More Money Podcast - 287 How To Be A Money-Smart Solopreneur - Laura Adams, Podcast Host, Author and Spokesperson

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

This week I’m so excited to be talking to an OG personal finance podcaster who started her show in 2008 and has now amassed over 40 million downloads! I am joined by none other than Laura Adams, the host of the Money Girl Podcast. Laura joins me to chat about her new book, Money-Smart Solopreneur: A Personal Finance System for Freelancers, Entrepreneurs, and Side-Hustlers as well as how she ended up in a career in personal finance. Laura Adams is a leading insurance and finance analyst with over a decade of top-level experience. She’s a writer, podcast host and award-winning author and spokesperson, which has led her to become one of the top leading finance, insurance and small business authorities in the U.S. In today’s episode, Laura shares the money mistakes she made early in her adult life and the lessons that her book aims to teach budding solopreneurs so that they may achieve long-term success in their businesses. Laura also shares the key protections every self-employed person should have in place in order to ensure their business can withstand the curveballs that life tends to throw our way. I can’t wait for you to listen and soak up all the great tips and advice Laura was able to share! For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/287 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. This is episode 287, and I'm your host, Jessica Morehouse, and I'm very excited to have my next guest on the show because she is someone I've looked up to for years, been a big, big fan of her podcast for years and years and years. I mean, since she's had it since 2008. So yes, this is why in last week's episode, the end of last week's episode, I said she is basically the OG of personal finance podcast in my books. I don't know any other personal finance podcast that's been around for as long as hers, quite honestly.

Who am I talking about? Well, I'm of course talking about the one and only Laura Adams, the host of the Money Girl podcast. Now, in case you don't know, Laura is a leading insurance and finance analyst with over a decade of top level experience, and she has been the writer and voice behind the weekly top rated Money Girl podcast since 2008. And it has received, get this, more than 40 million downloads. Yikes. She's also an award winning author and spokesperson. And Laura is one of the nation's leading finance, insurance and small business authorities. And she's on the show because she has a new book out, guys. She has a book that if you are a self-employed person or a

solopreneur is, you know, I kind of like that title for us, you know, solopreneur. If you are, you know, in the same boat, you're going to love this episode because she has a new book out called Money Smart Solopreneur, a personal finance system for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and side hustlers. And we get into the nitty gritty because I feel like especially when you search the internet for information about starting your own business or a side hustle, a lot of it is oriented on the topic of marketing, getting clients, sales. But you know what is missing a lot of the time? Some of that really important business stuff like the accounting, how to set up your bank accounts, how to protect yourself with

insurance, all these different elements that, for me, I had to learn through a lot of mistakes, or just, you know, getting to know other solopreneurs and finding out what they were doing. But I found it not very prevalent in terms of finding that information online, when all these like business coaches are out there, they never talk about this. So I'm so glad to have her on the show to talk about some of the really important things that you need to have set up to be successful at running your own business. Can't wait to share this episode with you. But before I do get to that, I just want to share a few words about this podcast episode sponsor. This episode of the More Money Podcast is supported by TD Direct Investing. TD Direct

Investing is marking June as Options Education Month with the goal of helping investors learn more about options trading. Throughout the month, they are hosting a number of free virtual events for beginner and intermediate investors alike. Want to learn about some of the things people wish they knew before they began or build on some of the knowledge you may already have on options? Visit td.com slash options education month to register for one of the many live webinars TD Direct Investing will be hosting. Or if you're more interested in getting an introduction to options in the first place, there are a number of on-demand video lessons available too. To learn more and to check out the list of free events, visit td.com slash options education month. Once again, to find

out what webinars, masterclasses, and on-demand video lessons are available to view for free, visit TD dot com slash options education month. Welcome to the More Money Podcast, Laura. I'm so thrilled to have you on the show. Huge fan over here. And you are really, like when it comes down to it, one of the OG, not only podcasters, but I'd say probably one of the first personal finance podcasts that I'm at least aware of. I've been aware of you since you started your show back in 2008. So it's such a treat to have you on my show. Jessica, thank you so much.

I'm thrilled to be here. And yeah, I appreciate it. I was back in the days when there weren't that many financial podcasts out there, but there sure are a lot now. And your show is one of the terrific shows out there that people have to choose from. Well, thank you so much. I mean, yeah, your show really has was one of the first ones. I mean, I started my show back in 2015. And even then, which, you know, looking back doesn't seem that long, almost six years ago, but there really

wasn't a ton out there in terms of personal finance podcast, which is crazy, because it's like this is such an important topic. And luckily, you've been around, you know, for so, so long. So you have 40 million downloads and over 600 episodes, which is crazy. So I feel like you really do touch on every single thing anyone could possibly want to know about in terms of personal finance. So I want to kind of know what the background was. What kind of inspired you to start that podcast back in 2008? I graduated from graduate school, got my MBA. And what I found was that there were a lot of folks in my, in my cohort, that were very successful. Careerwise. They were very successful with education. They maybe had multiple master's degrees, but they were struggling with their finances. And it really struck me that

you can be super successful, super smart, and that's no guarantee that you're going to be good with money. Even if you're working in corporate finance, I found that a lot of folks were still kind of, you know of not understanding what to do with their own money. So after I graduated, I began listening to a lot of podcasts. So this was probably in, gosh, 2004, 2005. And I was like an early podcast adopter. I was addicted to them. And do you remember those little iPod shuffles, those tiny things? I had one of those like loaded up with podcasts. I think I was subscribed to like 50 podcasts at the time. I was crazy.

And I was consuming so much free content that I thought, well, what can I do to give back to the community? I thought, well, maybe finance would be an area that folks would have some interest. And so I started a different show than I have now. And really the response came from the personal side. I did a little bit of corporate, a little bit of personal, and I got tons of great feedback on the personal side. And so that really influenced my direction. And so later got picked up

by the Quick and Dirty Tips Network to join their budding network. And that was in 2008, as you mentioned. And so, you know, from there, it just kind of took off. And they were owned at the time, and they actually still are owned by Macmillan Publishing. So that led to book deals and some other opportunities, which eventually, you know, kind of led me getting into doing more media and PR. So it's just funny, the winding road that, you know, your career can take you. Yeah. What was your career before you started the podcast? And could you have

ever expected that you'd be doing what you are now? I have done so many different things. You know, I started out with my husband. We were self-employed for many years. We had a floor covering store in Central Florida. My husband came from the floor covering industry. And so we did that together for many years and ended up selling the business and moving on to do different things. I was involved in training, corporate training for some time. And then I got involved. And I had also been involved in finance, you know, not really loving it, you know, thinking that maybe I should be an accountant, maybe I should, you know, be a CPA. And it never really felt like a good fit.

I was always good with math, loved money, but didn't necessarily want to do that as a career. And so I knew that I could, you know, be successful running my own business. But after we sold the business, I thought, well, I want to branch out into other things. And that's actually when I got my MBA, and was kind of searching for what's, you know, what's my next thing, and just kind of found my way into the personal finance, education, and content space, you know, kind of by accident. So I'm really glad that I ended up there. Yeah, I know. I mean, same to me. I have a very bizarre background. And it's like, I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm glad I did. But I know part of, you know,

what also makes you I mean, your show so popular is you do share, you know, about yourself, like, obviously, you have such great advice, but also you come from a place where you've been there, you've experienced lots of these things yourself. And I think a lot of people can relate to that you want to share a little bit about, you know, you know, some of the things in the earlier days, some of the mistakes that you made that kind of, I guess, also helped you really figure out, oh, personal finance is something that I can speak to not just on a level where it's like, I understand the practicalities and what to do, but also what not to do, because I've made some mistakes in the past. Yeah, I mean, who hasn't made mistakes with money, right? I mean, it's anybody who hasn't, I think is telling a story. So you know, we do in

a lot of cases learn by trial and error, unfortunately, and that's really what I'm trying to help people avoid. If you can learn from others' mistakes, learn from my mistakes, it doesn't guarantee you're not going to make them, but you're certainly less likely to make big, expensive mistakes. And I would say some of my earliest mistakes when I was starting out in my career, I was very hesitant to get involved in our workplace retirement plan. So the 401k that we had at work, I didn't understand it. And as somebody in my early 20s, just out of school, never having any education about personal finance, I was very involved in my own education and reading, and I was always very interested, but did not know what a 401k was. My employer was not very communicative

about explaining it. It was like we were just supposed to know what it was. And it scared me. I thought, well, what if I invest my money and then I don't want to stay with this company long term? Am I going to lose any portion of it? So that's an example of just how being uninformed or uneducated keeps you from making smart money decisions. It's not that I did anything wrong, but boy, do I wish that I had gotten started a few years earlier because I'd be that much farther ahead. So that's kind of a small mistake. I've made other big mistakes too.

One that comes to mind is getting involved in a Ponzi scheme. No way. Yes. This was something in my mid-20s. All I can break it down to is pure greed. I had a friend that came to me who said, oh my gosh, I have this fantastic investment. You need to get involved. Well, I asked about it, and they were like, well, I don't really know much about it. But boy, you know, the returns are fantastic. And so I trusted that person, I trusted the person that that person trusted, and so on, typical, you know, typical type of scam and how it works. And so yes, those folks were making some good returns early on, but we all know that house of cards eventually collapses on itself after a period of time. And so that did happen. And so I lost a chunk of money, was able to get some of it back through the litigation,

the class action litigation, but not all of it. And it was a huge learning experience for me, not only to understand how people get snookered, but understanding what happens if you do get involved in a Ponzi scheme, like the legal aspect of it all. So it recently had Tiffany Eilish on my show. And she also, you know, now she's like this big money expert has, you know, a New York Times best selling book. She also was scammed early on in her 20s. And it's one of those things where no one really talks about, you know, kind of getting duped. And I think there's a lot of shame, because you're like, Oh, this is so stupid, I should have known better. But I mean, I think there's a lot of shame because you're like, oh, this is so stupid. I should have known better. But I mean, I think, you know, as we all kind of learn more about these, how these things are set up, it's like, how could you have known? And it really is based off trust.

And you probably are trusting people that, you know, are trustworthy, but then they trust someone who isn't. And I mean, gosh, I've heard so many stories lately about these things happening to people that you would not expect to to kind of get caught up in that. But it seems kind of easier, you know, than you think. Yeah, and I do think we're vulnerable until we have a reason, you know, not to trust in a lot of cases. And so once you learn those lessons, you know, you're never going to forget them, especially when they cost you a lot of money. And, you know, those are not the types of things that I necessarily talk a lot about on the Money Girl podcast.

But as you mentioned, I do try to involve some of my personal experiences just to give people a sense of perspective and to understand that I am coming from a real place. You know, I do consider myself, you know, an expert. I've published many books and do consider myself an expert. I've published many books and do consider myself an expert, but I also have made mistakes. And so that's just part of life. And what we hope is that if we do make mistakes, they're not mistakes that you can't recover from. And so the money that I put in that Ponzi scheme was money that I could afford to lose.

And so I'm very fortunate in that respect. There are a lot of people that put their life savings in investments that they don't understand, and they can't afford to lose them. And then all of a sudden, they get scammed, and they are literally left holding a bag of worms for their entire retirement. And so that is just devastating. So yes, we do need to be aware, eyes open. I always tell people, if you don't understand an investment, if you really can't explain it to a five-year-old, you have no business investing in it. And so in a lot of cases, simple, easy, mainstream are the types of investments that we really need to be focused on, not the things that are on the fringes. Well, I'm sure you have some opinions about what's been going on with all of the GameStop stuff that happened in the past few months with all this kind of meme stocks and whatnot, and then cryptocurrency. For me, it's it is such kind of weird new territory. And I feel like so open to

potential harm for people because you know, that's another kind of element of I've seen new scams of, you know, people open up some new cryptocurrency, and then you know, you find out it's actually not legitimate. Yeah, it is the wild wild west with crypto. And while it's fascinating, and I would never poo poo it because I think it you know, it likely is the way of the future. And while it's fascinating, and I would never poo-poo it because I think it, you know, it likely is the way of the future. And certainly the blockchain technology is the way of the future. I don't believe that it is at this point a stable enough investment for anybody to consider it reliable for retirement. If you've got a little bit of extra money that you want to play with and you want to invest and just see, hey, what might happen if I have a few hundred dollars in this or

that? Unfortunately, a lot of these crypto are going to cost you a lot more than a few hundred dollars to get in them. But some can be affordable. So if that is something you're just curious about, you want to see how it works, you want to understand the wallets and all of the things that you use to actually use cryptocurrency. It's a great thing to experiment with.

But again, it's not something that I would recommend anybody make a large percentage of their portfolio. It would be a minor fraction of a fraction of your portfolio if you are going to invest in it for the long term. Yeah, proceed with caution. That's pretty much what I say over and over. I get almost every single presentation I do, I always get a question on, should I invest in cryptocurrency? I'm like, I'm just going to give you the exact same answer. Proceed with caution. Don't invest your whole nest egg. I don't know what's going to happen with it. No one can predict the future. It's

very volatile. It is a lot to take in. So yeah, be careful. So going back, so you've had the show since 2008. A lot has changed in the world since 2008. I mean, I'm sure back when you first started the show, I mean, that was during the recession. We just dealt with that big market crash. I'm a millennial. So it was very fresh in my mind, a big part of my life, becoming a new adult finishing college. So much has changed. And now we're in 2021. And, you know, last year was an interesting year, to say the least another market crash, a lot of new. Well, I don't know, you know, what your experience is. But I've talked to so many people. And it's interesting to see, there's a lot of similarities compared to, you know, a decade ago, a lot of new things popping up a lot of new kind of financial struggles. And, you know, people kind of panicking and still not

sure what to do how to kind of protect themselves, you want to kind of share, you know, since you have this, you know, great experience from both, you know, the last crash, the current crash, what's going on in the financial world? What are some of the things that you're hearing from some of your listeners? What are some of their struggles and what are some of the things that you're telling them? You're right. There are a lot of similarities, but there are a lot of differences too. And when I got into the podcast world back in 2007, 2008, yeah, things were crumbling. And it was definitely a scary time. But it was also such a great time to be in personal finance, because I felt like I could offer solutions

and help and serve people in a new way. And so back then, we were talking about FDIC insurance. We were talking about how much emergency savings you should have. Where should that emergency savings be? People were truly afraid that banks were going to collapse at that point. So there was a lot of confusion around how do I protect just my savings? So that's been super simple or super interesting to see that come back around and see people also asking, what should my emergency fund look like? How much should I have? Where should it be? Should I invest it? Some of those same questions have come up, but certainly very

different in the fact that our banking system hasn't been threatened or felt threatened. And a lot of questions too, also around starting a business, because folks have really wanted to branch out, get more income streams, really protect their income, especially if they've been in a vulnerable industry, tourism, restaurants, that sort of thing, and where you were out of work or felt like you might get fired any day. So I've had lots of questions this time around, what do I do to start a business? Where do I start? Do I need a license? Do I need to incorporate on and on? So that's been quite different. And I mean, it makes sense, you know,

good timing with your latest book, the money smart solopreneur, personal finance system for freelancers, entrepreneurs and side hustlers. I feel like in the past 12 months, I've never gotten so many questions about self employment taxes, how to set up my bank accounts. I mean, obviously, it's, you know, the setup here in Canada is a bit different in the US, you know, for instance, you can be a sole proprietor, a partnership or a corporation. But still, there's so many questions that I get all the time. And there's not a lot of information, especially when it comes down to how to set up that personal finance system. How do I make sure I'm saving enough for taxes? How do I make sure I'm doing it right? I don't want to make a mistake.

And there's really not that there's like a few handful of books I might know about a lot of the content or information I see is how to start it, you know, a side hustle or how to make money. But what about when you're actually running your business? Most of us are, I mean, you know, I've been running my own business for over four years now. But really, I didn't have any formal education in terms of starting a business. And I think most people that are starting a side hustle, their own small business or starting to freelance because of, you know, what's going on in the job market, they have no kind of concept of where should I start? Jessica, you're so right, there is no blueprint for it. And it's going to vary depending on the type of business you start and what your dreams are, you know, do you want to build something big? Or do you want to stay

small? I was finding and still I'm finding that there is a growing number of what I'm calling solopreneurs simply because they don't want to hire. They really want to use other contractors. People want to start simple. Maybe down the road, they may consider hiring somebody full time.

But for the most part, folks are just wanting to kind of dip their toe into the entrepreneurial waters. And I'm finding that that solopreneur identity really applies to many of them. And so whether you call yourself a contractor, a freelancer, a solopreneur, it's really all the same thing. If you're not getting a paycheck from an employer, you are self-employed. You are creating your own business income. And a lot of people don't realize that. They don't realize that once you start making money on your own, whether it's from an app as a Uber driver or delivery person that you are responsible for a new set of taxes and you have a new responsibility as a business owner. So I think a lot of people get very

confused about that or are totally unaware until tax time comes around. And then it's like, wow, I owe a whole lot more than I thought I was going to. And then what happens is year two in the business, you're in the hole, because you have to pay taxes that you had not saved for. And that's very unfortunate. So I'm trying to help people understand that they've got to put away that savings in order to afford the tax that they owe. That's a very common mistake. So yeah, Money Smart Solopreneur is about those nitty gritty kind of things. But it's also about how do you protect not only the future of your business, but your personal financial future? How do you invest for retirement as a self-employed

person? What are your options? Because people forget about that. It's like, you know, all of a sudden, maybe they leave the workforce and okay, well, now I don't have that 401k or a retirement plan. So I'm going to go work for myself. And I think people just assume, well, one day I'll make a lot of money. And one day I'm going to make that big deposit into the retirement account. And as we all know, that one day will never come if you don't plan for it. So really trying to get people to set up some very simple retirement savings options for themselves very quickly. And it's not so much about how much you put in is really the habit of setting that account up, getting into the habit of moving money, even small amounts on a regular basis. So I give folks

a lot of tips and what I'm calling systems for success that will allow them to automate what they need to be doing to make sure that they can be as successful as possible, not only right now, but in the future. Yeah, I think one thing that, you know, kind of new self employed people don't don't realize is you're not just running your business. So you're not just like the CEO of your business. You're also the CFO, the chief financial officer. You're the accounting department, your payroll, you're all these different departments. But you are you know, you are doing it all alone.

And if you were an employee for most of your career, I mean, like that was my experience. You kind of take that for granted. You kind of forget. Oh, yeah, there's a whole bunch of departments that were taking care of all these other things that I didn't realize, you know, like my, you know, my benefits and my taxes and all that kind of stuff. And it's so, so important to be like, yes, you are, you know, the main owner, and you know, you're running your business, but you're also all these other departments, and no one else is going to take that, you know, take care of it for you, unless, you know, you hire some people like your own accountant and bookkeeper.

But most of us, when just starting out, we can't afford that. So we have to do it ourselves. Yeah, it's so true. And it can be a little overwhelming at first. And so I always encourage people to get help when needed. In most cases, paying for a little bit of guidance and support and help is going to be well worth it in the long run. Even though most business owners are feeling tight financially at first, I don't feel like

they can afford the help. I can tell you I've always used a tax professional and they have always been well worth it because they're saving me money in the long run. So I do recommend getting help if you have any questions. And even just getting the types of insurance that you need, that's, oh gosh, that's something that people also overlook. And if you are in any kind of industry where you could get involved in a lawsuit, you definitely need to have some type of business insurance. But even if you're not, you know, even me, I'm, you know, more of a writer and a consultant and media person, I've got insurance because I want to make sure that if there were any liability that I fell into that I've got coverage for that. So just having some amount of business liability is really, really important. It can also make you look a little bit more professional. If you are working with a big company, in a lot of cases,

they may want you to provide proof of your insurance. And so if you've got that, that can kind of give you a leg up, makes you look a little bit more professional. Yeah. No, that's one thing that I think most people forget about when you're running your business, especially with like, well, it's just me, you know, out of my home office, like, why? Well, again, it's like you, you need to take care of that. I've always had professional liability insurance, because not that I think I will get sued. But you know, to be fair, I am in the world of personal finance where people, you know, I don't know, you know, like, I'm just always terrified of getting sued. Not that it's like that, that likely, but I'm very, you know, cautious of that. It's just seeing so many headlines in the news of businesses that didn't

set those protections in place. You never want to, you're already kind of vulnerable because you are, you know, really responsible for earning all of your own income. You want to be able to put some protections in place. So you're not vulnerable to other areas that were super avoidable. Yeah, that's it. I mean, insurance is about peace of mind, right? So, you know, that's one other layer of protection that you have. Maybe another layer is savings, you know, creating some savings for your business, creating your personal savings account, having that kind of buffer of a little cash cushion to help you if things don't go quite as well as you hope. And for most businesses, they've got variable income. And so, you know,

your expenses and your income could vary significantly from month to month. So having the cash cushion, having the insurance, having, you know, that a business entity, you know, down the road, if that's something else that is appropriate for you, that's all another layer of protection that you can set up. So these are all things that are covered in the book in great detail. They may seem a little boring, but once you kind of get all that stuff up and running, you can pretty much forget about it. But it's just really important stuff that you don't want to forget in the in the beginning stages. And you also mentioned to you know, besides the business insurance side of things,

again, you're also kind of the employee of your company. So you need to and you're no longer getting any kind of insurance or benefits from an employer. And I think, again, a lot of us take that for granted. We forget about that once we go off on our own. What are some, you know, things to protect ourselves personally? Any kind of I know in the US, obviously health insurance, that's a huge, huge component. But what are some other kind of protections we should put in place that typically might be covered if we were to work for an employer? Right? Yeah. So fortunately, in the US, getting insurance has become a lot easier. Not that it's cheap, but it definitely is easier to shop, compare. Depending on your income, you may qualify for a subsidy that can make it a little bit more affordable. Also, looking at things like life insurance, most people get a little bit of

life insurance at work. And they think, oh, well, that's plenty. And for a lot of people, that typically isn't enough. And so especially if you go out on your own, making sure that if you've got folks who are dependent on you financially or could be dependent on you financially, let's say aging parents, you need a policy so you can easily buy that on your own. You know, shopping and comparing policies online is just easier than ever. So that's a big one. You know, disability is something that I've always had because you just never know.

And the younger you are when you get a policy like disability, the cheaper it's going to be. And you can lock in a rate for as long as you want. And that is going to protect at least a portion of your income. If something happens and you're unable to work, a lot of people don't realize that you are more likely to become disabled than you are to die. And so there are a lot of different types of disabilities. You could talk about pregnancy, could be a short-term disability, or maybe a long-term disability from a back injury or a chronic illness. We just don't know what the future brings. And while we don't want to overpay for insurance, we don't want to be underinsured

on the other side of that. So looking at disability, looking at life, of course, health, the business policy is key. Also, you might want to consider life insurance if you've got a partner in your business. The key man insurance is something that would protect you if a partner in your business were to pass away, then you would have the ability to be a beneficiary and use those funds to find a replacement or hire somebody or even sell the business if it just wasn't working anymore. So there's just a lot of things to consider when it comes to a benefits package when you're self employed. But I would say, you know, at a minimum, certainly making sure you've got good health insurance for your family is probably the priority. I don't like to see anybody going without health insurance. It's just too risky.

Yeah, especially with the past year, we've seen, you know, how important and critical it can be if you do or don't have health insurance, that's for sure. Oh, yeah. I mean, this is the time that we want to make sure you're investigating all your options, at least in the US, we've got a few things that are helping people make it more affordable. That will probably be temporary, but who knows? Some of those benefits could be renewed down the line. So yeah, there's a lot more help out there right now than pre-pandemic. So I would say if you're somebody who started your own business and you thought, gosh, I just, I can't afford insurance and you're in the U.S., then, you know, don't don't despair. Just keep shopping and looking around there. There might

be more out there than you thought. And just for any Canadians listening, obviously, we have universal health care, which is great. But I think what lots of people don't realize is it doesn't cover everything. So, you know, I've been self-employed for a while. And so for the things that are kind of government insurance doesn't cover, I just kind of self-insure, which means I just save money for those things. That's like, you know, eye appointments and getting glasses, dental appointments, things like that. But depending on your situation, it may actually make sense to get private insurance, especially

if you need prescriptions, things like that. So one question I get or something I see often, and it really kind of freaks me out is, because again, there's so many people online kind of selling this dream of, you know, working for yourself and how great it is. And somebody's, you know, I mean, you could probably agree you're self employed, you run your own business. So do I'm like, it is not as easy as it there's a lot of things you need to kind of get in order before making the leap. Like for me, I made sure that I had a very sizable emergency fund. I also, you know, had a financial plan, I budgeted, I had everything pretty good. I also didn't have any consumer debt. So I felt financially like ready to kind of quit my corporate job to do my own thing. But I see a lot of people are just,

you know, getting frustrated with work or, or they just really want to take the leap, but they may not be super ready to do that. What are some things that or some things that you want to caution people about before, you know, quitting their day job to work for themselves? I mean, for me, it's don't quit your day job before you're really, really ready. And if you have like a lot of debt, maybe maybe we should get that locked down. What are your thoughts? Totally agree. If you hear anyone saying, yeah, just quit your day job and go to a beach in Tahiti and work on the beach all day sipping cocktails, that's probably a pipe dream. There are a lot of people who have been able to do that, but that is not the typical experience for most self-employed people. So I am a proponent,

and this is something I go over in Money Smart Solopreneur pretty extensively, how to make that transition and give a couple of different scenarios that people can follow. But for a lot of people, it is going to be something that they want to do on the side while they keep their day job. Maybe start getting entrepreneurial in the early morning or the evening or the weekends, building up your business on the side. And for some people, you may want to do that indefinitely. I did that for many years.

I've done W-2 work, working for an employer and doing side work for like a long, long time before I went full time as my own boss. And so that's something that I just really enjoyed. I liked the variety. Now, yeah, I worked hard for sure. It's not something that maybe everyone can sustain. But if you can do it, at least maybe commit a few months or years to be able to build up some business. That is a great way to make sure that you like the work you're doing. Is there a customer base for your business? Thinking through what types of expenses are you going to have and really preparing yourself. As you mentioned,

creating a financial plan, making sure you're fully prepared. And you might also want to work with maybe somebody who's in the field that you're interested in going in, like a mentor or helping somebody with their business so you fully understand what's involved. So kind of doing those two in parallel, the day job, the side gig, do that as long as possible. That will also give you the extra income that you may want to build up that sizable emergency fund that gives you the confidence to quit the day job. And so that can be really key. Now, you may have to do a little juggling with your schedule. You may need to go to your employer. I give a story in the book about how I went to my employer, and this was during the

recession that we talked about, the 2007-2008 recession, when I knew my employer wasn't going to be able to afford me, but I knew he needed me. And so I went to him and negotiated to work part-time for him. And it was perfect because I was able to get the time I needed. I was building my business and building my podcast and writing and I really wanted that extra time, but I didn't want to quit completely. So that was a great compromise for both of us, a win-win scenario. Maybe there's a win-win scenario that you could create as well with your employer that would give you a little bit more flexibility or freedom to create your business. And again,

it's all about just thinking through what are the expenses? How can you be as prepared as possible so that if it doesn't go as well as you hope or plan, you're still going to be okay financially. Yes, having that backup plan. Like for me, it was, I want to, I was not, because I mean, I really did not expect to quit my job. I thought I was going to be a lifelong employee because no one in my family or even, you know, a broader family is self-employed. I'm like, well, the only person and no one quite understands what I do, which is fine. But so for me, it was a huge, huge leap of faith. Part of what I found helpful, though, is my husband's been self employed for as long as I've known him. So I had that kind of personal perspective on on how it kind of looks. So I think it's so important to

surround yourself with other people who are kind of doing something similar to you. Or, you know, I mean, I've been part of masterminds with other self employed people for years. And that's so helpful to ask questions to get tips to, you know, avoid certain mistakes and pitfalls. But like for me, the biggest thing that really helped me, you know, like you said, was, you know, really understood, I understood, you know, what my expenses were. I also did the side hustle thing, like you mentioned, which I totally agree. I had my side hustle was kind of testing the waters to see, could I, do I have an audience? Can I actually make a living on the side for a number of years before making the big leap? But the emergency fund thing for me was key. It's number one, if I quit my job, how long can I live off my savings before I need

to get an actual job? But having some sort of backup plan and a backup plan to that backup plan because I mean, I'm sure you can agree, things never really go as planned. I mean, the business I run now is completely different than the business that I thought I would run. Well, maybe not completely, but it's it's very different. And so you have to also be flexible and be open to change and, and just seeing how things go. But also, yeah, making sure you're always on top of things. And you you know, you never put yourself in a very vulnerable position that you could avoid. Now before I let you go, you know, again, such a big fan of your show. And I can't believe you have that many episodes.

Like, that'll take me, gosh, maybe another six years to get to that because I don't put out a weekly episode quite like you do. Just because, again, we're still in this weird world, 2021. Hopefully, you know, it's looking like things are improving, things are opening up, but still lots of people are having it. You know, we hear people are doing just fine, saving all their money, staying at home. Lots of people are still having not so good of a time because maybe they are still out of work because of the pandemic. What would you like to kind of share, you know, maybe some tips or some pieces of advice

as they kind of move forward into the second half of this year? Yeah, I think that we're really feeling like we're, you know, things are changing. I mean, I took a road trip for the first time in a year and a half recently, and it felt amazing to get out. And so I would encourage people to think about what are the habits that you created during the pandemic that have benefited you financially, health-wise, family-wise, and really try to carry those with you into the future. We're very quick to forget, you know, and we have a difficult time remembering how to stick with good habits. So things change and then all of a sudden we're on and that good habit is gone. And I want to make sure that if people have been saving, if they've been maybe being a little bit more frugal by maybe cooking at home a little bit

more and also getting a little bit more healthy, if they've been doing anything beneficial, really think about what that is and don't be quick to throw it away. Those good habits can really serve you well. And certainly there are probably some bad things that we all want to forget about the pandemic and that we can't wait to move past it. But I do think some good has come from it for many people who have been able to save. And so I would encourage folks to just think about that. If you have been lucky enough to put away some money, don't blow it on a vacation this

summer. Make a priority for your money and think about your goals. That's really what it's all about, using your money to get you a little bit closer to your goals every single day. Yeah, I think people are going to have a real tough time with that. Because I know a lot of people like, oh, I just can't wait to go out there and just do all the things I couldn't do for the past, you know, year, year and a half. But I mean, take this as like, this was like a weird time that hopefully we'll never have to experience again. I hope this is the only pandemic in my lifetime, but who knows. So don't take it for, don't kind of ruin all the progress you made if you were

able to make some progress, or even if you didn't have the best time in your life. I mean, to someone, again, who's a millennial who went through the last crash and recession, I will say you will ultimately pick some learning lessons and integrate those good things into your life. I mean, if I don't, I know for a fact, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if I didn't have that experience of like, that was my wake up call to learn about money because I didn't have any and I couldn't find a job. And I'm like, okay, what do we do? So you know, lots of people are probably in the same scenario now. So take those kind of, you know, try to make the lemons into lemonade a little bit and take some of those,

you know, lessons that were positive moving forward. So I know so many people are going to want to grab your book because I think it's a great resource for people who want to, you know, start their own business, be a solopreneur. I mean, I wish I had that when I quit my job because I really did not have a blueprint or any idea what I was doing. I could have avoided, I'm sure, a lot of mistakes. Where can people people find more information about you grab a copy of your book and just, you know, learn more, you know, with all the great resources you have? Thanks so much, Jessica, I would love to connect with anyone out there who's listening. If you're interested in the book, Laura D Adams.com at my website is the best place probably to, you know, see all the places that it's available. It's also on Amazon.

And I am working with a company called usinsuranceagents.com. So if you have insurance questions, that's also a great place to reach me. If you've got questions about insurance for your business, and health insurance, all of that good stuff. There's a ton of resources there. So usinsuranceagents.com is another great place. I'd love to connect with you. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to be on my show. You know, it was such a pleasure having you on a real treat as a podcaster who's been a big fan for so long. So thanks so much for being here. Jessica, thank you so much. Keep up the great work. I appreciate you having me on today. And that was episode 287 with Laura Adams, the host of the Money Girl podcast, as well as a renowned author and money expert. Make sure to check out her new book called Money Smart Solopreneur,

a personal finance system for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and side hustlers. Of course, I will link to it in the show notes for this episode, jessicamorehouse.com slash 287. But also I'm going to be giving away a copy of her book. So stick around and I'll tell you more details about that. You can also check her out at her website, lauradadams.com. Of course, you can subscribe to her podcast, the Money Girl podcast on any podcast platform, you'll find it is always one of the top ones rated. So it's very easy to find. You can also follow her on Twitter at Laura Adams. And of course, you can connect with her on LinkedIn. And you can find her at facebook.com slash money girl q d t if you want to follow her on facebook so like i mentioned i'm

going to give away her book i have lots of other exciting things to share with you as well so stick around i just have a few words i want to share about this podcast episode sponsor this episode of the more money podcast is supported by td direct investing june is options education month and td directing is hosting a number of free virtual events throughout the month to educate both beginners and more advanced investors about, well, their options with trading options. Or if you want a full walkthrough of options trading for beginners, there are also a number of on-demand video lessons that will walk you through what options are, common option terms

such as calls and puts, what the difference between in-the-money and out-of-the-money options are, and a whole bunch more. To learn more and to find out what free events you'd like to check out, visit td.com slash options education month. Once again, to find out what webinars, masterclasses, and on-demand video lessons are available to view for free, visit td.com slash options education month. So first, just an important reminder, I will of course put links and some of the important things that we talked about in the show notes for this episode. So you can just do that by going to jessicamorehouse.com slash 287. You can check out the show notes for any episode by going to jessicamorehouse.com slash whatever the number of that episode is, or, you know, just do a little search of what are all my past episodes at jessicamorehouse.com slash whatever the number of that episode is, or, you know, just do a little search of what are all my past episodes at jessicamorehouse.com slash podcast.

So yeah, that's what you can do if you want to do that. Okay, so the good stuff, I'm giving away, of course, a copy of her new book, but also a number of other books, all of the books that have been featured on this season of the show. I'm giving away copies of and I will be drawing winners very, very soon. Basically, once this season wraps up in the next few weeks, I'm going to be drawing winners. So this is your kind of last call, make sure to get in there and enter to win. You can find out information in the show notes for this episode, or just go to Jessica morehouse.com slash contests, you'll find all of the books I'm giving away right there. Some other things that I want to remind you of just maybe you're new, or maybe you forgot, but just some things to be aware of. So

on my website, I've got a lot of great, you know, stuff going on. I've got a free resource library, you can sign up to and download all of my freebies. I've got a lot of worksheets and cheat sheets and spreadsheets to check out even some past webinars you can, you know, watch. And you can find that all at JessicaMorehouse.com slash resources. I also have you know, I get questions all the time. Hey, what are some good book recommendations? Or you talk about fee only financial planners? How can I find one? Or what else do I kind of you know, or just like what kind of robo advisors are out there? What are my recommendations? Or just what are some some things that I talk about often? Well, as you may deduce, I put them on my recommendations page, jessicamorehouse.com slash recommendations, I have a list of some of my

favorite, you know, American personal finance books, Canadian personal finance books, fee only planners, investment coaches, accountants, and then other platforms that I use or I've talked about or would personally suggest trying out yourself, you can find it all on my recommendations page, jessicamorehouse.com slash recommendations. And if you don't know, I also have a blog. I mean, I'm actually an OG blogger, if I do say so myself. I started blogging in 2011. And I'm always putting up some new blogs once in a while on the blog. JessicaMorehouse.com slash blog is where you can find any new posts. And in addition to this podcast, I also have a YouTube channel. If you go to JessicaMorehouse.com

slash YouTube, it'll take you right there. Just Google my name, Jessica Morehouse in the YouTube and you'll find me. And I'm putting out new videos every single week. And especially as I do take my summer hiatus for the podcast, and you still want to get some, you know, some of your daily dose or weekly dose of Jessica. I don't know if that is something that you want. But if you do, you can check me out on the YouTube because I'm having a lot of fun with it. Still, I feel still sometimes like, you know, I love making videos, but I still sometimes feel like such a noob. You know what I mean? Like, I've only been at this for a little while, so I'm still getting the hang of it. But I'm having fun. I'm having a lot of fun. So make sure to check me out there. And lastly, if you don't know,

I'm on Instagram and I do pretty much weekly kind of ask me anything. So if you ever want to ask me a question directly and get my feedback or opinion or some info, well, I pretty much every Tuesday at noon Eastern time, I do a little AMA or start an AMA and do it kind of throughout the day. So if you want to check me out on Instagram at Jessica I Morehouse, the podcast also has a specific Instagram at more money podcast is where you can find all of that stuff. So I think that is kind of it for right now. But I'm sure I'll have more exciting things to share with you next week. So I hope to see you here next week. We'll have a fresh new episode next Wednesday. A big shout out to my podcast editor, Matt Rideout. And with that, have a good rest of your week. Stay safe. Enjoy the weather.

You know, have a good day. You know, just take care of you. Take care of you. You deserve it. You're awesome. Okay, see you back here next week. Yeah. Bye. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.