May 20, 2025 • 43 mins
- On today's show Katie Martin talks about the real estate market and Crystal Deckard of First Financial Bank has tips on helping kids understand money and budgeting.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello Southeast Texas. We're so excited to have you
joining us today on the Dana Simmons Show. I have
some wonderful guests here with me, Katie Martin, who is
a listing specialist with Dana Simmons real Estate, and Crystal Deckert,
who is a VP and retail supervisor at the First
Financial Bank in Beaumont. So we're going to have them
(00:22):
visit with us a little bit about how do you
set your children up for success, not only with beginning
with either savings or checking or investments. What do you
do how do you do that? You know, when I
was in school, they teach you a lot of things,
but I don't feel like they taught us some of
these basics that I think are so important for our
(00:45):
children to be able to go ahead and start setting
up an opportunity to number one save, but then also
the opportunity to grow their credit to where when they
do graduate from college, they have the ability to actually
buy a house if they want to. So there are
lots of options that you can do to set that up.
But before we get started, just want to let you
(01:07):
know who we have here and gets you a little
bit of information about them. Now our first guest, Katie Martin,
has been on the show before, and she is the
listing specialist at Dana Simmons real Estate, and we get
to work side by side a lot, don't they.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
We're very close in proximity within the office.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So I get to see you all the time. I
get to hear about the kids and what's going on.
But maybe our audience didn't get a chance to hear
you the last time you were on the show. So
tell everyone a little bit about who you are and
how long you've been in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah. So, my name's Katie Martin, and I have been
a real estate agent since the month after I graduated
high school, which was we'll just say a long time ago, yeah,
twenty fives and leave it at that. But I've been
in Southeast Texas my whole life. Grew up in the
small town of Orang just down the road. And I
(02:01):
have two beautiful girls who are preteens and teenagers.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's the part I get to hear about in the morning.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yes, they sometimes set the mood for the day, Yes,
which shouldn't be but it is what it is. And
then I have a wonderful husband, Robert who's a co
owner in Ardie Martin Electric And I don't know. I
invest in real estate and do all kinds of fun
stuff like Booster Club.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, you are part of the Booster Club. You're also
very active in your church.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, church. We attend First Baptist Beaumont and my kids
go to Legacy Middle and high school. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And aren't you a small group leader? Yes, Sunday school leader.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We do all kinds of random things. Yeah, so just ask.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I know every summer I've had the opportunity to assist
you because you do a youth camp every single summer and.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's actually the highlight of my year.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And you tell everyone what you do in that while
you go well where.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
An Robert and I are on the kitchen crew and
we feed one hundred and sixty students and adult leaders
four times a day.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So if you've ever cut up one hundred watermelons in
one week, that's one of my jobs.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah. You guys keep the food flowing for all of
those kids, and that's a pretty big feat there.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, it's an amazing, amazing experience though, and the kids
come in one way and leave another and it's just
amazing to watch God work through.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
That, watch that transformation. Yeah. The other thing that makes
you good at that too is men organization. You are
the organization queen of our office.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, I do like to set up a good spreadsheet.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, a spreadsheet, checklist, Yeah, organizing closets for people. I
mean your brain is such that it is so structured
that you are able to organize. And that's what you
have to have in so many areas of life, not
only for your ministry that you're a part of, but
also as the listing team leader really for our company.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, it's something I love to do. The systems don't
always work, but that's part of the fun is figuring
out how to make them work.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, what part is working? What isn't?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
What you need to adjust And you have to have
a good team yeah around you, around you, Yeah, that
you can work with.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I absolutely agree with that. I also wanted to give
a shout out to Robert Martin because just yesterday one
of my customers that we sold a house to in
our company about a year ago. She is a single
lady and she has really high ceilings and she called
and said, I don't have a ladder tall enough to
(04:48):
change these lights and they've gone out. What do I do?
So I'm I shoot Robert a text and I'm like, Okay,
I don't know if this is something you guys do
or not, because I know, you know, we use Robert
Martin Electric, Arty Martin Electric for everything we do electrical.
I mean, that's just what we do, and he takes
care of us and everything. But I'm like, does he
(05:09):
change light bulbs?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh? Honey, I have him do the most random things.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So he responded back, he goes, of course, I do
that for so many people, because you're right. I mean
some of these ceiling heights are so high that you
cannot reach it with just a regular ladder, And so
he gets up there and changes light bulbs.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Especially for widows. Yes, if you need him to hang
a picture, you just ask him. Yeah, it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Well, he has a heart of gold. So if you
need anything electrical though, and you need a wonderful company
who's going to take care of you and really care
about you, Aready Martin Electric. And one day we need
to have Robert in here. We'll get him in here
to kind of chat about what they do. But love
love that he's your husband. But I also love that
he was actually my electrician before you were even on
(05:59):
my team. So wish, Katie, I knew him first. So
but thank you, Katie. It's such a pleasure to have
you on our team and a part of our lives
in our office. We have an amazing culture and you're
right you talked about the teamwork, and we care about
each other and we really do. And it's just like family.
(06:19):
And there are times that there's a little spat. Don't
you have a fight with people you love most Well,
there's always that one weird aunt or uncle.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
We have both.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I'm kidding. We do have occasionally have challenges. But one
of the things that I love is that we have
a concept of if you a challenge with someone, you
go to them first. And so we've been through the
book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and I think
it's super helpful because it talks through how do you
walk through differences, how do you walk through hurt feelings
(06:51):
because we all have them, and so that book has
been very helpful for our team because it gives permission
to go to that person and say, hey, I know
this may not have been meant this way, but when
you said this, This is how it made me feel,
and so I feel like our team is pretty good
at doing that and so so appreciate you being a
(07:11):
part of that. So thank you. Thank you also with
this Crystal Decker. Now, Crystal, I'd love for everyone to
know a little bit about you personally, So tell everyone
how long have you been you been in Southeast Texas,
and then how long have you been with First Financial Bank.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I have lived in Southeast Texas all my life, so
telling on myself.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
All the time.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Fifty years so I grew up here, lived in Groves
most of my life. In the last couple of years,
my husband and I built a house in Hampshire and
moved out that way. We've been out there for three years,
so that's been amazing. But been part of this community
my entire life in some former fashion. With First Financial Bank,
(07:53):
I've been there for six years, but I've been in
banking a total of thirty plus years. I'm started as
a done a lot of things in that area, and
it's just something that I just have a passion behind.
Absolutely love helping our community and most of all helping
my team grow. Just being able to do that is amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, I love that you say you have a passion
about it. This morning, I was listening to a podcast
by Tim Keller, and that's one of the things that
he was talking about. He was talking about you've got
to love what you do, but also have a purpose
behind what you do. And I actually sent it on
our Slack. Our team communicates with Slack, and I sent
it on our Slack for the team to listen to
(08:35):
because that's so critical. If you're going to have joy
and be happy in what you're doing, you have to
have number one, a passion and you have to know
the purpose behind why you're doing what you're doing. And
so that's wonderful thing. Now talk about culture. You guys
over there at First Financial have an amazing culture as well.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, we have our twenty one non negotiables that are
just twenty one things that are just that non negotiable
things that we are going to do to take care
of each other, take care of our customers, and take
care of our communities. That's one of the things I
absolutely love about First Financial. I have worked in several
other banks in my time, and I'm going to tell
you that we the culture that we have there, it's
(09:14):
not just something that we get together every morning and
talk about and then we part ways and it just becomes,
you know, forgotten, No, that is who we are and
what we do. It becomes part of each and every
one of us. I love to watch the team members
when they come in, maybe not really sure how they're
going to fit into the fit into the team, or
how these things apply to them. And then you know,
(09:35):
over the course of us talking of these non negotiables
every day and servicing our customers, they bloom into completely
different people who also develop a passion for what we do.
So it's so important.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And I love what you said, y'all do that every day.
So every morning the entire team gets together, yes, and
you have a conversation over one of the non negotiable.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We absolutely do every single morning, and we pull together.
You're not allowed to sit in your office unless you're
with a customer, obviously, but if you're not with a customer,
everyone gets in the middle of our lobby and we
talk about the non negotiable. The whole entire company gets
an email the day before with the non negotiable and
(10:20):
then they choose someone from the company to kind of
give their thoughts on what it you know what the
non negotiable means to them, and so we talk about
those things every single morning as a group. So it's
so important that in and of itself allows us to
learn a little bit about each other. Usually we play
(10:40):
like a game or just talk about something specific, you know,
when we each person in the branch does the non
negotiables on different days, so we bring something from a
personal experience to that to make it really drive the
point home, I suppose, and to make it personal and
relatable to everyone. So that helps us not only focus
(11:04):
on the customer and our communities, but it helps us
focus on each other and learn each other as team members,
which makes us better as a whole.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah. Yeah, And it helps to keep the main thing
the main thing. Some days, just like Katie and I
were just talking, you had a bad morning with the kids,
you know, which can set the tone of a challenge,
and then you come in and you collectively go over
that non negotiable and then you hear one of your
team members talk about either how they have applied it,
how they've seen it applied. But it's helping you to
(11:34):
focus on Okay, why are we here and what is
our goal for the day, So I just love that
you guys do that every single day. That's absolutely amazing. Well,
when we come back, we're going to hear more from
Crystal because she's going to share a little bit about
how can you train your children in financial responsibility and
what are some ways that we can do that. So
(11:56):
don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
Katie Martin, listing specialists with Dana Simmons real Estate and
Crystal Deckert, vice president and retail supervisor at First Financial
Bank the Beaumont Branch. Now, Crystal, we have been talking
(12:17):
about the fact that while on the show, we've talked
many times about how adults can invest things that they
can do at First Financial. But you guys have some
really great programs that can begin to assist your children
early on to allow them to begin to be financially
responsible and to help them build their credit. So let's
(12:40):
get started with the youngest. So let's say we have
zero to twelve year olds. What are some of the
things that you recommend for parents to do for their
zero to twelve year old children.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
The best thing that we can do is start by
setting up just a minor savings account thing that just
like you said, zero to twelve to be able to
put the money aside that maybe the grandparents give them
for their birthdays or Christmas or whenever they get they
get the cash from someone as a gift, instead of
just sticking it in a piggy bank, right, putting it
(13:18):
somewhere where it's gonna grow a little bit for them
and they can see it over time. That's something that
you know, I see a lot of parents start to
share that with their children about you know, eight or so, Hey,
you have this money, and it kind of gets them
in the habit of whenever they do get some money,
thinking hey, well maybe I can go put it in
(13:39):
my account and they can see those numbers get bigger
and and teach them the responsibility of saving it and
not necessarily spending it all all the.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Time, or putting it in their backpack or their lunch
kit to get.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Rotten and moldy, right hypothetically a.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Lost Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
But you know, because I experienced it with my children,
the grandparents or the aunts and uncles wanting to give
them money instead of giving them a toy or buying
clothes or whatever, and so we would put it in
a savings account for them, and if there was something
really big that they wanted, we would then go let
them go get the money and we would take them
(14:21):
to buy it with their own money. So they were
able to save for bigger things.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right, and when they asked for those bigger things, it's
an easier way to say, okay, let's build that amount
in your savings account and once it's there, you can
go buy that and gives them a target to get to.
It's like when my son was younger, and of course
he wanted a cell phone, and I wasn't going to
(14:46):
buy him a cell phone. And he was in junior high,
sixth grade, and he said, what if I save my money,
can I buy a cell phone? And I said, yes,
it'll be with limited use. I'm not a huge fan, uh,
but if you want to responsibly put yourself in that position,
(15:09):
then there will be there will be you know, rules
to follow, but yes, you can do that. And that
he then became a saver that way because it was
something specifically that he wanted. And then when the money
did get in his account, he didn't want to spend
it right, and and so that was really nice because
(15:30):
he got to see how much his money was growing. Also,
our kids had chores and extra things that they could
do if they wanted to earn a little extra money,
and if they did that, then of course we would pay. Now,
there were some things they were just expected to do
because they lived in our house, but then there were
other things that, you know, if they wanted to earn
(15:53):
a little bit of extra money, I would give them
the opportunity, like stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them
and for work things, you know, things from my work
that I could pay them for. And so that was
wildly beneficial. So I agree. I think that's such a
good way to at least begin to help them save money.
(16:13):
And Katie, y'all do that too with yours, although yours
are getting a little older. But you had one that's
a huge saver and one that's not.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That's exactly what I was going to say. Dana and
I have Dana and I have the same similar kids. Yeah,
I think.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
We all have that.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
When you have more than one child, you do have
that one that's a saver and one that's suspended on everything.
I know I do as well well, and you have
to help prepare them differently. And that's that's been a
challenge for me because I'm not a huge frivolous spender.
I mean the things that I like, I'll spend more
money on, but just parenting them differently in that regard.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It is you have to think about how to do
that because you know, one of mine would get ten
dollars and spend eleven, so it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Was an ass daddy for the rest bypass mom pass dad.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yes, that's how it works. So okay, so that's what
we want to do with the younger saver. So let's
talk a little bit about as they get a little older,
what are some of the things that you recommend.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Well, we would, I would strongly recommend when we get
to the junior high age thirteen ish, that's when we
really really need to start talking to them about being
responsible and letting them learn how to spend their money
responsibly and to keep tabs on it. So many I
see it every single day. There are so many adults
(17:38):
that were never taught this responsibility, and so it's important
that we start when they're younger teaching them these things.
And so we have an account that you can actually
the parents come in and open the account with the child,
and thirteen or older, they get a debit card so
(17:58):
they can actually put money in the account, or the
parent can put money however that that works out, and
then they are allowed some flexibility and some responsibility of
being able to spend the money and keep track of it.
And it also makes it easy for the for us
as parents, because our children aren't with us all the time, right,
and we don't want to just turn them loose with
(18:19):
you know, if they go with somebody over the weekend
or whatever. We don't want to just turn them loose
with a couple hundred dollars to pay for food and
things like that. You want them to have be able
to access the money but not necessarily lose it with
the cash with the cash, right, So they can have
a debit card. They can also have access to online
banking where they can monitor their account and see what
(18:42):
they're spending and keep tabs on it and learn to
balance that and know that if they don't have five dollars,
they can't spend the five dollars.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, I love that. So I did not do that
with my children, but man, do I wish I would have.
I think it would have been such a helpful tool.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It teaches them very early on to start having the
responsibility of an adult and controlling their money and still
giving them the flexibility of being able to do some
you know, some things and not have to carry cash
around with them, and it makes them feel important and empowered.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I think.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
So that's a tremendous thing.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
The other side of that that's really helpful is that
as the parent, you get to see what they're spending
their money on. Absolutely, So when my kids would go,
I'd want them to have sufficient cash, but I never
got any of it back, right, and not get it
back and then I have no idea what they spent
it on. And so having that access to that debit
(19:41):
card where the child and the parent can monitor where
is your money going also helps to train them to say, Okay,
I realize you around of money, but let's look at
what you spend it on. Where can we adjust what
you're buying that you could maybe get at home and
not be spending to be able to allow that to grow.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, we had so I just started this this year.
My spender loves to buy food anywhere. She goes for
anybody that she pleases to buy it for, right, and
it was it was significant, and she didn't realize because
it's you know, fifteen dollars a pop or whatever, and
you don't think about it. And I'm like, get your
(20:25):
money back from your friends, so on and so forth.
So I set aside a certain amount each month that
I put on her debit card. She's completely responsible for
every meal that comes in and out of that account
and any additional spending too. So if she chooses to
eat at home the things that she hates to eat,
like healthy things, she gets to save money. She's still
(20:49):
not there yet, but she does not spend for other
friends unless she knows she's going to get it back.
It's just completely changed. We never argue over how much
money she spent. Where's the change all that stuff. We
never argue over that anymore. So, I mean, I think
it's been a great addition to, you know, the training
(21:11):
for her.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And it's not a constant. Hey I need twenty dollars,
Hey I need twenty dollars, Hey I need twenty dollars
for this for that. It's okay, here's your monthly budget night,
and this is what you use for the whole mind.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, And I would be spending it anyway, So it
doesn't make me feel like I'm spoiling her overally spoiling
or anything.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
But it's a great way as a parent for you
to be responsible with how much you're spending, because it's
not just it's easy as a parent just to dole
out twenty dollars a pop and you don't even realize
how much money you're throwing out there. But it also
helps both of you to look at, okay, where are
you spending just training everything when they're young, just about
(21:53):
training them to be responsible adults. And I absolutely love this.
I did not have this, but I'm telling you it
would have been so beneficial for me to have done it.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And it's also building her credit and it's putting her
in a position that she's already set up for success.
And she also knows if she overdrafts that account, she's
paying off that overdraft fee. Yeah, because I think it's
like thirty bucks or something. And you can be washing
mama's car for a few times.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, done, absolutely, Yeah, And so it's helping them monitor
what they are spending and what they're doing. So when
we come back. We're going to delve more into this
topic give you some additional tips that you can do,
so don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons. I'm joined today by
(22:42):
Katie Martin with Dana Simmons real Estate. She's our listing specialist,
and also joined by Crystal Deckert. And Crystal is the
vice president and retail supervisor at First Financial Bank at
the Beaumont branch. But Crystal, y'all have lots of branches
around South East Texas.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yes, man, we sure do.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I think there's seven with an eighth one coming.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes, ma'am. We have Lumberton, we have Orange, Newton, maurice Ville, Weider,
Mid County, Beaumont obviously, and then we have another location
coming in Beaumont.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'm super excited about that. Now, we've been talking about
how to train your children to help them to be
more financially responsible, and you know, some of the tips
you gave is like from zero to twelve to start
a savings account for them to help them to start
to save money that they get from parents, friends, birthdays, whatever. Yes,
(23:36):
and then the next thing we talked about is that
maybe around thirteen that they start having a youth checking
account and maybe a debit card. Yes, you help them
to monitor what they're spending, be able to give them
an amount each month that they can use for whatever
they need, and that can go all the way up
through high school to be able to do that. Now,
(23:56):
let's talk a little bit about you know, you have
your children and who are about to go off to
college or maybe they're even just going to college here,
both mine went to Lamar University. So what are some
things that you can do to begin to assist your
college age students to be able to grow their credit,
to help them become responsible and what they're doing. So
(24:16):
talk a little bit about what are some of those
things you recommend.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Well, obviously, we have the checking accounts that whenever they're
seventeen or eighteen years old, they can have their we
can start their own checking account, doesn't have to have
a parent on it any longer, and hopefully they've they've
learned that responsibility prior to them and start putting their
funds in there. This allows we can also allow if
(24:42):
they want to have a parent on the account with them,
they can that way when they get to where they're
going in college, and if they need something, mom and
dad can help them out by transferring money from your
account to theirs via online banking or.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Whatever.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So whatever that came o mayby is just to have
them as a signer to be able to help if needed.
So aside from the checking account, though, we need to
start looking at getting them some credit. So if it's graduation,
let's say they get you know, five hundred dollars one
thousand dollars for graduation. A good way for them to
start building their credit is to get a secured credit card.
(25:19):
So basically, they come in open a savings account with
a set amount has to be at least three hundred dollars,
it can go up to five thousand. We can get
the savings account set aside, and then we tie a
secured credit card to that so it has a set limit, right,
And this teaches them the responsibility of you know, incurring
(25:40):
a debt and paying it off in a timely manner
and learning that not to spend beyond their means, so
it absolutely helps them build their credit. After a year,
then they can actually apply for a regular credit card
and most in most cases we have seen that they
have been responsible, and we can go ahead and let
(26:02):
them have a credit card, their own credit card with
a with a you know, a limit on that as well.
It's those are just some really good tools to put
out there because you know, they go through college and
then they graduate and then there's no credit for them
to be able to buy a car, a house, things
(26:24):
like that.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Another tip too, is we can as parents, we can
actually add our children to our current credit cards that
we have as authorized users. Now we don't have to
give them a card, just put them on there as
an authorized user, and over time our credit becomes their credit.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
So let's let's say that again. I want to make
sure people understand this because I think this is huge
you can have and as a parent, you have to
be a responsible parent absolutely also for the kids to
have bad credit. So you have a credit card as
a parent, and I just put my children as an
authorized user. They don't have to have a credit card, no, ma'am,
(27:06):
but it's building their credit.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
It is. This is something that my husband and idea,
not even realizing at any point that it was really
going to help our children until it did. My kids
are eight. I'm sorry, my children are twenty two and
twenty five now, and both of them, whenever they went
to apply for their very first credit card, were able
(27:31):
to get a nice credit card or a nice limit
on their credit card, you know, over one thousand dollars.
And then my daughter is twenty two and she has
been able to buy a car, purchase two homes because
of us enabling her in this way and helping her.
And a lot of people don't realize that's something that
(27:53):
you can do. It's something so minor, but it can
help your children to such a great start.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Absolutely. Do you love that?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Do you know what age limit they need to be
to be able to add them as an authorized user?
Speaker 3 (28:06):
They had to be eighteen. That's when we added our
children as when they turned eighteen.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah, and that's a great way to begin, because if
you don't start building your children's credit early, then that
is something that they'll eventually have to do and may
make it challenging for them, not just to get a car,
but to get an apartment absolutely, you know, an apartment complex.
Let's say they get a job and they go off
somewhere so that the parent doesn't have to co sign
(28:33):
for them. If they've been an authorized user, and their
credit has been building, they at least have a credit
score that an apartment can access to give them.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Organization like car insurance it's based on your credit score also,
so that.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Helps us well, well, I love those ideas to kind
of help begin to instill in your children. Now, if
there's someone out there who says, I just really love
more information about that, how do they connect with someone
at First Financial to be able to have someone sit
down and talk to them about that.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
They can come into any of our branches, any of
our branch locations. I can give our phone number. My
actual phone number at the branch is four zero nine
six zero zero six four five three. And by all means,
if anyone has questions, no matter what the question, honestly,
you can give me a call and I would be
(29:32):
happy to talk with you and visit with you about
some of the things that we've done, because, like I said,
we started these things with our children and just because
this is what I do every day, and I see
I see so many times families not setting their children
up for the success later on in life. And I'm
(29:53):
telling you it made such a difference for our children.
And I know I have coworkers and people who go
to church with us that we've talked about how doing
these things for your children has really set them up
for success. And it's all about education. So by all means,
do reach out call me. We can talk over the phone.
You can set an appointment and come in. We would
(30:13):
be happy, happy to see you.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
That's great. Well, now I'm going to ask this question,
but let me preface it by saying, my children have
wonderful credit scores. But if you're a grand if you're
a grandparent and for some reason, your children didn't have
phenomenal credit scores, but you do as a grandparent, Am
I able to once my granddaughter turns eighteen? Am I
(30:36):
able to put them as a signer or an authorized
user on that account as well?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Am I asking you a question you don't know the
answer to, and you might have to get back to me.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
You know what, Honestly, I don't know that. I know
that it works for parents, but grandparents, that's something I
would like to research. I can definitely get back to
you on that one.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
That would be great to know because I know there
are some of the people that I hang out with
their grandparents and their children have not always made wise decisions.
Some of them the grandchildren actually live with them, and
so I'm curious if that same concept, which I would
think it would, but I'd like for us to see
(31:16):
what it is because as a grandparent, if they could
also put their grandchild so that maybe they are training
their grandchild and a financial situation that's far more secure
than maybe their parents were in, because we do have
that these days, we have challenges where grandparents are raising
(31:36):
their children. Yes, and so well, I think all of
this information is so helpful, and I think most people
just don't know. And so I think educating our friends
and family on what you can do to be able
to help your children as critical. And so there are
(31:57):
lots of things you can do beyond that as well.
So when we come back, we are going to talk
to Katie Martin, because can your child invest with you
in a potential flip on a house. When we come back,
we're going to talk about that. So don't go away.
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
(32:21):
Dana Simmons and with me today Katie Martin, listing specialist
at Dana Simmons Real Estate and Crystal Deckert, VP, Retail
Supervisor at First Financial Bank. She's over at the Beaumont branch.
If you want to pop in over there and say, hey, Crystal,
you did a great job and I'd love more information
about what you talked about. So Crystal, let's do a
little summary of what we did in the beginning. So
(32:42):
we talked about helping your children grow to be more
financially responsible, starting at a very young age. And so
we talked about like zero to twelve.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Zero to twelve. The best thing to do is let's
start them with the young savers account, get them used
to taking that money that they get, maybe not all
of it, but some of it that they get whenever
they get cash, bringing them in and letting them start
building that savings account and saving for some things that
they may want, some bigger items.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, bigger things. Okay. So now we have thirteen year olds.
Those teenage years, they're so fun. So let's talk about
thirteen to eighteen. What is your recommendation.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Absolutely our youth checking account, because that's going to be
a way for them to have some freedom to be
responsible for a sub amount in their checking account and
knowing that they can't go beyond that being able to
check their balances online and have the freedom to carry
around a debit card make you, as a parent feel
a little bit more secure in the fact that they
(33:40):
are not just carrying this cash around and makes them
more mindful of what they're spending. So you can have
discussions by looking at the statements online and things like that.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
And Katie, you're doing that right now with one of yours.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Yes, Actually, I think I have both of them sucked
in at this point. Yes, So that's an interesting transition.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
They both have a debit card with a set amount
every single month. Oh yes, and then they have to
kind of work through that. And we're going to talk
about both of them and how they're managing that here
just very shortly, so we'll get back to that. So
now we're talking about they're finishing high school, going into college.
Let's talk about how we can set them up for success.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Definitely, just get them sat with a checking account that
they can whether parents are on it or are not.
At that age seventeen to eighteen, we get started with
them being adults and learning to handle their own finances
and again online banking, being able to carry their debit
card around, being able to check their balances and making
(34:41):
sure that they're being responsible. Setting up text alerts. That's
one thing I didn't talk about. We can actually go in.
They can set up a text alert that when their
account starts to get lower money's spent, it gives them,
it sends a text. And if in all of these accounts,
if you are a parent and on the account, you
can also set those alerts up so that you're helping
with the managing process of this and having some conversations
(35:04):
if conversations need to be had to set them.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Up for success.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
And then the secured card as they're you know, trying
to build some credit and get ready for with the world,
you know, get out in the world and be an
adult and purchasing things and being able to get better
rates on you know, insurance and things like that. Setting
up the credit so secured credit card if that's something
that they want to do, setting up a savings account,
(35:31):
tying it to the credit card so that it's got
to set limit and they become responsible in that way.
And then of course, like we spoke of adding the parent,
the parent adding the child as an authorized user with
or without access to the card. That's totally up to you,
but setting them up as an authorized user on that
to help build their credit going forward. Said that it
(35:51):
sets them up for, you know, having a credit score
when they're ready to do some of these things.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
It's amazing, such great advice that I really, I said before,
wish I had had some of that for my children
when they were growing up. But Katie, I know that
you and Robert are very intentional about setting your children
up well. And we're in real estate and so we
have opportunities all the time to buy homes, either to
(36:17):
use as a short term rental, long term rental, or
there are many times that we may have an opportunity
to flip a house. And so talk a little bit
about your two children. We've talked about how they're very different.
One's a saver and one's a spender. But talk a
little bit about how you guys are managing that and
what are some of the things that you're working through
(36:38):
right now.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, so one thing that we're about to do, we're
under contract with a home that we're going to flip,
and we were talking to our youngest daughter, who's twelve,
about investing with us and becoming not on paper a
partner but in the grand scheme of things, a partner
in the.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Profit, well, because she's your staveror.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
My savor, she has six hundred and fifty dollars just
sitting in her account that she didn't want to spend
on anything. Yeah, so I mean she's getting a little
bit of interest on her savings account. So we did
all the math and we figured if she will contribute
her six hundred and fifty dollars toward our down payment,
(37:21):
that's a five percent investment for her. So when we
go through the process, she's going to learn how to
help with bookkeeping. She's going to help maybe not pick
paint colors, but she's going to be involved in the process.
They're going to help us clean the house, get it
all ready, call vendors. That's a big thing that was
(37:42):
instilled in me at a young age, and I think
was invaluable. I used to have to make my own
doctor's appointments when I was like in fifth grade. Wow,
so that was fun.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, Well you learned responsibility and how to talk to adults,
and I think that's a big, big part of it too.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
So when we were doing all the math, if our
return is like it's supposed to be Hopefully she can
make up to fifteen hundred dollars on this deal.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
So the thing is it is teaching them that first
you have to save, to be able to have money,
to be able to invest, and a great investment is
real estate, especially if your mom is a real estate agent.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah. So you know, jesus dad was a carpenter, and
so Jesus learned how to do carpentry first, right, I mean,
his heavenly father was the ruler of the universe. But
but it's something that just stick with you. What you know.
I mean everybody has skills and talents, and I mean
you have to pass those on to your kids. And
(38:46):
for us, they may not be interested in doing this
when they grow up. They may want to go to college.
And my oldest daughter wants to be a dentist. I
mean whatever, want to do that? Absolutely not, But for
now they can see the potential and what whatever they
do to do it. Number one to glorify the Lord
and number two to not overspend and just use your
(39:07):
money wisely. Right. Well, so, I was going to say
my oldest daughter, once she saw the math on paper,
wanted to get in on the action. But she likes
Lululemon and such things like that. So she only has
two hundred and fifty dollars, So her dad decided to
do a separate account or she's going to do like
(39:30):
a hard money loan quote unquote, and she's going to
be paying interest. He's going to fund the remainder of
the investment that's worth.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Her Daddy's super sweet.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yes, but she's going to be paying ten percent interest
on that side of it.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
So well, that's way lower than most hard money lenders.
So it's a daddy deal.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
But I'm like, if you can teach them, there is
going to be a way. The cost, if there will
be a cost, but if there's a way, you need
to just think it through and see if it's a
good investment. If this works out for her, yeah, she'll
pay more interest than her sister did, but she'll also
be in the positive. Yeah, so yeah, why not give
it a shot.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
Yeah. I love that you guys found a way for
her in a way that is going to teach your
real life. I mean, that's real life. If you want
to invest, sometimes there is a cost to the risks,
and there's a risk that's exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Where the real estate market can crash in three weeks,
and we.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Don't expect it to know. Anything in the world can
change at any point in.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
But you want them to be prepared and go ahead
and take the risk. I mean, if it's thought through,
if you've prayed about it, if it's calculated, if you're
using your money wisely. You need to take some risks
in life.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
The other thing that it does is it probably gives
them a little more initiative to want to help you
sweep those floors and wipe down those windows and be
an active participant in getting that house ready versus hiring
someone that's going to cost money and go into your
potential gain.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Right, And they see us working. We are always working
on something, yeah, always. They don't like to participate because
there's nothing in it for them and they're teenagers. And
they're teenagers, so I'm hoping this is a mind shift
for them. So we'll see check back in about six months.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Yeah, I'm so proud of you guys. I think it's
brilliant and I wished I would have done it, but
I love watching and I can't wait to see. So
we're going to have to have you back on and
maybe the girls to talk about their investment, how it went,
and how it made them feel to be a part
(41:44):
of a business proposition with their mom and dad.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Yeah. And I think my youngest one, from what I've researched,
at the age of sixteen, she can get alone in
her own name with us as co signers, this project
could be fully hers. Yeah, at a certain point.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Could be a jumping off point platform for her to
begin doing more. So, now, if you're out there and
you're going, wow, that's just a lot. It is a
lot of different opportunities and options, But I would say
choose something. I think doing nothing is the hard thing.
That's where long term it becomes a challenge. But what
(42:27):
I wanted today to be about is helping the next
generation to be financially responsible and for parents who don't
know how to help their children do that to have
different options on how can we do that? Now, Well,
everything isn't right for everyone.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Yeah, And I think one big thing is just teach
them your mistakes that you made. Yeah, that's a big
one too. Absolutely, don't make them learn it for themselves.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Right, Training those children in the hard and in the
good and the things that we did wrong and what
we're doing right, So it's just called parenting.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I can't thank you guys enough both for being here
and so Katie, if anyone needs to reach out to you,
Katie Martin, Dana Simmons real Estate, how would they do that?
Speaker 2 (43:10):
My cell phone numbers four oh nine sixty five six
zero zero one.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Three and Crystal Deckert First Financial Bank. Tell me how
people could get in touch with you. I know they
can come into the Beaumont Brandt.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Day, can come into the Belmont location, or they can
call me on my work phone. My office number is
four zero nine six zero zero six four five three.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Thank you both for being here. I think it's been
a very educational show for me and I hope for
our audience. So hope you have a great Saturday. This
is Dana Simmons. See you next week.
Well, hello Southeast Texas. We're so excited to have you
joining us today on the Dana Simmons Show. I have
some wonderful guests here with me, Katie Martin, who is
a listing specialist with Dana Simmons real Estate, and Crystal Deckert,
who is a VP and retail supervisor at the First
Financial Bank in Beaumont. So we're going to have them
(00:22):
visit with us a little bit about how do you
set your children up for success, not only with beginning
with either savings or checking or investments. What do you
do how do you do that? You know, when I
was in school, they teach you a lot of things,
but I don't feel like they taught us some of
these basics that I think are so important for our
(00:45):
children to be able to go ahead and start setting
up an opportunity to number one save, but then also
the opportunity to grow their credit to where when they
do graduate from college, they have the ability to actually
buy a house if they want to. So there are
lots of options that you can do to set that up.
But before we get started, just want to let you
(01:07):
know who we have here and gets you a little
bit of information about them. Now our first guest, Katie Martin,
has been on the show before, and she is the
listing specialist at Dana Simmons real Estate, and we get
to work side by side a lot, don't they.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
We're very close in proximity within the office.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So I get to see you all the time. I
get to hear about the kids and what's going on.
But maybe our audience didn't get a chance to hear
you the last time you were on the show. So
tell everyone a little bit about who you are and
how long you've been in Southeast Texas.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Yeah. So, my name's Katie Martin, and I have been
a real estate agent since the month after I graduated
high school, which was we'll just say a long time ago, yeah,
twenty fives and leave it at that. But I've been
in Southeast Texas my whole life. Grew up in the
small town of Orang just down the road. And I
(02:01):
have two beautiful girls who are preteens and teenagers.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's the part I get to hear about in the morning.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yes, they sometimes set the mood for the day, Yes,
which shouldn't be but it is what it is. And
then I have a wonderful husband, Robert who's a co
owner in Ardie Martin Electric And I don't know. I
invest in real estate and do all kinds of fun
stuff like Booster Club.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, you are part of the Booster Club. You're also
very active in your church.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Yes, church. We attend First Baptist Beaumont and my kids
go to Legacy Middle and high school. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And aren't you a small group leader? Yes, Sunday school leader.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We do all kinds of random things. Yeah, so just ask.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
I know every summer I've had the opportunity to assist
you because you do a youth camp every single summer and.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's actually the highlight of my year.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
And you tell everyone what you do in that while
you go well where.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
An Robert and I are on the kitchen crew and
we feed one hundred and sixty students and adult leaders
four times a day.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
So if you've ever cut up one hundred watermelons in
one week, that's one of my jobs.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah. You guys keep the food flowing for all of
those kids, and that's a pretty big feat there.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Yes, it's an amazing, amazing experience though, and the kids
come in one way and leave another and it's just
amazing to watch God work through.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
That, watch that transformation. Yeah. The other thing that makes
you good at that too is men organization. You are
the organization queen of our office.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, I do like to set up a good spreadsheet.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, a spreadsheet, checklist, Yeah, organizing closets for people. I
mean your brain is such that it is so structured
that you are able to organize. And that's what you
have to have in so many areas of life, not
only for your ministry that you're a part of, but
also as the listing team leader really for our company.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Yeah, it's something I love to do. The systems don't
always work, but that's part of the fun is figuring
out how to make them work.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, what part is working? What isn't?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
What you need to adjust And you have to have
a good team yeah around you, around you, Yeah, that
you can work with.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I absolutely agree with that. I also wanted to give
a shout out to Robert Martin because just yesterday one
of my customers that we sold a house to in
our company about a year ago. She is a single
lady and she has really high ceilings and she called
and said, I don't have a ladder tall enough to
(04:48):
change these lights and they've gone out. What do I do?
So I'm I shoot Robert a text and I'm like, Okay,
I don't know if this is something you guys do
or not, because I know, you know, we use Robert
Martin Electric, Arty Martin Electric for everything we do electrical.
I mean, that's just what we do, and he takes
care of us and everything. But I'm like, does he
(05:09):
change light bulbs?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Oh? Honey, I have him do the most random things.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
So he responded back, he goes, of course, I do
that for so many people, because you're right. I mean
some of these ceiling heights are so high that you
cannot reach it with just a regular ladder, And so
he gets up there and changes light bulbs.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Especially for widows. Yes, if you need him to hang
a picture, you just ask him. Yeah, it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Well, he has a heart of gold. So if you
need anything electrical though, and you need a wonderful company
who's going to take care of you and really care
about you, Aready Martin Electric. And one day we need
to have Robert in here. We'll get him in here
to kind of chat about what they do. But love
love that he's your husband. But I also love that
he was actually my electrician before you were even on
(05:59):
my team. So wish, Katie, I knew him first. So
but thank you, Katie. It's such a pleasure to have
you on our team and a part of our lives
in our office. We have an amazing culture and you're
right you talked about the teamwork, and we care about
each other and we really do. And it's just like family.
(06:19):
And there are times that there's a little spat. Don't
you have a fight with people you love most Well,
there's always that one weird aunt or uncle.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
We have both.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
I'm kidding. We do have occasionally have challenges. But one
of the things that I love is that we have
a concept of if you a challenge with someone, you
go to them first. And so we've been through the
book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and I think
it's super helpful because it talks through how do you
walk through differences, how do you walk through hurt feelings
(06:51):
because we all have them, and so that book has
been very helpful for our team because it gives permission
to go to that person and say, hey, I know
this may not have been meant this way, but when
you said this, This is how it made me feel,
and so I feel like our team is pretty good
at doing that and so so appreciate you being a
(07:11):
part of that. So thank you. Thank you also with
this Crystal Decker. Now, Crystal, I'd love for everyone to
know a little bit about you personally, So tell everyone
how long have you been you been in Southeast Texas,
and then how long have you been with First Financial Bank.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
I have lived in Southeast Texas all my life, so
telling on myself.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
All the time.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Fifty years so I grew up here, lived in Groves
most of my life. In the last couple of years,
my husband and I built a house in Hampshire and
moved out that way. We've been out there for three years,
so that's been amazing. But been part of this community
my entire life in some former fashion. With First Financial Bank,
(07:53):
I've been there for six years, but I've been in
banking a total of thirty plus years. I'm started as
a done a lot of things in that area, and
it's just something that I just have a passion behind.
Absolutely love helping our community and most of all helping
my team grow. Just being able to do that is amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah, I love that you say you have a passion
about it. This morning, I was listening to a podcast
by Tim Keller, and that's one of the things that
he was talking about. He was talking about you've got
to love what you do, but also have a purpose
behind what you do. And I actually sent it on
our Slack. Our team communicates with Slack, and I sent
it on our Slack for the team to listen to
(08:35):
because that's so critical. If you're going to have joy
and be happy in what you're doing, you have to
have number one, a passion and you have to know
the purpose behind why you're doing what you're doing. And
so that's wonderful thing. Now talk about culture. You guys
over there at First Financial have an amazing culture as well.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yes, we have our twenty one non negotiables that are
just twenty one things that are just that non negotiable
things that we are going to do to take care
of each other, take care of our customers, and take
care of our communities. That's one of the things I
absolutely love about First Financial. I have worked in several
other banks in my time, and I'm going to tell
you that we the culture that we have there, it's
(09:14):
not just something that we get together every morning and
talk about and then we part ways and it just becomes,
you know, forgotten, No, that is who we are and
what we do. It becomes part of each and every
one of us. I love to watch the team members
when they come in, maybe not really sure how they're
going to fit into the fit into the team, or
how these things apply to them. And then you know,
(09:35):
over the course of us talking of these non negotiables
every day and servicing our customers, they bloom into completely
different people who also develop a passion for what we do.
So it's so important.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And I love what you said, y'all do that every day.
So every morning the entire team gets together, yes, and
you have a conversation over one of the non negotiable.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We absolutely do every single morning, and we pull together.
You're not allowed to sit in your office unless you're
with a customer, obviously, but if you're not with a customer,
everyone gets in the middle of our lobby and we
talk about the non negotiable. The whole entire company gets
an email the day before with the non negotiable and
(10:20):
then they choose someone from the company to kind of
give their thoughts on what it you know what the
non negotiable means to them, and so we talk about
those things every single morning as a group. So it's
so important that in and of itself allows us to
learn a little bit about each other. Usually we play
(10:40):
like a game or just talk about something specific, you know,
when we each person in the branch does the non
negotiables on different days, so we bring something from a
personal experience to that to make it really drive the
point home, I suppose, and to make it personal and
relatable to everyone. So that helps us not only focus
(11:04):
on the customer and our communities, but it helps us
focus on each other and learn each other as team members,
which makes us better as a whole.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah. Yeah, And it helps to keep the main thing
the main thing. Some days, just like Katie and I
were just talking, you had a bad morning with the kids,
you know, which can set the tone of a challenge,
and then you come in and you collectively go over
that non negotiable and then you hear one of your
team members talk about either how they have applied it,
how they've seen it applied. But it's helping you to
(11:34):
focus on Okay, why are we here and what is
our goal for the day, So I just love that
you guys do that every single day. That's absolutely amazing. Well,
when we come back, we're going to hear more from
Crystal because she's going to share a little bit about
how can you train your children in financial responsibility and
what are some ways that we can do that. So
(11:56):
don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back.
This is Dana Simmons and I am joined today by
Katie Martin, listing specialists with Dana Simmons real Estate and
Crystal Deckert, vice president and retail supervisor at First Financial
Bank the Beaumont Branch. Now, Crystal, we have been talking
(12:17):
about the fact that while on the show, we've talked
many times about how adults can invest things that they
can do at First Financial. But you guys have some
really great programs that can begin to assist your children
early on to allow them to begin to be financially
responsible and to help them build their credit. So let's
(12:40):
get started with the youngest. So let's say we have
zero to twelve year olds. What are some of the
things that you recommend for parents to do for their
zero to twelve year old children.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
The best thing that we can do is start by
setting up just a minor savings account thing that just
like you said, zero to twelve to be able to
put the money aside that maybe the grandparents give them
for their birthdays or Christmas or whenever they get they
get the cash from someone as a gift, instead of
just sticking it in a piggy bank, right, putting it
(13:18):
somewhere where it's gonna grow a little bit for them
and they can see it over time. That's something that
you know, I see a lot of parents start to
share that with their children about you know, eight or so, Hey,
you have this money, and it kind of gets them
in the habit of whenever they do get some money,
thinking hey, well maybe I can go put it in
(13:39):
my account and they can see those numbers get bigger
and and teach them the responsibility of saving it and
not necessarily spending it all all the.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Time, or putting it in their backpack or their lunch
kit to get.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Rotten and moldy, right hypothetically a.
Speaker 3 (13:56):
Lost Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
But you know, because I experienced it with my children,
the grandparents or the aunts and uncles wanting to give
them money instead of giving them a toy or buying
clothes or whatever, and so we would put it in
a savings account for them, and if there was something
really big that they wanted, we would then go let
them go get the money and we would take them
(14:21):
to buy it with their own money. So they were
able to save for bigger things.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Right, and when they asked for those bigger things, it's
an easier way to say, okay, let's build that amount
in your savings account and once it's there, you can
go buy that and gives them a target to get to.
It's like when my son was younger, and of course
he wanted a cell phone, and I wasn't going to
(14:46):
buy him a cell phone. And he was in junior high,
sixth grade, and he said, what if I save my money,
can I buy a cell phone? And I said, yes,
it'll be with limited use. I'm not a huge fan, uh,
but if you want to responsibly put yourself in that position,
(15:09):
then there will be there will be you know, rules
to follow, but yes, you can do that. And that
he then became a saver that way because it was
something specifically that he wanted. And then when the money
did get in his account, he didn't want to spend
it right, and and so that was really nice because
(15:30):
he got to see how much his money was growing. Also,
our kids had chores and extra things that they could
do if they wanted to earn a little extra money,
and if they did that, then of course we would pay. Now,
there were some things they were just expected to do
because they lived in our house, but then there were
other things that, you know, if they wanted to earn
(15:53):
a little bit of extra money, I would give them
the opportunity, like stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them
and for work things, you know, things from my work
that I could pay them for. And so that was
wildly beneficial. So I agree. I think that's such a
good way to at least begin to help them save money.
(16:13):
And Katie, y'all do that too with yours, although yours
are getting a little older. But you had one that's
a huge saver and one that's not.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
That's exactly what I was going to say. Dana and
I have Dana and I have the same similar kids. Yeah,
I think.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
We all have that.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
When you have more than one child, you do have
that one that's a saver and one that's suspended on everything.
I know I do as well well, and you have
to help prepare them differently. And that's that's been a
challenge for me because I'm not a huge frivolous spender.
I mean the things that I like, I'll spend more
money on, but just parenting them differently in that regard.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
It is you have to think about how to do
that because you know, one of mine would get ten
dollars and spend eleven, so it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Was an ass daddy for the rest bypass mom pass dad.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yes, that's how it works. So okay, so that's what
we want to do with the younger saver. So let's
talk a little bit about as they get a little older,
what are some of the things that you recommend.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
Well, we would, I would strongly recommend when we get
to the junior high age thirteen ish, that's when we
really really need to start talking to them about being
responsible and letting them learn how to spend their money
responsibly and to keep tabs on it. So many I
see it every single day. There are so many adults
(17:38):
that were never taught this responsibility, and so it's important
that we start when they're younger teaching them these things.
And so we have an account that you can actually
the parents come in and open the account with the child,
and thirteen or older, they get a debit card so
(17:58):
they can actually put money in the account, or the
parent can put money however that that works out, and
then they are allowed some flexibility and some responsibility of
being able to spend the money and keep track of it.
And it also makes it easy for the for us
as parents, because our children aren't with us all the time, right,
and we don't want to just turn them loose with
(18:19):
you know, if they go with somebody over the weekend
or whatever. We don't want to just turn them loose
with a couple hundred dollars to pay for food and
things like that. You want them to have be able
to access the money but not necessarily lose it with
the cash with the cash, right, So they can have
a debit card. They can also have access to online
banking where they can monitor their account and see what
(18:42):
they're spending and keep tabs on it and learn to
balance that and know that if they don't have five dollars,
they can't spend the five dollars.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Yeah, I love that. So I did not do that
with my children, but man, do I wish I would have.
I think it would have been such a helpful tool.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
It teaches them very early on to start having the
responsibility of an adult and controlling their money and still
giving them the flexibility of being able to do some
you know, some things and not have to carry cash
around with them, and it makes them feel important and empowered.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
I think.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
So that's a tremendous thing.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
The other side of that that's really helpful is that
as the parent, you get to see what they're spending
their money on. Absolutely, So when my kids would go,
I'd want them to have sufficient cash, but I never
got any of it back, right, and not get it
back and then I have no idea what they spent
it on. And so having that access to that debit
(19:41):
card where the child and the parent can monitor where
is your money going also helps to train them to say, Okay,
I realize you around of money, but let's look at
what you spend it on. Where can we adjust what
you're buying that you could maybe get at home and
not be spending to be able to allow that to grow.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, we had so I just started this this year.
My spender loves to buy food anywhere. She goes for
anybody that she pleases to buy it for, right, and
it was it was significant, and she didn't realize because
it's you know, fifteen dollars a pop or whatever, and
you don't think about it. And I'm like, get your
(20:25):
money back from your friends, so on and so forth.
So I set aside a certain amount each month that
I put on her debit card. She's completely responsible for
every meal that comes in and out of that account
and any additional spending too. So if she chooses to
eat at home the things that she hates to eat,
like healthy things, she gets to save money. She's still
(20:49):
not there yet, but she does not spend for other
friends unless she knows she's going to get it back.
It's just completely changed. We never argue over how much
money she spent. Where's the change all that stuff. We
never argue over that anymore. So, I mean, I think
it's been a great addition to, you know, the training
(21:11):
for her.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And it's not a constant. Hey I need twenty dollars,
Hey I need twenty dollars, Hey I need twenty dollars
for this for that. It's okay, here's your monthly budget night,
and this is what you use for the whole mind.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, And I would be spending it anyway, So it
doesn't make me feel like I'm spoiling her overally spoiling
or anything.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
But it's a great way as a parent for you
to be responsible with how much you're spending, because it's
not just it's easy as a parent just to dole
out twenty dollars a pop and you don't even realize
how much money you're throwing out there. But it also
helps both of you to look at, okay, where are
you spending just training everything when they're young, just about
(21:53):
training them to be responsible adults. And I absolutely love this.
I did not have this, but I'm telling you it
would have been so beneficial for me to have done it.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
And it's also building her credit and it's putting her
in a position that she's already set up for success.
And she also knows if she overdrafts that account, she's
paying off that overdraft fee. Yeah, because I think it's
like thirty bucks or something. And you can be washing
mama's car for a few times.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah, done, absolutely, Yeah, And so it's helping them monitor
what they are spending and what they're doing. So when
we come back. We're going to delve more into this
topic give you some additional tips that you can do,
so don't go away. This is the Dana Simmons Show.
Welcome back. This is Dana Simmons. I'm joined today by
(22:42):
Katie Martin with Dana Simmons real Estate. She's our listing specialist,
and also joined by Crystal Deckert. And Crystal is the
vice president and retail supervisor at First Financial Bank at
the Beaumont branch. But Crystal, y'all have lots of branches
around South East Texas.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Yes, man, we sure do.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
I think there's seven with an eighth one coming.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Yes, ma'am. We have Lumberton, we have Orange, Newton, maurice Ville, Weider,
Mid County, Beaumont obviously, and then we have another location
coming in Beaumont.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
I'm super excited about that. Now, we've been talking about
how to train your children to help them to be
more financially responsible, and you know, some of the tips
you gave is like from zero to twelve to start
a savings account for them to help them to start
to save money that they get from parents, friends, birthdays, whatever. Yes,
(23:36):
and then the next thing we talked about is that
maybe around thirteen that they start having a youth checking
account and maybe a debit card. Yes, you help them
to monitor what they're spending, be able to give them
an amount each month that they can use for whatever
they need, and that can go all the way up
through high school to be able to do that. Now,
(23:56):
let's talk a little bit about you know, you have
your children and who are about to go off to
college or maybe they're even just going to college here,
both mine went to Lamar University. So what are some
things that you can do to begin to assist your
college age students to be able to grow their credit,
to help them become responsible and what they're doing. So
(24:16):
talk a little bit about what are some of those
things you recommend.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Well, obviously, we have the checking accounts that whenever they're
seventeen or eighteen years old, they can have their we
can start their own checking account, doesn't have to have
a parent on it any longer, and hopefully they've they've
learned that responsibility prior to them and start putting their
funds in there. This allows we can also allow if
(24:42):
they want to have a parent on the account with them,
they can that way when they get to where they're
going in college, and if they need something, mom and
dad can help them out by transferring money from your
account to theirs via online banking or.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Whatever.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So whatever that came o mayby is just to have
them as a signer to be able to help if needed.
So aside from the checking account, though, we need to
start looking at getting them some credit. So if it's graduation,
let's say they get you know, five hundred dollars one
thousand dollars for graduation. A good way for them to
start building their credit is to get a secured credit card.
(25:19):
So basically, they come in open a savings account with
a set amount has to be at least three hundred dollars,
it can go up to five thousand. We can get
the savings account set aside, and then we tie a
secured credit card to that so it has a set limit, right,
And this teaches them the responsibility of you know, incurring
(25:40):
a debt and paying it off in a timely manner
and learning that not to spend beyond their means, so
it absolutely helps them build their credit. After a year,
then they can actually apply for a regular credit card
and most in most cases we have seen that they
have been responsible, and we can go ahead and let
(26:02):
them have a credit card, their own credit card with
a with a you know, a limit on that as well.
It's those are just some really good tools to put
out there because you know, they go through college and
then they graduate and then there's no credit for them
to be able to buy a car, a house, things
(26:24):
like that.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Another tip too, is we can as parents, we can
actually add our children to our current credit cards that
we have as authorized users. Now we don't have to
give them a card, just put them on there as
an authorized user, and over time our credit becomes their credit.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
So let's let's say that again. I want to make
sure people understand this because I think this is huge
you can have and as a parent, you have to
be a responsible parent absolutely also for the kids to
have bad credit. So you have a credit card as
a parent, and I just put my children as an
authorized user. They don't have to have a credit card, no, ma'am,
(27:06):
but it's building their credit.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
It is. This is something that my husband and idea,
not even realizing at any point that it was really
going to help our children until it did. My kids
are eight. I'm sorry, my children are twenty two and
twenty five now, and both of them, whenever they went
to apply for their very first credit card, were able
(27:31):
to get a nice credit card or a nice limit
on their credit card, you know, over one thousand dollars.
And then my daughter is twenty two and she has
been able to buy a car, purchase two homes because
of us enabling her in this way and helping her.
And a lot of people don't realize that's something that
(27:53):
you can do. It's something so minor, but it can
help your children to such a great start.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Absolutely. Do you love that?
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Do you know what age limit they need to be
to be able to add them as an authorized user?
Speaker 3 (28:06):
They had to be eighteen. That's when we added our
children as when they turned eighteen.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah, and that's a great way to begin, because if
you don't start building your children's credit early, then that
is something that they'll eventually have to do and may
make it challenging for them, not just to get a car,
but to get an apartment absolutely, you know, an apartment complex.
Let's say they get a job and they go off
somewhere so that the parent doesn't have to co sign
(28:33):
for them. If they've been an authorized user, and their
credit has been building, they at least have a credit
score that an apartment can access to give them.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Organization like car insurance it's based on your credit score also,
so that.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Helps us well, well, I love those ideas to kind
of help begin to instill in your children. Now, if
there's someone out there who says, I just really love
more information about that, how do they connect with someone
at First Financial to be able to have someone sit
down and talk to them about that.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
They can come into any of our branches, any of
our branch locations. I can give our phone number. My
actual phone number at the branch is four zero nine
six zero zero six four five three. And by all means,
if anyone has questions, no matter what the question, honestly,
you can give me a call and I would be
(29:32):
happy to talk with you and visit with you about
some of the things that we've done, because, like I said,
we started these things with our children and just because
this is what I do every day, and I see
I see so many times families not setting their children
up for the success later on in life. And I'm
(29:53):
telling you it made such a difference for our children.
And I know I have coworkers and people who go
to church with us that we've talked about how doing
these things for your children has really set them up
for success. And it's all about education. So by all means,
do reach out call me. We can talk over the phone.
You can set an appointment and come in. We would
(30:13):
be happy, happy to see you.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
That's great. Well, now I'm going to ask this question,
but let me preface it by saying, my children have
wonderful credit scores. But if you're a grand if you're
a grandparent and for some reason, your children didn't have
phenomenal credit scores, but you do as a grandparent, Am
I able to once my granddaughter turns eighteen? Am I
(30:36):
able to put them as a signer or an authorized
user on that account as well?
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Do you?
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Am I asking you a question you don't know the
answer to, and you might have to get back to me.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
You know what, Honestly, I don't know that. I know
that it works for parents, but grandparents, that's something I
would like to research. I can definitely get back to
you on that one.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
That would be great to know because I know there
are some of the people that I hang out with
their grandparents and their children have not always made wise decisions.
Some of them the grandchildren actually live with them, and
so I'm curious if that same concept, which I would
think it would, but I'd like for us to see
(31:16):
what it is because as a grandparent, if they could
also put their grandchild so that maybe they are training
their grandchild and a financial situation that's far more secure
than maybe their parents were in, because we do have
that these days, we have challenges where grandparents are raising
(31:36):
their children. Yes, and so well, I think all of
this information is so helpful, and I think most people
just don't know. And so I think educating our friends
and family on what you can do to be able
to help your children as critical. And so there are
(31:57):
lots of things you can do beyond that as well.
So when we come back, we are going to talk
to Katie Martin, because can your child invest with you
in a potential flip on a house. When we come back,
we're going to talk about that. So don't go away.
This is the Dana Simmons Show. Welcome back. This is
(32:21):
Dana Simmons and with me today Katie Martin, listing specialist
at Dana Simmons Real Estate and Crystal Deckert, VP, Retail
Supervisor at First Financial Bank. She's over at the Beaumont branch.
If you want to pop in over there and say, hey, Crystal,
you did a great job and I'd love more information
about what you talked about. So Crystal, let's do a
little summary of what we did in the beginning. So
(32:42):
we talked about helping your children grow to be more
financially responsible, starting at a very young age. And so
we talked about like zero to twelve.
Speaker 3 (32:51):
Zero to twelve. The best thing to do is let's
start them with the young savers account, get them used
to taking that money that they get, maybe not all
of it, but some of it that they get whenever
they get cash, bringing them in and letting them start
building that savings account and saving for some things that
they may want, some bigger items.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Yeah, bigger things. Okay. So now we have thirteen year olds.
Those teenage years, they're so fun. So let's talk about
thirteen to eighteen. What is your recommendation.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
Absolutely our youth checking account, because that's going to be
a way for them to have some freedom to be
responsible for a sub amount in their checking account and
knowing that they can't go beyond that being able to
check their balances online and have the freedom to carry
around a debit card make you, as a parent feel
a little bit more secure in the fact that they
(33:40):
are not just carrying this cash around and makes them
more mindful of what they're spending. So you can have
discussions by looking at the statements online and things like that.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
And Katie, you're doing that right now with one of yours.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Yes, Actually, I think I have both of them sucked
in at this point. Yes, So that's an interesting transition.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
They both have a debit card with a set amount
every single month. Oh yes, and then they have to
kind of work through that. And we're going to talk
about both of them and how they're managing that here
just very shortly, so we'll get back to that. So
now we're talking about they're finishing high school, going into college.
Let's talk about how we can set them up for success.
Speaker 3 (34:17):
Definitely, just get them sat with a checking account that
they can whether parents are on it or are not.
At that age seventeen to eighteen, we get started with
them being adults and learning to handle their own finances
and again online banking, being able to carry their debit
card around, being able to check their balances and making
(34:41):
sure that they're being responsible. Setting up text alerts. That's
one thing I didn't talk about. We can actually go in.
They can set up a text alert that when their
account starts to get lower money's spent, it gives them,
it sends a text. And if in all of these accounts,
if you are a parent and on the account, you
can also set those alerts up so that you're helping
with the managing process of this and having some conversations
(35:04):
if conversations need to be had to set them.
Speaker 1 (35:07):
Up for success.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
And then the secured card as they're you know, trying
to build some credit and get ready for with the world,
you know, get out in the world and be an
adult and purchasing things and being able to get better
rates on you know, insurance and things like that. Setting
up the credit so secured credit card if that's something
that they want to do, setting up a savings account,
(35:31):
tying it to the credit card so that it's got
to set limit and they become responsible in that way.
And then of course, like we spoke of adding the parent,
the parent adding the child as an authorized user with
or without access to the card. That's totally up to you,
but setting them up as an authorized user on that
to help build their credit going forward. Said that it
(35:51):
sets them up for, you know, having a credit score
when they're ready to do some of these things.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
It's amazing, such great advice that I really, I said before,
wish I had had some of that for my children
when they were growing up. But Katie, I know that
you and Robert are very intentional about setting your children
up well. And we're in real estate and so we
have opportunities all the time to buy homes, either to
(36:17):
use as a short term rental, long term rental, or
there are many times that we may have an opportunity
to flip a house. And so talk a little bit
about your two children. We've talked about how they're very different.
One's a saver and one's a spender. But talk a
little bit about how you guys are managing that and
what are some of the things that you're working through
(36:38):
right now.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Yeah, so one thing that we're about to do, we're
under contract with a home that we're going to flip,
and we were talking to our youngest daughter, who's twelve,
about investing with us and becoming not on paper a
partner but in the grand scheme of things, a partner
in the.
Speaker 1 (36:56):
Profit, well, because she's your staveror.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
My savor, she has six hundred and fifty dollars just
sitting in her account that she didn't want to spend
on anything. Yeah, so I mean she's getting a little
bit of interest on her savings account. So we did
all the math and we figured if she will contribute
her six hundred and fifty dollars toward our down payment,
(37:21):
that's a five percent investment for her. So when we
go through the process, she's going to learn how to
help with bookkeeping. She's going to help maybe not pick
paint colors, but she's going to be involved in the process.
They're going to help us clean the house, get it
all ready, call vendors. That's a big thing that was
(37:42):
instilled in me at a young age, and I think
was invaluable. I used to have to make my own
doctor's appointments when I was like in fifth grade. Wow,
so that was fun.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yeah, Well you learned responsibility and how to talk to adults,
and I think that's a big, big part of it too.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
So when we were doing all the math, if our
return is like it's supposed to be Hopefully she can
make up to fifteen hundred dollars on this deal.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
So the thing is it is teaching them that first
you have to save, to be able to have money,
to be able to invest, and a great investment is
real estate, especially if your mom is a real estate agent.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Yeah. So you know, jesus dad was a carpenter, and
so Jesus learned how to do carpentry first, right, I mean,
his heavenly father was the ruler of the universe. But
but it's something that just stick with you. What you know.
I mean everybody has skills and talents, and I mean
you have to pass those on to your kids. And
(38:46):
for us, they may not be interested in doing this
when they grow up. They may want to go to college.
And my oldest daughter wants to be a dentist. I
mean whatever, want to do that? Absolutely not, But for
now they can see the potential and what whatever they
do to do it. Number one to glorify the Lord
and number two to not overspend and just use your
(39:07):
money wisely. Right. Well, so, I was going to say
my oldest daughter, once she saw the math on paper,
wanted to get in on the action. But she likes
Lululemon and such things like that. So she only has
two hundred and fifty dollars, So her dad decided to
do a separate account or she's going to do like
(39:30):
a hard money loan quote unquote, and she's going to
be paying interest. He's going to fund the remainder of
the investment that's worth.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Her Daddy's super sweet.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yes, but she's going to be paying ten percent interest
on that side of it.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
So well, that's way lower than most hard money lenders.
So it's a daddy deal.
Speaker 2 (39:48):
But I'm like, if you can teach them, there is
going to be a way. The cost, if there will
be a cost, but if there's a way, you need
to just think it through and see if it's a
good investment. If this works out for her, yeah, she'll
pay more interest than her sister did, but she'll also
be in the positive. Yeah, so yeah, why not give
it a shot.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
Yeah. I love that you guys found a way for
her in a way that is going to teach your
real life. I mean, that's real life. If you want
to invest, sometimes there is a cost to the risks,
and there's a risk that's exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
Where the real estate market can crash in three weeks,
and we.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Don't expect it to know. Anything in the world can
change at any point in.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
But you want them to be prepared and go ahead
and take the risk. I mean, if it's thought through,
if you've prayed about it, if it's calculated, if you're
using your money wisely. You need to take some risks
in life.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
The other thing that it does is it probably gives
them a little more initiative to want to help you
sweep those floors and wipe down those windows and be
an active participant in getting that house ready versus hiring
someone that's going to cost money and go into your
potential gain.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Right, And they see us working. We are always working
on something, yeah, always. They don't like to participate because
there's nothing in it for them and they're teenagers. And
they're teenagers, so I'm hoping this is a mind shift
for them. So we'll see check back in about six months.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Yeah, I'm so proud of you guys. I think it's
brilliant and I wished I would have done it, but
I love watching and I can't wait to see. So
we're going to have to have you back on and
maybe the girls to talk about their investment, how it went,
and how it made them feel to be a part
(41:44):
of a business proposition with their mom and dad.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
Yeah. And I think my youngest one, from what I've researched,
at the age of sixteen, she can get alone in
her own name with us as co signers, this project
could be fully hers. Yeah, at a certain point.
Speaker 1 (42:04):
Could be a jumping off point platform for her to
begin doing more. So, now, if you're out there and
you're going, wow, that's just a lot. It is a
lot of different opportunities and options, But I would say
choose something. I think doing nothing is the hard thing.
That's where long term it becomes a challenge. But what
(42:27):
I wanted today to be about is helping the next
generation to be financially responsible and for parents who don't
know how to help their children do that to have
different options on how can we do that? Now, Well,
everything isn't right for everyone.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Yeah, And I think one big thing is just teach
them your mistakes that you made. Yeah, that's a big
one too. Absolutely, don't make them learn it for themselves.
Speaker 1 (42:52):
Right, Training those children in the hard and in the
good and the things that we did wrong and what
we're doing right, So it's just called parenting.
Speaker 2 (43:00):
YEP.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
I can't thank you guys enough both for being here
and so Katie, if anyone needs to reach out to you,
Katie Martin, Dana Simmons real Estate, how would they do that?
Speaker 2 (43:10):
My cell phone numbers four oh nine sixty five six
zero zero one.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
Three and Crystal Deckert First Financial Bank. Tell me how
people could get in touch with you. I know they
can come into the Beaumont Brandt.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Day, can come into the Belmont location, or they can
call me on my work phone. My office number is
four zero nine six zero zero six four five three.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Thank you both for being here. I think it's been
a very educational show for me and I hope for
our audience. So hope you have a great Saturday. This
is Dana Simmons. See you next week.
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