How to interpret the advice you come across...and how to filter it to you!

Securities offered through TFS Securities, Inc., Advisory Services through TFS Advisory Services, a SEC Registered Investment Advisor Member FINRA / SIPC. TFS Securities, Inc. located at 437 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738 (732) 758-9300.

Welcome to the enjoy more 30s family finance

podcast. The only podcast dedicated to making life more

enjoyable for young families by hitting on the financial topics

that tend to weigh on us stress us out and distract our focus

from simply enjoying life.

Hello, and welcome! We are here in the

second episode of The Your Major Money Misnomer Series. Last

week, we discussed cryptocurrency, we talked about

its origins, reasonings for development, and how those

haven't really exactly matched the quick wealth creation and

speculation headlines that you're probably seeing today.

Today's episode is titled Packing for the Right Financial

Three Basic Filtering Questions, and what we're really

going to get into today is whether it be, you know, Aunt

Betty, or Grandma Jane or someone we don't even know on

Twitter, we've come across a lot of random tidbits of advice,

right? What's good, what's not so good, it can be really hard

to tell. So today, we're going to cover what you need to know

about how to interpret that financial advice or

recommendations you're invariably going to come across,

and what you can do in the form of three basic filtering

questions to make sure they're relevant to you, and what you

should actually be working into your own plan.

Now, a passion of mine that has really come up over the years

since I've owned a home is landscaping and gardening. And I

don't really know when it kicked in exactly as I distinctly

remember very much not liking it as a kid, you know, picking out

weeds from the patio cracks, though probably as a kid was not

exactly gardening. So I guess I have a little bit of a pass on

that. But since owning my home, and you guys out there may have

experienced this as well, it really feels great to make the

outside of your house look nicer. And in that process, you

kind of come across plants that you like others that you may not

like so much. And one of my favorites that has kind of

developed there are hydrangeas. It's not anything that's exotic,

or really all that fancy, and I'm sure everybody out there has

heard of them. But when they're in bloom, they're just these big

flowers, so lush and beautiful. And you know, the problem

though, when it comes to trying to make a beautiful hydrangea

area of your garden, is that the deer, around me at least also

love them. Now, they don't love them in the way that I love

them. They love them in the way of eating them. Devouring all of

the hydrangeas is a great pastime of all deer out there!

So I tried some different locations, I tried some

repellents, you know everything out there, you kind of name it.

But at the end of the day, it's been pretty much the same result

- every year, they get eaten down to pretty much nothing. And

in my neck of the woods from my property, its just hydrangeas

just really are not possible without completely gating them

in or something to that effect.

So what you need to know is that it can be very similar when it

comes to financial advice or recommendations that you may be

coming across out there. A lot of it could sound like it's a

good idea, but it needs to fit into what you are actually

trying to do. So my opinion on most financial products out

there is that, by and large, there's not necessarily good

products or bad products, just that products that are a good

fit for one situation or maybe not such a great fit for another

situation. If you listen to past episodes that I've done, so

series 1.6 'Investments Should Be Boring', you know that I

wouldn't recommend a market timing type of approach. But

take something like an annuity. Most of these can have benefits,

but they can also have trade offs for those benefits. So they

again need to fit with a particular situation.

One of the examples that we most often use just to kind of drive

this point home, is when you think about a pickup truck

versus a small car. One is not inherently better than the

other, you need to really attach a task to that scenario first.

If you're driving cross country, thie small car is probably

better as it will likely get much much better gas mileage. If

you need to pick up a load of mulch, well now the pickup truck

is clearly the better choice. We don't want to be pouring mulch

into the back of the Prius. So if someone says you should be

using multiple banks, or that you should max out your 401k or

that you should have a certain type of an annuity or that you

should have a certain type of life insurance. You really need

to consider if that car or pickup truck is a fit for your

specific task or situation.

So what you can do in sorting this out is asking three basic

questions. What are my goals I'm trying to accomplish, am I able

to implement it even if I wanted to, and who is providing the

information? As always, for me, it starts with your goals,

right? I'm always the high level "What is your mindset? What are

you trying to accomplish?", let's make sure we're clear on

that before we decide on anything that we may want to be

using, what would actually make my life more enjoyable kind o f

a thought process. Is retiring early a priority? If not, then

maybe maxing out your 401k isn't the best approach. Sure, you

want to put enough away to get to, you know, where you're going

to, but if enjoying the present is more of a priority, maxing

out your 401k may not actually be fitting with your goals. So

again, this, to me, is always the first and most important

filter. We just too often see people doing what they are you

know, "supposed to do", not what would actually bring them closer

to making life more enjoyable to them. So always remember that is

the high arcing goal that we're trying to accomplish.

The next question is implementation. Can you even

implement this if you were wanting to? So a Roth IRA is

great for sure in how it grows tax free, but you may be over

the income limits. A term life insurance outside of work may be

great to help in better controlling your own protection,

but perhaps you have a health issue, and so Group Life

Insurance through work is the better or maybe only option. Or

in a different slant, something like calculating excess income

every month and investing it may sound great, but actually taking

the time every month to add it all up and make that

contribution could prove too much of a hassle to really

maintain long term. So make sure it's something that you can do

and do so sustainably without too much effort.

Lastly is in who was providing the information, as that can

often give you some insight. If it's Great Uncle Al, well, he's

probably not in your age or situation. So an annuity that is

a fit for him could likely not be a fit for you. Aunt Marge may

use three banks but maybe that's because she's over the FDIC

insurance limits for each institution, and so for you,

it's more of really just a hassle without adding any

additional protection. If this is information you're getting

from a bank or an article you find online, that company is

likely providing you with that information for a reason. So

make sure it's coming from a source you trust more than

anything. Generally speaking, Nightly News, you know, the

entertainment is not where you should be getting your financial

information from.

So a quick recap of today is that there is a ton in the way

of financial advice and recommendations out there. It

will not all fit your situation and the goals you've laid out.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad advice, though, just

that it may not be a fit for your situation and what would

make life most enjoyable to you - what your goals are. Think of

that small car versus the pickup truck example. What you need the

vehicle for determines what's the best fit. Finally use the

three basic filtering questions I provided to help and determine

what may be most applicable to you. So one, would it get you

closer to making your life more enjoyable? Would this actually

add enjoyment to your life? Or is it something that just seems

like it might be a good idea to do and may not necessarily help

in this question. Two, is it implementable and sustainable,

in an easy to follow way? There's a reason crash diets

don't work long term. And the reason is because you may be

able to do it for two weeks, three weeks, two months, but

long term you can't, so make sure it's implementable in a

sustainable, easy to follow way. Lastly, what is the sources of

information? Does it meet where I am in my life? Do I trust who

this is coming from?

Thanks very much as always for tuning in today. Iif you are

able to implement what we cover that is fantastic. You have less

to worry about than before, you can just focus more on enjoying

life. If you are wanting help with these things though, or

have questions you need help and clarifying, check out the Ask

Joe section on the show's website www.enjoymore30s.com,

that's enjoymore30s.co. If you enjoyed this episode, please

make sure to subscribe, follow review us on Apple podcasts or

wherever you listen. There are literally millions of young

families out there I'm trying to reach and help just like you.

The next episode is tax refunds are bad, WHAT? Where we're going

to cover why that check you may be getting at the end of the

year could actually be to your detriment. Until next week.

Thanks for joining me today and I look forward to connecting

with you again soon.

The conversations on this show are

Joseph pinions and provided for general information purposes

only. They do not constitute accounting legal tax or other

professional advice for your specific situation. You should

always seek appropriate advice from a financial advisor,

accountant, lawyer or other professional before acting upon

any content or information found here first, Joseph affiliated

with New Horizons Wealth Management LLC, a branch office

of TFS securities Inc and TFS advisory services an SEC

registered investment advisor member FINRA s IPC