Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This episode, we give you a checklist of things you can do to improve your money in 2025.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Let's get started.
[00:00:06] Speaker C: Let's get some money from New Money, New Problems. It's the New Money New Problems podcast, a show for successful professionals searching for the tools they need to navigate financial opportunities and obstacles they've never seen.
Negotiating compensation, Purchasing your first investment property. Helping your family with money. The highs and lows of, uh, entrepreneurship. New Money brings new problems that require new solutions. Join us as we work through them together.
I'm Brenton Harrison, and this is the New Money New Problems podcast.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: Hello, my name is Brenton Harrison of New Money, New Problems and your host.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: For the New Money New Problems podcast.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: In last week's episode, we talked about some emergency student loan information that you needed to know and, and how that.
[00:00:59] Speaker B: Student loan information may be changed at.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: The drop of a hat based on our new administration. I also two weeks ago had a very special guest in Seth Godin Come on, the podcast that I hope you all enjoyed. And this week I wanted to get to an episode that we've been putting towards the end of the month.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: And that's a checklist for things that.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: You can do in 2025 to have a better relationship with your money. Now, if you're wondering why we didn't release this as, uh, the first week of 2025, realistically it's because some of the tips involve taxation and things like.
[00:01:28] Speaker B: Documents that you may not.
So we thought that at the end of January, when you're first starting to.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Get those W2s, 1099s, and really you.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: Just have a more settled sense of.
[00:01:37] Speaker A: What at least the start of the year looks like that we share some of these tips. So what we're going to do is we're going to go step by step through different categories of your finances, from credit and debit to cash flow to.
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Debts and so on and so forth.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: And give you a few tips that you can take action on this month to make sure that for the balance of 2025, you're doing the best you can financially. If you're listening online or you're watching, you want to get a copy of.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: What we're going through on screen?
[00:02:04] Speaker A: You can find that copy by going.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: To newmoney, new problems.com checklist.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: And we're going to get started today with cash flow. I have on screen a basic cash flow analysis that we do with all.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Of our new clients or existing clients.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Who have had a change in circumstance. It could be something like having A.
[00:02:20] Speaker B: New salary or losing a salary, having.
[00:02:22] Speaker A: A new child, deciding to send that child to, uh, a private school, what have you. And you'll see that we start with.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Monthly income after taxes and benefits.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Benefits. One of the first, uh, mistakes I see when people do a cash flow.
[00:02:35] Speaker B: Analysis is they overestimate how much income is actually coming in the door.
[00:02:39] Speaker A: They don't think about the things like.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: The employee benefits and the taxes that.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Are taken out of your check. So we want to know what actually hits your account every two weeks. So we total up that income and then we start to chip away with expenses.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: And then at the end of the.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Process, there are some numbers that we pay attention to. The first number is discretionary income. That is literally, if I take your.
[00:03:00] Speaker B: Income and I subtract your expenses, what's.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Left before we think into anything like paying extra or contributing to savings or.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Investments, or even things like religious contributions.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: I want to know, if I just take your income and subtract your expenses, is there anything left after that? We then take away things like charitable.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: And religious contributions, the savings that you're currently making, and we figure out, are there any funds left after that process? And if there are, we title those funds unaccounted for.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: And those are two really important things to know.
[00:03:34] Speaker B: Discretionary income. Do I have money left after my expenses are accounted for, and if so.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: How much and funds unaccounted for tells you. After I've thought through everything I can think of with bills and expenses, savings.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: And contributions, there's still money that's here.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: It doesn't necessarily mean it's sitting in.
[00:03:50] Speaker B: Your pocket at the end of every.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: Month, but it does mean that you haven't given it a purpose. So for people who have surpluses in both of these categories, we start to.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: Build a plan for them.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: For example, if you have $1,000 worth.
[00:04:02] Speaker B: Of unaccounted for funds, do I think.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: That you remember everything when we did your cash flow analysis? No, but I don't think that you forgot $1,000 worth of bills and expenses. So we may take half of that number, in this case $500, and we.
[00:04:16] Speaker B: Give it a purpose. Should we put that extra $500 towards a debt repayment?
[00:04:20] Speaker A: Should we put those extra $500 towards an investment goal?
[00:04:24] Speaker B: Sometimes that money actually goes towards guilt free spending because we come across people.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Who feel ashamed when they spend money on vacations, not knowing if it's something.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: They should do or if they're overextending themselves.
[00:04:36] Speaker A: But when you go through a cash.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: FL and you have a surplus. The first thing we try to do is figure out how do we put those surplus funds to use.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: And for those with a surplus who have determined a purpose for how you're going to use it, make sure it's automated. Do not lean on your own discipline to do things like putting more money.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: Into a savings account, investment account, or.
[00:04:56] Speaker A: Putting more towards debt. Make sure that you take the percentage that you're trying to deploy and that.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: You set up an automated contribution or.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: An automated payment so that technology can.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Do the work for you while you're working as well.
[00:05:08] Speaker A: Now, the flip side to this coin is you may go through this process.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: You may have no money left at all. Matter of fact, you may be in the negative.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: And at least then you know that you're not crazy when you're trying to figure out why you're having to depend on things like credit cards on a monthly basis. And if you do find yourself in.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: The hole at the end of this.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Process, that's where we start to talk through what options do we have.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: One of those options is looking at.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Things like your withholding from a tax perspective.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: For example, if you're getting a huge refund every single year, but you're in.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: The hole on a monthly basis, adjusting.
[00:05:39] Speaker B: Your withholding under the help of a.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: Professional could be something that adds more money to your monthly budget throughout the year. You could also look at your employee benefits to figure out if there's anything.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: That you can do from m that.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: Perspective that will increase cash flow. We've talked about these things in the past. Things like utilizing a health savings account.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Which requires you to sign up for.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: A high deductible health plan that likely.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Comes at a lesser expense.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Putting money into your dependent care fsa.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: Your flex spending account, money that was already going to be used, but doing.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: So before you pay taxes on these.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Dollars can also improve cash flow.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Retirement contributions is another one. If you're in a hole on a monthly basis, retirement contributions is another area.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: That has to be addressed.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: Yes, if everything happened in a vacuum.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: And your employer is offering matching dollars.
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Then you don't want to leave that money on the table by not contributing that same amount. But if you've not yet gotten to the point where you have any savings, or if you have positive cash flow throughout the month, then you have to.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: Look at your retirement savings and saying.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: Hey, if I'm giving 6%, but I.
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Only have to give 3% to get the match, I may for a period.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Of time until I can make some adjust. Need to Drop my contribution so that I'm not giving up free money, but I put myself in a better position in terms of my monthly budget. In more severe scenarios where you have.
[00:06:52] Speaker B: Consumer debt that's drowning you, where you don't have any savings at all, we've.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Talked about the fact that you may need to pause your retirement contributions until.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: You can get to more of a level playing field.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: And the last way to look through that cash flow is the fact of.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: The matter that at some points in your career, if there are things that you have to pay for that cannot.
[00:07:11] Speaker A: Be adjusted and there's not enough income to pay for those things, we do.
[00:07:15] Speaker B: Have to sometimes confront the fact that we're simply not earning enough money. And we can either find a way.
[00:07:20] Speaker A: To earn more money, or we have to find a way to cut some.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Things that we don't want to cut.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Things like that house that you don't want to leave, that program. You pay for your kids that they love so much. And since cutting is a much more difficult thing to do, my perspective is.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: I would rather try to find a.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Way to go earn more money, if that's one of my options. Next up, we have savings and investments.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: And you'll start to see in this section why we start with the cash flow analysis.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: The first recommendation is to use the.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Monthly expenses you totaled up in the.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Cash flow analysis to determine how much you should actually have in savings so people will lean on, oh, I have.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: 10,000 in savings, 5,000, 20,000, 30,000.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: And there's no real connection as to.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: How many months expenses that actually represents.
[00:08:04] Speaker A: With your cash flow analysis. If you find out that you have $5,000 of monthly expenses, you can then determine, do I want to keep a, um, month expense in cash, three months expenses in cash, six months expenses in cash. And if you want more than six months expenses in cash, you need to.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: Have a very good reason to explain why you wouldn't take those excess funds.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: And instead put them in a place like a brokerage account where there's more opportunity to gain than in your traditional savings account. And there is a misconception that by.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: Putting your funds into this brokerage account that you're losing access to them.
[00:08:36] Speaker A: Right. I want to have my funds in cash so that I can get to them when I need them. But when you have money in a.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Brokerage account, in most cases, two to three business days is a good expectation.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: As for when you could have funds back in your account if you needed them. So, for example, if I needed money.
[00:08:52] Speaker B: From my savings Account. Yes, you are correct.
[00:08:54] Speaker A: I could have it, uh, in my checking account instantly if I log onto my online account. But if I need money on Friday.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: From my brokerage account, if I put in the request by Monday or Tuesday.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: It'S highly likely that I'll have those.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Funds at that time.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: And while there may be cases where.
[00:09:09] Speaker B: You have a small emergency where you need money instantly, there aren't many things.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: That I can think of where I.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Would need more than three months expenses.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Sooner than in two to three business days. So you want to keep perspective when you're determining your amount and not saying, oh, um, I'm keeping a, uh, year's.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Worth of expenses in cash because I need access to the money. It's really a matter of how quickly you need access to it.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: And I would argue that most people.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: Are not going to instantly need as much money as they think in the.
[00:09:36] Speaker A: Event of an emergency. And the last one we'll cover before the break is credit and debt.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: And we'll start with just figuring out.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Where you stand in relation to your.
[00:09:45] Speaker B: Credit in the first place.
[00:09:47] Speaker A: And the way that you can do.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: That is you can download your free annual credit report.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: And oddly enough, the name of the.
[00:09:53] Speaker B: Site where you do this is annualcreditreport.com.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Now, you have access to your credit report in a number of different scenarios.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: In terms of when a lender is.
[00:10:02] Speaker A: Pulling your credit and things of that nature. However, we all get access, no matter what, to one full credit report pull every single year. Now, I would pair that with signing.
[00:10:12] Speaker B: Up for a credit monitor monitoring service.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: We've talked about the fact that I highly recommend you signing up for a credit karma.com or an experian.com one that's.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: Not just tied to a credit card.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: So a lot of people say, oh, I see my credit score through my credit card.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: You may see the number.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: But credit monitoring services will typically give you a lot more information, not only in terms of your score and what's impacting it, but also other things that you are eligible for in terms of personal loans that may help you consolidate debt. Credit cards based on your score that.
[00:10:42] Speaker B: You may have a high approval for.
[00:10:44] Speaker A: Where you can shift money at high interest rates onto a card with an.
[00:10:48] Speaker B: Introductory rate of 0%.
[00:10:50] Speaker A: This is information that you simply find.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: More of with the credit monitoring service.
[00:10:54] Speaker A: Now, after you look through that report and determine what you need to do with your credit, we also need to figure out what to do with your consumer debt or debt in general. And consumer debt is something that, like, different People have different definitions for, but I define consumer debt as debt you owe that does not help you make more money. So an example of that would be a credit card. It would be a car loan. Whereas the debt that I wouldn't consider consumer debt per se, doesn't mean that you don't need to attack it when appropriate. Would be something like a student loan, right?
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Like, nobody likes student loans, but conceptually.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: You took out that student loan to help you make more money. So those are things I typically look at, and I try to set a.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: Goal each year for how much I want to pay them down if I.
[00:11:34] Speaker A: Have that debt coming into the new year. An example is I came into the.
[00:11:38] Speaker B: New year with credit card debt as.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: 0% interest from some things that we had to do on our home last year. If you've heard past episodes, you know.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: We'Ve had some serious trouble with our roof in the past year or so. And I have until March to pay those debts off before any interest accrues.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: So right at the beginning of the.
[00:11:54] Speaker B: Year, I set a goal for how.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Much I need to pay in the.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: First three months of the year to.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Make sure that I'm not charged interest on those debts. There may be also things like money you have on a home equity line of credit or your car loan that you're trying to pay off in a faster fashion.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: And setting that goal lets you chart a path for how much it will take on a monthly basis or a quarterly basis or a bonus basis if.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: That'S what you're using to pay those funds so that it's at the forefront.
[00:12:18] Speaker B: Of your mind when the money comes.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: To pay down the debt.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: And then lastly, and this is a.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Timely recommendation given last week's episode, if you have federal student loans, because as we mentioned last week, this is such an important year when it comes to the future of that debt. I would encourage you to take an income Driven repayment calculator and find out.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: What your new payment would be if.
[00:12:39] Speaker A: It were based on your current income. What I don't want is for some.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: Point this year or even next year.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: You to just be smacked upside the head with a payment that is tripled.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Or quadrupled or quintupled.
[00:12:50] Speaker A: Um, so in the show notes, we'll put a link to an income Driven repayment guide that you can use to put in your adjusted gross income, which is what's used to calculate the payments under these IDR plans, your family size.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Your student loan payment, and your student.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Loan interest rate, and make sure that.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: You have a good understanding of what.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: Your payment could jump to if that new income is reflected.
[00:13:11] Speaker B: And also, if necessary, go back through.
[00:13:13] Speaker A: That cash flow analysis, put that new.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Number into your budget and see the impact it has on the balance of your finances.
[00:13:22] Speaker D: This is the New MONEY New Problems podcast, a show for successful professionals searching for the tools they need to navigate financial opportunities and obstacles they've never seen. We'll be right back.
[00:13:41] Speaker C: Are you wondering what new money problems you might be overlooking in your financial life? If so, we've got great news. We've crafted the New MONEY New Problems Gapfinder to identify potential weaknesses in your finances in areas ranging from budgeting, investments, insurance, and even the threat your extended family's finances could pose to your household. Please head to newmoney new problems.com to complete it today. Again, that's newmoney new problems.com Gapfinder to take the assessment.
[00:14:19] Speaker D: You're listening to the New Money New Problems podcast. Subscribe now@newmoney new problems.com welcome back.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: All right, we're back from the break.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: And we are going to dig into our taxes recommendation. We did a full episode on optimizing your taxes and 2025, which we'll link to in the show notes so we don't have to spend a ton of.
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Time in this episode.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: But the basic recommendation for taxes is to gather all of your income documents.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: We mentioned some of the ones that are often missed.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: If applicable, you don't Want to forget your 1099s from investment accounts and high yield savings accounts. And you also want to have at least a working knowledge of the deductions.
[00:14:59] Speaker B: That you could use.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: If you itemize your deductions that you can total them up to see whether it would benefit you to itemize versus taking the standard deduction that's available to all taxpayers. Next up, insurances. I don't think that it's necessary to, uh, redo your insurances every year. Matter of fact, in many cases for things like life insurance and disability insurance, the real people insurances, you really don't have cause, if you've done the right.
[00:15:25] Speaker B: Work on the front end to just consistently be shopping that coverage.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: But if you have not purchased the.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Appropriate policies outside of your employer, remember.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: We think that employer plans are the.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: Icing, they're not the cake.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Then for life insurance, I would encourage you to use a basic life insurance.
[00:15:41] Speaker B: Calculator to estimate your needs for coverage.
[00:15:43] Speaker A: And to make sure that you own the right amount in an individual policy. We'll put a link in the show notes to a uh, calculator that we use from a nonprofit called Life Happens that will allow you to. Based on how much income you're trying.
[00:15:55] Speaker B: To replace and for how long.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: If you have children and you're trying to make sure you provide for their college costs, things of that nature, we'll go through all of those variables and.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: Tell you how much additional insurance you need.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Need for disability insurance. Even if you have your own coverage, you want to make sure that you.
[00:16:10] Speaker B: Read through your employee benefits to make sure that your income is fully protected.
[00:16:14] Speaker A: In many cases, things like bonuses and.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Overtime pay are not covered by group policies.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: And if you're an exceptionally high income.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Earner, in most cases, depending on the.
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Plan that's going to be over $100,000 of income or $200,000 of income, there may be a cap on the benefits.
[00:16:30] Speaker B: That your group policy will pay, and.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Any income above that would be unprotected.
[00:16:34] Speaker B: Unless you secure an individually owned disability insurance policy policy in addition to your workplace plan.
[00:16:40] Speaker A: For things like property insurances, like homeowner's insurance, you want to make sure that.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: You assess whether your home is increased in value to a degree that your.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Home insurer isn't aware of. So, for example, if you're one of the lucky people who moved into a.
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Hot area of town before it became.
[00:16:55] Speaker A: A hot area, or you just have some finishes in your home that cost a certain amount when you bought it, and over the course of time, it.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Will cost a lot more to replace.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: You want to make sure that your.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: Homeowner'S insurance coverage reflects the full replacement value of your property. So, for example, if you have $200,000.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: Worth of replacement value and you have.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: A home that would take $500,000 to.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: Replace, not only can there be some.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Penalties in terms of how much you.
[00:17:20] Speaker A: Would be paid in the event of a total loss, but there's also the basic element of the fact that you.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Have a home that's not fully insured.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: In the event that there is a total loss and you wouldn't receive what.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: You need to start over.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: So, in addition to shopping rates, which with people insurances, I wouldn't do frequently with property insurances, I typically wait every two to three years to. You also want to make sure that.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: The base elements of that coverage are appropriate as well.
[00:17:46] Speaker A: And our final element for 2025 is estate planning, starting with doing the basic work of checking the beneficiaries on all your savings and investment accounts to make.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: Sure that they're up to date.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: You would be surprised how many people.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: We've worked with who have gone through.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: A divorce and they haven't checked their beneficiaries to see that their former spouse.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Is still listed on a retirement plan.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: Or their beneficiary is someone who has.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: Since passed and they haven't replaced it.
[00:18:10] Speaker A: With a new name or they've had multiple children, but they last updated their beneficiaries after the first child and haven't.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Done so to reflect the new addition to the household.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: It is crucial that you go through this process even if you don't have a will, because there are some things that bypass the probate process. Probate is the process when you die.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: Of a court, making sure that they.
[00:18:31] Speaker A: Determine who gets what. But thankfully there are elements that bypass.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Probate, meaning they have direct beneficiaries and.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: You don't have to worry about court involvement.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: These are things like some savings accounts, most investment accounts, your employee retirement accounts, and doing a semi regular beneficiary check can make sure that you've accounted for.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Any changes in your life and that your needs are fully carried out in the event of your death.
[00:18:54] Speaker B: If you don't have a will, then.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: We need to set an appointment with.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: An estate planning attorney to draft a will and advance medical directives.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: And if you feel like you don't.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Have the funds to do so, because.
[00:19:04] Speaker A: Depending on how complex complex your estate may be, this can be something that can range from a thousand or two thousand to many thousands of dollars, then while I would still prefer you work with a professional one on one, we're going to put a resource in the.
[00:19:17] Speaker B: Show notes called trust and will that.
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Will allow you to do everything from basic will and advanced medical directives to.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: Even a trust based will for less than $1,000.
[00:19:27] Speaker A: This is not a recommendation of their services and we typically encourage people to.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: Check out at least three resources and outlets before deciding on what they'll use.
[00:19:35] Speaker A: But we'd rather you have something nothing.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: So we'll provide this resource to you. And lastly, if you already have a.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: Will, you have to go through the process after you created the documents of making sure that all of the titling.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Of your accounts in terms of ownership.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: And all of the beneficiaries represent the wishes of that will. As an example, let's say that my.
[00:19:55] Speaker B: Wife and I established a trust and our desire is for everything to go into that trust before we die.
[00:20:01] Speaker A: Well, there's a process of making sure.
[00:20:03] Speaker B: That any investment accounts that we own are either changed so that the trust owns them now, or at the very least that the trust is listed as the beneficiary.
[00:20:11] Speaker A: So if I go through all the headache of creating that trust and I'll.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: Go through the second step of updating the titling of the accounts and the.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Beneficiaries, then it's all for not. And I'm still putting things in my.
[00:20:21] Speaker B: Probate estate that didn't necessarily have to be there.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: We're going to go into a lot more details about estate planning in the coming months because we are doing a, uh, joint webinar with a good friend of ours, Jennifer Williams, an estate planning.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Attorney at Cedar Council.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: So there's definitely more to come in.
[00:20:36] Speaker B: Terms of digging deeper into estate planning.
[00:20:39] Speaker A: But this is something in 2020 as.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: A firm that we're making sure our.
[00:20:42] Speaker A: Clients do and we're making sure we do our part to increase public awareness of the importance of establishing your estate plan. So that's it. Those are the basic tips that we think can improve your finances in 2025. While you can listen to this episode and check some of the resources in the show notes again, if you want.
[00:20:59] Speaker B: The full checklist, you can download it.
[00:21:01] Speaker A: By going to newmoney. New problems.com um, checklist. And we'll be back next week with a brand new episode.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: See you then from New Money. New Problems. This was the New Money New Problems podcast, a show for successful professionals searching for the tools they need to navigate financial opportunities and obstacles they've never seen.
