Episode Transcript
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Audio Only - All  (00:00):
Delinquencies
are rising, repossessions are
up, and the word 2008 isfloating around again.
But before the fear takes over,I want to slow things down and
talk about what's reallyhappening and what you can do
right now to stay steady.
Laura (00:16):
hello and welcome to
money and career mastery from
overwhelmed to ownership.
I'm Laura Sexton, your abundanceand legacy coach here to help
you navigate the world of money,debt payoff, and career growth
with confidence and clarity.
In this podcast, we'll tacklethe financial and career
challenges, holding you back,optimize your income and build
(00:37):
the freedom that comes with trueownership.
If you're ready to break freefrom overwhelm, create a budget
that aligns with your values anddesign a legacy that empowers
future generations.
You're in the right place.
Audio Only - All Participa (00:51):
Hey,
accelerators, I may sound a
little different today becauseI'm recording this on my phone
in my kids' room while my babyis asleep in my room and it's
coming to you a little bit late.
That's because yesterday when Isat down to go through
everything and listen to thepodcast back.
I was so disappointed in it.
(01:12):
It didn't have the heart that Iwanted it to have.
It didn't have the message Iwanted it to have, and I wasn't
about to send out a podcast thatwas just wrong.
So today I wanted to redo thisfor you, so it's coming on a
daylight, but it's not a dollarshort.
There's a lot of debt anxietyhappening right now.
There are a lot of delinquencieshappening right now, and so I
(01:35):
wanted to talk about that.
If you got my newsletter thisweek, I talked about it a little
bit and I just needed to go alittle bit deeper.
So credit card delinquencies arethe highest that they have been
in over 10 years, and maybe Ishould pause for a second and
talk about when I saydelinquent.
What I mean is they haven't yetgone to collections, but they
(01:55):
are 30 to 90 days past due.
Now I'm seeing this more andmore every day with clients
coming to me and their marginsare just squeezed.
Truth of the matter is when youhave a bunch of things coming at
you, your income isn't going up,but the price of eggs are, and
our grocery bill is, and theprice of gas is, and housing
(02:19):
costs they're not coming downthe way that we are hoping they
were, and interest rates aren'tcoming down the way that we hope
they were.
It can just feel a little heavy.
So delinquencies, when I saythat, what I'm saying is things
that are 30 to 90 days past due,they're delinquent accounts, but
they aren't quite off intocollections.
So credit card delinquencies arethe highest they've been in 10
(02:40):
years.
Our credit card debt as a nationis over$1.5 trillion, which is
just insane.
And when people come to me andthey're like, yo, well I pay my
credit cards off every month.
I'm like, yeah, good for you.
There are a lot of people thatdon't, there are a lot of people
that can't.
And to say that you are winningthe game, I beg to differ.
(03:01):
I think you're getting 2% backon a card.
That's all well and good, butstudies show that you're
spending 15 to 18% more becauseyou're playing with OPM other
people's money and that meansyou're getting 2% back, but
you're spending.
12 to 15% more than you wouldhave.
(03:21):
So are you really winning?
That's the question.
Auto repossessions are up nearly30% year over year, which is
just astounding.
They're having to wearbulletproof vest because it's
incredibly dangerous to go andtake somebody's car out of their
driveway is not a safe thing todo.
But when you don't pay for yourcar, the dealership is going to
(03:44):
come get it back.
Foreclosures unfortunately arebeginning to rise again.
That's why we're hearing theterm 2008 talked about over and
over and over again.
There are a lot of people thathad a mortgage and they were
able to cover things or theyjust bought too much house for
what they have the ability topay for, and it's hard, but we
(04:07):
have to go ahead and have anormalization of what is
actually happening.
There needs to be some claritybecause cost of living
pressures.
They're not going away.
And high interest rates, guesswhat?
Those aren't going away either.
This is not a financialapocalypse, so that's not what
I'm predicting.
I'm not predicting at any pointin time that we're gonna have a
(04:29):
crash like we had in 2008, but Iam predicting that there are a
lot of people that are hurtingright now.
There are a lot of people thathave too many debts and not
enough money at the end of themonth.
There are too many people thatare worried about what they are
and are not going to be able tofeed their children if they're
going to be able to live lifethe way that they wanna live it.
(04:50):
Now, this doesn't mean we'redoomed, but it does mean that we
need an awareness, but it alsomeans that we need action.
We have to make a change.
When I give these statisticsabout delinquencies and
repossessions and foreclosures.
There is a family behind everysingle one of those statistics,
and it may even be you.
(05:12):
Now, I don't want you to feelnegatively about this.
I just wanna get clear so thatwe can move forward confidently.
But a lot of people when theycome to me and they have these
delinquencies or they have theforeclosure of the repossession,
there's a lot of shame andthere's a lot of panic, and
there's a whole lot ofavoidance.
And the problem with theavoidance.
(05:33):
Is that it just causes moreproblems.
Fear is a signal.
It's not a sentence.
It doesn't mean that you have togive into it.
So let's say, yeah, okay,there's some fear here, but I'm
not going to live in it.
I'm not going to allow that tocause shame or to cause panic.
I have a couple clients thatI've been working with and they
(05:55):
were facing foreclosure.
They were three months behind.
On their house.
And they were like, what do wedo?
And what we ended up doing wasfiguring out with the bank, the
bank doesn't wanna foreclose,the bank does not wanna take
your house back because thenthey have to go through all of
the paperwork and the processesand they have to resell it and
they're gonna get less for itthan you would get if you just
short sold the thing.
(06:16):
Or quick sold the thing.
And so the bank is sitting heregoing, I don't wanna, I don't
wanna repossess this house.
What can we do?
And they're willing to work withyou.
Now, car dealerships, they arehappy to repossess their car.
'cause not only do they get yourasset, but then they're able to
come after you for thedifference.
It's no good for you.
Do not voluntarily repossessyour car.
(06:37):
That's the worst thing you cando.
Okay, so again, we're not doomedand I don't want you to fear
anything.
If you are feeling very uneasythough, feel free to reach out
to me.
Let's have a conversationbecause I can help you if you
are upside down on your car andyou're like, I don't know what I
can do.
'cause they're gonna come takeit if I don't make a payment.
We have to get proactive andthere are things that we can do
(06:59):
to get you into a betterposition, but first.
And the most I can do on thispodcast right now is talk with
you, right?
Until we're having a one-on-oneconversation.
I can go back and forth.
I can give you as many resourcesas possible, but first what I
wanna do is have you do somereflection.
Is there an area of yourfinances that you have been
avoiding because it's been tooheavy?
(07:22):
I used to be the ostrich.
I used to bury my head in thesand.
I was so afraid to look at mymoney.
It was so overwhelming and Ijust didn't wanna do it.
So I've been there.
I know exactly what it means tojust not to pay attention, but
it doesn't help anything.
In fact, it definitely hurts thesituation in most cases.
So go ahead and reflect on that.
Where's one area of yourfinances that you've been
(07:44):
avoiding?
Because it feels too heavy.
Now I wanna reframe your fear asinformation.
When your body starts signalingyou in anxiety or stress, you're
not able to sleep.
That's your body doing its job.
Its job is to keep you awake.
And if it knows there's a 900pound gorilla, AKA, the IRS, or
(08:07):
your mortgage company breathingdown your neck.
Your body's going to keep youawake.
Your body's gonna be soundingall the alarm bells, and it's
doing its job.
It's telling you, Hey, somethinghas to change here.
So that's a good thing.
When you start having thosefeelings, your body's telling
you something's wrong.
I.
Once we see that something'swrong, we need to then name the
(08:27):
problem.
When we name it, we can regainpower over it.
It's like when you're in an AAmeeting, you have to call
yourself an alcoholic becauseuntil then the alcohol has
control of you.
But when you name it, you cancontrol the situation.
So here are three calm actions.
Check where you stand.
Really look at your balances,look at your bills, look at your
(08:49):
due dates.
Do you have the ability to covereverything?
Choose one thing to change.
Maybe you're adding in a budgetreview or you're canceling a
subscription, or you're gonnashop your car insurance around.
'cause you might be able to savea couple hundred dollars just by
doing that, just by shoppingyour insurances.
And I want you to plan a moneydate, be it with yourself, an
(09:11):
accountability partner, yourspouse.
Take time to sit and go overwhat your finances actually look
like.
By doing this, we're giving anawareness to it.
This isn't supposed to be scary,it's supposed to be empowering.
And if you go through all ofthese things and you get all of
the numbers laid out and you'relike, I cannot continue, give me
(09:33):
a call.
Let's book a clarity call.
Let's get clear and confidentwith your next right steps.
I have one client right now whohas 36 things in collections.
We are working diligently to gether out of there.
If you are in delinquent status,we can get you out, but I need
you to know things.
Just going, oh, well I'll justlet it go to collections, so
(09:56):
I'll let it ruin my creditscore.
I've never thought that I'd everbe able to buy a house.
Anyway, it is a big deal'causeyou see no score.
That's great.
A high score.
That's fine.
But a low score is terrible.
It's terrible for you'cause it'sgonna increase your insurance
and it's, people treat you badlyif you have a bad score.
(10:17):
Here's the reality.
Not only is it bad on thingslike insurance and job security,
job issues, but if you owe moneyon things like federal student
loans or your taxes, it's notjust affecting your credit
score.
They can come in and garnishyour wages.
They can come in and takepossession of your house.
We can't, we can't do this.
(10:38):
That's a 900 pound gorilla thatyou can't get away from, so do
not let things lapse thinkingthat it's not gonna hurt you
later if it's already happened.
If it's already happened, it'shappened.
We're not gonna be able to goback and change the past.
But if it hasn't alreadyhappened, let's keep it from
happening.
Let's get a handle on this.
Let's take control.
Let's start from a place of, I'mgoing to take control of my
(11:01):
situation because 94% ofAmerica's millionaires believe
that they control their owndestiny.
Let's be one of that 94%.
Let's take control of what youcan take control of.
If anything that I've said todayfeels familiar, you don't have
to white Knuck, let alone goahead and schedule that clarity
call with me.
We'll replace your anxiety witha plan that actually works.
(11:22):
I promise you it works.
I've helped hundreds of peopleget from a place of delinquency
into a place of full on controland financially thriving what
we're gonna talk about is goingto be really fun.
We're gonna talk about whatreally frightens people about
their money and how to face itwithout fear, so you don't want
to miss that.
If you have any financial fears,you wanna show up next week when
(11:44):
we have our little Halloweenepisode and tackle those
frightening finances.
All right, accelerators, that'sit for this week.
Thank you for letting me come aday late because I just really
wanted to make sure that thiswas so good for you and it
wasn't good enough.
It wasn't good enough before,but I think this one hit the
mark.
So let me know.
Shoot me an email, Laura, ataccelerate your legacy.com.
(12:08):
Thanks guys so much.
Have a great day.
And remember, go out and make adifference.
Laura (12:15):
thank you for spending
time with us today on Money and
Career Mastery from Overwhelm toOwnership.
Remember, your legacy isn't justabout financial freedom.
It's about living with purpose,taking action, and building a
foundation that lasts forgenerations.
Don't just listen, implementwhat you've learned and share it
with someone who could use afinancial or career
breakthrough.
(12:35):
If you found value in today'sepisode, help us grow by rating,
reviewing, and sharing thepodcast.
I'll be back next week with morestrategies to help you master
your money and career.
Until then take ownership ofyour future and build your
legacy with intention.