Life Unmastered
Money Talks with Special Guest Christian Canzone
This week we have our very first guest on the podcast! Financial Planner and Investment Consultant, Christian Canzone.
Imagine embarking on a thrilling high school project that sends you spiraling into a passionate exploration of the complex world of finance. That's exactly what happened to my brother, Christian, leading him down a career path steeped in risky trades, financial planning, and tailored advice. In this intimate conversation, we delve deep into his journey, from an under-dressed teenager presenting trading strategies to a panel of judges, to a seasoned professional in financial planning.
And if you've ever wondered about the intricacies of trading and investing, or the delicate balance between saving and spending, then join us as Christian sits down with us to answer all our financial questions. By sharing his expertise and personal philosophy, Christian offers invaluable guidance for those ready to dip their toes into the intimidating ocean of investing.
Thanks for joining us for your weekly dose of confidently unqualified advice!
Let's keep the conversation going! Connect with us below!
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeunmasteredpodcast
Email: lifeunmasteredpodcast@gmail.com
Website: www.lifeunmasteredpodcast.com
This week we have our very first guest on the podcast! Financial Planner and Investment Consultant, Christian Canzone.
Imagine embarking on a thrilling high school project that sends you spiraling into a passionate exploration of the complex world of finance. That's exactly what happened to my brother, Christian, leading him down a career path steeped in risky trades, financial planning, and tailored advice. In this intimate conversation, we delve deep into his journey, from an under-dressed teenager presenting trading strategies to a panel of judges, to a seasoned professional in financial planning.
And if you've ever wondered about the intricacies of trading and investing, or the delicate balance between saving and spending, then join us as Christian sits down with us to answer all our financial questions. By sharing his expertise and personal philosophy, Christian offers invaluable guidance for those ready to dip their toes into the intimidating ocean of investing.
Thanks for joining us for your weekly dose of confidently unqualified advice!
Let's keep the conversation going! Connect with us below!
Instagram: www.instagram.com/lifeunmasteredpodcast
Email: lifeunmasteredpodcast@gmail.com
Website: www.lifeunmasteredpodcast.com
Hello everybody and welcome back to Life Unmastered. I am so excited today.
Speaker 3:Because I'm here.
Speaker 1:Yes, because you're here.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm always excited that you're here, though, but even more so we have our very first ever guest on the podcast, my brother Christian hey bud.
Speaker 3:Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of last minute. We Christian planned a trip out here to visit us and I was like I've got a good idea. Why don't you be on the podcast? And were you excited?
Speaker 3:I was very excited. I got the text and I immediately was ooh, that's not a good idea, and then I texted her back let's do it.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm glad you said yes. So just a little bit of a backstory. Christian went from being the okayest uncle in the family because he was the last of my brothers to meet Carter after she was born. So we actually got him a shirt saying world's okayest uncle. But now you've moved up a few spots, since you are the first of the brothers to come visit us in Colorado, not once, but twice.
Speaker 3:I have been here twice.
Speaker 1:Although the first visit doesn't quite count, because it was 12 hours. It was if even.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I think you fed me dinner and you fed me breakfast, and then I left.
Speaker 2:Yes, you're welcome, and that's still more than everyone else.
Speaker 1:It's true. So, anyway, we're so glad that you're here with us and that you're agreed to do the podcast, so why don't you? Well, first of all, this week's episode is going to be about finances, financial planning. We're not going to be giving any specifics. What we're doing here today is 100% not financial advice. We're just kind of sharing and kind of digging into your head a little bit. But, for anybody listening, if you want true financial advice specifically tailored to you, you got to go find a professional. I mean, you are professional. Yes, go find your own professional. So, anyway, why don't you explain to us, christian, what it is that you do?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I work at a wealth management firm in Southern California and the majority of what I do is financial planning on a strategic side. So I work with mainly couples and families to help set them up for retirement. Generally speaking, I work with clients that are about to retire or just had retired. So I would say in the 10 years before or after on that, and how old are you?
Speaker 2:I am 26 years old. That seems like a very adult job to get into at 26 years old. How did that happen?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so funny story of how I even got into the financial world or why I was even interested in it. It actually dates back to high school. My senior year of high school I took this intro to business class and we did this I guess project that we got $100,000 in what we call paper trading. So there's fake $100,000. And you had to. You had eight weeks to find out how much you can make in the stock market and it's like you're just normally trading, but it's fake money. So I decided it's $100,000. I have eight weeks, let's see how much I can make. And I went all for it so I decided to. During that time when I was a senior in high school, funny enough, marijuana pharmaceutical companies started spiking up and down in value because it was going through. All this legislation, got it and I noticed that. So I started doing some crazy things within the market to try and make as much money as I can.
Speaker 2:You can say that's really a high risk move.
Speaker 3:Again, fake money, so why not? So I eight weeks goes by and little did I know. I found out that there was over 150,000 students that were enrolled in this program over throughout California and I ended up placing fourth place in how much money I made throughout that eight weeks. And little did I know that, if you placed in the top 17, you had to go explain your strategy to Cal State, fullerton, which is in Southern California, in front of a panel of three judges and why you did it.
Speaker 1:They didn't tell you ahead of time that that was going to be a requirement.
Speaker 3:No, no, because I'm assuming. My teachers did not think that we were going to place in the top 17. So I went and showed up in a t-shirt and pants and found out that everyone is in suit and tie.
Speaker 1:Oh no. It was bad and I unless, unless you're going for the whole like Mark Zuckerberg thing, then you're you're killing it.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Or until you explained your strategy and then it all clicked for him Like, oh, this guy invested in pot, he's here in sandals and jeans. This is I, totally get it Exactly.
Speaker 3:I actually did get some of those looks and I call my older brother, craig, and was like hey, you need to bring me a long sleeve colored shirt, I'm already underdressed, but you need to bring me something. So he drove out to the college, brought me a long sleeve colored shirt, and still way underdressed, and I'm standing in a line waiting to go and do my presentation and I wasn't allowed to see anyone else present because it would be like against the rules, because I could see what they're presenting on. So I'm waiting in line and I see and, mind you, I've never I've always been a good student, never been. I always straight away from AP classes at all cost.
Speaker 1:I'm smart, but please don't give me any extra work.
Speaker 3:Yes, so I'm looking in this, in this line, and all of these students have packets of pages and pages and pages of their strategy and why they did these certain trades at these certain times, of the different stocks that they were doing, and I show up with the flyer that they gave me Of what to present. Again, I did not know the magnitude of what this was supposed to be.
Speaker 1:I feel like your teachers need to take some responsibility for this, because they sent you in Incredibly underprepared.
Speaker 3:I was incredibly underprepared.
Speaker 2:I'm always blaming the teachers. I don't think it's their fault. This sounds like it's.
Speaker 3:You have this history of doing this from what you're explaining to us.
Speaker 3:Well, it gets worse so but wait, there's more so I Am maybe two students away from going up and it's my turn and, unbeknownst to me, I see my principal and vice principal walk up to me. I had no idea they were there and they're like hey, we just wanted to come in and and see you present and support you. And I immediately got really nervous at that point because, again, I didn't know my principal was coming to watch me. I thought it was just in front of three judges and no big deal. Again, I had not been in the room yet because I'm not allowed in the room. My term came. I went in the room. There was those three judges and 500 people in the room.
Speaker 1:Who are the 500 people?
Speaker 3:I have no idea. I still to this day have no idea. I'm assuming a lot of college students and Other than that, I have no idea because I found out that in the midst of me, standing in this line, I was the guy that people realized were trading pot and there's a couple people that Because, basically, the Cal State Fullerton students were analyzing why we were doing these different trades and they had. They were the ones putting on this, this event so they were part of a study.
Speaker 1:So I was part of a study and without knowing it, without noting, no so then do you think that they did do it on purpose, like send you in blind?
Speaker 3:I, I think maybe, but again, everyone else was still way more prepared than me.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 3:I think I I probably just didn't understand the magnitude of it or you missed a meeting somewhere. Yeah, I may have missed a meeting somewhere it was selling stocks.
Speaker 2:He's gonna have time for these meetings.
Speaker 3:So but it's funny because I started they would come up and and before we went in there, like do you, do you have any questions before you go and present? I'm like no. And then and they asked me oh, like, how did I get here? And I say like one sentence of oh yeah, I saw fluctuations in pharmaceuticals and Every single person that asked me that, oh, you're the kid that's doing the pot.
Speaker 2:You tried to hide it with pharmaceuticals and they put it instantly.
Speaker 1:Yeah so how did it end?
Speaker 3:so when it did my speech I somehow talked for almost 35 minutes. Well, about 15 to 20 minutes was me presenting and then 15 to 20 minutes was a Q&A from the judges. Again, I don't know really how I did. I felt like I actually did pretty good considering how under prepared I was. But I left the room, I went and put my t-shirt back on, but they made me go to the awards ceremony but I'm thinking there's no way I'm gonna win anything. They call out fifth place and I'm thinking, well, I got fourth place in the amount of money won, so maybe I'll get fifth because I was so under prepared. Fifth was called no, fourth, no, third, no, second, no, and then they called my name for first place.
Speaker 1:There you go, and you walked up in your t-shirt.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I walked up in my t-shirt and the reason I guess the reason why I won is everyone else that that placed higher than me in amount of money won Got super lucky on penny stocks and I was the only one that actually had a strategy of Got it. Why and I stuck to a specific, very niche sector Throughout the entire time. Yeah, so okay.
Speaker 1:So now, considering all of that and how you know much paid how much, you paid attention and knew what you're doing your senior year of high school when you're doing finances now did you? Are you in trading?
Speaker 3:No, so it's funny. I actually don't I pretty much don't do any of that in my actual job at all, but that is what sparked an interest of the whole financial world. For me, that makes sense. Yeah hence why I decided to go and get a finance degree in college, and that was really the reason why I was like hey, maybe, maybe I would enjoy doing this.
Speaker 2:Now, was that planned the finance degree, or was that just something that, like you, figured would be safe, that you can get a job with anywhere?
Speaker 3:No, it was planned. I, I after, and I did not know that I was gonna do that. I was convinced I was gonna be a firefighter one day, and it's the first time I'm hearing this yeah.
Speaker 1:Is this because Casey, or just no?
Speaker 3:I've, I've always, I've always liked the Firefighter world. It was either gonna be something in the medical realm, but firefighter was probably number one for me.
Speaker 2:It went Batman firefighter, financial advisor exactly.
Speaker 3:So I, after this project and this whole thing went down at my senior year of high school, I decided, okay, I'm gonna do a finance degree and you obviously like what you do.
Speaker 2:Now I love what I do and, like we noted, you're 26, which is pretty young, in my eyes at least, to have like a I'll call it like a career. Like you see a lot of like kind of part-timey jobs, I feel like with kids coming out of college and stuff, but you actually have your career. Is there, would you say, this is something you would continue to do for the next 30, 40 years? Is there like enough Room to grow or enough things to keep it interesting for you Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I I would say there's a lot of routes you can go within the industry, I think, but generally speaking I would definitely say I'm gonna be in this industry my entire career.
Speaker 1:So you don't do trading in work is trading something that you do on the side, because Mike he likes to Do. We consider it trading what you do.
Speaker 2:No, it's considered losing money At least we're being honest here.
Speaker 1:But since you were so successful with fake money, have you been successful with? You know, just dabbling, and with your own real money?
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know it's funny, I I do a little bit. That's not generally. I don't go that high risk. I went that high risk, I'll be real, there's, there's. There was a certain level of luck that was involved in, yeah, my strategy that I use in my senior year of high school. But I do trade here and here and there, but I wouldn't say that I I would consider myself a true day trader by any means.
Speaker 1:So do you think that the average person Could you be successful in trading? Or like can I take my money and and successfully do that? Is that pretty common?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so there's a lot of different versions of what people would call trading, what I would say trading in the Realist form, in the sense of actually day trading different stocks and that sort of thing. I would say the majority of people actually are not successful with it, generally speaking so it's something that it takes a particular skill set, you would say yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3:Now there are other avenues of of Investing that are more passive and index focused. That it's, it's not. It's pretty hard to do, that's super bad over a long-term period, but again there's. It gets to a point where, eventually, once you're about ready to retire, you're gonna want to keep what you have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. So a lot of your job then would be convincing people that maybe the list, what is it?
Speaker 3:just slowly growing your finances is probably the better way right, because I have a lot of clients that are are always shooting for the kill and once they hit that they they feel really good and then they don't understand them. Over the next couple months, years, whatever it is, they've been only declining until they hopefully get that next big winner and how much of your job is like Talking people off the ledge.
Speaker 3:Oh, I would say a lot Okay a lot, so like everything is catastrophic or everything is great, we're gonna like put it all in or like yeah, and there there's a good balance of the in-between in all of that, but I would say that there are a lot of people that are very emotion-based when it comes to finances and I would say a. The majority of my job is to try and figure out what those emotions are and what's driving those emotions and, at the end of the day, figure out, okay, well, what are the actual goals behind it, and try and take some of those emotions out.
Speaker 1:So I know there was a while back where Michael and I were like we should start investing and so he decided to kind of Research some things and kind of play with the stock market a little bit, which then quickly just kind of turned into a light hobby. But it can be very intimidating, especially for your everyday normal person who doesn't know what they're doing or have any idea About finances or the stock market or anything like that investing. So what would be your advice for someone who's just looking into that, getting started in investing for the first time?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would say there's no harm in having a good Hobby of when it comes to investing. I think that's that would be good for everyone. I think now, when it comes to starting out and investing, it is it's Once you, you, you might think, okay, well, let's, let's just do some of the basics, but the moment that you actually get into it, it all of a sudden there's soul. There's millions of doors that start to open up and you're trying to look through each one of them and it's kind of difficult to overwhelming. It sounds like very overwhelming. So what I would say is this might be bad to say, but YouTube is very, very valuable.
Speaker 2:Now so not for home construction, but for actual investing.
Speaker 3:Okay, now what I would say is stick to the very basic ones. Yeah just to get a good understanding of what that is and and then go from there because it can get. I will say there's and again, I wouldn't even call myself a day trader but there's traders that have been doing it for 30, 40 plus years that are still learning something new every single day.
Speaker 2:And some in some of these YouTube videos. I would imagine it's more geared towards explaining the differences between like Stocks options and like index funds, and so you kind of have a better idea of what is out there. Exactly. Not necessarily, but everything in Tesla exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah so would you consider day trading like gambling in a way?
Speaker 3:No, I definitely would not consider it gambling now. With that being said, there are some clients that treat it as such, depending on what they're day trading and how they are doing it. But I wouldn't necessarily. If you, if you have a disciplined approach To your investments, then I wouldn't necessarily say that it would be called gambling.
Speaker 2:I got it, but still it sounds like for your average Joe the amount of time it would take to be good at day trading if you're probably better off finding, like at least, an advisor.
Speaker 3:Yes, I would. I would say Honestly, I mean and again I'm throwing this, this figure just on my experience and what I've seen through the different clientele that I've spoken with throughout, throughout my career thus far, I would say probably 90%, 85% of the people that I meet with do not have the time to be good at it, to be able to actually do it and be good at it.
Speaker 2:Is it ever too late?
Speaker 3:to start, like investing. I would never say it's too late to start investing, regardless if that means that to try and start investing yourself and and dabbling in that, or Whether that means investing in getting someone else's help and just starting that account for you.
Speaker 1:I would never say it's too late but if there was a Specific time frame that you is there, like an age range that you do suggest it, is it different if I'm Single versus if I have a family? Like, are there Like industry standards for that?
Speaker 3:No, I wouldn't necessarily say that there's industry standards. Now, when it comes to the investing piece, I would say always earlier is better. I wish I started investing when I was 18 years old, even if that meant 50 bucks a month. Well, even something that little could make a difference. I truly believe that something like that can make a difference, especially with that.
Speaker 2:No, it's interesting and this might be a little off topic, but I'm curious because you kind of dabbled in this world of finance when you were 18 years old and I imagine, much like myself, you made some financial purchases that you regretted at 18 looking back on it now. So now you're 26, like would you say, since you're in the world of finance, you're a lot more responsible with money. I would definitely say that. So does that mean, like, more stingy, or does it just mean more careful?
Speaker 3:I would say more careful. Unfortunately, I probably would not call myself stingy. I wish I was a little bit more maybe, but I definitely would say, by a long shot I'm much more careful.
Speaker 1:So is there a balance that you need to find between saving and spending? Then, as far as Like, is it possible for me to save too much or to invest too much?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would say that there is definitely a Balance between the two. Now, obviously, within reason that's. That's definitely a lot of. That's dependent on your family and your financial situation in regards to income and expenses. But at the end of the day, I I do think and the reason why I say this is I I have seen it time in and time out, where I've seen clients that are trying to retire and don't have enough, and I've also seen clients that are retiring and honestly have way too much and have no way of spending it. Or they've been retired for 10, 15 years and they've been so, so frugal that they have way too much and now they're at a physical capacity that they they couldn't enjoy it. They can't even enjoy it. Maybe they have a legacy that they can leave on to kids, grandchildren and that sort of thing, which is amazing.
Speaker 2:That's the problem.
Speaker 1:I'm okay having, yeah, you know, like I mean, when you consider the alternative, that sounds better, but still you don't wanna Right, you can't take it with you, no right, but it would be nice to be able to live life more comfortably and enjoy your life and not be constantly worried about am I saving too much? Just, and you know that nervousness of like, am I gonna be okay, I mean, are we gonna have enough? Just to get to the end and realize, oh my goodness, we have way too much. We could have been enjoying things more.
Speaker 3:Right and I would say I see that so often and a lot of my clients are in that mindset for their entire working life and then the first time they ever hear even a peep of hey, you actually have enough. And then some is when they are actually talking to someone because they're trying to retire and at the end of the day, or sometimes they don't hear it until they've been retired for 10, 15 years and it's honestly a little bit too late to spend some of their money. But I will say that there is definitely a balance and, in my opinion, if you are smart with your money and are saving what you need to save, I think it's okay to have some purchases for lifestyle and for your family.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I mean obviously, whether for me that would have to be like stake every now and then, you know. But everybody has to make that decision for themselves, right?
Speaker 1:Or beach vacation with a bucket of beer.
Speaker 2:Haven't got there. It's like the dream that I probably will be 75 when I'm finally told I can afford it.
Speaker 3:You know what my favorite thing is when I'm speaking with a client and they've been so frugal their entire lives, they've I try and find out, obviously, when a large part of my process of when I speak to clients is getting to know them and getting to know what they want to do in retirement, and a lot of times they I would say one of the biggest goals for clients in retirement is one of them would be vacations, and a lot of times they think, well, yeah, we want to do a couple like camping vacations or local vacations and that sort of thing, and no, right.
Speaker 2:But I do that with kids because there's lots of open space and you don't really have to worry about them hurting themselves, necessarily, or somebody taking them. But, like, once the kids are gone, I just want quiet in a beach.
Speaker 3:Right. But what's funny is a lot of times they just they don't think that that's a big, extravagant vacation is possible for them. My favorite thing to do is look at the couple and just say, hey, you should go to Europe, you should go to the Bahamas or you should go to Hawaii. It's one of my favorite things, because they get taken back and they're like well, why is a financial professional telling me to go spend money right now? Yeah, but it's one of my favorite things to do. Obviously, I only do it to the clients that have very successful plans, but that makes sense.
Speaker 2:You probably wouldn't be hired very long, but it is one of my, you get a vacation and you get a vacation. It is one of my favorite things in my job, but that is so cool because, I mean, I feel like finances in general and money has like such a negative tone to it, but that's like actual fulfillment that you're finding in your job. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Okay, so then, with all of that being said, what do you suggest or what's advice or kind of thoughts that you would have on balancing enjoying life today versus the importance of saving for the future?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would say and again, everyone's got a little bit different of a philosophy this is specifically just my philosophy and it's very generalized. A lot of people have this philosophy my thing and this is how I run my own finances and how I generally, if my clients are wanting advice on how to run some of their day to day, and the mentality of it is, I like to save first and then spend, and it's okay to spend your spend money.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's I mean we get in. I wouldn't call them fights but tiffs, because like, once that money is out of the bank and counting that's cash, that's free money, it doesn't count.
Speaker 1:Right, that would be girl math.
Speaker 2:I wasn't gonna say it.
Speaker 1:But that's not even my philosophy, that's yours. Like every time, if we return something and we get cash back, or if we took money out for something and we ended up not using it but it's already out of the bank, michael is like let's spend it, it's already gone. I've already taken it out of the budget.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at that point we might as well do some fun with it.
Speaker 1:So I think we need to just not just call this girl math anymore. This is like mic math. No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:The girl. Math is something completely different. I don't buy something that would normally cost $100 for 50% off and then tell you hey, I made 50 bucks.
Speaker 1:Speaking of we were at Shields the other day and Christian bought a belt and it had this you know a price tag on it and we get up to the register it's like $20 cheaper and I'm like you just saved 20 bucks. Like what else can we buy?
Speaker 3:I looked immediately straight back at Sean. I was like that's your girl, girl math, yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's a thing like people know about it. It's just like that's the problem. We have this whole like society not talking about girl math. Eventually, bridges are going to start coming down.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying it's really excited to like you're prepared to pay one amount and the next thing, you know, you paid far less than you're expecting. It's exciting.
Speaker 2:I've told everybody about this, but Shauna gets this excited when she saves 30 cents on crayons is when she saved $20 on your belts, like it's like full on spiking the football in zone celebration.
Speaker 1:I can get behind a celebration every time you save money.
Speaker 3:Love that.
Speaker 1:So then, I just want to switch gears a little bit. You and I are a little less than 10 years apart, but we're in very not only is there that age gap, but we also have you know you're, you know, young and single. I'm married with kids. When I was your age, I was in, you know, I had just gotten married and was in significant debt because of not school, not anything important, just poor, poor shopping decisions. Like you know, it's a collection of things, but I definitely would have made different choices if I had the knowledge that I have now.
Speaker 1:So I just wonder, now that you know you're, you're in the financial world, so obviously you view money differently, you're. You know you're saving, but you're also spending, you, like you said, and you're living and enjoying life, do you see this being the way that you spend money now? Do you see this being something that you can maintain as you get married and start a family? Or are there going to be significant financial changes that you're going to have to make? Or do you think that you're setting yourself up now to that you can just kind of freely flow into the next stage of life?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would say for me there's definitely a level of where I am definitely enjoying my life. I've been on a lot of trips this year and having a lot of new experiences this year that obviously I'm having to fund for myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it's usually like, hey, you should take a vacation, I'll come with you. Yeah, it's exactly what I'm saying, okay.
Speaker 3:But, with that being said, I would say that I am being very smart in the sense of I do have a unfortunately, I wouldn't say that my budget is teed down to super specifics but I do have a saving and a spending budget, and that's as far as it really goes. Yeah, yeah, meaning I save the same amount every single paycheck I get in, okay, and it's a goal that I've, I guess, figured out for not only just on a bi-weekly or a monthly basis. I've set a goal hey, this is in 2023, I wanna save this much and this is what it's gonna take.
Speaker 2:Got it. So like kind of start if I don't wanna cut you off, but it's like almost like you started with your big goal and then divide it out from there of like how do I make it reality? Cause a lot of times when I just try to sit down and do that, it's like well, that's just an astronomical number.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and for me, what I've noticed, even in my own life beforehand, before I've gotten into the financial world and before I've really started to be super smart with my money, I would say that I had. I'm always a goal-driven person, so I've always had goals, but my goals were so short-term that, okay, if I can do save this amount this time, it'll eventually end up to this. Well, what I've changed that thought process into is okay, well, what do I want by the end of the year? What do I want for 2023? And I just narrowed it down from there and I scaled back from there and figured out okay, well, what am I gonna need to do? That need to do every two weeks or every month, every month yeah, whatever that is.
Speaker 2:So it's not like, from what it sounds like you don't have like a formal budget that you're working on, but almost like your saving target number would be like fit into that budget almost like a bill, exactly, and that's my first bill I pay.
Speaker 1:So, turning this onto you, babe, just since you're the keeper of our finances how do you feel things have changed or shifted from your single life before me to being married, to now being married with kids?
Speaker 2:I mean as far as the budget goes, I would say like that variable is a lot different now because you can't anticipate kids' sports or shoes or something. So you almost have a part of that budget being not necessarily an emergency. But I used to write it down as the O-Crap fund Every month I was just putting money in this stuff that came up.
Speaker 1:He would actually call it the O-Crap fund. So he'd be in casual conversation being like, oh, I'll just pull that from the O-Crap fund, okay.
Speaker 2:And it's what happens In our family too. You can't get by a month without a birthday or anniversary or something. So it's ridiculous. It's like, okay, well, I'll just pull it out of that money. But I will say, after listening to Christian's answers, he's right about a lot of stuff, Like I've done some YouTube-ing and he is spot on.
Speaker 1:I mean, I would hope so. He's a professional.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean, I think the hardest part for me being like 36, so like without financial and professional obviously, but like just that adjustment of there's stuff in life that happens that no matter how prepared you are, you can't account for it.
Speaker 3:So I'm sure you run into that a lot, right, yeah? And I think I haven't hit that stage yet where I'm getting married and having kids and then having mortgage on top of that, and then school and that sort of thing for my kids. So I haven't hit that stage yet. So I have a pretty big inkling that some of my spending habits are definitely gonna have to change Gonna change.
Speaker 2:Hello Kirkland.
Speaker 3:Yep exactly.
Speaker 1:So and of course it's unrealistic for me to expect you to forecast the future. I just didn't know if that was something that you were already planning for and thinking about in your financial decisions other than savings, or if that's just kind of one of those things you just kind of have to tackle once you get there.
Speaker 3:I think that there's people geared in this world that can do that. I will say I am a planner when it comes to the high level stuff. When it gets into the intricacies like that, I am definitely a more go with the flow kind of guy and I'll tackle that as it comes.
Speaker 1:Cause I feel like, especially with finances, cause there's just, like I mean, the people who say like oh, I live with no regrets, good for you, but you're lying right. I mean, at least that's my personal opinion, but I feel like, especially when it comes to finances, there are things that I wish I knew back then, that even mom and dad would try and warn us of. I'm like oh, you guys don't know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:And it's like hindsight's always 2020 and I wish that I made different decisions, or that I did things differently and you just like, can't go back and fix them.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I would honestly say it actually a lot of. And I think that might actually be the problem when it comes to when people are younger in their lives, then beginning their career and that sort of thing, and actually making some sort of money, and then all of a sudden their spending habits increase, or their spending habits have always increased and not making money. But with that being said, it's actually super simple and, in my opinion, it's just save first, because then your mentality of your finances switches. It's not okay, I'm gonna spend all this and whatever I have left I can save if I have it, or if your first bill that you have is saving that X amount of dollars. All of a sudden, your mentality of your own finances have completely switched.
Speaker 1:So just to circle back really quick to something you just said about how they're spending, habits increase based off of different situations. What are your thoughts on somebody getting a raise or getting a new job and they're suddenly making more? Do you suggest that they continue living based off of their actual needs or is it like, okay, you got this new job or you got this raise, it's okay go out and buy them Mercedes or go out and spend Like? What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I would say, when it comes to that, it's definitely dependent. Now, if you get a 2% 3% raise, that's pretty much just falling in line with inflation.
Speaker 3:So no just stick to what you have. But if it means that you got a very large promotion or you switched career paths or you switched jobs and came with a very, very significant amount of financial change, obviously, within reason and being smart, I would probably suggest people to not make immediate change the moment they get that offer letter. But within reason, I think it's okay to have some level of lifestyle increase.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, I feel like we could talk literally forever, so I guess you're just gonna have to come back, but before we go, I have one more question. If we wanna put money aside for the kids, something that's gonna grow for them and be for them long-term, what is it that you would suggest? Like, where should we start with that?
Speaker 3:There are a couple different options when it comes to saving for your children, depending on what you're looking for.
Speaker 3:Now, if you're saving for school specifically, like college education technically there's some caveats where you can use it for like high school, for private high schools and that sort of thing, but generally speaking it's for college education there's accounts called 529 accounts that are really good for that.
Speaker 3:Now, obviously, that's if you're pretty dead set on having it for their education long-term. Now there are also other type of minor accounts that act as just regular investment accounts that the parents can be the custodians of the account, where the parents will help invest the money for their children and then once they become of certain age usually it's the age of 18, then those funds can be transferred over to them and it's not necessarily where they're locked into only really taking it without any penalties or anything of that nature, just for school. So it really depends on what you're looking to do. What I would, for anyone listening, really suggest is there's a lot of financial firms that you can pretty much just walk through the door. I'm not going to name any specifically, but that will have a lot of information about that and it's never, ever a bad idea, just to have a conversation.
Speaker 2:And when you talk about these accounts being preferred or a good place, is that because of like tax?
Speaker 3:benefits Correct, so tax benefits specifically, I would never suggest my clients to save in their own accounts dedicated for their children, because all that's going to do is follow your own taxes. Create a bigger tax liability for you at the end of the day. For those other type of minor accounts, there's tax benefits because it's going to be under their tax code, which they're likely not making any money.
Speaker 2:And I think that's something that I've heard gets lost is how much of an impact, especially when you first start investing. You're like, oh, it's only a couple of dollars, but that compounding over time really affects your whole portfolio.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So a lot of times we'll have family members or whoever, or if we want to not do presents one year and we would rather have gifts to the kids' future instead. Can people make donations to these accounts?
Speaker 3:Yes, so people can. In both the type of accounts that I just mentioned, pretty much anyone can make a donation to it. It doesn't even necessarily even need to be an immediate family member. So obviously you would have to coordinate that with whoever's contributing to it. But anyone can do so.
Speaker 1:So do you remember? Grandma used to get us these bonds and at a certain age or a certain point you could do it. Sometimes you would get us to them as a gift, for whatever. What would be the difference between somebody gifting one of the kids, one of those, versus making a contribution to one of those funds?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so those bonds are pretty outdated now. So generally the same version of what that is is these accounts All right.
Speaker 1:Well again, we could talk forever, right? I'm sure you still have all kinds of things you would.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been dying to throw my like buzzwords at you, like life, inflation and everything else, and see what you do. So you know, I know like the bare minimum.
Speaker 1:No, okay, so just real quick. Mike is a big Dave Ramsey fan, and did you know that Christian's not a fan of Dave Ramsey?
Speaker 2:I hear that a lot on a show. A lot of financial advisors don't like them. They call them stupid.
Speaker 3:Really, I wouldn't actually say that I'm not a fan. I actually agree with a lot of his philosophies.
Speaker 2:The majority of what you said, or spot on of what he would say. So I get that.
Speaker 3:I would say 90% of what he says I actually do generally agree with. Now, what I have a problem with is it is very, very extreme and doesn't mean that his way is the best way for everyone, and that's there. There's a couple couple of things where he's he's very, very against, specifically debt. There are versions of good debt, and that's as far as I'll go with it.
Speaker 1:I'm going to. I need to find those versions, as long as you use it correctly.
Speaker 2:Completely different.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you for agreeing to do this. This was so fun. We're definitely having to figure out the technicality parts of having a guest on, so thank you for being our guinea pig with that, but it's been really fun and we'll get you on the calendar to make sure that you're out here again very soon. The kids will be happy about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and Carter's eyes, I'm coming out, I guess next week, great.
Speaker 1:I'll have her start doing all of our family planning, yeah.
Speaker 2:She handles the bookings for the show.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, we promoted her, we demoted Mike and promoted Carter.
Speaker 3:Love that.
Speaker 1:All right, guys. Well, if you guys have any additional questions, we're happy to pass them along to Christian. Feel free to send us an email at lifeunmasteredpodcastcom or you can send us a DM on Instagram at lifeunmasteredpodcast. But until next week, bye.