March 10, 2025 • 33 mins
In this enlightening episode of Demystifying Money, host Misty Lynch and guest Sophia Yudkowski delve into financial planning for young families. Learn how to manage your finances confidently and prepare for future family needs.
Where to find Sophia Yudkowski
Where to find Misty
Websites:
Instagram: @mistylynchcfp
- Discover strategies for combining finances after marriage while maintaining financial independence.
- Learn the importance of setting common financial goals for couples.
- Explore the concept of financial nesting to prepare financially for parenthood.
- Get insights into budgeting for childcare and other family-related expenses.
- Understand special financial planning needs for families with loved ones with special needs.
Where to find Sophia Yudkowski
- Website: mesirow.com/bio/sophia-yudkowsky
- LinkedIn: sophia-yudkowsky-cfp
Where to find Misty
Websites:
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 Demistifying 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 (00:16):
Hello everyone, thank you so much for joining us today
for the Demystifying Money Podcast. I'm your host, Misty Lynch,
and i am joined by Sophia Yudkowski, CFP to talk
today about financial planning for young families. So Sophia is
out in the Chicago area in Highland Park and she
(00:37):
is working with Mesro Wealth Management and she is the
vice president there and a member of their investment committee,
so she's making a lot of the decisions about what
their clients are invested in, which is a really interesting
thing to do. It's one of my favorite parts of
the job actually here. And she's also an active member
of the Mara Rubinstein Weiss Leadership Board, which provides resources
(00:58):
and education for individuals diagnose with the BRACA and other
breaston obarian cancer predisposition genes. So thank you for your
work with I'd love to hear a little bit more
about your experience though entering the financial services world and
what drew you to this space to help people, help people,
help you have families manage their money.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Sure, well, thanks Misty for having me. I'm very excited
to be on.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
This episode of Demystifying Money with Misty Lynch is proudly
sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview financial
Advisors dot com to learn more.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
So, like you said, I met Maso, I've been here
for eight years now when I actually started as an
intern here out of college, so really have built my
practice and my expertise being here. I got my CFP
while I was here as well, and I just really
enjoy the concept of helping families figure out what their
(01:58):
goals are, figure out what their needs are, and like
you said, what are the investments that they need to
achieve those goals. I think a big part of my
drive for wanting to get into this industry was my
love of obviously the investment piece, the numbers, but also
connecting with people, learning their stories and actually having a
purpose behind what it is that I'm doing. So I
(02:19):
love connecting with people and talking to them, learning more
about their backgrounds, and really figuring out how we can
solve whatever problems they're facing.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So you're recently married yourself, Yes, So I wanted to
when you're talking to people, you know, young couples, people
who are just getting married, what are some of the
financial concerns and taught and things that they're thinking about
right now, especially living you know, a suburb of a
big city. What's going on in your client's minds or
(02:49):
maybe even your own as you're thinking about, you know,
combining your finances, are combining your life with your new spouse.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
So it's really interesting because I think what I've learned
through just my own you know, process of getting married
and combining finances and then obviously also helping people, is
there's no one size fits all, and so what I'm
realizing is everybody does it in their own unique way
that they're comfortable with, and it also depends on each
person's background. So, for example, my husband and I both
(03:18):
are you know, independently working, you know, to achieve our
own financial goals prior to marriage, and now that we're married,
it's how do we merge these goals but really still
maintain some sort of independence around you know, I still
want authority to make some financial decisions. He wants some
as well, and so we kind of have to discover
what our partnership looks like. Right, who's in charge of
(03:38):
making the decisions around insurance and who's in charge of
making decisions around home purchases and how do we collaborate
on that too, is really important. I have some couples
who the wife or the husband or the spouse does
not want to be involved at all in the finances,
and to that, I'm very you know, I would say
(03:58):
serious about the fact that we need to make sure
that both partners are at least aware of what's going
on in the finances of the couple. I understand, like
sometimes there's one spouse that might want to take on
more of the leadership role, but we still need both
of them to be partners in the decision making process.
And I think too, it comes down to a lot
(04:21):
of times maybe one partner comes from money with their
family and one doesn't. One was raised to have money values,
as I call it, and one was kind of raised
by spendthrifts and doesn't really understand the importance of saving.
And it's really important to make sure that you level
set at the get go with your partner.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, definitely, I know that I've talked to a few people,
and I talked to somebody recently who was telling me
that one of her friends is a she's a coach
for married couples, and she said, with her work working
with all these couples spenders Mary Savers, and so there
was all this thought about opposites attract, and I was
thinking about some of my couples, which if they're working
(05:01):
with me, they've typically either decided that they have some
goals that they want to work towards, or something happened
that got them. You know what, we'll get a financial
planner to work with. But then I thought about the
people that maybe we're not talking to yet or that
we might and we think about what draws people together,
and sometimes it could be, you know, it could be
in opposites attract type of situation. So I love what
(05:22):
you said about, you know, kind of understanding where everyone's
coming from because we are not the same. I'm not
even the same as my sister who grew up in
the same house. And so I think it's so important
for couples to really think about like there isn't a
right or wrong, There isn't a perfect way to do it.
The way that I do things with my spouse. But
we got married at a point where he'd managed his
(05:43):
own money until he was you know, almost you know,
in his thirties, and I was, you know, close to that,
Like I wasn't going to just hand over anything to
anyone to be one hundred percent in charge of. And
so there's so many different ways that we entered these
relationships in lots of different ways to make it work.
But you mentioned having those common in goals and working together,
(06:03):
whether you combine your accounts, whether you keep them separated, Like,
having those goals out there is super important. So when
you're talking, you know, with a new couple and maybe
money hasn't been part of the conversation much, or they
might have just gotten finished, you know, maybe paying for
a wedding something expensive. You know, what are some of
the things that you think it's important for couples to
(06:25):
start to think about as they're looking ahead to maybe
maybe expanding their family, maybe moves and jobs. What are
some of the things that you like to get couples
to really ask each other so they can.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Get as the biggest one. So, like you said, usually
it's if we're not already talking to you and all
of a sudden something happens. So the example might be
buying a house, having a kid. That's usually what prompts
the conversation. And when we're talking about those big topics,
we have to make sure that everybody knows what everyone
(06:57):
else has or at least doesn't have. Right is or
debt that needs to be paid off? Is their are
their student loans? One does one spouse make significant money,
or is expecting an inheritance or a gift from a
parent or grandparent. So getting everything out on the table
is really important. But definitely when we're thinking about those
big life changes, so buying a home or having a kid,
(07:20):
that's where the conversations really start to develop into we
have to think more as a unit rather than as
a mine in yours.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, and I think that that's something that most people,
by the time they mary understand, you know, maybe a
little bit about you know, what do you do you expect?
You know, are we going to have a kid, do
we want to move, have we thought about buying a house,
or do we live together? But getting somebody to really
think about the budget can be something that's a little
bit eye opening for people who are definitely new to
(07:52):
either how much it costs for things like childcare or
putting a down payment on a home and things like that.
So how do you help them come to the table
when it comes to actually budgeting if they never budgeted
before period, or if this is the first time they're
doing it as a team.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So I joke that I'm the third person and a
lot of couple, you know, a lot of relationships, because
I do have to manage those conversations, which can be tough,
and budgeting is usually where we start. And so when
we think about budget we have to think about needs
versus wants and needs maybe the current needs and then
also the future needs, so what we're saving for. And
I have clients try to be as honest as possible
(08:33):
about their expenses, but I think sometimes there is a
component where they're understating maybe what they spend on going
out to dinner. So really, I think I recommend if
you charge everything on a credit card, you get an
average of the last six months of credit card statements.
Then you look at what your consistent payments are, right utilities,
mortgage or rent, things that you don't necessarily charge to
(08:55):
the credit card. Get those all out there on a spreadsheet,
let's average them out. I always like to have six
months at least because that accounts for fluctuations like maybe
somebody's birthday is in there, or maybe holidays things like that,
and then we can start to say, well, this is
what you're spending. Let's talk about what you're earning too.
Is that within your means? And if it is, assuming
(09:17):
it is, which sometimes it isn't, and then you have
to have that conversation. We can say, well, you're about
to add on a much bigger expense. Let's say you're
about to have a kid. And I think the last
figure I saw was that it costs up to four
hundred thousand dollars in America to raise a kid from
birth to age seventeen. And that's just the average seventeen. Yeah,
that's not yeah, right exactly, as if you stop paying
(09:39):
for your kid at seventeen, because then there's college too.
So there's just a lot of big expenses that you
have to start to adjust your budget for. Once you're
working as a couple and you have a goal like that.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, has it been getting tougher as far as you know?
I know that I bought my home in twenty ten.
I had my kids around that time, twenty twelve, and
I feel like it's gotten It's gotten tougher, I know,
to find real estate, and also just you know, it
seems like, you know, the expenses and stuff. It seems
like things are getting a little trickier. So is there
(10:13):
something to be said, you know, as far as like
the perfect time is something that I've heard people say
when it comes to having a child or and I
feel like there's really not a perfect time ever. But
do you have some people who have some anxiety about
maybe moving in any direction with their lives thinking about
(10:34):
those numbers that we're hearing.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Definitely, I think it's harder today than it was in
our parents' generation. It was harder. It's harder than it
was even five six years ago, just with where interest
rates have gone and with the housing supplies so low
in so many areas of the market, especially the suburbs
where a lot of these couples want to live. I
see that struggle on the daily basis. I've gone through
it personally myself, which clients appreciate hearing. So it's staff
(11:00):
only a different time, and it definitely makes you adjust
sort of what you think is achievable, and it maybe
makes you reshape your timeline. I think obviously I can't
speak to this as the expert because I am not
at this phase of my life yet. But I think
any you know, older parent might tell you there is
no right time. You're never going to be able to
time exactly when to have your child. But I think
(11:22):
it is important to know that the costs are going
to increase tremendously, especially now. And the other piece too
that's changed is, you know, child care has gone up,
So not only are you having to pay for a
more expensive house, but especially with both partners working most
of the time, you have to account for the fact
that there's going to be a huge cost and who
(11:43):
will take care of the child during the day before
they enter, you know, a public school system.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, no, I think that. I think I talked to
somebody once and I was saying, how like, having a
child isn't a savings you know, concern, it's a cash
flow concern, And they look at me like, what is who.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Says things like that?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
But it's true because I think it definitely changes the
way I spent my money. You know, certain things that
you know I used to spend a lot on I
stopped for quite a while when my kids were young,
but also when I was planning ahead. As we stopped
paying for those, that's when we looked at using that
money and bunneling it directly somewhere else. Because it was
(12:23):
such a big it was almost like another mortgage payment
a month, and so it did have that kind of
knowing that there is an end in mind. But it
is something that I think budgeting is going to have
to be. It just has to be a part of it.
You almost you don't have a choice, but figuring out
where are we going to find the money for this,
(12:44):
or looking at different options that might be available, and
some places that people want to send their children to daycare,
the wait list like starts when you find out your pregnant. Yes,
which is just this amount of planning ahead that I
even I found.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
To be planners don't plan for that. I was like, wait, what,
Like that's right, that's insane.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
But anyway, but those those things are good to think about.
So I wanted to talk to you as well, because
you are talking with a lot of younger families when
it comes to the idea of financial nesting and preparing
for parenthood with confidence because there is no there is
no answer sheet, there is no reference. You know, you
(13:26):
might want to do things a lot differently than your
parents did. And so how are you helping these these
couples who have, you know, so many things to think about.
Money is going to touch all of them, though, just
for sure, I would say all of them.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'm going to stick with that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I think all of them. There is all of that.
You know, there is usually some financial component to it.
So what is nesting and why? You know, why is
it something that expecting it and new parents should do.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, So this is something I came up with when
I was talking to a lot of my friends who
are expecting their first or second children about out they
start organizing their home and it's called nesting, and you
start to clean out closets or you start to prepare
a nursery. But then our conversations would often shift to, well,
what do I need to be doing from a financial perspective,
And so that's where it kind of came up with
this concept of financial nesting. Getting ready to organize your
(14:15):
financial lives to prepare to have a kid. And there's
a few pieces which we've already spoken about right, like
budgeting that goes into that. But then there's also the
piece of evaluating life insurance and estate planning considerations that
now that you're having a child, you want to start
to organize, and I think oftentimes it's easier to do
(14:35):
it before your child is born, because once you know
you have a newborn, as you might know, it becomes
very hactic. And so there are certain things you can
do prior to having your kid that can really help
organize you and make you feel like, Okay, at least
I might not know much about the whole parenting thing
once the baby comes, changing a diaper, dealing with night
(14:56):
you know, night feedings, but at least I know financially
and all of what we want for our wishes for
this child are secured.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people and too.
I talked to a lot of self employed people with
smaller business owners, and usually, you know, when I'm talking
with somebody and they're pregnant or about to have a
child and we're talking about, you know, getting disability insurance
other types of insurance, it is easier if you think
about that ahead of time before because there were certain
(15:26):
things like even life insurance where this was you know,
something that if we had secured it right in the
you know, before we'd talked, you know, before that happened,
it might have been easier. And then sometimes we've had
to wait until after the child. So I think that
there are a lot of things that can be very beneficial.
And even with a state planning, if you were to
(15:46):
then adjust the ad guardianship, like, that's much easier than
having to then say, Okay, I need to find the
time to do all of these things. So I think
that nesting in advance or even understand and and kind
of that these are things that are going to be
very very important. Who should I talk to? Who are
even are these people? And so I think that's where
(16:08):
having a you know, talking to a financial planner first
can help you get those resources. And another thing too
is I've noticed that people who are filing taxes as
a married couple for this for the first time too
sometimes are like, what should.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We be doing?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
What are we missing out on?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So I think that that's there's just a bunch of
other professionals outside of us that can be really really helpful,
even if it's just an initial meaning not something that
you know you have to do every single year or
all the time, but really just to kind of get
on the same page for those things can be so helpful.
There's some other financial concerns though, you know, aside from
(16:47):
just childcare costs, but even thinking about like taking a
leave from work and you know some of the health
insurance and the health insurance costs that come with it.
So how do you help couples maybe if they're looking at,
you know, whose benefits they should be using and what
they should do.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yes, I definitely recommend we look at all of both
partners benefits that are offered by the company. What's the
maternity or paternity leaf policy. Sometimes couples can mix it
up so that they can extend it, where one takes
the Matturney leaf first, then the pattorney leaf second, So
there's ways to extend it so you're not immediately hit
(17:24):
with childcare expenses after your you know, twelve weeks is over.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So what are some practical tips that you could provide
to young families Because I know that the thought of
all of these expenses is pretty overwhelming, and sometimes when
people feel overwhelmed, they just don't do anything. They kind
of have that analysis paralysis where they can't think about
all these things. So what are some of the smart
decisions that they can make now regarding their family for
(17:53):
the short term and in the future that you recommend
that people do right away while they're in that nesting phase.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Wow, while they're in their nesting phase. I'll do a
shameless plug. And I think it's important to meet with
an advisor. Anytime you go through a big life change,
anything you know, significant in your life, it's really important
to talk to a professional who can help guide you
and kind of take some of that stress away from
these daunting decisions that you're about to have to make
(18:19):
if you're not up first speaking with someone. Another thing
that I do that I personally use is just write
everything down and so whether that's you know, you take
your notebook and you just say, here, all the expenses
that I'm thinking are going to come up. How much
is a stroller, how much is a crib? You know,
what do we have to budget for nursery, What do
we have to budget for just the initial you know,
(18:40):
like what we were talking about, you know, maternity, paternity leave,
time off, things like that. So writing things down and
kind of getting them pen to paper. I think will
be really helpful and relieving for some people just to
even see it, you know, in front of them.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I think that's good advice because a lot of times
all these things just rattle around in your brain and
you think that it and that's an easy way to
get overwhelmed instead of thinking like, okay, this costs X,
or I could find something. What do I mind buying?
You know, what do I have to be top of
the line, What don't I have to be? What can
I register for? If I have something and then even
get a discount on it afterwards if somebody doesn't pick
(19:16):
it up, but I'm able to, you know, to go
and buy the things that I need. So I think
that's smart and I think sometimes that's a good way
to even just getting a pen to paper period is
a good way to get all of that out of
your head so that you can then make a plan.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And what I like to remind people too, especially if
they're just even starting to think about pregnancy or just
found out the positive news. You have now nine months,
so that's you know, almost a year for you to
start to really adjust your spending, save more, start putting
money away for these upcoming costs. And I think once,
especially when a goal is more immediate like that, it's
(19:52):
easier to start to say, Okay, we're going to start
to build this bucket of money that we know is
dedicated to these upcoming large expenses, separate it out so
that it's there once the baby has arrived.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
And also I think it's a good time to think
about emergency funds. Yes, anything that you have to say
about that when it comes to new families that maybe
hasn't come up for people in the past.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
While having an emergency fund, just so you know, listeners know,
is having ready cash available for things that might come
up that you're not expecting. And the recommended rule of
thumb is having three to six months of whatever your
cost of living is set aside in an account where
the money is very readily available. And so when you
think about in the context of a family emergency, right
(20:36):
that changes because what if baby needs something out of
the blue. What if baby needs to go to a
doctor all of a sudden that you weren't anticipating the
costs for. So there's definitely new emergencies that come up.
Once you're speaking about having a family versus just an
individual or even a couple.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, No, definitely. I think there were times where like
if something happened and it was just me, I could
go crash on someone's couch, or I can go, you know,
throw on a sweater if it was cold or whatever.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Where are the babies.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you can't just travel as easily, even people with
pets too. It's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's just not as simple as it is when you're
really just figuring like can you handle it or not.
So I think having that emergency fund can be super,
super important. And I think you're right kind of making
those kind of changes now while you're you know, those
nine months that you have to prepare, you know, you
can think about how you're thinking about money, how you're
(21:29):
spending it, where you want to direct it, because now
there's just something, you know, maybe future goals too. And
I talk to some people who, you know, open a
five to a night or college savings plan, and I
talk to some people that do it when their kids
are juniors or sophomores in high school. And then I
talk to some people who do it when they have babies.
And it's certainly a lot easier. You could do a
lot more with less when you start young. But do
(21:52):
you have any thoughts on that when people ask you
about you know, all of the things that they need
to pay for today versus the future.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Right, So we always like to break got short term, intermediate,
and long term goals. So we're thinking about long term goals.
We're thinking college funding for kids. And I always say
the sooner you can get started, the better. So even
if it's fifty dollars a month into your five two
nine account, which is going to give you that tax
to for savings advantage for you to use when your
(22:19):
child is in college, it's so helpful because of compounding
that the growth will be there and then not why
you're not as worried by the time that they are
juniors in college and you're going to say how am
I going to pay for college? You've already been used
to saving. It's out of you know, it's out of
your mind already because you have this bucket that you've
been saving for. I think what people also forget sometimes
(22:40):
is saving for themselves. So once your child is here,
you're thinking, I need to save for their childcare, I
need to save for camp I need to say for braces,
I need to say for college. But then you also
have to remember, well, once your child has grown, you're
still there and you're still going to want to retire,
So not sacrificing your own financial wellbeing will also making
sure that you're accounting for your child is a really
(23:02):
hard balancing act, and that's where I think an advisor
can really come help you, you know, weigh those way
what you need to be saving for and prioritize your goals.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, no, i'd agree. I agree on that one. And
I think you know, for some of us, some of
the financial planners, you know, like you and I that
work with people who are early mid career, you know,
there's it. Financial planning is harder. I would say it
is now for like a lot of other you know,
other clients that I work with that are retired, that
don't have those same expenses and they're really just looking
(23:31):
out for themselves now or they're trying to figure out,
you know, certain things. But there aren't as many competing
goals as there are when you have people who are
in the space, you know, where they're still building wealth
and still acquiring it. And so I think there are
a lot of things that you could do to make
it go a little bit smoother, even if it's just
you know, even if it's just getting things started. Like
(23:53):
you said, that's how I started with my children's five
twenty nine. It was like fifty dollars, you know, every
two weeks, and it was just an autopilot. And I
think about, you know, if that money had been in
my checking account, it would have gone somewhere else, one
hundred percent. It would have gone to you know, Tario,
or would have gone to the grocery store or somewhere else.
And so I think it's important to try to make
(24:14):
it easy, try to make it as simple as possible
and kind of remove some of those blocks where you
have to make those decisions every single paycheck. And if
you can start to automate different things, because I don't
think I was.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Ever as.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
The brain fog and the confusion of certain things where
you know, when I first had a child and I
wasn't sleeping, like anything that you could do to automate
things ahead of time to make sure that your payments
get made, maybe you put the mortgage on auto payment.
All of those things can make things better because there's
a lot of demands on your time, and like just
(24:50):
basically you don't get extra space in your brain to
handle more things when you bring home your child.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So when you're you know, making sure somebody stays alive.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yes, so I definitely think the more you could do
to prepare ahead of time the better. Before we I
wanted to ask you about another thing that you focus
on with clients, and that'd be special needs financial planning.
So for families who do have loved ones with special needs,
what are some of the things that you talk to
those clients about when it comes to protecting those loved ones?
Speaker 3 (25:21):
And that is a really near and dear topic to
my heart. I was raised, you know, working with children
with special needs and still connected to those families, so
it is something that I definitely like to focus my
practice on. And that is something, you know, a topic
where I really emphasize having a team approach, So having
an advisor who focuses on special needs planning, having an
(25:42):
estate planning attorney, a special needs planning attorney, and having
somebody who focuses on life insurance as well. All of
those are so important obviously for any family, but especially
when you have a special needs child. We focus a
lot in my practice on making sure that you are
saving in the most sufficient ways. So what that means
is there's government programs that are available to special needs
(26:05):
children and adults through Social Security and through Medicare, but
you want to make sure that you qualify for those,
and there's limits to how much you can have in
assets if you want to qualify for those, and so
that's where things like special needs trusts should be set
up for those children. Talk about five to nine able accounts,
which are similar to those five to nine college accounts
(26:26):
that we were just talking about. The five to nine
able accounts are specifically for those with individuals with disabilities
that allow you to save in a way that doesn't
impact their eligibility for those social Security or Medicare benefits.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah, I think, and those are interesting accounts, the able accounts.
I worked with the client once and we were able
to pay for something to modify her transportation to make
it more accessible. So there was a lot. You know,
we think about five twenty nine, We think of education
and college, but I think that these able accounts are
definitely you know worth, you know, speak with somebody about
(27:01):
if you are somebody you know who has some special needs,
or you have a child or loved one, because there
is quite a bit of of uses, different different things
that you can do that I think it's just a
really great way to save and invest and be able
to handle future costs outside of just the education ones,
(27:21):
which also could be applied to this type of account
as well. So it is important because I think people
don't understand how little and how low some of these
thresholds are for how much you can have in your
own name and savings, because it's not a substantial amount
of money in most.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Cases, it's really little. And another piece that I want
to just make sure of that I mentioned is who's
taking care of your child, you know, because oftentimes you're
not going to be around when you're a child or
special needs child is an adult, and so when they're
And I talk to a parent who has both a
(27:58):
child with disabilities and a typically functioning, you know child
and so or neurotypical child, and so he said, for
my neurotypical child, I am trying to just save, you know,
for her to go to college and then some right
maybe a wedding or you know, something like that. For
his other child who has special needs it's how do
(28:19):
I say for her life, and that is such a
different goal and that requires so much more planning and
concern obviously from the part of the parents of I
am not going to be there always and this my
child will always need somebody there and so making sure
that that's laid out really clearly too, and you work
with your advisor, your attorney to make sure that your
(28:41):
your hopes and goals for that child are met even
when you're no longer here.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, it's so important, and it is something that's going
to be, you know, always, you know, on your mind,
and I think that you know, it's something for parents,
especially with the financial end of it, but the estate
planning too, because if you don't do any estate planning
for yourself, you could unintentionally have your child inherit money
that then, you know, can jeopardize their ability to get
(29:07):
these benefits or the services that they've been used to
or that they need. So I think it's such an
important thing for people to really work with a professional
on because it is so it's just a it's a
challenging space to navigate on your own because it's not
exactly it's not the same, and even people I talk
to a lot of people who don't do any estate
(29:29):
planning with small chiot small children who are you know,
neurotypical or not, and they just don't want.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
But again, that could mean your child inheriting a lot
of money at eighteen years old, or it could mean,
you know, the state decides who has guardianship for your child.
So I think it's it's such an important thing, but
especially when it comes to that financial planning with special
needs in mind, so very helpful. The work that you're
doing and the people that you're talking to on these issues.
(29:57):
How can people find you if they are in your
area or they're just looking to learn more or follow
you to hear more about this topic.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
There's a few ways, So you can always go to
mesro dot com and find my name, so Fia Yudkowski.
You can google. I'm sure that that's an easy way,
and then I'm also on LinkedIn. My page is there
as well, so anywhere you go, if you just google
my name Mezro Wealth Management, Sofia Yudkowski, I will come
up and happy to always take a call if anybody
(30:26):
just has questions or wanted a second look at their
financial plan. I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Thank you, and thank you so much. Thank you so
much for joining and for doing this work. Before we go,
I did want to hear a little bit from you
about about the charity work you do, if you wanted
to talk about that briefly, just about who you're working
with and who you're helping, just in case anyone is
listening and is interested in learning about that too.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Thank you, I mean thank you for asking about that,
because it is something that's really near and dear to
my heart. I lost my mom to ovarian cancer in
twenty twenty one, and she immediately when she was diagnosed,
had me and my two sisters and our cousins get
tested for what's called the Brocka gene, which is a
gene that's very common in Ashkenazi Jewish women or men
(31:13):
that increases your risks substantially for breast and ovarian cancer.
And so I found out that I was positive, as
did one of my sisters who's happy to share her story.
So I'm okay disclosing that. And what that did was
that allowed us to make informed decisions via you know,
whether it's going through IVF, to make sure that our children,
future children don't have this gene or doing preventive surgeries
(31:36):
to make sure that we'll be you know, protected and
reduce our risk. It's something that I just think is
so important and needs to be spread so people know
that they have options. So the mere Reuben sein Wei's
Leadership Board is connected to a hospital here, and what
we do is we provide funding for women who need
to make informed decisions that maybe don't have access to
you know, medical coverage or just funds needed to get
(31:59):
that testing done and get their mammograms, get their screenings,
which is so important.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Thank you so much for the work that you're doing
and for sharing your story and for talking about you know,
what you've gone through and you know, losing your I
feel like a lot of us, you know, when we
have things that impact us, then if we're able to
then just take that pain or take that feeling and
then do something positive and help more people. I think
that that just helps all women and helps you know,
(32:27):
people just deal with you know, all of the things
that life will throw at us that can be so challenging.
But again, thank you so much for joining me on
the show today and thank you everyone for listening. If
you'd like to listen to some more episodes of the
Demonstfying Money podcast or check out a copy of my book,
please head over to mis dy Lynch dot com and also,
(32:47):
if you like this episode, I'd love it if you
subscribe or share it. It's been really great to speak
with you today, Sophia, and thank you all so much
for listening.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
We'll talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Thank you for joining us on another insightful episode of
demonst Buying 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 Demistifying 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 (00:16):
Hello everyone, thank you so much for joining us today
for the Demystifying Money Podcast. I'm your host, Misty Lynch,
and i am joined by Sophia Yudkowski, CFP to talk
today about financial planning for young families. So Sophia is
out in the Chicago area in Highland Park and she
(00:37):
is working with Mesro Wealth Management and she is the
vice president there and a member of their investment committee,
so she's making a lot of the decisions about what
their clients are invested in, which is a really interesting
thing to do. It's one of my favorite parts of
the job actually here. And she's also an active member
of the Mara Rubinstein Weiss Leadership Board, which provides resources
(00:58):
and education for individuals diagnose with the BRACA and other
breaston obarian cancer predisposition genes. So thank you for your
work with I'd love to hear a little bit more
about your experience though entering the financial services world and
what drew you to this space to help people, help people,
help you have families manage their money.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Sure, well, thanks Misty for having me. I'm very excited
to be on.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
This episode of Demystifying Money with Misty Lynch is proudly
sponsored by Soundview Financial Advisors. Visit www dot Soundview financial
Advisors dot com to learn more.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
So, like you said, I met Maso, I've been here
for eight years now when I actually started as an
intern here out of college, so really have built my
practice and my expertise being here. I got my CFP
while I was here as well, and I just really
enjoy the concept of helping families figure out what their
(01:58):
goals are, figure out what their needs are, and like
you said, what are the investments that they need to
achieve those goals. I think a big part of my
drive for wanting to get into this industry was my
love of obviously the investment piece, the numbers, but also
connecting with people, learning their stories and actually having a
purpose behind what it is that I'm doing. So I
(02:19):
love connecting with people and talking to them, learning more
about their backgrounds, and really figuring out how we can
solve whatever problems they're facing.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
So you're recently married yourself, Yes, So I wanted to
when you're talking to people, you know, young couples, people
who are just getting married, what are some of the
financial concerns and taught and things that they're thinking about
right now, especially living you know, a suburb of a
big city. What's going on in your client's minds or
(02:49):
maybe even your own as you're thinking about, you know,
combining your finances, are combining your life with your new spouse.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
So it's really interesting because I think what I've learned
through just my own you know, process of getting married
and combining finances and then obviously also helping people, is
there's no one size fits all, and so what I'm
realizing is everybody does it in their own unique way
that they're comfortable with, and it also depends on each
person's background. So, for example, my husband and I both
(03:18):
are you know, independently working, you know, to achieve our
own financial goals prior to marriage, and now that we're married,
it's how do we merge these goals but really still
maintain some sort of independence around you know, I still
want authority to make some financial decisions. He wants some
as well, and so we kind of have to discover
what our partnership looks like. Right, who's in charge of
(03:38):
making the decisions around insurance and who's in charge of
making decisions around home purchases and how do we collaborate
on that too, is really important. I have some couples
who the wife or the husband or the spouse does
not want to be involved at all in the finances,
and to that, I'm very you know, I would say
(03:58):
serious about the fact that we need to make sure
that both partners are at least aware of what's going
on in the finances of the couple. I understand, like
sometimes there's one spouse that might want to take on
more of the leadership role, but we still need both
of them to be partners in the decision making process.
And I think too, it comes down to a lot
(04:21):
of times maybe one partner comes from money with their
family and one doesn't. One was raised to have money values,
as I call it, and one was kind of raised
by spendthrifts and doesn't really understand the importance of saving.
And it's really important to make sure that you level
set at the get go with your partner.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, definitely, I know that I've talked to a few people,
and I talked to somebody recently who was telling me
that one of her friends is a she's a coach
for married couples, and she said, with her work working
with all these couples spenders Mary Savers, and so there
was all this thought about opposites attract, and I was
thinking about some of my couples, which if they're working
(05:01):
with me, they've typically either decided that they have some
goals that they want to work towards, or something happened
that got them. You know what, we'll get a financial
planner to work with. But then I thought about the
people that maybe we're not talking to yet or that
we might and we think about what draws people together,
and sometimes it could be, you know, it could be
in opposites attract type of situation. So I love what
(05:22):
you said about, you know, kind of understanding where everyone's
coming from because we are not the same. I'm not
even the same as my sister who grew up in
the same house. And so I think it's so important
for couples to really think about like there isn't a
right or wrong, There isn't a perfect way to do it.
The way that I do things with my spouse. But
we got married at a point where he'd managed his
(05:43):
own money until he was you know, almost you know,
in his thirties, and I was, you know, close to that,
Like I wasn't going to just hand over anything to
anyone to be one hundred percent in charge of. And
so there's so many different ways that we entered these
relationships in lots of different ways to make it work.
But you mentioned having those common in goals and working together,
(06:03):
whether you combine your accounts, whether you keep them separated, Like,
having those goals out there is super important. So when
you're talking, you know, with a new couple and maybe
money hasn't been part of the conversation much, or they
might have just gotten finished, you know, maybe paying for
a wedding something expensive. You know, what are some of
the things that you think it's important for couples to
(06:25):
start to think about as they're looking ahead to maybe
maybe expanding their family, maybe moves and jobs. What are
some of the things that you like to get couples
to really ask each other so they can.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Get as the biggest one. So, like you said, usually
it's if we're not already talking to you and all
of a sudden something happens. So the example might be
buying a house, having a kid. That's usually what prompts
the conversation. And when we're talking about those big topics,
we have to make sure that everybody knows what everyone
(06:57):
else has or at least doesn't have. Right is or
debt that needs to be paid off? Is their are
their student loans? One does one spouse make significant money,
or is expecting an inheritance or a gift from a
parent or grandparent. So getting everything out on the table
is really important. But definitely when we're thinking about those
big life changes, so buying a home or having a kid,
(07:20):
that's where the conversations really start to develop into we
have to think more as a unit rather than as
a mine in yours.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah, and I think that that's something that most people,
by the time they mary understand, you know, maybe a
little bit about you know, what do you do you expect?
You know, are we going to have a kid, do
we want to move, have we thought about buying a house,
or do we live together? But getting somebody to really
think about the budget can be something that's a little
bit eye opening for people who are definitely new to
(07:52):
either how much it costs for things like childcare or
putting a down payment on a home and things like that.
So how do you help them come to the table
when it comes to actually budgeting if they never budgeted
before period, or if this is the first time they're
doing it as a team.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
So I joke that I'm the third person and a
lot of couple, you know, a lot of relationships, because
I do have to manage those conversations, which can be tough,
and budgeting is usually where we start. And so when
we think about budget we have to think about needs
versus wants and needs maybe the current needs and then
also the future needs, so what we're saving for. And
I have clients try to be as honest as possible
(08:33):
about their expenses, but I think sometimes there is a
component where they're understating maybe what they spend on going
out to dinner. So really, I think I recommend if
you charge everything on a credit card, you get an
average of the last six months of credit card statements.
Then you look at what your consistent payments are, right utilities,
mortgage or rent, things that you don't necessarily charge to
(08:55):
the credit card. Get those all out there on a spreadsheet,
let's average them out. I always like to have six
months at least because that accounts for fluctuations like maybe
somebody's birthday is in there, or maybe holidays things like that,
and then we can start to say, well, this is
what you're spending. Let's talk about what you're earning too.
Is that within your means? And if it is, assuming
(09:17):
it is, which sometimes it isn't, and then you have
to have that conversation. We can say, well, you're about
to add on a much bigger expense. Let's say you're
about to have a kid. And I think the last
figure I saw was that it costs up to four
hundred thousand dollars in America to raise a kid from
birth to age seventeen. And that's just the average seventeen. Yeah,
that's not yeah, right exactly, as if you stop paying
(09:39):
for your kid at seventeen, because then there's college too.
So there's just a lot of big expenses that you
have to start to adjust your budget for. Once you're
working as a couple and you have a goal like that.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, has it been getting tougher as far as you know?
I know that I bought my home in twenty ten.
I had my kids around that time, twenty twelve, and
I feel like it's gotten It's gotten tougher, I know,
to find real estate, and also just you know, it
seems like, you know, the expenses and stuff. It seems
like things are getting a little trickier. So is there
(10:13):
something to be said, you know, as far as like
the perfect time is something that I've heard people say
when it comes to having a child or and I
feel like there's really not a perfect time ever. But
do you have some people who have some anxiety about
maybe moving in any direction with their lives thinking about
(10:34):
those numbers that we're hearing.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Definitely, I think it's harder today than it was in
our parents' generation. It was harder. It's harder than it
was even five six years ago, just with where interest
rates have gone and with the housing supplies so low
in so many areas of the market, especially the suburbs
where a lot of these couples want to live. I
see that struggle on the daily basis. I've gone through
it personally myself, which clients appreciate hearing. So it's staff
(11:00):
only a different time, and it definitely makes you adjust
sort of what you think is achievable, and it maybe
makes you reshape your timeline. I think obviously I can't
speak to this as the expert because I am not
at this phase of my life yet. But I think
any you know, older parent might tell you there is
no right time. You're never going to be able to
time exactly when to have your child. But I think
(11:22):
it is important to know that the costs are going
to increase tremendously, especially now. And the other piece too
that's changed is, you know, child care has gone up,
So not only are you having to pay for a
more expensive house, but especially with both partners working most
of the time, you have to account for the fact
that there's going to be a huge cost and who
(11:43):
will take care of the child during the day before
they enter, you know, a public school system.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
Yeah, no, I think that. I think I talked to
somebody once and I was saying, how like, having a
child isn't a savings you know, concern, it's a cash
flow concern, And they look at me like, what is who.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Says things like that?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
But it's true because I think it definitely changes the
way I spent my money. You know, certain things that
you know I used to spend a lot on I
stopped for quite a while when my kids were young,
but also when I was planning ahead. As we stopped
paying for those, that's when we looked at using that
money and bunneling it directly somewhere else. Because it was
(12:23):
such a big it was almost like another mortgage payment
a month, and so it did have that kind of
knowing that there is an end in mind. But it
is something that I think budgeting is going to have
to be. It just has to be a part of it.
You almost you don't have a choice, but figuring out
where are we going to find the money for this,
(12:44):
or looking at different options that might be available, and
some places that people want to send their children to daycare,
the wait list like starts when you find out your pregnant. Yes,
which is just this amount of planning ahead that I
even I found.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
To be planners don't plan for that. I was like, wait, what,
Like that's right, that's insane.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
But anyway, but those those things are good to think about.
So I wanted to talk to you as well, because
you are talking with a lot of younger families when
it comes to the idea of financial nesting and preparing
for parenthood with confidence because there is no there is
no answer sheet, there is no reference. You know, you
(13:26):
might want to do things a lot differently than your
parents did. And so how are you helping these these
couples who have, you know, so many things to think about.
Money is going to touch all of them, though, just
for sure, I would say all of them.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I'm going to stick with that.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
I think all of them. There is all of that.
You know, there is usually some financial component to it.
So what is nesting and why? You know, why is
it something that expecting it and new parents should do.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Yeah, So this is something I came up with when
I was talking to a lot of my friends who
are expecting their first or second children about out they
start organizing their home and it's called nesting, and you
start to clean out closets or you start to prepare
a nursery. But then our conversations would often shift to, well,
what do I need to be doing from a financial perspective,
And so that's where it kind of came up with
this concept of financial nesting. Getting ready to organize your
(14:15):
financial lives to prepare to have a kid. And there's
a few pieces which we've already spoken about right, like
budgeting that goes into that. But then there's also the
piece of evaluating life insurance and estate planning considerations that
now that you're having a child, you want to start
to organize, and I think oftentimes it's easier to do
(14:35):
it before your child is born, because once you know
you have a newborn, as you might know, it becomes
very hactic. And so there are certain things you can
do prior to having your kid that can really help
organize you and make you feel like, Okay, at least
I might not know much about the whole parenting thing
once the baby comes, changing a diaper, dealing with night
(14:56):
you know, night feedings, but at least I know financially
and all of what we want for our wishes for
this child are secured.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Yeah, I think that's something a lot of people and too.
I talked to a lot of self employed people with
smaller business owners, and usually, you know, when I'm talking
with somebody and they're pregnant or about to have a
child and we're talking about, you know, getting disability insurance
other types of insurance, it is easier if you think
about that ahead of time before because there were certain
(15:26):
things like even life insurance where this was you know,
something that if we had secured it right in the
you know, before we'd talked, you know, before that happened,
it might have been easier. And then sometimes we've had
to wait until after the child. So I think that
there are a lot of things that can be very beneficial.
And even with a state planning, if you were to
(15:46):
then adjust the ad guardianship, like, that's much easier than
having to then say, Okay, I need to find the
time to do all of these things. So I think
that nesting in advance or even understand and and kind
of that these are things that are going to be
very very important. Who should I talk to? Who are
even are these people? And so I think that's where
(16:08):
having a you know, talking to a financial planner first
can help you get those resources. And another thing too
is I've noticed that people who are filing taxes as
a married couple for this for the first time too
sometimes are like, what should.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
We be doing?
Speaker 2 (16:22):
What are we missing out on?
Speaker 3 (16:24):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So I think that that's there's just a bunch of
other professionals outside of us that can be really really helpful,
even if it's just an initial meaning not something that
you know you have to do every single year or
all the time, but really just to kind of get
on the same page for those things can be so helpful.
There's some other financial concerns though, you know, aside from
(16:47):
just childcare costs, but even thinking about like taking a
leave from work and you know some of the health
insurance and the health insurance costs that come with it.
So how do you help couples maybe if they're looking at,
you know, whose benefits they should be using and what
they should do.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yes, I definitely recommend we look at all of both
partners benefits that are offered by the company. What's the
maternity or paternity leaf policy. Sometimes couples can mix it
up so that they can extend it, where one takes
the Matturney leaf first, then the pattorney leaf second, So
there's ways to extend it so you're not immediately hit
(17:24):
with childcare expenses after your you know, twelve weeks is over.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
So what are some practical tips that you could provide
to young families Because I know that the thought of
all of these expenses is pretty overwhelming, and sometimes when
people feel overwhelmed, they just don't do anything. They kind
of have that analysis paralysis where they can't think about
all these things. So what are some of the smart
decisions that they can make now regarding their family for
(17:53):
the short term and in the future that you recommend
that people do right away while they're in that nesting phase.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Wow, while they're in their nesting phase. I'll do a
shameless plug. And I think it's important to meet with
an advisor. Anytime you go through a big life change,
anything you know, significant in your life, it's really important
to talk to a professional who can help guide you
and kind of take some of that stress away from
these daunting decisions that you're about to have to make
(18:19):
if you're not up first speaking with someone. Another thing
that I do that I personally use is just write
everything down and so whether that's you know, you take
your notebook and you just say, here, all the expenses
that I'm thinking are going to come up. How much
is a stroller, how much is a crib? You know,
what do we have to budget for nursery, What do
we have to budget for just the initial you know,
(18:40):
like what we were talking about, you know, maternity, paternity leave,
time off, things like that. So writing things down and
kind of getting them pen to paper. I think will
be really helpful and relieving for some people just to
even see it, you know, in front of them.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
I think that's good advice because a lot of times
all these things just rattle around in your brain and
you think that it and that's an easy way to
get overwhelmed instead of thinking like, okay, this costs X,
or I could find something. What do I mind buying?
You know, what do I have to be top of
the line, What don't I have to be? What can
I register for? If I have something and then even
get a discount on it afterwards if somebody doesn't pick
(19:16):
it up, but I'm able to, you know, to go
and buy the things that I need. So I think
that's smart and I think sometimes that's a good way
to even just getting a pen to paper period is
a good way to get all of that out of
your head so that you can then make a plan.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
And what I like to remind people too, especially if
they're just even starting to think about pregnancy or just
found out the positive news. You have now nine months,
so that's you know, almost a year for you to
start to really adjust your spending, save more, start putting
money away for these upcoming costs. And I think once,
especially when a goal is more immediate like that, it's
(19:52):
easier to start to say, Okay, we're going to start
to build this bucket of money that we know is
dedicated to these upcoming large expenses, separate it out so
that it's there once the baby has arrived.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
And also I think it's a good time to think
about emergency funds. Yes, anything that you have to say
about that when it comes to new families that maybe
hasn't come up for people in the past.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
While having an emergency fund, just so you know, listeners know,
is having ready cash available for things that might come
up that you're not expecting. And the recommended rule of
thumb is having three to six months of whatever your
cost of living is set aside in an account where
the money is very readily available. And so when you
think about in the context of a family emergency, right
(20:36):
that changes because what if baby needs something out of
the blue. What if baby needs to go to a
doctor all of a sudden that you weren't anticipating the
costs for. So there's definitely new emergencies that come up.
Once you're speaking about having a family versus just an
individual or even a couple.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Yeah, No, definitely. I think there were times where like
if something happened and it was just me, I could
go crash on someone's couch, or I can go, you know,
throw on a sweater if it was cold or whatever.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Where are the babies.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
And you can't just travel as easily, even people with
pets too. It's the same thing.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
It's just not.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
It's just not as simple as it is when you're
really just figuring like can you handle it or not.
So I think having that emergency fund can be super,
super important. And I think you're right kind of making
those kind of changes now while you're you know, those
nine months that you have to prepare, you know, you
can think about how you're thinking about money, how you're
(21:29):
spending it, where you want to direct it, because now
there's just something, you know, maybe future goals too. And
I talk to some people who, you know, open a
five to a night or college savings plan, and I
talk to some people that do it when their kids
are juniors or sophomores in high school. And then I
talk to some people who do it when they have babies.
And it's certainly a lot easier. You could do a
lot more with less when you start young. But do
(21:52):
you have any thoughts on that when people ask you
about you know, all of the things that they need
to pay for today versus the future.
Speaker 3 (21:58):
Right, So we always like to break got short term, intermediate,
and long term goals. So we're thinking about long term goals.
We're thinking college funding for kids. And I always say
the sooner you can get started, the better. So even
if it's fifty dollars a month into your five two
nine account, which is going to give you that tax
to for savings advantage for you to use when your
(22:19):
child is in college, it's so helpful because of compounding
that the growth will be there and then not why
you're not as worried by the time that they are
juniors in college and you're going to say how am
I going to pay for college? You've already been used
to saving. It's out of you know, it's out of
your mind already because you have this bucket that you've
been saving for. I think what people also forget sometimes
(22:40):
is saving for themselves. So once your child is here,
you're thinking, I need to save for their childcare, I
need to save for camp I need to say for braces,
I need to say for college. But then you also
have to remember, well, once your child has grown, you're
still there and you're still going to want to retire,
So not sacrificing your own financial wellbeing will also making
sure that you're accounting for your child is a really
(23:02):
hard balancing act, and that's where I think an advisor
can really come help you, you know, weigh those way
what you need to be saving for and prioritize your goals.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, no, i'd agree. I agree on that one. And
I think you know, for some of us, some of
the financial planners, you know, like you and I that
work with people who are early mid career, you know,
there's it. Financial planning is harder. I would say it
is now for like a lot of other you know,
other clients that I work with that are retired, that
don't have those same expenses and they're really just looking
(23:31):
out for themselves now or they're trying to figure out,
you know, certain things. But there aren't as many competing
goals as there are when you have people who are
in the space, you know, where they're still building wealth
and still acquiring it. And so I think there are
a lot of things that you could do to make
it go a little bit smoother, even if it's just
you know, even if it's just getting things started. Like
(23:53):
you said, that's how I started with my children's five
twenty nine. It was like fifty dollars, you know, every
two weeks, and it was just an autopilot. And I
think about, you know, if that money had been in
my checking account, it would have gone somewhere else, one
hundred percent. It would have gone to you know, Tario,
or would have gone to the grocery store or somewhere else.
And so I think it's important to try to make
(24:14):
it easy, try to make it as simple as possible
and kind of remove some of those blocks where you
have to make those decisions every single paycheck. And if
you can start to automate different things, because I don't
think I was.
Speaker 3 (24:26):
Ever as.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
The brain fog and the confusion of certain things where
you know, when I first had a child and I
wasn't sleeping, like anything that you could do to automate
things ahead of time to make sure that your payments
get made, maybe you put the mortgage on auto payment.
All of those things can make things better because there's
a lot of demands on your time, and like just
(24:50):
basically you don't get extra space in your brain to
handle more things when you bring home your child.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So when you're you know, making sure somebody stays alive.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
Yes, so I definitely think the more you could do
to prepare ahead of time the better. Before we I
wanted to ask you about another thing that you focus
on with clients, and that'd be special needs financial planning.
So for families who do have loved ones with special needs,
what are some of the things that you talk to
those clients about when it comes to protecting those loved ones?
Speaker 3 (25:21):
And that is a really near and dear topic to
my heart. I was raised, you know, working with children
with special needs and still connected to those families, so
it is something that I definitely like to focus my
practice on. And that is something, you know, a topic
where I really emphasize having a team approach, So having
an advisor who focuses on special needs planning, having an
(25:42):
estate planning attorney, a special needs planning attorney, and having
somebody who focuses on life insurance as well. All of
those are so important obviously for any family, but especially
when you have a special needs child. We focus a
lot in my practice on making sure that you are
saving in the most sufficient ways. So what that means
is there's government programs that are available to special needs
(26:05):
children and adults through Social Security and through Medicare, but
you want to make sure that you qualify for those,
and there's limits to how much you can have in
assets if you want to qualify for those, and so
that's where things like special needs trusts should be set
up for those children. Talk about five to nine able accounts,
which are similar to those five to nine college accounts
(26:26):
that we were just talking about. The five to nine
able accounts are specifically for those with individuals with disabilities
that allow you to save in a way that doesn't
impact their eligibility for those social Security or Medicare benefits.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Yeah, I think, and those are interesting accounts, the able accounts.
I worked with the client once and we were able
to pay for something to modify her transportation to make
it more accessible. So there was a lot. You know,
we think about five twenty nine, We think of education
and college, but I think that these able accounts are
definitely you know worth, you know, speak with somebody about
(27:01):
if you are somebody you know who has some special needs,
or you have a child or loved one, because there
is quite a bit of of uses, different different things
that you can do that I think it's just a
really great way to save and invest and be able
to handle future costs outside of just the education ones,
(27:21):
which also could be applied to this type of account
as well. So it is important because I think people
don't understand how little and how low some of these
thresholds are for how much you can have in your
own name and savings, because it's not a substantial amount
of money in most.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Cases, it's really little. And another piece that I want
to just make sure of that I mentioned is who's
taking care of your child, you know, because oftentimes you're
not going to be around when you're a child or
special needs child is an adult, and so when they're
And I talk to a parent who has both a
(27:58):
child with disabilities and a typically functioning, you know child
and so or neurotypical child, and so he said, for
my neurotypical child, I am trying to just save, you know,
for her to go to college and then some right
maybe a wedding or you know, something like that. For
his other child who has special needs it's how do
(28:19):
I say for her life, and that is such a
different goal and that requires so much more planning and
concern obviously from the part of the parents of I
am not going to be there always and this my
child will always need somebody there and so making sure
that that's laid out really clearly too, and you work
with your advisor, your attorney to make sure that your
(28:41):
your hopes and goals for that child are met even
when you're no longer here.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, it's so important, and it is something that's going
to be, you know, always, you know, on your mind,
and I think that you know, it's something for parents,
especially with the financial end of it, but the estate
planning too, because if you don't do any estate planning
for yourself, you could unintentionally have your child inherit money
that then, you know, can jeopardize their ability to get
(29:07):
these benefits or the services that they've been used to
or that they need. So I think it's such an
important thing for people to really work with a professional
on because it is so it's just a it's a
challenging space to navigate on your own because it's not
exactly it's not the same, and even people I talk
to a lot of people who don't do any estate
(29:29):
planning with small chiot small children who are you know,
neurotypical or not, and they just don't want.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
To do it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
But again, that could mean your child inheriting a lot
of money at eighteen years old, or it could mean,
you know, the state decides who has guardianship for your child.
So I think it's it's such an important thing, but
especially when it comes to that financial planning with special
needs in mind, so very helpful. The work that you're
doing and the people that you're talking to on these issues.
(29:57):
How can people find you if they are in your
area or they're just looking to learn more or follow
you to hear more about this topic.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
There's a few ways, So you can always go to
mesro dot com and find my name, so Fia Yudkowski.
You can google. I'm sure that that's an easy way,
and then I'm also on LinkedIn. My page is there
as well, so anywhere you go, if you just google
my name Mezro Wealth Management, Sofia Yudkowski, I will come
up and happy to always take a call if anybody
(30:26):
just has questions or wanted a second look at their
financial plan. I'm happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Thank you, and thank you so much. Thank you so
much for joining and for doing this work. Before we go,
I did want to hear a little bit from you
about about the charity work you do, if you wanted
to talk about that briefly, just about who you're working
with and who you're helping, just in case anyone is
listening and is interested in learning about that too.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
Thank you, I mean thank you for asking about that,
because it is something that's really near and dear to
my heart. I lost my mom to ovarian cancer in
twenty twenty one, and she immediately when she was diagnosed,
had me and my two sisters and our cousins get
tested for what's called the Brocka gene, which is a
gene that's very common in Ashkenazi Jewish women or men
(31:13):
that increases your risks substantially for breast and ovarian cancer.
And so I found out that I was positive, as
did one of my sisters who's happy to share her story.
So I'm okay disclosing that. And what that did was
that allowed us to make informed decisions via you know,
whether it's going through IVF, to make sure that our children,
future children don't have this gene or doing preventive surgeries
(31:36):
to make sure that we'll be you know, protected and
reduce our risk. It's something that I just think is
so important and needs to be spread so people know
that they have options. So the mere Reuben sein Wei's
Leadership Board is connected to a hospital here, and what
we do is we provide funding for women who need
to make informed decisions that maybe don't have access to
you know, medical coverage or just funds needed to get
(31:59):
that testing done and get their mammograms, get their screenings,
which is so important.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
Thank you so much for the work that you're doing
and for sharing your story and for talking about you know,
what you've gone through and you know, losing your I
feel like a lot of us, you know, when we
have things that impact us, then if we're able to
then just take that pain or take that feeling and
then do something positive and help more people. I think
that that just helps all women and helps you know,
(32:27):
people just deal with you know, all of the things
that life will throw at us that can be so challenging.
But again, thank you so much for joining me on
the show today and thank you everyone for listening. If
you'd like to listen to some more episodes of the
Demonstfying Money podcast or check out a copy of my book,
please head over to mis dy Lynch dot com and also,
(32:47):
if you like this episode, I'd love it if you
subscribe or share it. It's been really great to speak
with you today, Sophia, and thank you all so much
for listening.
Speaker 3 (32:55):
We'll talk again next week.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
Thank you for joining us on another insightful episode of
demonst Buying 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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