to justify, like so many decisions if it's for 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.000 the betterment of the kids. But if I'm really being 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:27.080 honest and I'm being like tough on myself, I would say, 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.480 what's really better for the kids is them Mommy and 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.960 Daddy are not putting them in financial jeopardy, and the 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:38.280 law putting ourselves, I mean in financial jeopardy in the 0:19:38.320 --> 0:19:42.399 long run to sort of like for the betterment of 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:44.720 the kids. It sort of like puts all this blame 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:49.480 on the children's shoulders, Like, well, you really wanted that 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.840 fifteen dollars hot wheel monster truck, you know what I mean? 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:55.399 Like you really needed to go to Lego Land for 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:59.480 your birthday? You really? You know, that's not exactly fair. 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:02.320 I don't think it's fair at all to the kids. 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:06.320 So I'm not taking it back to you, missus X. 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:08.439 I'm not saying that the answer is like take the 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:10.640 kids out of private school. Da da da da da. 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:12.879 But I do think you and your husband, just like 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.200 me and my husband, maybe we should be friends. Maybe 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:18.320 we should just all sit down together and just look 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:21.520 at the budget, just the bare bones of it all. 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:24.440 How much is coming in, how much is going to 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:28.200 be going out? And if we can't trim certain things 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:30.359 or we have non negotiables that we don't want to 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.680 get rid of, well then it's a wake up call. 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.240 It's like, so where's the extra money gonna come from? 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.520 And maybe you're like me, maybe you have windfalls that 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:42.440 you know are going to be coming. Maybe you guys 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.040 have an annual bonus that could be coming in January 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.880 February to help you chip away at some of that debt. 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:53.000 That was me in corporate, and honestly, having those windfalls 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:56.000 were a huge, like God send for me, knowing I'd 0:20:56.040 --> 0:20:58.920 have an annual bonus or I could I could exercise 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:01.320 some of my stock options and then get a little 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:03.320 bit of a windfall and that could help me, you know, 0:21:03.440 --> 0:21:06.960 keep some of this debt at bay. I'm still operating 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:08.920 a little bit the way that I was operating during 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:11.199 corporate when I would, you know, have a couple of 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:13.920 these like financial windfalls each year, and maybe you guys 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:16.760 do too, But let's get ahead of that and plan 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:19.520 for it so that we know, okay, when that bonus 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:23.600 comes through, when that tax refund comes, when the equity 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.440 vest we know immediately it's got to go toward these 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:28.920 debt payments. And then how long would it take us 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.280 what can we expect to get from those windfalls, and 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:33.520 then how long would it take us to really chisel away, 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:35.439 chip away at the rest of this debt? Okay? 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.119 And then we need a budget. And it's really annoying 0:21:40.200 --> 0:21:42.800 when you make four hundred K a year, which is 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:45.680 like about what my husband and I are bringing into 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:51.000 collectively like three to four hundred, Like it's really annoying 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:54.400 to then think, oh, we need to be scrimping and 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:55.880