WEBVTT - Work-Life Balance and Credit Card Debt Dilemma 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:18.439 All right, ba fam, I am so excited. 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:19.119 B a q A. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:21.720 I stole Chris and y'a Nelly and they're sticking around 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.439 to take y'all's questions. Welcome to the brand ambition. QA 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:27.920 yan Nelly. You haven't done a QA with us, have you? 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:29.720 No? I have? Oh, I do one with Tiff. I 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:31.200 think on the episode where me and Tiff were when 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:32.920 you were just had just popped. 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:35.800 Oh he just pop, Oh my baby. Okay. I was like, yep, 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:39.240 what like when I get out of bed whole and 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:40.360 everything pops like that? 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:47.200 No, it snap, crackle pop like you popped out a baby. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:51.519 Oh man. Well, b a qa, y'all have questions, We 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:53.880 have answers with the lowercase A. I like to say, 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.360 get your salt shakers out, because you're not gonna sue us. 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.959 This is infotainment. It is information from people who are 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:03.800 pretty smart and know some stuff, but for entertainment purposes. Okay, 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:08.080 we're not your financial advisor or your financial planner, so 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.720 you know, sue someone else, just not us. Don't come 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.480 for us, all right, and please submit your questions. You 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.400 can hit us up on IG. You can send us 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:19.039 a d M. A voice message is fine on ig 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.039 or just a regular old text message. You can also 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:26.200 email us Brand Ambition Podcast at gmail dot com. All right, 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.240 we got some good questions today. So the first question 0:01:29.480 --> 0:01:34.480 is from someone who's anonymous and wants to know. I 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:36.720 have been following your podcast for over a year and 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.959 we have a question for you. Can you recommend a 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:44.440 good auto refinance company for me? I hate Capital One, 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:49.520 It's not an option, thank you auto refinance. So this 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.680 is like, you have an auto loan and you're not 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.240 happy with the rate or like the monthly payments and 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.919 you want to REFI have you guys done that before? 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.520 I have refinanced, Like I'm not refinanced a car loan, 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:03.240 but I have just like done like a credit card 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.960 consolidation before. And yeah, I mean I feel like it's 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.120 hard to say there's one really good company because which 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:10.880 you should really be doing is shopping around so that 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.799 you can get the best rate. Especially right now, rates 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:14.840 are starting to change. 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:17.160 You the rates are starting to drop. 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.880 So you know, somebody might have just dropped their rate 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:21.880 a little lower than somebody else, and it's kind of 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:23.640 on you to do that due diligence to find the 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.200 best option out there for you. Rather than just saying, oh, 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.200 you know, well I heard Capital one is good or 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.280 not good kind of you know, shop around and compare 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:34.520 lenders until you find one that's going to give you 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:35.520 the best deal. 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:37.760 Yeah. 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:40.959 I've heard of a company. I heard about them a 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.919 little while back called Auto Approof. They're supposed to be 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:46.919 a company that will help you go out and find 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.160 a good refinance deal for your auto loan and help you. 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:51.680 With the process like a marketplace. 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.160 Yeah, and they're kind of like walking through the process 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.040 and get you through there. I haven't haven't checked them 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:57.320 out in a little while, so I don't know what's 0:02:57.360 --> 0:02:58.800 going on right now with them, But that's one but 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.079 kind of again I was saying, also checking out your 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.880 local areas. Your credit unions are a great place. But 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.040 then you know, if you I'll be curious where they're 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:08.840 at in their auto loan, Like, are they like a 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:10.919 couple of years in did they just start? Because I 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.240 mean the way they set up these auto loans, you're 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:14.800 paying kind of like a mortgage. You're paying most of 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.560 the interests up front in the beginning, and it kind 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:18.480 of tapers off as you go. So if you're like 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.080 getting that midway point you probably already paid a ton 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:23.120 of interest at this point, and sometimes refinancing kind of 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.080 just resets that clock and might call you can get 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:26.880 a lower rate. You might end up paying more interest 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.320 over the life of the loan, so you might want 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.040 to just take time kind of think about it, play 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.040 with a couple of little auto loan calculators, kind of 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:34.920 just see where you're at. 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:38.520 Yeah, shout out to my former employer, lending Tree, because 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:41.480 I ran the content team there for like five years. 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:43.240 And lending Tree is a marketplace too, so if you 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:45.840 want to shop and compare, that's their whole platform is 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.200 you can compare rates among different lenders. Now, they will 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:50.960 be calling your ass when you submit for that free quote, 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.480 so use the number that you don't answer all the time. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:54.400 I don't know, but. 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:56.240 Set up a Google voice number. 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.920 That's kind of Yes, that's exactly. But using one of 0:03:59.920 --> 0:04:02.440 the sites as great, and you know they take some 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:04.800 of the legwork out for you. But yeah, that's a 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:06.840 really good point, Chris, like pros and cons of auto 0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:10.120 refi is you know, it's a good point. It's also 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.200 one of those things where sometimes if your payment is 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:14.520 just too high and you're like the cash flow. You're 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:17.600 having cash flow issues, you will make a bad decision 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.080 for the good of your finances sometimes, and I mean 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.600 the the bad decision being you know, let me refinance, 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.479 even though it's going to be more expensive over time, 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:28.719 but it's going to give me relief maybe in the 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:33.240 form of like a lower payment today. That may be okay. 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:34.680 So as you know that, as long as you know that, 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.000 because the worst scenario is that you make the decision 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.119 under the guys or like thinking that you are saving 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:42.520 yourself money or making a financial responsible choice, and then 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:44.240 when you run the math later, you go, damn, I 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:45.839 really got screwed because now I'm paying more in the 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.000 long run. But if you are aware that you're doing that, 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:49.960 and you're kind of in a situation where you're like, well, 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:51.880 this one time, I kind of have to do it. 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:53.480 It's going to be two or three years like this, 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:55.600 and then I'm going to get back on track. Fine, 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.080 But I do think a lot of people end up 0:04:57.080 --> 0:04:59.680 making these choices without the full clear picture. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:01.279 That's kind of the heartbreaking part. 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.839 But Mandy, you're asolutely right, there's gonna be times sometimes 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:05.440 you just gotta you gotta do what you have to do. 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.360 For the short term and not necessarily focused just on 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:09.520 the long term all the time. 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:12.360 Yeah, car payments are so expensive. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:15.480 Now, girl, the average car payment is a thousand dollars 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:19.720 here thousand dollars a month. Late twenty twenty four, the 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.160 average car payment was one thousand dollars a month. How 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.680 the hell all the people these cars? 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:26.440 That's what I'm trying to figure out. I wish I 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.080 would have give someone a thousand dollars a month for 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:28.440 a car. 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:31.479 Car, Chris, is it paid off? What you got? 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:33.920 Pay off? My car is eleven years old. I paid 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:35.760 the thing four years ago. 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:40.800 For five A long time car about to hit puberty. 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:43.440 You have a car I've never driven. 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.480 I don't have a driver's license, honey, will you Brooklyn? 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.280 I got a bunch of Metro cards in my wallet still, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:51.320 even though I live in Miami. 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:52.839 So that's how New York I am. 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:54.920 But no, I've never owned a car. 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:56.440 How do you guys get around? 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:59.000 He's a Jersey boy. He definitely has a license to. 0:05:58.920 --> 0:06:02.600 Okay team, so we're a good partner. Privilege. 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.120 I'm a passenger princess. I'm a professional passenger princess. 0:06:06.760 --> 0:06:08.680 When I am I couldn't even get behind the will 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:08.960 if you. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.320 Wanted to, for real, not safely. 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:14.360 No, No, I feel bad for him if he ever 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:15.599 needs you to take him somewhere. 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.679 I know we are. 0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.400 I could do. I could do the basics, but like, 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:24.839 if I'm on the highway, I might. You could do 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.160 the basics that drive on the like I could drive 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:28.880 on the street, like I could drive on the street 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.039 with pedestria and driving and souff. But if I'm on 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.440 the highway, the freeway, like, my heart is gonna come 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.120 out of my chest because I'm so scared. 0:06:34.839 --> 0:06:37.160 Because cars is the easiest thing for me. 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.080 No, it's too fast, it's too meet a car. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:41.240 That drives for you, you know. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.599 Oh yeah, that's what I'm gonna just wait until the 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.520 cars are all self driving and be like, oh look, 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:47.359 I don't even need to get the license thing because I. 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.280 Don't understand that I'm born and raised inside of California. 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.520 Car payment and I told y'all, I opened up about 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.479 having two cars now, and I just like, man, that's 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:58.840 my goal is to get that ish paid off. First 0:06:58.920 --> 0:06:59.640 credit card debt. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.320 Ugh, it's a lot. And that's one thing I will say. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.719 I've talked to my little brother and my niece about this, 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:07.640 and I told them, I said, honestly, the one thing 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.560 that I did early like that helped me was I 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.920 never had a car, like I took the subway. When 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:14.560 I worked in New York City, I took the subway 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:16.400 to work every day, I packed my lunch. I was 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.200 like super savior. And then when I moved to Miami, 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:21.640 I kind of like live in a building that's in 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:24.240 an area where like everything is right here, Like my 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:26.480 supermarket is right downstairs, the dentist is up the block, 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.200 like there's everything. The airport is fifteen minutes away. So 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.400 my Uber and Lyft rides every month are probably like 0:07:32.440 --> 0:07:34.800 two hundred and fifty dollars, no more like in a 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:36.600 month where I spent a lot, it'd be like three hundred. 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:38.960 But I don't pay insurance, I don't have a car payment. 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:40.400 I don't pay for gas, I don't pay parking, I 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.360 don't pay tolls, I don't pay so it kind of 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.840 is like just two fifty on spending. When I need 0:07:44.880 --> 0:07:47.400 to travel and take an Uber here there, it's fine 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:48.000 for me. 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.440 But yeah, I mean I read at Metro North Pass 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:55.880 costs out here and wessitors, so yeah, Transit costs. 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:57.840 And even with the paidoff car, I'm paying that much 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:01.400 in gas and insurance and registration every month. So it's 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.560 like you're not you in the same position just by 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:05.080 not having a. 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:09.480 Car, right. Auto debt is just not cute? All right, Anonymous, Well, 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:11.520 thank you for your question. That was from IG. We're 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:13.520 gonna take a little break and come right back with 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:20.080 our second question. All right, VA, family are back. I'm 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:23.920 joined by Janellies Finale and Chris Browning. Welcome to the 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:27.480 BA Roundtable QA for the week. So I have something 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:29.720 that I love, which is when a listener who we 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.120 answered their question before kind of like follows up with 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.560 us to let them know what's happening now. So just 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:38.520 a quick follow up from listener Kathy who says she 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:40.880 reached out to us. I'm trying to remember she reached 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.800 out to us last year and the episode is called 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.960 no Job, It's Worth a health decline. At the time, 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.599 she had a job at one of the top universities 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:52.880 in the country. She was saying she commuted up to 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:56.000 three hours to get to work, so that means five 0:08:56.080 --> 0:09:00.200 hours five to six hours total round trip. Yeah, three 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.000 days a week. She works from home two days a 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:05.160 week and then she's asked her current job for a 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.840 moving bonus or for more support and staffing, but they've declined. 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.880 At the time and she was asking us, she said 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.400 she might have a full time job lined up that's 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:17.839 ten minutes from where she lives, but she'd be taking 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.760 a twenty five percent pay cut in a lower title. 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.440 So if she wanted to know, what did we think, Well, 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:26.000 we had encouraged her to choose what's best for her 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:29.600 life and for her health and that long ass commute, 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:33.199 like the mind like the exhaustion of that. I mean, 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.600 I think at the time we had been pretty much 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.960 like girl, like for your health and your sanity. Twenty 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:42.120 five percent is you know, plus the like we just 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:47.920 mentioned about cars, the gas, travel costs, traffic, yes, maintenance, 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.320 all that. So Kathy wanted to follow up. She said, 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:52.840 I put in the work to find a position that 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:55.040 has allowed me to have a better work life balance. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.400 I recently accepted a position thirty minutes away from my home. 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.600 I'm getting the same pay as my previous job, more 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.880 work from home pays, and more professional development. Shout out 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.280 to Mandy for the negotiation tips. Thank you again. Keep 0:10:08.320 --> 0:10:10.000 being great girl. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:10.560 Kathy. 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.960 I'm so happy for Kathy because that is huge shaving 0:10:14.200 --> 0:10:16.720 like thirty minutes there and back. That's an hour a day. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.800 That's so much better than five to six hours. 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.120 I can't even imagine what type of commune. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:27.200 My goodness, I mean our Journey to Launch. 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:29.240 Yeah, I was about to say it works for people 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.720 who have like a goal that they need that time day, 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.599 they can use that time for Like Jamila used to 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.880 listen to podcasts a lot, and then because she was 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.680 so in tune with podcasting, because as being a listener, 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.880 she was able to create such a high quality podcast 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.120 that like, yeah, everybody knows Journey to Launch. It's like 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:49.200 super it's such a great, well known podcast. Why because 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:52.160 she had listened for hours and hours and hours during 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.760 her commutes and kind of knew how to make a 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:56.920 good podcast that she would want to listen to as 0:10:56.960 --> 0:10:59.640 a you know, loyal podcast listener. So I do think 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.480 if you can use that time, you know, as in 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:05.679 transitioning to something, that it will benefit you somehow. It 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:08.640 can work out. But in the long run, yeah, man, 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.000 nothing is gonna just drive you to the ground, drive 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.800 your health down, so your mental health and just robs 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:17.360 you so much time, Like when you're home is late 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.360 and you're just like, how did the whole day escape me? 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:21.120 Because all I did today was just go to work, 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.320 and you don't have time for yourself. So I do 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.560 think at some point having a transition plan is so important. 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.280 But man, congrats to Kathy, because thirty minutes from six 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.400 hours ooh from five hours is huge. 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:34.360 I'm so happy for you, Kathy, and thank you for 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.760 following up. Y'all, if we've answered your questions and you 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.679 want to follow up, please do, please do, okay. Our 0:11:39.840 --> 0:11:43.040 final question for today is from listener Shakira, who sent 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.000 us Shaki Tha. Shaki sent us a DM on IG. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.240 She's got some credit card debt, she says, about seven 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.040 thousand dollars a credit card debt. She says, my credit 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.480 is excellent and I make decent money. I feel like 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.800 I'm going a little bit backwards because I do have 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.520 some investments in stocks are worth about the same amount 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:03.719 I have in debt. This is not my four to 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.719 one K, but my side personal investments. So she's got 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:08.920 about seven k in credit card debt and seven K 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.480 and then her personal investments. So Shakira wants to know 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:15.680 what it makes sense to cash out the stocks that 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:17.640 I have to pay off my debt and then just 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:21.120 start investing again after the debt is paid off. Thanks 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:23.800 in advance. Oh, this is a good question. I'm very 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.280 curious to hear what you guys have to say. 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:28.320 I'm gonna let Chris take it first. 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:28.840 I have thoughts. 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:32.600 You go first. Okay, when do you not have thoughts? No? 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:34.320 I got a lot of sight, but Chris first. 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:35.960 All right, I'll be quick. I'm gonna give you more 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.800 of the time here for me. I mean, that's a good, 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:40.360 good question because you think about it, like, I don't 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:41.800 know what the interest rates are your credit card, but 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:43.360 I'm assuming they're not great. 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:47.040 Twenty something, right, probably even with great credit twenty something, Yeah. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.360 It's still crossing twenty. Now, the likelihood of you getting 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:51.200 that same type of return on your investments, I mean, 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.800 it might happen, but it's not guaranteed. The average will 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.640 be much slower than that. I mean, so just mathematically, 0:12:56.920 --> 0:12:59.760 I could see the relief going from doing that. But also, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.199 is it something that you realistically could tackle in a 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.040 few months? You feel like if you had three, four 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.600 or five months, you could just pay this off through 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.680 your regular payments. If I if that's the case, I 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.680 wouldn't rush to cash out that investment because you may 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:13.640 not be able to put that back. Maybe you'd not 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:15.440 gona be asciplined to put that money right back in again, 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:17.400 So you're costing yourself. You may just like eliminate that 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.040 investment option that you're doing all together. And there could 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:21.880 be some tax implications too. I don't know what type 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:23.720 of account this is. If it's in the brokerage account, he 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:25.280 may have had some gains he might have to you 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:26.920 might end up owing taxes, which is going to eat 0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:29.040 into whatever you would have pulled at anyway. So I 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:31.760 would say, if you feel confident that you could tackle 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:33.800 this on your own, and you know three to five 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.000 months through regular payments, I would go that route. But 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.520 if you're like, no, it would take me a couple 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.079 of years to pay this off monthly, I would consider 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:42.640 it because you'd be paying so much more an interest 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:44.320 than you probably would be making by just letting us 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:44.680 sit there. 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.160 How I love that answer, Chris. I was about to 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:52.600 say the tax part for sure, Like I just that 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:55.480 is the number one piece of investing that most people 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:58.760 do not consider because of the way that it's structured 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.360 and set up right. If you were to sell your 0:14:01.400 --> 0:14:04.840 investments today January whatever date it is, let's say January 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.880 twenty twenty five, you sell your investments, you don't see 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.880 any taxes, you don't see any tax hit. You take 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.360 out whatever you take out, and that number is what 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.080 you get to send to the credit card companies, and 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.440 you think the problem is solved and you're done. But 0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:21.000 come tax ses in twenty twenty six. You're going to 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.880 owe those capital gains taxes, whether they're short term capital 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.080 gains taxes, which means it's the same income tax brackets 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.360 for the twenty twenty five year for your income or 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:30.920 long term capital gains which could be zero percent, fifteen 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:32.640 or twenty percent. So you have to figure out where 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:34.520 it's going to be based on your income again, and 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.040 which means at the end of the day, you still 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:38.960 have to do the math and kind of decide for yourself, like, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:42.960 is it better for me to delay this and do 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:44.720 just the tax bill that I'm going to owe in 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.280 the spring of twenty twenty six by selling my investments 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:49.200 now and getting rid of the credit card. That gives 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.080 me a few months to come up with that money 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:52.680 that I'm going to owe when I file my taxes, 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.720 or would I rather not deal with that and just 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.480 pay the interest for a couple months until I pay 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.720 off that seven k. It's all a numbers game, right, 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:04.000 So if the numbers don't make sense to kind of 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.120 do it monthly and the seven k is a lot 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.640 for you. To Chris's point, it might make sense. But 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.160 in a lot of cases, like people just discount, they 0:15:13.280 --> 0:15:15.720 just do not consider those taxes, and it comes around 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.200 and it shocks people and it surprises people, and it's like, wait, 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:20.880 hold up, what because by the time it comes around, 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:22.960 you done forgot about it because you sold those stocks 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:23.760 so long ago. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.280 So I really do think cost basis right, what. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.960 Is cost basis and what's long term capital gains versus 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.080 short term capital games. I didn't even know there's a 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:34.320 difference in those brackets. So I do think if you 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.920 run the math and it makes sense long versus short term, 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.040 make the choice that makes sense mathematically. But to Chris's point, 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.560 there's a little bit of a psychology piece to this too, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:44.720 that if you are if your life is going to 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.480 feel exponentially better and you have a weight completely lifted 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:50.200 off of you knowing that the credit card that is 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:52.360 not there and that you're not paying twenty nine point 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.040 nine percent interests, then you might want to do it. 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.160 And just now you have time to start preparing a 0:15:57.200 --> 0:15:59.120 separate how you'd savings account where you put a little 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.520 bit of money every month so that when taxes comes around, 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:04.440 you have the taxes that you will owe because you're 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.400 buying yourself time right with that money. So I do 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.000 think that's kind of the factors that matter the most 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:10.520 in the decision making process. 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.760 I love both of those perspectives. The other thing I 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:22.040 will add, speaking from experience, is the cash flow problem 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.160 typically is why people end up in debt. So you 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.120 don't have enough coming in, so you're putting things on 0:16:26.160 --> 0:16:28.640 credit cards that you don't have the cash upfront to 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:30.840 pay for. And sometimes that's fine, Like I mean, sometimes 0:16:30.880 --> 0:16:32.760 you just you haven't been paid that month yet you 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.240 want to get something you have money coming in, but 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.440 it can start to creep up on you, right, So 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:42.600 I would just caution you, Shakiras, to really get dedicated 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:45.040 to a budget so that when you pay off this 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:46.840 credit card debt, whether you're doing it with you know, 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.320 selling your stocks to pay it down or paying it 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.760 off over time, try to get to the heart of 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.400 how did that seven thousand dollars accrue? It's not the 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.760 most I've ever heard of in credit card debt. Certainly 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:00.480 I have way more than that myself, but I do 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.440 worry about, you know, if you can pay it off 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.679 with the stocks right now, but then it kind of 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:07.600 like starts to creep back up because some of like 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:11.200 the core underlying issue, which is probably the budget, hasn't 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:15.000 been resolved and that can be hard to confront. That's 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.400 why let me let me speak some good on one 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:21.280 of my partners, Rocket Money. Have you guys used Rocket Money. Yeah, 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:24.920 I'm a new personal finance app. I really love it. 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:26.800 Ei there's a free version and a little bit more 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.240 paid premium version for like six bucks. But I've been 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.800 loving it personally, I mean genuinely, genuinely enjoying it because 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:36.639