Latest / She’s Smart / Veronica Taylor – Women, Wealth & Why You Just Have to Start

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Veronica Taylor – Women, Wealth & Why You Just Have to Start · She’s Smart

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Hey, everybody. Welcome to She's Smart. I'm your host, Maria Robotham.
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Each week, we sit down with incredible women to talk about life,
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work, and everything in between.
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On today's episode, I sat down with Veronica Taylor, a wealth advisor at Ellevest,
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a women-led financial platform built to help women invest,
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grow their wealth, and make financial decisions based on their goals and their lives.
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What I love about this conversation is that it's not intimidating,
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it's not overly technical, it's just real.
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We talk about her journey from a 20-year career as a creative director into
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wealth management and how her own experience breaking free from living paycheck
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to paycheck completely changed her life.
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And then we get into it, women and investing, why so many of us feel behind,
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how to actually start without knowing everything, and real-life topics like equity compensation,
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career transitions, and navigating money during big life moments like your parents'
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wealth, your own wealth, divorce.
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We go into it. This one is really about confidence, freedom,
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and making your money work for you in a way that actually aligns with your life.
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So get cozy as we connect, learn, and laugh together on She's Smart with today's
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guest, Veronica Taylor.
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Hi, Veronica. How are you? I'm good.
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Oh my gosh, it's so great to meet you. I'm so glad that when I reached out to
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you on LinkedIn, you said yes.
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I was like, wow, is this okay? Is this real? It's real. It's so funny.
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Thank you so much for joining me on She's Smart.
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When Christine Short was on, she is a client of Ellevest and she was talking
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about her career in finance.
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And I had mentioned, I was like, God, I wish there was like an all-female investing
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group. And she's like, well, Maria, there is.
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And they're called Ellevest. And I'm like, I need to talk to them.
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So when I found you on LinkedIn and that you're in Westchester so close,
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I was like, I hope Veronica can come on. So thank you for joining me.
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This is such an important topic of conversation. And I feel like I'm in my 40s
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and this is just becoming a conversation for us, right?
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So imagine the younger women who actually get all this information now,
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what they'll be able to attain, right?
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Yes. No, I would say I wish I knew myself 10 years ago.
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Seriously, I would definitely have invested and done something different. That is for sure.
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So you had a 20-year career as a creative director.
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What was that moment when you were like, I'm completely going to change careers?
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So it was like slow, it was gradual. At the time, I was pregnant with my third child.
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I was living with my husband, my then husband, and we made decent incomes.
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Like we weren't high earners, but we made decent incomes. But we just had this debt.
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And it's like, how do people do this? Like, how are we going to buy a house?
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Like, it didn't make sense.
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So once I started learning, reading more, and I learned, you know,
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how to pay off debt, I was like, oh, my gosh, that was simple.
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It wasn't easy, but it was simple. I was like, why are they telling people this?
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So then I started spreading. I took up my Bible and started spreading the good word of pay down debt.
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And then I realized that I wanted to do more. Like, I didn't just want to help people pay down debt.
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I wanted to learn to invest and grow their money. So then I pivoted.
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And so you mentioned about changing that generational cycle of paycheck to paycheck.
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And as someone who lived her life,
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paycheck to paycheck. I get it. There's a big difference when you're not waiting
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for that paycheck to come in so you can pay your rent and not just have $90
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in your bank account and you just went to dinner in the city with your friends
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because you're living there on nothing and terrified.
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I think I've told that story before where I lived in New York for 10 years and
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I moved there with nothing.
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My parents tried, but they've got their own situation.
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I had $90 in my bank account.
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And I think I was getting paid like maybe the next day. And our friends were
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going to this like really high-end club dinner place at that time in the city.
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And I was like, well, how much do you think it's going to be per person?
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And they're like, probably like $90. And I went, well, shit.
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I hope it's not more than that because that's all I have. And it ended up being like almost $90.
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I remember walking out of that place being like, I never want to feel like this again. Right.
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And some of them had nothing to worry about because they were really fortunate.
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They came from money. They had better paying jobs. And I'm sitting there being
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like, I want this life, but I can't afford it. Right. Yeah.
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I've been there. Right. So how did you change that paycheck to paycheck cycle?
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How did you first it was eliminating the debt. We had like $80,000 in debt.
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You're not alone. So many people, right?
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So many people. Student loan, car loans, credit card debt, like everything,
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like normal, quote unquote, debt.
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But once that was paid off, those minimums, it's like it felt like I got a raise.
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So once I had the raise, then it was redirecting all those funds back into savings and investing.
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And then you find that you can rebuild so much quicker because so much of your
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money wasn't going towards the debt. So it was like a weight was lifted.
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Right. And that interest rate, that's like 24 percent. Yes. Right.
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Interest cost versus interest earned. So I was paying the credit cards 20 percent
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when I could have been investing that money and earning it.
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So that's where that big raise came in. Yeah, that's a nice feeling there.
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What did it feel like? What did that shift feel like from before versus after?
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It felt just like a massive weight and like how you're looking at everyone and
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you're like, how are they doing this?
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Like, is everyone in credit card debt? And a lot of people are.
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So once we did it, it was just like you were able to save that much quicker.
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And then we were able to do the things like buy the bigger house,
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like first world problems. But like when you're living in a two bedroom condo
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with one bathroom and three babies, like it wasn't fun.
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So having that freedom, it was the freedom. That's really what it was.
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That money gave us freedom to do the things that we really wanted to do.
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Was there any point when you were switching careers and building this and spreading
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the good word of finance and investing?
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Were there any points where you were terrified or scared? Like,
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what am I doing? And how did you get through it?
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I was completely terrified. I'm like, what am I doing, Veronica?
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But I really, it felt like I found my purpose.
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Like, I was terrified. My background had nothing to do with finance. I was in the art world.
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Like, I started, you know, doing web design that had nothing to do with numbers.
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So I was terrified. But it was just, you start talking to different,
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it was talking to different women, finding a mentor who helped guide me.
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And like she paid it forward. Now I pay it forward.
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And it was the support, the women around me like, Veronica, you can do this.
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So here I am talking in my head like this is terrifying.
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And a lot of the ways to break into the industry was selling life insurance.
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And I knew that was something I didn't want to do. I didn't want to push product
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that I didn't believe in. And I never felt like I was a salesperson.
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Still don't. But realize it's not about selling. It's about believing in what
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you're doing and just having conversations.
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And slowly I got the confidence.
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I'm good at school. So when I took the classes to become a CFP,
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like that gave me, I knew I could do school.
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And then when I took the classes, I actually got a job in the industry while
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I was studying for the CFP. That gave me real life experience.
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So again, I tied it back to the CFP. I passed on the first try.
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Never, nothing felt better. Like, it was the hardest thing I ever did.
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But when I got through it, it was just like, wow, you can do anything.
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That's right. Isn't it amazing, though, when you find something you love, it's so hard, but it's,
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easy because you know it's what
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you want right right it's like yes this
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is difficult i'm exhausted and you had three kids
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doing this yeah like that's the next level veronica young ones i don't know
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what i was thinking do you have you have your friend support right you have
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female support which we talk about on the podcast all the time the women in
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our lives are we all need it and especially as we get older,
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we need those other women.
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The women give this sort of support that builds you up and you keep going knowing,
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all right, this could be complete chaos and it's going to be terrible,
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but these women are going to look at me and be like, you got this or doesn't
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look like it's working, Maria.
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Change it a little bit. And you know, they're being honest and they're supportive.
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It's not coming from a place of you don't really want you doing this.
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Right. So who helped you with the kids while you were doing all of this like
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this is a huge thing for for women who have children yes you're building something
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you love right you got the kids that you love too.
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Yes no that was hard that that was hard so luckily my husband he was very he
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still of course very hands-on with our voice so I was very lucky in that respect
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and then my mother who actually lives down the street.
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She came over and helped me in every way that I could. But it was a struggle,
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especially because when I shifted careers, of course, I'm taking a pay cut.
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So hiring help, you know, wasn't exactly an option at that time.
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So I can't say it was easy, but with the support of the two most important people
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at the time, they made it possible.
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Yeah. Thank God. Yeah. Right. What did your mom say when you started switching all of this?
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She's so proud. She's my biggest cheerleader. I love that. I can do nothing wrong.
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That's amazing. She knew I could do it. Like, it wasn't even a doubt in her
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mind. It was more, the doubt was in my mind, not the people around me.
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And she knew I was always good at school. So it wasn't a question.
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It was just like, of course you did, Veronica. Of course you did. Thanks, mom. Love you.
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So let's talk about women and money. So why do you think women have historically
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been left out of this investing conversation?
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They've been left out. So I think that they maybe stayed out because they lacked the confidence.
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I think a lot of women, we're not taught this in high school,
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which I don't understand.
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Me neither. Me neither. But now in Connecticut, they passed a rule.
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You have to do a personal finance class before you graduate.
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That's awesome yeah like that should be a thing um because it's it's it's so
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simple it's not easy but simple like the concepts are actually very simple and there's a lot of jargon,
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And women like myself, I had to feel overly prepared. Even when I was studying
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for the CFP, like I had to feel overly prepared in order to start.
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And I think a lot of women won't start because they need to know absolutely everything.
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And you don't need to know everything to start.
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It's baby steps. And then you're continuing to build that muscle that gives
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you that confidence. Because everything we've ever done, you never walk in fully knowing everything.
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Like we have children we don't know. exactly how to raise them,
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but we go ahead and have them.
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They just come out of us and that's it. Congratulations.
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Same with investing. It's just starting. I think a lot of women just really
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think they need to have it all together before they can do it.
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Yeah. Yeah. I understand that. So what is Ellevest doing differently that actually
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speaks to women? Real life planning.
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We're talking to the woman. A lot of times, like you said, they are left out
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of the conversation with the male financial advisors.
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The man talks to the man, doesn't talk to the woman.
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We place goals first. So we understand what your goal is first before we talk about investing.
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And then we align. It's not just about the bottom line. We're going to align
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your values with your money.
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So depending on what's more important to you, is it flexibility?
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Is it maybe taking a break from your career? Is it retiring early?
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Or maybe you just want to work less and you'll work longer?
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Is it, hey, I got to have these babies. I'm going to take some time off.
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How is this going to affect my long-term goals?
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So having conversations about how,
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women engage with money differently, how we make money differently,
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how we tend to get paid less, and how to overcome all these obstacles that are always thrown at us.
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Yeah. Christine touched on this a little bit in her podcast about how women invest differently.
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Can you dive into that a little bit? Like, what are the differences between
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how women invest and look at money versus the way men do?
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Again, women want to know everything before they do.
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When they say women are very risk averse, I think women are very risk aware.
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It's not that they're conservative.
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It's that they're not like these finance bros trying to time the market,
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trying to pick the latest trend. And so women actually tend to be better investors
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over the long term because they understand risk and they factored it in the beginning.
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They understand where their money is going and that it's going to be there for the long term.
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So we're not worried about what someone is saying.
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And all the noise in the meantime, because we know we made a plan for our money
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in the beginning and that it's going to last over time.
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So I think women are actually smarter investors.
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We give ourselves the opportunity to do it. And they don't simply want to invest for returns.
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Of course, we all want our money to make money, but we also want our money to have an impact.
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So here at Ellevest, investing for an impact, understanding,
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hey, I don't just want to invest for the long term returns. I want to make an
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impact in social justice.
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I want to make an impact in closing the gender wealth gap. I want to make an
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impact in climate change.
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Where can I put my money that is going to have returns but also make a bigger impact on the earth?
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So what are some of the mistakes, like the biggest mistakes you see really smart,
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successful women making with their money? Not starting.
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Thinking they have to have it all together. Thinking that there's a perfect time to start.
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Thinking that they need more cash in the bank than they actually do,
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and not understanding that it's not just market volatility that's a risk,
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it's inflation that's a risk.
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So investing for the long term is going to give you more returns than just sitting in cash.
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Can you dive into that a little bit more about the inflation being the risk?
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So, when your money's in cash, it's not really making money.
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It is offering you some security in that it's not at risk to fluctuations in the market.
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So, yes, you want to keep a portion in cash, absolutely. But over time,
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that money just sitting there and groceries are costing more,
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gas is costing more, everything is, housing is going up.
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It's not keeping up with those numbers going up.
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So you're actually losing money to inflation. So the risk is not investing.
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Ah, so you're balancing out, right, your money's in somewhere making a little
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bit of money. You're balancing out what could be like the loss of value in money, right, with inflation.
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Right, right. on balancing it out a little bit. So your loss is a little bit
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less. Maybe you'll gain, right? You'll make a little bit of money during that time.
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The idea is you would. Yeah, that's the whole point, right? That's the whole point, right?
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Let's talk about some real life money scenarios, okay?
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So you work with women navigating divorce.
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Yes. What are some of the biggest financial blind spots during that specific time for women?
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Not knowing the full picture, not even knowing what their husband makes,
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not knowing what he's invested in.
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A lot of financial...
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Untruths. The husband's saying that, oh, this money is earmarked for the kids' college.
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It's not actually in a 529. So he's just trying to tell you that so you don't have access to that.
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Not understanding what the expenses are. Like, that's huge.
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So you don't even know if you could step out because it's like,
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can I afford to maintain my life even if I'm cutting back?
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Not understanding what's his
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what's yours and what's ours so really
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getting educated on the full financial picture before even
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making that step and if you're just you're married everyone's happy you're great
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like things are going well but you don't know what's going on with the finances
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do you help women kind of traverse that so they can understand here's a sheet
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i'm bringing it to my husband or my spouse,
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this is the sheet of all the things I need to understand.
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How does that work? So you can get educated on it.
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So not necessarily have a sheet, but have the conversation with understanding
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what's coming in and what's going out and where it's going. Getting access to the accounts.
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You need access to the accounts. Let's just say you're not even getting a divorce, but yeah.
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What do you do? Like, you're going to be completely overwhelmed with him no longer being there.
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And now you don't know where to pull from to cover next month's mortgage.
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So really sitting down, having those conversations, they are tough conversations.
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They're not fun conversations, even in the best of relationships.
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You're both going to come to the marriage with your own money trauma.
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There's some things you may not even ultimately align on.
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But if you both can align on what are our goals and how it ties back to your goals,
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then those little things like, hey, my husband likes to spend $1,000 in shoes,
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I'm not going to have that argument. Are we covering the mortgage?
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Are we maxing out our retirement accounts? Do the kids have everything they need?
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If that's okay, then okay, let your husband have what he wants,
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even if you don't agree with it. Because I'm sure I have things that he didn't agree with.
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There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last weekend about mahjong.
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I'm not sure if you saw it. And I don't play mahjong. I'm like thinking maybe
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I should start playing over the summer.
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Not sure because I don't know if I can hold that all in my brain.
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But women will spend like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars on these mahjong sets.
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And one of them was questioned like how can you
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spend six hundred dollars on a mahjong set and she goes well i saw
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that my husband spent a thousand dollars on a golf club so to me my six hundred
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dollar mahjong set set matches what he likes to spend on his you know eight
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hour adventures every weekend this is mine you joy and it's certainly more it's
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cheaper than going out to dinner, you know, three times.
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And then it lasts forever. So that ties back to values. Like what brings you
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joy, but you're still going to meet your goals.
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So yeah, that's where it's safe. Yes, you can have the grace to buy that module.
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Have you been helping families? So we're in that sandwich generation, right?
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Where our parents are getting older and we have kids that we're taking care
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of and we're kind of taking care of everybody at the same time.
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So have you You're having conversations with women about their parents and how
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their mom can be set up for understanding what their assets look like.
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We just, we finally got my parents to do trust, like literally.
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And my sister and I are like thick as thieves. She's like my soul.
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So it was easy for us because we know exactly how things are going to be divided.
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And there's no animosity when you have certain families where people aren't
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getting along. Are you helping women help their moms help?
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Kind of understand that. Yes. And it all starts with having that conversation
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and having it earlier rather than later.
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You may not be able to have that conversation. Right.
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It's a conversation I've had with my mother. And of course, she trusts me and
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figuring out who's going to be the executor of the estate, understanding where
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those documents are, where those accounts are, getting those documents in place,
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connecting them with the right people to get those documents in place.
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So whereas they may not want to do it, if you kind of hand them the person to
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get things done, it makes a big difference in the end when we know what inevitably happens.
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Right, right. Parents don't want to see us struggle and figuring things out
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and scrambling when they pass.
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More often than not, they're not necessarily happy to have these conversations,
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but they're going to have these conversations because they don't want to see
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their kids stressed out.
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So it really starts with having those conversations with our parents early before something happens.
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Yeah. And that's like how we were
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feeling. We're like, we need to start understanding all of this for them.
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My sister and I are on two different coasts. Like we need to understand all
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of that stuff. And it was great.
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I'm really glad that we did it and pushed it. And I hope that other people start,
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you know, doing that as well. So let's talk about equity compensation.
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So we have a ton of women who listen to this. Hi, everyone. Who are,
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you know, C-suite level execs.
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They have stock in their bonuses and their companies.
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What should they actually understand about equity compensation that they might not?
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I've had a lot of clients treat this as not part of their total compensation.
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Like it's like, oh, that's nice. That's there. That's cute. But not understanding,
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no, that's money. It's just in the form of stock.
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Now, what are you going to do with it?
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Each stock comes with a different type of tax treatment. So it's really understanding tax treatment.
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A lot of women have a misconception about how it's taxed.
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RSUs in particular, they're like a cash bonus given in the form of stock.
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So getting them to understand that first, hey, that's actually a cash bonus.
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If I were to hand you $50,000 today, what would you do with it?
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No one has ever said I would go buy my company stock.
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So the idea being, why are you holding onto it?
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And then you see the light bulb go off like, oh, you make a good point.
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And then you're also, I've seen a lot of women over-concentrated in their company stock.
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So now you're at the mercy of this company, not for your paycheck,
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but this big wad of cash that you were hoping to use for retirement or buying a house.
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And if that company goes down, you're at the mercy of that.
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And now you don't have to worry about taxes because you just want money.
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But that's not the way to think about it. You pay taxes because you made money.
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There are just ways to do it strategically.
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So first understanding the type of equity comp, then understanding,
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hey, if this were cash, what would I do with it?
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Sitting in one basket isn't always the answer. You usually want to diversify,
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meaning you want your eggs in multiple baskets.
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So the ultimate goal is simply I want this to grow.
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Now let's just do it in a diversified way. So really using that equity comp
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as a tool and understanding that is part of your salary.
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It's not a plus. It's not a bonus. It's not an extra.
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It's not something cute sitting in the corner. Right. So I worked for a company
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for seven years. We went through an IPO and I was given stock.
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And at some point, I think my husband's in finance. So I'm really fortunate
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that I get to ask as many questions as I want.
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And I do quite a bit because I don't understand.
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And I worked at a hedge fund. So not the best, but I paid rent.
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So there we go. A lot of clients like that.
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I thought about your point where if I wasn't going to keep the money in the
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company, so once they vested...
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I was like, all right, well, I'm going to pay off my student loans or like I'm
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going to put this money towards whatever it is.
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So then I was able to use that just like you said, like part of my salary was
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able to take some of that money out.
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Now, when I left the company, half of the shares were invested.
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So I didn't get anything, which was another learning process. Right.
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I had to go back through that fine print and understand I get a quarter,
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a quarter, a quarter, a quarter, depending on all the years I've been there.
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I finally understood when someone became like CEO of the company and they were
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given like 100,000 shares and I'm like, what?
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But then the fine print that they vest over like 20 years and like, oh, yes, I get it.
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Right. Just giving that person that many shares like right off the bat.
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So if someone's going through a career transition, they're leaving one company
25:16
and going to another company or they're changing careers entirely.
25:19
Like what are those first financial steps that they need to take?
25:23
Understanding cash flow. It always starts with cash flow. Understanding what's
25:27
coming in, what's going out.
25:28
Understanding your enough number, meaning how much do I need each month to survive?
25:33
So if a pay cut is involved, now we're going to pad your emergency fund a bit more.
25:38
Pad your runway so that you can feel a little more confident in maybe taking a step back.
25:44
So it's really first understanding what your monthly expenses are,
25:48
understanding what your runway is, like what you need in the bank,
25:51
God forbid something should happen, and then anything that's extra using that
25:56
towards your goals. Of course, if you're getting an increase, great.
25:59
That's a fun, easier decision to make. But a lot of women,
26:02
they actually want to downshift because they're stressed out with their careers
26:07
and they want to do something more purposeful that may not have that big equity comp package tied to it.
26:15
So making a plan, putting a system in place, having some structure.
26:19
So that's one less thing you have to think about when you're making that decision.
26:23
It's nice because we have so many things in our brains constantly
26:26
if that's just done great if
26:29
it's doing the work for me even better they
26:32
don't want to think about it so let's do
26:35
a little simplifying of investing for people so if someone listening right now
26:39
is sitting in a savings account right they've got some money in a savings account
26:43
it's not invested anywhere well it's invested in savings account what like three
26:46
percent or something like that right because they're afraid to have missed they
26:49
don't know they've never been taught what it looks like they maybe played the stock market game,
26:53
but they don't really know, what would you say to them?
26:56
I'm going to tie it back to their goals first.
27:00
I love that it always goes back to goals. Like, what's the end game?
27:04
That's great, though. It always will have the same outcome.
27:07
What is your end game? What does it look like?
27:09
Usually the first question is, oh, I have this money. Where should I put it?
27:12
I was like, I don't know. Let me first understand what you're trying to do.
27:17
If you're trying to pay down, if you have high interest debt,
27:19
we're going to tackle that first.
27:20
We're not going to invest first. If your goal is to retire earlier or have more
27:26
in retirement, I usually say, if you don't need this money till you're 59 and
27:30
a half, let's look at your retirement accounts because they come with tax advantages.
27:35
Whereas if you need the money, let's say 5, 10, 15, 20 years before retirement,
27:40
now we're talking just a regular taxable brokerage account, just a regular investment
27:45
account at any Vanguard, Fidelity, Betterment.
27:48
And now we're talking those accounts.
27:51
And while they don't come with those tax advantages, they come with flexibility.
27:55
So say I'm saving up for that house in New York that I can't really afford,
27:59
but I want a bigger down payment and I can do it in five to 10 years.
28:03
I'm going to do it in that type of account.
28:05
Then you back into the number, how much do I need to get there?
28:09
Then I'm going to do this amount each month over that period of time in that
28:13
type of account. So it's first understanding where your goal is when you need
28:18
the money, because if you need the money before retirement, we're going to put
28:22
some in retirement, but not everything.
28:24
And then if you need the money, let's say you're looking to buy in one to two
28:27
years, we're not investing that at all because you don't want that at risk to
28:32
fluctuations in the market.
28:33
I don't know what's going on this past year or so. Yeah, one minute is great
28:38
and the next minute it's not. Right.
28:40
Let's say your closing date was a couple days after Liberation Day and your money was invested.
28:47
You had to pull your money out at a loss. That hurts.
28:50
I'd rather have the peace of mind. And we want our clients to have the peace
28:53
of mind, know that they can have that money there when they need it. Yeah.
28:57
Goals, timeline, when do you need this money? Then I'm directing you what type of account.
29:03
And then we're always investing in a diversified account. So we're not stock
29:08
picking. We're not timing the market.
29:10
We're going to have you in a diversified portfolio. What is an EFT and do you
29:17
like those as investment strategies?
29:20
Love them. Exchange traded funds, they are just a group of stocks.
29:24
So instead of picking a bunch of companies.
29:28
Most famous probably S&P 500 ETF. So it's the top 500 companies of the U.S.
29:35
I'm not saying that you would only invest in that, but it's the easiest way to be invested in them.
29:40
Easy and low cost when you're using ETFs.
29:44
So absolutely recommend those rather than buying every company within those ETFs.
29:51
And if you know nothing, like, wow, when I started, I generally recommend using
29:56
something like a robo-advisor.
29:58
That way, they're understanding your goals, your risk tolerance,
30:02
your timeline, understand what you need the money for.
30:04
And they understand that first before they put you in a diversified portfolio.
30:10
And they are doing the rebalancing over time.
30:13
So if you become over-concentrated in one area over another,
30:17
they're taking care of that. And it's a very low-cost way to get in,
30:21
very efficient, very sudden, forget it, so that it's not one more thing that's taking up brain space.
30:27
They're not trying to time or beat the market. They're putting your money in
30:31
something that's tried and true, not stock picking.
30:34
So if one area goes down a little, another one may go up.
30:38
Everything is not going down at the same time.
30:40
So it's a great way to get started. Yeah. And how much do you need to start investing?
30:46
I think you can do it as a little dollar at some of these places. You just need to start.
30:51
Just need to start. And then as it builds, you can reinvest more.
30:55
Right. And then it just keeps going up from there slowly over time.
30:58
A lot of people say they're afraid to invest.
31:00
And I ask them, I say, are you investing?
31:02
Are you contributing to your 401k?
31:05
Almost everyone says, yes. I said, you're already investing.
31:08
That's your biggest investment.
31:10
Do that in a different type of account. It's the same concept.
31:14
I remember having to pick where I wanted my 401k invested.
31:19
Do we still do that? Do people still do that where they have to choose which
31:23
stock group they're going to put their money into?
31:26
And I had no idea. I was like, I don't know. I like this name.
31:30
Boop, boop, boop, boop. It was so dumb.
31:32
Yeah, same. I didn't know what I was doing initially, but I started.
31:37
Like, why isn't there someone explaining to young people that men and women like here is your 401k.
31:44
This is going to be so important for you because this is what your nest egg will be eventually.
31:49
Right. And these are the certain groups of stocks that you can put your money
31:53
into. And this is the difference.
31:56
How simple would that be? Do they do that now or do they still not do it?
32:00
A lot of it. People are still like terrified. I don't know if I'm in the right
32:04
thing. Nine times out of 10, they are because it's so guided.
32:08
It's similar to a RoboVisor. It asks you a certain number of questions.
32:11
It asks you, do you want to do this yourself or do you want us to help guide
32:15
you? And then it'll ask you, when do you plan to retire?
32:17
Okay, that's easy. If it's in 20 years, they're going to put you in something
32:22
called a target date fund.
32:24
And that's just a group of stocks, a group of ETFs where it's,
32:29
Your target date, meaning the date you want to retire, is further out the more
32:35
stocks you can have versus bonds.
32:37
So you're going to have a more heavily weighted stock portfolio if you're younger.
32:42
And then as you get older, it
32:45
automatically rebalances for you so that you don't have to worry about it.
32:49
And while you're in this money growth phase and then you shift to getting closer
32:54
to retirement, now you want to conserve all the money that you're making.
32:57
And it slowly tilts to have more bonds.
33:01
So I see a lot of companies, providers offer that. I haven't seen one that doesn't
33:06
anymore. So it's less overwhelming.
33:09
And a lot of women are actually surprised, hey, I did it right.
33:13
Didn't even realize it. When I was a kid growing up, my grandfather used to
33:17
give my sister and I bonds every year.
33:20
And as a 10-year-old girl, you're like, what is this? And I just wanted a Hello Kitty pen. Right.
33:28
And when I turned, I don't even know, 18, I needed to buy a car and I took all of my bonds.
33:36
Oh, nice. Yes. Turn them in. The problem was that they weren't all like some
33:41
of them were 30 year bonds.
33:42
Like you get a hundred dollar bond, but it doesn't become a hundred dollars
33:45
until a certain date. And then after that, it makes more money on top of it. Right.
33:50
Had I held on to all those bonds, I wouldn't have had, I don't know,
33:54
$10,000. I would have had $30,000.
33:58
Right. But also, had grandma and grandpa known about ETFs and just picked one of those?
34:07
That, like, again, when you're 9, 10, and you invest, it's life changing.
34:14
Like, I started that with my children, more so to get the mindset right,
34:20
because I never had that. Like, no one taught me that growing up.
34:23
So I started them investing in simple things like ETFs so that they can start
34:28
to understand when they were little. And it wasn't so overwhelming when they're older.
34:32
So, yeah, it's that time.
34:34
Because they have something. They may have no money, but they have time that's
34:39
more valuable than all the money that I have.
34:42
That's such a really good point in teaching them how to do it a little bit so
34:47
that they play the stock market game at the schools, which is super fun because
34:50
they get really competitive, but they're buying single stocks.
34:54
They're looking at it every day at Yahoo Finance and going into NVIDIA and whatever
34:58
hot stock there is right now.
35:00
But teaching them really how
35:01
to do it and watch their money grow really assigns a value to it. right?
35:06
I didn't know. I had money in my pocket and it burned a hole.
35:09
I had to get out of my pocket. I had to go and buy something.
35:12
Still to this day, that happens. I've gotten better at it, but still.
35:17
For me, it's a mindset that's more important than the little money they're investing.
35:23
I want that mindset to start. And I see it happening. One day,
35:27
my son said, Mommy, can I see how my money's growing.
35:31
And I just flushed. I was like, oh my gosh, I am winning.
35:35
Talk about values and impact. So you mentioned before that aligning your values
35:40
to your investments is something that you help women with.
35:43
What does that actually mean, aligning your money with your values?
35:46
So it's really understanding what your goal is. What is important to you? Is it flexibility?
35:53
Is it being able to take a break, whether it be from your career,
35:58
whether it be just to take care of your children?
36:00
Is it to retire early?
36:02
Is it, hey, I'd simply just like to travel more rather than hoard money in my 401k?
36:08
And then finding that balance. How can we enjoy it today? How can we live life
36:14
today and then still fund our future?
36:17
So really understanding what is important to you, and that's where the money goes.
36:22
Hey, maybe we might cut out these other things, but if this is what is most
36:26
important to you and this is most meaningful to you, that's where that money goes.
36:30
And it may not always impact your bottom line, but that's not what's most important to women.
36:36
And what is impact investing? You mentioned it before. Is that taking some of
36:40
your money, investing in global, the world?
36:42
Do you want to help women and their businesses?
36:45
Like, what does that look like? Do you find those organizations where they can
36:47
invest, or are they actually in the market that you're investing in?
36:51
So there are a couple ways that we do that. So if you're just your regular investor
36:56
doing it, you may not exactly have accumulated as much wealth yet to work with a wealth advisor.
37:02
You can do it through ETFs.
37:05
There are some robo-advisors, Betterment being one of them, not that I'm telling
37:10
you to invest with Betterment, but they do it well.
37:12
They offer portfolios that are aligned with your values, whether it be a broad
37:17
impact, like I just want to generally make an impact, whether it be climate
37:21
change or social justice.
37:23
So there are ETFs that do it. There are robo-advisors that do it.
37:28
And then if you have accumulated enough wealth, you can work with a wealth advisor.
37:34
And invest specifically in specific funds that align with what change you're
37:39
trying to make on the planet.
37:40
It could be sustainable farming. It could be solar and more green energy.
37:46
Require a little more assets because those types of investments can be tied
37:50
up a bit longer. Let's talk about the confidence in investing.
37:53
What do you think changes in women once they do start understanding their finances?
37:59
Is it the freedom? Is there something else?
38:01
It's the freedom. It is definitely the freedom. It's the freedom to,
38:06
A, being able to leave that bad relationship. It's the freedom to be able to
38:12
have kids if you want to have kids.
38:14
It's the freedom to shift careers, change careers. That's massive because we
38:18
spend so much of our time in our careers.
38:21
And then that just gives people, it just lifts the weight off your shoulders.
38:26
And now you're living your purpose.
38:28
And, like, we could all go tomorrow because ultimately, like,
38:32
I'm not taking this with me. I want to enjoy the day.
38:35
So yes, freedom. I think that sums it up. And also, as you said,
38:39
we could go tomorrow, which anything could happen, right?
38:42
How does that work with, I don't want to phrase this, just because I've been
38:46
thinking about how my parents are having to do their thing and where things
38:50
go. So if I've invested all this money and it's sitting there and all of a sudden,
38:55
God forbid, knock on wood, something happens.
38:57
How does that work with where it goes? Because the government likes to take our money when we die.
39:03
I'm slowly learning that. And I also would want to make sure that when that
39:10
does happen, inevitably, that it doesn't just get taken away.
39:13
So are there ways to invest in a way that it can be passed down or you can make
39:20
a bundle and then you say you want it to go to, you know, all of the impactful
39:24
investing that you've been doing?
39:26
Yes, and that requires some estate planning. So back to how we were talking with our parents.
39:32
So A, if you simply want to pass any of your investment accounts,
39:37
those are relatively easy.
39:38
You just add a beneficiary. So everyone wants to make sure that on all their
39:42
investment accounts, their 401ks, their bank accounts, their checking accounts,
39:46
that they have listed a beneficiary.
39:48
And that way you circumvent the courts because it just transfers on death.
39:53
Now, when you have more complex assets or you want to donate it maybe to a charity,
40:00
that's when we're talking about setting up some estate basics like a will.
40:05
You have to have a will in place. Everyone should have a will in place.
40:08
And then potentially a trust, if it makes sense, usually for real property or
40:13
even your investments. But yes, those help.
40:16
To determine where your money is going without, you know, courts getting in
40:20
the way and taking that cut.
40:22
Yeah. My parents are in California. And without the trust, it doesn't matter
40:27
that my sister and I are there.
40:28
God forbid they both passed away. It goes into probate.
40:31
Right. For like 18 months.
40:34
Right. Anyone could pop up and be like, that should be my house.
40:37
Right. And they take so much. And that's why just having a will isn't enough
40:43
because it still goes through probate. And wills are more contestable. It's easier to contest.
40:48
I have a client going through that now. And the amount of money they are taking is criminal.
40:55
It is criminal. I'm going to agree. We said it here, guys. I'm going to say it. It's criminal.
40:59
What is one financial habit that everyone should start tomorrow?
41:04
If you're not investing, just start and automate.
41:08
Like just like you're doing your 401k, automate any savings investing there.
41:14
A lot of people don't even have a budget in place. And a budget sounds restrictive.
41:20
But all it is is the knowledge of what's coming in and what's going out.
41:24
So first understanding that and then setting up a system so that,
41:28
okay, this money's going here, this money's going there. and then just simply
41:32
automating it, whether it's leaving your checking account or coming from your direct deposit.
41:38
And that just removes just so much anxiety and stress about,
41:42
hey, you don't have to check your bank account each month to see when the money's
41:46
hitting because you know you've set up a system and it's just going to go where
41:51
it needs to go because you told it before it even hits.
41:54
Last year, I downloaded an app, Rocket Money, I think it's called,
41:57
because I was like, where are the subscriptions?
41:59
And why does it feel like I'm paying for too many of them? So I really wanted
42:03
to kind of dial in that specifically.
42:05
And I was shocked at how it was wasted.
42:09
I just forgot that I had downloaded. Just like, what?
42:14
Couldn't believe it. And then I told all of my friends about it.
42:16
I was like, you guys, this is crazy.
42:19
This rocket money just saved me this much money because it took away all these apps.
42:24
And for me, being someone who is not great with the budget, This really helps
42:29
me because I can see what things are coming and going.
42:32
And if I, oh, I downloaded that workout app and then used a different one and
42:36
forgot to delete it, like those little things add up so much.
42:40
They're like little raises and it's like, okay, now I can use this money towards
42:44
something I actually enjoy.
42:46
And then also just real quick with the budgeting, because a lot of people get
42:50
overwhelmed by it. They hate it. They don't want to do it.
42:53
The initial, you initially, you do need to understand where your money's going,
42:56
but then you can put a system in place and so that you're not thinking about
43:00
it each month. Hey, can I go out to eat tonight?
43:03
Hey, so you determine, hey, these are my fixed expenses. These are the bills
43:07
I need to live each month. These are non-negotiable.
43:10
You determine, hey, I'm just going to throw out a number, $5,000 a month.
43:14
You categorize that. You align that with one checking account,
43:17
and you automate from your direct deposit. Hey, $2,500 a check is going here.
43:22
My bills are always covered. I can sleep at night.
43:24
Then you determine, hey, $3,000
43:27
spending money. That's my going out to eat. That's my gas for my car.
43:31
Those are things that are kind of variable, but you tend to spend each month.
43:34
You automate that, so $1,500 a check going into that account.
43:38
And then you know when that money's gone, it's gone. It's like,
43:40
okay, I'm overspending. Maybe I need to relook at my budget.
43:43
But now you're not sitting there thinking, hey, I can't get this because I don't
43:48
know if I have enough. You've already told your money I have this much.
43:51
And then the remainder is going towards your goals, like investing,
43:55
saving, whatever your goals are. And there's that freedom.
43:59
Yes. There's that freedom. I planned it all out. Yes.
44:02
I'm done. I know I can do this. The less brain space. For me,
44:06
it's all about I don't have time to think about this. Now, I've automated everything.
44:10
I know my bills are covered. I can sleep at night.
44:13
Okay, I love that. If someone is listening right now and they're feeling behind
44:18
or overwhelmed with money, where is their starting point?
44:22
Start small. You don't have to have everything together.
44:25
It can be overwhelming. But just starting small, starting with one thing,
44:30
understanding just one thing or understanding if you're overspending,
44:35
what's just one thing I can cut out? You don't have to cut out everything.
44:39
It's kind of like when people go
44:40
on a diet. You don't have to stop eating everything. Eliminate the soda.
44:45
And then from there, you build on those habits. And it's just like a muscle.
44:49
Once you start doing one baby step, it takes you to the next.
44:52
And then build that muscle. You build that confidence.
44:55
And then you can take on more. But it's really just starting small.
45:00
Thank you. This has been such a fantastic conversation. I have learned so much.
45:06
And I can't wait for everyone to listen to it and learn.
45:10
It just makes us all better, right? We're all going to get better at this.
45:15
Veronica, thank you so much for being with me today.
45:17
This has been a blast. Of course, it's my absolute pleasure.
45:19
I really appreciate you reaching out.
45:21
Thank you very much. Thank you. Of course. I hope we can cross paths again.
45:25
I really do. All right. Thank you. Bye-bye. All right. Bye.
45:29
Thank you so much for joining me today on She's Smart. New episodes drop on Thursdays.
45:34
Don't forget to subscribe, like, and share. Stay cozy.