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Women's Money Wisdom
Women face a unique set of challenges - from caring for aging parents to raising children - all while trying to maintain a career and a semblance of work-life balance. It can be overwhelming, and it's all too easy to put your own needs and finances on the back burner. We believe that every woman deserves to feel financially empowered and secure. Our podcast is designed specifically for women like you - women who are ready to take charge of their finances and their future. Host and financial planner at Pearl Planning, Melissa Joy, CFP ®, will roll out a new episode each week to help you improve financial literacy and gain the confidence you need to navigate your financial life. Pearl Planning is a financial planning and wealth management practice located at 8031 Main Street in Dexter, Michigan. You can reach our office at (734)274-6744. Investment advisory services offered by Pearl Planning, a DBA of Stephens Consulting LLC., an SEC registered investment advisor. Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Pearl Planning, or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this Podcast will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this podcast serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from Pearl Planning. To the extent that a listener has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. Pearl Planning is neither a law firm, nor a certified public accounting firm, and no portion of the Podcast content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of Pearl Planning’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at www.pearlplan.com. Content represents the opinion of the speaker and not necessarily that of Pearl Planning.
Women's Money Wisdom
Episode 252: Planning for Financial Success in 2025
Imagine starting the year with a solid financial foundation.
In this episode of the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast, Melissa Joy, CFP®, CDFA®, will guide you through setting intentional and achievable goals using the SMART method. We'll explore how reflecting on 2024's financial accomplishments, no matter the size, can boost your confidence. Discover how writing down aspirations makes them more attainable, and how incremental progress, alongside addressing past financial challenges, can lead to a well-strategized financial journey.
Our conversation doesn't stop at goal setting; we delve into streamlining your financial plans by consolidating retirement accounts and reviewing investment costs. Stay ahead of rising insurance expenses, and check to see if your coverage is both adequate and cost-effective.
As tax season looms, proactive planning becomes essential, and with future episodes featuring estate planning attorneys, you'll be equipped to handle this often-overlooked aspect.
And if you are financially thriving, maintaining well-being through clear goals and regular check-ins is crucial in the new year!
Listen and Learn:
- Intentional Goal-Setting: Using SMART goals to build a strong financial foundation.
- Streamlining Financial Plans: Consolidating retirement accounts and reviewing investment costs.
- Proactive Tax Planning: Organizing tax documents early to avoid last-minute stress.
- Importance of Estate Planning: Tackling this essential step with expert advice.
- Maintaining Financial Well-Being: Regular check-ins and clear goals for financial success.
The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https:...
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and the founder of Pearl Planning. My goal is to help you streamline and organize your finances, navigate big money decisions with confidence and be strategic in order to grow your wealth. As a woman, you work hard for your money and I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. Just a quick note before we dive in. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are my own and those of my guests, and they don't necessarily represent those of any organizations that I'm affiliated with. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at pearlplancom. Now let's get started.
Speaker 1:Happy New Year to all of the listeners of Women's Money Wisdom. It's Melissa Joy here, and I know you have the potential of listening to this on New Year's Eve or, if not, we'll be in 2025. And so, as you are kicking off the year, I know that financial goals and financial resolutions are so, so popular, I think, so important, but they can be discouraging when you feel like you're setting the same intentions each year, and so I wanted to devote this episode to some of my pointers for how to plan for a fantastic 2025 and beyond. If you're listening to this episode later and just give my kind of take on how you can set yourself up for success, I really want this episode to be a companion to your process for, like I said, setting those intentions really being purposeful and powerful in terms of how you set yourself up for the new year, and so, without further ado, let's talk about it. Okay, so you're setting the stage for 2025. And I feel like, in order to get a fresh start, you need to start with the right mindset. I love positivity, and one of the ways I think you can really start an intentional exercise with positivity is to reflect back and write down two or three things that you're really proud of when it comes to the topic that you're going to be talking about. So let's think about 2024.
Speaker 1:Is there anything you did that you feel really good about when it comes to your finances and your money? Now, if you're a regular listener of a podcast, I bet there are a few things that you did well, Because I know how important and how much of a priority that our listeners take when it comes to their money, and it doesn't need to be huge. So even if that great thing is that you set up an automatic bill payment or you had an intention to increase your emergency reserve fund or even establish that fund, just have a separate bank account, All of those count and it may be something really big. And if it is and you ever run into me and want to share it, I would just love to hear that. But perhaps you were able to fully get your match in your retirement plan or max it out. I know some of our, some of our listeners are able to do that.
Speaker 1:Whatever it is, I think setting that positive, like you know, kind of I can do things well perspective or mindset is a great way to get started. And then remember that when it comes to goal setting, you have a higher likelihood of achieving your goals if you are going to write them down. So you know we can go old school or new school. Either you can get out a sheet of paper and start writing in your journal or a notebook, or you can tape it to the wall and say this is what I want to get done. But you're much likelier to get things done if you write them down and, I've even heard, if you sign your name on the dotted line after you get things done. So take that with a grain of salt. But I do think like formalizing things, making it feel like a contract with yourself, can be very helpful. But I'm a more digital person, so it might be in my notes app in my phone or a quarterly reminder where I set a recurring reminder that says here are my goals for the year, or monthly even. But make sure you're documenting things somewhere so that you really know what you want to get done.
Speaker 1:And then let's talk about just setting some goals for financial success. So I want you to set smart, measurable, actionable or achievable. So I want you to set smart, measurable, actionable or achievable, relevant, like to the status quo and time bound goals. And that's what you know. The human brain, especially American culture, works really well with the calendar year. So let's say you don't have that emergency reserve fund but you want it. You could perhaps say that by March 31st, three months from now, you're going to have $1,500 in the emergency fund, $500 a month. Or perhaps you do have $10,000 in the emergency fund, but your family has growing expenses and needs, so it really makes sense to have some more in there. You may say that that $10,000 needs to be $ 25,000 by the end of the year. So then there's a target. You know of a little bit. You know about 4,000 each month, but not too much, or 4,000 each quarter, but still achievable. So I hate when goals just like a crash diet, are like you know just everything all at once, and I really love incrementalism when it comes to setting financial goals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Also, though, I would have you reflect and this is an opportunity for you to go the glass half empty kind of point of view Make a list of the issues that you have with money and financials. So some of you may be super strong on budgeting cash flow, but it's just not working to have enough money. Expenses significantly, like a change of where you live or increasing income significantly, changing your job or something like that. Make a list of the things that haven't worked in the past, so you kind of have a chamber to pull from when it comes to your goals. You know you want your goals to be things that will help alleviate pain or boost confidence, and so making that issue list can be super helpful, and then I use this all the time. I think it's really, for the modern age of financial planning, a key.
Speaker 1:If you can, if at all possible, keep things simple, Make choices that make your financial life less complex. There's just not a lot of our world that is getting less complex, and I find so often people complicate things that don't need to be as complicated, and so I really use that mantra in my advice. I work with high net worth, complex people, and so it might sound, you know, like, oh why would I hire, pay someone to advise me to just make it simple and have fewer accounts or, you know, kind of less decisions to make? But I'll tell you, it sure does work. It helps you to keep track of things better and it helps you to just be more effective and focus on the bigger picture decisions, Because, like I said, complexity is finding its way into your lives if you're like the typical American all the time. So I really want to encourage you to have one of the goals to be simplified whenever possible.
Speaker 1:I guess it probably makes sense to describe what it means to make things a little more simple. Guess it probably makes sense to describe what it means to make things a little more simple. So what does that mean? You might have accounts all over the place, and I think it's very effective if you decide where accounts need to be. Certainly, I know some people prefer not to have everything in one bucket and they prefer to diversify away from just you know kind of one financial institution if that makes sense. But do you need bank accounts at every single bank on the block? That can be difficult. I mean just starting with the usernames and passwords. So you know, reducing the number of accounts I know there's some credit rating implications if you reduce the number of credit cards you have, but maybe reducing the credit cards that you utilize.
Speaker 1:If you have retirement plans that are all over the place, maybe you update them so that they're all in the same place, or if it's been a long time since you've checked an account. I'll be honest I have an old deferred compensation account I had from a former employer and I really need to track down the username and password, because the company that manages it changed hands and even a financial advisor can have a to-do list that you know like. Just need to get things done. So refreshing, making sure you have your eyes on all of your assets and then making sure that they're not overly complicated, because I just don't think that complexity for no reason is necessary. Also, look at costs, so areas where costs can creep in and may need to be reviewed and may need to be on your to-do list for a new year the cost of your investments. So there's kind of an old school world of investments like mutual funds or commissionable stocks, versus newer school, lower cost, lower cost mutual funds or exchange traded funds. Those can be very different over time, and so also homeowner's insurance is getting more and more expensive property and casualty insurance. Now, I would not encourage you to be underinsured, but you do need to keep an eye on costs and make sure that you're not paying more than is typical for the market, and especially as things get more expensive. It's worth keeping an eye on, because there may just be better alternatives or better service or the opportunity for you to have more coverage with the same cost, and so do keep an eye on your insurance coverages the same cost, and so do keep an eye on your insurance coverages.
Speaker 1:Also, get the things done that you've been putting off. One great example that I find many families are thinking about and I'm often speaking to my clients about is it can be really easy to put off your estate planning, the will, the trust, the powers of attorney that you need. And just one note, if this is on your to-do list, that we have two great episodes coming up with estate planning attorneys as guests. So if this is on your to-do list, then you'll have some resources with the Women's Money Podcast, with great episodes coming up in January 2025. So do those things that those things that like maybe feel like a chore, may feel more difficult and you don't have to pick up the phone tonight, Although, if you are listening to this episode and you're kind of having a cozy evening New Year's Eve, you might be able to find the website of the attorney you've been referred to, and if they happen to have a scheduling link, perhaps you could get it on the calendar for sometime in January or February, or at least send an email to their office saying, hey, I really want to get this done in 25. Do you have capacity for me to reach out?
Speaker 1:We also have tax season coming up and gosh, I find that everything is in the rearview mirror in many cases when it comes to tax planning, and we really need to get things more proactive. It's not easy, because tax professionals, CPAs and enrolled agents are up to their neck in work. It's difficult to find great professionals and if you're doing it yourself, your life may be getting more complex and not as easy to file your own taxes again. So it does take some planning, but what I would have you do in as you're starting the year is set aside a folder where you're going to grab every document that you receive in the mail associated with taxes. Same goes for your inbox. If you're getting your documents electronically, go ahead and put all of the documents into one folder that you're going to gather up in January and often into February, because not all 1099s, especially for investment accounts, are available right at the beginning of the year and then you have one go-to source for where to look for everything. And then you have one go-to source for where to look for everything. Also, I would have you put on the calendar future dates for when you have a deadline to work on your taxes, Because you really, especially with how busy tax professionals are and how complicated things can get over time, you really need to be on top of things, really need to be on top of things.
Speaker 1:Also, if you need a tax preparer, if you need to change, you have got to get started now, Because you need to be interviewing and finding people before they get again neck deep into the tax season or they just don't have the capacity to be accepting new clients. So don't assume that because you've been given a name, that that person is available. Make that phone call Again. Go to their website, either send an email, click the link to schedule, so that you're not begging somebody to do your taxes when April comes around. Just in general, if you're someone who is having success in life money's piling up, maybe it's building up in your cash accounts, or you really think, you know you could be doing a little bit more, but you're not sure what then maybe you need to consider financial planning in the new year. Or if you're a DIY implementer, then setting out your target for when you're going to do what, what you're going to look at, how you're going to rebalance your portfolio, etc. Do that now. Give yourself monthly reminders for check-ins.
Speaker 1:If you're in a relationship, setting up kind of a financial date. If you share the financial burdens as a family. You know, hopefully, you each have an autonomous financial life as well in most relationships, and so clear communication and getting time set aside to talk about the big picture can be super helpful. You know there is so much going on in the financial world For those of you experiencing success and wealth which is many of Americans even though it may feel like you're not getting ahead, I would encourage you to keep listening.
Speaker 1:We really appreciate the growing listenership for the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. We had our best year ever in 2024, but I'm planning for it to get even better in 2025, with fantastic guests, great topics and just a real intense focus on making a difference practically in your money life. And I'll tell you, at the end of the day, if your money's great but your own personal well-being isn't, then that's not great money. So if you have gathered all the financial resources you need and your sense of well-being feels off or down, then some of our episodes will be talking about that well-being how to invest in yourself when feeling like you have to save everything but you can't spend it on your current or future self, when that can be a problem, and so doing an assessment as you start the year on where you'd like to invest in yourself and not just in your accounts, I think is a great companion conversation to how to do money well, and we'll keep talking and discussing those things.
Speaker 1:To me, as a financial planner, your money is a resource for you to live the life that you choose to live when given the opportunity, or to help you with your well-being, and so we're going to really try to find that intersection between your financial accounts and your humanity. So if there are parts of your personal life that you want to change and your financial resources can make a difference, Making a note of those things, having an intersection of your you know kind of personal vision for 2025 closely related to your money vision, to me is thumbs up, a great thing to do. Well, everyone, I really appreciate you again for being along on that journey in 2024. And I can't wait for new conversations in 2025.
Speaker 1:If you have any feedback for us, we would love to hear it. Feel free to reach out to me at melissapearlplancom and, with that, best wishes for a new year, Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. If you found value in this episode, the best way you can support the podcast is to forward an episode to a friend or leave a review. Go to pearlplancom and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned.
