Concerns of economic turmoil are rising, and while we can’t prevent a storm, grownups can take specific steps to get ready and take stock of how well prepared they would be if the time comes to batten down the hatches.
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Full Transcript:
Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, Grownup friends. A big thank you to so many of you that have already bought my new book, Launching Financial Grownups, Live your Richest Life by Helping Your Almost Adults Kids Become Everyday Money Smart. This book was not easy to write because I had to get honest with myself about what was working with my teen and young adult kids and what was not working. And I also had to be prepared to share it with all of you. So, first of all, thank you for your support and your wonderful responses to it. There's definitely some things in there that you may not have been expecting to hear.
Bobbi Rebell:
By the way, I got a lot of help from my money expert friends and also financial therapists and parenting experts. I am really happy with how Launching Financial Grownups came out, even though it really was hard to be, like I said, that honest. And it was a lot of work, but I really love doing it and I'm really happy with how it came out.
Bobbi Rebell:
On that note, if you have not already, please pick up a copy of Launching Financial Grownups today. After you do, please share it on social media. Please leave a review on Amazon. Those reviews are super important because the algorithm picks up on them and that can make the book a lot more visible to more people. So I truly appreciate it. And I really also appreciate all of your support.
Jamie Bosse:
We listen to the media, we hear what's going on. People talk about the S&P, the DOW. CNBC's talking about all sorts of things, and we tend to get wrapped up in what's going on with that. But we need to think about how this correction and how the market is impacting our lives, not necessarily that the S&P's down this much or up this much. So creating a benchmark that makes more sense is what is your goals, your objectives, your financial plan.
Bobbi Rebell:
You're listening to Money Tips for Financial Grownups. With me, Certified Financial Planner, Bobbi Rebell, author of Launching Financial Grownups. Because you know what? Grown up life is really hard, but together we got this.
Bobbi Rebell:
Hey, Grownup friends. Are you watching the news and bracing for the worst in this ... and I want to stress, potential, economic hurricane? Well, probably not a bad idea to at least be thinking about it. But our guests today reminds us that just because we should be prepared for an economic storm, doesn't mean we will be directly impacted by that storm. I like that optimistic take. The wise woman I am referring to is Jamie Bosse. In addition to being the author of several books, including Money Boss Mom, Jamie is a certified financial planner. She also has that magical it factor when it comes to helping both calm us down and motivate us to do what needs to be done when it comes to being financial grownups. Among the things Jamie and I talk about, specific ways to build up cash as a cushion, AKA an emergency fund. So you aren't caught in an economic hurricane of your own.
Bobbi Rebell:
In this interview, you're also going to get her take on money shaming and how we can control things like our emotions. And what is most impactful for us to get to our financial goals, emphasis on our goals. Not somebody else's, our goals. And finally, the best things you could do if the stock market continues to stay under pressure. Here is Jamie Bosse.
Bobbi Rebell:
Jamie Bosse, you're a financial grownup, welcome to the podcast.
Jamie Bosse:
Thank you. Nice to be here.
Bobbi Rebell:
I'm excited to have you here. We have so much in common and that's kind of how we connected. I have my book launching, Financial Grownups. You have your book, which is Money Boss Mom, helping young parents be the boss of their financial future. So I think they're perfect complimentary books because you focus more on the younger side, although you do touch on older kids a little bit. And then I focus on the older kids. So it was perfect for us to connect. And I just thought you were so amazing, I had to have you on the podcast. And I'm glad we finally got you.
Jamie Bosse:
Well, thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here.
Bobbi Rebell:
We're going to talk more about your latest book, Money Boss Mom, in a few minutes. And by the way, you have a couple kids books, as well. But given everything going on in the world, in the summer of 2022, as we're recording this. I did ask you to give us some very grown up investing advice on how to weather what some people ... and I guess the some people I'm speaking about most prominently is Jamie Diamond recently made some comments about an economic hurricane coming. And now we've had a number of other high profile people sort of saying their own version of it. And it has a lot of people worried. But not to worry because we have you. You came with three tips, three money tips to help us all weather this economic storm, which we hope maybe won't come, but let's just say it does. So, thank you for that.
Bobbi Rebell:
The first tip you have is to have, maintain or build an emergency fund. That's tip number one. So tell us more about that. Because you have some specific ideas for exactly how to do that.
Jamie Bosse:
Yeah, so having an emergency fund is definitely a good thing to have in place during any time. It doesn't have to be an economic hurricane. But when these bad times do happen, it's so much better to have that in place. We saw this a lot in 2020 where a lot of people who owned small businesses just didn't have the customers that they normally did and the income that they normally did. A lot of people lost their jobs. And then when you get in a period where you don't have income or things are different or you have an unexpected expense of some kind, having a cash cushion really helps you get through that. So you're not having to run up credit card debt or borrow money from somewhere or take money from somewhere you shouldn't, like your 401k to make up the difference.
Bobbi Rebell:
And a lot of people had those emergency funds depleted somewhat during the pandemic. Of course everyone had different experiences. How do you suggest you kind of get back on track with that? Are there any shortcuts or sort of maybe tough choices that people can make to beef up your emergency fund, just in case?
Jamie Bosse:
I think a couple of tips that are helpful there is to really automate whatever you can. So if you are automatically directing some of your paycheck to a savings account that is specifically for emergency funds, you don't have to manually think about it to do that. And a lot of times, once you get used to that, you don't miss the money. Like it's just building on your behalf and you're not tempted to touch it.
Jamie Bosse:
So I think having an account that is separate than your normal bank accounts makes a ton of sense. Because the money's more out of sight, out of mind. Because I know even me, when I see I have a bucket of cash kind of built up, I'm like, "Oh, well we could buy this or we could do this." But if you have an earmarked specifically for emergencies and you're not seeing it every day, it has a better chance of being protected from your exciting expenses.
Bobbi Rebell:
And that's so true. I mean, so many of us think this would never happen to us. So we let our cash get very low. I mean, you brought some relevant stats here, nearly 50% of Americans can't come up with $400 in the case of an emergency. And this is staggering because we all think we're in the minority if we were living paycheck to paycheck. But almost four out of five Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. So we think that we're alone in this, but it's really something that so many of us experience. If not now, at some point in our lives, we have experienced this. So we're not alone. I mean there's a lot of money shame that goes on.
Jamie Bosse:
For sure, yeah. And I think on the job front, 6 million people lose or leave their jobs every month. And the average time to get a new job is about three months or more. And the higher up you are in a company, the longer it takes. And so, there's a lot of periods in people's lives where their income changes drastically. Maybe not by their choosing.
Bobbi Rebell:
Exactly. We talk so much about the great resignation, but that doesn't hide the fact that many companies are having layoffs right now. So sometimes you leave a job not by choice and without much warning. So in that case, those are things you can't control.
Bobbi Rebell:
Number two money tip that you brought to weather an economic hurricane is to focus on what you can control.
Jamie Bosse:
Yeah. So right now, you're hearing it in the media, you mentioned it with Jamie Diamond and others saying, a hurricane is coming. But what can you do about it? A lot of the things in the market are out of our control. The market ebbs and flows. That's kind of the one thing it is guaranteed to do, actually. Yet we still want to act, we're wired for action. We want to do something about it. Think about what you can control. So the things you can control are your emotions, like don't get too wrapped up in what's happening, focus on your life and how this impacts you. But also, what are you spending? What are you saving? Are you still saving for the long term? Focusing on those things that matter for your life and your plan and the things that you can control.
Bobbi Rebell:
And one thing I love about your book, Money Boss Mom is you have so many quotes that are from people we hear about a lot, but not always the quotes that we are used to hearing. One quote that I haven't heard in a while from Warren Buffet is, "Be greedy when others are fearful. And be fearful when others are greedy." That says a lot in very few words, right?
Jamie Bosse:
It really does. It's such a great quote. And it reminds us that oftentimes what our gut reaction is to do, is the exact opposite of what we should do when it comes to investing. So, when the market feels yucky like it does right now, things are scary. We just want to pull away. We don't want to invest anymore money, we want to take money out. But what we're doing when we do that is recognizing losses and missing out on big opportunities.
Jamie Bosse:
So technically the market is on sale. Everything is cheaper than it normally is, stock prices are low. So now is the time to buy more and put more into the market because you have more long term growth potential.
Bobbi Rebell:
Absolutely. And also, be aware that the entire market may go down for a systemic reason because of these big picture issues. But that doesn't mean every company is being impacted. We might hear that, for example, here we are recording this in June of 2022, just to timestamp this. We're hearing a lot of retailers like Target have too much inventory. So that's something worrisome, but that doesn't mean that other companies aren't going to have growth. So you need to think about where is consumer cash, for example, going to be flowing going forward? Who's going to be on the up and up? So paying attention to individual companies in this case, it may be through a sector fund instead of an overall index fund. Could be an interesting thing to consider.
Bobbi Rebell:
Another thing that you can control that you talk about within this tip number two, about what you can control is spending your money. I mean, we are all consumers and we have made very different choices during the pandemic than we did before. Now many of us are sort of getting back to more normalized lifestyles, but that can be tricky.
Jamie Bosse:
Right, yeah. I think you want to zone your spending in on what your priorities are, what your values are for your family. And try to make sure that your spending matches that. So if there's a bunch of things that you're spending money on that you don't care about or you don't use. Now's the time to kind of reevaluate, look at those things and reprioritize, if necessary.
Bobbi Rebell:
Yeah, it does make sense to check in, I would say, every three to four months and see what's going on. Because we have been making so many different changes. And I know I certainly had an urge to splurge this Spring and sort of upgrade my wardrobe because I hadn't done it in a while. And now I'm thinking, "Okay, maybe I'm going to take a break."
Bobbi Rebell:
Number three money tip is what are your benchmarks? And you have a big emphasis on the word, your. Tell us more about that.
Jamie Bosse:
Yeah. So when we think about markets like this, we listen to the media, we hear what's going on. People talk about the S&P, the DOW, CNBC's talking about all sorts of things. And we tend to get wrapped up in what's going on with that. But we need to think about how this correction and how the market is impacting our lives, not necessarily that the S&P's down this much or up this much. So creating a benchmark that makes more sense is what is your goals, your objectives, your financial plan.
Bobbi Rebell:
Yeah. It's so true because we're talking about this economic hurricane, but there's a common saying, it's an economy of one. You might not lose your job. You might not have any economic hardship. Your investments may be just fine based on your goals and you may have extra cash to invest, as you say, as things are on sale. So we really need to focus on ourselves, not always the big picture. Well being aware of the big picture, but it's not always about the big picture. Sometimes it is about us.
Jamie Bosse:
Yeah. If your financial plan is still on track and you're able to do the things you want to do, let the market kind of do its thing and make sure you're still focused on what your goals are. If you're younger and saving for retirement, you're actually benefiting from the time we're in now, because the money going into your 401k, the money you're investing right now is actually going in at lower prices. And so it has a lot more growth potential.
Bobbi Rebell:
Absolutely. Time is always on our side. So thank you so much. Before I let you go, though, I do want to give people a little sense of your book, your latest book, I should say, Money Boss Mom. One thing that really hit home is how personal this is. You come out right away talking about everything from your parents' bankruptcy, to the challenges of being in middle school. And other people have more stuff than you or more luxury things and wanting what other kids have. It's very real book.
Jamie Bosse:
Thank you. Yeah. I tie in a lot of my personal experience just growing up. And then also in terms of what I've seen clients go through and their kids go through. And it's a good compilation of all those things to help young parents kind of understand and manage and improve their financial situations going forward.
Bobbi Rebell:
And one of the things that I really liked about this is you break down different things based on the children's age that they should be doing, whether it's working, giving to charity, things like that. Different specific ideas. So I think that's really useful, as well.
Jamie Bosse:
Yeah. A lot of people in this age group, we want the next generation to succeed with money. We want them to have a better life than we did. So, we can start those lessons now as young as age three with our children. So I wanted to provide some helpful tips there.
Bobbi Rebell:
Well, it's a very readable, very accessible and understandable book. I truly enjoyed it. I obviously have a special interest in this space. So thank you for that. Tell us where people can be in touch with you and learn more about you and pick up Money Boss Mom.
Jamie Bosse:
Well, the books are available on Amazon. So there's the Money Boss Mom book and there's also the Milton, The Money Savvy Pup Series. I work for Aspire Wealth Partners for my financial planning. And you can check out my author work at MoneyBossMom.com.
Bobbi Rebell:
Thank you so much.
Jamie Bosse:
Thank you.
Bobbi Rebell:
I think my favorite part of talking to Jamie was that she balanced being prepared for anything with also reminding us that we are absolutely not doomed and that we may be okay. In fact, more than okay. And for some of us, there may be opportunities on the horizon to improve our economic situation. Remember it's an economy of one.
Bobbi Rebell:
So what stood out to you in our interview? I'd love to hear from you guys, DM me on Instagram @BobbiRebell1, on Twitter @BobbiRebell. And please follow my new TikTok channel where I share a lot of clips of my TV interviews, talking about things like inflation fighting ideas and ways to reduce your debt. We are also working to bring everyone the most relevant and readable news stories for financial grownups. We send out a newsletter a couple times a month. You can get on that list by going to my website, which is just my name, BobbiRebell.com, where you can also get show notes with links to our guests and anything relevant to the episodes, along with a full transcript. All of those things are free for all of you.
Bobbi Rebell:
And I love doing this podcast for everyone for free, along with the newsletter. But I could really use your help in return. I am trying to get to 100 reviews for my book, Launching Financial Grownups. It is super easy to leave a review on Amazon. We will leave a link to that in the show notes, as well. It makes such a difference. And thank you again to all of you who have already left a review on Amazon.
Bobbi Rebell:
Big thanks to Money Boss Mom, Jamie Bosse, pick up her book, as well. Thank you to Jamie for helping us all be financial grownups
Bobbi Rebell:
Money tips for financial grownups is a production of BRK Media, LLC. Editing and production by Steve Stewart, guest coordination, content creation, social media support and show notes by Ashley Wall. You can find the podcast show notes, which include links to resources mentioned in the show as well as show transcripts, by going to my website, BobbiRebell.com. You can also find an incredible library of hundreds of previous episodes to help you on your journey as a financial grownup.
Bobbi Rebell:
The podcast and tons of complimentary resources associated with the podcast is brought to you for free. But I need to have your support in return. Here's how you can do that. First connect with me on social media @BobbiRebell1 on Instagram and BobbiRebell on both Twitter and on Clubhouse. Where you can join my money tips for grownups club. Second, share this podcast on social media and tag me so I can thank you. You can also leave a review on Apple podcasts. Reading each one means the world to me. You know what? It really motivates others to subscribe. You can also support our merch shop, grownupgear.com by picking up fun gifts for your grownup friends and treating yourself, as well.
Bobbi Rebell:
And most of all, help your friends on their journey to being financial grownups by encouraging them to subscribe to the podcast. Together we got this. Thank you for your time and for the kind word so many of you send my way. See you next time and thank you for supporting money tips for financial grownups.