Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - The Time Cari Champion Needed Money Rehab— and How a Financial Advisor Helped Her Through It

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

Meeting with a financial advisor can feel like you’re inviting someone to see you financially naked and that is super stressful… especially if you’re not where you want to be financially, or if there’s something in your financial picture you’re confused about, but you don’t want to look silly if you ask for clarification. Today, Nicole and Cari Champion make your stress melt away by sharing ultra-embarrassing stories from meetings with their financial advisors. Trust us: you won't top this! Here is the financial planning company Nicole mentioned in the episode: https://facet.com/moneyrehab Here is the episode of Money Rehab where Nicole role-plays a financial planner call: https://link.chtbl.com/lw0H-QT9?sid=FACET

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. I'm Nicole L hard to ask for help. I am the poster child of this. I've got it on my own mentality with a Miss Independent ringtone. But even I, Miss Independent herself, has some help with my own finances and lots of it. After all, doctors have doctors, shrinks have shrinks trainers have trainers we all need help even the experts i would recommend any money rehabber have a

financial advisor i have a financial advisor her name is rebecca and she is awesome i know that meeting with a financial advisor can feel like you're inviting someone to see you financially naked and that can be super stressful especially if you're not where you want to be financially or if there's something in your financial picture that you're confused about, but you don't want to look silly asking for clarification. Well, money rehabbers, I'm going to make you feel better because in my first meeting with Rebecca, I made myself look sillier than you ever will. Here's how it went down. First of all, I was sweating a lot, like a lot, lot, so much so that I bought maxi pads for the little

machine in the firm's bathroom to stuff under my armpits. Obviously, I was nervous about how this meeting would go. I thought a financial advisor would be judgmental and similar to these so-called financial experts who nix any fun money I'm spending. I imagined Rebecca would be some old pantsuit-we wearing troll who hid out in a dark closet with a calculator and stacks of paperwork all day. But no, she was actually cool, smart, and super trendy. In your first meeting with a financial advisor, you'll probably go through your bank accounts, your bills, your credit card statements, your investments. That's what Rebecca and I did on our first meeting, and it actually went pretty well, pretty painless. And then she asked me

about growing wealth, and I told her that I was making a good salary at the time, and I thought I was on track to keep getting promoted and stepping up salary bands or pay ranges. She was the first person that told me that increasing my salary won't grow wealth. She told me that even if I saved more money, I would actually be losing money over time in a regular savings or checking account because of inflation. That's because historically inflation rates go up about 3% a year. And if you're making 1% in the bank a year, then you're actually losing net 2% in purchasing power in the future. The rate of inflation will still be more than what you're

ultimately earning. And Rebecca was totally right. Making more money at work is always a great idea if you can swing it, but you should also have your money make money for you at least to cover the pace of inflation. So in my meeting with Rebecca, she started talking to me about how I should be growing my wealth. She asked me if I knew about tips. And of course I said, yes, I know all about tips. I tip every time I go to a restaurant. So I figured she was telling me about her fee structure and hinting at a tip. And I dug around in my wallet to give her cash. Well, it turns out she was actually telling me about Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. They are bonds that you can buy to protect you and your money from inflation from the government.

that you can buy to protect you and your money from inflation from the government. Rebecca was not asking me for a tip. She was giving me a tip. The best sport is always laughing at your former self. I mean, I stopped hating on that girl a long time ago. She was doing the best she could. But I will never, ever forget what TIPS stands for. And Rebecca will not let me live that one down either. Tip your waitress. Do not tip your financial advisor. I am not the only one with an embarrassing financial advisor story. I caught up with Carrie Champion a little while ago, who is a broadcast journalist extraordinaire, sports expert, and the host of an amazing podcast, Naked with Carrie Champion. When we sat down, she told me about some of her embarrassing financial confessions and why she found it

so hard to build trust with a financial advisor but she ultimately did here's part of that conversation when was the time you needed money rehab if i'm being honest with you when i graduated from college i graduated with a lot of debt uh i do know how like you get your first couple of credit cards you don't know how you get them, but you get them. It was like predatory credit card attacks. You're walking up and down campus. You think you're signing up for a stuffed animal or a water bottle and you get a Discover card in the mail.

You're like, I'll use it. And so I just learned really poor habits. Like my credit limits were little, but I had really poor habits. I'd spend all of my credit $2,,500, and then I'd pay small amounts off here and there. And then I would just, sometimes I paid it all, or I just didn't feel any pressure to maintain my credit. I was living check to check and I was living for the moment. And then when I graduated, I realized not only did I have like bad credit, I had $40,000 in student loans and someone had to pay them. They give you six months, somebody had to pay them. And so I would say probably from my early 20s up until I actually start making decent money. And by decent money, I mean, I didn't feel like I was check to check. Might've been honestly until my mid thirties. And when you were growing up,

you didn't talk about money with your family. No, I, my mother, I remember saying things to her because I was, I was raised by my mom. My dad was in the picture, but it was primarily my mom. She's a single mom and she was working really, really hard. And we lived comfortable in my understanding. I didn't feel like I wanted anything. I didn't feel like I didn't have the things I needed, but her habits were to look nice. My mom always had

nice shoes and nice clothes and I always had nice shoes and nice clothes. Whether we saved our money was never a thing, but I would just see this vision of what appeared to look nice, but with very little. And now that I look back on it, very little substance, right? So piece in point, like I was going to college and my mother opened a checking account for me. And this is how I knew I didn't know anything about finances. I can't even believe, I'm embarrassed to tell this story, but it's also freedom for people to be honest. I had a checking account and I just thought I could write checks and the check was going to pay for it. I didn't know there needed to be cash in the bank. Yeah. I've heard this actually before.

Somebody said, I have money because I have checks. That's literally what I thought. Excuse me. And I was like, my mom was like, no, you need money. I was like, well, explain. And she didn't feel like she needed to explain it to me. I think I was introduced to this world where people believed you live in debt for the rest of your life and you figure it out because that's how she was taught. And that's how her parents taught her and her mom taught her and so on and so forth. And I remember, though, thinking even as a kid, well, I'm not going to live in debt. I was like, that doesn't sound like any fun. I didn't know what that meant, but I just remember thinking, that's not for me.

That doesn't sound like the life that I don't like to be told what to do. That doesn't sound like the fun. I didn't know what that meant, but I just remember thinking, that's not for me. That doesn't sound like the life that I, I don't like to be told what to do. That doesn't sound like the life for me. I think I needed rehab up until that, I mean, literally to my mid thirties. And I started hanging around different groups of people. And I realized that I think I was making a lot of money, meaning I had all this money left over after every paycheck. And so then what you learn is to buy and shop. And then after that, I was like, gosh, left over after every paycheck. And so then what you learn is to buy and shop. And then after that, I was like, gosh, I have so many things. I don't want any more things. Okay, now I want to travel. And then I'm like, oh, this takes real money. And now I need to learn to save and make smart decisions. And it all started to come together.

But after I paid off my student loans, I was on the road to financial freedom for me. I was on the road to being very smart with my money. I still think I'm a little carefree and laissez-faire with it. There's more that I can do. But every year I'm taking these huge, huge leaps towards just retiring early and making sure that I don't ever have to worry again about money. and making sure that I don't ever have to worry again about money. I mean, there's always more to learn at every level. We should always be learning. Every day, every single day.

And I'm also a big believer in asking all the questions that sound silly. Like I have a business manager. Here was the true test. After I paid off all of my student debt, I said, I'm going to find somebody to pay all my bills on time, get my credit together and teach me how to save. Just the basics, right? So if someone's listening, I don't know, my first step is just like, get out of debt, pay your bills on time, start saving. In that order, get out of debt, pay your bills on time. That's right. I agree.

Right? And then I went to this lady and I was like, okay, this company. And I was like, okay, I was told that you would be great to help me manage my funds. And she said, well, we need control of all of your funds. Like you can't have an account in bank of America and we don't know what you're doing with it in order for us to help you build a whole financial picture. We need to have access to all your accounts and all your money. Now, take a young girl who grew up not knowing anything about finances and thinking most people until I was like well into my adulthood, most people live check to check, which they do. Most of my family members do. So she's saying, give me all of your money and I'm going to take care of it. And I'm like, I don't know you like that.

She wants the keys to the queendom. I was like, I don't know you like that. I'm like, my money lady. I don't know who you are. Honestly, I can imagine you saying it. Did you imagine that conversation to someone who has absolutely little to no experience with this or financial literacy for that matter? Someone is saying, give me all of your money and I'll pay all your bills. Yeah. Okay. I'm like, so my street smarts are like, I know I've seen this before. You're not going to rob me. I've read too many stories. Right? Like I saw the Selena movie. I've seen it and I don't want it. I don't want it to happen to me. Yeah. So you didn't work with them. I did actually. Oh shit. I did. You know why your spidey sense said no, but you did it anyway. And then I'm assuming it went well. Perfect. Like after I, the money rehab, I needed it because I had been doing it on my own. So I'm,

I'm telling you for the bulk of my life, I was in dire need. Like I had all the things, but I was, you know, living check to check. And I was like, Ooh, let me rob Peter to pay Paul and let me do. And I was, I wasn't managing well. And I was like, I have to just trust. And the only reason why I didn't trust this woman was because I just didn't know this. This is, there were companies that, that were out there that did this to call. I had no idea. Anyway, so when it started to, when she started to work with me, I learned some really significant things that I had been dealing, that I had been doing that were really detrimental to my finances. I wasn't, I would wait to the very last minute to pay my bill. I don't, I would look at the bill and I

put it aside. I'm like, I don't want to deal with that now. Someone else should deal with that. I don't want to deal with that. And I just was very careless about my financial future, if there's the best way to describe it. Yeah, I misjudged this story. So this was a plot twist. So what changed between that first conversation where it was like,

lady, no, and then yes, here are all the keys to my queendom. Yeah. I started to ask around because I was, she was actually recommended to me by somebody who I admired, but he was very different for me. I am a single black woman. And so I just looked at his life and I was like, I was, he seems smart. He's not too flashy. He seems to save. He is my agent. Is he trying smart. He's not too flashy. He seems to save. He is my agent. Is he trying to, he's my TV agent. Is he trying to, I mean, I think he has my best interest.

He wouldn't recommend, you know what I mean? And so I started to trust her and it was a rough go. God bless this woman for dealing with me because I was so unaware. I was so skeptical. I was so apprehensive because I was under the assumption of trust no one with your money, which you still should be very, but anything that she would do, I'd be like, I'd like to talk to you about this $25 fee that I see being taken out of my account. She's like, well, we FedExed you some materials for insurance. And so it was a $25. I was like,

I have to pay for that? Everything was like, I have to pay for that. Like everything was just, I have to watch. Yeah. So the fear and the transition manifested into you like being Nancy Drew with everything that was going on. And asking the most basic, arguably the most simple questions for questions where she's like, oh God, this client is driving me insane. But she was so patient with me and I'm with her to this day. That was in 2017. She has been my rock in terms of walking me through the process. But now it's another level to it, right? Now that I'm here, I'm all like, well, now I have questions and I want to make my money work for me. And I am now taking charge of what I want to do. And I'm all like, well, now I have questions and I want to make my money work for me. And I am now taking charge of what I want to do. And I'm asking her about certain accounts and why don't I have

that? And I don't think we're doing this with my, you know, and I think the confidence to be comfortable with your relationship with money really changes how you look at money. It really does. And I was so uncomfortable with money because it seemed so precious. And it is, but I just didn't understand just some of the basic nuances. And I really feel like I want to be mad at my high school teacher, even in college. I'm like, how can I learn a basic... Why is that not a G? A G, a general education to teach you what to do with your money or what a 401k is for. I have, I was at a company for 10 years and I really wasn't giving 401k everything because I thought

it was a rip. Like it's free money. Like why not? Because we didn't learn it in school. And if you were like my family or your family, we didn't talk about it at home. Do you think that some of that stemmed from stress? Like was money a source of stress or was it just taboo or a little bit of both? Why you didn't talk about it? It's a great question. It was, it was stress. Money was always illustrated as stressful in my house. Was there growing up, was there enough? And even if there was enough, we never talked as if there was enough. So what do you want for Christmas? Well, we can't afford that. Okay, we're getting ready to go to the store.

Don't ask for everything. Or I want to be on the homecoming court, mom. Can I do that? Well, how much does that cost? Money was like, would limit our access to what we wanted to do. I started working when I was 12 years old. I had like that little part-time job when I was 12 years old. I had like that little part-time job when I was 12 years old. What were you doing? I was working at this place, which is still up and

running in Pasadena, California called EconoPrint. And these were, and I remember me and my then best friend Starla at the time walked up and down Colorado Boulevard looking for jobs. And these people were so nice to us and we didn't know what we were doing and they gave us a job. jobs and these people were so nice to us and we didn't know what we were doing and they gave us a job. We totally dropped the ball, but it taught me a lot. That one experience taught me a lot. And I was like, okay, I'm going to start working because then I can get money. That was my conversation with Keri. And Keri is a boss. So that should tell you that everyone struggles with money and money conversations. So there's really nothing to be embarrassed about here. So after hearing my tip story and Carrie's checkbook confession story,

I hope you can put aside your feels and swipe right on a financial advisor. If you don't know where to start, I personally love Facet. It's a company that is truly changing the financial planning game right now. And I love them so much that I asked them to work with them. And they're giving a great deal to money rehabbers right now. Head over to facet.com slash money rehab. That's F-A-C-E-T dot com slash money rehab to learn more or check out the link in the description. And if you're ready to have that conversation but have no idea how to have it, I actually did a little role playing situation with someone from Facet, and we acted out what the first call with the financial planner should sound like. And you can just follow that script if you want. I've also linked that in the show notes.

For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. When you're looking for a financial planner, make sure you're looking for someone with the CFP certification. That's the gold standard of accreditation for financial planning, and it means that they're a fiduciary. In other words, they're legally required to act in your best interest. If your financial planner is not a CFP, swipe left. Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoie. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your

questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram at moneynews and TikTok at moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.