Transcript & Timestamps
0:05 okay so uh thank you all for joining us, this is a webinar on money
0:10 mindfulness uh stop sabotaging your
0:12 financial Wellness I’m very happy that
0:14 you all were able to make it out today
0:16 um just to remind everybody this will be
0:18 recorded so you don’t have to worry
0:19 about taking notes or
0:21um anything like that uh so we’ll get
0:23this out to you and also there’ll be a
0:25post survey and if you could fill that
0:28out for us we’d be very very
0:29appreciative there’s also a free gift
0:31that we’re sending out to everyone who
0:33attended today so all that information
0:35will be in the follow-up email so um
0:37there will be some real good reasons for
0:39you to go ahead and read through that
0:40and get those materials so I’ll go ahead
0:43and start with Dan
0:46well thank you so much and I appreciate
0:49everybody being here I wanted just to
0:51set the stage on on why we uh worked
0:54with uh Megan in order to put the
0:56webinar on today and what we found is
0:59that ethos ESG is an organization whose
1:01mission is to really provide data so
1:04that investors can make better decisions
1:06and really try to impact the world uh in
1:09ways that that support the causes that
1:11they care about we have found that many
1:13of the people that come to our website
1:15and and look at that data to make
1:18decisions you know are also looking for
1:20more holistic financial help around
1:23financial planning College preparation
1:25retirement planning and we have just
1:28wonderful Financial professionals that
1:30we work with at ethos and Megan is one
1:33of those individuals so we said you know
1:35we should really start putting on uh
1:37some webinars in order to provide more
1:40education and try to make those
1:41connections uh to other kinds of
1:44financial professionals that can really
1:45be helpful people like Megan so we
1:48really appreciate you being here Megan
1:50and doing this uh and everybody’s
1:52attention and I’ll I’ll throw it back
1:54over to you
1:55okay all right thank you
1:57um so we’ve already had a few minutes to
2:00um take the little survey with the
2:01little QR code at the bottom left-hand
2:03corner
2:04um so everyone at this moment now knows
2:06their impact Persona if you haven’t go
2:09ahead and pause this recording If you’re
2:11receiving this afterwards so that you
2:13can take that Persona quiz it’ll be
2:15helpful a little bit during the the rest
2:17of the webinar so
2:19um
2:20I’ll go ahead and start so who am I
2:25well why you know why should you be even
2:27listening to me in the first place well
2:29I’ve been working in financial planning
2:31counseling and wellness for about the
2:33last 13 years uh the last two have been
2:36in my own uh financial planning firm in
2:39that all of that time I got my licenses
2:41as an accredited financial counselor a
2:43certified financial planner an enrolled
2:45agent I got a Bachelor of Science in
2:47accounting I got a master of science in
2:50financial planning
2:51I know everything and anything you can
2:53think of but um everything I’m going to
2:55talk about today I didn’t learn from any
2:57of that training or any of that
2:59schooling or or anything like that this
3:02this really came about because after I
3:05did all of that Education and Training
3:06and advanced school work
3:09um the only thing that was really left
3:10as a variable was me so this is just
3:14kind of a a collection of everything
3:16I’ve kind of learned outside of the
3:18literal you know facts pen and paper
3:21financial analysis and bring a human
3:23perspective to finances and financial
3:26Wellness
3:27foreign
3:32in finances is you as a person right so
3:35who are you really you just took that
3:38impact Persona quiz that might give you
3:40a little bit of insight
3:42um but is that impact Persona really a
3:45reflection of you it is is it some how
3:48you want to see yourself that way or is
3:50it something that you actually are doing
3:52and are completing
3:54um if someone were to write your
3:55obituary would anything from your impact
3:58Persona be reflected in that and really
4:01if there’s a disconnect between what you
4:04would like to give or how you’d like to
4:07see yourself in the world and what is
4:08actually happening are you going to
4:10change your behavior or are you going to
4:11change your expectations
4:14um and how can you actually be mindful
4:15that there is a disconnect right
4:18so what is mindfulness
4:22so mindfulness
4:24it can be very easy to judge to compare
4:27yourself to your peers and actually it’s
4:29a natural human phenomenon we’re always
4:31categorizing we’re always trying to
4:33derive meaning from the world around us
4:35mindfulness is about acknowledging these
4:37categories without judgment so that we
4:40can examine ourselves and our
4:41surroundings without that baggage that
4:43just comes with how we live our lives
4:47and money mindfulness is actually
4:49somewhat particular so it’s not just the
4:53budget that would be the easiest thing
4:54to to delve into when we talk about
4:57money mindfulness the first thing that
4:59everyone talks about is a budget
5:01um but it’s actually very different from
5:03a budget the core and money mindfulness
5:05is to bring awareness without judgment
5:07so we can examine the why as well as the
5:10what a budget is very good at measuring
5:12the what but not necessarily why you’re
5:14making those purchases these whys tend
5:18to come across as manuscripts or things
5:20that we tell ourselves from the way that
5:22we are raised or just the way that we’ve
5:24observed the world
5:26um these scripts can appear like things
5:28that seem practical or seem common sense
5:32um or just common common things that are
5:34said rich people are greedy my money
5:37problems will go away once I make a
5:38little bit more money
5:40um two people who are experiencing
5:42poverty might have very different
5:44scripts uh the first person might um you
5:48know decide that they better spend it
5:50now before it’s gone before it’s spent
5:51in a way that’s maybe not ideal
5:54um the second person in the same
5:56situation might not want to spend
5:58anything at all because they don’t know
6:00when the next amount of money might be
6:02coming and keeping that money in savings
6:04feels much safer whereas that first
6:06person their safety would be to spend it
6:09because at least they get to spend it in
6:10that time but those scripts are the
6:13things that are going to be informing
6:15your purchases
6:18excuse me let me get a small water break
6:24so the reason can be different with
6:26everybody
6:27you really just have to take the time to
6:29sit and reflect
6:31um for myself the reasons I always find
6:34that I end up spending money it comes
6:36down to convenience uh cultural
6:38expectations or unexpected events and
6:42conflicts
6:43um I like to joke it’s it’s usually
6:45because either I want to they want to or
6:48fate wants to
6:49um but it’s some sort of pressure
6:50internal or external that’s that’s
6:52usually informing this purchase
6:55um but one of the best things my
6:57therapist ever said
7:00you can’t change something fully until
7:02you have named it fully the facts of
7:04what happened how it impacted you the
7:07others and the way it felt down deep
7:08down inside
7:10and how can you change your money
7:11scripts if you don’t know what scripts
7:13are playing or one of my favorite
7:15science fiction authors uh he puts it is
7:18how can you change something if you
7:20can’t rock it to crack something needs
7:22to understand something so fully that
7:25it’s almost intuitive that it can almost
7:28become a part of your identity you will
7:29understand it that well
7:32um so fully understanding or gronking
7:34your thoughts about money is the first
7:36step to changing your scripts
7:38identifying what message is playing
7:41um and whether or not you want those
7:42messages to continue
7:44um do you want do you want that
7:46narrative to stay the same or are you
7:49going to change your behavior or
7:50expectations is there anything important
7:53that’s not getting named
7:56and so how does this relate to financial
7:59Wellness well first let’s actually
8:01describe what Financial Wellness is
8:03because many people disagree or there’s
8:06not really one quite great standard
8:08saying this is financially well this is
8:10not financially well
8:13um so it can be hard to Define because
8:14Wellness can vary from person to person
8:17so according to the Consumer Financial
8:20Protection Bureau those were considered
8:22financially well were able to say such
8:25statements as I could handle a major
8:28unexpected expense I feel secure about
8:31my financial future I can enjoy life
8:33because of the way I’m managing my money
8:36giving a gift for a wedding birthday
8:39baby shower would not put a strain on my
8:41finances
8:43and my finances do not control my life I
8:46would say that that statement is
8:47probably the one of the more profound
8:49ones
8:50um Financial Wellness is is having
8:52Independence and freedom in my opinion
8:54but we’ll talk about that a little bit
8:56more as well as we get further into the
8:57uh presentation but money can eliminate
9:00obstacles
9:02um but it can’t necessarily grant us
9:03security or Wellness so this can be this
9:07can be the definition but it won’t be
9:09the definition for everybody
9:11um and it’s kind of important to know
9:12the difference between a good financial
9:14plan and financial Wellness because
9:16you’ll end up in a situation like
9:18Scrooge Scrooge had a wonderful and a
9:21financial plan a very efficient
9:22financial plan but he had terrible
9:24Financial Wellness
9:26um so it is very dependent on the person
9:28but also you get to derive these own
9:31definitions as well
9:33um so aside from the statements that I
9:35just mentioned
9:37um I personally feel that Financial
9:39Wellness is when your actions and
9:41intentions align especially monetarily
9:44uh your finances are a reflection of you
9:46and how you would behave
9:49um so would I mean would you set the
9:51ocean on fire or poison drinking water
9:53and if you wouldn’t why would you offer
9:56to have your money do that for you
9:58um and so for me Financial Wellness has
10:01us added
10:02um component because we often aren’t
10:05understanding fully of the um
10:08consequences of some of the actions that
10:10we do because it doesn’t touch us so
10:11quickly so to understand both of our
10:14actions in the money scripts that we
10:16have and also the way that their money
10:18acts outside of us is the key to having
10:22good Financial Wellness
10:26so how is this money mindfulness and
10:30financial Wellness actually related
10:31because Financial Wellness as I said is
10:34about security Freedom of Choice those
10:36things are easy enough
10:38um but how do you bring mindfulness into
10:41that mix
10:42um mindfulness can take a look at these
10:44same Financial Concepts and just change
10:47the way we think about it
10:50um
10:50so you know
10:53for mindfulness the focus is not on
10:55dollars and cents but time and
10:57opportunity
10:58uh in finance what does that mean really
11:01I mean you’re not going to find a line
11:03in your net worth about time or
11:04opportunity right so how do you bring
11:06that into a financial plan
11:09um
11:11so the first thing that I always like to
11:13look at is how do you value your time
11:15time and opportunity are two of the
11:17greatest things that can that can
11:19contribute to a good financial plan that
11:21mindfulness does address
11:24um so valuing your time
11:26the way that I find to be most effective
11:28and everyone can kind of relate to is to
11:31think about your least favorite chore
11:34something that you absolutely hate doing
11:37um something that you would just pay
11:38just to get off your plate and whatever
11:41that amount you would pay if you can
11:43figure out what that rate is is a dollar
11:45per hour that’s usually a good sense of
11:48how much you value your time it’s a good
11:50sense of how much you’re willing to
11:52Outsource or or what’s what’s worth it
11:54or not based on your personal
11:58um valuation of what what is important
12:01to you really and that’s what it comes
12:02down to what is actually important to
12:04you
12:05um but the problem that we face is that
12:07people feel guilty Outsourcing these
12:09things because it’s something we are
12:11capable of doing ourselves
12:13but when we’re just paying for
12:14convenience
12:16but actually paying for convenience does
12:18have a return on investment
12:21um we’re actually being able to buy our
12:22time back and doing it for things that
12:25we don’t necessarily want to do so being
12:27able to see what is worth buying your
12:30time back for is essential to getting to
12:33that Financial wellness and feeling that
12:34security
12:37now the other part other than
12:39um excuse me
12:44so other than the value of your time
12:46would be the value of opportunity and
12:49your opportunity cost
12:51so it’s really hard to measure
12:53opportunity and potential
12:56um and we can do very quick calculations
12:58that are there are going to be estimates
12:59and I’m very happy to do and uh to
13:03figure out someone’s number it’s a
13:04little bit more complicated than the
13:05other calculations we’re going to go
13:07over today but just as an example
13:10um so for me with my risk tolerance and
13:12the way that I invest and the rate of
13:15return that I get on average I can turn
13:17a dollar into 13 and 11 Cents by the
13:20time I reach we’ll call it retirement I
13:23don’t call it retirement but when I
13:24reach the point where I no longer want
13:26to be working
13:28um
13:29and so when I make a purchase I can
13:31actually in that moment decide is it
13:34worth this thing that I’m buying now or
13:36is it worth that money saved and
13:38potential opportunity that I can use it
13:40for later so in for instance if you know
13:43it’s a hundred dollar item do I really
13:45want to pay a hundred dollars for this
13:47item or do I want thirteen hundred
13:49dollars in my retirement account I get
13:51to make that decision every single day
13:53for every purchase and being mindful in
13:57all of those little micro decisions
13:59um but here’s the thing you would think
14:02you’re going to make a certain decision
14:03the same way the whole time like you’d
14:05always save it that’s what you’re
14:06supposed to do but you’ll be surprised
14:09when you get to make those decisions
14:11each and every time you get to say how
14:13it it ends you know you get to actually
14:16choose and sometimes you would be
14:18surprised by the result because I tell
14:21you what sometimes a snack is going to
14:24keep me out of jail you know so
14:26sometimes that’s going to be totally
14:28worth the 1300 in my bank account or
14:30whatever it happens to be but the thing
14:33is you get to make that choice over and
14:35over again you know what you’re
14:37sacrificing in the future and the
14:39opportunity cost that you’re making by
14:42spending right now instead of in the
14:44future
14:45um and those little decisions will add
14:47up to make sure that you’re either on
14:49the track to being financially well or
14:51not
14:57so how do you know when you’re
14:59financially well so after all of these
15:02conversations I’ve had and yes it could
15:04be a certain number in your bank account
15:05or it could it could be some some some
15:09sort of line line item on some double
15:13edge or the double um some accounting
15:16paperwork whatever it happens to be some
15:17tax form uh but the four main topics
15:21that I see come up over and over again
15:23when it comes to financial wellness and
15:25the feeling of security are really just
15:27four numbers and I call it the freedom
15:30number the respite number the grief
15:32number and the emergency number
15:34they’re very simple calculations
15:37but the first one your emergency number
15:39this is how long you could survive
15:42adversity so it’s really just the amount
15:45of your emergency savings or cash and
15:47cash equivalents divided by your annual
15:49expenses to get that number and the the
15:52nice thing about these numbers that
15:54we’re calculating today is they all come
15:55down to time which is actually the most
15:58precious resource that you possibly
16:00could have so Financial Wellness is
16:02great but we’re talking about the most
16:04prized item that a person has their time
16:07so these calculations always put it in
16:10that perspective and that truly brings
16:12the mindfulness out so if you’re
16:15satisfied with your emergency number you
16:17feel like you have enough time to
16:20weather adversity or an emergency that
16:22is the first step to full Financial
16:24Wellness
16:28another aspect is your grief number now
16:31this is the one that’s the most
16:33neglected because no one wants to think
16:34about their death
16:36um and I get it you know it’s it’s not a
16:38fantastic subject and
16:41um it just comes with a lot of anxiety
16:43and apprehension and you know it’s just
16:47yes not everyone’s favorite topic but
16:49here’s the thing if you ignore it you’re
16:53just giving the problem to somebody else
16:56so the grief number is about
16:59understanding what you’re leaving should
17:01you die suddenly or unexpectedly are you
17:05allowing your family time to breathe
17:07because there’s some sort of resource
17:08that will allow them to you know put
17:12their job on hold or put some of the
17:14responsibilities aside so that they can
17:16have the emotional capacity and time to
17:19breathe for you
17:20um is that something you’re allowing
17:21them and it is up to you how much time
17:24you think that should be or whether or
17:26not they should want to at all
17:28um maybe you you know some people want
17:30to their family to move on and you know
17:33it’s everyone’s personal decision but
17:35ultimately this is one of the core
17:37components of financial Wellness knowing
17:40that your family could grieve for you in
17:43the amount of time that you want them to
17:49so your respite number or your
17:52retirement number I could say it’s your
17:54retirement number but I don’t like the
17:56concept of retirement so much where it
17:58feels like you’re giving up this is more
18:00like your respite number where you just
18:02get to rest where you get to spend 100
18:05of your time just doing self-care it
18:08doesn’t matter how old you are doesn’t
18:09matter you know where in your life you
18:11are but just this is the amount of of uh
18:15time that you have that you can actually
18:16just spend doing what you want to do and
18:19working on you and not having to work in
18:22some other job or earn any other money
18:25um and usually at the end of your life
18:27so that would be coinciding with
18:29retirement but this could be any amount
18:31of respite no matter your age
18:34and then on top of your respite number a
18:37slightly larger one is your freedom
18:39number so this is how long you could
18:41live without even needing to earn
18:43anymore
18:44um so uh if your net worth actually or
18:48your the amount of time that you
18:49calculate in this calculation
18:52um if your time is longer than your life
18:55expectancy you have Financial Freedom
18:57you don’t need to earn any more
18:59ultimately I feel that if you’re
19:01satisfied with this number you’ve
19:03totally made it you’ve you’ve put
19:05yourself in a position where you can
19:08choose what you want to do when you want
19:10to do it self-care not volunteering not
19:13dedicating your your life to however you
19:16want your impact Persona right
19:19um if you were had Financial Freedom you
19:21could be you could be doing your impact
19:22Persona all day long
19:24um and so ultimately I feel that these
19:26four numbers these four simple division
19:29calculations are that the key to
19:31financial Wellness there are some other
19:34ones the Consumer Financial Protection
19:36Bureau actually does a very good
19:37Financial Wellness summary and there’s
19:40some also
19:41um other non-profits that have some
19:43great uh we’ll call them quizzes as well
19:46but ultimately I feel that with these
19:49four calculations
19:50um if you’re satisfied with the numbers
19:52these are going to be the things that
19:54make sure that you’re going to end up
19:55being financially well
19:59and so ultimately only you are the one
20:02who can be satisfied with your
20:03calculations I can prescribe some
20:07you know uh Caps or averages or that
20:11sort of thing but ultimately and
20:13especially with mindfulness you are the
20:16author of what is good and what is bad
20:18or right or wrong or however you want to
20:21describe it
20:22um you get to make these decisions but
20:24you just need to be more informed on
20:26first uh how these decisions are making
20:29your life and building the life that you
20:32want to create daily and presently and
20:34also how that actually affects your
20:36future
20:37um but knowing that can’t necessarily be
20:40automatic right we have all of these
20:43um other things uh competing for our
20:45time so taking the time to truly reflect
20:48and understand why we’re making
20:50purchases but we’re making these
20:52purchases uh as a sacrifice to or what
20:56the opportunity cost might be and if
20:59we’re not satisfied with these numbers
21:01what are we going to do to get your
21:03goals to align with what you want are
21:06you going to change Behavior or are you
21:08going to change your expectations it’s
21:10usually one or the other that does have
21:12to give if you do want to see and read
21:15the benefits of these change
21:19um
21:32so I know this was a shorter
21:34presentation that was
21:36um uh
21:39changed from a TED talk to make a more
21:43um friendly webinar
21:45um so I am happy to take questions or I
21:48know some people came in late so if you
21:50wanted to ask any questions about the
21:52beginning of the presentation I’ll be
21:54happy to go over that as well
21:56um but if you’d like to continue the
21:58conversation I welcome you to connect
22:00with me on LinkedIn I’m happy to meet
22:02one on one uh this is the kind of stuff
22:05that we do every day with our employee
22:06benefit wellness program and because of
22:09that program we’re able to give away
22:11this kind of education and information
22:13for free it’s one of the benefits of
22:16that whole program that we’re able to
22:17kind of spread the wealth and give this
22:20to people who truly need it
22:22um that being said if you’d love to see
22:24more we’re happy to help you bring these
22:25programs into your company culture or
22:28even to you personally and we do use all
22:31this stuff in our financial planning and
22:33comprehensive planning programs as well
22:36um so I want to leave you with one
22:38closing thought before we go
22:41so
22:42at the beginning of today’s webinar it’s
22:44very likely that you didn’t come in and
22:47think oh this presentation is going to
22:49change my life it’s going to change the
22:51way that I think and that sort of thing
22:53uh that’s okay though because naturally
22:55as humans the way we categorize and on
22:58all of that you can’t you can’t be
23:00prepared for every situation all the
23:02time if you were a Time Lord perhaps but
23:04we’re just people so we have to come
23:07with certain expectations and usually
23:09those expectations get met
23:11but I would love if this presentation
23:14did change your life so I this this is
23:17the one thought that I would like like
23:18to leave you with
23:20everyone here and everyone in general
23:23has two minutes to live
23:26everybody
23:28and every time you take a breath you
23:30reset the clock
23:32so please remember to breathe
23:35so I’m going to go ahead and end this
23:36recording here and then take questions
23:38for everyone who wants to get a little
23:39bit into the weeds
23:44