0:00:00 - Speaker 1

Discussions in this show should not be construed as specific recommendations or investment advice. Always consult with your investment professional before making important investment decisions. Securities offered through registered representatives of Cambridge Investment Research Inc. A broker-dealer member, finra, sipc Advisory Services through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. A registered investment advisor. Cambridge and Greenway Wealth Advisory are not affiliated. It's time to dive into some insider secrets of investing and retirement planning To make your retirement as smart and as elegant as possible. This is Money Chic with Sherry Rash.

0:00:31 - Speaker 2

Well, we're back for another edition of Money Chic, women and Retirement with Sherry Rash, and this week on the podcast, we're talking about procrastination and how it could doom our financial future. Obviously, we've got doom and gloom everywhere on the news right now, so unfortunately we've got to dive into this a little bit. But we'll try to put a positive spin where we can. But procrastination certainly is one of those things that doom us in for a lot of stuff, whether it's something as simple as I've got a section of my yard that I need to clean up and I constantly procrastinate that thing and it drives me nuts when I look at it, it's an eyesore, but yet I procrastinate fixing it that kind of thing, but in the financial realm. So we're going to tackle some of those ideas this week on the podcast, sherry, how you doing?

0:01:11 - Speaker 3

Good. It certainly is doom and gloom, but I think we try to make things as fun as we can here.

0:01:16 - Speaker 2

Yeah, we usually have a chuckle along the way. Everything going all right. You had a good week.

0:01:20 - Speaker 3

Very good, can't complain and starting to get back in the routine of things, with the kids back in school and sports. And although I enjoy summer, I always like getting back to the routine.

0:01:31 - Speaker 2

Yeah, this is our late August podcast, so we'll be coming up on Labor Day here pretty soon, so hopefully everybody has a good holiday. We'll probably do another episode right after Labor Day, so hopefully, sherry, you and the family and all of our listeners have a fantastic Labor Day holiday. But let's talk a little bit about procrastination. We don't procrastinate when it comes to holidays right, we're ready to go Party planning, that's right. But when it comes to retirement planning, okay. Well, the procrastination train is still sitting in the station, kind of thing. So maybe you're one of these people. So I've got a list of stuff. How do we overcome this kind of thing? Maybe you're a person where your parents were really slow at this. They didn't really do anything this was my parents, for sure in a retirement planning standpoint, and everything kind of seemed to work out fine for them.

So it's kind of like that It'll work for me too.

0:02:20 - Speaker 3

Yeah, that's probably not the best way to think about it. I mean first retirement today, I think, looks very different than retirement for your parents, with the big one being likely.

Your parents retired and their employers continued to pay them through a pension, so they didn't have to really worry about it or think much about it because they knew exactly what they were getting. And today we're really responsible for funding our retirement and paying ourselves in retirement and then getting something from Social Security, which everyone has there sometimes makes us nervous about the future of Social Security. So definitely now that the oneness is on us, we cannot look at what our parents did, which was not much of anything and it worked out fine for them, and have that same mentality.

0:03:12 - Speaker 2

Yeah, and I think the industry as a whole too. If you just go back to the 80s, for example, and say you know your parents, maybe they're getting close to retirement in the 80s and I'm just throwing out arbitrary numbers. But the industry, the financial services industry, has changed vastly in heck the last 10, 12 years, let alone 30 or 40. So it also wasn't as prevalent, and so there's just so many more things. We talked on the last podcast a little bit about how just different products have changed life insurance and annuities and various different things. They're totally different than they were 30 years ago.

0:03:43 - Speaker 3

There's so much more education financial education now and you can Google, you know, saving for retirement and dozens and dozens of articles and advice pops up where a generation before us didn't have. That whether it can be a luxury, but I think it also makes things a little bit overwhelming. But there's so much more education out there that still just sticking her head in the sand and saying, oh, it'll all work out Probably isn't the right path to take.

0:04:12 - Speaker 2

You know the luxury comment that actually struck a chord with me, definitely. I think there used to be a stigma as well, like if you heard somebody say, oh yeah, we got to go see our financial advisor people like, oh well, I didn't know you were doing that. Well, you know, it's like, oh, you must be a Rockefeller kind of thing, right. So there definitely has. That's changed as well too. So the accessibility is a lot, a lot better. So that's a great point.

0:04:35 - Speaker 3

I actually had someone say that to me. I was really with a mom's group at a PTA function and I, briefly, someone asked me what I did for a living and she said you have to be rich to work with you, right? No, very, very different today. So no don't feel like you have to have a certain amount of money before you talk to an advisor, for sure.

0:04:57 - Speaker 2

Yeah, that's a great point. Same thing with trust too, right? You hear the word trust and it's like, oh well that's for rich people, you know, it's like no, not at all, actually.

So there's a lot, of, a lot of changes in that arena, and you've talked about Googling things, okay. So the second one on my list is the procrastination that comes with. I just don't know who to listen to. Now we've certainly addressed that problem. In the modern era, we're doing a podcast, right. I mean, there's tons of advisors, lots of advisors have podcasts, there's lots of things you can Google, there's YouTube channels, there's you know, so, on and so forth, but in some ways it's almost as bad as the nonaccessibility of 30 years ago, because now it's too much information and people go. I don't know what to do.

0:05:39 - Speaker 3

Yeah, I mean analysis, paralysis. The saying exists for a reason, right, but I'll give everyone a hint. Some people you should not listen to are your neighbors or friends, or someone that's not an experienced advisor.

0:05:53 - Speaker 2

They mean well.

0:05:54 - Speaker 3

They mean well, but you know you don't need to listen to them. But I would say, find a couple of resources, a couple of people that are in the industry, that have the knowledge and experience that you're looking for, and then take their advice or look at what they're saying take it to heart and then do what's best for you.

So find a couple of resources. You don't have to listen to everyone or every Google article that you read, you don't have to do exactly what that says, but you need to find someone that can give you sound advice, understand you what you're looking for and it can be a little bit more customized versus just an article online.

0:06:36 - Speaker 2

You know, it's funny how so many industries or how does so many kinds of things we do listen to our neighbors to, or our family or something, right? So it's like you know if you're gardening, hey, you know, my mom gave me a great gardening tip, or my neighbor gave me a great tip with, you know, working on my car, right, you know, whatever the case might be, but health and finance are the two that we probably really should just stay away, like you wouldn't go to your neighbor and say you know, hey, how do you know? Do you know how to fix a hernia? You know, kind of thing. So, and I think it's the same thing with finance, so those are two arenas, in my opinion anyway, where the neighborly advice isn't probably the best way to go.

So that's a good point as well. Financial stuff stresses me out, sherry. Now this is a big one for many people, right? This is just like it's kind of like the listen to a little bit different in a parameter where it's like I stink at math or whatever the case is and it just gives me a headache.

0:07:31 - Speaker 3

Yeah Well, I would say think about what about it stresses you out. Is it so much information? I don't even know where to start. I am not happy with where I am financially, so I'm just going to be stressed out and ignore it. So pinpoint what is it that's stressing you out and then go from there. That, I think, would help with the procrastination with instead of just throwing your hands up in the air and say I'm stressed, I'm done, I'm not acknowledging it. Face it head on, what stresses you out, and then now you know how you're gonna tackle that stress.

0:08:06 - Speaker 2

Yeah, it's very similar to, and several these kind of in it. They kind of flow in and out of each other. Maybe the stress is that you just you're too busy for it. That's on my list as well, and so you're like I just I don't have the time and so therefore when I start to do it I can't really put the effort in, I'm not getting it, and so that causes the stress. So they kind of all you know kind of bounce off of each other. But the busy thing to me this is again this is a problem that's been solved here recently because there's a, there's a much bigger industry than there ever used to be Around this. That's what you do right, turn to a professional and in find the time, because I know when I get to retirement I don't want to have a second job as my own financial planner.

0:08:47 - Speaker 3

That's right. The I'm too busy or I have too much going on, or let's wait until after the holidays or after this birthday or after this major event. That definitely comes more from women than men. I hear that from women a lot. Okay and I get it.

You want to get past this one thing, but the thing is, once you get past it, you're gonna have another thing and then another thing life keeps going on and by kicking the can down the road Sometimes the issues could continue to build up where let. It's sometimes better to just face it head-on, and that's one of the main reasons I became a virtual advisor Is because I don't want I'm too busy, my clients to feel like they can't see me or meet with me.

0:09:33 - Speaker 1

Because they're too busy.

0:09:35 - Speaker 3

So by being virtual, I've eliminated the traffic, I've eliminated the babysitter Activities. I, you can, we can zoom if our meetings an hour. It's only taking an hour out of your day and I think that that has helped a lot to tackle the I'm too busy.

0:09:51 - Speaker 2

Meet with me on your lunch hour, yeah you can even eat while we're zooming, it's okay so but life, life keeps going on and You're always gonna be busy that you know, and that's silver lining, if any, when we look for things that have come out of the pandemic Is people's ability to be more comfortable with the virtual thing, especially when it comes to finance. I know I remember initially early on with this, talking with advisors all across the country. A lot of folks, typically older folks, we're very hesitant to talk about their personal financial details. You know, over our webcam, so to speak. Right, but there's a lot more to it than we got very savvy and there's, there's, if you're looking in accounts, there's, you know, secure software and ways to do things. So all of that we've kind of done a good job of adapting to, and so that's a great point. Taking out that, the travel time and all those things, you can sit in your jammies and have a cup of coffee and just knock it out exactly yeah, I like that.

Well, I this one again. It kind of ties into it, so we won't beat it up too much. But maybe, once you've gone through this stuff, the stress is whatever the thing is, it's the okay. Fine, I've identified this, that of the other, but now I just don't know where to start. Do I start with, you know, a 401k? Do I start with an IRA? Do I start with a Roth? Do I start with an insurance policy, whatever it might be?

0:11:11 - Speaker 3

Yeah, I would say start with whatever you've done so far. Everyone's done something, whether it's just saving in a savings account or Contributing a little bit to your employer's plan. Start with what you've already done and let's look at that and then build upon it. So we don't have to can recreate the wheel. You've already started to create a foundation for yourself, by choice or not by choice, so let's just go from there and then build upon it. So if you're contributing a little bit to your employer's plan, let's do a little bit more and understand the positive impact that that could make by Contributing just a little bit more, and then let's build upon it from there. So start with what you've already done, because odds are you've done something, yeah what's it?

0:11:55 - Speaker 2

What's that saying about the first steps, right the hardest? Part of a journey is the first steps, so that's right somewhere in there anyway, now my wife says I'm a perfectionist about way too much as a musician, as an artist, I definitely as a Virgo.

We tend to procrastinate over it not being right enough. I suppose right, it's not correct enough, or whatever the case is. And so some people use that as an excuse as well for financial stuff, because, hey, I'm gonna put this plan together when I'm 50 and it's gonna constantly be shaping and evolving, you know, through my 50s and into my 60s, and that kind of thing throws them off. They feel like it's never really set or perfect. But that's not the nature of this kind of animal. It is designed to ebb and flow because your life is gonna ebb and flow exactly.

0:12:45 - Speaker 3

If your plan Does not shift, then the plan is probably not correct.

Yeah yeah, you should have parameters, you should have guidance in your plan, but it needs to shift because your life, like you said, is constantly changing, constantly shifting. So, yeah, your finances and your plan will as well. So if you're a perfectionist, you're going to have to accept that it's never going to be set in stone. But also, you should be happy that it's never going to be set in stone because if it was, probably wasn't done correctly for you and for your life going forward.

0:13:18 - Speaker 2

Yeah, good points. Anything else I might have missed on our list today of procrastination things that you see or that just kind of drive you nuts, or that you would like to share with folks and say, hey, don't do this, it's you know, just get started.

0:13:31 - Speaker 3

I am a procrastinator, but I'm a procrastinator because I am a perfectionist, so I will think about things and have it in my head and delay it, delay it, delay it, and then when I do it it's going to be I'm going to make sure that it's pretty darn near perfect.

0:13:46 - Speaker 2

But that doesn't feel good too, though. When you actually do it, you get it done. You're like, oh God, why did I wait?

0:13:51 - Speaker 3

It feels good, but, yeah, it feels so terrible for the however much long leading up to it because, it is weighing on you. So I would say, just if you have questions, if you're wondering about something, just rip the bandaid off. Ask research it, talk with someone. Just do it. It'll feel much better in the end and you'll be better prepared for the future.

0:14:14 - Speaker 2

Exactly. Yep, I'm saying, yeah, we're all the same way, right? Every single person listening to this right now knows it's somewhere in their existence They've put something off, put something off, and when they got it done they were like, huh, that feels pretty good and it wasn't that bad after all. So you know, that's usually winds up being the case. So there you go. Thanks for hanging out with us this week on the podcast. Folks, as always, don't forget to subscribe to the show and don't procrastinate for subscribing either. Go ahead and do it right now, while you're listening. If you haven't hit the heart button on whatever app you're using, just hit the little heart button. That's usually a heart button on whatever app you're using Apple or Google or Spotify, I think they're all hearts and it's money.

Chic women in retirement. You can find it again right there on those apps by typing it into the search box. Of course, you can find them on Sherry's website. That might be how you've gotten here. Either way, whatever the case is, do something for yourself and subscribe to the show so you can catch past episodes. You can hear future episodes as they come out. You can find all that information. You can check out Sherry's blog All sorts of good stuff at her website, greenwaywealthadvisorycom. That is GreenwayWealthAdvisorycom. Sherry, thanks for spending some time with me this week. I appreciate you.

0:15:19 - Speaker 3

Thank you. And most people would rather go to the dentist than meet with their financial advisor, but I try to guarantee that meeting with me is way less painful, at least physically painful.

0:15:32 - Speaker 2

At least physically painful, that's the best boy. That's scary to think about. All right, folks, have a great week and we'll see you next time here on Money, chic, women and Retirement with Sherry Rash. Thanks for watching.