The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast - For The Love of Money

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

If you’re going to be in a relationship with someone, you have to be able to talk about money. We’re going to tell you who, what, when, where, and why right now!If you have a joint checking account, you need to have your own account too. When is it time to talk about bad credit scores? We’re clearing up a HUGE misconception about going into a relationship with debt!Cheryl Burke and money expert Jean Chatzky have the money answers you need.  Email us at: [e-mail] or call us at 844-4-I Do Pod (844-443-6763)Follow I Do, Part 2 on Instagram and TikTokSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly, and now I'm seriously suspicious. Wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, luckily, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend's been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone.

Hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That seems inappropriate. Maybe find out how it ends by listening to the OK Storytime podcast and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy Truthers believe in... I guess they would be Kenspiracy theorists. That's right.

To give you the answers and you still blitzers. The Puzzler. Listen on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see? It's a story. It's about the scariest night of my life. This is Wisecrack, available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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that happens when the marriage doesn't work out or when maybe you were married for many years and life just happened. And now you find yourself back on your own for the very first time. I'm Cheryl Burke, one of your celebrity mentors here on the pod. And I think what a lot of people have learned about me, I have to say through this podcast and this show is that I take my finances pretty seriously. I've been really open about my thoughts on pre-ups, divorce. And so today I wanted to talk about money and relationships get sticky. My guest today is a founder, CEO, and the host of the podcast, Her Money, and she's a New York Times bestselling author of Women with Money. Please welcome Gene Chatsky to the pod. Welcome to Ido Part 2. How are you doing?

I'm good. Thanks for having me. Of course. Thanks for coming on. Let's just get right into it. So for people who have gone through divorce, would you say that when you start dating again, like how long into the dating phase do you just ask about credit scores and being completely transparent about, you know, each other's finances? I don't think complete transparency is something that you have to, something that you have to approach until you know that this is a relationship that at least has at least has some legs, right? And I say this, God no. And I am, I was divorced. So I was married for a long time, had two kids, got divorced at age 40, or separated at age 40, and got remarried

about five years later. And so I've been through this. and know exactly what you need to cough up and when. And here's the thing. You don't want to be dishonest. You never want to be dishonest. You never want to hide important facts about your financial life. But I think that the most important things to align on with a potential new lifetime partner or even somebody that you're going to just date for a long time are, hey, do we have the same

ideas of goals? Do we have the same ideas of values? Do we think the same way about spending a lot of money on dinner or a little money on dinner? How do we feel about our travel vacations? And what's on my plate that I need to take care of? And what's on your plate that you need to take care of? And how are we going to have our own life with these separate responsibilities existing to the side? I think all, yeah, I hear you.

And I believe that is maybe an initial conversation when you have chosen to take this relationship seriously. But like, there's also debt. And if you do marry each other, it becomes your debt. And it's like, not necessarily. It doesn't necessarily become a pre-tap. Yeah. No, not even if you don't sign a pre-knap. So if I come into, and by the way, I think you should sign a pre-nup, right?

Yes, I agree. In many second marriages, you come in with a house or a business or children or assets, an expected inheritance, sign a pre-up. It's no big deal. for some it is. Well, maybe. I mean, I don't think it should be a big deal. I think it's a big deal because we make it a big deal. I think it's a big deal because we give it emotional heft that maybe it doesn't really deserve. I agree, because you have to separate the emotion and the fact that, you know, you're two individuals, you each have your own finances that you've either worked and or going to inherit and respect that as an individual person. I think that you're

I think that with men I've experienced that there's a lot of shame behind money. And there's a lot of, and that's when the emotions maybe are not necessarily communicated because that person may not know how or there's shame, period, and they don't want to talk about it. So like, it does get emotional and complicated, I think. Yeah. I mean, I'm certainly not going to spend, after spending 30 years writing about money. I'm certainly not going to argue that fact, right?

It's totally true. There is a lot of shame. There's a lot of, you know, if you feel like you have too little, there's shame. If you feel like you have debt, there's shame. If you feel like there's too much, there's guilt, right? If you feel like you're living in a way that you perhaps don't deserve to live, there's guilt. And all of these emotional forces fight themselves. But let me just come back to that debt.

for a second because it's important, if you come into a relationship to a marriage and you've got student loan debt or you've got a credit card that you owe money on or a mortgage that you borrowed money on, that's your debt. That's not your spouse's debt. Money, if you get married and you borrow money together, that's both of your debt. But you can, and part of a pre-up is is keeping your debts separate. So you don't want to co-mingle. You don't want to start taking responsibility for each other's debts because things get messy.

And you want to understand what that person's responsibilities are and how it might impact your life. Because if somebody comes into a marriage or a relationship and they've already got a boatload of debt, chances are they also have a not great credit score. And that's going to make, the goal of buying a place for the two of you to live harder, right? That's just going to get in the way of the life that you want to live. So you got to be honest about these things, but you don't

have to pay his credit card bills. Okay, good to know, good to know, especially for those that are maybe in a similar, you know, or was in a similar situation. But how about if, let's say your house is about to be foreclosed, right? How about that? And then you marry into that. Like, is that, does that not fall into your lap whatsoever? But what if there's no pre-nup? It's not your debt. Still, no matter what. Okay, good to know.

Unless you are on the deed of that house. Got it. If it's, if it's your partner's house, it's not your debt. Now, is that in the state, in the whole country, or is that just specific to, because it's There are state, there are state by state laws, and in community property states, it does get a little squishy, but as far as I understand it, and I am not a lawyer, but I have done this for a long time. Yeah. It's not your debt.

Where it gets messy is if you are married to somebody and you're living in this house and that house gets foreclosed on, whether or not you're legally responsible to kick in some money to pay for that house, you're going to kick in some money to pay for that house, right? Yeah. Because, of course, that's what you're going to do. You're going to look at your life in many cases. cases and you're going to say, I've got some money. Let me do this. And unless you then really paper it up, you have commingled these assets and that money of yours has just gone

into that house of his. It's kind of like I've gotten letters from some of my readers at her money, which is my company, my blog. And I've gotten letters basically saying I'm moving in with my boyfriend to this house that he owns. He wants me to pay rent. Is that fair? Right? And the rent could be going to build equity for your boyfriend. You're not married.

He owns that house. You don't own that house. So it gets really complicated really fast. What do you think? It depends. I think it depends. On how much rent, right? Is it fair for you to pay money to live someplace?

Absolutely. Now, if he's renting, it's fine. I believe it's okay. Yeah, I get it, maybe. But if you own the home, that's a lot of it. If he owns the home? Yeah. I think maybe.

I think, you know, you've got to figure some way to contribute. Yeah, for sure. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly. and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the OK Storytime podcast, so we'll find out soon.

This person writes, my boyfriend has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy? That sounds totally inappropriate.

Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately, from Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number, and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camps, are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life,

emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program, and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything. Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My name is Ed. Everyone say, hello, Ed. I'm from a very rural background myself. My dad is a farmer, and my mom is a cousin, so, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime predict? walks into a comedy club. I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago.

I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear. The 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club?

A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. Available now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford, and in session 421 of therapy for black girls, I sit down with Dr. Ophia and Billy Shaka to explore how our hair. connects to our identity, mental health, and the ways we heal. Because I think hair is a complex language system, right? In terms of it can tell how old you are, your marital status, where you're from, you're a spiritual belief.

But I think with social media, there's like a hyper fixation and observation of our hair, right? That this is sometimes the first thing someone sees when we make a post or a reel. It's how our hair is styled. You talk about the important role hairstylist play in our community. the pressure to always look put together and how breaking up with perfection can actually free us.

Plus, if you're someone who gets anxious about flying, don't miss session 418 with Dr. Angela Neal-Barnett where we dive into managing flight anxiety. Listen to therapy for black girls on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Now, as far as just women in general, right? Like, what can they do?

let's say they've been in a long marriage, and when they got married, they got married to young, and maybe I'm just being gender specific right now, but it could obviously work the other way as well. But the man was supporting the relationship. And then they decide to separate. I mean, how important is it for people, not just women, to be financially literate? It's incredibly important. And it's really, look, you have to come out of a relationship with a sense of what are you earning what do you own at this point like what did you what assets did you come away with do you have a house do you have a retirement account do you have cash in the bank and and what do you owe what are your debts what are your

obligations going forward and from there you can set up a budget that is sustainable you can you can look at your roadmap and you can say, all right, here are the things that I have to do going forward. And if you don't know how to do those things, it gets really complicated. I think that many people need the help of a financial advisor coming out of a divorce to just get them on the right track, make sure that they do, you're sort of doing a level set, right? You still have goals. When I got divorced, I had a job, right? I had some assets. I bought a house, not the house that I lived in with my ex-husband, but I bought a new house. But I had responsibilities. I was paying for half of college, which was going to hit us about 10 years down the road. I was, I had taken

a big step back when it came to retirement. And I had to make sure that I was going to, catch up so that I could, so that I could have choices when it came to retiring when I wanted how I wanted. I had this new house that I not only bought, but then put a lot of money into to renovate because I wanted it to be what I wanted it to be. And I wanted to pay that house off before I got to retirement. So I had these goals. And I had these goals. And I I had to make sure that I was on a path to meet those goals. That's what a plan does. So how do you budget for people that may not know where?

It's overwhelming, you know? It is. It's overwhelming. You look at my favorite way to budget, and I have a budgeting coaching class called Finance Fix. Yeah. Online. And we get it online.

We spell Fix with two X's and we get a ton of, women who are just going through a divorce or thinking about a divorce because they want to understand this very, very question. So I budget backwards because I don't, I think that's the best way to do it. We use technology to help you look at where your money is going today. What are you spending on in a whole bunch of different categories? And once you see where your money is going right now, then you can start making changes about where you want your money to go in order to spend a little less, save a little more, pay down

some debt. So always, always we see people who are discovering, aha, big aha moment, that they are spending too much on food. Food is just, you know, it's eating out. It's take, yeah, it's exact, it's that. Retail therapy kills me every time. But it does help. I'm kidding.

No, it does help. We can talk about that. It helps a little. There's another numbing device. Yes. That's a whole other episode. It is. It is.

So, you know, we look at the postmates bill and we say, do you think, do you think maybe you could go to Starbucks instead of having it delivered? I'm just speaking from personal experience. There you go. That and how much. And that would say, 50% right there. Absolutely.

Yeah. So these are the kinds of changes that we make along the way. Got it. Now, do you believe couples should have, I would say, married or even serious? It doesn't have to be married, but joint accounts. I'm a fan of joint and separate. Mm-hmm. So I think it's easier and a little more romantic to have like something joint.

I don't want to be out in a restaurant and worried about who's going to put their credit card down. Right. I just, I kind of hate that. So let's have a joint credit card so that we just pay for dinner on that. But then we fund a joint bank account with the money that we need to pay for the household expenses. And whatever's left is mine or my husband's. I put more into the joint account than he does because I make more than he does. I was just going to ask that. Like, is that how, like, is that something that you resent though later down the road or no? I don't. I'm fine with it. I think, but that's something you have to look at. If you're going to, if you're going to resent it, then you shouldn't do it.

You should come up with a system that you're not going to resent. Or you match the person who makes the most money matches whatever your partner puts in that month or whatever. Exactly. So I think it works, you know, we talk about fair and equal. I think it's fairest if you put in an amount of money that by percentages, like whatever percentage you put that much more into the joint account. But it gets complicated. Let's say you've got a couple where one parent is staying home with the kids. They may not. be earning money outside the house, but they get to have their own money, too. And that has to get funded out of the account of the spouse that does earn money. Right. Because everybody needs

autonomy. You know, I, I don't want to answer for my retail therapy. I, you know, I don't, I don't want to, I go out and I buy a bag or her shoes. You don't have to ask like you're a kid. Like, yeah, no. To parental. And that's when. I don't want to. I go out and I buy a bag of her shoes. You don't want to ask. And that's when resentment, I think, builds. It's just that this is why communication is vital, right? Like, it always goes back to this. Like the transparency, at least for me, I just feel like, you know, when I was married, there was just that piece that was like a very important piece. But it was like, depending on the way you were raised, how were your parents with their money? Like, what did they show you? How did they deal with their money? Do they invest? Or were they not? Like, you know, and it's, it really, it's

generational too. And there's so much, there's emotion, but then it's hard to separate, like, I come from my mother who is a very, she was, she grew up in poverty in the Philippines. And then she divorced my father when I was two. And she made a freaking like empire, like completely devoted her life to her business. Now with that, because I was, she was a single parent raising me, she was able to put food on the table. She was able to support my dancing career. She was able to do so much and I'm so grateful for that. But then that also required her being at her company, all hours of the day and night, and then me being raised by, you know, babysitters, which wasn't always a great experience. Now, look, I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for her support.

But, like, I am definitely raised by somebody who's very good with her money and went from rags to riches. Now, you know, it could be the opposite with a partner, you know, and you kind of have to have that aha moment or that person does in order to be able to talk about it. It's like a whole thing. It's a whole thing. And it's been, we call it your money story. This is your money story. It is. It's multi, many chapters. It's a big book. It's Harry Potter, right? And we have to understand our own money story, which we often don't. And we have to understand our partner's money story in order to sort of get the friction out of the relationship and understand, you know, what you're dealing with in your money story.

And you get this, you just, you seem to innately understand this. But it's not what you were taught. No. It's what you felt. It's the whispers that you heard and the tension in the house. And I am sure that when your mom Saving every picking up pennies on the sidewalk, like, come on. Right.

Well, and she probably continued to do that. Yeah, still does. When she made a fortune, made a boatload, right? And that impacted you because you probably felt as if you had no money when in reality you had a ton. My sister was impacted. Like she definitely is more like a penny pincher. I went the complete opposite.

Yeah. But I'm still aware of it, but I went to complete. I'm like, you know what? What are we going to do? We're all going to die. And people are not going to talk, hopefully, about how much money you've made. Like, you know, it's just we live this life now in this present moment. And when you're so like, but that's just the way she was raised.

And I have to respect that, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But you add a partner to it and all of a sudden, it's explosive. explosive many therapy sessions but so why do you believe it's so much easier to talk about sex so openly yet when it comes to money it's like a oh no no no no we don't go there i think because we had the 60s right like the 60s was like all about talking about sex right so our parents in the 60s learned to talk about sex and hopefully they talked like my i you know they they were more free

around sex than money and mine not i wish they mine was but she's also filipino so like very catholic yeah so i i think i i think we went through the whole birth control and the pill and the you know burn your bra and wait what what's that well you know in the 60s people women were burning their bras nobody yeah yes why i mean and because they didn't want to wear them oh just don't don't need to to burn them. Just don't wear them. Right. So there you go. They were making a statement. And we didn't really have that with money. I mean, what's changing is what, I mean, it's interesting. So my kids are much more willing and able to talk about money with their friends than I ever was at their age. they're in their late 20s, early 30s, and they, they know how much their friends make.

They talk about what things called. Yeah. And a lot of Gen Z sort of very young millennials are right there, which I think is great. I think that's great. But you also raised, you obviously raised them well. You know, I have one spender and one saver. Really interesting. Oh, like me and my sister, yeah.

Yeah. Interesting. I think it's like a rebel thing. It's kind of like, I don't know if I want to live like that. Like so tight. Like it's just really, but then I see the other side too, you know, so interesting. This is so helpful. My boyfriend's professor is way too friendly and now I'm seriously suspicious. Oh, wait a minute, Sam. Maybe her boyfriend's just looking for extra credit. Well, Dakota, it's back to school week on the okay story time podcast. So we'll find out soon. This person writes, my boyfriend. has been hanging out with his young professor a lot. He doesn't think it's a problem, but I don't trust her. Now, he's insisting we get to know each other, but I just want her gone. Now, hold up. Isn't that against school policy?

That sounds totally inappropriate. Well, according to this person, this is her boyfriend's former professor, and they're the same age. And it's even more likely that they're cheating. He insists there's nothing between them. I mean, do you believe him? Well, he's certainly trying to get this person to believe him because he now wants them both to meet. So, do we find out if this person's boyfriend really cheated with his professor or not? To hear the explosive finale, listen to the OK Storytime podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

My name is Ed. Everyone say, hello, Ed. From a very rural background myself, my dad is a farmer and my mom is a cousin. So, like, it's not like... What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? I know it sounds like the start of a bad joke, but that really was my reality nine years ago. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. On stage stood a comedian with a story that no one expected to hear.

On 22nd of July 2015, a 23-year-old man had killed his family. And then he came to my house. So what do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? A new podcast called Wisecrack, where stand-up comedy and murder takes center stage. now. Listen to Wisecrack on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What would you do if one bad decision forced you to choose between a maximum security prison or the most brutal boot camp designed to be hell on earth? Unfortunately for Mark Lombardo, this was the choice he faced. He said, you are a number, a New York State number,

and we own you. Shock incarceration, also known as boot camp. are short-term, highly regimented correctional programs that mimic military basic training. These programs aim to provide a shock of prison life, emphasizing strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, and rehabilitation programs. Mark had one chance to complete this program and had no idea of the hell awaiting him the next six months. The first night was so overwhelming, and you don't know who's next to you. And we didn't know what to expect in the morning. Nobody tells you anything.

Listen to shock incarceration on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Joy Hardin Bradford. And in session 421 of therapy for black girls, I sit down with Dr. Othia and Billy Shaka to explore how our hair connects to our identity, mental health, and the ways we heal. Because I think hair is a complex language system, right, in terms of it can tell how old you are, your marital status, where you're from, your spirit. to believe, but I think with social media, there's like a hyper fixation and observation of our hair, right? That this is sometimes the first thing someone sees when we make a post or a reel is how our hair is styled. You talk about the important role hairstyles play in our community, the pressure to always look put together, and how breaking up with perfection

can actually free us. Plus, if you're someone who gets anxious about flying, don't miss Session 418 with Dr. Angela Neil Barnett, where we dive into managing flight anxiety. Listen to therapy for black girls on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. What are the first steps to educating yourself on whether you put money into a retirement versus stocks and bonds? Like, how do you suggest somebody does this? So they're not in either or a retirement or.

stocks and bonds. But can we just let's just sort of take a step back. I think that when it comes down to it, money is a series of habits that you repeat over and over and over again. And we're really lucky that we have technology that can help us start to participate in things like investing before we know everything there is to know and before we have all the answers. my five things, five habits, five things you have to do in order to live a good financial life, you have to earn a decent living, right? What's that? Decent is comfortable.

You have to earn a comfortable living. We know that having, you know, huge amounts of money, much more money than you need to pay for your life, to go on vacation every once in a while to put a roof over your head. The happiness is really just incremental. It's not going to buy you much more happiness. So you have to earn enough to maintain that comfortable lifestyle. Enough to not worry is a good way to put it. Food, shelter, yeah, the necessities.

You have to spend less than you make. That's the second one. And that's where a lot of people get stuck. And if you get stuck there, you can't do any of the others. Correct. Because you don't want to have debt. That's like the main goal. Well, debt is the thing, too.

And I'm not really talking about a mortgage or a car loan. I'm talking about credit card debt. debt is the thing that makes us the most unhappy. It's the thing that stresses us out the most. So, yes, we don't want debt. But also the worry. Like for some people, it's a belief system, right? It's like that constant worry you almost manifest it.

Yeah. There are some people who believe in having debt, you know, that you shouldn't bar. Yeah, there are some people who believe that leverage is good. And you believe that? No, I don't believe that. I believe that there is good debt and bad debt, you know, like a mortgage or a student loan or the car that gets. Yes. Yes.

But credit card debt, no. No. And I don't think a car is a good investment. Unless if it's like an old antique car that you can go and sell eventually. Well, you need to get back and forth to work, right? So if you lease it. You could lease it. The best way, the best way to own a car is to buy a car used and drive it into the ground.

Oh, okay, got it. Okay. So if you're, you know, if you want to be the most cost effective, if you have to have a new car or you know you're going to get a new car every three years, then you should lease. That's what I do. That's what my mom taught me, at least. Then you should lease. And your mom ran it through her business, by the way. And you may be running it through your business.

So there you go. Great. Love it. The third thing is you have to take the money that you're not spending and invest it so that it is growing for you. Right? You have to save some for emergencies and then you have to invest the rest. And we can talk about that in terms of what goes in a retirement account and what doesn't. There's a percentage, right? There are caps on what you can put in your retirement account.

But that's the third thing. have to do. The fourth thing you have to do is protect this whole world, which means having insurance, right, and having a basic estate plan, a will, right, and a power of attorney so that somebody could handle your money, right? And then my fifth thing is you've got to find some way to give back because that is a happiness booster. So when it comes to investing your money, we invest the next dollar based on where we get the biggest bang for the buck. So if you are working for a company that has a retirement plan like a 401k and you get matching dollars, then you want to put money in that 401K first because those matching

dollars are like free money. Once you've done that, you look at that. other accounts with tax advantages like IRAs and health savings accounts and college savings accounts. And once you've satisfied those, then you look at just plain old brokerage accounts. But these are all just buckets. And into those buckets, you put investments. You buy stocks and bonds and they live in those buckets, stocks and bonds and mutual funds. Yep, money markets are money markets are a type of mutual fund. Safer maybe than stocks and bonds?

They're safer. Especially if you're not dealing with a lot of money, right? Like if you're not dealing with tons of money that you can just gamble, because it's a gamble if you're doing stocks-ish, no? Not really. So if we look historically at the returns of the stock market, since the Dow was invented, since the inception, at the Dow. And since the S&P 500 was invented, they've returned about 8 or 9% every single year on average.

Okay. And it's been pretty consistent. Well, it's been like this. Not so consistent. But what that means is that if you've got a long time to invest your money, 10 plus years, you put your money in a diversified S&P 500 fund or a diversified. total stock market fund and you just keep adding to it every time you get paid you buy more and even though the market goes like this over time the market goes up right so even though you have some ups and downs in the middle the historical trend is going to be up and that's how that's how your money compounds and that's how it makes more money for you and when you are younger and you have more time until you need to use the money, then you put more of it in stocks. And when you're older and you have less time until you need to use the money, you put more of it in safer places like bonds and like money markets. And if you have other goals, shorter term goals, things

you need to get to, like you want to buy a house and you want to buy a house in five years. You don't put your down payment in stocks. You put your down payment in a money market. Right. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That's what you're. what I'm currently doing. Good. There you go. You're buying a house. Well, yeah, I live in California, you know, so it's like right now it's just not the best time, but it will be. I'm sorry. Are you okay? I am because I don't live in the L.A. I do live like a couple hours away from L.A., so I'm fine, but man, I used to, I had a home that I owned in the Hollywood Hills for 16 years and they all got evacue. I mean, it's just horrible. But thank you for asking. I'm okay. But that has changed the

real estate. I was actually looking for homes in Pacific Palisades that week that it all happened. So, yeah, it's devastating. Awful. Last question before I let you go here. How much money do you believe a single woman should have in her savings account, I guess, at a given time, whether maybe in her 40s or 30s? So you said saving account, savings accounts, so not in her investments. In your cash account, your emergency account. I I think single people should have six months worth of fixed expenses in an emergency account. If you're part of a couple, it can be a little less. It can be three months.

And that's because if one person loses their job, they have the other person's income to fall back on. Got it. And as far as hiring business managers, finance advisors, what is your suggestion? Trust but verify is my recommendation, right? So get recommendations from people that you know who use these people. Stay on top of it. Yes, do not take your eyes off the ball. You have to look at all the statements, even if you've got somebody managing it for you.

But make sure that you interview several people, make sure their credentials are up to date. Make sure you check references. When you talk to them, make sure that you're in line with, what they think you should be doing with your money and what you think you should be doing with your money. That's important. Yeah. You don't want to go in there, like, not educated about your finances because that's when people start to take advantage of you.

Right. And if you feel like I just can't talk to this person, then just leave, you know, run in the other direction because they're not, they could be a great advisor. They could be brilliant financially, but they're not brilliant for you because you're not going to be able to communicate with them. Because, I mean, it is emotional a little bit, right? Yeah, huge. You could be great with numbers, but if I can't speak to you and you're not speaking the

same language, because that's also a thing that I've run into is that you're speaking like a completely different language. You're going to have to bring it down to like maybe a eighth grader. Or just explain it to me in English. Thoroughly. Just explain it to me. And if they can't do that, I'm not working with them. Or if they get impatient, done.

Like done, done. Yeah, done. It's like lawyers too. Same thing. I'm like, you got your speaking Shakespeare. Like, I can't understand you. But yeah, communication is key in every relationship. A hundred percent. Thank you so much. This was so helpful. Where can people find your online course? Because I would love to take it. Oh, well, we would love to have you. Thank you.

You can find our budgeting course at financefix.com with two exes and our investing club for women. And you should come, Cheryl, because we. that's fun. We are buying individual stocks. We're like learning about the market. It's every other Monday night on Zoom. I teach it with Karen Feinerman from CNBC. And you can find that in investing fix.com. Again, two X's. I'll seriously look into it because I would love to just, you know, it's never too late to get more of a grip. I do have a grip, but I would like to have more of a grip. Yeah. We've got 500 women investing together. Oh, wow. And is it just online? Like you can take at your own time?

We tape all the classes, but we do do them live every Monday at 8 p.m. Every other Monday, 8 p.m. on the East Coast. All right, cool. I'll look into it for sure. Thank you again. Thank you. Bye. Thanks to Jean for joining me today.

And I just love talking about money because it's just so uncomfortable. But single women out there really do need this information. And it's never enough. You know, you always want to be educated for sure when it comes to your final. finances. Are you divorced or newly single? Maybe you need advice on how to navigate this next chapter in your life. Call us or email us. Follow us on socials. All the information will be in the show notes. So make sure to rate and review the podcast. I do part two and Iheart radio podcast where falling in love is the main objective.

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and the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's start with a quick puzzle. The answer is Ken Jennings' appearance on The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs. The question is, what is the most entertaining listening experience in podcast land? Jeopardy-truthers believe in... I guess they would be Kenspiracy theorists. That's right. They gave you the answers, and you still blew it.

The Puzzler. Listen on the IHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I just normally do straight stand-up, but this is a bit different. What do you get when a true crime producer walks into a comedy club? Answer, a new podcast called Wisecrack, where a comedian finds himself at the center of a chilling true crime story. Does anyone know what show they've come to see?

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