In this enlightening episode of Money Talk with Tiff, Tiffany Grant welcomes Coach Ty, host of the Little Steps Big Moves podcast. The two dive deep into Coach Ty’s unique journey towards financial independence while actively serving in the military.
They discuss various strategies and philosophies around financial independence, including concepts like CoastFI and LeanFI, and the impact of real estate investment.
An educator by a purpose-filled calling, she taught and coached in the public education system until called to Active Duty in 2003.
She continues to educate and coach today but in an evolved way.
Ty mentors women and speaks about real estate, leadership, and entrepreneurship. In 2022, she launched a podcast, Tiny Steps, Big Moves, highlighting the inspirational stories of women who have career-pivoted in life. In late 2023, she launched her website coachtyinspires.com, centered around the theme Live your Best Life 2.0, encouraging women to set goals and outcomes, remove the limits, and unleash their greatness. Additionally, she is the founder of Renaissance Properties of the Carolinas, a licensed realtor in NC, and a real estate investor in the southeast.
Connect on LinkedIn: Tianika "Ty" Mangum
Website: https://www.moneytalkwitht.com
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[00:00] Transitioning to coastal financial independence from military.
[06:01] New military member finds financial independence path.
[09:54] Budgeting, tracking, and understanding spending habits.
[12:42] Plan expenses, increase savings, supplement income sources.
[14:09] Real estate as primary investment for retirement.
[19:02] Embracing community and personal growth while advancing.
[21:14] Podcast features women sharing career pivot stories.
CoastFI: Described by Coach Ty as a more relaxed approach where one still maintains financial independence but continues to work, allowing for a gradual progression towards full FI.
LeanFI (Real LeanFI): Coach Ty’s strategy focusing on covering basic living expenses through investments, setting a foundation before progressing towards more comprehensive financial goals.
Listeners are encouraged to explore their own paths to financial independence, utilizing the principles discussed in the episode as a guide. Engage with the community, track your financial progress, and consider diverse investment strategies to pave your own way towards financial freedom.
Join Tiffany Grant again next week for another insightful episode of Money Talk with Tiff, where money strategies and practical insights continue to empower you to take control of your financial future.
Copyright 2024 Tiffany Grant
You know what it is. That's right. It's time to talk money with your money
Speaker:nerd and financial coach. Now tighten those purse strings
Speaker:and open those ears. It's the money talk with Tiff
Speaker:podcast. Hey, everyone.
Speaker:I am so excited because I have coach Ty on the line, and coach Ty
Speaker:is the host of the little Steps big Moves podcast, and I had met
Speaker:her at finkan women in money event last year,
Speaker:and we just hit it off immediately. And I'm excited about what she has
Speaker:to talk about, which is her journey to finance, which is financial
Speaker:independence while actively serving in the military. So, hey, Coach Ty,
Speaker:how are you? Hey, Tiffany. I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.
Speaker:Yes, thank you so much for agreeing to come along with my
Speaker:shenanigans. Anytime.
Speaker:So let's just hop right in for the audience. So we've
Speaker:talked about fire here on the podcast a few times, and different
Speaker:forms of fire, you know, slow fi, you know, all these different
Speaker:phys. But what makes active duty
Speaker:fi different? Yeah, I don't know if it is
Speaker:different. I feel like we still
Speaker:follow. I personally still follow the same
Speaker:premise from financial independence. I'm moving
Speaker:toward the coast Phi, but I'm starting
Speaker:at the, I call it the real lean fi. Like, can you
Speaker:do things that are going to cover your basic
Speaker:expenses and how. And how you do that and then kind of move toward coast
Speaker:fi? I think the difference is, is that like
Speaker:any other nine to five, right, being in the military
Speaker:full time, supporting reserves, which is what I've done for the past
Speaker:20 years, it creates a level
Speaker:of understanding of your finances where, like,
Speaker:one would have perhaps in a nine to five, where you have a
Speaker:predictable. And so that helps you to
Speaker:then gauge out in terms of your budget, what
Speaker:you want to invest in when you get to that. And then eventually,
Speaker:if you choose to go towards the financial independence
Speaker:way, it allows you to do that. So that's kind of what
Speaker:I found as it relates to the
Speaker:military and in the fi community,
Speaker:it's definitely a different space. And so
Speaker:we can sort of get into that if you want to when I discovered it
Speaker:while on active duty. But, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:And actually, I just want to back up just a little bit, because just
Speaker:in case this is people's first time listening to money talk with Tiff, and they're
Speaker:like, coastfi, leanfi, what are they talking about? What is
Speaker:Coastfi? I guess I look at Coastfi
Speaker:as a way that you somewhat
Speaker:ease into financial independence. And
Speaker:so you are, to me, when I wrote out
Speaker:coast five for me is a certain number that I would be
Speaker:comfortable with, meaning I wasn't
Speaker:doing a minimalist approach to it. Meaning just the bare
Speaker:minimums in terms of ultra saving.
Speaker:And my normal expense is really low.
Speaker:And I'm not what one would call fat fire. So
Speaker:a larger, if you will, a larger,
Speaker:what would you call salary that you're giving yourself or however
Speaker:you're moving in that way, I kind of look at coast is I'm
Speaker:still financially independent, but I still have an opportunity to work.
Speaker:It's almost like going fast travel versus slow
Speaker:travel. Fast travel is you cram everything you can
Speaker:into that weekend or slow travel where you're going to take
Speaker:a week, two weeks, a month to kind of move into it.
Speaker:So that's kind of how I look at it. Perhaps not the normal definition,
Speaker:but that's how I have a define it for me and my journey. And
Speaker:I love that because I tell people all the time, like, all this stuff that
Speaker:you hear, you know, maybe see on social media or read on
Speaker:blogs, listen on podcasts, you have to make it fit you so you can
Speaker:take, like, the basic premise of it and then tweak it to kind
Speaker:of fit your situation. So with that being said, I heard you
Speaker:say super lean fi. So what is super lean
Speaker:fi? Yes. So real lean for me
Speaker:was I'm doing investment wise, is it
Speaker:allowing me to get the basic
Speaker:necessities to live and so
Speaker:not. And I suspect one would say that's just whatever fire.
Speaker:But I just wanted to make sure I put real lean
Speaker:because if I didn't qualify it that way, then I
Speaker:would add numbers to it. That may not necessarily be
Speaker:necessary to meet the goal. Right.
Speaker:I don't want to keep moving the goalposts. And so it's just
Speaker:like, here's the Kim, what you're doing, the investments you
Speaker:have, however, whatever vehicle you're trying to get there, can you
Speaker:meet your basic needs. And if you can do that, then let's
Speaker:build out from there as opposed to, you know,
Speaker:some arbitrary number. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. And that makes complete sense. So
Speaker:let's go back because I wanna know
Speaker:what made you decide that fire was
Speaker:something that you wanted to do. So how did you find out about it,
Speaker:and how did you decide? Okay, this is what I want to do, and
Speaker:this is how I got my number. Sure. So I learned about
Speaker:financial independence, I think, about seven or eight years ago.
Speaker:Just doing a lot of research, understanding. I've always
Speaker:had an idea of personal finance.
Speaker:I came from a family of savers. I wasn't understanding the
Speaker:investment side, but definitely savers, people who
Speaker:worked hard, and then they saved their money. And
Speaker:that's kind of what I grew up around. But I also
Speaker:was introduced to different things within the savings space.
Speaker:And so I was like, okay, what's that? And so once you start going down
Speaker:the rabbit hole of personal finance, you either get stuck or you
Speaker:kind of keep going. And I like that idea because
Speaker:I was newer in the
Speaker:military, not as new on the full time side,
Speaker:and I was making a decent paycheck, and then
Speaker:I was not necessarily using that paycheck in the best
Speaker:way and all the time. And so I was like, well, I
Speaker:need to figure something out, because as you
Speaker:grow, so can your living. And
Speaker:I definitely was growing in my living and living in my
Speaker:growing, and so I wanted to figure out,
Speaker:okay, let me see how this is gonna work. So, seven or eight years
Speaker:ago, I stumbled upon financial independence in its own
Speaker:special way, just personal finance. And then I
Speaker:decided to come up with a seven. Okay, eight year
Speaker:plan to fi. And first by establishing what was
Speaker:my number. So where my number was, my financial
Speaker:independence number when I started this journey is different now.
Speaker:And then throughout that, you know, I chose different vehicles
Speaker:to get there, as you like, you just said, creating
Speaker:the path that I thought that number one, that I could
Speaker:sustain, because I had tried different things before
Speaker:then 100% work. So then I went back to my normal
Speaker:spending habits, and so just, okay, this one might actually
Speaker:stick if I actually have a plan and then kind of
Speaker:put numbers out there to qualify what it is that I'm trying to
Speaker:do and then kind of give myself steps along
Speaker:the way to get there. Awesome. Awesome. So, you said
Speaker:one thing about changing your fi number,
Speaker:and I just wanted to dial in on that because I feel like
Speaker:sometimes we get to a point where we hear some advice or what have you,
Speaker:and we're like, oh, we got to do it exactly like this, and we can't
Speaker:change it. This is our goal. I'm talking about myself, y'all.
Speaker:And so when you. When you sat down, you were like, I need to change
Speaker:this. Like, what was your thought process around that one? I didn't want to live
Speaker:real lean forever. Let's just
Speaker:be honest about that. I didn't want to live real
Speaker:lean forever. I also
Speaker:identified what are the things that make me happy
Speaker:in my living, and this is kind of why I kind of go to coast
Speaker:fi is because I want to make sure that I'm
Speaker:coasting there, but that I'm enjoying what I'm
Speaker:doing. So the first couple of years, you're not 100% enjoying it all
Speaker:the time. That's just the truth. But if you push that out over
Speaker:time, I think you can. And so that's kind
Speaker:of, kind of where I went with it. I was like, okay, how can I
Speaker:enjoy this thing that I say I'm going to
Speaker:continue to do? And if I'm going to do that,
Speaker:how am I going to do that? And then when I discover, hey, for
Speaker:instance, we talk pre recording, I like to travel. And so when I go
Speaker:to look at my finances and look and say, hey, what are the
Speaker:top three priorities within my spending habit
Speaker:that I'm going to keep? And then I started
Speaker:adjust and say, well, you know what? If that's how I want
Speaker:my financial independence and then retire early, if
Speaker:that's how I want that to look, then I need to adjust my number.
Speaker:I also need to either do some other things to make adjustments or
Speaker:I need to work longer or I need to extend my plan. So that's why
Speaker:we've gone to seven to eight year plan, because I need
Speaker:to do a little bit more, if that makes sense. Gotcha. Yeah, it makes complete
Speaker:sense. Now when you say do a little bit more. So what are some
Speaker:things that you are doing to make sure that you reach your
Speaker:fi number, your current fi number? Sure. Besides
Speaker:the budgeting and kind of keeping to those goals, I'm really tracking a
Speaker:lot of things lately, probably the last couple of years, doing a lot
Speaker:of tracking and just really understanding different
Speaker:places. For instance, knowing that March for the
Speaker:last couple years has been a high spend month and maybe
Speaker:you've gotten out of your whatever. And so coming
Speaker:into this year saying, hey, you know, March is, for whatever reason, is a high
Speaker:spend month. You need to bring that in if you want to meet these
Speaker:goals or knowing that another month,
Speaker:you tend to have a lot of things not, excuse me, not
Speaker:a lot of things on your plate. And so therefore, meaning
Speaker:activities, things that you like to do, you don't do a lot during these months.
Speaker:And so that means you have a lot more left over for
Speaker:discretionary spending and where are you going to put that? So really tracking
Speaker:that, I think I know rather has been probably
Speaker:the biggest move for me and then truly
Speaker:having the end in mind. I really
Speaker:know what it is I want to do when it's
Speaker:time. My time is up here. That's from in terms of the
Speaker:service, and then that gets refined. Right
Speaker:all the time. And so I think that has helped me. Yes, yes,
Speaker:you said a couple of gems just now. First of
Speaker:all, tracking everything. And I tell people
Speaker:this all the time, if you want to improve something, you have to track
Speaker:it. It doesn't matter what it is. And even for me, it even
Speaker:went down to sleep. I was like, I want to improve my sleep. I started
Speaker:tracking my sleep. But I love that you say that because
Speaker:it's so important and there's no way that you can
Speaker:make any or see where you even need to improve if you're not
Speaker:tracking it. So I talk about budgeting on this podcast
Speaker:all the time. People are probably sick of me. But now you're hearing it from
Speaker:coach Ty, too. You need to make sure that you're
Speaker:tracking whatever it is you're trying to improve, including money.
Speaker:So that way you can see where you need to improve or
Speaker:if you're doing great, you're not going to know either way. And then
Speaker:another thing you said that I really liked was working with
Speaker:the end in mind. So you already have an
Speaker:idea of where you want to go eventually.
Speaker:And so all of your steps now are being ordered by
Speaker:that big goal. So that big goal that we're
Speaker:talking about, I assume one of them is retiring, right?
Speaker:That is one of them, yes. Yes. So when you're thinking
Speaker:about retirement, so retirement from the military,
Speaker:what are some things that you're doing now to kind of set yourself
Speaker:up for that later on? Sure. I think part of
Speaker:that is knowing what do you think your expenses are
Speaker:going to be? And so I think that's a
Speaker:big one. And so I have started to work on,
Speaker:can I live off of if I get paid twice a month, some people
Speaker:choose once a month, however, can I live off of half of that?
Speaker:And so I've increased my savings rate and so
Speaker:I've looked at, okay, well, I'm gonna have to include, I'm gonna increase my savings
Speaker:rate and then what can I live off? And that's also goes kind of
Speaker:sort of back to the whole lean, real lean.
Speaker:And can you get through your expenses based on what you know
Speaker:you're gonna have? And then, you know, then if you're, for us, you
Speaker:know, being entrepreneur, what other things am I going to be able to do to
Speaker:kind of supplement that? And so for me, I've chosen to
Speaker:say, hey, this is what I know at the end of the day, the
Speaker:possibility for retirement. And this is the average, what that may
Speaker:be, I've taken below the average and then
Speaker:allowed to say, okay, can my entrepreneur part
Speaker:match that? And when I've had it to match that, then I
Speaker:know I'm in. I'm in the right place.
Speaker:So the other thing I wanted to kind of pivot back to a little bit.
Speaker:You asked me, what am I doing besides the tracking and those things? The tracking
Speaker:also goes to what vehicles I've chosen to use
Speaker:outside of just my normal paycheck to help me. And
Speaker:that has been real estate. And so I've chosen real estate
Speaker:as kind of the predominant one. And so I'm
Speaker:going into at least even tracking that. Like, here
Speaker:are, here is my portfolio. What is it averaging
Speaker:per month, per year? And then what can I do with
Speaker:that in terms of my living post military? And so
Speaker:whatever that looks like, I've included
Speaker:that now almost to say, hey, that's another
Speaker:vehicle that I'll be able to use if I choose to continue to go down
Speaker:that path. And so just adding other things
Speaker:that I'm privy to now so that when it's
Speaker:time, post retirement one, I'll know, okay, what do you want to
Speaker:do? Do you even want to work at all? So another thing we don't really
Speaker:consider, but we should, like, do I really
Speaker:want to work? If I am working on a plan that works for me
Speaker:now, then is even something I need to
Speaker:do because of however we grew up, however
Speaker:our culture is, whatever we're doing, the work
Speaker:is out there, and perhaps you don't need to work
Speaker:if your expenses and the things that you're doing have
Speaker:met the threshold that you want them to be and then gives you an
Speaker:opportunity to think about what it is you want to do. Fortunately for me, I
Speaker:feel like I'm an educator, teacher,
Speaker:and so I'll be doing those types of things within the personal development
Speaker:space and other things, of course. But,
Speaker:yeah, hopefully it helps. Oh, yeah, definitely. And let's go
Speaker:ahead and dive into that real estate topic, because even in my
Speaker:family, my grandparents on my dad's side, they use real
Speaker:estate as a huge portion of their retirement income,
Speaker:and it really worked out well for them. So
Speaker:what made you decide that real estate was going to be your
Speaker:thing? Yeah, good question. People had
Speaker:always asked me about real estate, and I think it was because I had,
Speaker:like, my degrees are in history, but I've always had
Speaker:a fascination with how people move north, south,
Speaker:east and west. Just kind of the geopolitical
Speaker:piece based on my background. And then
Speaker:from there, I would just, I would show levels of interest. And so people would
Speaker:call me and ask me different questions about real estate. This is
Speaker:prior to having a real estate license. And I'd offer
Speaker:whatever little advice that I could offer. And then I got really
Speaker:into going down the research hole of,
Speaker:like, what else can I do to invest my money
Speaker:other than the normal vehicles that we are aware of,
Speaker:stock market and so on. And I was like, well, what about real
Speaker:estate? And so I just went down that research
Speaker:hole and said, you know what? I think I can do this. And
Speaker:just started surrounding myself with people who understood what I was
Speaker:trying to do. I thought, oh, can I still do that while
Speaker:I'm doing these other things? And. And the answer was yes.
Speaker:And so I just started investing locally and then kind of
Speaker:kept on with that, kept learning, and just became fascinated
Speaker:with it. So Paul was like, man, this is really doable. And so,
Speaker:yeah, so I've been investing since 17, got my real estate license
Speaker:for the state of North Carolina in 18, just to help
Speaker:out my investment piece, to be honest, to crack down a little bit of
Speaker:the commission. And then I try to help out family members if I
Speaker:can. And then I just stayed on the real estate journey.
Speaker:I didn't not, excuse me. I did not do stocks
Speaker:investing in all, because I had that vehicle, too. But I just went heavy into
Speaker:real estate. It was something I can understand. It was tangible.
Speaker:It was easy to find a community that was doing it.
Speaker:And then I began to speak the language and so on and so forth. So,
Speaker:yeah, so I'm in it pretty. I'm in pretty deep
Speaker:with it right now and just keep learning and discovering
Speaker:things about it as I go. I love that. And one
Speaker:thing that I keep hearing and everything that you're saying just now
Speaker:was surrounding yourself with people that are
Speaker:either where you want to be or working on the same things as
Speaker:you. Because like we said before we hit record,
Speaker:I was like, your conversations just sound different when you're
Speaker:surrounding yourself with people on the same wavelength as you. So
Speaker:I appreciate you saying that as well, because it's super important. And that
Speaker:was one of the lessons that I learned very early on in my
Speaker:career, is, you know, make sure that you have some people in your
Speaker:circle that are where you want to be. So that way you can have those
Speaker:conversations and open up your mind to the different things that are out
Speaker:there that you could possibly do. So I'm so glad that you mentioned
Speaker:that, because it. Yeah, it's definitely changing. Go ahead. No, I was just gonna
Speaker:say some friends and I were talking about community, and, dare
Speaker:I say, how your friends become different. And I'm in a different phase
Speaker:of life, but I've been thinking differently for a
Speaker:while. I just found a community that was thinking the same
Speaker:way our conversations are different, which then puts
Speaker:you in masterminds, which then allows you to
Speaker:open the aperture of what else is possible
Speaker:beyond what it is that, you know, being able to stay with
Speaker:that or being able to be given grace when, like, hey, I'm gonna
Speaker:pivot in a different way and then realize there's a community over
Speaker:there, too. Right? And so, yeah, that's,
Speaker:to me, the key takeaway for me in the last year is community, where I
Speaker:was a solopreneur, doing a lot of things on my own with
Speaker:the backing and support of my family, like, go, girl, you can do
Speaker:it, which everyone needs, in
Speaker:my opinion. But then getting with folks who, like you
Speaker:said, were on my level or were above my level. The other thing
Speaker:is understanding that you are further than you think you
Speaker:are, and then me being the teacher
Speaker:and coach, then I want to help those that want
Speaker:to get where I am, but not at the sacrifice of
Speaker:where I'm trying to go. And so that's where I am in
Speaker:2024, right? Like, ooh, I want to help
Speaker:you, but I'm still reaching for a goal
Speaker:that may not even have been a goal in 23, but I want to help
Speaker:you, but I can't help you at the sake of where I'm
Speaker:going, because once I get there, then I can really help you. You know what
Speaker:I mean? It's been great, but like anything else, it's been
Speaker:work. So, yeah, relationships matter, and
Speaker:that's a big thing for me from 23 and beyond. Yes, yes. I
Speaker:completely agree with you there. And speaking of how you help people,
Speaker:let's talk a little bit about your podcast, because I
Speaker:love it. I love the premise of it. And that was one of the first
Speaker:things we talked about when we met was, you know, our podcasts and stuff.
Speaker:And I just love the premise. So let's just tell the audience,
Speaker:what is your podcast and what is it about? Yes, thank
Speaker:you. My podcast is called the tiny Steps big
Speaker:moves podcast. And what I do is I
Speaker:have discussions with women as they
Speaker:have career pivoted, and so many of
Speaker:them have, all of them have had some type
Speaker:of pivot within their career, stayed on the same
Speaker:wavelength, moved to entrepreneurship, moved to something
Speaker:else, and I just wanted to talk about their stories. I met
Speaker:a lot of people, women in particular, rather, that
Speaker:had stories to tell, but I didn't hear them being told.
Speaker:And so I really wanted to talk and say, hey, let me give you an
Speaker:opportunity to tell your story and to get it out there.
Speaker:And so, yeah, what motivates them to make the change?
Speaker:I really actively listen to understand and
Speaker:discover what it is that they have their stories that need to
Speaker:get out, and I want to get them out. And we've been doing pretty good
Speaker:with that. And then we finished one season,
Speaker:start a second season, and you're part of second season where
Speaker:we talk the money story because I think that's something that women
Speaker:need to start talking more about and say, hey, this is what it took for
Speaker:me to get here. I've had some steps, missteps
Speaker:and, but look, I'm still here and I'm still doing whatever it is I want
Speaker:to do, or I'm thinking about changing and just giving
Speaker:themselves a level of grace because I certainly extend grace to say it's
Speaker:okay, but I want these stories to get out. So,
Speaker:yeah, then I think I would be having a blast with it. But I
Speaker:absolutely am having a blast with it. And so thanks for asking.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. And y'all, if you want to hear my episode,
Speaker:definitely check it out. Tiny steps big move podcast. And
Speaker:I talked about all of the challenges and pivots and
Speaker:all types of things. So if you want to listen to that, definitely check it
Speaker:out. Thank you so much, coach Ty, for coming on the show today. And if
Speaker:people were interested in learning more about you
Speaker:or getting in contact with you, how would they find you? So
Speaker:we have a podcast called, excuse me, we have the podcast the Tiny
Speaker:Steps Big Moves podcast. You can reach out there.
Speaker:Also, we have coachtiinspires.com dot.
Speaker:That's my website. It has pretty much everything you need to
Speaker:know about what we're about in terms of the vision and
Speaker:vision and mission on there. Also, we launched a
Speaker:blog in February and so it's
Speaker:called live your best life 2.0. And so that gives you an
Speaker:insight of kind of how I'm thinking going forward
Speaker:and how I hope to help people that may think that way. And then
Speaker:also you can reach
Speaker:me@infocachtinspires.com dot
Speaker:awesome. Awesome. And I'll make sure I have all of that information in the show
Speaker:notes. So thank you so much again for coming on the Money Talk with TIFF
Speaker:podcast. It was a pleasure having you. Bye.
Speaker:Thank you for listening, joining and being a part of the Money Talk with TIFF
Speaker:podcast this weekend. You can check TiFf out every Thursday for a
Speaker:new Money talk podcast. But if you just cant wait until next week,
Speaker:you can listen to previous podcast
Speaker:episodes@moneytalkwitht.com. Or
Speaker:follow TIFf on all social media platforms at
Speaker:moneytalkwitht. Until next time, spend wise
Speaker:by spending less than you make. A word to the money wise is
Speaker:always sufficient.