35: Practical Advice to Crush your 2024 Finance Goals

Welcome to the Sugar Daddy podcast. I'm Jessica and I'm Brandon and we're the Norwoods, a married millennial couple here to help you build wealth so you can live the life you've always dreamed of. Brandon is an award-winning licensed financial planner with over 10 years of experience and millions of dollars managed for his clients all over the US. Don't worry, we leave all the intimidating finance mumbo jumbo at the door Stick with us as we demystify the realm of dollars. So it all makes sense. While giving you a glimpse into our relationship with money and each other, we are so glad you're here. Let's get started. Can you believe we are in 2024? Because I cannot.

Yeah, definitely flew by quickly.

I mean, we blinked and the entire year was gone. And then I had I mean, my December 2023 was pretty much just like non-existent, because I was essentially sick the whole time and I went from upper respiratory infection to bronchitis to diverticulitis. I don't know anybody listening who's ever had diverticulitis. Do not recommend zero out of five stars. My Yelp review is not good. It was bad.

I was fine.

Yay, it's literally the story of our life, like I have all of my issues and then Brandon's over here, just like chilling beacon of health, which I'm glad, obviously, because if we were both out in town for the count, I mean, we would not have survived December. So but we're here. I'm feeling good, you know. Thank you for modern science and medication and antibiotics. I feel great today. How do you feel?

Good as always. Now I want to say on the end.

For those of you listening and not seeing this, brandon's wearing a beanie and I chopped all of my hair off just a few days ago, so we have some exciting announcements for 2024. Something to say about what I wear on my head because you know, your little beanies are just so precious, they're so cute.

So I ignore you on that one.

I mean we're in the house.

Okay.

All right. So there's that we have some hair.

It does look good. I like it.

Okay, thank you, are you done interrupting? Yeah, okay, we have some really exciting news for 2024. We asked, you responded, we listened, and so we're going to be changing it up and I'm really excited because we introduced a lot of amazing guests last year. We loved those conversations. I think the responses were fantastic, the conversations were so much fun and we have more guest interviews to bring you this year because we do think they're valuable and it's great to hear from other people and their journeys and their experiences. But we also recognize that we are a financial literacy podcast and our goal is to help you build wealth so that you can live the life that you've always dreamed of and that you can build your bag right. It's all about managing your money, understanding, building your financial literacy, and so we kind of want to get back to the core of what we set out to do. So we are going to shorten our podcast episodes. We're going to try to keep them, you know, 35 minutes or less, so that you can walk the dog pop into an episode, fold some laundry pop into an episode. You don't have to dedicate, you know, an hour hour plus to really get to the meat of the message. We are also launching on YouTube. This is going to be huge because most of you are currently listening. If you follow us on social media, you see our clips, so you get little snippets here and there of what it looks like to talk to our guests and how we interact and to see our facial expressions and all of that. But now you're going to be able to see our full episodes on our YouTube channel. So stay tuned, it's going to be really exciting.

Yeah, that's been a lot of fun figuring all that out, because we do everything ourselves, because we currently don't make any money off the podcast.

Yeah, but we're changing that in 2024.

We're working on it.

We're going to manifest. It's going to change, but it's good to know how to do these things on our own. I think it's always better to know how to do things and then.

By we you mean me.

Correct and then eventually we will outsource. But in the event of something happening, we will know by we I mean Brandon. Brandon will know how to step in and fix things that need to be fixed. So the other big thing is we are going to release three episodes a month the first three Wednesdays of the month, aside from January, because everybody is getting back into their routine the first week of January. So our first episode that you're able to listen to is going to be Wednesday, january 10th. So starting in February, the first three Wednesdays we are adding one episode a month. So instead of two, we're going to be bringing you three. We're really excited about that.

And we are hoping that the response is good too as far as being able to hear more information on various topics, so that, like I said, purpose of this is a financial literacy podcast, so we want to try to give you as much information as possible.

Yeah, we're done. You know we're not gatekeepers, but in finance, the financial literacy and education has been gate kept for so long and we're not about that. So we want to give you short, sweet, actionable information where you can go and instantly improve your situation you know, one day at a time, one dollar at a time and do better, learn more. We didn't actually have this on our list, but I did want to add. We are going to be bringing you some extra special opportunities to sit down with Brandon, probably once a month, to actually learn how to invest right. Everybody that we follow on social media is in the finance space, the FinTech tech space, podcasters, etc. And everybody talks about investing and high-dealt savings and doing this and doing that, and it's great to talk about it, but you also need to learn how to actually do it. So definitely follow us on social media, if you're not already. Hit that follow button, hit that notification button so that you can be a part of the free free 99 courses that Brandon is going to host to help you open up your brokerage account and then you'll learn how to invest your first dollar. If you haven't done that, if you maybe are only contributing to a 401K through your employer and you don't have a separate you know Roth, ira or investment account. So stay tuned. We are looking to give back, we are looking to educate and to really help you navigate this seemingly confusing world of finance, but we want to make it approachable and easy for you to understand.

And these are going to be webinars that I'm going to be hosting and I'm literally going to walk you through step by step. So, for example, the first one's going to be opening up a brokerage account. How do you go about doing that? I'm going to literally walk you through it step by step and you'll be able to see it, so that you're able to do it on your own and know that you're doing it correctly and feel confident in that.

Yeah, absolutely. We do have recorded episodes that are going to be coming out in the early part of this year. So we have Nesima McElroy coming from financially intentional. That episode's going to be amazing. If you don't follow Nesima, she is fantastic You're missing out. We've got Haley and Justin from price of avocado toast. It's so funny because we are so similar in a lot of ways. They're a little bit younger than us. They live on the West Coast. They're financial coaches that help people pay off debt, but we're very much aligned in our mission of wanting to normalize the conversation around money and money problems debt, how to increase your credit score, how to invest, how to build wealth, how to live the life of your dreams. So that's going to be a really fun conversation. We've got a conversation with some friends Lauren and James who are in the middle of their adoption journey. They're going to talk to us about their adoption process, how they decided to you know, what kind of child to adopt, which agency to use, how much of the agency help are they going to need. So that's going to be a really important conversation as well. I know I'm missing a bunch of people that we've recorded with, but it's going to be amazing. We've got some awesome guests, so you don't want to miss out on that. But we're also going to be really targeted in what topics we're bringing to you. So, as always, if there is a topic that you want us to cover, if you have a question specific, broad, it doesn't matter. Shoot us a DM, send us an email, leave us a voicemail and let us know what topics you're interested in, because this is for you. We're doing this to help you get to where you need to be in your financial journey. You have been thinking about working with Brandon or reaching out. He will have a free console and conversation with you, so really, the only thing that you would potentially lose is 30 minutes of time, and it's not ever going to be a waste, because Brandon is amazing. Obviously, I'm married to him, so I'm a little bit biased, but I mean having the conversation to find out if you guys would be a good fit, how he can help you, if he can help you and listen. One thing that you will always know about us, and that is so important to note about Brandon, is that we will never pitch something or sell you something or advertise something or give you an affiliate link or even just like a referral link to anything that we don't use, we don't like, we don't value. We are always going to keep it 100. And Brandon has turned away plenty of people in his journey as an entrepreneur and a financial advisor for people who just weren't ready yet or people who needed to take maybe one or two extra steps before actually paying money to him to help reach their financial goals. So, some people, maybe you have six months or years worth of work to do and then you can come back, but Brandon is never going to take your money if you are not ready to be a client. Keep in mind obviously I think I get on him about this all the time because he wants everybody to be a full client. A full planning client meaning you dig into all of the things that make your portfolio whole. However, we recognize that not everybody is at that place in life, and so don't forget that he has a ton of different a la carte offerings where you can work with him on paying off your student loans, increasing your savings, paying down debt. I know I'm missing a whole bunch of things. Financial planning to talk about financial planning with your parents right, A lot of what we do in our millennial elder. Millennial planning has to involve what's going on with our parents finances. How do we talk to them about that? We have a whole episode coming out about that which is going to be really powerful. But if there's something that you need and you're not seeing it on the website, just reach out to Brandon, have a conversation. It's not going to cost you anything and it could literally change your life and help you get to your goals more quickly, because you don't know what you don't know, and Brandon knows a lot of things, so talk to him.

Reach out, I guess so.

Yeah.

Well, I also. What I really want to stress is that, with it being the new year, year to year, most people have some form of, you know, giving their finances in order as part of their New Year's resolution. So go ahead and take that step, because wanting to do it is great, but if you don't actually take that first step and start to take action, nothing's ever going to happen, and I try to make the first step very easy for you. So, like just was saying, as far as scheduling a 30 minute video chat with me and this is not diving into the details of you know, all the specifics of your finances. That's not what this call is about Broad overview of some of the things that you're looking to have, help with some of the things that you think you're doing well, some of the places you want to improve and then, most importantly, determining whether or not myself and you are a good fit, from a personality standpoint, to work together. Because that is the biggest thing, in all honesty, is are we a good fit to work together? A lot of us financial advisors, you know. We know a lot of the same things. We have a lot of same access to resources, but there is some nuance in regards to how each advisor does something from a personality standpoint and whether or not you vibe with that person. So I always want to make sure that, like I'm vibing with the client, obviously, and they're also vibing with me. Reason being is that when you're more comfortable with your financial advisor, you're much more open and you also are much more prone to you know, do what you need to do and be part, be an active part of the process. And then also, on my end, I don't want to deal with clients that I don't like. That's just plain and simple. Like I don't want to see someone like an email come across or my phone ring, I'm like I don't not want to talk to this person. So I've eliminated all my clients I enjoy working with and I'm going to keep it that way. It's a two way street. Do you like me? Do I like you? Same? So go ahead. And you know the scrunches of the call, worst case scenario nine times out of 10, even if we end up not working together, I guarantee you I could teach you one or two things.

Yeah, I think it's important to to call out that you are a fee based advisor and not a percentage of assets under management. I know there's a lot of things out there. People you know that are very have very strong opinions about fee based advisors versus I don't even want to go down that route with you, because because you can be.

I don't want to go down that route only because I think you can do find it. I think you can do both structures and be a advisor of integrity and do the right thing. I think people who have a very strong feeling about you know an a percentage of their assets under management had a bad advisor. It wasn't even the percentage amount, it was just you had a bad advisor. Also because if your advisor was amazing and doing all these amazing things, you probably wouldn't care what he charged you.

Well, but I think it's good to call out that you are fee based and not percentage based. So what are your rates for a single person for a full planning client?

So for a full planning client rates started $260 a month for an individual. Now you know upon finding more about your situation. Obviously, if you have a much more complicated situation it could be more, but for most people it's going to be $260 as an individual and if you are a couple or a family, rates started $375 per month.

All right, so very attainable. If that number sounds, or those numbers sound, a little bit too steep for your financial situation right now. There are other things that Brandon can help you with, kind of ad hoc that all a cart menu is online. We'll, of course, link it in the show notes, as always, but it's a free 30 minute consult to see if you guys are the right fit. As Brandon said, if there's a vibe, you guys like each other and you know, you think that Brandon is going to be able to help you reach your goals. Have the conversation at least find out. Speaking of resolutions and wanting to be better with our money, because I think, year after year, we all have our goals right, whether it's increasing our savings rate, getting that emergency fund started you know rates going up opening up that high yield savings account. Finally, and we literally say it 20 times a day let's talk about some top quote, unquote quote resolutions that people could focus on to help them in their financial journey this year.

Yeah, we are going to keep it focused to you know, around five top resolutions that people seem to have you year after year. Go through those and I'm also going to give you action steps on how to start to achieve those resolutions as well.

All right. What is resolution number one?

resolution number one has to do with credit card debt. As far as consolidating credit card debt and paying down credit card debt, Unfortunately in America a lot of us have credit card debt and it's not decreasing, it's just increasing, especially with the price of everything going up. So most people have the resolution that they want to tackle that credit card debt and most of the people that I sit down and talk with that's one of their top you know goals upon meeting with me, and the reason being is that credit card debt is just debilitating. You know the interest rate on credit card debt is just ridiculous, in all honesty. Like it shouldn't be that high. We're pushing 30%, yeah, and that's with I mean even my credit card debt is just ridiculous.

And even my credit cards. You know I have a great credit score. We pay off our credit cards every month. But even then, you know, like our credit card rates, even though we call you know once or twice a year to have those brought down, I mean the industry in itself right now is just it's astronomical. So if you are not paying off your credit cards in full every month, the same way, your high yield savings account, that compound interest, is working for you. Well, the compound interest on credit cards is working against you and you are paying a lot of money every month in interest, right, and that's the fee that you're paying the banks, the lenders, for them to let you borrow money. And if you're not paying that off every month, it is. It's going to be really hard to get out from under that.

Yeah, so first step that you actually need to take is to assess all the credit card debt that you have. How many different credit cards do you have that you are carrying a balance on month to month and you know what that balance is and what the interest rate is and what is your minimum payment that you need to make towards that. That's the first step, so that you have a basis of an understanding of everything that's going on Now. Next, you need to choose a method. Now, when I say choose a method, there's two main methods that people apply to paying down credit card debt. You can either focus on paying off the lowest balance first, or you can focus on paying off the balance with the highest interest rate first. I personally am an interest rate person because I'm a math person, but either way is fine. It's which one do you think you are more likely to stick with? All right, so when it comes to paying down the lowest balance, what you're doing is looking at the credit cards you have and whatever balance has, whatever balance is the lowest, any additional money that you could free up is going to be paid towards that credit card. So you are paying at least the minimum on all your other credit cards, but any additional money that you have. So, just say, you looked through your budget and you found an additional $100. That additional $100 is going to go towards the lowest balance. You're going to keep paying that on a monthly basis additional $100 until that credit card is gone. And once you are done with that one, all the money that you were paying to that credit card on a monthly basis is now going to be allocated to the second one. Won't the second lowest balance? And so on and so on until you pay off your credit card debt. Now the other option is the one with the highest interest rate. So whichever credit card has the highest interest rate, that's the one you're going to focus on first. Any additional money you have is going to go towards paying that off. Once you pay off that credit card, then the amount that you were paying towards that credit card goes towards the next one with the next highest interest rate. All right. So that is, you know the two methods that you could choose from, make a decision to stick with it, and then I also say automated, all right. So once you know the minimum amounts that you are going to apply to all your credit cards and you automate that. And then once you look for your budget and you say you found an additional $100 that you can free up, automate that. So much easier to automate it and have it done rather than going in manually, because, especially when you're freeing up the additional money, it could be very easy to find that additional hundred dollars and use it on something that is pointless when it can be much better used towards paying down credit card debt. Now, one, a couple other things that I think a lot of people overlook is one look at a credit card payoff calculator online, because the phenomenal thing about those is that you could put in your balance, interest rate and your current monthly payment and it'll tell you exactly how long it will take for you to pay it off. Now, once you put that in there, say you add the additional hundred dollars, you could put additional hundred dollars in there as far as your payment and see how much shorter the time frame it is to pay off that credit card debt. A lot of people just are paying towards credit card debt and they have no idea when it actually is going to be completed, when you're able to see an end goal, when you're like, oh, you know, if I pay this amount each month, that in 18 months I will have that credit card debt down to zero. I think that's a much more motivating factor. I was literally sitting with a client about two weeks ago and we were going through their credit card debt and, based off of you know how they were currently paying off their credit card. It was going to take like 38 months I think 36 months, sorry to pay off the one credit card that we were looking at. If we I showed them, if they were to add the additional $150 that they get freed up to that credit card debt, it actually cut it down to about 19 months. That's huge. A lot of people don't realize. Like what's an extra hundred dollars? No, extra hundred dollars is huge when it comes to interest rates and paying off principal. Now, one other thing that a lot of people overlook is a zero percent balance transfer. If you have a good credit score still and you were able to you can open up a new credit card and transfer the balance for a small fee and with transferring that balance to the new card, you could have a zero percent interest rate from anywhere from 12 to 18 months. Now, if you combine that with the previous strategies that we just spoke about, that can cut down the time frame significantly to paying off that credit card debt, because now you're paying pure principal and not having to worry about paying interest.

Yeah, one thing to keep in mind with the balance transfer is that you're typically going to be paying anywhere from 3 to 5% on the total balance that you bring over, so there is a fee. But again, most of our credit cards have a 22 plus percent interest rate. So even bringing over, you know, let's call it $10,000 at 3 to 5% is going to be significantly less than you paying 22, 27, 29 percent every single month on a credit card that you are not paying off in full. I think one of the big things and I was a victim of this in my college days is I was the queen of a balance transfer, but my habits did not change, and so one of the big things that I think is important to call out is yes to Brandon's point. You can significantly lower the amount of time in what that payment and payback time period is going to look like when you're you know, if you have 12 months even of 0% interest, I mean that's huge. Especially, most of our credit cards have such high interest rates. So it can significantly cut down the time, but you cannot keep spending the way you were. You cannot keep spending for the same reasons. You got into credit card debt. Now what one of the things I think is important is not everybody has credit card debt because they're just out trying to live lavish, doing $300 brunches, buying bags and shoes. A lot of people, especially in this time period right, are in credit card debt because maybe they were laid off, maybe they have huge, you know, medical bills and they didn't know that they don't have to pay them all at once and you can set up a payment plan for $2 a month, right, like there are. There are strategies and things that people should be and could be utilizing that they're not. And they're putting money they're putting, you know, balances on their credit card to stay afloat in this day and age. So you know, if you have credit card there's there's no shame in that. Right like this is not a guilt. The guilt is not there. Don't. Don't guilt yourself. We just need to do better it doesn't fix anything either it doesn't fix anything. It keeps us down. That's not what this this is about. So we understand that not all credit card is there because people were just spending and you know being quote-unquote irresponsible. But there are strategies to help you get out of credit card debt. And again, if even this conversation feels like it's a little bit over your head, you've never heard of a balance transfer. You don't know how to navigate that. Who to you know reach out to to potentially look at the best cards that are available to you? Reach out to Brandon it also.

It will not cost you anything to have a 30-minute conversation with him also to a great website, especially when it comes to balance transfers nerd wallet, comm, mm-hmm. Go there, put in zero percent balance transfer in the search and they will, you know, they'll explain exactly what it is provide you with. You know, some of the best cards that are, you know, currently good for that option and would give you, like a column by column, comparison of pros and cons of different cards that you're looking at.

All right, so consolidating and or paying off debt is resolution number one, because most of us have some sort of debt, just as a call out. I think there's so much online about being debt-free. Just to be very clear and transparent, brandon and I are not debt-free. We've never said that we are debt-free because we've never been debt free, and it's also not a goal of ours because we actually believe in leveraging good debt to help you reach your goals. The wealthiest people do that. The wealthiest people do not there. You don't see them on Instagram talking about we're debt-free no, it's one to you were in 2022 at 22

oh, I was like, now you are as soon as I graduate from college, my mom paid off the remaining balance in my student loans. Shout out to moms. And for that brief period before I did a year law school, I was so so Brandon was debt-free?

yeah, it's just. I think it's a buzzword, right, and if that's what gives you peace of mind, absolutely like it's for sure, better to be debt-free than to have bad debt. Right, I'm doing air quotes for bad debt, but we are not debt-free. We do not claim to be debt-free, we are not aiming to be debt-free, but we are looking to leverage good debt, and credit cards typically are not considered good debt because they have an astronomical interest rate.

So and also I don't want to see anybody hop into our comments about good debt, bad debt. You should be debt-free, like to each their own.

If you don't want to have any debt, hey, great yeah, that's a mindset thing, right, if that gives you peace of mind. You want to pay off your house.

You do, you boo that's just not our strategy and what we're gonna do right, let's move on to number two.

What is the next thing that people should focus on as their new year?

money resolution create a practical budget what does? Emphasis on the word practical. I think when people think of a budget, they think of like an Excel spreadsheet with like 50 different items and a specific limitation on how much you could spend in each of those 50 categories that's a lot of categories, yeah and the thing is to, if you like, doing that. I'm not knocking it like that's. You are the minority, but you know there's a much more practical way to go about. You know, focusing on a budget, and it's very simple. As to 50 30 20 rule, now, what that equates to is 50% of your take home income. So this is what you make after taxes. 50% of your take home income is allocated towards needs. These are things that you cannot live without. You know you're paying rent, mortgage, food, gas, clothing, whatever that may be. These are gonna be normally a lot of your fixed expenses that are carried over from month to month. All right, now, the next 30% you can allocate towards once. These are things that you don't need. You don't need them to live, but they're nice to have. You know your streaming services going out to eat. Entertainment membership honestly, I'm not. For me, jim, membership is a need.

Is a need, and in the 50% for me personally, yeah, yeah because you know that and then goes seven.

I don't what two days of ego seven days. Rest days where I just do like slow cardio.

But are you still going to the gym? Yes, I also know you go to the gym seven days a week.

I'm a big proponent of stretching. I said what I said anyways, 30% is allocated towards, once you know, some additional clothing.

Like not the stuff that you need, you know manicures, pedicures, lashes, makeup, getting my hair yeah, things that you would like to have to you.

Yeah, things that you would like to have but are not a necessity, and in the last 20% that's savings. So that's gonna be money that's going to your emergency fund, your 401k plan for 3b, ira, stuff of that nature, and that's a really easy kind of like broad breakdown. Now, obviously, depending on your specific situation and also where you live in the country, that's gonna make a big difference. So, for example, like we're located in North Carolina, cost of living here is very different than living in New York or California. So you know, you, that 50% Calate categories maybe, and maybe 6065, depending on where you live. Yeah but it just to give you an idea of kind of like a broad breakdown of a practical way to set up a budget. Now, as I said, you're focusing on those three categories and so you're not looking at tracking all these little individual things. So, like all your necessities, does it equate to 50% of your take home income? If yes, good, great, go go ahead. Are you saving 20% of your take home income? Awesome, great, go ahead. So just really a very easy way to Track on a budget standpoint.

Yeah, and if you want to save more than 20%, I think that's great. If you can, it's comfortable for you. You know, maybe you are looking to live a little bit more frugally you don't have a lot of those wants right now or maybe you're saving up for something big and you're, you know, maybe not splurging month to month on dinners out or nails or pedicures or whatever it is that's important to you. That's great. If you can increase your savings rate, that's only going to help you reach whatever your financial goals are more quickly. But I think the 50, 30 20 rule makes it really easy. The important part and this is the next resolution In that 20% savings is automate your savings and pay yourself first. Would you agree?

well. So number three is prioritizing savings as a society. Americans are just not good savers in comparison to the rest of the world and I Think it's often overlooked because it's not sexy. Most people want to go ahead and jump to investing when they don't have a proper amount allocated for savings. So, as Jess said, automating your savings makes it a lot easier. And shooting for that 20% now I'm not saying that, that's where you have to start off at it. So if you're not saving anything right now, don't shoot for 20%, because more than likely it's going to Frustrate you, because you're probably not gonna be able to do that. Start up 5%, 4%, 8%, whatever it may be, go ahead and start. I've sat down one too many people where they're like you know, I want to save $500 a month. I'm like okay, well, looking at your budget, I don't think that's quite it. Well, they're like well, I'm not gonna save anything. It's like a safe 500. I'm like can you save 300, 200, 100?

Yeah, it should not be a oh. I can't invest a thousand dollars a month, so I'm not gonna invest 100. We all know that in investing and building your wealth, Time is the most important factor. So starting small and putting something away right $20 a month is better than $0 a month. $10 a month is better than $0 a month. Just because you can't do 500 doesn't mean you should be doing nothing.

Yeah, and it emphasis to on where you're putting these savings. So you know, if you're specifically looking from a savings standpoint of emergency fund, it needs to be in a high yield savings account. Most high yield savings accounts are getting anywhere, getting around probably like 4.3% right now, in comparison to your traditional savings accounts at brick and mortar banks are getting like point zero one, point zero two.

If you use our link to wealth front on our social media and we can link it in the show notes as well, we are currently getting five point five percent and if you use our link, it's not an affiliate link, it's just a referral link, so we don't get paid off of this or anything. We actually have our emergency fund in in a wealth front account. Right now we're getting five point five percent. If you use our link, you'll get five point five percent as well for an additional three months and then if you use your link to share with your family and friends, that additional point five percent is going to Extend for another three months every time somebody uses that link. So why would you not have your money working for you and making money by opening up a quick account, versus it just sitting at your regular bank where you're literally earning like zero interest? It's not doing anything for you there.

And that's kind of leads in the number four because we were saying starting an emergency fund. So there's an emphasis because it's a two-part process, it's an emphasis on saving, setting up a method to save and then actively saving towards the emergency fund. And where you're going to put it. So with the emergency fund, you're looking at anywhere on average, from six to twelve months worth of expenses, worth of expenses, not of salary, of expenses, all right, and that can vary depending on. You know, are you single, are you, you know, a couple and you have a family? What industry do you work in? And by that I mean what is the likelihood of you being laid off? And if you are laid off, what is the likelihood of you, you know, finding work again. So you know, for example, like if you work in the IT field, getting laid off might not be as high. And also, if you did, you might be able to find a job much quicker. But if you're self-employed you might want to lead more towards the 12 months because you know if you're not your business not working, it could be some time.

Also, six to twelve months feels very daunting. That's a lot of time, probably a lot of money. So, if you don't have an emergency fund right now, start with one month. Start with a week, right? What do you spend a week on groceries? What is it going to cost you to keep your heat on in the winter? Right, like, start small instead of looking at a huge number and Saying, oh my gosh, I have to save $60,000. How am I ever going to do that? Well, start with $100 at a time. Start with $75 at a time. Start by prioritizing, putting money away, paying yourself first, right in savings and put that money into a high-yield savings account, because Emergencies are going to happen. We, in the last couple of months, have spent over $3,500 on Brandon's car. We're literally trying to drive it until the wheels fall off and we it was unexpected right, we needed a new catalytic converter, we needed new brakes, we needed spark plugs, we needed all these things that we were not expecting, and we needed to take that money out of our emergency fund to cover the cost. It's not just money that we had laying around in, you know, our checking accounts. So Having a backup plan, right, I mean. Things happen all the time cars, home repairs Something happens with your pet. They ate a crazy something that they weren't supposed to. I mean it happens. So have that emergency fund and pay yourself first and put it into a high-yield savings. All right, we're gonna keep this episode under 40 minutes, because that's what we promised for 2024, or what's the last thing?

last one is boost your retirement savings. Well, that's a 401k plane for three B self-employed, maybe a sep IRA or just, you know, traditional IRA. Try to increase the amount that you are contributing to those accounts. So for my individuals out there that have 401k plans, their employer bare minimum you should be hopefully doing the employer match reason beans that that's free money. So, for example, if your employer has a match of you know, save 5% at 100%. That means at the first 5% of your income that you're contributing, they're gonna match that dollar for dollar.

That's a lot of money and it's free.

It's free money.

Well, I I'm gonna battle you on that. It's not free money, it's part of your total compensation. Your employer is planning on you using those benefits, so they are accounting for that as part of your salary. Now, whether you want to look at it like that or not, or you want to call it free money, you'd be silly not to get your employee match. So to Brandon's earlier point get your match, bare minimum. Get your match. If it's 3%, put in 3%. If it's 5%, put in 5%, it makes a difference. I have over $50,000 in my 401k and I just do my company match and I've been there for right over two years. I mean that's a lot of money in two years.

Yeah, and the big thing is, is that also just also with the increasing your retirement savings, just understanding how your plan works and how you can maximize it?

That's something else Brandon can help you with, if you don't know.

Yeah. So it's whether or not like the breakdown of what is the pros to contributing traditional, you know, with pre-tax money. What are the pros contributing Roth money? What is the difference between Roth and after tax money? Because there is a difference between the two, they are not the same. So, really understanding how your plan works and being able to formulate a plan that is specific to your situation, what you're trying to achieve to take full advantage of your retirement plan through your employer.

Yeah, and just one quick call out, by getting your company match with your employer. Most people just sign up for their match and they don't do anything else. But there are ways to maximize your 401K plan and account so that you are getting the most out of it. So, again, you know, there's like a generic yep, this is what I wanna contribute button and then most people turn around and walk away. But there are ways to make sure that you are maximizing your contributions to your 401K. Again, that is something Brandon can help you with.

And that's it All.

Right, that was the top five, I feel like we said a lot, so we're gonna recap. We are starting a YouTube channel. Stay tuned. It's gonna be super exciting. You're gonna get to see our faces and our guests faces and their interactions and our dialogue and our conversations and our laughter and our joy and all of the goodness that comes with seeing people. So stay tuned then definitely subscribe. Get excited about it. We've got a lot of awesome guests. We're gonna be releasing three episodes a month instead of two, so you get more of us, and we're going to shoot for shorter episodes. So more targeted, very specific financial episodes. Please share them with your friends, with your family. Make sure that you rate, review, subscribe all the things it really helps us get found on Apple and on Spotify. That's really, really important. It's free. It'll take you less than 30 seconds to do so. Please give a rating and leave a written review and are your top five new year's finance resolutions. Consolidate your debt, create a practical budget, prioritize saving money, start an emergency fund and put that fund into a high yield savings account and boost your retirement savings. We will see you soon. Thank you for being with us. Share this episode with a friend. Happy New Year, Don't forget. Benjamin Franklin said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest. You just got paid Until next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode. We are so glad to have you as part of our Sugar Daddy community. If you learned something today, please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share this episode with your friends, family and extended network. Don't forget to connect with us on social media at the Sugar Daddy podcast. You can also email us your questions you want us to answer for our past the sugar segments at the Sugar Daddy podcast at gmailcom, or leave us a voicemail through our Instagram.

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