The Rachel Cruze Show - The Best Way to Invest in Your Future with Dr. Axe

Episode Date: June 21, 2021

Our health impacts our money, and our money impacts our health. In this episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn: The secret to living healthy on a budget with Dr. Axe Six types of insurance you need and two you don’t When you should prioritize paying for your kids’ college Resources: Zander Life Insurance Dr. Axe Website   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On average, the statistics are you're going to spend about 20 to 25% more by buying organic healthy food. You're going to spend more. But in terms of the data of what you will save 20 years from now from medical bills, it's not even a comparison. Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crewe Show podcast. So glad that you're here. Well, this episode, we're going to take the whole time to talk about investing in a better you. Everything from your health to your money. it's going to be a great one.

I interview Dr. Axe, where we talk about how to save money on your health. Okay, this is so interesting because there's so many health trends right now that cost a lot of money. So we talk about which ones to do, which ones not to do. We talk about preventative medicine. Oh, I learned so much. And then I also answer a question from Angie, who sent her question in through the Ask Rachel email, and she's about to have a baby this month. and she wants to know if she can do the baby steps out of order

because of a couple of things in her life. So we're going to dive into that. But first, let's talk about what types of insurances you need and which ones you don't. So take a listen. Hey, listen, insurance is a part of your financial journey and your plan and you need to know about it. You need to know the basic.

So we're going to cover what insurance is, some of the terms in it, and six insurances that you definitely need, and two, that you do not. Now, insurance can be kind of a nuisance when you don't need it. You're like, oh, I'm paying all this, but I don't need it. But man, when you do have it, you are thankful for it. Because without the right type of insurance, you could be one car wreck illness or house fire away from drowning in debt because these things are so dang expensive. So it's worth paying a little bit to have insurance for things in your life to cover in case something big happens. So again, we're going to dive in to know which insurances you need and which

ones you don't. But let's start out really basic. So you may already know these terms, but just in case, let's go over it. Policy. So your insurance policy is the contract between you and your insurance company. It explains in detail everything that's covered. Your deductible, the word deductible, is the amount that you'll pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in. So for example, let's say you have a $500 deductible on your auto insurance, which means if you get in a car wreck, you will owe $500, and then the insurance pays the rest up to a limit. Then premium, you hear the word premium, that is the cost of your insurance. So you might pay this once a year, an annual premium, or maybe you do it monthly or maybe

quarterly, but that's what you pay for the policy. So you can adjust your policy and the amount of your deductible to lower your premium. So the more coverage you have in a policy, the higher the premium is, the higher you're going to pay for insurance, right? The more expensive it will be because it covers more. Or vice versa. If you get insurance that covers a little bit less, then your premium will be less. And then the same is true with your deductible. So if you lower your deductible, then your premium will probably be higher.

But if you have a higher deductible, you'll have a lower premium. Okay, so let's go over the insurances that you definitely need. auto insurance. This is a big one because it's the law. Like you have to have auto insurance. The average amount car insurance pays out per accident is around $4,900, almost $5,000 on average. So you don't want to be stuck paying that out of pocket. No, no, no. So you want to shop some rates. I always say do this once a year. And if you get your auto insurance from the insurance company, I love Zander Insurance. They're going to do it for you once. once a year. They shop it, but check your rates. Again, make sure you get the rates that you need

for your car in your situation. Next is homeowners or renters insurance. So home or renter's insurance protects your home and assets if something happens, like a huge storm or a fire. So in those events, you will be reimbursed for your damages and loss. Now, notes that most policies do not cover flooding. You will have to buy separate insurance for that. I don't think that would be an issue, but I live in Nashville. There's been so much flooding here over the past couple of years. It's crazy. So remember, flood insurance, it's kind of separate.

Now, your policy will either cover cash value or replacement costs. So cash value, this means insurance will pay for the value of the item minus the depreciation or how old the item is and how much value it's lost since you bought it. So let's say someone comes in and steals your TV. Well, the insurance company will pay what that TV is. is worth when it got stolen, not what it was out of the box. So you might get $400 for that stolen TV, but you paid $1,000 for it five years ago. That's cash value.

Now, replacement costs means that coverage that offers more protection than cash value because it doesn't consider depreciation. So it'll pay to repair or replace your home or the items in it up to their original value, usually with a limit, though. So, for example, if a tornado takes out the shed in your backyard and your policy says they will replace anything up to $20,000, but anything beyond that, you'll have to pay out of pocket. Your insurance agents can walk you through those limits and tweak those limits and either give you more coverage or lower your monthly premium. Now, if you're out of ABB, Step 3, which means you have a fully funded emergency fund in place, you can take a higher deductible and lower the premium on your policy to save money. on monthly premiums. But until then, take a lower deductible, which means you're going to pay more

month-to-month for the policy, but you have a $1,000 emergency fund in Baby Steps 1 and 2. Yep. So you want to make sure you can cover that in cash. So any deductible, we want kind of lower than $1,000. So take a small deductible if you're on baby steps 1 and 2. Now, if you're renting, you need renter's insurance to protect your belongings. So this is usually not expensive at all. And it is so worth it. It'll give you peace of mind. Next up, you need term life insurance. This is not a fun one to think about, but listen, if you or your spouse passes away unexpectedly, how would the ones who survive pay monthly expenses with the loss of your income or your spouse's income if they pass? The last thing anyone should be worrying about is finances and money during something like that.

So each one of you needs term life insurance. You need a life insurance policy. You need a life insurance policy. So with term life insurance, I would say to get 10 to 12 times your yearly income and your family won't have to worry about making ends meet, losing their home or changing college plans because you're not there to provide for them. Now, if you're a stay-at-home parents, you need to think about how much you're worth because just imagine if you had a higher help out all over to replace what you do at home, which means stay-at-home parents need life insurance too. And Zander insurance can walk you through choosing a policy that is best. for your family in a super affordable way. So life insurance is cheaper than you think. So make sure go to zander.com to check them out. Next up, you need long-term disability insurance.

So disability insurance is there to replace the majority of your income in case something happens to you, like you're injured and you can't work. The Social Security Administration reports that one in four of today's 20-year-olds will become disabled for 90 days or more before they turn 67. Now, the younger and healthier you are, the easier you are to qualify for a policy like this. But as you age, the premiums will increase. And it doesn't just cover freak accidents if you work at a risky job, but it also covers you an event that you get cancer or heart attack or

something like that. So you want to get long-term and disability insurance, not short-term. Your emergency fund is there for the short-term. Long-term disability insurance will cover anywhere from 40 to 70% of your income up to five years or even more. And it all depends on the policy that you choose. And it only costs about 1 to 3% of your annual income. But it is a must. Next is long-term care insurance. So I recommend anyone over the age of 60 to look into this.

Long-term care insurance helps pay for the cost of a nursing home or assisted living. According to the Alzheimer's Association, the estimated cost for care in the last five years of life is $367,000 for people with dementia, and $233,000 for those without. And you don't want to get stuck paying for that out of pocket. The average annual cost for long-term care insurance is $1,700 to $4,200 for men, and $2,700 to $7,200 for women.

So it's not cheap, but it is so worth it, especially if you anticipate needing care for yourself in this kind of way, or even a parent encouraging them to get it. Next is health insurance. Yep, you need health insurance. And its costs will depend on how much coverage that you need, what your employer does or doesn't offer, how often you visit to the doctor, and all these other factors.

So my advice is to shop current rates and look into an HSA, which is a health savings account for the tax savings. and maybe think about increasing your deductible to bring down your monthly premiums. So those are six types of insurance that you need to have. Auto insurance, homeowners or renters, life insurance, long-term disability, long-term care if you're over 60, and health insurance. Now, there are some that you may not need, but guys, those are the six that you really do. And again, it feels like a lot of work to go and research and apply and all of it. and then you're paying out of pocket, and you're like, oh, man, it's just a lot to keep up these

premiums and everything. But it's worth it. Because if something big happens, again, an illness, a house fire, you're going to be so thankful that you have this stuff. I'm telling you, insurance is there, it's there to protect you. Now, things that you don't need, but depending on your life, you could have dental insurance, vision insurance. People get insurance on their phone or their tablet because it breaks a lot. Like, those are things that, yeah, you can have. They're not necessarily needed, but there's some additional insurances out there for sure that you can have. Now, there are some that you do not need at all. They're basically scams. You ready for these? Life insurance for kids. No, no. Remember, here's the thing with life insurance. You only need

life insurance when someone is dependent upon your income. A six-year-old ain't bringing much in. Mm-mm. She takes. So it's my three-year-old, my 18-month-old. They're not bringing in anything. No, they take all the time, which is fine. That's what they're supposed to do, their kids. But, you know, obviously, I don't even want to think about it. Something tragically happens, like, no, we don't need life insurance on them. We don't. And so there's companies out there that sell this to you.

Gerber, yeah, Gerber has life insurance. It's basically a whole life policy, and they claim that it's helping you save for college and all this. Terrible rates of return. Terrible, no. To save for college, you don't need baby food company, Gerber. No, you need an ESA. an educational savings account, actually invests, actually do something with that money where it makes more.

So college and investing is separate than insurance. Always remember that. And if you really want to think, okay, well, funeral costs and all of this, you can just add a writer to your life insurance policy that will cover that kind of stuff. Your children do not need life insurance. You do not need accidental death insurance. An accidental death policy pays your beneficiaries if you die in an accident. but if you have term life insurance, no matter how you die, your family is taken care of. Okay, so you're not like double dead if you die by accident. There's no reason to pay extra if you accidentally die. You're gone.

Sorry. But if you have term life insurance, it's covered. It's great. So remember, there are some things out there in this world that are just scams. You don't need to waste your money on. But there's some, obviously, things that are needed and are really smart and really wise to have. So, who, insurance. It's an exciting topic, but I hope that helps you.

Because, again, these terms and some of these industries, it gets confusing and all of that. But again, I want to give you information to apply to your life to not only save you money, but help you spend money wisely because there are things we want to, you know, spend our money on that's going to protect us like insurance. Today, I am so excited to have the one and only Dr. Axe here. Thanks for being here.

Hey, I'm honored to be here. Thank you. My mom. loves Dr. X. She'll always send us articles, and she's like, Dr. X said, this is the type of sunscreen we should all wear. Like, oh yeah, it's everything all the time. Your mom's fantastic. She's been asking me health questions for years, but I'm a huge, I love your family. I love the mission you're on. So, again, I'm just excited. So in this show, we always talk about your money, not necessarily your health and nutrition, but that is why I want a Dr. X on the show. He's a

popular doctor of natural medicine and a clinical nutritionist and the creator of Dr.X.com the host of the podcast, The Dr. Ack Show. So I can't wait to dive in, but let's kind of like rewind and what caused you to get into this line of work. Yeah, actually, I got into the line and work through, actually the way a lot of physicians do, and it's through a health crisis in their family. So for me, growing up, my family was really into fitness. So my parents worked out a lot. My dad water skied and lifted weights. My mom was my gym teacher in elementary school. She was a swim instructor. So really fit, but at 41 years of and she was diagnosed with breast cancer,

which is really shocking to us because from the outside, she looked so healthy. And we lived in what I'll call really the conventional medical system anytime we were sick. We didn't change anything. We just took medications, and we didn't know there was a natural way to get healthy. So my mom at the time went through all the traditional treatment

she went and she had a mastectomy. She went through rounds of chemotherapy. And at the time, I was in about seventh grade. And I just remember at the time thinking, as my mom was losing her hair as she was getting so sick, just thinking to myself, there's got to be a better way. And also thinking to myself,

I want to help families, I want to help people not go through what my mom is going through right now. And praise God, she was brought through it and diagnosed as being cancer-free and healthy. But the crazy thing was, after going through all those conventional treatments like the chemotherapy,

she continued to have more health problems. She got diagnosed with hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue syndrome, got put on antidepressant anti-anxiety medications. And one of my memories of my mom growing up was she was always sick and tired. And this went on for many years, about 11, 12 years. And at that point, 11, 12 years later,

I was actually studying to become a doctor. I was learning all of these things. And I was about to, six months later, go and move to Nashville and open up a functional medicine clinic. Well, I get a call for my mom and just in tears on the phone, and she says, Josh, I've got bad news. I've just been diagnosed with tumors on my lungs. And they want to go into surgery and radiation.

She said, what do I do? And I said, Mom, I'll be home. I flew back. We prayed together was the first thing we did. And we just felt this piece to take care of her all naturally. And we were talking to her oncologists at the time, and her oncologist said, okay, I'm going to give you four months to do what you're going to do.

But if nothing changes, then we need to go forward with the surgery. So with my mom, we just changed everything. We radically changed her diet. We had her start eating, you know, a lot of things like, like a lot of vegetables. We had her start juicing vegetables, had her start doing more salads, had her start doing organic, more organic food like wild-caught salmon and bone broth.

And also consuming superfoods like, turmeric and rishi mushroom and using essential oils like frankincense. So we had her start doing all of these things. We also really worked on her mindset. She had a lot of fear and worry in her life. And so she changed her diet. She worked on her mindset. And we followed this program for four months.

She went back to her in college and four months later. And they called the next day. And their exact words were, this is highly unusual. We don't typically see this, but the tumors have shrunk by more than half. They said, we want to see you again in nine months. She went back nine months later, complete remission.

and so she says she feels better now in her 60s. Then she did in her 30. She brought my niece and nephew to Disney World. And was there like 12 hours the other day? I'm like, I don't even think I could do that. That's right, right, right. So anyways, she's doing really. So that's really what led me to, you know, become a doctor, natural medicine

and start, you know, doing the things that I do. Yes, okay. So, again, high level. But when you say natural medicine, because I feel like the natural way of living has become more normal, right? Over the last, you know, 15 years or so. But what does that mean? Like, when you say that.

Yeah, like, it means, like, no cheez-its? Here you go. So I'll call it lifestyle medicine and food-based medicine. So if somebody goes into their traditional doctor, oftentimes what happens, let me give an example would be diabetes, okay? If somebody goes in with type 2 diabetes, they'll say, okay, most doctors will say, here is a drug like metformin, here's a drug or here's insulin.

The thing about that is it never gets to the root cause of the disease. versus natural medicine is, okay, you have type 2 diabetes. Number one, why do you have type 2 diabetes? You're getting way too many carbohydrates and sugar in your diet. So we're going to remove the sugar. We're going to get more healthy fats in, more healing foods. So what I would do is I would put somebody on a diet plan, a supplement plan, and a lifestyle plan, hey, get better sleep, move a little bit more.

And that's really the focus in natural medicine. Yeah, which is so good. I mean, like, you hear it. And I'm like, yes. It's common sense. Yes, it really is. I mean, and again, I, my mother is 100% all the time in it. I hear it from her all the time.

And I'm like, for me, the hard thing is like the convenience, right? So having kids and the snacks, you're grabbing stuff or you're out to dinner. You're at friends' houses, right? And so that consistency for me can be tough. But what would you say is more important? Because when I hear healthy lifestyle, it's exercise and diet, exercise and diet, exercise and diet. Which would you pick if you had to pick one?

I'm going to throw 80-20 here. I'm going to say diet. I mean, for the most part, I do think what we put in our body is the most important thing. Okay, what are the three things? If no one is thinking about their health and what they're putting in their body, they're just kind of living their life, eating what they want, what are like three things they need to stop doing now? Stop? Okay. So stop doing. Number one, overconsuming sugar. I mean, that's the big thing. It's sugar and the refined carbs.

I'm going to throw those in the same category because those cause inflammation. They cause bad bacteria to build up in your body. They weaken your immune system, which is huge. Huge. So sugar is the number one thing. Which is kind of in everything, though, right? Sugar's added to a lot of things. Yes, yes. So you got to watch that. And I used to tell patients, listen, it's not that you can never have dessert, have schedule in vacation meals twice a week, you know, so. Yes, that's doable. Okay. So sugar. Yep. Number two, I would say is the fast foods, you know, full of hydrogenate and oils. Like French fries, I read an article recently that said French fries are the, when you eat a thing of French fries, it's equivalent of smoking multiple

cigarettes. It is that bad for your health. Now, I'm not trying to deface everybody here. I can mix the sugar. I'm not a sweet tooth. Never happen. But chips and salsa, French fry, I mean, all salt. That's my weakness. Now, the thing I want to get into that, I hope will uplift some people a little bit. It's not that you can eat fried food. It's the type of oil that these fast food restaurants fry them in. I think you can make French fries at home. You can take potatoes. You can fry them up in coconut oil or avocado oil. It's what it's made with. Exactly. Get really. It's really. of the vegetable oils like the soybean oil and the canola oil and the vegetable oils. What do you think about grape seed oil? I think grape seed oil is a good option. Okay, good.

I got one. Yeah. Probably my two favorite though are olive oil and coconut oil. Yes. And I would have avocado probably third on that list. But those are the three good alternatives. And even grass-fed butter can be good. Yes. Okay, perfect. So three things. Sugar, oils. That's right. And then what would be the third. The third thing I think people need to stop doing, and this is a little bit different than the other two. It's people have to stop not having a plan and going to the grocery store when they're hungry. You know, I think this is one of the biggest things I see with people. If somebody has a plan on, hey, I'm going to try and eat this for breakfast, lunch and I'm not trying to do my smoothie for breakfast, my salad for lunch, my, you know, healthy meat

and vegetables for dinner. And I've got a shopping list. I'm going to the grocery store, and I have a plan every time I see those people succeed. Yeah, which is winning. I mean, It's being intentional, right? I mean, it's like with everything, and you can't just wander your way through life and hope to be healthy, right? You have to say, no, no, no, we're going to make a plan. We're going to know what we're doing

and actually follow through and do it, which is huge. Okay, so eating healthy, having a healthy lifestyle can affect the budget. It can be, it can be more expensive. So I want to go down a list. Let's do it. And you help me to see how can we save. Okay, vitamins.

So vitamins, here's the thing to remember is you don't need to take everything. You know, think about what you have going on, your specific health goal, and just take between one and three supplements for that. The other thing I encourage people to do is sometimes doing food-based supplements can replace meals. I'll give you an example. If you're making a smoothie, like this is what I do every morning for breakfast, I really just do two to three ingredients.

I'll add in a cup of fruit and I'll add in some collagen powder or bone broth powder that's a vanilla flavor. And that's my whole meal there. And so, you know, that may just cost a dollar or so for that whole meal, but certain things like, grains, powder, especially protein powders, if you're doing something like collagen, that actually can replace food you are doing because it really is food. And so in that way, you can kind of save money as well. Yeah, that's so good. Okay, healthy foods.

It's kind of broad. Yeah. But buying organic, you know, all of that. So here's the big thing to remember when it comes to organic versus not organic. By far the most important foods to buy organically are your meat and dairy products. Because they store toxins more than plants do. And so if you're buying organic, the other thing I encourage people to do is go to your local farmer's market. You know, reach out to a local farmer. This is what I did, especially early on in my career when I was on a smaller budget, is I went in with a couple of families and we bought a cow together.

And we took that meat, we froze it. And so I think thinking about meat that way, buying organic, even if it's not labeled organic, if you know it's healthier. You know, so that's the most important to do organic. Number two is called the dirty dozen and the clean 15. Okay, there are these lists. And basically here's what it is. bananas have a thick covering over them. They're really not that important to buy organically. Neither are great fruit. They have this covering protecting them versus lettuces are sprayed directly with a lot of chemicals and fertilizers. And so all that being said.

But if you're shopping on a budget, really just try and focus on the meat products. And if you do any dairy, and the others aren't really necessarily as important. Yes, so good. This is like the line item that people bust all the time in their budget. Like when I talk to them about money, it's always food, always food.

But buying in bulk is something that I love to save money, would you say? Fantastic. And one of the best things people can do to eat healthy on a budget is buying in bulk is a brilliant strategy. Be able to save money, okay. Toothpaste. Wow. So one thing you can do, here we go. Toothpaste.

I have a great DIY recipe. I wrote a book called Essential Oils Ancient Medicine. It's a book all about using essential oils. In this book, I go through a simple toothpaste recipe. You can buy a giant thing of coconut. oil. You can make your own toothpaste using coconut oil, a little bit of baking soda, and something like peppermint essential oil. That's it. Three ingredients, and it goes a long way. Okay, deodorant. My sister-in-laws are on this kick because they're like, the deodorant is so terrible for us,

and they're like making their own and everything. There's a brand I love. It's called Schmitz, okay? And they actually put in things like activated charcoal and magnesium and things. And so if somebody wants to buy a good one that works, yes. Here's just not to get totally off topic. No, I love it. Some of the natural deodorants, they are terrible. I mean, they do not work at all. In fact, people are like, this is, you know, this is having the opposite effect. So all that being said, Schmitz is a great brand.

I do think from a, you can make your own as well. And they call it, this may not sound like the most, you know, most glamorous thing, but they call it pit paste. And essentially, you take very similar thing. It's coconut oil. A lot of times people add clay in. It's called bentonite clay. And a little bit of, you could add in like,

Shea butter, but people can, you search this online. I haven't in my book, Essential Oil is Ancient Medicine, but you can also Google search homemade deodorant recipe, and you can save money that way too. Okay, is it dangerous, though? Because they're talking about your lift notes, like everything. Yeah, well, the thing about a lot of the deodorants today is almost all of them have aluminum in them. And so aluminum has been connected to a lot of neurological diseases, dementia. And so aluminum does accumulate, heavy metals accumulate in the body, and they don't leave very easily. So that's why there's a lot of concern about deodorants is all of the aluminum. Everything going on there.

Well, good. I'm glad we talked about the deodorant because my sister-in-law, so we've been talking about it over the past month or two. They're probably going to kill me. But I was like, what? I learn a lot. You learn a lot from people, you know? They have all this new stuff. So there are, I feel like, a lot of health trends out there.

You mentioned essential oils. Like there's a lot of things that people kind of gravitate towards or certain types of diets. So what are the things that you're like, yes. Here are like two health trends that are going on that's an absolute that you need to. invest in and have your life, you know, it being part of your life. Yeah, there are a ton of trends, a ton. One of the trends that I love is people doing working out at home. People can do this for free.

You can go online. Like I did a, you know, some exercise videos on, my friend was posting some on YouTube the other day. And she was doing some, you know, stretching and working out videos that my wife and I did together. And we loved it. So I do think exercising at home in the comfort of your own, you just got to be disciplined. You got to put it in your sense.

schedule and get it done, have a room you're doing it in. But we do that, and I think that's a great, great trend that people can keep following. You know, another big one I would just say would be, you know, these subscription-based food services. I do think it can be really good because it can keep you from, you know, the unhealthy snacks and spending too much. And the other thing is, you kind of know more about what you're spending oftentimes. And so I do like a lot of the food subscription services. And then also just cooking at home more. I think more people are spending time cooking at home. I mean, my wife and I, we, you know, we love on Friday nights we do like homemade pizza night. And so we'll get our own pizza crust. We'll buy our own ingredients and do it

that way. So I do think those are, those are some good trends. People, and listen, there are plenty of bad trends. Sure, sure. But those are definitely some trends that I hope stick around and that are great. Well, and all of that even saves you money, right? Okay, so there was an article that I read that you wrote about preventative medicine. Let's dive into that. I want to hear all your thoughts around it. So, you know, like one of the things, obviously, you know, yourself and your dad and your family teaches is planning and planning for your future. It's the same thing. When you look at the data today, the amount that we spend as a country on health care from preventable diseases, this is according to the CDC and this is according to, you know, the American Medical Association is we spend

trillions, we lose trillions of dollars a year on preventable diseases like type two diabetes. a lot of inflammatory diseases. 98% of diseases today, according to some studies, are not genetic. They're actually due to an unhealthy lifestyle and not eating healthy. So all that being said, I really think if people are practicing what I call preventative medicine or preventative nutrition, it goes a long way. So somebody might look and say, you know what? And on average, the statistics are you're going to spend about 20 to 25% more by buying organic,

healthy food. You're going to spend more. But in terms of the data of what you will save 20 years from now, it's- From medical bills and everything. From medical bills, it's not even in comparison. And so, again, just keeping that in mind and saying, my health is important, my nutrition's important, I'm going to invest in my health in prevention. And so sometimes taking that supplement or eating that superfood or just saying, hey,

I'm going to sub-green leafy vegetables instead of, you know, the process cook your french fries over here. That is preventative medicine, and that goes a long way into somebody. being healthy and saving money long term. Yeah, it's so funny. I feel like how health and money runs so parallel in the habits and the mindset. Because, yeah, like you saying, you guys, we talk about investing and changing your legacy

on the financial side, but your health side is so important on what you're putting in your body. And I'm preaching to the choir of myself. I'm telling myself this because, like we said earlier, I can get expensive, you know, when you change your lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle, you guys,

but it's an investment. That is so worth it. It's worth it in your health and how you feel, I mean, in the long run, for sure. And so remember, to be budgeting for this, you guys, and make sure to use every dollar, which is now inside our subscription of Ramsey Plus.

You can check that out at Ramsey Solutions.com. All right, Dr. Axe, where can everyone find you? Everybody can find me at Dr.ax.com. It's my website. And also, I run a supplement company called Ancient Nutrition. And our products, we have collagen protein, probiotics, multis, and they're in Whole Foods, Market,

sprouts, Target. They're in places all over the country. And also social media, Dr. Josh Axe. on Instagram and Facebook. And yeah, those are some of the best places. Awesome. Well, thanks for being here again. Seriously, diving into this topic

because our money health is important, but also obviously our physical health and who we are as people. So thanks for all the insights and all the wisdom. Awesome. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to have Angie on because she has a question.

So Angie, welcome to the show. Hi, Rachel. Nice to meet you. It's so good to meet you too. Okay, so where are you calling from? I am from Troy, Alabama. Very nice. and we talked a little bit before the call, but pregnant with baby number one.

Yeah, pregnant and due in July. Due in July. Oh, so you're what week right now? So you're probably what, 30-ish weeks? 31. 31. 31. How are you feeling?

I don't think I'll make it 40 weeks. I know. You're like, 35 weeks, Jesus, this baby can come. This baby can come. I know. Yeah, exactly. It's a lot. I know, I know. So you asked a great question when you submitted it, but I want to hear from you because we've not talked money yet. So I want to hear what your question is and kind of where you guys are on your journey. So we are on Baby Step 2 and we should be in Baby Step 5 by late next year. And I was calling to see how to go about doing a 529 our college savings plan and how,

not just to go about it, but how it works. Yes, that's a great question. Well, I'll start with that we teach when you are expecting that you pause all your baby steps and you just save, save, save. Just in case something happens. So everyone watching, that is one time that you will pause getting out of debt

when you are expecting, just to make sure that there's enough money there, that baby and mom are good. And then once everything's good, you press play, you pay off the rest of your debt with that money that is saved, and you can even put some of that money as your emergency fund if you're done paying off debt. So you guys will be through Baby Step 3 pretty quickly is what it's sounding like. Is that right?

Yes, yes. That's awesome. And then funding 15% of your income into retirement. So we said that. And you said you will be doing that with your 401K through you and your husband's employer, which is perfect. And then we get to kids college. So, yes, with kids college, there's obviously multiple ways to get through school.

And one of them being, if parents are, are in a financial position that it is such a gift. It is a blessing to help your kids financially go through it. You are not a bad parent. If you don't do this, you know, parents watching, they're like, oh, we have a senior going, you know, or just graduated and they're going to college, and we have no money to help them because we're on baby step too. That's okay. You are not a bad parent. But if you've done the baby steps like you guys, and especially starting your family, you're in a perfect position to help your child. Fast forward 18 years to go to school. So a 5-20, plan or an ESA are two great options. And the first thing I would suggest to is to sit down with one of our

smart vester pros, because they're going to be able to walk you through the timeline of the investment to know how aggressive to go, how traditional you can go with it. I mean, there's so many different options when it comes to that type of college savings. And so the fact you guys are starting so early, the beautiful thing is that it's an investment. So you put the money in and it's going to grow. So you can, you don't have to put in a full, you know, what's, tuition costs today in that fund, but you want to make sure you have enough. So I'll just say, for my husband and I, for instance, when we are funding our kids college, we'll kind of just go through and just kind of put chunks of money just kind of throughout the years to kind of make sure that we are

still on par. So you guys may have a year. They're like, hey, we're going to throw maybe a thousand, $2,000 at that $529 to get it started, and we're going to revisit it in five years to see how it's grown, what tuition looks like today, and maybe we choose to just throw some extra more cash in five years in it, or maybe consistently every year you just put a certain amount of money away in it. And again, it's not going to be these huge amounts because it's going to grow, but that investment professional, the SmartVistor Pro, really will be able to walk you through the math of it. And so having someone on your side in this world is really, really important. And then obviously going on to Baby Step 6. So I'll start going to start.

back and just repeat myself, but because you guys are starting so early, you know, you are expecting and you guys will be debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund in no time before this baby's even one years old. So the fact that you're starting college now, you may not have to be as aggressive. You may not have to put as much money as you would versus if you had an eighth grader and you got to baby step five. You'll probably put a little bit more toward college versus even paying off the house early. So it all depends on timing and age. And what a gift that you guys are starting this so early. So does that make sense? How does that, how do you take that? How does that feel? Yes, it does. We just, we were not sure how to go about it and how much to put in. We figured if we

were starting this when he was a senior in high school, it would be horrible. So we want to go ahead and get this started now. Yes, and that's exactly right. Yep, putting in a little something at the beginning is huge. And then as you guys progress throughout the 18 years, putting more. and more and more in as time is needed and what it looks like. And then the other crazy thing, I have this always in the back of my mind. You know, even because of 2020, the way it shook up college and people, you know, having to take classes from home and most universities are starting back in the fall. But still, I think it kind of gave this like a little bit of shake to the education system.

So I am always curious in the back of my mind, like, what is college? What is that going to look like, right? Like, is community college going to be way more familiar with people and, more of a smarter option that it looks like, you know, as we say here today, versus something else. So it'll be interesting to watch as all that plays out. But the great thing about these college plans, as you're able to pass it to different kids and even down a few generations.

But again, your smart vestor pro would be able to walk you guys through the math and all of that. So, Angie, you guys are amazing. What a great job. I'm so excited for you. And so tell me again, what dates you're due in July? So what date do you think you guys will be debt-free? in through Baby Step 3. Do you think it in the next year? It'll probably be in the next year. I'm hoping that we don't use that whole Stork Fund because we could, we'll take that and put that on our

debt and hopefully it will be cleared up by then. And it'll take us just probably three or six months to get Baby Step 3 done. Yeah, that's amazing. So what started you guys on this? I'm just curious, you know, how many months or years ago? We started in Barclay. We started in Barrow. of 2019. Okay. And we actually had no desire to do this, but my mother-in-law wanted to take the class at our church. And she didn't want to go alone.

So me and my husband were like, well, let's go with her. You know, who knows, we might learn something. And throughout the class, we both were looking at each other like, we've been doing this our way. And there's a better, like, this sounds like we could do this. And so we decided to try it. We gave it three months, and it was amazing. Wow.

That's amazing. I love that. You're like, mother-in-law, we'll go with you to help you out because you need this. We're here for emotional support. And then in the meantime, you're like, oh, gosh, we could be doing something totally different with our money and winning. I love that, that you guys kind of just stumbled in it. That's what I love hearing people's journey, because everyone has that starting.

point. Some people, it's this dramatic moment of like, we have to change and change now and it's instant and it's urgent. Other people like you, it's kind of like, they almost kind of just stumble in it and they just, the light bulb goes on and like, wow, we're going to just change and do something totally different. So I love that. It feels, I was going to say, it feels great having a paid-for vehicle. And the only thing that we owe left on is my husband's truck. And once that's done, we are so looking forward to baby Step 7. Oh, did you ever imagine having paid for cars? Like, is that something you ever dream that you could do that you could just own your car? Yes, but no. We always thought it would be a really crappy car.

That's fair. That's so fair. Yes, absolutely. Oh, that's awesome. Well, Angie, thank you so much for your question. It's so great. So relatable. I know everyone has these kind of questions when they get to different stages of life. And I pray the rest of your pregnancy goes, well, I hope labor and delivery. goes well, and that sweet baby comes in July, and you guys just enjoy it in so many ways. You have so much peace now in all areas of your life. And so entering a baby into the family during this is awesome. So thank you, Angie. I so appreciate it. All right. Thank you, Rachel. If you have a question, you can submit your question to any of my social channels. So YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, we are on the lookout for Ask Rachel questions because we want to involve you in the show because this is about you guys. I mean, your life, your journeys, and they all look different, but yet we all still handle Uncle Benjamin, like no matter what, right?

We all are handling our money and be able to do the journey together is such a gift. And I love that Angie mentioned going to the class, which is Financial Peace University, which is now part of Ramsey Plus, so you can actually do a free trial if you go to RamseySolutions.com. Check out Ramsey Plus. Watch the videos, engage in the information, in the content, and maybe you can be like Angie, where you think, ah, I don't know if I need this, and then it changes your whole life, mm-hmm, because that's what happens.

Well, Angie, I hope that helps and listen. I get that question a lot of, hey, this is gonna going on, can I do baby steps out of order? But listen, remember, the baby steps are in an order for a reason, but thank you again so much for your question. I hope that helped you guys out there who are listening. And thanks to Dr. Axe for being on again. It was such a pleasure, and again,

learning so much about our health and how important that is. Now, if you guys have not subscribed to the Rachel Cruise Show podcast, make sure you hit that subscribe button. And if the spirit leads, you can leave a review. Thank you guys so much for listening. And remember to take control of your money and create a life you live.