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What Your Future Self Would Want You to Do Right Now · A Little Bit Richer

• 0:00
  Iona Bain: Hello and welcome to A Little Bit Richer, with me,
• 0:03
  Iona Bain: Iona Bain, brought to you by Legal & General. Now, when
• 0:06
  Iona Bain: it comes to money, a lot of us have a
• 0:08
  Iona Bain: story we tell ourselves like, I can't afford to plan
• 0:11
  Iona Bain: for the future right now, or, I'll think about saving
• 0:14
  Iona Bain: later. We're so focused on getting through the month and
• 0:18
  Iona Bain: when we're living like that, it's hard to think about
• 0:20
  Iona Bain: the future. But the choices we make today, where we
• 0:24
  Iona Bain: live, how we spend, what we save, they're all quietly
• 0:27
  Iona Bain: shaping the life our future selves will inherit. So today
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  Iona Bain: we're exploring the idea of present you versus future you
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  Iona Bain: and how the decisions we make today, big or small,
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  Iona Bain: will shape the opportunities we have later. Joining me today
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  Iona Bain: is financial educator and content creator, Tolu Frimpong, who has built
• 0:45
  Iona Bain: a community helping people rethink their relationship with money. Tolu,
• 0:49
  Iona Bain: welcome to A Little Bit Richer.
• 0:51
  Tolu Frimpong: Thank you for having me.
• 0:52
  Iona Bain: Let's start with a 30- second summary of why looking
• 0:57
  Iona Bain: after your financial future is so important. Are you ready?
• 1:00
  Tolu Frimpong: Oh my gosh. The pressure.
• 1:02
  Iona Bain: You'll smash it, I'm sure. All right. Go.
• 1:04
  Tolu Frimpong: Your financial future is so important because the reality is
• 1:07
  Tolu Frimpong: time is going to pass irrespective of how we spend
• 1:10
  Tolu Frimpong: it. It's so important for present you to really think
• 1:13
  Tolu Frimpong: and prepare for future you. So the lifestyle you want
• 1:16
  Tolu Frimpong: to live, the house you want to live in, the
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  Tolu Frimpong: activities that you want to be able to do later
• 1:19
  Tolu Frimpong: on in life, all of that is shaped by the
• 1:21
  Tolu Frimpong: decisions that you make today. Yes, whilst life is happening,
• 1:24
  Tolu Frimpong: cost of living is high, we need to really think
• 1:26
  Tolu Frimpong: about what we're doing here and now so that later
• 1:29
  Tolu Frimpong: on we get to enjoy it.
• 1:30
  Iona Bain: Oh, yes. That was absolutely spot on. Yeah.
• 1:33
  Tolu Frimpong: Very good.
• 1:34
  Iona Bain: Brilliant, brilliant stuff. And very, very inspiring as well. That's
• 1:37
  Iona Bain: exactly the right tone, I feel, to start our conversation
• 1:40
  Iona Bain: because you yourself have made quite a big financial decision
• 1:45
  Iona Bain: in recent times. Could you explain to me why you
• 1:48
  Iona Bain: decided to move you and your family out of London
• 1:52
  Iona Bain: and what impact that's had on your finances?
• 1:55
  Tolu Frimpong: So my husband and I made this decision a couple
• 1:58
  Tolu Frimpong: of years ago to move outside of London. It wasn't
• 2:00
  Tolu Frimpong: a decision that we took lightly because I'm a Southeast
• 2:03
  Tolu Frimpong: Londoner at heart, born and raised, and I've always loved
• 2:05
  Tolu Frimpong: living in London. However, I really had to start thinking
• 2:08
  Tolu Frimpong: about the future that I envision for my family, for
• 2:11
  Tolu Frimpong: my children, what I want our lifestyle to be like.
• 2:13
  Tolu Frimpong: And unfortunately, it was just becoming unaffordable to stay in
• 2:17
  Tolu Frimpong: London just because of the rising costs. Our mortgage was
• 2:20
  Tolu Frimpong: rising. Our cost of living was rising. Everything was just
• 2:22
  Tolu Frimpong: going up and there wasn't enough of a gap between
• 2:24
  Tolu Frimpong: our income and our expenses. So we really had to
• 2:27
  Tolu Frimpong: have a tough conversation about, okay, if we want to
• 2:29
  Tolu Frimpong: be able to continue to live a certain lifestyle, we
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  Tolu Frimpong: really need to re- strategize and start thinking about, okay,
• 2:34
  Tolu Frimpong: what can we do to widen that gap? And we
• 2:36
  Tolu Frimpong: made that tough decision to uproot our family, make our
• 2:39
  Tolu Frimpong: children change schools, change home and move outside of London.
• 2:43
  Tolu Frimpong: And it's been an incredible journey so far. Initially, I
• 2:45
  Tolu Frimpong: was a bit nervous and skeptical about doing it because I've
• 2:48
  Tolu Frimpong: never lived outside of London. However, I'm glad we made
• 2:50
  Tolu Frimpong: that decision because it saved us a fortune and it's
• 2:53
  Tolu Frimpong: just given us a better quality of life.
• 2:54
  Iona Bain: So no regrets?
• 2:56
  Tolu Frimpong: It's only coming on to a year now since we
• 2:58
  Tolu Frimpong: made that decision to relocate. And yeah, so far no regrets.
• 3:02
  Iona Bain: But that's really interesting that you were thinking ahead and
• 3:06
  Iona Bain: able to really plan for the future. We know people
• 3:10
  Iona Bain: do tend to be quite focused on the present for
• 3:13
  Iona Bain: very understandable reasons, but why can that be a bit
• 3:17
  Iona Bain: of a problem when it comes to our finances?
• 3:19
  Tolu Frimpong: The reality is that we focus on the things that
• 3:22
  Tolu Frimpong: are urgent rather than the things that are important. So
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  Tolu Frimpong: because we're focused on here and now, I need to
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  Tolu Frimpong: feed my children, I need to pay for groceries, I
• 3:29
  Tolu Frimpong: need to pay for the afterschool clubs, et cetera. There's
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  Tolu Frimpong: always something right now demanding our money and our attention.
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  Tolu Frimpong: So we focus on that without looking at the bigger
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  Tolu Frimpong: picture and what we want our future to look like.
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  Tolu Frimpong: What we end up doing is missing the opportunities for
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  Tolu Frimpong: the better life that we could create for ourself because
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  Tolu Frimpong: we haven't lifted our heads above the parapet.
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  Iona Bain: We almost get stuck in survival mode.
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  Tolu Frimpong: Exactly. Survival mode. Yeah.
• 3:50
  Iona Bain: So how do we shift out of that and start
• 3:53
  Iona Bain: thinking more about the future?
• 3:55
  Tolu Frimpong: There's a lot of things that we can do. I
• 3:57
  Tolu Frimpong: think number one is really understanding our numbers and really
• 3:59
  Tolu Frimpong: having honest conversations with ourselves about where we are and
• 4:03
  Tolu Frimpong: where we want to be. So like for myself, we
• 4:05
  Tolu Frimpong: had to have that difficult conversation about moving outside of
• 4:08
  Tolu Frimpong: London. For somebody else, it might be we need to
• 4:10
  Tolu Frimpong: downsize our house. I need to sell my car or
• 4:13
  Tolu Frimpong: choose alternative modes of transport. What can we do to
• 4:16
  Tolu Frimpong: reduce those expenses so that we can put money towards
• 4:19
  Tolu Frimpong: the things that are more important to us? And yes,
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  Tolu Frimpong: there are so many external factors beyond our control, but
• 4:24
  Tolu Frimpong: the things that are within our control, let's focus on
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  Tolu Frimpong: that and make decisions so that we can do the
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  Tolu Frimpong: best that we can with the resources that we have available.
• 4:31
  Iona Bain: So for you, the decision to move out of London
• 4:34
  Iona Bain: cannot have been an easy one. It's where you were
• 4:36
  Iona Bain: born and brought up. How do you separate the practical and
• 4:40
  Iona Bain: financial considerations from what can be quite an emotional decision
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  Iona Bain: to make?
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  Tolu Frimpong: We used to live five minutes away from my in
• 4:47
  Tolu Frimpong: laws. So my mother- in- law, father- in- law, were
• 4:49
  Tolu Frimpong: literally around the corner. So we had that option of 24/
• 4:51
  Tolu Frimpong: 7 support for the children and we had to give
• 4:54
  Tolu Frimpong: that up. So that was a big emotional decision to make
• 4:57
  Tolu Frimpong: because my husband's super close to his parents and I'm
• 4:59
  Tolu Frimpong: super close to them as well. We lived with them
• 5:01
  Tolu Frimpong: for three years when we first got married. So very close-
• 5:03
  Tolu Frimpong: knit family. So making that big decision to move out
• 5:06
  Tolu Frimpong: of London wasn't one we made lightly, but we really
• 5:08
  Tolu Frimpong: did need to think about our children and the future that
• 5:11
  Tolu Frimpong: we wanted for them. And we knew that as much
• 5:12
  Tolu Frimpong: as it was something we wanted to do emotionally, stay
• 5:15
  Tolu Frimpong: close to family. We knew that financially just didn't make the most
• 5:19
  Tolu Frimpong: sense for us to stay and we needed to make
• 5:21
  Tolu Frimpong: that sacrifice for the future that we wanted for our
• 5:24
  Tolu Frimpong: family. So it wasn't an easy one. It was a
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  Tolu Frimpong: very emotionally draining one. And it is one to this
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  Tolu Frimpong: day that I'm like, it would be so nice to have them
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  Tolu Frimpong: close by. I'm still hoping that we can convince them
• 5:33
  Tolu Frimpong: to move down eventually.
• 5:35
  Iona Bain: That's a long- term plan.
• 5:36
  Tolu Frimpong: Yeah, exactly. That's the long- term plan, to get them to
• 5:38
  Tolu Frimpong: retire and move to Ken. I think sometimes we do
• 5:41
  Tolu Frimpong: need to separate the emotion from the practicality and think
• 5:43
  Tolu Frimpong: about what actually makes the most logical sense.
• 5:46
  Iona Bain: I completely agree. And my parents have downsized, which is
• 5:49
  Iona Bain: a big financial decision to make, and they moved halfway
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  Iona Bain: across the country as well, partly to be near me
• 5:56
  Iona Bain: and my brother, but also partly because it made financial
• 5:58
  Iona Bain: sense for them. But again, it's not easy. They were
• 6:01
  Iona Bain: in that house that they were in for 30 odd
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  Iona Bain: years and therefore I'm very admiring of people who can
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  Iona Bain: make those big decisions, but it is easier said than done.
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  Iona Bain: So what would your advice be to anyone who is
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  Iona Bain: thinking about making a really big decision that would benefit
• 6:17
  Iona Bain: their finances, but is going to represent a big change in their life?
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  Tolu Frimpong: I would advise them to sit down and write the
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  Tolu Frimpong: pros and the cons of this decision that they're making,
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  Tolu Frimpong: because I think when you actually take the emotion away
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  Tolu Frimpong: from it, when the pros strongly outweigh the cons, it
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  Tolu Frimpong: makes it easier to make that decision. You can come
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  Tolu Frimpong: back to that. Exactly. You can come back to it. It's like, okay,
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  Tolu Frimpong: yes, this is hard. However, we've made this sacrifice because.
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  Tolu Frimpong: And so for my family, it was the best option,
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  Tolu Frimpong: but also we were considering things like secondary schools for
• 6:44
  Tolu Frimpong: my children. And just recently, my son got into his
• 6:47
  Tolu Frimpong: first choice, secondary school. So it was little things like that,
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  Tolu Frimpong: that give you that reassurance that, oh, okay, actually we
• 6:51
  Tolu Frimpong: have made the right choice for our family. So yes,
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  Tolu Frimpong: it's not easy, but nothing in life is easy, so
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  Tolu Frimpong: you have to choose your hard.
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  Iona Bain: Yeah. Embrace change.
• 6:59
  Tolu Frimpong: Exactly.
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  Iona Bain: And there will be people who are wondering about making
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  Iona Bain: a change in their finances when it comes to their
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  Iona Bain: pensions or maybe starting to invest, but they don't feel
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  Iona Bain: like they've got enough money. And for some people, that
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  Iona Bain: is a reality. For other people, it may be more
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  Iona Bain: of a perception rather than the reality. So what would
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  Iona Bain: you say to anyone who doesn't feel that they have
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  Iona Bain: any money to spare for those sorts of things like
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  Iona Bain: a pension or investments?
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  Tolu Frimpong: Yeah. I would say that you can't afford not to
• 7:28
  Tolu Frimpong: do these things. So if I give myself, for example,
• 7:30
  Tolu Frimpong: I opted out of my workplace pension when I first got
• 7:33
  Tolu Frimpong: my graduate job and I worked at that job for
• 7:35
  Tolu Frimpong: 10 years. So I missed out on all of my
• 7:37
  Tolu Frimpong: employer's contribution, my employer's match, and plus the compound interest
• 7:41
  Tolu Frimpong: that I could have been making on that pension for a
• 7:43
  Tolu Frimpong: decade. And that's because I thought I needed that money.
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  Tolu Frimpong: I want to go on holiday, I want to travel,
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  Tolu Frimpong: I want to save for a new car. All of
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  Tolu Frimpong: these things that I thought were a priority then. Fast- forward
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  Tolu Frimpong: to nearly 40 year old me, and I'm kicking myself
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  Tolu Frimpong: at that decision that I made back then to opt
• 7:56
  Tolu Frimpong: out, because yes, you may think you can't afford to
• 7:59
  Tolu Frimpong: pay into these things, but it's for your own betterment
• 8:01
  Tolu Frimpong: and for your own benefit. So you're paying for your
• 8:03
  Tolu Frimpong: future self. Right now you think that, okay, this is the
• 8:06
  Tolu Frimpong: best decision, but actually you're only doing yourself a disservice
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  Tolu Frimpong: later on down the line. So all you're doing is
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  Tolu Frimpong: you're delaying your heart.
• 8:12
  Iona Bain: And part of the problem is that presumably at that
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  Iona Bain: point when you were deciding whether to stay in the
• 8:17
  Iona Bain: pension, you weren't really being told what the benefits are
• 8:20
  Iona Bain: staying in that pension long term were. So do you
• 8:22
  Iona Bain: feel that sometimes people don't get given the kind of
• 8:25
  Iona Bain: information that they need to make an informed choice?
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  Tolu Frimpong: Oh, absolutely. I didn't know what pensions were. All I
• 8:31
  Tolu Frimpong: knew was that it was another deduction from my payslip.
• 8:34
  Tolu Frimpong: I'm seeing national insurance, I'm seeing pension, I'm seeing student
• 8:37
  Tolu Frimpong: loan, all of these deductions from my salary. And I'm like, "
• 8:40
  Tolu Frimpong: Why are all these people taking my money?" So we
• 8:42
  Tolu Frimpong: didn't have that education. It's not until I went on
• 8:44
  Tolu Frimpong: a whole journey with money, getting myself into debt and
• 8:47
  Tolu Frimpong: paying off that debt that I learned about the value of
• 8:50
  Tolu Frimpong: things like pensions. And that's when I'm like, " Oh my
• 8:51
  Tolu Frimpong: gosh, Tolu, you've made a big mistake here by opting
• 8:54
  Tolu Frimpong: out." So definitely I think it's the unawareness that people
• 8:57
  Tolu Frimpong: have about the importance of things like your pension and
• 8:59
  Tolu Frimpong: investing. So you want to make those decisions today so
• 9:02
  Tolu Frimpong: that future you can be comfortable because the reality is
• 9:05
  Tolu Frimpong: that time is going to pass regardless of what you
• 9:07
  Tolu Frimpong: do with it. And I can't believe I'm going to
• 9:09
  Tolu Frimpong: be turning 40 soon. I thought I was going to be
• 9:11
  Tolu Frimpong: a baby girl forever, but here I am, barely 40.
• 9:14
  Iona Bain: It's a shock, isn't it?
• 9:15
  Tolu Frimpong: It's a shock and it comes by so quickly. So
• 9:17
  Tolu Frimpong: you want to really make sure you're putting things in place and
• 9:19
  Tolu Frimpong: preparing financially so that you are in the strongest position
• 9:22
  Tolu Frimpong: you can when you meet future you.
• 9:24
  Iona Bain: Absolutely. And how important is identity in all this? Because
• 9:28
  Iona Bain: we have previously covered the book, Atomic Habits in our
• 9:30
  Iona Bain: book club episode, and that talks a lot about how
• 9:33
  Iona Bain: identity drives current and future habits. So how would you
• 9:38
  Iona Bain: apply that thinking about identity and how you see yourself
• 9:42
  Iona Bain: to motivate you to really act in your best interests?
• 9:46
  Tolu Frimpong: Identity is a big thing. And I think it's one
• 9:48
  Tolu Frimpong: of those things that hold a lot of us back
• 9:49
  Tolu Frimpong: from becoming the best versions of ourselves. So I like
• 9:52
  Tolu Frimpong: to say that saying all the time where if you
• 9:54
  Tolu Frimpong: believe you can or you believe you can't, you're right.
• 9:56
  Tolu Frimpong: So if you don't think you can save money, you're
• 9:58
  Tolu Frimpong: not going to save money. So I've always said, I
• 10:01
  Tolu Frimpong: can't wake up early, but having children, I've had to
• 10:04
  Tolu Frimpong: become a morning person by force because they're morning people.
• 10:08
  Tolu Frimpong: So it's like all those years of me saying I'm
• 10:10
  Tolu Frimpong: not a morning person wasting all those hours early in the
• 10:12
  Tolu Frimpong: morning when I could have been productive, working on my
• 10:14
  Tolu Frimpong: business, et cetera. Had I have had that identity shift
• 10:17
  Tolu Frimpong: back then, I could have achieved a lot more. Likewise,
• 10:19
  Tolu Frimpong: when it comes to your finances, saying, " I can't save.
• 10:22
  Tolu Frimpong: I can't invest. I can't pay off debt. I can't
• 10:24
  Tolu Frimpong: do all of these things." You're never going to start
• 10:26
  Tolu Frimpong: taking the steps required to then achieve those things. So
• 10:29
  Tolu Frimpong: the book, Atomic Habit that you mentioned, he talks about
• 10:32
  Tolu Frimpong: starting small. So you can't go from saying, " I'm not
• 10:35
  Tolu Frimpong: a saver," to, " I'm going to save 1, 000 pounds a month."
• 10:37
  Tolu Frimpong: That's not realistic. You're setting yourself up for failure. But
• 10:39
  Tolu Frimpong: what you can do is say, " Okay, every time I
• 10:41
  Tolu Frimpong: spend 10 pounds or 9. 50, I'm going to save
• 10:44
  Tolu Frimpong: the 50 pence and I'm not going to touch it."
• 10:46
  Tolu Frimpong: And then you can build on that little habit incrementally
• 10:49
  Tolu Frimpong: week on week, month on month until you look back
• 10:51
  Tolu Frimpong: at the end of the year and you see how
• 10:53
  Tolu Frimpong: much money you've been able to save. And then you
• 10:55
  Tolu Frimpong: have that evidence that, oh, actually I can do that. And
• 10:58
  Tolu Frimpong: then that identity becomes more real to you.
• 11:00
  Iona Bain: Yeah. And it's really interesting because potentially from that small
• 11:04
  Iona Bain: behavior change in the beginning, further down the line as
• 11:07
  Iona Bain: you develop that identity of someone who is looking after
• 11:11
  Iona Bain: your future self, you're then in a position to make
• 11:13
  Iona Bain: those bigger changes perhaps that will really, really add up
• 11:16
  Iona Bain: and compound over the long term. So there's that kind
• 11:18
  Iona Bain: of relationship from the small habits right up to the
• 11:21
  Iona Bain: big decisions.
• 11:22
  Tolu Frimpong: Exactly. It's baby steps, but it all compounds over time
• 11:25
  Tolu Frimpong: for sure.
• 11:26
  Iona Bain: And how does somebody move away from thinking, I'm always
• 11:31
  Iona Bain: broke. That's just how life is. That's my situation, to
• 11:35
  Iona Bain: I'm somebody who builds wealth? How do you make that shift
• 11:37
  Iona Bain: from one identity to the other?
• 11:40
  Tolu Frimpong: So it's going back to building evidence in support of
• 11:43
  Tolu Frimpong: this new identity that you're claiming is yours. So if you're
• 11:45
  Tolu Frimpong: saying you're not somebody that can save money, if day
• 11:47
  Tolu Frimpong: in, day out, you're saving 50 piece, saving a pound,
• 11:50
  Tolu Frimpong: five pound, 10 pounds, eventually over time that money compounds
• 11:53
  Tolu Frimpong: and then you realize, oh, actually I can save. I've
• 11:55
  Tolu Frimpong: been able to achieve this goal of maybe paying off
• 11:57
  Tolu Frimpong: this amount of debt or opening my investment account finally.
• 12:00
  Tolu Frimpong: All of these little things, you build up that evidence.
• 12:02
  Tolu Frimpong: I think also what we say about ourselves becomes true.
• 12:05
  Tolu Frimpong: So be mindful of the words that we speak. So
• 12:08
  Tolu Frimpong: saying I'm lazy, saying I'm broke, saying I'm never going
• 12:10
  Tolu Frimpong: to be rich, saying only a certain demographic of people
• 12:13
  Tolu Frimpong: can be wealthy. All of these things that we say
• 12:15
  Tolu Frimpong: and that we consume in our content, all those things shape
• 12:18
  Tolu Frimpong: our identity. So when you don't think you can see
• 12:21
  Tolu Frimpong: yourself in a certain space or you can't see yourself
• 12:23
  Tolu Frimpong: achieving certain things, it's never going to be a reality.
• 12:26
  Tolu Frimpong: You've kind of set yourself up for failure even before
• 12:28
  Tolu Frimpong: you've got started.
• 12:30
  Iona Bain: So how did you go from being somebody who made
• 12:34
  Iona Bain: these decisions like opting out of your pension and tending
• 12:37
  Iona Bain: to think about the here and now to somebody who
• 12:39
  Iona Bain: clearly thinks very, very deeply about the future?
• 12:43
  Tolu Frimpong: I think it's life. Life happened. I got myself into
• 12:46
  Tolu Frimpong: a lot of debt and I went on a whole
• 12:47
  Tolu Frimpong: journey of learning about money. So a lot of the
• 12:49
  Tolu Frimpong: content I started consuming was more about people starting to
• 12:52
  Tolu Frimpong: budget, people paying off debt, people learning how to invest.
• 12:55
  Tolu Frimpong: And I'm seeing women that look like me who are
• 12:57
  Tolu Frimpong: now investors that have huge amounts of wealth that they've
• 13:00
  Tolu Frimpong: been able to accumulate, not because they were born into
• 13:03
  Tolu Frimpong: money or because they earn a high figure, but because
• 13:06
  Tolu Frimpong: they were just really good stewards of their finances and
• 13:08
  Tolu Frimpong: they were able to make their money grow. And so
• 13:10
  Tolu Frimpong: for me, seeing them being able to do it said
• 13:13
  Tolu Frimpong: to me okay, if they can do it, there's no
• 13:14
  Tolu Frimpong: reason why I can't do it. My mom always says
• 13:17
  Tolu Frimpong: to me, " They don't have two heads," and it's so
• 13:18
  Tolu Frimpong: true. They don't have two heads. So they're showing me
• 13:21
  Tolu Frimpong: the blueprint as to how I can also do it.
• 13:23
  Tolu Frimpong: I think before there was a lack of knowledge, so
• 13:26
  Tolu Frimpong: I didn't know what I didn't know.
• 13:27
  Iona Bain: It's interesting because some people might see that content and
• 13:30
  Iona Bain: think it's a little bit daunting, but you saw it
• 13:32
  Iona Bain: and you were inspired by it.
• 13:34
  Tolu Frimpong: Very inspired. Yeah.
• 13:35
  Iona Bain: And do you feel like the information that you receive
• 13:39
  Iona Bain: is also incredibly important to you cultivating that new identity?
• 13:43
  Iona Bain: What advice would you have for people who want to
• 13:46
  Iona Bain: improve what they see around them? Because that was clearly,
• 13:49
  Iona Bain: really, really crucial for you.
• 13:50
  Tolu Frimpong: Yes, absolutely. I would say be mindful. So if you're
• 13:53
  Tolu Frimpong: just seeing people live these lavish lives, but they're not
• 13:56
  Tolu Frimpong: showing you how they've been able to do it makes
• 13:58
  Tolu Frimpong: it seem like, oh my gosh, I'm missing out. What have
• 14:00
  Tolu Frimpong: I done wrong? Why is my life like this? And
• 14:01
  Tolu Frimpong: there's this like that. But when you're following accounts of
• 14:04
  Tolu Frimpong: people that look literally just like you, ordinary everyday people
• 14:06
  Tolu Frimpong: that just make better money decisions and they're able to
• 14:09
  Tolu Frimpong: pay off debt, they're able to save, invest, et cetera,
• 14:12
  Tolu Frimpong: it makes you think, okay, if they can do it, I
• 14:13
  Tolu Frimpong: can do it too. I think the books and a
• 14:16
  Tolu Frimpong: podcast and everything that we consume can help shape us
• 14:20
  Tolu Frimpong: for the good or for the bad. And I think
• 14:21
  Tolu Frimpong: for me, I was just consuming a lot of materials
• 14:24
  Tolu Frimpong: that helped change my money mindset and helped me get
• 14:27
  Tolu Frimpong: better with money and enabled me to start a platform
• 14:29
  Tolu Frimpong: that I ended up starting.
• 14:30
  Iona Bain: Yeah. It's a really good point because for me, I
• 14:33
  Iona Bain: have to balance news about how difficult the economy is.
• 14:36
  Iona Bain: But I know that if I consume too much of
• 14:39
  Iona Bain: that, it then starts to influence my perception of my
• 14:42
  Iona Bain: finances and I start to get things out of perspective.
• 14:45
  Iona Bain: I then have to balance that with information that actually
• 14:48
  Iona Bain: helps me to be more positive and constructive and helps
• 14:51
  Iona Bain: me to keep the news in perspective because otherwise it
• 14:55
  Iona Bain: can get to you. We are in tough times at
• 14:57
  Iona Bain: the moment.
• 14:57
  Tolu Frimpong: Tell me about it. No, we really are. I like
• 14:59
  Tolu Frimpong: to focus on what I can change and not things
• 15:02
  Tolu Frimpong: that are beyond my control because it makes me kind
• 15:05
  Tolu Frimpong: of feel helpless. Whereas when I'm consuming stuff like, okay,
• 15:08
  Tolu Frimpong: I can apply this, those are the things I tend
• 15:10
  Tolu Frimpong: to lean more towards.
• 15:12
  Iona Bain: And if somebody maybe doesn't feel quite ready to make
• 15:15
  Iona Bain: a big decision about their finances, whether it's starting a
• 15:18
  Iona Bain: new job or moving to a new place, whatever it
• 15:20
  Iona Bain: might be, what kind of one or two things could
• 15:23
  Iona Bain: they start doing today that could really add up and
• 15:26
  Iona Bain: make a difference over the long term?
• 15:28
  Tolu Frimpong: What you don't know, you can't change, right? So just
• 15:31
  Tolu Frimpong: learning about money. Listening to podcasts like this, this is
• 15:33
  Tolu Frimpong: a great step as well.
• 15:34
  Iona Bain: Absolutely.
• 15:34
  Tolu Frimpong: But not just listening to it, but actually taking one thing
• 15:37
  Tolu Frimpong: and saying, " Okay, this is what I'm going to apply
• 15:39
  Tolu Frimpong: today." Whether it's opening that savings account, whether it's opting
• 15:42
  Tolu Frimpong: back into my workplace pension, whether it's starting to invest.
• 15:45
  Tolu Frimpong: Whatever it is, just make that decision. I think that would be
• 15:47
  Tolu Frimpong: a great place to start. I would also say, look
• 15:49
  Tolu Frimpong: at what you can do about your financial circumstances. So whether
• 15:52
  Tolu Frimpong: it is skilling up, whether it is speaking to employer
• 15:55
  Tolu Frimpong: about a pay rise. You've been in that job for
• 15:57
  Tolu Frimpong: five years and you've only had a pay rise once. Why
• 16:00
  Tolu Frimpong: is that? And just add value to yourself even within
• 16:02
  Tolu Frimpong: the workplace. So maybe you've asked but your employer said
• 16:04
  Tolu Frimpong: no, maybe ask, " Okay, what can I do?" And make
• 16:07
  Tolu Frimpong: that your mission over the next six months to position
• 16:10
  Tolu Frimpong: yourself in a way to revisit that conversation and get
• 16:12
  Tolu Frimpong: that pay rise. So what can I do within my
• 16:15
  Tolu Frimpong: control to improve my financial situation? And then once I've
• 16:18
  Tolu Frimpong: made that improvement, what am I going to do with that
• 16:20
  Tolu Frimpong: extra money?
• 16:20
  Iona Bain: Yeah, because it's not just about saving money. It's also
• 16:23
  Iona Bain: about investing in yourself because then over the long run,
• 16:26
  Iona Bain: that will obviously have a really, really big dividend. So
• 16:29
  Iona Bain: after this episode, if folks want to go away, have
• 16:31
  Iona Bain: a cup of tea, whilst they're waiting for the kettle
• 16:33
  Iona Bain: to boil, what's one thing that they could do to
• 16:36
  Iona Bain: try to make their futures better?
• 16:39
  Tolu Frimpong: I think one thing is come up with a plan.
• 16:41
  Tolu Frimpong: So sit down, write down what future me wants to
• 16:44
  Tolu Frimpong: look like and what steps I can take towards making future
• 16:46
  Tolu Frimpong: me a reality, whether it's opening a savings account or
• 16:49
  Tolu Frimpong: opening an investment account, opting back into your workplace pension,
• 16:53
  Tolu Frimpong: just making a decision today that future you is going
• 16:56
  Tolu Frimpong: to thank you for.
• 16:57
  Iona Bain: I feel really inspired now to go and do that
• 16:59
  Iona Bain: and have a cup of tea at the same time.
• 17:01
  Tolu Frimpong: Love it.
• 17:01
  Iona Bain: Thanks, Tolu.
• 17:03
  Tolu Frimpong: Thanks for having me.
• 17:03
  Iona Bain: A huge thanks again to Tolu. And we really hope
• 17:06
  Iona Bain: this episode has given you something to think about. What's
• 17:08
  Iona Bain: one small step that you could take today that would
• 17:11
  Iona Bain: make life easier for future you? One to think about.
• 17:14
  Iona Bain: Next time, I'll be joined by Tom from L& G
• 17:17
  Iona Bain: for a recap on workplace pensions. This podcast is brought
• 17:20
  Iona Bain: to you by L& G. I'd love it if you
• 17:22
  Iona Bain: could share the podcast and help others get a little
• 17:25
  Iona Bain: bit richer too. You can keep up with the show
• 17:27
  Iona Bain: on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, @ legal& general. And if you've
• 17:31
  Iona Bain: got a question or a topic that you would like
• 17:34
  Iona Bain: answered on the show, please do get in touch on
• 17:36
  Iona Bain: our socials because we love to hear from you. Until
• 17:39
  Iona Bain: next time, see you soon and thanks for listening.