The Rachel Cruze Show - 7 Money Lessons from Boomers’ Wins and Regrets

Starting point is 00:00:05 We tend to do two things when we compare ourselves to other generations around us. We either kind of just like throw shade or we put them on a pedestal and we're like, they did everything so well. But like most things in life, usually the truth is somewhere in the middle. So today I'm going to be sharing seven unexpected financial lessons to learn from boomers. Thank you, boomers. There are some good and some not so good. But before we get started, make sure to subscribe and share this episode with a friend.

Starting point is 00:00:31 All right, first and foremost, we need to learn not to rely on social security. Social Security was never meant to take care of every expense for every retired American, especially with our generation. It's not something that we fully should be dependent on because depending on who you read, it may or may not be there when we retire. So again, this idea of taking control of your money and allowing your decisions to really dictate your future and not depending upon a program to do that. I mean, honestly, it's like this level of having the discipline to say,

Starting point is 00:01:03 hey, I'm actually going to plan out my life. And when you do that, that is a way more practical, wise, and stable way of looking at money for the next chapter when it comes to retirements. Funding retirement, you want to start that once you're completely debt-free and you have a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, then 15% of your income should be going to retirement. And when people are funding retirement, if they are, a majority of Americans aren't, but if you are, it's usually a pretty low percentage, like four or five percent. And so when you get to that 15%, you catch up a lot because you'll pause retirement savings while you get out of debt and save up an emergency fund. So don't worry, that freaks you out. It's okay because that 15% is

Starting point is 00:01:40 really going to set you up well, which is what we want. Number two is to start saving earlier. This is something boomers always say that they look back and I think, gosh, I wish I had saved more money. And the most lucrative years of your career typically are in your 40s and 50s because you really are established. You're probably making the most at that point. And then usually when it gets to that point in life, you're like, okay, I'm going to start saving. And they wish they had started saving in their 20s and in their 30s. And again, some people, they, you know, are living in the moment. And that's totally understandable because you want some great experiences. You want to, you know, pursue different things and travel and all the things. But don't wait until you are in your 40s and

Starting point is 00:02:18 50s to really start buckling down and saving. The earlier you start, the better off you're going to be, especially when it comes to investing because of compound interest. The earlier you start, the better off you're going to be. And the truth is, too, you know, once you get to that age, to actually have the money to be able to do the things that you want to do, set you up so well with a lot of peace and control. Number three is live modestly. So a lot of people panic about the middle class disappearing. But what if it still exists and we all just think that we should be living better than we do, right? So if you think back to boomers and their lifestyle and the way that they lived. When you looked at the average square foot house, if you were raised by a boomer,

Starting point is 00:02:57 you probably appreciate this, that it was like, yeah, you shared a bathroom. You shared a room. Like, not everyone had this, like, glamorous life growing up, which I feel like is what's presented in today's world, that if you don't have certain size house, certain level of vacation, certain car, whatever it is, is that somehow you're failing. But you do look back on how boomers were raised, and even when they raised their own kids, it was still a pretty modest lifestyle. And I'm going to say it, but it is true. I think because of social media didn't exist, we had nothing to compare it to. But now there's so much of this comparison because we're seeing the insight into everyone's life.

Starting point is 00:03:33 And so, again, it may look like everyone's doing great. We don't know the whole story of what's going on with their lives and their money. But they survive. The boomers did living more modest. And you can too. So honestly, the expectations, like, let's bring it down a notch or two. And that's what they would say, continue to live modestly. Number four is to pay off debts.

Starting point is 00:03:52 2023 retirement research from Boston College found that several forms of debt have increased since the 1990s, mortgage debt, student loans, medical debt, and credit card debt. And if you have a boomer in your life who seems to just be living it up in retirement, remember that many kinds of debt were not normalized in their generation. So when they were going through school, which granted, it was much less expensive than what it is now. Tuition was like nothing. But they didn't even think about taking out student loan debt. You know, you had a credit card, but it was really, just for emergencies. It wasn't to maintain the way you spend money. When you look at everything when it comes to the debt industry, it has increased over time and now it is so normalized where

Starting point is 00:04:34 boomers, they use some debt, but it was not like it was today. And some of them have gotten into debt and they're having to get themselves out. But for the most part, this idea of living debt-free is possible because they were doing it early in life, and you can too. So another way to make sure that you're not wasting your money just for any reason, is to make sure that your personal information is safe and away from online scammers. Scammers are everywhere these days, you guys, your information is public. We do so much online. I mean, everything from our shopping and our banking, like our lives are online and we're putting our information out there almost on a daily basis if you're signing up for things. And so what happens is companies will take your data

Starting point is 00:05:14 and sell it to data brokers and then they end up selling your data as well. So people are making money off of your data. And when that happens, you are way more likely to get scams. And so, delete me is amazing because it is a subscription that goes in and actually removes your personal information from all of those data broker websites. And it is incredible. I use it. My family uses it. I love it. And you can save up to 20% off a Delete Me plan, which checks out around $9 a month. So click the link below or go to join DeleteMe.com slash Rachel and get signed up. Number five, a less than to learn from boomers is to take your health seriously. In the 1990s, the anti-smoking ads were everywhere. And as a millennial, you were scared to death of cigarettes. You were. There were other things.

Starting point is 00:06:01 Those are mine. But cigarettes were like so scary, so, so scary. But what you have to realize is that there are other things in life, right, that we consume, that we use. And what you don't realize is over time, that does affect your health and you end up paying for it. So, priority. healthy choices in your life really does help you when it comes to your money. Sadly, medical debt is the number one reason for bankruptcy in America today. And sometimes we can't help. You know, that stuff comes upon us for sure. But what we can do to take care of ourselves as much as we can is going to help in the long run. And when you think about again, into your 60, 70s, and 80s, like the healthier you are, the better life you're going to live with all that retirement

Starting point is 00:06:44 savings you're going to have. You're going to want to enjoy your life. So listen, do your best. It's not going to be perfect, but taking care of your health is something that we can learn from boomers. Number six is to find a job you actually enjoy. So I'd be willing to bet that most of your parents stayed in the same job their entire career. And if you had a solid job that you love, that's great. You know, I mean, a lot of people have stayed in the same company for a really long time, and that's wonderful. But there was more of this mindset with boomers of like, this is what you do. It's nine to five.

Starting point is 00:07:12 You make money and you do it as a means to an end. where nowadays I feel like we are way more in touch with understanding how we're wired, what our passions are, to actually enjoy the jobs that we have. And I'm not talking about skipping around every two years. I don't try to job hop all the time. But to find something that you say, yeah, this is fulfilling and I actually make money doing it, right? That is like the perfect mix.

Starting point is 00:07:34 Ken Coleman always talks about this kind of stuff because it is so, so key to having an overall joyous life because we do spend many hours of our lives working. So having work that is purposeful is really important. Number seven, the last principle to learn from boomers is to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. So now we have keeping up with the Kardashians, but back in the day it was keeping up with the Joneses. But for the boomer generation and again, before social media, when you're keeping up with the Joneses, it was people that you saw in person. It was people you're going to school with or you saw at church or your neighbors.

Starting point is 00:08:09 but now keeping up is so much bigger because it's people we've never even met or that we will never meet on possibly the other side of the planet that we're seeing their life. And so that comparison, again, is so, so, so real. And so the mantra of don't keep up with the Joneses came from the boomer generation or even before them. But it is so true today. So true today. Harder, a harder mountain to climb today, I believe.

Starting point is 00:08:33 But it is still so key because if that comparison is in you and you're constantly spending money trying to keep up, you're going to be unhappy and spend a lot of money that you don't need to spend. And some people go into debt for all of that. So put the blinders on, focus on you and your family. Be happy for people. It's great. It's great what they're doing. Be happy for people, but honestly focusing on you and your family, it takes a level of maturity to kind of cancel out all the noise, but it is so crucial to you winning with money long term. So we talked a lot about retirement savings in here. And if you are curious, okay, Yes, there are boomers in my life.

Starting point is 00:09:06 They are at retirement age and they're not able to retire. I don't want to be that. You can actually go to our Ramsey investment calculator, put in some numbers there and actually just kind of map out and see, okay, how much do I need to be saving every month so that I can enjoy retirement. So I'll leave a link for you to plug in your current retirement savings down below and again to reach your retirement goals because we can learn that from boomers, right? Retirement is going to happen whether we like it or not.

Starting point is 00:09:31 And for more easy hacks about money and life, make sure to check out this episode. episode right here on seven valuable life lessons that I swear by. And I'll put a link in the show notes if you're listening on podcasts. All right, you guys, remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.

The Rachel Cruze Show - 7 Money Lessons from Boomers’ Wins and Regrets

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