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🟧 Financial Reddit Reactions, Sleep Routines, and Misophonia! 🌀
472 Plays17 days ago
🔥 Financial Reddit: Reddit isn’t just a hub for memes—it’s a goldmine for financial insight! In this episode we explore the world of Financial Reddit, breaking down threads on budgeting, early retirement, and the quirks of financial planning.
Watch and Subscribe on YouTube
🌟 We also touch on personal routines, quirky habits, and how our interactions shape our lives, from sleep health to dating.
In this episode, we discuss:
1️⃣ Reddit for Finances: Real-life stories and advice to inspire financial independence.
2️⃣ Managing a $3M Windfall: Challenges and opportunities in early retirement.
3️⃣ Budget vs. Memories: Smart choices for big vacation spending.
4️⃣ Healthcare Costs: ACA subsidies and planning for retirement.
5️⃣ Better Sleep Tips: Using white noise and weighted blankets for restful nights.
6️⃣ Misophonia Insights: Coping strategies for sound sensitivities.
7️⃣ Dating Green Flags: Traits and habits that signal meaningful connections.
🔗 Eric’s Links:
🔗 Carla's Links:
🟧 Financial Independence Reddit
🔗 David’s Links:
🍏 Forget About Money on Apple Podcast
🎧 Forget About Money on Spotify
#reddit #retirementplanning #financialindependence #misophonia
🎧 Listen & Subscribe: Dive into more episodes exploring financial independence, lifestyle hacks, and personal growth! Don’t forget to hit subscribe and turn on the bell 🔔 for updates.
📜 Disclaimer: This episode is for entertainment and informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Always consult with a professional for personalized guidance.
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Transcript
Introduction to Forget About Money Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Forget About Money podcast. I'm here again with Carla and Eric. In this episode, we are going to be looking at financial Reddit posts that we found interesting and we thought we might be able to bring some value to whoever might be listening to this. But before we get into that, Carla says she has a weakness for Reddit.
Carla's Reddit Enthusiasm
00:00:21
Speaker
And I just, I'm curious, how much of a problem is this, Carla?
00:00:25
Speaker
I mean, it is for sure my guilty pleasure in life. I love like all things, well, not all things Reddit related. Okay. I like Reddit because it's like very easy to customize and you can control what you see, like what comes across your feed.
00:00:42
Speaker
The best dog in the world, Miles, is here by the way.
Reddit's Value for Financial Independence
00:00:44
Speaker
If anyone is watching on YouTube, you can see his cute little tail. There's just like a thousand really cool things that you can learn on there. And I also really like all the financial independence related subreddits and there's like 20 of them. So yeah, I spend way too much time on it, but I also get a lot of enjoyment out of it. So we we took a trip to Spain earlier this year. Eric was with us.
00:01:06
Speaker
And ah we had a little bit of a catastrophe while we were there. My husband got injured. Anyway, the so point is we had a lot of downtime with him just like in the hospital and stuck in a wheelchair. And one of the best ways that we pass time was to look at the hypothetical situations subreddit and talk about those hypothetical situations, just like an endless source of entertainment. People are so silly and creative, and I love the crazy questions that they come up with. So I will just say, if you are going to develop a social media addiction, I do feel like Reddit can be one of the healthier ones. But that's that's my weak defense for a pretty indefensible habit. But look, it's getting us fodder for this podcast, so you can't hate on it
Reddit in Spain: Entertainment & Insights
00:01:49
Speaker
too much.
00:01:49
Speaker
Now, I think it's great because it's one thing for us to listen to people who put out podcasts and maybe maybe with exception of this particular podcast, maybe more refined material out there through more refined minds out there. But Reddit, you kind of get this raw interaction between real people just sitting at their home or their or their phone typing in their concerns or thoughts. And I think that's probably the draw that a lot of people get from Reddit.
00:02:14
Speaker
Or you can figure out what that weird, there's always an answer for whatever you're looking for on Reddit. You think that something happens and you're like like, there's no way that's on Reddit. And then you throw it in a Google and it pops up on Reddit. Yeah, it's so true. one of One subreddit that I enjoy is called what is this thing? And people just post pictures of these like ridiculously random objects. And somebody always knows what it is. Like you'll find an expert on any topic.
00:02:36
Speaker
It's fun to do that with pills. Like if you don't know what a pill is and you're like, which what am I taking? And I've actually done this because I'll throw a bunch of pills into one bottle when I go on a trip and then I forget what they are. And I have to like Google what this pill looks like so I know I'm not taking something that's going to cause unwanted side effects anyway.
00:02:57
Speaker
I do that a lot after walking
Reddit's Authenticity and Podcast Material
00:02:58
Speaker
my dog around the corner. We have a lot of homeless people and like crystal meth is a big thing, pills, that kind of thing. So if I ever come back with no more pills than I left with, I want to double check those and read. It's really good for them. Know what you're taking.
00:03:10
Speaker
Yeah, that seems like pretty good life advice. I support that. but So let's walk through some of these that we pulled from Reddit that we think are interesting. I think there'll be some good ah conversation starters in here. And let's go ahead and start. This one is titled, I think it's time for us to chubby fire at 3032 net worth of 3.8 million. Well, my father died and left me $3 million. dollars I was working towards the one million net worth number, but with one death that had got all blown out of the water. Between my wife and I's premarital houses, other assets, and cash, we're now bumping up on the $4 million dollars number. Well, once the probate proceeds process ends early next month.
00:03:51
Speaker
Funny thing is we're both in our early thirties. How does even one retire at this age? Current household income is right around 270,000 and we hate this Corpo grind with all of our beings. No kids or debts besides the mortgages and no plans to change that minus a third jointly owned home sometime in the reasonable future. We're in a great spot, but we're kind of overwhelmed by the implications of our new financial status. At our hearts, we know we can just walk off our tech jobs and go be goose farmers or whatever we want.
00:04:21
Speaker
But it's hard to truly grasp, you know, am I wrong for feeling like we've achieved the product of our goals for so long? Yet like I cannot fully realize it. Do I need a slap in the face?
Early Retirement with $3 Million Inheritance
00:04:31
Speaker
What are you guys saying? Does he need a slap in the face?
00:04:33
Speaker
No, I don't think so. I think you I think you have something really amazing there. There are opportunities to be discovered and you actually have an ability that so many people wish they had, which is to walk away from the job that you absolutely detest and to have that safety net, even if it's not forever that you're going to be retired.
00:04:55
Speaker
This gives you the opportunity to go out and explore, find the things that bring you joy, find the passions that make you want to go to work every day. And maybe there isn't a passion that you've decided that you like. Maybe you decide that you do like retirement and that's okay. But I think at $4 million, dollars I don't know what they're, you know, what area they live in. But if they're in a low cost of living area, that's certainly it a ton of money that's going to compound and continue compounding.
00:05:22
Speaker
You know, they're only in their 30s. I think they're in great shape if they want to do that. Yeah, I also would not slap them in the face because as as a general rule, I don't like slapping people in the face. But I can do think they are just incredibly fortunate and has you know have this huge windfall can completely change their lives. And yeah, I think you are missing an enormous opportunity if you don't seize that to figure out what really makes you tick take the time to do that introspection. And I think sometimes people get stuck
00:05:54
Speaker
in that phase of like thinking they're just gonna figure out what they wanna do in their life by just sitting in their house and like journaling or whatever. I think you have to get out and try things. You have to get out and meet people, make things happen in the real world, don't just lose inside your head. Yeah, my advice to them would be to quit these jobs that they're not excited about and go try another one and then give that you know six months and if that doesn't work, try another one. Just find something that really lights you up inside And it doesn't have to be working. Maybe it's volunteering. Maybe it's a lifelong dedication to to learning. But there's so many ways to spend your time besides just grinding it out at a Corpo job as they describe it that's not bringing them joy.
00:06:38
Speaker
yeah There are three things that jump out at me when I read this. The first is anytime I see $4 million dollars and no debt other than mortgages, right then you've reach reached a milestone that you should not question, do you have enough to retire or not? Because you do, period. I mean, I'm not sure what kind of lifestyle you think you're living, that you can't live a happy life on $4 million, dollars giving off even at the conservative 4% safe withdrawal rate. That's a debate for another day.
00:07:03
Speaker
But let's assume 4% safe withdrawal rate, that's $160,000 a year positive cash flow on your net worth. Let me start also by saying we don't know these people. We don't know if this is true or not. This is not advice. This is just our thoughts after reading this random post on Reddit.
00:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, even at a 3% withdrawal rate, which at their age, you could argue is maybe, or something a little bit below 4%. Yeah, they're still going to be absolutely golden. I wonder if the fact that it fell into their lap as a lump sum rather than watching it slowly accumulate through their their own earnings over the years is maybe part of the the like mental struggles that they're having with their new financial situation. Yeah, I think I've talked to a couple of folks that campfires who had money fall into their lap like this through an inheritance. And yeah, I think it can be a little bit harder to adjust to rather than watching it slowly build up over time. So maybe that's part of what they're feeling as well as maybe like a little bit of imposter syndrome or something, but the money is yours and I don't think they should feel guilty about that. I think they should embrace it and use it to the fullest, to their highest possible use, whatever that may mean for them.
00:08:10
Speaker
Agreed. The second thing is they say, how does one even retire at this age? And that's such a loaded statement. We need to get away from this retire at an age thinking period.
Rethinking Retirement Age and Passions
00:08:20
Speaker
I mean, we're programmed to think it. Retire at 65. Get Social Security at this. As we go through, I mean, you have societal norms, societal expectations, but the bottom line is your life, your money, you do what you want with it.
00:08:32
Speaker
We have to do a better job of disconnecting the retire in air quotes to an age. Moving on. The last thing I would say is they say at our hearts, we know we can just walk off our tech jobs and go be goose farmers or whatever we want, but it's hard to truly grasp. You know, we'll do it. Do it then.
00:08:49
Speaker
whatever that thing is for you, you may not know, it might not seem like a reality to you now, but your reality your reality is your reality. So if you make a decision in your life three years later, now you have a whole set of new data points. That is now your reality. And you might look back at this and say, okay, it wasn't it wasn't a it wasn't such a leap because we have a new defined reality for ourselves.
00:09:10
Speaker
So it might seem foreign for people who haven't retired yet because they just don't know it's the fear of the unknown. But it's your life. Time slows down for no one. You will live it. That will become your reality. I don't know how they can not afford to do it at this point. You know, go explore and and see what comes up. Yeah. My only other two cents are that geese are kind of mean. Maybe, maybe consider a different kind of farming. Cheese farming. Everybody loves cheese. Everybody loves cheese.
00:09:37
Speaker
The second post we have is about the ACA. I'm going to paraphrase. Okay, so I wanted to start a post to discuss how people are planning for the possibility of no longer having an ACA subsidy. Obviously, the first thought is just, duh, save more, spend less. The first part is easier if you haven't already fired, but what about those that have? My concern isn't our current healthcare care costs ignoring the subsidy, but as we age, I know it will go up by a very large amount as we get closer to Medicare eligibility.
00:10:06
Speaker
Yeah, I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on this because I think you're you are already retired. You're not 65. You're never close to 65. So yeah, how is this weighing on you these days?
00:10:17
Speaker
ah So yes, this for me is a big deal. I am retired. I'm turning 51 this week. So I still have many years technically before I will be able to get into Medicaid or Medicare rather. And for me, the ACA subsidies are important because it's it's part of my retirement plan. That being said, if they do go away,
00:10:41
Speaker
I do have the option of increasing my 72T, which is a distribution that I take out annually of $30,000. So if the dis if those those subsidies go away, it's it's kind of okay because that's what's deciding how much money I'm taking out right now each year. If those subsidies do magically go away and I am able to take out more money, that means I'll be able to enjoy more money. So it's almost like a negative in the fact that the subsidies are available, but they control how much I get to take out and spend. Because if they go away, then I have more flexibility on how much I take out and more flexibility on how much I can enjoy that money that's available. Does that make sense? So yes, I would have to pay more for health care. I also have access, more access to money that's available in my retirement plan because I wouldn't have to worry about breaking the subsidy levels.
00:11:37
Speaker
that makes sense. So basically, there's a level of income at which the subsidies stop. And right now, that's a ceiling you have to worry about. But if the subsidies go away, then you won't have to worry about that ceiling anymore. But I guess from me, my take, my husband still works a full time job. So we both have health care through his company. So I mean, we have talked about You know, maybe he'll stay a little bit longer than he otherwise might have um to give us continued access to that health care, even though I feel like we could probably pull the trigger and retire at any time. Yeah, those subsidies are a big piece of the puzzle for a lot of folks. I think they probably would make a serious difference for us. So it's something to think about. I actually think I read Reddit posts and some of the comments.
00:12:23
Speaker
And I remember seeing people saying, well, I think for me, the bigger concern is not just the subsidies going away, but if the ACA goes away altogether, which is another thing that I am a little bit concerned about. I also think there are, I think I've read somewhere that there's 45 million people on the ACA right now, and there's a lot of folks who say there's no way they're gonna walk it back at this point. Hanging my heart on that, and I'm hoping that's what happens,
00:12:49
Speaker
but We'll find out what the concept of a plan is very soon, and I guess we'll deal with that reality. Yeah, that's pretty much all we can do at this point. So yeah, what about you, David? Any thoughts on this?
00:13:00
Speaker
Just a general thought about this type of post. I don't, while it's it's academically interesting to think about it, it hasn't hit your pocket yet. So I wouldn't put too much weight in, like you said, Carla, the likelihood, I think the practical likelihood of any policy that affects this many people.
00:13:19
Speaker
That'd be like getting rid of social security at this point. like That's not going to happen. So I don't think this is going to happen. There might be some reshaping, but
ACA Subsidies and Early Retirement
00:13:26
Speaker
I don't see. I think it's just just noise at this point. And if people are wondering if a tax law or if the ACA law or whatever that is, if it's going to impact their livelihood, sure, educate yourself on the current situation, see if you can maximize whatever that current Law is for your to for your particular situation, but don't worry about what you can't change, and you can't you can't change what they're going to do with tax law or policies. Worry about that, you know cross that bridge when you get there. The third Reddit post, for already retired folks, how accurate were your estimated costs?
00:14:02
Speaker
I am curious for already retired folks, how accurate were your spending estimates? Some costs seem easier to predict than others. Were there any surprises that you didn't account for? I am particularly thinking about medical insurance and healthcare care costs. Did you primarily use your state's ACA site or did you use some other method? As a side question, I know Vanguard has a healthcare cost estimator. Did any of the retired folks use it and how accurate was it for your actual retirement costs?
00:14:29
Speaker
I can speak to this. I would say that for me as someone who's now been retired for going on three years, my I had the luxury of being at home for that first year before retirement, i working remotely during COVID. So what I did is I used that as a test bed for my retirement. I put all my money that I was making at my regular job.
00:14:54
Speaker
my nine to five job, I put that all into savings and then I lived off the the money I was making for my investment properties just to see what that would be like. And if it was sufficient and if I would need more money. So I had a one year test bed before I actually pulled the trigger and retired.
00:15:12
Speaker
But going into that, I had planned on spending about $700 a month on healthcare care because I didn't realize the ACA subsidies would be available to me. But because my income was, as a landlord, so much of my income is deductible, my and my taxable income was very low and I was able to get the subsidies for ACA.
00:15:36
Speaker
So for me, that was a really amazing finding after I retired. So I would say that my my projections were actually well above what I experienced in terms of the money that I had planned to spend versus what I was actually spending on things like health care. So it was a good thing for me. Now, if that goes away, that obviously is going to change. But again, we don't we We don't know what's going to happen. All we can do is try to plan for it and have that money set aside just in case. But yeah, and I i did not use the Vanguard calculator. I've used many others along. And I met also with Fidelity prior to stepping into retirement just to make sure everything looked good.
00:16:21
Speaker
So what about any non-healthcare care costs, anything there that you've actually ended ended up spending more on that surprised you? I'm spending a lot on travel, a whole lot on travel, which is great. And I can control that. That's a lever I can stop spending on any time I want. I think for me, the biggest thing is I've always been a person that that expected the worst. So I was planning after retirement that something major was going to happen.
Estimating Retirement Costs and Surprises
00:16:45
Speaker
Like, I just have to be ready for this big expense, like a roof's going to cave in, a fire, a flood.
00:16:50
Speaker
But nothing happened. it's It's been okay. So changing that mindset and shifting from that that thought process of the world is is always going to have something negative to just allowing myself to embrace the day and what's happening and and not be afraid and have that fear and so and anxiety looking forward. That's been really great for me.
00:17:15
Speaker
That sounds super healthy. What about you, David? Any unexpected costs in retirement? Regarding healthcare, I'm very fortunate that I have Tricare as a retired military member. thank I do pay for Tricare. There are frustrations along with it, but I'm sure those fra frustrations pale in comparison to the civilian world. As far as other ah expenses that were more expensive than I thought they might be, I am not one who tracks expenses. I know, Carla, you and I are polar opposites on that, I believe, right?
00:17:42
Speaker
That absolutely blows my mind. I cannot believe that you don't track your expenses because yeah it's something that I do pretty religiously. It just feels like a big warm blanket around me that gives me a sense of security knowing how much dollars how many dollars are actually going out the door. so yeah I i can't cannot relate to not wanting to track your spending.
00:18:03
Speaker
yeah I use an app called Hurdler that tracks all of my expenses. So if anybody is is lazy about, you know, you're not into spreadsheets, you're not into doing all of of what Carla does, and you want to take an approach that's a little more hands off, you can use this app that that is connected to your credit cards, your checking and savings. And every time you spend on a card or your checking and savings, it will automatically show up on this app and you swipe right or left, much like Tinder David.
00:18:33
Speaker
You swipe right or left on the expense and you decide whether it's a business expense or a personal expense and then you can categorize it. So that's been really helpful for me with taxes and just realizing what my spending is actually being yeah know what i'm what I'm spending on.
00:18:49
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to have to check this out. Is Hurdler free or is that paid? There is a free version and a paid version. The paid version also tracks your driving expenses. So your mileage, if you have a business, it's it's something and it's a tax deduction because I do have a business. So it's it's really helpful for me.
00:19:06
Speaker
That sounds cool. Yeah, and to be clear, I use something that automatically trucks tracks our spending as well. So we used to be big fans of Mint, and then Mint went away. Mint became something way way worse, I thought. So these days, we're using Empower. But yeah, it's just linked to all of our credit cards. And that's like 99.999% of our spending is on credit cards.
$20K Solar Eclipse Cruise Debate
00:19:26
Speaker
But I do go back through it and just double check and make sure I didn't miss anything and make sure that everything looks good and that's part of what gives me security too is like if somebody's you know stolen our credit cards or something I'm gonna catch it pretty fast so yeah I'm a huge fan of tracking spending and it doesn't have to be you know you carry around a little piece of paper and a pencil everywhere you go okay sorry that was a tangent back to you David.
00:19:51
Speaker
This next post is about vacation spending, 37 male and 40 female, 1.7 million collective adjusted net worth, check net worth not including a paid off townhome valued at 350K, but it is including around 40K worth of debt, car notes at 1% and 0% APR.
00:20:13
Speaker
I feel we need around 2.5 million and a paid off house to be fine. We currently earn $270,000 annually, but this is likely to drop to a little over 210,000 next year because my spouse wants to quit working and I'm on board with that. We have two kids aged six and seven. We plan to buy a house valued at around 600 to 700,000 within the next year and we would sell our condo in the process. So maybe another 400,000 will come off our adjusted net worth.
00:20:41
Speaker
We normally spend around six to seven thousand each year on family vacations. I am interested in booking a cruise for the August 2026 solar eclipse near Europe, but it's very expensive. Whether we do a nine night or 14 night trip, we would likely spend around 20K if we go through with it. Well, is it unreasonable to spend that kind of money on a vacation given that we are not fine yet and likely would not be fine by the time the date comes around?
00:21:08
Speaker
ah Hopefully they're not a lot and I don't even have it. I'm gonna jump in right now. This is a ridiculous post. This is a ridiculous post. Wait, which which part of it strikes you? We're 40, we're 37. We got tons of money and we wonder if we can spend 20 grand in a couple of years. Yes, you can spend 20 grand in a couple of years. Move on. i just I hope they're not seasick. That's a lot of money to go on a cruise if you're seasick or if the kids are seasick. but Otherwise, go. Like, that's amazing that you have this opportunity. Your kids are only going to be young for so long. You only have so many of these years to enjoy with your kids.
Financial Advisors: Are They Worth It?
00:21:44
Speaker
You know, if you have to push back your retirement for three or four months, it's OK. That $20,000 is not going to shift the dynamic of your retirement at all. If it is, it's very minuscule, literally a couple of months.
00:21:57
Speaker
So go on the cruise, enjoy the cruise, see the eclipse, and be present with your kids. Just do it. Okay, I feel like I'm the oddball out here because it does strike me as a lot of money to spend up on vacation. Yes, they can clearly afford it. We were actually joking about Susie Orman earlier, and the best part of the old Susie Orman show was this section where she would like people would come on and say, can I afford this thing? And she would either approve or deny them.
00:22:24
Speaker
So yeah, like if I put my Susie Herman head on, you're obviously approved. But if I put my little frugal thigh head on, I kind of want to be like, what, but does it have to cost this much? Like, why can't we just go see the eclipse for, you know, dramatically less than $20,000?
00:22:39
Speaker
Get yourselves over there, stay in a reasonable Airbnb, and that's been anywhere close to that. So that's my two cents. That's what I would do. I will say say it that way. But I don't know, maybe this cruise is like a super lifelong dream for them or just something that sounds really, really appealing. And obviously, yes, you can you can clearly afford this. No one is going to go bankrupt and Eric, you're very right. Like at most this will push back your five plans a couple of months, but still I just wonder why the draw to do it in such, such a fashion that will cost such a high price. But maybe I'm just, but I don't know, maybe I'm being ridiculous. You guys seem to think it's totally cool. So yeah, you're just being ridiculous.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah, I think it if you have a... First, off I do commend them on trying to get down to a single income household because you have a six and a seven year old. I think that's great to have a family family member present for the most of the day, to help with the children in-house and make home a more welcoming, comfortable place for all.
00:23:46
Speaker
So I do commend that, even if it means you lose a little bit of money. I would ask this, in 10 years, do you think it's more likely that you're going to look back and regret not going or regret going? Yeah, for sure. I think people regret the things they don't do much more than the things they do. So yeah, I think that's a good way to frame it, and I agree with you there. Again, I'm not saying they shouldn't go see the eclipse. I think that sounds amazing.
00:24:10
Speaker
I'm just wondering if it has to come with a 20K price tag. I'm totally with you. They should go fully on team. Go see the eclipse. What if it's cloudy? That's just going to suck 20 grand and it's cloudy. And you're like, well, we didn't get to see the eclipse, but we got got a nice lava cake. And even if there's clouds, it's a novel experience for your whole family.
00:24:32
Speaker
ah so actually The risk that it might be cloudy is maybe an argument for why they should make like the whole journey more exciting in general and not just make it about purely saying the eclipse. So maybe that's an argument to spend the 20K, do the Superfund cruise, and then that'll be Superfund even if there is no eclipse.
00:24:51
Speaker
Last one, this is about a very sensitive topic throughout finances and it has to do with fees. The common is this, you know why so many rich people have financial advisors? It isn't because they're better at picking stocks.
00:25:06
Speaker
Spoiler alert, spoiler alert, they're not. It's because a good financial advisor will help you with all of the bizarro tax implications you never would have thought of. People with financial advisors end up making about 3% more per year thanks to better tax planning. If you don't know an advisor personally, use a third party comparison site to find somebody with good reviews. Hmm. So I think that way wish we should first come out of the closet here and reveal ourselves. Do any of us have financial advisors?
00:25:33
Speaker
I will say that Fidelity has given me advice over the years, not that I've gone to them and said, hey, I need an advisor. But they offered it at my place of work as ah you know as an option. So I would meet with them on rare occasion just to make sure I was on track. I didn't ask for advice on what to invest in.
00:25:54
Speaker
But rather, just this is what my goal is. Am I heading in the right direction? You know, steer me clear of anything major. And I've found it helpful, I guess. But I also found that when I did get to speak with financial advisors that promised that they were not going to be selling me anything and they didn't work on commission, they did try to sell me stuff.
00:26:15
Speaker
and they were getting a commission if they sold it. I actually had an advisor that wanted to sell me an annuity that would have cost roughly $300,000 and provided me $20,000 income per year. Well, when I asked him why not just do a 72T,
00:26:32
Speaker
for $300,000 that would provide me with $20,000 in income. He couldn't give me an answer. It was like, well, you know, he froze up. And the thing is that that $300,000 remains in my pocket and stays invested as opposed to giving it to, you know, somebody else and never seeing it again. So I don't think that and investors always have your best outlook at heart. I do think that they are working to make money. So just go into it knowing that. Can you glean something from them? Absolutely. But buyer beware. yeah Okay. There's a very general
00:27:09
Speaker
term used here and it's called financial advisors. But we really need to think of... That's just an umbrella. There's a lot of different kinds of advisors out there. The two main ones that I can think of and feel free to jump in and add any if you can think of other ones are tax planners or tax advisors and investing advisors or investment. You know you see all the commercials on TV, more times than not, those are investment advisors selling you financial products so that they can take a percentage assets under management and pad their pockets. I think an individual who has the least bit of interest in managing their own portfolio can learn the basics in a couple hours, but then they have to actually pull the trigger and start executing. And that's where they'll feel better about their own investing. That's one side. Now, once you start wondering about the implications of where you're putting that money, the long-term tax implications of where you're going to put that money and how you're going to withdraw it to actually live on it later,
00:27:59
Speaker
That is a different kind of advisor. That's a tax planner or a tax advisor. I do think it is worth paying a tax planner or tax advisor because, but don't don't, no assets under management, just the fees that they charge by the hour, whatever that is. So find somebody like that. And I think then it could be well worth your money, but this long-term drain on your portfolio, the 1% assets under management or worse, 1% assets under management,
00:28:25
Speaker
plus trading charges, plus upfront commissions, those eat away at your long-term growth by the hundreds of thousands. If you're at all assertive in your own retirement planning, and just stay away. Agree.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I agree with that. So we have never paid for a financial advisor, but I think kind of similar to you, Eric, Robert and I, just like two, two, three months ago, we took advantage of a free service that his company offers where you can meet with somebody and they'll basically give you a rundown of how they think you're doing, what you could be doing differently.
Sleep Habits and Health Impact
00:28:57
Speaker
So we thought, you know what, this is free. Let's not leave free services on the table. Let's check it out. And it was they they did provide us with access to a pretty cool software tool that we've enjoyed tinkering with a bit. But in general, I was not super impressed. We got advice about investing in fine art and investing in water, I believe, without any specifics of like how to how to do that. It was very generic and not super impressive to me.
00:29:26
Speaker
He also kind of shamed us for being low-class with our investment approach. He was like, look, you guys are just doing what everybody does. You're investing in index funds. You've got a decent net worth here. I think it's time for you to take a step up to the big leagues and start exploring things like fine art and commercial real estate. Yeah, that did not rub me the best way.
00:29:52
Speaker
a big fan of being called a peasant with her investment strategy. I think index funds are amazing. and yeah I feel like we are picking the winners automatically as we're tucked up in bed at night. The winners rise to the top, the losers fall out of our portfolio, and it's just we don't even have to think about it. I also find it humorous when I'm having a meeting with somebody who's been in the business for like five or six or seven years and I'm retired and they're like trying to explain to me how to retire it's or how to invest. I just always find it kind of humorous. Not that I can't glean so something from somebody who's young and has, you know, some experience, but not a ton, but it's just, it's kind of funny. Yeah, I thought so too. I also thought that.
00:30:38
Speaker
So was what was in it for this person to tell you to move into fine art and other assets? Yeah, I really don't think he had any skin in the game. Like this was just purely advisory. We weren't paying him anything. ah He did not mention any specific products that we could invest in through his company. I really think he was just trying to give us his best take on how we could invest.
00:31:01
Speaker
better. I really think that's what it was. So I don't know if that makes it better or worse. I think it makes it worse because yeah he didn't actually have any anything to gain from telling us to like diverge from this very solid path that we're on. so I bet he would have that conversation gone on a bit longer. I think it would have became a little more clear what he would gain.
00:31:22
Speaker
Maybe, maybe, I don't know. It's an interesting question though. i I have wondered about it, but yeah, he's like gap fully out of our lives. You know, we have had these like two meetings with him. I think you should absolutely call him back and say, you know, we are in. What, where do we sign up and see what he says? Like let's that let's do a little experiment. Let's see how it goes.
Dating Green Flags: Financial Responsibility
00:31:44
Speaker
Okay. I will, I will take that under herr advisement, Eric. I'm not going to promise you, but I'll take it under advisement.
00:31:50
Speaker
Carla, can I do a cheesy transition? Please be my guest. We are now forgetting about money and transition transitioning onto something else. Carla, so do you sleep well at night knowing that you're primarily invested only in index funds and not fine art?
00:32:07
Speaker
I sure do. Yeah. So we were going to talk about sleep because it's such an important part of one's overall health. I will say I am an incredibly lucky person. I sleep like an absolute rock, probably 95% of the time. I will say during those 5% of nights when I don't get a good night's sleep, whoa, he did not want to be around me. I am a grouch eponymous, but yeah, most of the time I sleep super, super well.
00:32:33
Speaker
wake up feeling like a Disney princess just like yawning and the world is beautiful today. I can't wait to go have a, have a fun day. So yeah, it's, it's pretty good. I'm very, very happy that I'm a good sleeper. What about you guys? Are you, ah you are you, uh, do you sleep like a Disney princess, Eric?
00:32:52
Speaker
I do not sleep like a Disney princess. I would say on average, I'm lucky to get six and a half hours of sleep. I would give myself a solid C minus in the sleeping game. You know, I try, sometimes I'll use melatonin. I'll sleep with earplugs. I also sleep with a shirt over my eyes so that it's pitch black. I love like having pitch black when I sleep.
00:33:15
Speaker
And I like white noise. So I try all these things. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't. My biggest thing is if I wake up at 5 a.m. to go to the bathroom or whatever, I'm awake. Like i I have a hard time falling back to sleep once I wake up. So if I can find that magic magical pill that just puts you to sleep until you wake up, you know, in eight hours, then it would be great. But I haven't found what works for me so solidly yet.
00:33:41
Speaker
What do you think you would try to add to your sleep routine to improve that? Ambien? I don't know. That's a tough one. Maybe giving up, I love coffee. I don't think I drink too much. I'll usually have one to two cups a day. Maybe I could lay off some caffeine, but I do feel that I sleep better in the winter when it's cold. i'm a very I like to be a cold sleeper. and don't like I don't like being warm at all when I sleep. Yeah, I'm with you on that. i I sleep better in the winter as well. Trying to think of like tips I could give you that might be helpful. I sleep with a weighted blanket in the winter and that is delightful if you're a weighted blanket.
00:34:20
Speaker
But that, that is a good thing that I feel like, like more people should try. It feels very cozy and helps people fall asleep, I think. And you go to sleep pretty early too, don't you Carla? If I remember correctly. We're on like a 10 30 to 11 bedtime ish schedule. So not like super early. I know a lot of people around here go to bed at like nine, nine 30.
00:34:40
Speaker
so Yeah, we I can't seem to adjust to that. But yeah, I'm on like an 11 p.m. to 7.30 to 8 a.m. kind of schedule. So yeah, I get a lot of sleep. I really do. It's pretty solid. Nice. And you, David? I have prioritized good sleep. Things that I do to help improve my sleep are, and I don't do this perfectly every time, but in general, I try. No caffeine after 12 o'clock.
00:35:05
Speaker
noon. Eric, you you talked about putting a t-shirt over your face. I've got like eye covers for it and it might look silly, but it's just dark to me. So I'm not looking at myself sleep. It's all good. And that is, I would say that's, that's huge because your body just wants to be in darkness. White noise machine. I have one. My son has one next to his bed. I have one next to mine. Try not to drink too much liquid after 7 PM. Oh, that's a good one. at My age, maybe just by default, you know, I got to get up a few times a night, but that reduces that.
00:35:34
Speaker
urge And at the end of the day, there's ah I shower at night. So I think that's also a thing. I'm not sure. I think of over the last decade and a half, I've seen different things. It's better to shower in the morning. It's better to shower at night for rest. But I think the latest version is it's it's better to shower at night and just crawling into a dirty bed doesn't sound good. Yeah. And then television.
00:35:55
Speaker
So something mindless at the end of the day, because even doing something like this, you're planning, we've been talking for a while now that takes mental energy and you're in your geared up and you're, you do that often enough, whether it's work or whether it's run around with the kids, whether it's doing housework, whatever it is, I think you have to disrupt that flow in order to rest.
00:36:15
Speaker
or at least the rest better. For me, when Quentin is here, we sit and watch just mindless sitcom for maybe be an hour at night ah before he goes to bed. And I think that helps kind of just decompress and and distract and able to to calm down a little bit. So all those things really do help. And I don't have any problem at all sleeping, especially, oh, let's not forget exercise. When I exercise often, my sleep is much better. Yeah, those are all solid tips. I feel like I do a lot of things, quote unquote, wrong that you're supposed to do to be a good sleeper. So yeah, I think personally, it's just,
00:36:43
Speaker
genetic. It's like anything else, right? That's kind of how genetic predispositions to certain things. But yeah yeah, I read almost every night before bed. I have a little Kindle, so I use that every night. Yeah, we do usually watch a little bit of TV before bed, but it's not always something calming. You know, it's often things like, I mean, Game of Thrones is like the most violent thing I can think of that we watched, but that's been um been a hot second. But yeah, it's something like in that vein sometimes, and that doesn't seem to bother me at all. i have learned to nap. I have finally learned how to nap. My body for so many years would not allow me to do that. And now I can usually sit down for like 20 minutes during the middle of the day and check out and take a nap. And it feels amazing just to have that 20 minutes to decompress and wake up and move on again.
00:37:33
Speaker
So that is one thing I'm very proud of myself for is rolling out my mat and having a little nap session when I want one. So it's kind of nice. Yeah, that's a great habit to have. I think naps are so, so underrated. It makes such a difference. Yeah, I think just in general, taking care of your bodily needs is so important. I think I read about a study once where they looked at the criminal sentences that judges impose either just before lunch or just after lunch. And they're like way harsher just before you lunch when they're just hungry.
00:38:07
Speaker
Out the hallway, all the lawyers are fist fighting for who's going to get the after after lunch hours in front of the judge for their client. for sure that's
Gratitude for Health and Financial Independence
00:38:16
Speaker
the thing that happens. Yeah, I wish I had better tips, but I think it's for me, it's just a lot about genetics. I will say I don't drink alcohol and I don don't drink caffeine and I literally never have because I'm kind of a weirdo. It's a whole other topic we can get into someday. Okay, so I have these burning questions that are not sleep related, but that I wanted to ask you both because I thought of just fun, random questions to ask you guys in advance.
00:38:38
Speaker
So I'm curious, what is your biggest green flag when dating? Like what is something that somebody you're on a date with could do that makes you go, heck yeah, this is going to go well. I like this person. You first, David. Well, my mind went straight to red flags. I'm like, how do I make those red flags green flags for the sake of answering this question?
00:38:58
Speaker
See, this is why we're asking this question. We need to focus on the positives in life. It's not anybody's fault, but my own, my own mental something. I don't know, but I think I have something called mysophonia where either certain noises really, basically it's where you have a very strong emotional response towards some kind of sound like chewing, chewing, crunching, crunching to me is probably the biggest one.
00:39:24
Speaker
Smacking, smacking food, crinkling of potato chip bags. So like, even if we have potato chips, we get a bowl and pour them into the bowl before we don't reach into bags because of the crinkling. Make notes, ladies. Tapping, like thanks anything distracting, right? like yeah and it And it's it's not the person's fault. I know, I understand that's completely on my side of the equation, but that's just the way it is. And I've tried to deal with it and done different things to attempt to deal with over time.
00:39:50
Speaker
So I would say if that's a problem, lack of man, and then of course the smacking and then talking with food in your mouth. So it's a, it's between manners and the misophonia thing. If that's suffering, it's so it's an absolute no-go. I don't care how pretty you are. It's not going to happen.
00:40:06
Speaker
Wait, is that, yeah, it was a green flag, right? You're asking for a green flag? No, that was a red flag. I feel like that was the first one. So the green flags would be someone with grace, manners, and being quiet in most daily actions. Okay. That sounds rough when I say it out loud. No comment.
00:40:24
Speaker
Over to you, Eric, what's a green flag for you? Somebody that kisses well. I mean, that's a great green flag when you kiss somebody and it makes you like come alive. That's a huge green flag. So that being said, the other big green flag is when you go on the date and somebody is willing to talk about money and they how they like looking for discounts.
00:40:47
Speaker
and how they like finding the manager specials, or or they have a coupon book, like an entertainment book. and you know Not that they build their life around that, but that they're willing to use discounts that are available.
00:41:03
Speaker
So that's a green flag for me. I think that's that's good that they look at at ways to save money and still have great experiences and find that balance that's fun, but also allows you to be mindful of limited financial resources.
00:41:17
Speaker
Yeah. I love that green flag a lot. I think I am not single. I haven't been for a very long time, but if I were, you know, hypothetically thrust back into the dating market, I think having your financial like stuff in order would be a huge, huge green flag for me. It doesn't mean they have to be wealthy. It doesn't mean they have to be financially independent, but just someone who pays attention to it and is thoughtful about it. I think that's a sign they're going to be thoughtful about a lot of other things in their life too. So yeah, that would be a huge green flag for me.
00:41:45
Speaker
Good question. one more green i I've got a green flag. Okay, can we? I think it's a real green flag. You can tell me if it's not. Someone that looks to add value to your life rather than take it from you. That's perfect. There we go. That almost came without the fact that you hate it when people chew. Can you apply that with an actual, like, real experience? Like, give an example. Oh, yeah. Good one. Sure. I mean, I'm no young spring chicken anymore. So I'm kind of setting my ways for certain things. And if you date somebody at this stage in life, their life is also that same way.
00:42:16
Speaker
to expect this dynamic age of our lives to for two strangers basically to discover each other and completely mesh at every single way you can and it'd be completely harmonious is probably naive and or I don't know maybe there's some drugs involved or something I'm not sure how that would actually be 100% true if you're setting your ways.
00:42:37
Speaker
and you're happy like I am, well, then what value am I looking for companionship, of course? I mean, for someone who's already happy and not looking for someone to check the blocks for their life, you can look at that person and say, okay, well, that's where they are in their life. how can What can I help that person with? And that should be mutual. Both sides should be doing that.
00:42:57
Speaker
So I think if you focus on the value add versus the value get, then on a very practical daily living interaction standpoint, you'll have a lot less challenges. I've got a question. It's the end of the year. We just went through Thanksgiving. What are each of you thankful for?
00:43:13
Speaker
Ah, that's a good one. Thanks. I mean, how much time do you have? I feel like I can just go on and on about all the things I'm grateful for. I have the world's best dog who came in here and shook his collar around a little bit earlier. Grateful for him every day. Have the world's best husband. Grateful for him every day. Just our Phi community here in Longmont and across The Globe, really? So grateful for that all the time. Right behind this camera are big, beautiful, rocky mountains. I'm grateful that we get to live here all the time. Yeah, my list could go on for a while, but I will cut it off there in the interest of time. What about you guys?
00:43:49
Speaker
Go ahead, David. Well, I try to try to gratitude relatively daily, even if, you know, not overt. I'm glad for my health. I've had some challenges in the past, but I've seemed to overcome them and able to live a pretty good and lifestyle. So functionality is great. I know that sounds terrible. I mean, it sounds weird to say functionality, but at this age when you have like a back pull or... You've got like a knee problem. I mean, it really does hinder your ability to focus on things that would normally bring you joy if you're no longer able to pursue those things. If you're hindered by an injury, I am thankful that the people that I care about are still around and still relatively healthy as well. Grateful for thankful for the time that I still have that's not being spent either to pat someone else's pockets or for the, to better someone else's life that I can focus on my life and those people around me that I have.
00:44:39
Speaker
more of an influence and impact over or on. And I'm thankful that I have an optimistic attitude that and a belief that the next year will be just as good or better. Awesome. What about you, Eric? um Let's see. I want to say health also. I think Carla, you know, you and Robert experienced a scary couple of months when we were on our vacation and health is so fragile when something happens. And the fact that Robert is healthy and you're healthy and we're all healthy as we come into a new year or get ready to go into a new year is ah something to be very thankful for because it could be different.
00:45:18
Speaker
I'm thankful for it my ability key to adapt. I don't think I've always been as adaptable as I am now, whether it's relationships or looking at the future and what it could be versus what you imagined. I know that sounds vague, but adaptability, I think it's it's nice. It's a luxury I didn't have before.
00:45:39
Speaker
but Financial independence is something I'm very thankful for because it is a ah sense of comfort that I don't have to worry about the things that so many people do have to worry about. It's a luxury and and I'm grateful for it. I'm thankful for it. And I don't take it like... and good relationships friendships that i've developed in the fight community i'm thankful for the leaders of the fight community like steven who host camp fire makes it such a great space for so many of us to come together. I'm barely who does the fire crews and you know any who does the bally.
00:46:14
Speaker
and even five retreat. it's It's just amazing that we have people that are bringing us all together. And I'm very thankful for for all those opportunities and to be able to give back to the Phi community.
Call for Reddit Post Contributions
00:46:27
Speaker
that's That's something I'm also thankful for, is to share information that we learn and be able to pass that on and help others. Yay.
00:46:35
Speaker
Carla and Eric, it was great visiting with you. We must do this again soon, maybe in the new year. If you're listening to this and you come across a social media post or a Reddit post that piques your interest, please share them with us. And we might do this kind of episode periodically, maybe once a month and give you our thoughts. Once again, thank you very much for listening and hanging out with us for this episode. And we look forward to many, many more. Thanks, guys. See you next time. See ya.