Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. This is not your father's boring personal finance show.

We want to motivate all of you to get started creating online businesses. The idea is that with part-time, but a focused effort, in one year you can build an online business that earns $1,000 or more per month. Economic Changes It’s not undocumented workers coming for American jobs, it’s automation. Driverless cars are coming which means the 3.5 million truckers in the US will be out of a job. We might not all like using the self-checkout when we go shopping, but soon they will replace the 3.4 million cashiers in the US. Telemarketers retail sales, accountants, typists, and real estate agents are also jobs that will be among the first to be lost to automation. It’s been predicted that by 2025, 30% of jobs will be automated. That sounds like a long way off, but it’s only eight years. Another four years later, 2029, it’s predicted that robots will have achieved human levels of intelligence. Jobs are being automated, and because of that, it’s been predicted that by 2020, 40% of the US Workforce will be freelancers. Do you want to be late to the party or arrive early and get the best seat? Security, Freedom, and Fulfillment To drift is hell, to steer, heaven. There is no worse feeling than the feeling that you don’t have control over your life. No one who works for someone else is immune from a job loss. It could be due to anything, a shady owner, an incompetent owner, the place burns down, the economy crashes again like it did in 2008 and you’re laid off. None of those things is your fault, but none of them are within your control either. One of our most popular episodes was Money for the Love of Freedom. It touched a nerve because freedom is the most powerful thing money can buy you. When you have money, you have the freedom to leave a job that you hate, to move if you’re tired of where you live, to leave a relationship you’re no longer happy in. Be fulfilled. There will be nothing more fulfilling in your life than creating something that other people can enjoy and appreciate. We want all of you to have security, freedom, and fulfillment and the best way to get those things is to be your own boss and create passive income. Online Businesses Okay, we want you to start your own business. By why are we advocating for online businesses? Because a brick and mortar business only goes so far. You have to physically be present, and there is a logical maximum you can earn based simply on space restrictions. Restaurants can only turnover so quickly; clothing stores can only fit so many people inside at a time. The internet is infinitely scalable. It has almost limitless reach. There are people from every corner of the world who hear what Listen Money Matters has to say. An online business also gives you the freedom we all want. You aren’t tied to a location.

When it comes to getting a raise, most of us could do better. Today we talk fearless salary negotiation tips with Josh Doody. Many people are afraid to negotiate be it for a raise or a salary offer for a new job. Josh’s approach is to follow a process that will allow him to accomplish the thing he is afraid of. If you can break something down into steps and just follow the steps, suddenly you’ve done it. Justify It Not many of us are so good at our jobs that we can walk into the boss’s office with a list of demands, throw them down on the desk, and expect them to be met without another word. You need to understand what you’re asking for and be able to justify why you deserve it. Show the monetary value of the things you have done that had not been anticipated when your current salary was determined. Some people think being in a job for a long time is reason enough for a salary increase. But if you’re still doing exactly what you did when you were hired and not much more, why should you get more money? List the things you’re doing now and the value of those things that weren’t anticipated at the outset of your employment. Also, do your research. Be able to show the monetary value of what you do within your industry, in the region of the country you live in and within your company. You don’t ask for a random number. You have a specific number in mind, and you can back it up. A Collaboration, Not a Confrontation The thing that many people forget about when they’re negotiating is that it’s not a win/lose scenario. In a negotiation, both parties should walk away at least satisfied it not downright happy. Sure, you can follow the “when you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds (and wallets) will follow” school and perhaps get what you want. If you are very hard to replace, you may walk out the door with what you asked for. But remember, both sides should be satisfied. Your boss is likely to feel more like they’ve been extorted rather than negotiated with and you still have to work together; they are still your boss. And even if you have some leverage over your boss, they can still make your life pretty miserable. Awkward! No matter how non-confrontational you are, asking for a raise feels like a confrontation. You’ve got someone cornered, you ask for something they have not offered you, they feel pressure to give you a response (they might not, but it feels that way in your own head). And most of us prefer to avoid confrontation. You have to change your thinking. A business is in the business of making money, as much as they can. But they would not be making as much money as they are if not for your hard work and efforts. (At least that should be the case, remember, you have to justify what you’re about to ask for). You have every right to ask that some of the money you bring to that business is distributed to you. Give a Head’s Up You don’t have to corner your boss when he or she is on their way out the door on Friday afternoon. That does make it feel confrontational for both of you. You should give them some notice that you would like to discuss your salary during your next briefing. This gives them time to find out how much you’re currently making. Depending on that number, there are three likely outcomes. Yes, you can have a raise. Great, this is obviously the dream scenario and requires no more action on your part. We agree you deserve a raise but we can’t right now. Okay, not the exact answer we were hoping for but better than a no and something we can work with. Ask what you need to do to get this money and what the timeline for it to be available is. You want to pin them down on this.

How resourceful are you? When we harness the science of resourcefulness, we can achieve great things in our personal, professional, and financial lives. Author Scott Sonenshein joins us to discuss his new book on resourcefulness. Scott Sonenshein is the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management at Rice University. His new book Strech: Unlock the Power of Less-and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined gives us a new way to succeed in business and our lives by using the science of resourcefulness. Chasing or Stretching How do we define success? For many people success means more; more money, more stuff, more employees. But that definition is wrong. There are two approaches to resources; chasing and stretching. When we chase, we tire ourselves out going after more, more, more. If we stretch, we use the resources we already have available. Once we stop chasing and start stretching, we are better able to solve problems and innovate which means we are more fully engaged in our endeavors. Necessity is the Mother of Invention Remember when you were a kid and you could spend a whole afternoon playing with things that were not store bought toys? Building forts out of boxes or making drums out of oatmeal containers and turned over pots? When we were kids and used things we already had, our play was more creative and imaginative. The same is valid for adults. When we stretch the resources we currently have; time, money, relationships, we are more creative, more prosperous, and more fulfilled. Mo Money Mo Problems Sometimes it can seem like the more you have of some things, money, time, stuff, the more problems you have. When you have too much money (a hard concept for most of us), you might have relatives who think they can use you like an ATM. When you have too much time, you might overeat or drink out of boredom. If you have too much stuff, your home might start to look like an episode of Hoarders. We thought those things would make us happy but often, they make us unhappy because of all the problems they cause that we didn’t foresee. The Personal in Personal Finance Sometimes we forget the personal in personal finance. Your goals should be personal; they should be helping you to work toward what you want. That means you don’t copy or compare yourself to others. Your neighbor bought a new car, so you did too. But did you want a new car? When we keep chasing things just to keep up with those around us, we feel unsatisfied even when we manage to acquire them because they weren’t the things we wanted. If your ultimate goal is financial independence, how is buying a brand new car going to help you achieve that? It’s natural to compare ourselves against those around us; it can be a way to measure how well we’re doing. But a comparison to others shouldn’t be our only measuring stick. Mindless accumulation is not a goal. Getting more resources is not a goal. Resources should be a means to an end, not the end themselves. Artificial Constraints If you need to leave for work at 8:00 and you wake up at 6:30, it takes you an hour and a half to get out of the house. But what happens when you wake up late, at 7:15 instead of 6:30? Are you 45 minutes late for work or do you somehow still manage to make it out the door by 8:00? More often than not, we somehow figure out a way to manage with what is available to us at the moment. This kind of constraint breeds creativity. A good exercise that demonstrates this is to take a look at your budget for the next month. Vow to cut 10% of your spending for that month. That might mean bringing your lunch to work rather than buy...

On This Financial Life episode, the guys chat with Brian, a long time fan of the show. They talk about his finances, mortgage, and debt over a cold one. Here’s the scoop. He and his wife are new first-time home buyers and live in the Philly area. They didn’t have the best living situation, so it pushed them to aggressively to save for a home and drastically cut spending. They didn’t have the easiest time of finding a home. The first house they put a bid on majorly failed the inspection and they were looking at 10-20k worth of repairs. No bueno. They finally ended up finding a place they loved, but the price was a lot higher. After doing the math, they decided they could afford the house and used an FHA loan to pay for it. This only required them to put 3.5% down. Unfortunately, putting under 20% down on a home comes with private mortgage insurance or PMI. For Brian, this increased the cost of his home by 14% per month. He and his wife are looking at putting in 62K more towards principle before they reach the 20% they need to get rid of the PMI. Mortgage aside, they are scheduled to have all their other debts paid off by 2019, and recently celebrated their biggest financial milestone by completely paying off their largest and highest APR credit card bill. They make a decent combined 100k+ of yearly income and also find ways other ways to bring in extra cash on the side. His wife does some babysitting and Brian does some freelance writing for a pharmacy magazines. In a nutshell, this is what their monthly finances looks like right now. Income: $7,000 Student loans: $600 Mortgage, PMI, taxes: $2,200 Other credit and car loans: $1,000 This leaves them with about $3,000 left over at the end of the month. So what should they do with this extra cash? Thomas and Andrew suggest taking the extra cash and paying off that credit card debt. Paying the minimum is costing them about $300 per month in interest. If they focused on it, they can crush that debt pretty quickly. Once they pay off the credit card, in 2-3 months, the can start paying more towards their mortgage. The PMI costs them $250 per month, so that is the next biggest debt focus on. Brian should talk to his bank about making extra payments and see if he can direct them towards paying down the principle and refinance. *Episode Correction* With an FHA loan, the PMI never goes away. In January 2013, the FHA changed its MIP guidelines to be for the life of the loan. Any current FHA loan with the minimum down payment (3.5%) will have MIP for the life of the loan even after you hit 20% equity. Unless he refinances, he’s paying that insurance indefinitely, if I’ve understood it correctly. FHA loans generally suck pretty bad unless you’re in some kind of unique situation, but most of the time, like in this case, they’re for people who are eager to get in a house sooner and either don’t have enough of a downpayment or have poor credit.   Show Notes: Andrews Beer: Mac Fanny Baw Bourbon Barrel Aged Smoked Ale from Against the Grain Brewery.  

Finding the perfect job is a daunting task. You send out tons of resumes, create custom cover letters, go on interviews, anxiously wait for a call and then end up not getting an offer. Rinse and repeat. It can be incredibly frustrating when you send out application after application and don’t hear back anyone. If you have been searching for a new job for some time, it might be time to step up your game. Today the guys talk to Mark Fiebert (Andrews dad) and pick his brain on how to land a job. After years of experience being on both ends of the hiring process, Mark has some great incites on how to get your foot in the door, nailing your interview and making connections. The Resume Thousands of resumes stack up on the desks of hiring managers, and the cold hard truth is, most of them end up in the trash. So, how can your resume stand out enough to end up in the short stack?  There isn’t one magic resume format that is going to wow an employer. It’s about the content of your resume and how you tailor it for each job you’re applying for. It’s a good idea to keep a few different versions of your resume highlighting different skills in each. Get rid of your six-page resume. No one is reading it. Highlight the most important stuff specific to the role you are applying for. If the employer is interested in learning more about a specific position or project you worked on they will ask you. Cover letters are still important, and they should also be specific to the job or company you are applying for. They only have to be a paragraph or two about who you are and why are a great candidate for the role. Have some hook that makes you stand out. Some job-seekers think the best way to find a new job is to blast out as many resumes to as many employers as humanly possible. This is the biggest waste of time. If you want to land that perfect position you need to spend time on tailoring your cover letter and resume. Give them what they are looking for. Dealing With Interview Nerves “Tell me about yourself.” Just reading those words can make anyone uncomfortable. Everyone gets those pre-interview jitters. It’s ten times worse than first date nerves. There are things you can do to make sure you’re not a nervous, sweaty mess when you walk into the room. The biggest mistake people make is not properly preparing. Preparing with help build confidence, and a confident interviewee makes for a good interview. Practice makes perfect. Conduct mock interviews with your friends or family. Ask them to be super tough and surprise you with challenging questions. Answering questions aloud will make you so much more confident during the real interview. Have your 30-second elevator pitch prepared. You may need it for the interview but you should just have one anyway, you never know who you might meet. Also, prepare practical examples that highlight your problem solving and analytical skills. Read up on company and people you are interviewing with. This may sound obvious, but many people don’t do it. Have questions to ask the interviewer like – What do you see me accomplish in a year? or Why is this position open? or What challenges will I face in this position? The First Interview It’s very rare these days to get your foot in the door without having a phone screening. Consider your telephone screening your first interview. If you don’t get past that, you blow your chances of getting the real intervie...

Holiday spending hangovers make January a debt month for some of us so we are bringing you five questions on how to deal with debt. Question One Hey Andrew, I just started listening to the podcast recently and I’m enjoying the wide range of topics. You guys may have covered this and I haven’t gotten to that episode yet. If not, my biggest issue is prioritizing my debt payment. I think it’s more of my mindset that I need to adjust rather than a strategy. I know what I need to pay down first, I am just hesitant to spend my extra money towards that debt. It feels better and more secure to hold. You do need a plan to repay debt. Just throwing money at various debts randomly won’t pay it down as quickly as using a proven method of debt repayment and therefore will cost you more money in interest. There are two popular methods of debt repayment strategies; snowballing and stacking. We devoted a whole episode to this topic, you can find here. To sum up the two methods: Snowballing means listing all of your debts in order of smallest to highest dollar amount and then using any extra money to pay off the smallest balance while only paying the minimums on the others. If you have a $5,000 student loan at 4% interest, a credit card balance of $6,000 with 17% interest, and a $10,000 car loan with 9% interest, you pay off the student loan first, followed by the credit card and finally the car. Once the smallest debt is paid, you move to the next smallest using the same strategy and include the amount you were paying on the first debt into your monthly payment on the next. You continue to do this until all of the debts are paid, the largest being the last one to go. To use the stacking method, you list your debts in order of highest to lowest interest rate, regardless of the dollar amount of the debt. You throw as much money as you can at the debt with the highest rate of interest. If you have the same debts we listed above, they would be ordered this way; the $6,000 credit card, the $10,000 car loan, and finally the $5,000 student loan. Once each debt is paid, you move down to the next highest interest rate one, again, using the money you were paying towards the last debt, and do the same. So on and so on until all the debts are paid. I understand how sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing even when we know it’s the right thing. Interest we’re paying on our debt doesn’t feel as real to us as looking at our checking account balance and seeing a healthy dollar amount so it can be hard to let that money go to something that feels kind of abstract. So here are some real numbers that might convince you. If you paid off that $6,000 credit card bill at $100 a month, it would take 135 months, ELEVEN YEARS, to pay it off and you would pay, $7,486 in interest alone. That’s more than you initially charged to the card. Now, if you buckled down and paid $500 a month, it would take you just fourteen months and you would “only” pay $623 in interest. If that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will! Question Two Hey Andrew, I thought it might be interesting to get some advice/hear your thoughts on financial planning for young, high net income earners in up-or-out industries. Personally, I’m a corporate associate at a large law firm – the kind where people stay for a few years and lateral out to smaller firms or go all in and try to make partner. The starting salary for first-years now is $180,000 with roughly a 5.5% salary increase per year of seniority. We also have sizeable market bonuses, though not as great as our friends in the banking/finance industry. Additionally, our firm partners with a bank to refinance student loans at a measly interest rate of 1.95% (!),

If you currently have debt there are ways to make it less expensive. Today we will discuss why you should refinance your debt. Refinance: The Simple Definition Just to make sure we’re all on the same page from the start, let’s define what it means to refinance a loan. Refinancing is replacing a previous loan with a new loan – ideally one with a lower interest rate and better terms. (Otherwise, why would you bother to refinance a loan at all?) When you refinance, your previous loan is paid off, a 2nd (better-for-you) loan is created, and you’ll enjoy refinancing benefits like a reduced monthly payment, lower interest rate or a shorter or longer loan duration. Why Should I Refinance a Loan? You should refinance a loan because it will save you money. Nothing more complicated than that. In most cases, refinancing won’t make you money, but it will save you money. If you have a high-interest rate debt, credit card debt, for instance, you can take out a loan with a lower interest rate, from a company like Lending Club, to pay it off. When you refinance, you still owe money to someone, but now at a lower rate of interest. You’re losing less money and paying off the debt faster when you refinance for a better rate. Look carefully at the refinancing terms of the new lender. While their interest rate may be lower than what you’re currently paying, there may be fees involved that would eat up those savings. We can’t stress this enough – pay close attention to any fees related to a refinance. Any gains you make in improved refinancing rates can easily be canceled out if you’re side-swiped by fees. Inflation: What To Consider When You Refinance Inflation is simply a general increase in prices and a fall in the purchasing power of money. Your dollar that is worth $1 today will not be worth $1 a year from now. It will be worthless. What you needed $100 to buy this year you will need $102 to buy next year with an inflation rate of 2%. That sounds bad, but inflation is not always a bad thing. Any debt you have also decreased in value as inflation grows. So your money decreases in value but so does your debt. Inflation makes your debt cheaper. Automatic cost of living raises are largely a thing of the past. They were raises that matched the rate of inflation. If inflation was 2%, you got a 2% rise in order to preserve the buying power of your salary. You might get more than that, but you could count on at least a cost of living to raise each year. The average raise for 2016 was projected to be 3.1% so just above inflation. If you aren’t getting at least a 2% raise, you are losing money. Before the 2008 crash, inflation was pretty reliably about 3%. Since 2008 it’s been about 2%. The Central Bank’s goal is to keep inflation at about 2%. Having some low-level inflation means the economy is less likely to experience deflation when economic conditions weaken. It’s meant to be a safety valve when things go south. So again, inflation is not always a bad thing. The Cost of Money When you take out a loan for a home, a car, or college, the lender gives you an interest rate. That interest rate is the cost to get that money. If you borrow $100 for a year at 4% interest, that $100 cost you $4. With that $100, you made $108 through an investment. The bank gets $4, and you get $4. If you charged $100 for a television on a credit card at 20% interest, that money cost you $20. You didn’t make any money, that money only cost you money. And this is a key concept to grasp when thinking about...

Most Americans have debt, and it haunts them people for years. That’s because 29% of people only make the monthly minimum payment on debt with super high-interest rates. Just like tackling any other goal, you need the plan to pay off your debt fast. Today the guy is giving you the easiest debt reduction plan, so there are no more excuses. It does require a little work on your part, but once you get the wheels turning you will have yourself an automated debt reduction system. If you want to go a little deeper, check out our free book, The 10 Day Debt Reduction Plan. Get Your Debt Bill Lowered If you are making minimum payments monthly on your high-interest debts it probably seems like your not even putting a dent in total balance. Companies like National Debt Relief can significantly reduce your existing burden your debts. They specialize in reducing the balances on credit card debts, medical bills, and other unsecured debts. They may be able to reduce some of your debt and help you consolidate if necessary. If you don’t even know where to start it can’t hurt to talk to someone for free to see what kind of debt reduction solution you need for your situation. Face the Music Take an inventory of your debt. Make a list of all your credit cards/loans, the amount you owe and the interest rate. You should have done this after as part of your action plan from the first episode of the month. Pro Tip: Create a free account on either CreditKarma or Credit.com will tell you all your debts for you. You can also grab it from your Mint.com account. Now that you have a list of your debts sort your list by your highest rate debts on top with your lowest at the bottom. Resolve to escape debt using math and tenacity, not emotion. Paying off the highest interest rate debts first is called the Stacking Method. Compared to the Snowball Method where you pay off the lowest balance first, staking will save you more money in the end. You can try a debt calculator like Undebt.it. Stay motivated by tracking your progress. Now that we have a debt list there are two things you need to do. First, determine after all expenses how much you save every month. If that number is less than 15% than try to do what you can to get it there. For Example, if you make $3,000/month you should be left with $450. Rules for a Refinance Determine what debt needs to be moved to a lower interest rate through a refinance or consolidation. Go to some loan consolidation companies like Lending Club or refinance companies like Earnest and see what rates you can get. Later in this month, we’ll be providing a ton of details on which company you should go to for what debt based on your situation. There are a ton of companies! These lower interest rates do come with a price tag. Be aware of loan origination fees and do your math to make sure the fee is worth the savings. For Credit Cards, you will consolidate everything; it’s highly unlikely your credit card is giving you the best deal on your debt. Consolidation companies will take all of you debts on all your cards and combine it into one debt and give you a better inte...

We use credit cards to buy everything these days- groceries, drinks with co-workers, cat beds, gum, sweater vests and all the other things that make us happy. Then the end of the month rolls around. Your bill comes, and you come to the dreaded realization that you blew your budget once again and your credit card bill is more than you can handle. It’s happened to the best of us, but it doesn’t have to happen to you anymore. Introducing Debitize, a new way to pay off credit cards on time and responsibly. Today the guys talk to Liran Amrany, the CEO Debitize about how it works and the story behind it’s creation.   You can listen to the episode here: What is Debitize? Liran founded Debitize to help simplify, optimize, and automate personal finances, especially around credit card spending where he witnessed a significant need. Two-thirds of Millennials avoid using credit cards mostly because they have seen debt negatively affect friends and family. However, building credit is important, and Liran wanted to create a tool to help people use credit responsibly. Before founding the company, he was an Executive Director at JPMorgan, where he spent nine years as a derivatives marketer, focusing on structured credit, exotics, and cross-asset hybrids. After working on the institutional side of finance, he wanted to build something to make a real impact in the financial world and help people avoid credit card debt and better manage their money. How does it work? In a nutshell, Debitize automatically debits your checking account every day to cover your credit card purchases. The funds are temporarily held in your Debitize Reserve Account, and then they automatically pay your balance for you every week. Yes, finally someone who will pay your bills on time for you and in full. Using Debitize is very simple. First, you’ll need to activate your account and link your checking and credit card accounts on the Debitize site. You will do this by logging in with your bank credentials like you would with Mint. Once you’re all set up, you will only use your credit card to make purchases, not your debit card. With Debitize, you get the best of both worlds. You can use your credit card as a debit card while still earning rewards and points credit card companies off. It will help you avoid spending money you don’t have and will keep your finances on track. Debitize will send you a weekly spending summary and confirmations of scheduled payments to keep you in the loop. They will notify you when you have a low balance or if there was a large transaction on one of your cards. Although they encourage you to pay your bills in full to avoid paying interest, if you are making a large purchase that you would like to pay off over time, Debitize will give you the flexibility to do so. The Benefits Automated Withdrawals If you’re on the fence about using credit and fear getting into debt, Debitize is an excellent way to start building your credit. It acts as a safeguard against overspending. They make automatic withdrawals from your checking every day you make a purchase and set the funds aside to pay off your credit card bill. Don’t worry about Debitize overdrawing your account. You can set up a minimum balance in your checking, so they won’t overdraw your account to make payments. Even if you don’t set up a minimum, they still will not overdraw. Credit Optimizer This is our favorite feature.

For the month of January, Listen Money Matters is getting back to the basics with a month focused on the debt and the importance of credit. Over the course of the month, the guys will cover the fundamentals of credit, debt reduction plans and talk to an awesome guest about a tool he created to help keep you out of debt. What is affected by your credit? Well, everything really. Your credit score is a number that reflects your credit risk level. If you are looking to borrow money for any reason – to purchase a car, get a mortgage or to take out a student loan, your credit score will determine how much that loan will cost you. If you have a low credit score, you will have a harder time getting a loan, and when you do qualify for a loan, the interest rates will be very high. Compared to people with good credit scores, your monthly payments will be more per month to pay off a loan of the same value. Bottomline, having bad credit will cost you. Having good credit history is not just about being able to buy things. Sometimes your credit history is considered by potential employers. According to the New York Times, 47% of employers check your credit score. Landlords absolutely look at your credit score, and it plays a big part in approving you to rent a home. The cost of insurance rates can be higher if the insurer pulls your credit data to calculate your insurance risk score. Even some utility providers may be required to provide a down payment for service for people with bad credit history. What does good credit get you? A cheaper life. The better your credit history, the cheaper it is to borrow money. When you have large loans like a mortgage or student debt that you will be paying off for years, those interest rate savings could add up to thousands of dollars in the long run. Let’s say your mortgage rate is 4.5%. An increase of only 1% will increase your living costs by 12% per month. On the other hand, a decrease of 1% will decrease your living costs by 12.8% per month. Having an excellent credit score will give you access to better credit cards with awesome rewards and no fees. Sometimes you can even get perks with your bank by upgrading to better accounts without ATM fees or minimum balances. Most importantly, using credit cards protects your cash. If your debit card gets lost, stolen or there is fraud, you can kiss your money goodbye in most cases. When your credit card gets stolen, the credit card companies money is gone, not yours. If you report it immediately, the bank will nine times out of 10 resolves it in your favor pretty quickly. When it comes to protecting your money, it is definitely using credit cards compared with cash, checks or money orders are numerous. Action List * Sign up for CreditKarm.com, Credit.com or both. Find out your credit score and see why your score is what it is. * Get a list of all of your credit card accounts on file and request that each one increase your limit. Call them, do it automatically online, get it done. Don’t be greedy; small incremental increases make a difference. *  Take inventory of all of your debt, their amount and their interest rates. This month we’re creating you a debt reduction plan. * Listen to next week’s episode where a simple, free automation will increase your credit score by over 5%. There can be a lot of emotion around credit and debt but having credit is important. These days, everything in life is tied to it and if used correctly life will be cheaper and easy for you if you have good credit. Understanding the how the credit process works will help you manage it and make it work for you.

No one ever said being an entrepreneur was easy, but what a many people don’t know are the psychological struggles like depression and anxiety that also come with it. Every day, even sometimes every hour, there are ups and downs causing a constant battle of emotions in their mind. Entrepreneurs tend to struggle silently not to show their vulnerability. Not until lately have entrepreneurs come forward to talk about these struggles, including today’s guest, Sheryl O’Loughlin. She is the former CEO of Clif Bar, CEO of Plum Organics and she is currently CEO of REBBL super herb beverages. The guys talk to her about her new book Killing It: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart. Entrepreneurs juggle so many roles when building their business. Sheryl knows firsthand how difficult it can be to balance business, family and mental health without one or more pieces falling by the wayside. When she began to struggle with an eating disorder she realized something needed to change. In Killing It, she shares her experiences being an entrepreneur running two fast-growing companies. When in start-up mode, some business owners severely neglect their health which makes them much less resilient. Not eating properly, not getting enough sleep and not exercising will just make the daily stressor harder to deal with. Sheryl wants to mentor and inspire others to invest in their wellbeing. She says without that “Your business will not succeed, nor will you”. Growing a new business can become an obsession for entrepreneurs. Although maintaining meaningful, supportive relationships are crucial, family and friends who are trying to support them ofter times get pushed away. This comes at a huge cost. Many relationships end in a divorce, friendships break down and all that’s left is a feeling of isolation and abandonment. Entrepreneurship can be one of the most rewarding career paths but it isn’t an easy road. In Killing It, Sheryl shares her journey and provides her readers with guiding principles for anyone looking to balance their career, family, and life.

Yep, it’s time of the year again for New Years Resolutions to kick-in and for many of us, that means getting your finances in order. Are you financially ready for the new year? As we slowly approach the new year, it’s a great time to financially prepared for what’s to come. Whether you want to save for a home, get a new job or start a side hustle, you need to financially prepare you and your family. Today the guys review their last year in business and finance and talk about how they are going to prepare for next year. A Financial Yearly Review Even though 2016 has come and gone, it is still important to reflection and review of the past year. Start by giving yourself a high five and think about all the things you did accomplish. What areas did you improve and what goals did you achieve? Now that you reached those goals, are there any things you need to do in the next year to maintain those goals? Next is the not so fun part. Look at what got pushed to the wayside bur don’t beat yourself up for going off track. Move into the new year with a renewed commitment. If your stay focused on what you want you will make progress going forward. Set Goals For Next Year It’s always a good time to write your goals down on paper. Once you know where you’re going, you can map out how you are going to get there. This holds true for any area of your life. Every year Andrew and I write down our resolutions on a post it and keep it in our wallets all year. It’s a good reminder of what you want to achieve and make sure you are on track. What do you want to happen in the coming year? Think about what do you want to happen in the coming year. Is there anything big you need to save for – a move, a baby, a home, a car? Is there anything missing in your financial plans such as retirement savings or life insurance? Setting financial goals for your future self (and family) will help lower stress and set your finances back on track. Planning it Out Although the new year is a perfect time to set financial goals, the challenge is sticking to them as the year goes on. It’s easy to write stuff down on a piece of paper but you need to plan out how you will you reach these goals. Carve out time for yourself and or partner to review your goals and financial progress regularly. Monthly check in’s will help you manage your budget and goals.

This week the guys tackle five questions from the audience on debt, real estate investing and freelancing. Question one: Hi, Andrew, Tom, and Laura, I think an important, and sorely needed topic is finance for freelancers. And not even those who use invoicing systems. I’ve been freelancing for more years than I care to admit, and there are so many like me who copyedit, proofread or design book jackets. We’re one-person shows, with little-to-no cushion, where times are feast or famine. I would love to talk about this more or hear you guys talk about it in more depth. Putting together a financial system when you have variable income is uses the same fundamentals as someone who is a salaried employee. However, you’ll have to build a bigger cushion if your income isn’t consistent. You need to keep more in a reserve account than someone who has steady pay. Keep track of your income month to month and use that data to plan for the upcoming year. If you have a pool business and make most of your money from April to September, budget accordingly. Make sure you aren’t overspending that income has to last you. Six months worth of expenses should be a big enough war chest to get you through a hard time if need be. If you are a freelancer and haven’t earned in 6 months, maybe it’s time to look into another career or pivot your business. Question Two: Hey guys, Is it possible to rollover my Roth IRA to a traditional? Would I get a tax refund for the income tax that I would have saved had I been using a traditional IRA all along? Are there any limitations or conditions to performing this rollover? I have only had a Roth IRA for two years. There are some advantages of rolling over your Roth into a Traditional. If you’re broke and need cash or you are retiring soon and aren’t planning on earning in the future could be a reason to make this play. When you move money from a Roth retirement account to a traditional IRA, you can get back the taxes you paid on that contribution, but there are rules and deadlines. Be aware of the calendar deadlines that the IRS imposes. Question Three: Hey guys, I am trying to refinance my credit card debt. I asked Lending Club for a $3,000 loan, and they are only giving me the option to take out a $6,025 loan. Do you know why this is? If this is my only option, I plan on taking it out and then giving back $3,025 right away since I only need 3k. What would you guys do? Is that even possible for me to give back $3,025 right away? Lending Club is a peer to peer lending service. That means, instead of going to a bank for a loan, you can get a loan from a group of random people. On the flip side of things, you can also contribute to funding a loan for other people allowing you to get in on the bank’s profit engine. Lending Club because they get better rates than they would with a bank loan and loans are issued much faster through the power of the crowd. The crowd will also approve loans that normally banks may not.Lending Club offers better rates than a bank would, and loans are issued much faster. Lending Club and Prosper charge a 5% origination fee. The origination fee you pay for your loan will depend on your loan rate. The safest borrowers with the best credit pay the lowest origination fees, while mostly everybody else pays a 5% fee. Lending Club because they get better rates than they would with a bank loan and loans are issued much faster through the power of the crowd. The crowd will also approve loans that normally banks may...

Budgeting sucks. No one really wants to do it. It’s hard to stick with, it’s a chore to review it every month and it makes you feel like crap when you spend way too much on lattes. But, you’re an adult so you need to do it. There are a few types of budgets, which one is right for you? We’re getting back to basics of budgeting. Both Thomas and Andrew have been off the rails with their own budgets so get ready for some confessions. They will discuss different types of budgets, how they work and which ones are the least painful. Reverse Budgeting This budgeting method focuses on savings goals. Instead of setting up budget categories to look at your spending, create savings goals and whatever is left you have to spend. Start allocating money at the top of your priority list and work your way down. Pay yourself first. Retirement, savings, and emergency fund are put aside first. Next are fixed expenses such as mortgage/rent, utilities, car payment, etc. Third are non-fixed expenses. Anything that can fluctuate from month to month, such as groceries and gas. After that comes debt payments. Anything that is left over can be used for fun stuff like eating out, travel, fancy coffee or whatever else you like to treat yourself with. Balanced Money Formula You may have heard the balanced money formula also called the 50-30-20 rule. It’s a budget framework outlined by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren in their book All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan. It is a very simple type of budgets. Fifty percent of your take-home pay goes towards fixed expenses and necessities like food, housing, utilities and ideally all this should be should be kept at 35%. Thirty percent of your take-home can be spent on wants like eating out, treating yourself to a new dress, electronics, etc. The last twenty percent goes right into retirement accounts, savings and emergency funds. The Envelope System Ah, the good old envelope system. This was a great way to keep your budget and savings goals in check before budget management tools were created, This method may seem is old-fashioned, but it’s great for those who are you are just starting out on their financial journey. Also for people who need to whip their financial ass back into shape. This is a cash budget method so you won’t need to check credit card balances to see how much you spend. Start by looking at what your monthly cash flow is and what you have been spending in different categories. Once you know those numbers, get our your envelopes allocated your expenses. Every dollar has a name and a job. $200 for groceries, $75 for gas, $150 phone, etc. By giving yourself a set amount of money in your envelope to use towards a specific category, it will help you control your spending. When there is no more money in the envelope, you can not spend any more in that category. If you absolutely need more money, cut from another category to cover the access. Budget Management Tools Personal Capital – This is the Mint.com for investors. They will track your investments, analyze your investments and suggest ways to improve things like your 401k allocation. I use this as a tool to monitor my diversification and risk levels. This is for more advanced investors. Mint – Create budgets that make sense today and set you up for success tomorrow. Receive alerts for unusual account charges, and get custom tips for reducing fees and saving money. We also wrote a book to help you get started called

Today on the show the guys talk with Shannon McLay, a financial planner, author, blogger, and podcaster. She left her traditional financial services job to start her own company, The Financial Gym in NYC – a fun, judgment-free space where you can talk freely about your finances, get the help you need and have a glass of wine while doing it. Shannon left her corporate job because she felt that the financial firms only provided the tools and resources to help those who had high net worth. She started doing a lot of pro bono work on the side for people who were earning a lower salary and soon realized that helping those people was much more fulfilling. That’s when she decided to start her own business doing just that. She understands that the road to financial fitness is different for everyone, so she offers multiple solutions to help people get and stay financially fit. Shannon is committed to making financial fitness fun, easy and accessible for others. She’s like the Jillian Michaels of personal finance. If you want to hear more from Shannon, check out her podcast, Martinis and Your Money, where she share’s a martini with friends and experts while discussing money and career topics. She has interviewed many influential people in the personal finance space. She also has a monthly group Happy Hour Ladies, where they chat about the financial challenges and some other fun topics.