May 22, 2025 • 28 mins
In this bold solo episode, host Michelle Taylor, founder of Women and Wealth, gets real about the common habits that silently sabotage women’s financial growth and what to do instead.
From hoarding cash to handing over the financial reins to a partner, Michelle breaks down the five behaviors you must stop if you're serious about building wealth and stepping into financial freedom.
She also shares the game-changing mindset shifts and actionable power moves you can start making today, from rethinking budgeting to finally asking for the raise you deserve. Whether you're just getting started or ready to level up, this episode will leave you feeling informed, equipped, and unapologetically empowered.
✨ It’s not about shame, it’s about course correction.
🎯 Your financial future is built by what you do next.
📈 Let’s change the way women think and feel about money together.
Listen, share, and tag @Women_In_Wealth to tell us your favorite power move from the episode!
Connect with Michelle: https://www.instagram.com/women_in_wealth
Ready to Redefine Wealth on Your Terms?
✨ It's Here: Join the Women in Wealth community, a robust network of ambitious women, access expert-led workshops, and gain resources to take control of your financial journey.
Join today: https://womeninwealth.co/
From hoarding cash to handing over the financial reins to a partner, Michelle breaks down the five behaviors you must stop if you're serious about building wealth and stepping into financial freedom.
She also shares the game-changing mindset shifts and actionable power moves you can start making today, from rethinking budgeting to finally asking for the raise you deserve. Whether you're just getting started or ready to level up, this episode will leave you feeling informed, equipped, and unapologetically empowered.
✨ It’s not about shame, it’s about course correction.
🎯 Your financial future is built by what you do next.
📈 Let’s change the way women think and feel about money together.
Listen, share, and tag @Women_In_Wealth to tell us your favorite power move from the episode!
Connect with Michelle: https://www.instagram.com/women_in_wealth
Ready to Redefine Wealth on Your Terms?
✨ It's Here: Join the Women in Wealth community, a robust network of ambitious women, access expert-led workshops, and gain resources to take control of your financial journey.
Join today: https://womeninwealth.co/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's know the welcome talk. We welcome Talk Wealthy to Me.
I'm Michelle Taylor, founder of Women and Well and Wealth.
From breaking money myths to building wealth and achieving financial freedom.
We're here to empower you to create your own path,
path your talk wealth. Now, join the conversation and let's
change the way women think and feel about money. Are
(00:22):
you ready? Hi? Everyone, Welcome to this exciting episode of
Talk Wealthy to Me. I'm Michelle Taylor, your host and ladies,
you know I am your biggest cheerleader and your biggest supporter.
And with that being said, I want to talk today
(00:43):
about all the things that I want you to stop doing.
There are things that are getting in your way on
your journey to building financial wealth, and it stops today.
So let's dive in. Over the past decade of being
in this industry and having the honor and privilege of
talking to so many women and interviewing them on the
(01:05):
things that they are doing, the things that they want
to stop doing, and the questions that they have. There
are always a few themes and I think we can
tackle some of those together. The biggest thing, as always,
is to not approach this from a place of shame
or embarrassment. You are doing nothing wrong. This is all
about course correcting, making small tweaks to the things that
(01:28):
you're doing, the habits that so many of us women
come by naturally to ensure that you're setting yourself up
for the best win or outcome that's possible. So let's
spend a few minutes breaking down what each of these
dirty little habits are and figure out ways to move
past them and do better in twenty twenty five and beyond.
(01:53):
All right, So number one, if you've listened to the
podcast before, you have heard me say, but hoarding cash, ladies,
I know there is such a comfort in having cash
and having a number that you have designated to be
your comfort in an account or under your mattress, or
in a safe or in a sock drawer. The reality
(02:15):
is cash is the most expensive place to hold money.
You are not keeping up with inflation, Your money is
just sitting and stagnant if you will, and really, you
can't win at a game that you're not playing. So
I want everyone to really be aware moving into the
second half of this year of what that number is
(02:38):
that you really need. Figure out how much an emergency
would really cost you and your family and plan accordingly.
No emergency is you know, something crazy like thirty five
or fifty thousand dollars. You want to have enough that
it may not sound like a lot to you or
to someone else, but the reality is it doesn't matter
(03:00):
what anyone else is doing. It matters what you're doing
and what's going to work out best for your situation. So,
obviously we've talked before this number. This target is going
to depend pretty significantly on what your monthly expenses are,
and if you have a job that is heavily commissioned
(03:22):
or bonus based, and if you've got dependence or young
children that are counting on you to make sure that
everything is paid for and accounted for and that the
lights stay on. So figure out what that number is,
and then you want to make sure that you've got
a few months set aside that if something happens, something breaks,
(03:43):
that we're not having to turn to credit card debt,
which will have a much larger interest rate to handle.
You want to have the cash set aside that you
can deal with it head on and move past it.
The other reason that you really want to think about
no having so much in cash is because of inflation,
(04:03):
like I just mentioned, so if you think back, I'm
going to age myself a little bit here, But I
remember when I was in high school, can of coke
was fifty cents, and now I don't drink coke anymore,
but I think they're like a dollar fifty, right. That's inflation.
So if you have cash that you're sitting on now,
and let's say that this number that you're comfortable with
(04:28):
stays that number for the next five years, even three years,
even one year, you are losing purchasing power. That same
let's call it one thousand dollars is not buying the
same amount of goods or services that it would have
had you done it when you first acquired the money.
So it's really important again to not let inflation be
(04:52):
something that you're constantly fighting. When it comes to building wealth,
we want to make sure that cash has a job.
You want to start small, put cash in a savings
account or and a money market to make sure that
you're getting some growth, and then you want to start
thinking about things like index funds or ETFs. Remember that
(05:16):
these are still accounts that are considered liquid. So even
if they're not really aggressive, if you needed to get
to cash for an emergency. It'd be really easy to do.
So pay attention to this sense, and the dollars take
care of themselves. That is something that I have been
taught for my entire life, and it can't be truer.
(05:37):
When it comes to cash, don't hold on to too
much because it's literally costing you money. Next is really
for the ladies listening that share the responsibility of finances
with a spouse or a partner. I hear all the time, Oh,
my husband or my wife takes care of the finances
(05:57):
and I just have to stay in line or I
just have to figure out what I do with my budget.
And I am here to tell you do not have
to be driving the boat, but you need to be
in the boat. So number one God forbids something ever
happened to your partner or spouse. You need to understand
where the money is going, how to pay your bills.
(06:21):
I know I've told the story before, but I have
had a client experience where she was well versed in
understanding her finances, but when she was faced with a
life changing divorce, her lights got turned off. Not because
she was bad with money, but because she didn't understand
or know where everything was. And all I can tell
(06:43):
you is there comes such a sense of peace and
stability when you understand the financial makeup of your household.
Don't ever let one side of a relationship control all
of the finance, says, control who is making the decisions
(07:03):
and understand where those accounts are. You have got to
be part of those conversations. Even if you consider yourself
not great with money, and that brings me to another topic.
So many of you have said in conversation that you're
not a money person, you're not good at math, you
don't understand investing, and ladies, that does not matter. I
(07:27):
am here to tell you that understanding how your finances,
how your money moves into your household, what your expenses are,
and then how it's being spent, is something that all
of us should understand, whether or not you're driving the
boat right. So you really want to make sure that
you empower yourself, because again, money is so much of
(07:51):
a mind game. I hope that all of you will
change that narrative. Start telling yourself that you are learning
to be better with money, or you are well on
your way to being an investor. Try and change the
internal conversations that are happening and empower yourself to take
(08:13):
control of your finances with and without the support of
the spouse or partner in your home. One of the
really amazing things that you can do to start having
these conversations is set a monthly or quarterly budget or
(08:34):
household finances discussion. So my husband and I have a
state of the union that we do and it is
so much fun. You guys, I know it seems probably
like it wouldn't be fun, but we always will have
a glass of wine, sit down and talk about how
we spent money in the prior month or quarter, and
then talk about what is coming up to talk about
(08:57):
different opportunities, goals, dreams that we have that need to
be addressed at this time or by the end of
the year, and then understanding if things got off track
or if we were more aggressive than we wanted to
be with money that we were investing. All good conversations.
So I would challenge you all to just start having
(09:19):
the conversations, especially if you aren't married yet. This is
the time. You don't want to wait until you are
in quote unquote bed with someone in a marriage to say, Okay,
how is your relationship with money? How is your credit?
These are conversations that you have got to start having.
(09:39):
Even if you're just in a serious relationship, not engaged,
it still matters. So I would encourage you all set
aside some time, make it a date night and have
the conversation with each other. You will be amazed at
how much fun it is, especially with a glass of
wine in hand. So have the conversations, do not delegate
(10:01):
the power away. Have the difficult conversations now and have
a plan that you are working towards together. Okay, so
here is another one that's really important. Do not put
off until tomorrow what you can do today, And this
goes towards finances. You delaying a decision is delaying gratification
(10:24):
and delaying growth. You have to make the decision, so
decide to do it. There is no such thing as
the perfect time for anything. Whether it is the perfect
time to ask for a promotion or a raise, or
to start investing, or to have a baby, or to
buy a bigger house or make a big move, you
(10:45):
cannot time life. The most important thing to always consider
is the time is now. So how does this relate
to finances? While the longer you put off doing something
that is in your financial best interest, there is no
way to recapture the time that is lost. For example,
(11:06):
if you say, well, I'm going to wait until I
get to five thousand dollars in a savings account to
start investing, you're losing a ton of time that would
have given you the power of compounding numbers and interest
in your favor that you can never get back. So
I want you to try really hard to think the
time is now. Don't delay doing anything for something else.
(11:31):
We want to live in an and universe, pay off
the debt, and save and invest all at the same time.
The other thing I really want you to be aware
of is timing the market. There is no such thing,
and I know for any of you guys that have listened,
you've heard me say it a million times. Time in
the market is so much more important than timing the market.
(11:55):
It's impossible to do. You never know when one new
item is going to be released that is going to
impact what happens that very next moment in the market,
and if you're lucky enough to be invested currently, you're
going to reap what you sew. Are there going to
be times that it's not going to work in your favor, absolutely,
(12:17):
But if you pull your money out because of fear,
you're not going to have the money there to recover
when that positive news story comes out. That will change
the course of the rest of the day. So try
not to think about starting to invest when times are good. Actually,
you want to invest when there's room for opportunities and growth.
(12:40):
It's everything is on sale. When the stock market is down,
it feels scary and uncertain, but the reality is you're
buying the same pieces of the same companies that tomorrow
or next week or next month will be worth more
and missing out on the opportunity to celebrate those wins
(13:00):
as they come. When you're thinking of the stock market,
I always use this analogy. Think of a man or
a woman on an escalator playing with a yo yo.
The yo yo is going to be more volatile. You're
going to see a lot of swings up and down,
but as long as the trajectory of the escalator is
(13:20):
always going up, you are going to win. And that's
exactly what the stock market is. Lots of volatility from
the short and immediate news stories within the day, but
in the long run, we are always on that escalator
going up. Time is your friend unless you make it
your enemy. So do not delay financial decisions that can
(13:44):
benefit you, because it's only delaying financial success. Okay, So,
speaking of waiting for the perfect time to ask for
promotions or raises, girls, we are not big enough advocates
for ourselves. So let's unpack this a little bit. If
you are in a position where you feel that you
(14:05):
deserve compensation increases, or you want to throw your hatnering
for the promotion that you've heard about, don't wait, do
it now. Most employers will value so much that you
took it upon yourself to bring the good things that
you're contributing to an organization to the table. So for
(14:27):
any of you that are in a W two position
and someone is writing you a check, be your biggest advocate.
No one is going to be waiting in line, jumping
up and down, waiting to give you the rays that
you rightly deserve or the promotion that you've been working for,
unless they're in dire straits because you've got an itch
(14:48):
that they need to scratch. So you want to be
your own advocate. Practice with a friend, write a script
or an email, Just practice and get really comfortable in
faking confidence. It's a hard conversation that no one is
comfortable make having. But practice makes perfect. So if you think, okay,
(15:12):
this is me, I don't even know where to start.
I have a lot of resources within the women in
wealth community. Drop us a message and I'm happy to
send those along to you. That would be a template
to help you get the juices flowing and understand the
points that you want to hit on to ask for
the money that you rightly deserve, because I can promise
(15:34):
you that the boys that are sitting next to you
or in the other office are asking those questions and
we need to do better at asking them sooner and
more frequently. And last, but not least, is the power
of a spending plan. So again, this is something I've
mentioned before. I'm not the biggest advocate or fan of
(15:57):
a budget. I feel like, again, so much of this
is mental olympics and budgets. I don't know about you,
but they feel restrictive and I don't want you to
feel that way about empowering yourself around the plan you
have for the money that's coming in. If we can
reframe and think of a spending plan, it gives you
(16:20):
the permission to live the life that you want to
live within the parameters that you feel our best for
your situation. So I don't ever want you guys to think,
and I'm sure you've heard, you know, skip the latte
or don't go to Starbucks. That's not making anybody wealthy.
What is making people wealthy is understanding what their priorities are,
(16:43):
what they're working towards, and then setting a spending plan
according to that plan. So, for example, if you have
five thousand dollars a month coming into your home and
you know that your fixed expenses are twenty five hundred dollars,
everything else is to discretionary, including food in grocery shopping, and
(17:04):
going out with your friends or partners for happy hour.
And I know that can feel a little bit weird
because you need food or gas to live your life,
but the reality is unless somebody is going to turn
off or take back something, if it's not a paid bill,
it's discretionary. So going back to that example, if you
(17:25):
spend twenty five hundred dollars a month on fixed expenses
and have twenty five hundred dollars left, I would love
for you to sit down and think, Okay, how much
of that do you need to put aside to meet
your spending goals, your savings goals, investing goals, and then
debt reduction goals. And if the answer is, let's say
(17:47):
putting five hundred dollars a month into your savings account,
five hundred dollars a month into an investment account, and
you have one thousand dollars or fifteen hundred dollars left
at the end of the month, not fifteen hundred dollar.
I want you to give yourself permission to set on fire.
Not really, but if you want to go to Starbucks
and treat your friends, do it, but stay within that
(18:09):
fifteen hundred dollars. If you want to late night shop
on any of your favorite websites, do it. But just
make sure that that fifteen hundred dollars that you have
decided is what you're comfortable spending for the month, is
where your spending stops. And that will change the way
you feel about how your money is moving within your
(18:33):
life so much. I know it sounds so silly, but
a budget feels so restrictive, and a spending plan feels
like somebody giving you permission to live the life that
you want to live. And that's what this is all about,
all right. So the negative habits we've already talked about. Now,
let's talk about the power moves that I want you
(18:53):
all to make for a prosperous twenty twenty five. First
things first, make sure that you are automating your investing plan.
I do not care if it is twenty five dollars
a month, twenty five hundred dollars a month, or twenty
five thousand dollars a month. Timing your investments and making
sure that you are consistently putting money towards your future
(19:18):
is a magic bullet. Don't leave this up to I'm
going to wait and see where things stand at the
end of the month, because spoiler alert, none of us
will do it. We get busy, life gets crazy, You
will forget, and you are losing time. So go into
your accounts. Set this up automatically so that every single
(19:39):
month you are being true to your school and doing
the things that are most important to you. At the
end of a quarter, it's a great time to say, Okay,
where do things stand. Maybe you've got more money because
of commissions or bonuses, anything like that. That is an
unexpected windfall that you can now play with, which is wonderful.
(20:01):
Add those things when they're unexpected, but don't neglect the
consistency of the month to month because that's where true
traction happens. The other piece of this that is really
important is to book a money date with yourself every
single month. Like I mentioned the state of the Union,
but even if it's just you, you want to make
(20:23):
sure that you're looking at your spending every single month
and hopefully you realize that you're doing better than you thought,
and that is something to be celebrated. It's also a
time that if you're noticing that you're getting off track
or that you're spending too much in one area that
you wish you weren't, you're in front of it. You're
not now regretful in thinking back about where you wanted
(20:47):
to be six months down the road instead of where
you're at because you recognized a not so great habit.
So book a money date with yourself. Try and do
it in the very beginning of a month or the
very end of a month, and just be really brutally honest.
Look under the hood. It is not as scary as
you think it is, and there are no monsters under
(21:10):
the bed. Just look and take control and ownership of
exactly where you are at any given time. With that,
I want you to think when you're tracking of not
just tracking what your income is, but also what your
net worth is. Those two things go hand in hand.
Oftentimes people think that you can't think about a net
(21:32):
worth when you have not a ton of assets to
your name, and while that is somewhat true, I want
you to think of it this way anytime you have
an asset to your name. So for anybody listening that
already has a home or real estate, or a vehicle,
or an investment account, anything like that, I want you
to consider tracking your net worth. So that is taking
(21:55):
what your asset is worth, and it doesn't have to
be exact, but a good idea and the framework of
what you could sell it for and reduce those numbers
by any of the expenses that you have or that
you owe to own those assets. That's going to give
you your net worth. And why that's really important is
(22:15):
because we accumulate things over time that have value that
we may not consider when we're looking at the day
to day of our financials. The other thing it really
allows you to see the positive work you're doing. When
you're paying off your debt. It may not feel as
much of a win if it's not paid off entirely,
but when your net worth number is going up because
(22:37):
your debt is going down, it's still something to celebrate.
And in that same vein have a salary growth plan,
not just a savings plan. So you know, when your
employers sit you down for an annual review and they
give you a three percent increase, well, let me let
you in a little secret, that is just the bare
(23:00):
minimum to keep up with inflation. Ladies. If inflation is
three percent and you are getting a salary increase of
three percent, you're really not getting an increase at all.
And I know that that may be a little bit
of a shock to so many of you, and it
was to me when I first figured it out. But
the reality is it's just ensuring that one dollar spends
(23:21):
the same way that a dollar will would have the
year prior. So be ready when you're going into these
conversations and these annual reviews to come back to the
table with that and say that while you appreciate the
three percent increase, that because of inflation, that will keep
things feeling really status quo for you, and be prepared
(23:43):
to ask for a little bit more. The worst thing
that can happen is that your employer says no, and
hopefully they will just think that you are a smart
cookie and consider that the next time they're going over
a compensation plan with you. And lastly, I want you
to really think through rebranding budgeting as a spending plan.
(24:05):
And I know I just spoke about this, but ladies,
it's a game changer. A budget feels like a punishment.
A spending plan feels like permission. Give yourself the permission
to live the life that you want based on the
fact that you work really hard for the money that
you have coming in. Don't let yourself feel like you're
(24:26):
held captive to some imaginary number because some talking head
or somebody in your life has told you that you
should only spend X amount of dollars on a specific
category of life. That's just not realistic and it doesn't
make money and mindset any more successful or fun. So
(24:48):
think about a spending plan. Throw the word budget out
the window, and lets be the architects of the lives
that we want based on the income that we have
and make it personal. This is not based on some
imaginary number that somebody else who doesn't know you or
understand your life is setting for you. These five habits
(25:10):
may be common, but they are changeable, and it just
takes a small tweak to make everything feel so much
different from where you're at a month from now, a
year from now, or even a week from now. I
would love for all of you to listen and screenshot
this episode and share your favorite power moves so that
(25:33):
we can all continue to learn together. All right, and
as we wrap this up, I hope that you have
found a ton of value in this and I will
say that if you are feeling like you are behind
or have made a ton of these mistakes, I'm here
to tell you I have also made the same mistakes.
For any of you that have heard my story, I
(25:54):
was not great with money. It was laughable to think
that I would ever be sitting across from so many
listeners telling you how to be more financially savvy. The
reality is you are not behind. You are right on
time to pivot and take yourself to the next level.
I know for me, as an example, one of the
(26:16):
things that I always struggled with was when I was
trying to pay down debt from a lot of shopping
that I could not financially support after being sick as
a kid. I was focused so diligently on paying down
my debt, which was great, but I didn't have anyone
reminding me to be putting money aside for unexpected emergencies
(26:39):
or life happenstances. And what would happen is I would
make great strides and traction on debt and then something
would happen and I would immediately have to put money
back on a credit card. These are common mistakes, ladies,
And if you get stuck in the quicksand of thinking
that you've done something wrong or behind, and you're not
(27:01):
doing any favors for yourself and your long term financial story.
So in closing, please know that just wanting to do
better is the first best step. You are not behind,
You are right on time. Give yourself the permission to
change your money story and to do better and be
(27:24):
the creator of the most amazing financial future that you
envision for yourself. I hope this was helpful. As always,
like share and comment, subscribe, keep giving us great ideas
of things to cover in future episodes. And of course,
if there are any guests you'd like to hear from,
(27:46):
let us know. And until next time, let's keep changing
the way women think and feel about money together, Yeah,
Let's know the welcome talk. We welcome Talk Wealthy to Me.
I'm Michelle Taylor, founder of Women and Well and Wealth.
From breaking money myths to building wealth and achieving financial freedom.
We're here to empower you to create your own path,
path your talk wealth. Now, join the conversation and let's
change the way women think and feel about money. Are
(00:22):
you ready? Hi? Everyone, Welcome to this exciting episode of
Talk Wealthy to Me. I'm Michelle Taylor, your host and ladies,
you know I am your biggest cheerleader and your biggest supporter.
And with that being said, I want to talk today
(00:43):
about all the things that I want you to stop doing.
There are things that are getting in your way on
your journey to building financial wealth, and it stops today.
So let's dive in. Over the past decade of being
in this industry and having the honor and privilege of
talking to so many women and interviewing them on the
(01:05):
things that they are doing, the things that they want
to stop doing, and the questions that they have. There
are always a few themes and I think we can
tackle some of those together. The biggest thing, as always,
is to not approach this from a place of shame
or embarrassment. You are doing nothing wrong. This is all
about course correcting, making small tweaks to the things that
(01:28):
you're doing, the habits that so many of us women
come by naturally to ensure that you're setting yourself up
for the best win or outcome that's possible. So let's
spend a few minutes breaking down what each of these
dirty little habits are and figure out ways to move
past them and do better in twenty twenty five and beyond.
(01:53):
All right, So number one, if you've listened to the
podcast before, you have heard me say, but hoarding cash, ladies,
I know there is such a comfort in having cash
and having a number that you have designated to be
your comfort in an account or under your mattress, or
in a safe or in a sock drawer. The reality
(02:15):
is cash is the most expensive place to hold money.
You are not keeping up with inflation, Your money is
just sitting and stagnant if you will, and really, you
can't win at a game that you're not playing. So
I want everyone to really be aware moving into the
second half of this year of what that number is
(02:38):
that you really need. Figure out how much an emergency
would really cost you and your family and plan accordingly.
No emergency is you know, something crazy like thirty five
or fifty thousand dollars. You want to have enough that
it may not sound like a lot to you or
to someone else, but the reality is it doesn't matter
(03:00):
what anyone else is doing. It matters what you're doing
and what's going to work out best for your situation. So,
obviously we've talked before this number. This target is going
to depend pretty significantly on what your monthly expenses are,
and if you have a job that is heavily commissioned
(03:22):
or bonus based, and if you've got dependence or young
children that are counting on you to make sure that
everything is paid for and accounted for and that the
lights stay on. So figure out what that number is,
and then you want to make sure that you've got
a few months set aside that if something happens, something breaks,
(03:43):
that we're not having to turn to credit card debt,
which will have a much larger interest rate to handle.
You want to have the cash set aside that you
can deal with it head on and move past it.
The other reason that you really want to think about
no having so much in cash is because of inflation,
(04:03):
like I just mentioned, so if you think back, I'm
going to age myself a little bit here, But I
remember when I was in high school, can of coke
was fifty cents, and now I don't drink coke anymore,
but I think they're like a dollar fifty, right. That's inflation.
So if you have cash that you're sitting on now,
and let's say that this number that you're comfortable with
(04:28):
stays that number for the next five years, even three years,
even one year, you are losing purchasing power. That same
let's call it one thousand dollars is not buying the
same amount of goods or services that it would have
had you done it when you first acquired the money.
So it's really important again to not let inflation be
(04:52):
something that you're constantly fighting. When it comes to building wealth,
we want to make sure that cash has a job.
You want to start small, put cash in a savings
account or and a money market to make sure that
you're getting some growth, and then you want to start
thinking about things like index funds or ETFs. Remember that
(05:16):
these are still accounts that are considered liquid. So even
if they're not really aggressive, if you needed to get
to cash for an emergency. It'd be really easy to do.
So pay attention to this sense, and the dollars take
care of themselves. That is something that I have been
taught for my entire life, and it can't be truer.
(05:37):
When it comes to cash, don't hold on to too
much because it's literally costing you money. Next is really
for the ladies listening that share the responsibility of finances
with a spouse or a partner. I hear all the time, Oh,
my husband or my wife takes care of the finances
(05:57):
and I just have to stay in line or I
just have to figure out what I do with my budget.
And I am here to tell you do not have
to be driving the boat, but you need to be
in the boat. So number one God forbids something ever
happened to your partner or spouse. You need to understand
where the money is going, how to pay your bills.
(06:21):
I know I've told the story before, but I have
had a client experience where she was well versed in
understanding her finances, but when she was faced with a
life changing divorce, her lights got turned off. Not because
she was bad with money, but because she didn't understand
or know where everything was. And all I can tell
(06:43):
you is there comes such a sense of peace and
stability when you understand the financial makeup of your household.
Don't ever let one side of a relationship control all
of the finance, says, control who is making the decisions
(07:03):
and understand where those accounts are. You have got to
be part of those conversations. Even if you consider yourself
not great with money, and that brings me to another topic.
So many of you have said in conversation that you're
not a money person, you're not good at math, you
don't understand investing, and ladies, that does not matter. I
(07:27):
am here to tell you that understanding how your finances,
how your money moves into your household, what your expenses are,
and then how it's being spent, is something that all
of us should understand, whether or not you're driving the
boat right. So you really want to make sure that
you empower yourself, because again, money is so much of
(07:51):
a mind game. I hope that all of you will
change that narrative. Start telling yourself that you are learning
to be better with money, or you are well on
your way to being an investor. Try and change the
internal conversations that are happening and empower yourself to take
(08:13):
control of your finances with and without the support of
the spouse or partner in your home. One of the
really amazing things that you can do to start having
these conversations is set a monthly or quarterly budget or
(08:34):
household finances discussion. So my husband and I have a
state of the union that we do and it is
so much fun. You guys, I know it seems probably
like it wouldn't be fun, but we always will have
a glass of wine, sit down and talk about how
we spent money in the prior month or quarter, and
then talk about what is coming up to talk about
(08:57):
different opportunities, goals, dreams that we have that need to
be addressed at this time or by the end of
the year, and then understanding if things got off track
or if we were more aggressive than we wanted to
be with money that we were investing. All good conversations.
So I would challenge you all to just start having
(09:19):
the conversations, especially if you aren't married yet. This is
the time. You don't want to wait until you are
in quote unquote bed with someone in a marriage to say, Okay,
how is your relationship with money? How is your credit?
These are conversations that you have got to start having.
(09:39):
Even if you're just in a serious relationship, not engaged,
it still matters. So I would encourage you all set
aside some time, make it a date night and have
the conversation with each other. You will be amazed at
how much fun it is, especially with a glass of
wine in hand. So have the conversations, do not delegate
(10:01):
the power away. Have the difficult conversations now and have
a plan that you are working towards together. Okay, so
here is another one that's really important. Do not put
off until tomorrow what you can do today, And this
goes towards finances. You delaying a decision is delaying gratification
(10:24):
and delaying growth. You have to make the decision, so
decide to do it. There is no such thing as
the perfect time for anything. Whether it is the perfect
time to ask for a promotion or a raise, or
to start investing, or to have a baby, or to
buy a bigger house or make a big move, you
(10:45):
cannot time life. The most important thing to always consider
is the time is now. So how does this relate
to finances? While the longer you put off doing something
that is in your financial best interest, there is no
way to recapture the time that is lost. For example,
(11:06):
if you say, well, I'm going to wait until I
get to five thousand dollars in a savings account to
start investing, you're losing a ton of time that would
have given you the power of compounding numbers and interest
in your favor that you can never get back. So
I want you to try really hard to think the
time is now. Don't delay doing anything for something else.
(11:31):
We want to live in an and universe, pay off
the debt, and save and invest all at the same time.
The other thing I really want you to be aware
of is timing the market. There is no such thing,
and I know for any of you guys that have listened,
you've heard me say it a million times. Time in
the market is so much more important than timing the market.
(11:55):
It's impossible to do. You never know when one new
item is going to be released that is going to
impact what happens that very next moment in the market,
and if you're lucky enough to be invested currently, you're
going to reap what you sew. Are there going to
be times that it's not going to work in your favor, absolutely,
(12:17):
But if you pull your money out because of fear,
you're not going to have the money there to recover
when that positive news story comes out. That will change
the course of the rest of the day. So try
not to think about starting to invest when times are good. Actually,
you want to invest when there's room for opportunities and growth.
(12:40):
It's everything is on sale. When the stock market is down,
it feels scary and uncertain, but the reality is you're
buying the same pieces of the same companies that tomorrow
or next week or next month will be worth more
and missing out on the opportunity to celebrate those wins
(13:00):
as they come. When you're thinking of the stock market,
I always use this analogy. Think of a man or
a woman on an escalator playing with a yo yo.
The yo yo is going to be more volatile. You're
going to see a lot of swings up and down,
but as long as the trajectory of the escalator is
(13:20):
always going up, you are going to win. And that's
exactly what the stock market is. Lots of volatility from
the short and immediate news stories within the day, but
in the long run, we are always on that escalator
going up. Time is your friend unless you make it
your enemy. So do not delay financial decisions that can
(13:44):
benefit you, because it's only delaying financial success. Okay, So,
speaking of waiting for the perfect time to ask for
promotions or raises, girls, we are not big enough advocates
for ourselves. So let's unpack this a little bit. If
you are in a position where you feel that you
(14:05):
deserve compensation increases, or you want to throw your hatnering
for the promotion that you've heard about, don't wait, do
it now. Most employers will value so much that you
took it upon yourself to bring the good things that
you're contributing to an organization to the table. So for
(14:27):
any of you that are in a W two position
and someone is writing you a check, be your biggest advocate.
No one is going to be waiting in line, jumping
up and down, waiting to give you the rays that
you rightly deserve or the promotion that you've been working for,
unless they're in dire straits because you've got an itch
(14:48):
that they need to scratch. So you want to be
your own advocate. Practice with a friend, write a script
or an email, Just practice and get really comfortable in
faking confidence. It's a hard conversation that no one is
comfortable make having. But practice makes perfect. So if you think, okay,
(15:12):
this is me, I don't even know where to start.
I have a lot of resources within the women in
wealth community. Drop us a message and I'm happy to
send those along to you. That would be a template
to help you get the juices flowing and understand the
points that you want to hit on to ask for
the money that you rightly deserve, because I can promise
(15:34):
you that the boys that are sitting next to you
or in the other office are asking those questions and
we need to do better at asking them sooner and
more frequently. And last, but not least, is the power
of a spending plan. So again, this is something I've
mentioned before. I'm not the biggest advocate or fan of
(15:57):
a budget. I feel like, again, so much of this
is mental olympics and budgets. I don't know about you,
but they feel restrictive and I don't want you to
feel that way about empowering yourself around the plan you
have for the money that's coming in. If we can
reframe and think of a spending plan, it gives you
(16:20):
the permission to live the life that you want to
live within the parameters that you feel our best for
your situation. So I don't ever want you guys to think,
and I'm sure you've heard, you know, skip the latte
or don't go to Starbucks. That's not making anybody wealthy.
What is making people wealthy is understanding what their priorities are,
(16:43):
what they're working towards, and then setting a spending plan
according to that plan. So, for example, if you have
five thousand dollars a month coming into your home and
you know that your fixed expenses are twenty five hundred dollars,
everything else is to discretionary, including food in grocery shopping, and
(17:04):
going out with your friends or partners for happy hour.
And I know that can feel a little bit weird
because you need food or gas to live your life,
but the reality is unless somebody is going to turn
off or take back something, if it's not a paid bill,
it's discretionary. So going back to that example, if you
(17:25):
spend twenty five hundred dollars a month on fixed expenses
and have twenty five hundred dollars left, I would love
for you to sit down and think, Okay, how much
of that do you need to put aside to meet
your spending goals, your savings goals, investing goals, and then
debt reduction goals. And if the answer is, let's say
(17:47):
putting five hundred dollars a month into your savings account,
five hundred dollars a month into an investment account, and
you have one thousand dollars or fifteen hundred dollars left
at the end of the month, not fifteen hundred dollar.
I want you to give yourself permission to set on fire.
Not really, but if you want to go to Starbucks
and treat your friends, do it, but stay within that
(18:09):
fifteen hundred dollars. If you want to late night shop
on any of your favorite websites, do it. But just
make sure that that fifteen hundred dollars that you have
decided is what you're comfortable spending for the month, is
where your spending stops. And that will change the way
you feel about how your money is moving within your
(18:33):
life so much. I know it sounds so silly, but
a budget feels so restrictive, and a spending plan feels
like somebody giving you permission to live the life that
you want to live. And that's what this is all about,
all right. So the negative habits we've already talked about. Now,
let's talk about the power moves that I want you
(18:53):
all to make for a prosperous twenty twenty five. First
things first, make sure that you are automating your investing plan.
I do not care if it is twenty five dollars
a month, twenty five hundred dollars a month, or twenty
five thousand dollars a month. Timing your investments and making
sure that you are consistently putting money towards your future
(19:18):
is a magic bullet. Don't leave this up to I'm
going to wait and see where things stand at the
end of the month, because spoiler alert, none of us
will do it. We get busy, life gets crazy, You
will forget, and you are losing time. So go into
your accounts. Set this up automatically so that every single
(19:39):
month you are being true to your school and doing
the things that are most important to you. At the
end of a quarter, it's a great time to say, Okay,
where do things stand. Maybe you've got more money because
of commissions or bonuses, anything like that. That is an
unexpected windfall that you can now play with, which is wonderful.
(20:01):
Add those things when they're unexpected, but don't neglect the
consistency of the month to month because that's where true
traction happens. The other piece of this that is really
important is to book a money date with yourself every
single month. Like I mentioned the state of the Union,
but even if it's just you, you want to make
(20:23):
sure that you're looking at your spending every single month
and hopefully you realize that you're doing better than you thought,
and that is something to be celebrated. It's also a
time that if you're noticing that you're getting off track
or that you're spending too much in one area that
you wish you weren't, you're in front of it. You're
not now regretful in thinking back about where you wanted
(20:47):
to be six months down the road instead of where
you're at because you recognized a not so great habit.
So book a money date with yourself. Try and do
it in the very beginning of a month or the
very end of a month, and just be really brutally honest.
Look under the hood. It is not as scary as
you think it is, and there are no monsters under
(21:10):
the bed. Just look and take control and ownership of
exactly where you are at any given time. With that,
I want you to think when you're tracking of not
just tracking what your income is, but also what your
net worth is. Those two things go hand in hand.
Oftentimes people think that you can't think about a net
(21:32):
worth when you have not a ton of assets to
your name, and while that is somewhat true, I want
you to think of it this way anytime you have
an asset to your name. So for anybody listening that
already has a home or real estate, or a vehicle,
or an investment account, anything like that, I want you
to consider tracking your net worth. So that is taking
(21:55):
what your asset is worth, and it doesn't have to
be exact, but a good idea and the framework of
what you could sell it for and reduce those numbers
by any of the expenses that you have or that
you owe to own those assets. That's going to give
you your net worth. And why that's really important is
(22:15):
because we accumulate things over time that have value that
we may not consider when we're looking at the day
to day of our financials. The other thing it really
allows you to see the positive work you're doing. When
you're paying off your debt. It may not feel as
much of a win if it's not paid off entirely,
but when your net worth number is going up because
(22:37):
your debt is going down, it's still something to celebrate.
And in that same vein have a salary growth plan,
not just a savings plan. So you know, when your
employers sit you down for an annual review and they
give you a three percent increase, well, let me let
you in a little secret, that is just the bare
(23:00):
minimum to keep up with inflation. Ladies. If inflation is
three percent and you are getting a salary increase of
three percent, you're really not getting an increase at all.
And I know that that may be a little bit
of a shock to so many of you, and it
was to me when I first figured it out. But
the reality is it's just ensuring that one dollar spends
(23:21):
the same way that a dollar will would have the
year prior. So be ready when you're going into these
conversations and these annual reviews to come back to the
table with that and say that while you appreciate the
three percent increase, that because of inflation, that will keep
things feeling really status quo for you, and be prepared
(23:43):
to ask for a little bit more. The worst thing
that can happen is that your employer says no, and
hopefully they will just think that you are a smart
cookie and consider that the next time they're going over
a compensation plan with you. And lastly, I want you
to really think through rebranding budgeting as a spending plan.
(24:05):
And I know I just spoke about this, but ladies,
it's a game changer. A budget feels like a punishment.
A spending plan feels like permission. Give yourself the permission
to live the life that you want based on the
fact that you work really hard for the money that
you have coming in. Don't let yourself feel like you're
(24:26):
held captive to some imaginary number because some talking head
or somebody in your life has told you that you
should only spend X amount of dollars on a specific
category of life. That's just not realistic and it doesn't
make money and mindset any more successful or fun. So
(24:48):
think about a spending plan. Throw the word budget out
the window, and lets be the architects of the lives
that we want based on the income that we have
and make it personal. This is not based on some
imaginary number that somebody else who doesn't know you or
understand your life is setting for you. These five habits
(25:10):
may be common, but they are changeable, and it just
takes a small tweak to make everything feel so much
different from where you're at a month from now, a
year from now, or even a week from now. I
would love for all of you to listen and screenshot
this episode and share your favorite power moves so that
(25:33):
we can all continue to learn together. All right, and
as we wrap this up, I hope that you have
found a ton of value in this and I will
say that if you are feeling like you are behind
or have made a ton of these mistakes, I'm here
to tell you I have also made the same mistakes.
For any of you that have heard my story, I
(25:54):
was not great with money. It was laughable to think
that I would ever be sitting across from so many
listeners telling you how to be more financially savvy. The
reality is you are not behind. You are right on
time to pivot and take yourself to the next level.
I know for me, as an example, one of the
(26:16):
things that I always struggled with was when I was
trying to pay down debt from a lot of shopping
that I could not financially support after being sick as
a kid. I was focused so diligently on paying down
my debt, which was great, but I didn't have anyone
reminding me to be putting money aside for unexpected emergencies
(26:39):
or life happenstances. And what would happen is I would
make great strides and traction on debt and then something
would happen and I would immediately have to put money
back on a credit card. These are common mistakes, ladies,
And if you get stuck in the quicksand of thinking
that you've done something wrong or behind, and you're not
(27:01):
doing any favors for yourself and your long term financial story.
So in closing, please know that just wanting to do
better is the first best step. You are not behind,
You are right on time. Give yourself the permission to
change your money story and to do better and be
(27:24):
the creator of the most amazing financial future that you
envision for yourself. I hope this was helpful. As always,
like share and comment, subscribe, keep giving us great ideas
of things to cover in future episodes. And of course,
if there are any guests you'd like to hear from,
(27:46):
let us know. And until next time, let's keep changing
the way women think and feel about money together, Yeah,
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