Today, Paula Christine and Jon Gay celebrate one year of the Beyond the Paycheck podcast by looking back on some of their favorite topics and guests over the last 50+ episodes. They include:
We wrap up with some final thoughts - what Jon has learned about money, and what Paula has learned about podcasting!
To reach Paula, you can email her at paula@paulachristine.com or visit her website: https://paulachristine.com/
Jon Gay: Welcome to Beyond the Paycheck. I am Jon Gay. I'm joined as always by our host, Paula Christine. Paula, we are celebrating one year of the Beyond the Paycheck podcast.
Paula Christine: I know. It's so hard to believe it's been a year but it's been a lot of fun and we've learned a lot over the past year.
Jon: We have. I think that this is a great time for us to look back over the last year and pick out some of the highlights of the 50-plus episodes that we've done because there have been many great topics. I know it's going to be hard to narrow down just a few of our favorites but we're going to reference them here if you want to go back and check them out. I'll let you lead. What's one you want to start with?
Paula: Well, first of all, I want to know what was your most favorite episode or your most favorite guest? How about that? I know I'm throwing you under the bus right now.
Jon: No, I know. I've got four or five episodes I wrote down here that I really liked.
Paula: Not necessarily. It doesn't have to be the episode, but the guest. I want to see if you pick the same person. I actually have two.
Jon: All right. I'm going to pick either Dr. Sally who talked about mindset or Monica who talked about finding your passion whether or not you're working for a job or not.
Paula: Okay. For me, my favorite guest, not necessarily the topic because it was on credit, was Carolyn.
Jon: Yes, Carolyn was great as well.
Paula: She was so much fun. Then my second favorite, and I know we're not referencing, is when we talked to Aaron.
Jon: Which one was that again? That was--
Paula: Aaron was the 30-year-old that was thinking about getting married.
Jon: Yes, he was fun. He was a good one for sure. Yes.
Paula: By the way, he's engaged.
Jon: Oh, good. It's still going well for him, good. [laughter]
Paula: Yes. If I have to go back to the episode that I learned the most from, I'm going to say when Michael Fischer and Episode 25 when we talked about the VA loans.
Jon: Yes, that was a really informative episode. The military and veterans is not an area that I have a lot of familiarity with. To hear him talk about what resources are available for the men and women who have served our country when they come home was really enlightening.
Paula: Yes, and especially now if you're thinking about buying a home because we talked about that with Marc in Episode 33 is like, should I buy because interest rates have gone up? The VA they actually have a lower interest rate than you would get as a conventional loan plus a lower down payment. No PMI. If you are a veteran, you may want to go back and check out that episode.
Jon: Paula, I'm going to go back to one of our early episodes. That was Episode 5. We had the Money Coach, Eboney Byrne, on the show. I thought she was really good. She talked about controlling your money versus your money controlling you. I think that I tend to gravitate a lot toward the episodes on mindset and that was one of our first ones. Where she really talked about looking at your numbers and it might not be as bad as you think and really taking control of your situation because it might not be as hard as you think.
Paula: Well, I think that scares a lot of people because they don't know what they're going to find once they start looking. Instead, they don't look and therefore then your money is controlling you and you're not controlling your money. Yes, Eboney was great, but if we talk about mindset, that brings back Monica in Episode 49. Talking about your passion and actually even the episode with Jon Dwoskin too. He also talks about mindset and you know me, we're both alike. Mindset has been hugely important in my life for the past three years since my divorce. I've been working on that mindset, becoming a better person. Those two episodes really hit home for me.
Jon: If you want to go back and look, Coach Jon Dwoskin was in Episode 22. The thing that Monica said, again, Episode 49, that really struck me is you don't necessarily have to have a job that is your passion. It's the whole live to work versus working a live thing. Where I think for some folks-- my passion is audio and podcasting. That's my full-time job. That's what I do. For some folks, they may have a day job that provides them the income to pursue their passion on say, nights and weekends. You don't absolutely have to have your passion be the same as your 9:00 to 5:00. I thought that was interesting.
Paula: Yes, I agree with that. It was nice to hear her say that because usually when you hear about people talking about finding your passion, it's about finding that passion to do that job for the rest of your life thing. I like that you can still work your normal job that will pay your bills and do your passion in the evenings or on the weekends. Nobody ever really says that. I thought that was nice to hear.
Jon: Refreshing. For sure. What else is on your list?
Paula: I, being a money person, money and passion. Two things I live by, anyway. When Marty in Episode 24 we were talking about the importance of having the different type of investment buckets because most people are trained to invest only in their 401(k) or IRA. When we get out to retirement, we want to make sure that we have the tax-free bucket, the taxable bucket, and then the bucket that is the capital gains bucket. I think that's really important to have those three types of money even when you're prior to retirement and during retirement. I really like that episode because that hit home too.
Jon: Yes. A lot of times you hear about diversification and not investing in the same type of stock or bond but diversification also means having your money in different places so that A, you have different levels of access to it but B, if the market really goes in the tank for one particular asset class, you can also have the other money to balance that out in a diversified portfolio.
Paula: Oh God, that even leads into Lynn.
Jon: That's where I was going next. Yes.
Paula: Our favorite investment person. [laughs] Lynn Habrowski Episode 17 and 18. She's just fantastic. I think everybody needs to go back and check that one out. Even if you know nothing about investing or just want to sharpen your knowledge a little bit.
Jon: What I really liked about Lynn was she did a great job of breaking down terminology and the basics of investing. I know a big focus of your business is education and really educating folks on what it is to invest. I think a lot of folks do the whole set, forget it. We've talked about this in many episodes where you get the whole paperwork pile on your desk when you start a new job.
It's okay, 401(k). You're picking a date based on what year you think you're going to retire and all that. Really learning how to take control of your finances and knowledge is power. Learning what these terms mean and the different things you can do with your money is really going to set you up for success down the road. Don't even get me started on compound interest. You start that early, that's going to really set you up.
Paula: Yes. She talks about that too, compound interest, in one of those episodes. I'm not sure if it's 17 or 18 but she does reference compound interest. Thinking about 401(k)s, we've had a couple people on there talking about 401(k)s and when Tricia Bailey was on just a couple weeks ago in Episode 47 called understanding your 401(k) plan. Do you remember when she talked about how your 401(k) might not be the best investment vehicle for you when it comes down to fees?
I thought-- I never thought about that because everybody's just so conditioned to invest in your 401(k) because it's easy, comes right out to your paycheck and you might pay a little bit more in fees because of the simplicity of it coming out of your--
Jon: You're paying for the convenience. Yes, exactly.
Paula: I just never even thought about that. Even as a coach, it just-- I don't know, that was a good one for me.
Jon: That makes sense too. All those hidden fees because there's many of them and where do they come from and who pays them and all that. Also, those generic 401(k), those target date funds. If you and I are the same age and we're next-door neighbors, we might be retiring theoretically in the same year but we might have completely different financial circumstances, whether it's kids or taking care of elderly parents or salary or any of that stuff. That one size fits all retirement 401(k) plan is not always the best for people.
Paula: Correct. If you want to learn more about 401(k)s, check out Episode 3 where Shannon Maloney talks about understanding your 401(k).
Jon: Yes. She talked a lot about those target funds in Episode 3. I want to talk about an episode that you and I did solo, well, I guess together, and that's episode-- [laughter] or without a guest, how about we say that? That was right around the holidays. That was Episode 23 about budgeting your holiday spending. My two big takeaways from just talking to you in that episode, Paula, were number one, budgeting throughout the year.
You're putting money away in each of the 12 months and not just December and taking a real whack at the end of the year and go on your credit card paying interest and all that. We've been hearing more and more about people valuing experience over cash. I feel for the longest time I would get-- my birthday is December 18th, so I get a birthday and a hunker card basically at the same time. Here's $10, here's $20, and all that.
Now especially Gen Y, Gen Z, if you've got nieces, nephews, sons, daughters in your life or grandkids, they really value those experiences. They're not going to remember, oh hey, Aunt Paula or Uncle Jon gave me $50 last year. They're going to remember the baseball game you took them to or the concert you took them to, or the weekend road trip you went on. Those experiences really can count for a lot more than just checking the box and slipping cash or checking a card.
Paula: That's funny you brought that up today because I was meeting with a client earlier this morning. I just had this conversation with him. His wife recently passed away a few years ago and he's just now starting to come out of all the grief. He has two sons. Both are not married at this point and he has a lot of money.
We were talking about how the kids are going to inherit this money and stuff and I said, "Why don't you give them experiences?" I said, "Yes, they'll appreciate the money if they inherit it but the experience of taking to a baseball game or a fishing trip or out to see the Grand Canyon, whenever it is that you guys enjoying, they'll enjoy that so much more than the money that they're going to receive down the road because they'll have those memories for a lifetime."
Jon: That's a really good point, Paula, because if you leave somebody money, you're not going to see them enjoy it when you're gone but if you take some of that money and you have experiences with your loved ones, that can really go a long way, it's going to create cherished memories for both of you. Yes, you're going to leave the money for when you're gone but you still have that money that you can enjoy together while you're still here.
Paula: You think about your grandparents, the memories. When you think about them, what do you remember? I remember my grandmother's meatloaf and going for walks with her and I remember that. I don't remember if she died with money or didn't die with money. I don't have a clue.
Jon: Related to that. My grandfather was always a huge prankster and so when he passed, I was young. I was eight and my brother was, I think, four and so about a year or two before he passed, we got lobsters one day to cook a bunch of lobster and lobster was alive when he had it. He cut the elastics on the lobsters claws, and pushed it in my four-year-old brother's face and my brother jumped back 30 feet when this lobsters claws were coming right at him.
I was eight, but I have this really indelible memory of my grandfather doing that because he was such a prankster and I can hear in my mind's ear, I guess, I can still hear his laugh and it's those moments that matter so much more than money.
Paula: Oh, yes. I don't know if you'll find it gross or humorous but my grandfather, when he would eat soup, and he could picture it like you've seen it in a movie where he's like, [slurping]
Jon: Oh, slurping it up, yes.
Paula: I'll never forget that, never forgot that. We'd always be like, "Grandpa." My grandmother would get-- she'd be yelling at him, "Stop that." We would laugh just listening to him eat that soup.
[laughter]
Paula: What a memory.
Jon: It's funny the things you remember but again, it goes back to those experiences. You remember that a lot more than a check.
Paula: Yes, I agree. I've been trying to do that a lot more myself with my kids and grandkids, is giving them those experiences. One of the episodes I know we both agree on and something most couples should probably listen to is when Sally talks in Episode 35, about couples and money. What I picked up from that is being aware of your partner's patterns and understanding why they do that.
She gave the example, if your partner likes to travel all the time, and you're not a big travel, but because they weren't maybe as kids didn't get to travel, so that's why it's important to them and so just understanding why people do what they do or why they think what they think, would make for a probably a better relationship.
Jon: Right. She sets it up well because Dr. Sally actually had two-part episode, so 34 and 35. In 34, she talked about mindset and what you grew up with, and how that really influences you, you're a product of your environment especially when it comes to money. Then as you mentioned, Paula, in Episode 35, talking about how that dynamic can change when two people come together as a couple where they may have had completely different life experiences when they come together and I mentioned in the episode. Neither my wife nor I grew up with a lot of money, but we have opposite mindsets about it when we came together. She's a saver and I'm a spender. I'm the FOMO, fear of missing out. Like, "I want to buy this because I don't want to miss that." Like, "Oh, I'm on the side of town and never buy this restaurant, let me go get lunch over here." She, because she didn't have a lot growing up either, she's like, "No, no, no, we got to save, we got to save, because you never know what tomorrow could bring."
Really, we had to have some really deep conversations in the beginning of our relationship about what that would look like, what a compromise it would be and so I'll convince her to spend money on something she really wants and she'll convince me to not spend money on crap I don't need.
Paula: Those conversations are hugely important. People should have them before they get married, but money is the number one cause, I believe, for divorce.
Jon: Oh, I believe it, yes.
Paula: When you get to that where you're fighting over money all the time, I remember when my ex-husband and I got married, he wanted to have his own money, you know what I mean, and didn't want to account for it, and then I was trying to pay all the bills and you're like, "Well, what happened to that money?" "Well, I went out and bought something. I shouldn't have to ask you." We had to work through all that and find something that made sense for us so that we weren't fighting about money. We ultimately ended up getting a divorce, it wasn't over money, but ended up getting that.
We've had quite a few episodes on divorce so if anybody is contemplating getting a divorce and wanted to get some information ahead of time, check out Episode 27 with divorce journalist Ilyssa in Episode 27, where she talks about some of the things you might want to consider if you're thinking about getting a divorce. She has her own podcast that you may want to check out.
Jon: Yes, it's called The Divorce Hour. We'll link to that in our show notes as well. She was fantastic. I learned a new term through the podcast too, Paula, that's CDFA, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. Do I have that right?
Paula: You have that correct. You work with a CDFA and they'll help you determine who's going to get what. Some assets are better to take on in the divorce versus qualified versus nonqualified, that's a whole nother thing. Check that out. I think Lisa talks about that in Episode-
Jon: 31.
Paula: -31. Thank you. You're so on top of that.
Jon: I've got the list right here in front of me of all 50 or so of them. That's probably a good place to leave it because we have so many great episodes about such a variety of topics when it comes to managing your money, your assets, and all the things you might be up against from when you get that first job and you get that stack of paperwork up until potentially leaving your money behind to somebody when the time is right. We've covered the gambit in a whole year of doing this podcast, Paula. Any closing thoughts as we wrap up our first year here?
Paula: Got a lot. I've learned a lot myself, I know you have too, from the very first episode and feeling like a geek to now being super comfortable doing these. It's just how you evolve over the last year.
Jon: I always tell my podcasting clients that I don't have a single client that's done 10 episodes that looks back on Episode 1 and says, "Yes, I nailed it right out of the gate." It's one of those things where you're always evolving as a podcaster and from my side of it, I'm also learning so much about the financial space. I feel like we've probably taught each other a lot over the last year, Paula.
Paula: Oh, yes, I'm sure. It's been a blast. I think some of the things that don't make it to that podcast are quite humorous.
Jon: [laughs] We leave them in when we can. There's some things that have to come out for a myriad of different reasons.
Paula: [laughs] Yes. I've been in this industry for 23 years, and I've learned some things that I didn't know before, which just makes me a better person.
Jon: That's the point of this podcast, you want to distribute that information out to our audience. Be sure to follow the podcast wherever you're listening right now or if you have an idea for a guest for the podcast, you can certainly drop Paula and I an email. You can email her at--
Paula: paula@paulachristine.com. That would be great. If you want to be on the podcast, and have some questions, please let us know.
Jon: Same thing. For more information about financial literacy, you can go to Paula's website, paulachristine.com. Paula, here's to year 2.
Paula: More to come.
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