March 3, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode of the Demystifying Money podcast, Misty Lynch discusses navigating the overwhelming flood of information and how to make sound financial decisions despite it. She offers practical advice on managing information overload and focusing on personal financial goals.
Instagram: @mistylynchcfp
- Analyzing the impact of constant news on financial decisions.
- Strategies to limit decision fatigue and information overwhelm.
- Importance of defining personal goals and investment strategies.
- Managing attention and its influence on decision-making.
- Utilizing financial advisors and trusted information sources.
Instagram: @mistylynchcfp
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Demystifying Money podcast, where each week you
will hear unforgettable conversations with expert guests about success, money, business,
and small steps you can take to elevate your life
and wealth. Now here's your host, Misty Lynch.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello, everyone, thanks for joining me this week for Demystifying
Money and Misty Lynch and I don't have a guest today,
so just another solo episode because there's a couple of
things that have been going on, especially over the past
few weeks, that I've been hearing from clients and that
I've been thinking about when it comes to the amount
of information that people are absorbing and seeing on the news,
(00:43):
listening to and what it's doing or how it's impacting
them at least when you know, when they've come to
speak with me about about their money, about their finances,
and the extra amount of stress that I've seen from
a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
This episode of Mystifying Money with Misty Lynch is proudly
sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview Financial
Advisors dot com to learn more.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
And so I wanted to just step back and talk
a little bit about what's happening, and so I think
that you know, all of us, maybe when we were younger,
have seen the book Where's Waldo? So I think when
I think about what's happening right now with the amount
(01:33):
of news and the amount of information, and the term
flooding the zone, which is something that I've heard be
the strategy that's being implemented referred to as it makes
me think about Where's Waldo? And how the point of
that was to have a lot of distraction, a lot
of very clever pictures that look similar that kind of
(01:57):
catch your eye and have you for this tiny waldough
that you're trying to find. And so I feel like
when I think about all of the breaking news, how
there seems to be a NonStop current of breaking news
and big, you know, proclamations, And so I think that
(02:18):
people should understand that this is absolutely intentional. And so
if you think about you, if Where's Waldo was a
game and the person who drew it was playing against you,
how would they win. They would win by frustrating the
person so much that they just quit, They just stop
(02:41):
looking because they're overwhelmed, they're distracted. And so when I
hear people say, already, this is just too much I can't.
I'm out, I'm not going to pay attention. I want
to move all my money to cash. I want to
do this. It feels like they're on that other side
and they've just they've just already decided to give up.
(03:03):
And I want you to know that that would be
that that's a win, you know, for you know, maybe
some of maybe some of these issues really do concern you,
Maybe some of them are new to you. Maybe you
feel overwhelmed by having to focus so much on so
many different things. So I wanted to talk today for
(03:25):
the person who is maybe struggling with information overload and
see if they can maybe find some ways to limit
the amount of decision fatigue, the amount of overwhelm, so
that they can continue to function day to day and
make smart decisions, smart financial decisions that do impact them,
(03:52):
their family, their community. And so one of the things
I want people to start to think about is really
defining your own goals and your own investment strategy. I
want people to think about their long term goals, and
I want them to also think about the things that
are coming up right now and then maybe what's close,
(04:13):
what's on the horizon, what could be a few years out.
Maybe you've been thinking about retirement in a decade from now,
but you might also want to renovate your home within
the next two years, or maybe college is coming up
in the fall. Think about all of the things that
really are impacting you in your financial life. If you
(04:35):
don't think about the long term, the mid term, and
the short term, usually the thing that is happening right
now will get your attention. Whatever is on fire this
moment will be the thing you focus on. Obviously, that's
how our brains are structured. Or one of the only
creatures on the planet that actually plans ahead and thinks
about the future and isn't just thinking about survival and
(04:59):
right now. So do that. Spend a little time thinking
about those goals. And I want you to focus on
your personal goals. There's lots of headlines, there's lots of
things out there, but I do think, yes, those are important,
But it's also very important to know yourself, to do
some reflection, to do some inner work, looking at yourself
(05:22):
and what do you want to do, What can you
control today? What decisions can you make that might benefit
you and your love ones the people you care about
in the future. Instead of throwing your hands up and
thinking that there's absolutely nothing you can do and that
everything is out of your control, and so you're just
(05:44):
going to do whatever makes you the happiest right now,
whether that's overspending, whether that's over consuming, drinking, eating, all
of those things that might provide that temporary dopamine hit,
and that's what we'll do to feel better. So I
think having a real plan, a real strategy, and really
thinking about how you want to live, what you want
(06:04):
your life to look like. Do you really want to move? Okay,
we need to plan for that. That's a financial event.
I hear that all the time. I want to move here,
I'm just going to go here. But okay, then how
are we going to start to plan to prepare to
do that? What is involved in that? Because if we
don't really think about it, then it just sounds like
some idea that maybe helps us feel like we're we're
(06:24):
making progress or doing something. But all of this could be.
You know, all of the things that you're thinking about
could potentially happen, but usually it's going to require money
and a plan. And then I want you to think
about the sources of information that you're getting your news
from is it your peers, is it you know? Is
(06:48):
it the TV? Is it a particular podcast? Maybe that's
how so think about the information that you're getting. And
a lot of times when it comes to even social media,
our feeds are very well designed to keep showing us
the things that we are keeping our eyes on longer,
and so's it's really easy to start to feel like
(07:09):
other people are getting different news than you, or you're
hearing all about something and somebody that you know might
know nothing about it. So our news sources it's very
different than it ever has been. And also, I'd say
one of the biggest commodity that exists in the world
right now is our attention. So that's why we see
(07:31):
the red flashing breaking news. It gets our eyes up
off of the you know, the dinner day and wherever
we are to look at the screen to think, oh
my gosh, now I have to pay attention to that now,
and our brains are designed to be on the lookout
for danger. One of the analogies one of my friends
used once was saying, you know, imagine that you are
given an experience in you know, a luxury herbian b property, beautiful,
(07:58):
you know, has the and the beautiful linens and all
of the things you could ever imagine. And then they
also say, and there's also there's also a snake on
the property. You know, but have the best time. Your
brain isn't going to be thinking about all of the
amazing things, the nap you're going to take, the lounging
you're going to do this way. It's going to think
about the snake that is somewhere on this property. And
(08:20):
so when my friend mentioned that, I was thinking, like,
of course, we're not going to see the beauty. We're
not going to see the opportunity. We're going to be
focused on that danger. And so when we see that
flashing breaking news, the ticker on the screen all the time,
all of the things that are that are popping up
on our feeds, those you know, those notifications that we're
(08:42):
getting that instantly take our attention away from where we
were to where they want us. This is really something
that we need to be aware of and limit and control.
Maybe we don't need so many notifications. Maybe we can
choose when we're going to get our news. Maybe we
can choose who we trust in advance. Maybe we can
(09:06):
do some digging on what are some of the maybe
more more reliable news sources, maybe some things that we
feel like like we actually can trust, maybe maybe financially.
Maybe you're financially maybe you have a financial advisor and
you feel like, you know what I'm hearing all these things.
I Am going to go talk to her about it.
(09:27):
Because those conversations, especially when people bring them to me,
they help me understand, Okay, this is what my clients
are seeing. This might be what other people are seeing
and thinking about too. This is important because for me
it might not get on my radar. I might not
be thinking because I'm in a different I'm in a
(09:47):
different industry. I'm looking at this stuff all the time.
I don't the headlines affect me differently. But I think
it's really important that maybe you know that, Okay, I
don't know exactly what to do about this, but I
know what my best next step might be, and when
it comes to the notifications and it comes to your attention,
I think that it is really important to continue to
(10:08):
work on being very intentional about it because it's very
easy to get distracted and we don't make a lot
of progress. We might feel very busy, we might feel
very overwhelmed and stressed when we go to bed, but
maybe we haven't really accomplished all that much during that
day to get us closer to our own goals. So
I think it's very important to think about that, and
maybe if it is something that is you know, it's
(10:31):
important to understand what's going on. But potentially it might
not be healthy to watch this for hours every day
because remember, they want your attention period. All of those programs,
all of those podcasts, all of the things that are
getting your attention for a longer period of time or
all day long, or that twenty four hour news cycle.
(10:53):
They're making money from your attention. There's an ad dollar
all of those things. So it's really important that you
are in charge of that. Those are things that you
can control. You can control where you spend your time,
what you think about, so that that's really important, especially
if you're feeling overwhelmed. And then I want people you know,
especially going back to the financial end of things, and
(11:17):
this might be if you're managing your own money, you
don't have an investment advisor a financial planner helping you,
and you're doing this on your own. I want you
to have a plan for the way you manage money,
and I want you to think about it, and I
want you to think ahead of time, when you're not panicked,
when you're not stressed. I want you to get the
education and the information to say, yes, there are going
(11:39):
to be ups and downs in the market, there is
going to be volatility. I'm going to create a plan
for how I invest Maybe you're somebody who's a dollar
cost averager. Maybe you just put in the same amount
of money into your investments every week and you don't
try to time it. You just do it. Sometimes you're
buying high, sometimes you're buying low. Very similar to people
when they are investing in like their work last for
(12:00):
one K plan, they don't think every week, how much
am I going to put in this week? They just
do it. It's just kind of an automatic thing where
they're putting in what they normally put in and they're
buying whatever number of shares they can buy that week
for that price. And that can be the way you
do it. And if you're somebody who's also thinking about
asset allocation, and maybe you're thinking about okay, I you know,
(12:23):
maybe you have everything in the S and P five
hundred index, which a lot of people do, and maybe
that does provide some diversification across large US growth companies,
but it doesn't provide exposure to anything else. And maybe
you decide that is okay with you for now. Maybe
that is your plan and you stick to it, or
(12:43):
you might think about, you know, maybe building out some
more diversification across different markets, different asset classes, different countries.
And so it's important to think about what your plan is.
If you think ahead, it's much easier to execute it,
because if you're winging it and you're just picking up
a stock here or there because somebody recommends it, you
(13:04):
might not know when to sell it or what to
do with it after you buy it. A lot of
people will offer very quick hot tips, but they never
really tell you and then watch this and then this
is when you're supposed to sell. So I think you
have to have an idea in your head of what
your plan is for your investment management, and I think
(13:26):
that will keep you from potential emotional trading, which costs
you money, can have tax consequences, can have a lot
of different consequences, and you can't exactly know when you
would jump back in because a lot of times people
will tell me I'll go back into the stock market
(13:46):
when things calm down or after the next recession. And
I think it's out of people don't understand how difficult
it actually is to know when that right time to
go back in is a lot of people got out
of the market into that and Nate never got back in.
Those people don't have the same retirement accounts that other
people who stayed investment at that time did. So think
(14:08):
about when you need this money, what your strategy is now,
and stick to it, even if you have to write
it down, even if you have to have your own
investment policy statement in your head of this is how
we do things that will keep you on track. It
should be. It should be something that you at least
consider so you're not just led down whatever path someone
(14:32):
else has mentioned to you if it doesn't really fit
your app tite for risk or you know your financial timeframe,
and so using a financial guiser, obviously, I think that
could be helpful to or a financial planner, even if
you manage your own investments. There's financial planners out there
like me that actually will help you talk about that.
(14:53):
Look at that even if you're the one pressing the
button to make your traits and then yeah, definitely think about,
you know, those things that you're seeing online as far
as you know, a lot of people are asking me
about you know, cryptocurrencies, They're asking about different things that
they're seeing on social media, and I think those are
all good questions to have. Things are changing, and I
think those conversations are important. And if your advisor is
(15:16):
just shutting you down immediately telling you that this isn't
don't bother me with this stuff, just remember that you
obviously can switch to someone who will listen to you.
Because I think it is really interesting and that's why
a lot of us do what we do, because the
market can be very interesting and it does change, and
there are new products, there's new services, there's new things
that are really disruptive, and so it's interesting and wanting
(15:36):
to be on top of that is important. But also
know that with any change and disruption, there can be
very deep spikes up and down, and you have to
be willing to stomach that or potentially diversified and broaden
what you're doing. I want to talk also about investing
(15:57):
in political environments world we ye know, every four years
there's usually about half the population that thinks that things
are going to get better and the other half things
things are going to get worse over time. It could
be We're a very large country. To think about everybody
being happy all at once at the same time is unlikely.
(16:18):
And also it doesn't mean that you should every four
years completely disengage or withdraw from the You can't. It's impossible.
But I do think what people could do is think
about again, obviously, how certain you know, certain legislations, certain
you know, certain political you know figures could change things.
(16:44):
And so if you look back, the S and P.
Five hundred has averaged about ten percent annual returns over
the past century, regardless of political leadership. And there's often
volatility after elections, and then usually we see the best
year in the market around year three of a presidential term.
And you wonder why that is. Well, the market likes consistent,
(17:08):
It likes information, and it likes consistent. It likes to
know what to expect. So when we have a new
administration or the fourth year of a presidency where we
might have a change, that's when things might get a
little bit more volatile. And so it's it's relatively predictable
over time that the stock market is a great place
(17:29):
to be if you want to outpace inflation. Period, they'll stop,
that's it. But I think that there is a lot
of you know, there's a lot of things that happen,
and it can be very overwhelming for people, and people
can feel very passionate about their candidates winning or losing.
But if you look back, So if we look back
(17:49):
from like twenty Barack Obama's administration, SMP was up over
one hundred and eighty percent during his presidency. With Donald
Trump's first term, the market rose about seventy percent. That
was fueled by tax cuts and corporate earnings. And it
was before COVID nineteen and then with President Biden the
market did fluctuate with inflation concerns, but later actually rebounded
(18:11):
and there was an economic recovery. And so we've had
different administrations. We've had very different you know, different crisises,
different economic cycles and the market that have kind of
driven the market. And so I think it is important
to look kind of long term about the decisions you
make now could not only affect you the next four years,
(18:33):
but they could affect the rest of your life. So
what it means for investors really is that, you know,
the stock market itself is usually more influenced by things
like corporate earnings, interest rates, inflation. This all matters, and
this matters depend regardless of who is in the White House.
(18:53):
So those are things that are you know, those are
very consistent and we have information and you know to
that's you know, what your investment advisors are looking at
is these you know, these corporate these earnings and inflation
is on everyone's mind. We're seeing the rising prices, and
so I think for for people who are maybe in
business or maybe they're looking for new jobs, you know,
(19:16):
thinking about inflation and how much it costs to be
you today, it might be getting more expensive, and if
you're not paying attention, you might just be left struggling thinking, Okay,
well I make this much money and I used to
be able to afford all of these things and I
can't anymore. But it's really looking at the numbers and
looking at your own personal budget to figure out, Okay,
how is this impacting me? What do I need to do?
(19:38):
Do I need to raise my prices as a business owner?
Do I need to cut expenses? Do I need to
re examine everything that I'm doing? And figure out is
there money that's kind of going out the door that
I could redirect somewhere, somewhere better towards something that I
care about more, and really looking at your personal budget
because all of these things that are happening, these these
(19:59):
you know, they're hard for one person to control, even
a president, they're hard for one person to control. So
if you think they you know, you can focus on
all of the different things that are going on in
the world and not feel overwhelmed and not do it.
I would say you start small. You start, you start
with your own information, your own spending, your own budget,
(20:21):
What has inflation impacted for you, what has your you know,
earnings looked like? Do you need to re examine all
of these things? And I think that that's where we
could start to take some action, which will feel better
if we feel helpless against the things that are much
harder for one person to necessarily control, but also realize,
(20:42):
you know, with the volatility, maybe maybe if you're looking
at everything every single day, that could feel very stressful.
But maybe if you're thinking about, you know, your retirement account,
and you're somebody who's in your forties, maybe you can
handle some ups and downs because you have a few decades,
you'll have a few presidencies, you will have several economic
(21:02):
cycles between now and when you need the money. So
looking at that, pulling back and looking at that bigger
picture to think, okay, on average, this is a good
place to be to outpace inflation which is growing, and
so that could help you maybe make decisions that will
have a real impact instead of some of the ones
(21:25):
that might be might be emotional and might have a
long term negative consequence. And I think that it is
very hard to time the market period. I do think
that there are certain things that we can do to
take advantage of different situations that we're in. Same way
that people take advantage of the tax laws as they're
written and can have some things that benefit them in
(21:45):
their business by understanding the laws and the rules. And
also I think people can think about that when they
invest as well, that potentially, you know, there might be
some opportunity in other types of businesses if say, interest
rates go down. And so I think it's important to
(22:06):
kind of think big picture, have an understanding of the
markets of the economy instead of just constantly thinking that
we're due for a recession. Things are going to get worse.
Things are going to get worse because the more you
just tell yourself that and the more you think that,
the more your news feed is going to show you Yep,
(22:26):
this is all you know. This is all terrible, This
is all terrible, This is all terrible, and it just
kind of reinforces those beliefs. And what that does. It
keeps you from acting. It might keep you from ever investing,
and then you might look back thirty years from now
and be like, oh, wow, I should have I wish
I had done that. I hear that. I hear that
a lot, but hindsight is twenty twenty. But I do
(22:47):
feel like for for us as we're making these decisions
with our money, with our spending, with our lives, Yes
there's pressure, there's things that matter, but we need to
know what's coming in, what's going out, What am I
going to need in the future. What if I want
to be work optional someday. Maybe you love your job
(23:07):
and you can never imagine leaving, but what if you
wanted the option to not do that? That's going to
require some saving and some investing for the future. So
I think it's important again to get back to your goals.
Maybe not think so much about this particular this particular
period of time. If you could think big picture, things
(23:28):
will likely change. And if you're happy with things right now, okay,
what can you do to take advantage of things as
they are today? If you are optimistic about the economy
right now, what can you do in your life in
your house to you know, maybe invest more, or create
(23:49):
a financial plan or an estate plan, or look at
your insurance, look at all of the things that maybe
you feel like could protect your money and help you
keep it. Those are all things that it makes sense
to do, regardless of what you're seeing on the TV screen.
And I know it's difficult, and I feel like if
you have you know, maybe there is an issue that
(24:12):
is a particular concern to you, It's okay to focus
on that issue. And maybe that is your Maybe that's
your wild though, Maybe that is what you are searching for.
Maybe that is what you stay on top of and
you're active about, and you direct your money when it
comes to donations and support. It's okay, you know, to
(24:34):
feel like like you can focus on one thing and
and be really involved in that. It's that it's that
overwhelm of feeling like I can't do all of the things,
and so I'll just do nothing. And that's what's gonna
that's what's going to lead you to become burnt out
and overwhelmed and feel you know, apathy, And I think
(24:57):
that that's again that might not be goal. But maybe
if you think of, you know, trust a few different
you know, maybe you trust a particular news source, Maybe
you check in on the news at a certain point
in the day, Maybe you shut off some of your notifications.
Maybe you take some time to look at your financial plan,
look at your budget, look at your business budget, or
(25:19):
when it comes to you, maybe look at your paycheck stuff.
Where is the money coming in and going? Is there
anything more that you can do today that can help
you manage the overwhelm, manage the stress, make thoughtful decisions
and keep you keep you feeling how you want to feel.
(25:42):
You are in control of your thoughts and your feelings,
even if if there's not much else that you can control.
Maybe you cannot change global warmth, maybe you cannot change
you know certain but you can you can choose the
things that really do impact you, that matter to you,
and you can decide, Okay, this is where I want
(26:03):
to spend my money. This is where I want to
invest my money. I want to support. Maybe it's particular companies,
and maybe that means that you increase your budget in
certain areas so that you could shop at certain places.
Those are things that you can control. And I think
that I feel better when I know that my work,
(26:25):
my money is being directed into places that I feel
good about supporting. And I feel like at times when
I'm overwhelmed, I think about the few people in my
life that I want to make decisions to make them proud,
to make them, you know, to help them. You know,
(26:48):
I think about my children, I think about my husband,
I think about my mom and my sister. I mean,
it's not a huge list of people, but I do
think about I think about, you know, what's going to
impact them, and those those news stories I pay attention to.
I think, you know, if we if we can kind
of control and contain where we spend our attention, it
(27:10):
could help us get through really anything. But I hope
everyone out there, if you don't have if you don't
have an advisor, if you don't have a person that
you trust or you know, maybe maybe it's maybe there's
you know, there's people online. There's all sorts of you know,
information out there. So I think if you can just
(27:30):
kind of find, you know instead of you know, there
there is a there's so much information, there's so many
smart people. There's great people that are sharing content all
the time. You know, find a couple that are really
doing something that maybe that inspires you and maybe you
enjoy their content or you learn from them, And I
think you can kind of limit the rest or you
(27:52):
can make sure that you're not just doom scrolling all
day long. Because again, I know, we're all we're all
living in this isciety where we are. You know, information
is it's truly at our finger tips. But try try
to be intentional. And I really appreciate you know, everyone
listening to the podcast. If you're interested in working more
(28:15):
on your own money mindset and your thoughts, you know,
head over to Misty Lynch dot com. You know, you
can get a copy of my book there in in
Demostifying Money, I wrote about you know, different journal prompts
for different things, different things for doing this internal work,
which can be difficult. It could be easier to sometimes
think about all the things that are going on around
(28:35):
us that we can't control and feel like we're in
a tailspin instead of looking internally and thinking about how
we can, how we can improve our own lives, how
we can what we can do, what we can take
action to do and and so there's some some tips
in there and some journal prompts for you to to
really start to think about what, what do you care about,
(28:57):
what is your philosophy? How how do you think and
feel about this? And so hopefully that can help, Or
you can listen to other episodes of the podcast. I
have a few people I've talked about talk to you
lately who are helping people get organized, they're helping people
get through personal crisises, and so if any of that
can be helpful to you, then I hope you go
(29:18):
back and listen. And again, thank you so much for
joining and we'll talk again next week. Thank you for
joining us on another insightful episode of Demonstifying Money. If
you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and leave a review.
Stay tuned for more engaging conversations on our next episode,
and remember knowledge is the key to financial empowerment.
Welcome to the Demystifying Money podcast, where each week you
will hear unforgettable conversations with expert guests about success, money, business,
and small steps you can take to elevate your life
and wealth. Now here's your host, Misty Lynch.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Hello, everyone, thanks for joining me this week for Demystifying
Money and Misty Lynch and I don't have a guest today,
so just another solo episode because there's a couple of
things that have been going on, especially over the past
few weeks, that I've been hearing from clients and that
I've been thinking about when it comes to the amount
of information that people are absorbing and seeing on the news,
(00:43):
listening to and what it's doing or how it's impacting
them at least when you know, when they've come to
speak with me about about their money, about their finances,
and the extra amount of stress that I've seen from
a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
This episode of Mystifying Money with Misty Lynch is proudly
sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview Financial
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Speaker 2 (01:13):
And so I wanted to just step back and talk
a little bit about what's happening, and so I think
that you know, all of us, maybe when we were younger,
have seen the book Where's Waldo? So I think when
I think about what's happening right now with the amount
(01:33):
of news and the amount of information, and the term
flooding the zone, which is something that I've heard be
the strategy that's being implemented referred to as it makes
me think about Where's Waldo? And how the point of
that was to have a lot of distraction, a lot
of very clever pictures that look similar that kind of
(01:57):
catch your eye and have you for this tiny waldough
that you're trying to find. And so I feel like
when I think about all of the breaking news, how
there seems to be a NonStop current of breaking news
and big, you know, proclamations, And so I think that
(02:18):
people should understand that this is absolutely intentional. And so
if you think about you, if Where's Waldo was a
game and the person who drew it was playing against you,
how would they win. They would win by frustrating the
person so much that they just quit, They just stop
(02:41):
looking because they're overwhelmed, they're distracted. And so when I
hear people say, already, this is just too much I can't.
I'm out, I'm not going to pay attention. I want
to move all my money to cash. I want to
do this. It feels like they're on that other side
and they've just they've just already decided to give up.
(03:03):
And I want you to know that that would be
that that's a win, you know, for you know, maybe
some of maybe some of these issues really do concern you,
Maybe some of them are new to you. Maybe you
feel overwhelmed by having to focus so much on so
many different things. So I wanted to talk today for
(03:25):
the person who is maybe struggling with information overload and
see if they can maybe find some ways to limit
the amount of decision fatigue, the amount of overwhelm, so
that they can continue to function day to day and
make smart decisions, smart financial decisions that do impact them,
(03:52):
their family, their community. And so one of the things
I want people to start to think about is really
defining your own goals and your own investment strategy. I
want people to think about their long term goals, and
I want them to also think about the things that
are coming up right now and then maybe what's close,
(04:13):
what's on the horizon, what could be a few years out.
Maybe you've been thinking about retirement in a decade from now,
but you might also want to renovate your home within
the next two years, or maybe college is coming up
in the fall. Think about all of the things that
really are impacting you in your financial life. If you
(04:35):
don't think about the long term, the mid term, and
the short term, usually the thing that is happening right
now will get your attention. Whatever is on fire this
moment will be the thing you focus on. Obviously, that's
how our brains are structured. Or one of the only
creatures on the planet that actually plans ahead and thinks
about the future and isn't just thinking about survival and
(04:59):
right now. So do that. Spend a little time thinking
about those goals. And I want you to focus on
your personal goals. There's lots of headlines, there's lots of
things out there, but I do think, yes, those are important,
But it's also very important to know yourself, to do
some reflection, to do some inner work, looking at yourself
(05:22):
and what do you want to do, What can you
control today? What decisions can you make that might benefit
you and your love ones the people you care about
in the future. Instead of throwing your hands up and
thinking that there's absolutely nothing you can do and that
everything is out of your control, and so you're just
(05:44):
going to do whatever makes you the happiest right now,
whether that's overspending, whether that's over consuming, drinking, eating, all
of those things that might provide that temporary dopamine hit,
and that's what we'll do to feel better. So I
think having a real plan, a real strategy, and really
thinking about how you want to live, what you want
(06:04):
your life to look like. Do you really want to move? Okay,
we need to plan for that. That's a financial event.
I hear that all the time. I want to move here,
I'm just going to go here. But okay, then how
are we going to start to plan to prepare to
do that? What is involved in that? Because if we
don't really think about it, then it just sounds like
some idea that maybe helps us feel like we're we're
(06:24):
making progress or doing something. But all of this could be.
You know, all of the things that you're thinking about
could potentially happen, but usually it's going to require money
and a plan. And then I want you to think
about the sources of information that you're getting your news
from is it your peers, is it you know? Is
(06:48):
it the TV? Is it a particular podcast? Maybe that's
how so think about the information that you're getting. And
a lot of times when it comes to even social media,
our feeds are very well designed to keep showing us
the things that we are keeping our eyes on longer,
and so's it's really easy to start to feel like
(07:09):
other people are getting different news than you, or you're
hearing all about something and somebody that you know might
know nothing about it. So our news sources it's very
different than it ever has been. And also, I'd say
one of the biggest commodity that exists in the world
right now is our attention. So that's why we see
(07:31):
the red flashing breaking news. It gets our eyes up
off of the you know, the dinner day and wherever
we are to look at the screen to think, oh
my gosh, now I have to pay attention to that now,
and our brains are designed to be on the lookout
for danger. One of the analogies one of my friends
used once was saying, you know, imagine that you are
given an experience in you know, a luxury herbian b property, beautiful,
(07:58):
you know, has the and the beautiful linens and all
of the things you could ever imagine. And then they
also say, and there's also there's also a snake on
the property. You know, but have the best time. Your
brain isn't going to be thinking about all of the
amazing things, the nap you're going to take, the lounging
you're going to do this way. It's going to think
about the snake that is somewhere on this property. And
(08:20):
so when my friend mentioned that, I was thinking, like,
of course, we're not going to see the beauty. We're
not going to see the opportunity. We're going to be
focused on that danger. And so when we see that
flashing breaking news, the ticker on the screen all the time,
all of the things that are that are popping up
on our feeds, those you know, those notifications that we're
(08:42):
getting that instantly take our attention away from where we
were to where they want us. This is really something
that we need to be aware of and limit and control.
Maybe we don't need so many notifications. Maybe we can
choose when we're going to get our news. Maybe we
can choose who we trust in advance. Maybe we can
(09:06):
do some digging on what are some of the maybe
more more reliable news sources, maybe some things that we
feel like like we actually can trust, maybe maybe financially.
Maybe you're financially maybe you have a financial advisor and
you feel like, you know what I'm hearing all these things.
I Am going to go talk to her about it.
(09:27):
Because those conversations, especially when people bring them to me,
they help me understand, Okay, this is what my clients
are seeing. This might be what other people are seeing
and thinking about too. This is important because for me
it might not get on my radar. I might not
be thinking because I'm in a different I'm in a
(09:47):
different industry. I'm looking at this stuff all the time.
I don't the headlines affect me differently. But I think
it's really important that maybe you know that, Okay, I
don't know exactly what to do about this, but I
know what my best next step might be, and when
it comes to the notifications and it comes to your attention,
I think that it is really important to continue to
(10:08):
work on being very intentional about it because it's very
easy to get distracted and we don't make a lot
of progress. We might feel very busy, we might feel
very overwhelmed and stressed when we go to bed, but
maybe we haven't really accomplished all that much during that
day to get us closer to our own goals. So
I think it's very important to think about that, and
maybe if it is something that is you know, it's
(10:31):
important to understand what's going on. But potentially it might
not be healthy to watch this for hours every day
because remember, they want your attention period. All of those programs,
all of those podcasts, all of the things that are
getting your attention for a longer period of time or
all day long, or that twenty four hour news cycle.
(10:53):
They're making money from your attention. There's an ad dollar
all of those things. So it's really important that you
are in charge of that. Those are things that you
can control. You can control where you spend your time,
what you think about, so that that's really important, especially
if you're feeling overwhelmed. And then I want people you know,
especially going back to the financial end of things, and
(11:17):
this might be if you're managing your own money, you
don't have an investment advisor a financial planner helping you,
and you're doing this on your own. I want you
to have a plan for the way you manage money,
and I want you to think about it, and I
want you to think ahead of time, when you're not panicked,
when you're not stressed. I want you to get the
education and the information to say, yes, there are going
(11:39):
to be ups and downs in the market, there is
going to be volatility. I'm going to create a plan
for how I invest Maybe you're somebody who's a dollar
cost averager. Maybe you just put in the same amount
of money into your investments every week and you don't
try to time it. You just do it. Sometimes you're
buying high, sometimes you're buying low. Very similar to people
when they are investing in like their work last for
(12:00):
one K plan, they don't think every week, how much
am I going to put in this week? They just
do it. It's just kind of an automatic thing where
they're putting in what they normally put in and they're
buying whatever number of shares they can buy that week
for that price. And that can be the way you
do it. And if you're somebody who's also thinking about
asset allocation, and maybe you're thinking about okay, I you know,
(12:23):
maybe you have everything in the S and P five
hundred index, which a lot of people do, and maybe
that does provide some diversification across large US growth companies,
but it doesn't provide exposure to anything else. And maybe
you decide that is okay with you for now. Maybe
that is your plan and you stick to it, or
(12:43):
you might think about, you know, maybe building out some
more diversification across different markets, different asset classes, different countries.
And so it's important to think about what your plan is.
If you think ahead, it's much easier to execute it,
because if you're winging it and you're just picking up
a stock here or there because somebody recommends it, you
(13:04):
might not know when to sell it or what to
do with it after you buy it. A lot of
people will offer very quick hot tips, but they never
really tell you and then watch this and then this
is when you're supposed to sell. So I think you
have to have an idea in your head of what
your plan is for your investment management, and I think
(13:26):
that will keep you from potential emotional trading, which costs
you money, can have tax consequences, can have a lot
of different consequences, and you can't exactly know when you
would jump back in because a lot of times people
will tell me I'll go back into the stock market
(13:46):
when things calm down or after the next recession. And
I think it's out of people don't understand how difficult
it actually is to know when that right time to
go back in is a lot of people got out
of the market into that and Nate never got back in.
Those people don't have the same retirement accounts that other
people who stayed investment at that time did. So think
(14:08):
about when you need this money, what your strategy is now,
and stick to it, even if you have to write
it down, even if you have to have your own
investment policy statement in your head of this is how
we do things that will keep you on track. It
should be. It should be something that you at least
consider so you're not just led down whatever path someone
(14:32):
else has mentioned to you if it doesn't really fit
your app tite for risk or you know your financial timeframe,
and so using a financial guiser, obviously, I think that
could be helpful to or a financial planner, even if
you manage your own investments. There's financial planners out there
like me that actually will help you talk about that.
(14:53):
Look at that even if you're the one pressing the
button to make your traits and then yeah, definitely think about,
you know, those things that you're seeing online as far
as you know, a lot of people are asking me
about you know, cryptocurrencies, They're asking about different things that
they're seeing on social media, and I think those are
all good questions to have. Things are changing, and I
think those conversations are important. And if your advisor is
(15:16):
just shutting you down immediately telling you that this isn't
don't bother me with this stuff, just remember that you
obviously can switch to someone who will listen to you.
Because I think it is really interesting and that's why
a lot of us do what we do, because the
market can be very interesting and it does change, and
there are new products, there's new services, there's new things
that are really disruptive, and so it's interesting and wanting
(15:36):
to be on top of that is important. But also
know that with any change and disruption, there can be
very deep spikes up and down, and you have to
be willing to stomach that or potentially diversified and broaden
what you're doing. I want to talk also about investing
(15:57):
in political environments world we ye know, every four years
there's usually about half the population that thinks that things
are going to get better and the other half things
things are going to get worse over time. It could
be We're a very large country. To think about everybody
being happy all at once at the same time is unlikely.
(16:18):
And also it doesn't mean that you should every four
years completely disengage or withdraw from the You can't. It's impossible.
But I do think what people could do is think
about again, obviously, how certain you know, certain legislations, certain
you know, certain political you know figures could change things.
(16:44):
And so if you look back, the S and P.
Five hundred has averaged about ten percent annual returns over
the past century, regardless of political leadership. And there's often
volatility after elections, and then usually we see the best
year in the market around year three of a presidential term.
And you wonder why that is. Well, the market likes consistent,
(17:08):
It likes information, and it likes consistent. It likes to
know what to expect. So when we have a new
administration or the fourth year of a presidency where we
might have a change, that's when things might get a
little bit more volatile. And so it's it's relatively predictable
over time that the stock market is a great place
(17:29):
to be if you want to outpace inflation. Period, they'll stop,
that's it. But I think that there is a lot
of you know, there's a lot of things that happen,
and it can be very overwhelming for people, and people
can feel very passionate about their candidates winning or losing.
But if you look back, So if we look back
(17:49):
from like twenty Barack Obama's administration, SMP was up over
one hundred and eighty percent during his presidency. With Donald
Trump's first term, the market rose about seventy percent. That
was fueled by tax cuts and corporate earnings. And it
was before COVID nineteen and then with President Biden the
market did fluctuate with inflation concerns, but later actually rebounded
(18:11):
and there was an economic recovery. And so we've had
different administrations. We've had very different you know, different crisises,
different economic cycles and the market that have kind of
driven the market. And so I think it is important
to look kind of long term about the decisions you
make now could not only affect you the next four years,
(18:33):
but they could affect the rest of your life. So
what it means for investors really is that, you know,
the stock market itself is usually more influenced by things
like corporate earnings, interest rates, inflation. This all matters, and
this matters depend regardless of who is in the White House.
(18:53):
So those are things that are you know, those are
very consistent and we have information and you know to
that's you know, what your investment advisors are looking at
is these you know, these corporate these earnings and inflation
is on everyone's mind. We're seeing the rising prices, and
so I think for for people who are maybe in
business or maybe they're looking for new jobs, you know,
(19:16):
thinking about inflation and how much it costs to be
you today, it might be getting more expensive, and if
you're not paying attention, you might just be left struggling thinking, Okay,
well I make this much money and I used to
be able to afford all of these things and I
can't anymore. But it's really looking at the numbers and
looking at your own personal budget to figure out, Okay,
how is this impacting me? What do I need to do?
(19:38):
Do I need to raise my prices as a business owner?
Do I need to cut expenses? Do I need to
re examine everything that I'm doing? And figure out is
there money that's kind of going out the door that
I could redirect somewhere, somewhere better towards something that I
care about more, and really looking at your personal budget
because all of these things that are happening, these these
(19:59):
you know, they're hard for one person to control, even
a president, they're hard for one person to control. So
if you think they you know, you can focus on
all of the different things that are going on in
the world and not feel overwhelmed and not do it.
I would say you start small. You start, you start
with your own information, your own spending, your own budget,
(20:21):
What has inflation impacted for you, what has your you know,
earnings looked like? Do you need to re examine all
of these things? And I think that that's where we
could start to take some action, which will feel better
if we feel helpless against the things that are much
harder for one person to necessarily control, but also realize,
(20:42):
you know, with the volatility, maybe maybe if you're looking
at everything every single day, that could feel very stressful.
But maybe if you're thinking about, you know, your retirement account,
and you're somebody who's in your forties, maybe you can
handle some ups and downs because you have a few decades,
you'll have a few presidencies, you will have several economic
(21:02):
cycles between now and when you need the money. So
looking at that, pulling back and looking at that bigger
picture to think, okay, on average, this is a good
place to be to outpace inflation which is growing, and
so that could help you maybe make decisions that will
have a real impact instead of some of the ones
(21:25):
that might be might be emotional and might have a
long term negative consequence. And I think that it is
very hard to time the market period. I do think
that there are certain things that we can do to
take advantage of different situations that we're in. Same way
that people take advantage of the tax laws as they're
written and can have some things that benefit them in
(21:45):
their business by understanding the laws and the rules. And
also I think people can think about that when they
invest as well, that potentially, you know, there might be
some opportunity in other types of businesses if say, interest
rates go down. And so I think it's important to
(22:06):
kind of think big picture, have an understanding of the
markets of the economy instead of just constantly thinking that
we're due for a recession. Things are going to get worse.
Things are going to get worse because the more you
just tell yourself that and the more you think that,
the more your news feed is going to show you Yep,
(22:26):
this is all you know. This is all terrible, This
is all terrible, This is all terrible, and it just
kind of reinforces those beliefs. And what that does. It
keeps you from acting. It might keep you from ever investing,
and then you might look back thirty years from now
and be like, oh, wow, I should have I wish
I had done that. I hear that. I hear that
a lot, but hindsight is twenty twenty. But I do
(22:47):
feel like for for us as we're making these decisions
with our money, with our spending, with our lives, Yes
there's pressure, there's things that matter, but we need to
know what's coming in, what's going out, What am I
going to need in the future. What if I want
to be work optional someday. Maybe you love your job
(23:07):
and you can never imagine leaving, but what if you
wanted the option to not do that? That's going to
require some saving and some investing for the future. So
I think it's important again to get back to your goals.
Maybe not think so much about this particular this particular
period of time. If you could think big picture, things
(23:28):
will likely change. And if you're happy with things right now, okay,
what can you do to take advantage of things as
they are today? If you are optimistic about the economy
right now, what can you do in your life in
your house to you know, maybe invest more, or create
(23:49):
a financial plan or an estate plan, or look at
your insurance, look at all of the things that maybe
you feel like could protect your money and help you
keep it. Those are all things that it makes sense
to do, regardless of what you're seeing on the TV screen.
And I know it's difficult, and I feel like if
you have you know, maybe there is an issue that
(24:12):
is a particular concern to you, It's okay to focus
on that issue. And maybe that is your Maybe that's
your wild though, Maybe that is what you are searching for.
Maybe that is what you stay on top of and
you're active about, and you direct your money when it
comes to donations and support. It's okay, you know, to
(24:34):
feel like like you can focus on one thing and
and be really involved in that. It's that it's that
overwhelm of feeling like I can't do all of the things,
and so I'll just do nothing. And that's what's gonna
that's what's going to lead you to become burnt out
and overwhelmed and feel you know, apathy, And I think
(24:57):
that that's again that might not be goal. But maybe
if you think of, you know, trust a few different
you know, maybe you trust a particular news source, Maybe
you check in on the news at a certain point
in the day, Maybe you shut off some of your notifications.
Maybe you take some time to look at your financial plan,
look at your budget, look at your business budget, or
(25:19):
when it comes to you, maybe look at your paycheck stuff.
Where is the money coming in and going? Is there
anything more that you can do today that can help
you manage the overwhelm, manage the stress, make thoughtful decisions
and keep you keep you feeling how you want to feel.
(25:42):
You are in control of your thoughts and your feelings,
even if if there's not much else that you can control.
Maybe you cannot change global warmth, maybe you cannot change
you know certain but you can you can choose the
things that really do impact you, that matter to you,
and you can decide, Okay, this is where I want
(26:03):
to spend my money. This is where I want to
invest my money. I want to support. Maybe it's particular companies,
and maybe that means that you increase your budget in
certain areas so that you could shop at certain places.
Those are things that you can control. And I think
that I feel better when I know that my work,
(26:25):
my money is being directed into places that I feel
good about supporting. And I feel like at times when
I'm overwhelmed, I think about the few people in my
life that I want to make decisions to make them proud,
to make them, you know, to help them. You know,
(26:48):
I think about my children, I think about my husband,
I think about my mom and my sister. I mean,
it's not a huge list of people, but I do
think about I think about, you know, what's going to
impact them, and those those news stories I pay attention to.
I think, you know, if we if we can kind
of control and contain where we spend our attention, it
(27:10):
could help us get through really anything. But I hope
everyone out there, if you don't have if you don't
have an advisor, if you don't have a person that
you trust or you know, maybe maybe it's maybe there's
you know, there's people online. There's all sorts of you know,
information out there. So I think if you can just
(27:30):
kind of find, you know instead of you know, there
there is a there's so much information, there's so many
smart people. There's great people that are sharing content all
the time. You know, find a couple that are really
doing something that maybe that inspires you and maybe you
enjoy their content or you learn from them, And I
think you can kind of limit the rest or you
(27:52):
can make sure that you're not just doom scrolling all
day long. Because again, I know, we're all we're all
living in this isciety where we are. You know, information
is it's truly at our finger tips. But try try
to be intentional. And I really appreciate you know, everyone
listening to the podcast. If you're interested in working more
(28:15):
on your own money mindset and your thoughts, you know,
head over to Misty Lynch dot com. You know, you
can get a copy of my book there in in
Demostifying Money, I wrote about you know, different journal prompts
for different things, different things for doing this internal work,
which can be difficult. It could be easier to sometimes
think about all the things that are going on around
(28:35):
us that we can't control and feel like we're in
a tailspin instead of looking internally and thinking about how
we can, how we can improve our own lives, how
we can what we can do, what we can take
action to do and and so there's some some tips
in there and some journal prompts for you to to
really start to think about what, what do you care about,
(28:57):
what is your philosophy? How how do you think and
feel about this? And so hopefully that can help, Or
you can listen to other episodes of the podcast. I
have a few people I've talked about talk to you
lately who are helping people get organized, they're helping people
get through personal crisises, and so if any of that
can be helpful to you, then I hope you go
(29:18):
back and listen. And again, thank you so much for
joining and we'll talk again next week. Thank you for
joining us on another insightful episode of Demonstifying Money. If
you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and leave a review.
Stay tuned for more engaging conversations on our next episode,
and remember knowledge is the key to financial empowerment.
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