Sept. 22, 2025

The 0.01% Rule and Why Upward Mobility Feels Out of Reach

The 0.01% Rule and Why Upward Mobility Feels Out of Reach

The 0.01% Rule and Why Upward Mobility Feels Out of Reach
In this episode of Something More with Chris Boyd, Chris, Jeff Perry, and Brian Regan
unpack a simple yet powerful spending guideline of the “0.01% Rule”. The trio explores
how it can help you make quick, confident financial decisions without overthinking. But
the conversation doesn’t stop there. Brian attempts to explain why so many young
Americans feel stuck in their standard of living, the generational and structural challenges
that shape financial choices, and the trade-offs families face when balancing childcare,
housing, education, healthcare, and career opportunities. Whether you’re early in your
career, approaching retirement, or somewhere in between, this episode offers perspective,
strategies, and a reminder that financial planning is as much about values as it is about
numbers.
#PersonalFinance #MoneyTips #FinancialPlanning #WealthBuilding #UpwardMobility
#GenerationalWealth #EconomicTrends #LifeChoices #RetirementPlanning
#FamilyFinance #CostOfLiving #MoneyMindset


To read Brian’s article, click the link below:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-economic-vibes-off-brian-regan-cfa-mba-fbi0e/

 

For more information or to reach TEAM AMR, click the following link:
https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr

 

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Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.

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Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,

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and senior vice president financial advisor at Wealth

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Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest registered

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investment advisors.

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We call it Something More because we'd like

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to talk not only about those important dollar

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and cents issues, but also the quality of

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life issues that make the money matters matter.

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Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner

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in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and

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across the country.

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Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.

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Welcome, everybody.

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Thanks for being here for another segment of

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Something More with Chris Boyd.

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I'm here with Jeff Perry and Brian Regan.

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We are all of the AMR team at

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Wealth Enhancement.

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Glad to have you joining us for another

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episode.

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We have a variety of things to talk

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about, and where I want to begin is

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an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal

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over the weekend, September 13th, I guess it

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was provided.

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The title is On the Fence About Spending

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Decision?

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Try the 0.01% rule.

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Well, we hear about all these rules, huh,

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Jeff?

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There's no shortage of rules.

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The 5% rule, 4% rule, the

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rule of 55.

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I got all these rules.

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I don't know where to begin, right?

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So now we got another rule, the 0

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.01% rule.

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Did you happen to read this article?

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I read it, and I mentioned to my

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wife, and that doesn't sound like enough.

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Well, do you want to elaborate what the

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gist of this was, this rule?

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It's about setting a spending limit, basically, right,

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out of your cash flow to help guide

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you to make decisions, and I don't know.

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Things don't necessarily have to be elaborately deliberative,

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but if it's under a certain amount, and

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if I am correct, the amount was 0

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.01% of your investments is, I think,

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the way it was expressed.

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And so I started thinking about that, and

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I was like- It's a pretty broad

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definition.

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Honey, let's go out to dinner tonight, and

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she's like, oh, we just went out last

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night.

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I'm like, but it would be less than

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0.01% of this kind of thing.

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And so when you're thinking about how to

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do it, it could be slippery slope.

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You're making permission for yourself on things you

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care to do just because you'll want to

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without maybe a little bit of discipline.

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It reminded me of the Dave Ramsey, burn

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it on my dining room table rule.

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That's more about big decisions for him, not

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just spending.

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But people will ask him, call into a

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show or whatever, and say, I want to

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buy this car, and he'll go through their

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net worth, their debts, and whatever.

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And they'll say, oh, I want to buy

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this old car.

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It's $50,000.

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And Dave will say, if you burnt that

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money on your kitchen table, would it make

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a difference to your financial plan?

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And if the answer is no, it doesn't

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matter.

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Then go ahead and do it if you're,

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in his case, debt-free and have your

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retirement plan set up.

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And so context matters, right?

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It's not just- That's absolutely true.

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Brian, you read this article as well, right?

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Yeah.

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Well, I'm very familiar with Nick Viguli and

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the Rittholz Wealth team because I listen to

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their podcast.

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So I'm familiar with the rule because I

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heard it through those avenues.

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And I saw that it was written up

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in the Wall Street Journal.

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And I thought, my first thought was, hey,

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good for him.

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He's going to sell a lot of books,

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a lot of great exposure.

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Yeah, that's true.

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Generally, I like the idea that he's going

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for.

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And I think that idea is like, you

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don't always have to be a tightwad.

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You can loosen up and get comfortable at

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some point.

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I think a lot of people spend their

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whole life saving and have that mindset.

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And then they'll get in a situation and

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their wife won't let them go out to

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dinner back to back nights, even if they

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have the means to do it.

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So from that standpoint, I think it's interesting.

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And maybe if it lets people enjoy life

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a little bit, bravo.

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One of the things that I was thinking

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was, my net worth and my available liquidity

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are two completely different numbers.

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And my available liquidity is much, much smaller

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than my net worth.

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So would this rule apply to 0.01

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% of my available liquidity or 0.01

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% of my net worth?

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Because if it's 0.01% of my

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net worth, then I shouldn't have any heart

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palpitations about my daughter's birthday party this weekend.

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But the reality is with 35 people coming,

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it's going to be very, very expensive, no

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matter how you look at it.

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So that would be my question, if Nick

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was here, that I would ask him, what

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does he really mean by that?

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And I'm sure there would be some kind

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of caveat.

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I think he has mentioned, I've heard elsewhere

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saying that maybe you should take out your

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primary residence, but still- Well, your point

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is a good one.

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If you're really thinking about it, some people

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have investments that have very minimal access.

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And so if you can't really access that

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wealth, house is a good example, but there's

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lots of different kinds of investments that don't

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give you potential access to either to sell

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it or to generate cash flow from it.

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So if that's the case, maybe there's a

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good case for reconsideration of how do I

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go about that calculation of how much is

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inconsequential?

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Yeah.

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So I can't pay for dinner.

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It's my wife's birthday this weekend too.

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So I get my daughter and my wife

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back to back, right?

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It's going to be an expensive weekend.

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That's your wife.

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I hope you're not going to hold that

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against her when it comes to her birthday

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present.

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Oh, my wife's going to do just fine.

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Excellent.

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But yeah, so- Birthday party, there's no

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getting around that.

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She deserves one too.

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0.01% of, I can't pay for

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the birthday parties with my house, either one.

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I can't pay with it with my 401k.

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I can't pay with it with my IRA.

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I can't reasonably pay for it with my

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Roth IRA.

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I can't reasonably pay for it from my

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529.

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I don't want to pay for it from

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my brokerage account.

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I can't pay for it with my HSA.

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So is it 0.01% of what's

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in my checking account?

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Reasonable.

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All liquidity is not the same.

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So I think this rule needs a lot

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of caveats and footnotes, I guess.

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I think it's about having a personal rule

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for your own situation, right?

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Because some people are...

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Chris, we run into clients all the time

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and you laugh when I say this word,

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but sometimes some of them need permission.

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I post all the time, Jeff.

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I talk about this with people routinely, that

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notion that you talk about the financial plan

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can give you permission.

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And these are people with liquidity.

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These are people with cashflow.

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Everything Brian said is valid, but these are

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people who no matter what formula they use,

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they're okay.

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I think ultimately, Jeff, that's the people who

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this rule is for.

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The people who have the money, have the

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liquidity, but struggle to actually spend the money

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that they've spent their life saving for.

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I think in that sense, this is an

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excellent rule.

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Right.

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And however you come up with that rule,

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if it's a budget, if it's a formula,

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whatever it is, you should enjoy the effort

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that you put into having a great financial

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plan and all those early years when you

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didn't have liquidity and didn't have cashflow and

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you were just working to make ends meet.

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And you did the hard work and you

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reached to your ultimate financial plan, your critical

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mass, whatever terms we want to use.

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Jeez, find a way to enjoy it.

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Enjoy it.

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Giving it away, spending it, traveling, whatever it

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is.

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Well, I think it's a good point.

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And we often talk about some of these

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rules of thumb, which aren't just that, they're

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not necessarily hard and fast to everyone's unique

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circumstances.

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But I think that was a good clarification

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about what should we be thinking about?

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It might be different for different stages of

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life and different access to aspects of wealth.

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And that kind of brings us to thinking

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about, Brian, you were talking about all these

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different issues.

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It might be different for one stage of

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life from another.

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Someone who is, in your case, well before

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access to your retirement accounts, you face different

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circumstances than, say, Jeff, or I'm getting close,

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Jeff.

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I'm six months away.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I'm definitely at my closer to spending age,

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right?

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Yeah.

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And you have access to that money if

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you want it.

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I do.

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I'm over 59 and a half.

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So generationally, there are different kinds of issues.

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And you had a recent article that kind

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of fed into this topic.

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Maybe you want to set that up, Brian?

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Yeah, I think it's related.

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And it's built off another Wall Street Journal

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article.

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And the Wall Street Journal article was called,

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Americans Lose Faith That Hard Work Leads to

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Economic Gains.

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It's based on a survey that shows that

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only 25% of Americans believe that they

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can raise their standard of living.

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And I thought that was very depressing.

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So I looked back at some historical data,

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00:10:30,270 --> 00:10:32,510
and I tried to say, hey, look, what

262
00:10:32,510 --> 00:10:33,450
is actually doing this?

263
00:10:33,490 --> 00:10:35,770
This has been a conversation for years now.

264
00:10:35,830 --> 00:10:37,490
It's been a trend going for years.

265
00:10:37,610 --> 00:10:38,930
I mean, the data on the survey goes

266
00:10:38,930 --> 00:10:40,450
back, I believe, to the 80s.

267
00:10:40,550 --> 00:10:42,670
And this is the worst it's ever been.

268
00:10:43,370 --> 00:10:45,590
And I made my attempt at trying to

269
00:10:45,590 --> 00:10:49,410
figure out what's causing this.

270
00:10:50,170 --> 00:10:51,350
And I made the caveat at the beginning

271
00:10:51,350 --> 00:10:55,990
of the fact that I'm of the millennial

272
00:10:55,990 --> 00:10:58,110
generation, because I do think a lot of

273
00:10:58,110 --> 00:11:03,030
these sentiment conversations come down to what part

274
00:11:03,030 --> 00:11:03,790
of life you're in.

275
00:11:05,870 --> 00:11:10,690
My mother, who is retired, she is less

276
00:11:10,690 --> 00:11:14,350
concerned about the cost of college education than

277
00:11:14,350 --> 00:11:17,830
she is about the cost of her trip

278
00:11:17,830 --> 00:11:18,590
to Vietnam.

279
00:11:20,270 --> 00:11:21,770
She's just in a different stage of life.

280
00:11:22,710 --> 00:11:26,770
So I thought that was illustrative of pointing

281
00:11:26,770 --> 00:11:28,790
out why maybe these things are to the

282
00:11:28,790 --> 00:11:29,170
top of my head.

283
00:11:29,250 --> 00:11:30,650
I'm trying to reveal my bias.

284
00:11:30,650 --> 00:11:32,810
But when you think about it, I put

285
00:11:32,810 --> 00:11:35,790
in this article 20 years of data, and

286
00:11:35,790 --> 00:11:37,190
it's a compounding effect.

287
00:11:37,790 --> 00:11:39,790
And when you guys were my age, I'm

288
00:11:39,790 --> 00:11:41,590
sure if I look back at 40 years

289
00:11:41,590 --> 00:11:43,450
of data, it would have been a compounding

290
00:11:43,450 --> 00:11:48,410
effect that led to a similar situation or

291
00:11:48,410 --> 00:11:51,510
a similar feeling when you were around 40

292
00:11:51,510 --> 00:11:53,810
years old with kids as well.

293
00:11:54,030 --> 00:11:56,950
So I think one of Chris's reactions when

294
00:11:56,950 --> 00:11:58,950
he first read this is, I felt similarly

295
00:11:58,950 --> 00:12:01,630
when I was younger.

296
00:12:02,370 --> 00:12:05,230
And my reaction was, I don't doubt that

297
00:12:05,230 --> 00:12:05,610
you did.

298
00:12:06,050 --> 00:12:07,550
That's the kind of the point that I'm

299
00:12:07,550 --> 00:12:08,130
putting out here.

300
00:12:08,250 --> 00:12:10,510
These are compounding effects.

301
00:12:11,730 --> 00:12:13,310
And basically what I did was I looked

302
00:12:13,310 --> 00:12:14,010
at the CPI.

303
00:12:14,130 --> 00:12:15,670
I looked at the CPI over the last

304
00:12:15,670 --> 00:12:16,250
20 years.

305
00:12:16,450 --> 00:12:17,710
I could have done it the last 40

306
00:12:17,710 --> 00:12:19,150
years and made it more relevant to more

307
00:12:19,150 --> 00:12:19,770
people, I'm sure.

308
00:12:19,870 --> 00:12:20,830
But I think the story would have been

309
00:12:20,830 --> 00:12:21,190
the same.

310
00:12:22,150 --> 00:12:24,410
And I said, hey, look, the target inflation

311
00:12:24,410 --> 00:12:24,970
is 2%.

312
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,350
The actual inflation that we're seeing right now

313
00:12:27,350 --> 00:12:30,370
is 2.9%. But these three categories, which

314
00:12:30,370 --> 00:12:32,910
are big categories for happiness in life, are

315
00:12:32,910 --> 00:12:36,390
growing at well beyond the target and the

316
00:12:36,390 --> 00:12:37,810
headline inflation.

317
00:12:38,210 --> 00:12:43,250
And those three categories were shelter, education, and

318
00:12:43,250 --> 00:12:44,270
health care.

319
00:12:46,090 --> 00:12:51,110
So let's talk about shelter first, because it's

320
00:12:51,110 --> 00:12:53,270
been more dramatic over the last five years

321
00:12:53,270 --> 00:12:54,790
since the post-pandemic.

322
00:12:55,730 --> 00:12:58,170
And that's been growing at nearly 5%

323
00:12:58,170 --> 00:13:01,090
annual compounded rate for the last five years,

324
00:13:01,130 --> 00:13:02,890
which is substantial.

325
00:13:03,950 --> 00:13:06,470
Most people have not kept up.

326
00:13:06,530 --> 00:13:09,110
Their wages have not kept up with that

327
00:13:09,110 --> 00:13:10,790
amount.

328
00:13:11,790 --> 00:13:13,850
In the lower end, you've actually done slightly

329
00:13:13,850 --> 00:13:14,170
better.

330
00:13:14,310 --> 00:13:16,810
In the higher end, the higher 50%, you've

331
00:13:16,810 --> 00:13:17,770
done slightly worse.

332
00:13:18,930 --> 00:13:21,430
So that's a problem.

333
00:13:21,670 --> 00:13:24,830
And the longer these problems last, the bigger

334
00:13:24,830 --> 00:13:28,810
and bigger the exasperation of the problem gets.

335
00:13:29,430 --> 00:13:31,650
Now, looking at wages isn't even like a

336
00:13:31,650 --> 00:13:35,650
good way of assessing shelter, because the biggest

337
00:13:35,650 --> 00:13:39,570
deterrence to buying a home is the down

338
00:13:39,570 --> 00:13:39,790
payment.

339
00:13:40,210 --> 00:13:41,690
So a lot of people need to be

340
00:13:41,690 --> 00:13:43,170
part of what I call the capital class,

341
00:13:43,230 --> 00:13:45,410
meaning they already have to have investments, or

342
00:13:45,410 --> 00:13:46,930
they have to have help from family members.

343
00:13:47,130 --> 00:13:50,470
25% of people who buy their first

344
00:13:50,470 --> 00:13:54,210
home, according to the National Association of Realtors,

345
00:13:54,890 --> 00:13:56,950
or maybe that one was Redfin, I don't

346
00:13:56,950 --> 00:14:00,610
remember correctly, get help from mom and dad.

347
00:14:01,150 --> 00:14:03,090
And the average first-time home buyer is

348
00:14:03,090 --> 00:14:08,510
38 years old, and the average home buyer

349
00:14:08,510 --> 00:14:09,690
is 56 years old.

350
00:14:10,370 --> 00:14:13,410
So that seems pretty old to me, and

351
00:14:13,410 --> 00:14:15,430
it is historically old for a first-time

352
00:14:15,430 --> 00:14:17,050
home buyer and for the average home buyer.

353
00:14:17,170 --> 00:14:19,590
So there's obviously a problem here, and it's

354
00:14:19,590 --> 00:14:21,170
getting exasperated.

355
00:14:21,890 --> 00:14:25,330
Now, even if you're renting, oftentimes, at least

356
00:14:25,330 --> 00:14:26,890
here in Boston, you need first, last, and

357
00:14:26,890 --> 00:14:27,590
security deposit.

358
00:14:28,910 --> 00:14:31,150
So that's three months' rent that you need

359
00:14:31,150 --> 00:14:32,350
on day one.

360
00:14:32,430 --> 00:14:33,890
That can be an onerous tax for a

361
00:14:33,890 --> 00:14:34,910
lot of people, and we're not even talking

362
00:14:34,910 --> 00:14:35,830
about moving expenses.

363
00:14:37,150 --> 00:14:39,510
So that could be a big headwind.

364
00:14:39,510 --> 00:14:42,570
So no matter how you look at it,

365
00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:46,550
this has been frustrating to people, particularly over

366
00:14:46,550 --> 00:14:47,290
the last five years.

367
00:14:47,430 --> 00:14:49,090
But even if you look over the last

368
00:14:49,090 --> 00:14:54,530
20 years, it's well ahead of headline inflation

369
00:14:55,010 --> 00:14:56,150
or target inflation.

370
00:14:58,450 --> 00:15:00,090
Finally, I get the sense that a lot

371
00:15:00,090 --> 00:15:01,250
of people don't think they could start a

372
00:15:01,250 --> 00:15:02,910
family without owning a home.

373
00:15:03,250 --> 00:15:04,770
And whether that's right or wrong, I do

374
00:15:04,770 --> 00:15:05,990
think that's a cultural perception.

375
00:15:06,450 --> 00:15:09,070
So if people are banking their standard of

376
00:15:09,070 --> 00:15:11,310
living or their happiness into the ability to

377
00:15:11,310 --> 00:15:15,090
get married, start a family, start growing a

378
00:15:15,090 --> 00:15:20,010
life, at least the vibe is that there's

379
00:15:20,010 --> 00:15:21,790
a huge impediment here, that you can't afford

380
00:15:21,790 --> 00:15:21,930
it.

381
00:15:22,590 --> 00:15:23,590
And I think that's sad.

382
00:15:24,470 --> 00:15:26,170
Now, the second part that I want to

383
00:15:26,170 --> 00:15:27,950
talk about is education, and the cost of

384
00:15:27,950 --> 00:15:29,090
childcare is astronomical.

385
00:15:29,990 --> 00:15:33,310
If you didn't experience that, I don't know

386
00:15:33,310 --> 00:15:34,630
where you live, because this seems to be

387
00:15:34,630 --> 00:15:35,410
the case everywhere.

388
00:15:35,710 --> 00:15:37,130
It grows well beyond...

389
00:15:37,130 --> 00:15:39,890
Childcare grows well at 3.6% a

390
00:15:39,890 --> 00:15:40,830
year for the last 20 years.

391
00:15:41,950 --> 00:15:46,150
Again, that's higher than wage growth for the

392
00:15:46,150 --> 00:15:46,790
last 20 years.

393
00:15:48,770 --> 00:15:51,890
The cost of education, college education has gone

394
00:15:51,890 --> 00:15:54,170
up also by 3.6%. Whether that's coincidence

395
00:15:54,170 --> 00:15:55,550
or not, I do not know, but I

396
00:15:55,550 --> 00:15:56,750
checked the numbers and that's case.

397
00:15:56,830 --> 00:15:58,270
They're both 3.6% for the last

398
00:15:58,270 --> 00:15:59,250
20 years.

399
00:15:59,690 --> 00:16:03,990
The only sector of the economy that has

400
00:16:03,990 --> 00:16:07,050
grown wages faster than 3.6% are

401
00:16:07,050 --> 00:16:08,570
people who hold bachelor degrees.

402
00:16:08,870 --> 00:16:11,710
So the people with bachelor degrees, their family

403
00:16:11,710 --> 00:16:15,150
tree has the ability to afford more bachelor

404
00:16:15,150 --> 00:16:15,530
degrees.

405
00:16:15,950 --> 00:16:17,630
So I can see how that could be

406
00:16:17,630 --> 00:16:19,930
frustrating to people who feel like they can

407
00:16:19,930 --> 00:16:20,810
just never get there.

408
00:16:20,870 --> 00:16:21,990
Or if they do, they have to take

409
00:16:21,990 --> 00:16:24,050
in an exuberant amount of student loans and

410
00:16:24,050 --> 00:16:26,670
that they'll be paying off for the foreseeable

411
00:16:26,670 --> 00:16:27,030
future.

412
00:16:29,390 --> 00:16:32,930
There's tons of data out there that suggests

413
00:16:32,930 --> 00:16:35,170
that if you have a college degree, you're

414
00:16:35,170 --> 00:16:37,730
more likely to have a job, you're more

415
00:16:37,730 --> 00:16:40,630
likely to have higher wages, you're more likely

416
00:16:40,630 --> 00:16:41,370
to have a family.

417
00:16:42,330 --> 00:16:45,250
So these things, they compound on each other.

418
00:16:45,830 --> 00:16:49,150
And finally, healthcare, again, it's growing at a

419
00:16:49,150 --> 00:16:49,910
rapid pace.

420
00:16:52,230 --> 00:16:54,650
62% of personal bankruptcies in this country

421
00:16:54,650 --> 00:16:55,930
are caused by a healthcare bill.

422
00:16:56,690 --> 00:16:59,090
If you can't feel like you can have

423
00:16:59,090 --> 00:17:01,570
a good job and have a home and

424
00:17:01,570 --> 00:17:04,750
have reasonable health insurance, I could see why

425
00:17:04,750 --> 00:17:07,329
it can get frustrating for people and feel

426
00:17:07,329 --> 00:17:08,930
like they can't raise their standard of living.

427
00:17:10,270 --> 00:17:11,970
So basically that was what the article was

428
00:17:11,970 --> 00:17:12,270
about.

429
00:17:12,450 --> 00:17:15,109
Now tack on to the fact that if

430
00:17:15,109 --> 00:17:16,770
you're paying 5% to 10% for

431
00:17:16,770 --> 00:17:18,869
student loans and your wages are growing at

432
00:17:18,869 --> 00:17:21,569
3.5%, well, now you're using your all

433
00:17:21,569 --> 00:17:25,650
important minimal liquidity during your formative adult years

434
00:17:25,650 --> 00:17:26,990
where you would like to be saving for

435
00:17:26,990 --> 00:17:29,850
a house, saving for your child's education, saving

436
00:17:29,850 --> 00:17:32,550
for having children or paying your health insurance.

437
00:17:32,850 --> 00:17:34,230
You can see how that can get sucked

438
00:17:34,230 --> 00:17:37,330
up and continue this frustrating cycle.

439
00:17:37,850 --> 00:17:39,050
So that's what the article is about.

440
00:17:39,110 --> 00:17:43,430
It's just trying to be explained why people

441
00:17:43,430 --> 00:17:44,570
might feel this way.

442
00:17:44,970 --> 00:17:47,250
And I understand the frustration.

443
00:17:47,250 --> 00:17:51,270
We have a lot of help for people

444
00:17:51,270 --> 00:17:53,750
trying to get to retirement.

445
00:17:54,430 --> 00:17:59,950
We have 401k plans and IRAs and Roth

446
00:17:59,950 --> 00:18:00,790
IRAs.

447
00:18:01,610 --> 00:18:03,570
But a lot of that kind of takes

448
00:18:03,570 --> 00:18:04,630
away from your earning years.

449
00:18:05,490 --> 00:18:07,710
And I think it's important to save for

450
00:18:07,710 --> 00:18:09,770
those retirement years.

451
00:18:10,050 --> 00:18:15,410
But when you're working in your formative years,

452
00:18:15,530 --> 00:18:19,450
you do have a lot of expenses and

453
00:18:19,450 --> 00:18:20,590
a lot of liquidity needs.

454
00:18:21,590 --> 00:18:23,590
And I think that can be, again, this

455
00:18:23,590 --> 00:18:24,410
compounds, right?

456
00:18:24,630 --> 00:18:26,210
The effect of compounding is significant.

457
00:18:26,390 --> 00:18:30,150
So the longer this goes unsolved, the more

458
00:18:30,150 --> 00:18:31,990
frustrating it's going to be for subsequent generations.

459
00:18:35,250 --> 00:18:36,490
A lot to unpack in that.

460
00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:40,450
I think it's challenging because I think, as

461
00:18:40,450 --> 00:18:42,570
you said, a lot of times, the initial

462
00:18:42,570 --> 00:18:44,330
reaction is, hey, we had a tough two.

463
00:18:45,730 --> 00:18:46,950
That's not a good thing, no.

464
00:18:47,590 --> 00:18:48,350
No, no.

465
00:18:48,710 --> 00:18:54,850
And as I think about it, I have

466
00:18:54,850 --> 00:18:55,990
a number of reactions.

467
00:18:56,290 --> 00:19:00,090
First one is, based on what you just

468
00:19:00,090 --> 00:19:04,350
discussed, it is really interesting to think that

469
00:19:04,350 --> 00:19:12,210
education begets education, which also suggests wealth begets

470
00:19:12,210 --> 00:19:13,410
wealth, right?

471
00:19:13,470 --> 00:19:17,830
The idea that if I am coming from

472
00:19:17,830 --> 00:19:20,030
a household that has a higher education, I

473
00:19:20,030 --> 00:19:23,710
have a higher propensity for getting a higher

474
00:19:23,710 --> 00:19:24,350
education.

475
00:19:24,890 --> 00:19:28,930
Higher education, whichever generation we're talking about, implies

476
00:19:28,930 --> 00:19:34,330
greater opportunity for income and less unemployment.

477
00:19:35,550 --> 00:19:37,730
We can see stats about that year after

478
00:19:37,730 --> 00:19:39,750
year after year, whether it's in good economies

479
00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:40,530
or bad economies.

480
00:19:41,970 --> 00:19:43,130
And that's really relevant.

481
00:19:43,570 --> 00:19:45,890
And that's part of how that factors into

482
00:19:45,890 --> 00:19:46,170
this.

483
00:19:46,430 --> 00:19:49,690
I think I relate to my own experience,

484
00:19:49,830 --> 00:19:51,310
of course, anecdotal stuff, right?

485
00:19:51,330 --> 00:19:52,810
We all internalize this.

486
00:19:52,970 --> 00:19:56,570
And I think, well, yeah, I had family

487
00:19:56,570 --> 00:19:59,970
who helped me with a down payment, right?

488
00:20:00,050 --> 00:20:03,510
If you don't have that kind of support

489
00:20:03,510 --> 00:20:06,750
or the ability of a parent to do

490
00:20:06,750 --> 00:20:09,250
that, then that's a disadvantage.

491
00:20:09,950 --> 00:20:12,970
You could put that same point to education.

492
00:20:14,130 --> 00:20:16,390
So those are valid points, I think.

493
00:20:16,670 --> 00:20:19,250
And probably today, you can make that same

494
00:20:19,250 --> 00:20:20,350
case about childcare.

495
00:20:21,670 --> 00:20:25,630
In our case, Kristen stayed home for years.

496
00:20:25,790 --> 00:20:27,130
So that's how we dealt with the cost

497
00:20:27,130 --> 00:20:27,770
of childcare.

498
00:20:28,390 --> 00:20:31,250
After we had our second child, it was

499
00:20:31,250 --> 00:20:31,790
too expensive.

500
00:20:32,310 --> 00:20:34,370
We couldn't afford to have childcare.

501
00:20:34,650 --> 00:20:38,350
So it made more sense at the rates

502
00:20:38,350 --> 00:20:41,770
we were getting paid in those days, not

503
00:20:41,770 --> 00:20:44,270
to have that other income, rather to be

504
00:20:44,270 --> 00:20:46,630
home and have the opportunity to raise the

505
00:20:46,630 --> 00:20:47,690
children the way we wanted.

506
00:20:48,150 --> 00:20:50,630
Well, the average child care expense in Massachusetts

507
00:20:50,630 --> 00:20:52,890
is $22,000 per child.

508
00:20:53,570 --> 00:20:55,450
That's after tax money, okay?

509
00:20:55,810 --> 00:21:00,530
So there should be the expectation, I would

510
00:21:00,530 --> 00:21:03,750
say, if you have two children, that most

511
00:21:03,750 --> 00:21:07,170
people can't, it doesn't make sense for both

512
00:21:07,170 --> 00:21:09,490
parents to continue to work.

513
00:21:09,570 --> 00:21:11,810
Because you have to assume that both parents

514
00:21:11,810 --> 00:21:14,590
make a substantial amount of money and then

515
00:21:14,590 --> 00:21:16,190
they'd just be working just to send their

516
00:21:16,190 --> 00:21:16,790
kids elsewhere.

517
00:21:16,790 --> 00:21:17,410
Yeah.

518
00:21:18,010 --> 00:21:19,990
That was the case in our situation.

519
00:21:20,210 --> 00:21:22,290
It was like, well, you get to a

520
00:21:22,290 --> 00:21:24,090
point where it's like, well, I'd rather be

521
00:21:24,090 --> 00:21:24,630
home anyway.

522
00:21:24,830 --> 00:21:25,990
I guess we'll have to make it work

523
00:21:25,990 --> 00:21:27,370
this way, that kind of thing.

524
00:21:27,930 --> 00:21:28,030
Right.

525
00:21:28,030 --> 00:21:29,970
And then we live in a society where

526
00:21:29,970 --> 00:21:32,630
shelter and education are married to each other,

527
00:21:32,630 --> 00:21:32,830
right?

528
00:21:32,830 --> 00:21:34,890
Because your property taxes pay for your public

529
00:21:34,890 --> 00:21:36,090
school's education as well.

530
00:21:36,230 --> 00:21:36,530
True.

531
00:21:36,810 --> 00:21:38,610
So if you can't afford a house in

532
00:21:38,610 --> 00:21:46,770
a good school district, I mean, we're-

533
00:21:46,770 --> 00:21:48,610
So this is all to say, when you

534
00:21:48,610 --> 00:21:50,150
put these things together and you think about

535
00:21:50,150 --> 00:21:52,510
the compounding effect, I think that's the most

536
00:21:52,510 --> 00:21:54,670
important thing is year after year after year,

537
00:21:55,530 --> 00:21:56,870
it's going to continue to be hard.

538
00:21:57,310 --> 00:21:59,510
And why do we want it to be

539
00:21:59,510 --> 00:22:01,570
so hard for people to have families?

540
00:22:02,550 --> 00:22:05,610
I think the difference though is it's hard,

541
00:22:06,290 --> 00:22:08,890
but does that mean that there is not

542
00:22:08,890 --> 00:22:12,430
the capability or the opportunity for upward mobility?

543
00:22:13,710 --> 00:22:15,530
I think your point is a good one.

544
00:22:15,670 --> 00:22:19,490
Maybe it's harder than it should be, and

545
00:22:19,490 --> 00:22:22,790
there are certainly equity issues beyond the scope

546
00:22:22,790 --> 00:22:24,630
of what we're going to solve in our

547
00:22:24,630 --> 00:22:28,530
conversation, but whether or not education should be

548
00:22:28,530 --> 00:22:31,310
tied to the property values in your town

549
00:22:31,310 --> 00:22:36,810
and how should that be structured?

550
00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:39,010
Well, let's think about it this way.

551
00:22:39,170 --> 00:22:42,010
Just think about the ways that it can

552
00:22:42,010 --> 00:22:42,790
handcuff people, right?

553
00:22:43,290 --> 00:22:44,690
We just talked about how, if you have

554
00:22:44,690 --> 00:22:47,010
two kids, it might make sense under most

555
00:22:47,010 --> 00:22:50,850
circumstances for a parent to stay home.

556
00:22:51,030 --> 00:22:52,990
That parent, which has historically has been women,

557
00:22:53,570 --> 00:22:54,710
are going to be taken out of the

558
00:22:54,710 --> 00:22:55,470
workforce for years.

559
00:22:56,130 --> 00:22:57,330
When they go back, are they going to

560
00:22:57,330 --> 00:23:00,330
get- Wage level, yeah.

561
00:23:00,470 --> 00:23:01,850
Yeah, we talk about this all the time

562
00:23:01,850 --> 00:23:04,030
with social security and the loss of years

563
00:23:04,030 --> 00:23:08,610
from 401ks and building their income over job

564
00:23:08,610 --> 00:23:10,150
promotions that they're sacrificing.

565
00:23:10,890 --> 00:23:12,230
Absolutely, real detriment.

566
00:23:12,750 --> 00:23:15,390
As we know, women tend to make less

567
00:23:15,390 --> 00:23:16,890
than men in the same job, and I

568
00:23:16,890 --> 00:23:18,530
think a big part of that, I don't

569
00:23:18,530 --> 00:23:20,110
think I know what big part of that

570
00:23:20,110 --> 00:23:21,870
is because of the lost years in the

571
00:23:21,870 --> 00:23:23,570
workforce because of child rearing.

572
00:23:24,850 --> 00:23:27,650
That's one big reason where upward mobility is

573
00:23:27,650 --> 00:23:29,590
hampered, right, because of one of these reasons.

574
00:23:30,790 --> 00:23:32,770
Another one would be, let's talk about health

575
00:23:32,770 --> 00:23:33,290
insurance again.

576
00:23:33,390 --> 00:23:36,210
Most people are subsidized, their health insurance is

577
00:23:36,210 --> 00:23:38,730
subsidized by their employer, or at least most

578
00:23:38,730 --> 00:23:39,990
white-collar workers, right?

579
00:23:40,110 --> 00:23:43,350
That's not even available from blue-collar workers.

580
00:23:44,670 --> 00:23:47,110
You can't take any- Unionized, maybe, not

581
00:23:47,110 --> 00:23:47,430
necessarily.

582
00:23:47,790 --> 00:23:48,730
Unionized, certainly.

583
00:23:48,830 --> 00:23:51,350
Yeah, but you can't take an interruption in

584
00:23:51,350 --> 00:23:52,150
your service.

585
00:23:53,510 --> 00:23:55,590
That's not something that's going to be available

586
00:23:55,590 --> 00:23:58,610
to most families because your insurance is so

587
00:23:58,610 --> 00:23:59,530
important, right?

588
00:24:01,290 --> 00:24:03,760
Does that limit your opportunity set?

589
00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:06,620
Does that limit you from changing careers if

590
00:24:06,620 --> 00:24:07,140
you want to?

591
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:09,720
I would say it certainly does, right?

592
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,860
If you work in a union job, are

593
00:24:11,860 --> 00:24:13,480
you going to stick out that union job

594
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,400
just because you know that your family has

595
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,380
health insurance, even if it makes you unhappy,

596
00:24:19,420 --> 00:24:23,700
even if you don't see it adding significant

597
00:24:23,700 --> 00:24:27,520
changes to your standard of life, as the

598
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,740
survey points out, I would say yes.

599
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,320
If you have to spend what I estimate

600
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,680
$1.1 million to send my children to

601
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,440
college, and you have to put away a

602
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,060
substantial amount of your paycheck in your working

603
00:24:43,060 --> 00:24:48,560
years to fund that education, well, will that

604
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:49,760
take away from your standard of living?

605
00:24:50,340 --> 00:24:51,240
Of course it will.

606
00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:52,820
Will it take away from the amount of

607
00:24:52,820 --> 00:24:54,580
money that you would have to invest elsewhere?

608
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:55,980
Of course it will.

609
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,460
With education expenses rising 4% a year,

610
00:25:01,620 --> 00:25:06,860
as they have for the last decade, you're

611
00:25:06,860 --> 00:25:08,300
significantly hampered.

612
00:25:09,100 --> 00:25:10,360
When does that change?

613
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,140
It has slowed down recently.

614
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:18,480
You have demographic components that will exacerbate that

615
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,460
shift where you'll have some schools going out

616
00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:24,480
of business, perhaps, but just the idea that

617
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,940
there'll be a tighter market, right?

618
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,260
Less customers for the department, right?

619
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:31,500
Yeah.

620
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:35,120
But there is a fair point that maybe

621
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:40,840
government subsidized funding of college educations has made

622
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:45,460
it accessible in a way that's caused costs

623
00:25:45,460 --> 00:25:48,540
to continue to rise when it's being shouldered

624
00:25:48,540 --> 00:25:52,700
by students who pay it over a decade

625
00:25:52,700 --> 00:25:54,740
or more, well beyond.

626
00:25:54,900 --> 00:25:57,800
They're probably longer than that after their college

627
00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,060
education, and at a rate that's more comparable

628
00:26:01,060 --> 00:26:05,320
to a mortgage than it is what used

629
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,460
to be thought of as how you would

630
00:26:07,460 --> 00:26:08,320
pay for education.

631
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,260
So that's its own dilemma.

632
00:26:13,580 --> 00:26:14,600
How do you deal with this?

633
00:26:14,860 --> 00:26:14,960
Yeah.

634
00:26:14,980 --> 00:26:16,800
We see this with our clients.

635
00:26:16,980 --> 00:26:19,360
They come in and especially the younger clients,

636
00:26:19,580 --> 00:26:22,560
like Brian's age and give or take, and

637
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,300
they want to do it all, right?

638
00:26:24,340 --> 00:26:25,040
You want to do it all.

639
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:26,100
You want to save for retirement.

640
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,700
You want to go on all these vacations.

641
00:26:28,860 --> 00:26:30,340
You want to save for your college, for

642
00:26:30,340 --> 00:26:33,640
your children and so forth, and you can't

643
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:34,460
do it all sometimes.

644
00:26:34,620 --> 00:26:36,220
It's a matter of prioritizing.

645
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,340
Chris, you must remember, I remember the days

646
00:26:40,340 --> 00:26:42,360
when you had no money, and then you

647
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:43,980
started to have some money because you were

648
00:26:43,980 --> 00:26:45,720
either working two jobs or you were doing

649
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,260
well in your profession or whatever the situation,

650
00:26:48,460 --> 00:26:49,660
and then you started to be able to

651
00:26:49,660 --> 00:26:51,880
save, and you did what you could, and

652
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,760
then you build your career, and you start

653
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,120
to say, well, what's important to me?

654
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:57,260
Where are my values?

655
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,560
So if my values are to provide education

656
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,580
for my family through savings so they can

657
00:27:03,580 --> 00:27:06,260
go to college, then no, I can't go

658
00:27:06,260 --> 00:27:08,760
on a quarterly cruise around the world, right?

659
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:12,320
So there's a lot of conflicting things, and

660
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:16,220
sometimes I hear from people, not to be

661
00:27:16,220 --> 00:27:18,780
the negative side of this, but you can't

662
00:27:18,780 --> 00:27:19,220
have it all.

663
00:27:19,340 --> 00:27:20,760
You do have choices to make.

664
00:27:20,940 --> 00:27:21,640
Maybe you can't.

665
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,020
I think about the first house that I

666
00:27:24,020 --> 00:27:26,280
bought was 800 square feet.

667
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,020
You see a lot more larger homes and

668
00:27:31,020 --> 00:27:33,560
people using leverage, a lot more than my

669
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:34,300
memory is.

670
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:35,240
You see cars.

671
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:37,860
There's another thing, Ryan, the cost of vehicles

672
00:27:37,860 --> 00:27:40,260
is, I don't know what the inflation rate,

673
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:42,160
but in healthcare for sure.

674
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:43,840
And yeah, if you have to stay in

675
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:45,540
the job, if you make the decision that

676
00:27:45,540 --> 00:27:47,060
I'm going to stay in this job because

677
00:27:47,060 --> 00:27:49,740
it has health insurance for me and my

678
00:27:49,740 --> 00:27:52,280
family, and it has a 40-hour a

679
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,080
week wage, and it has the potential for

680
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,780
promotion, even if I don't love the job,

681
00:27:57,260 --> 00:27:59,520
well, that's part of my choices on how

682
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,680
I want to raise my family and the

683
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,340
values that I want to instill in the

684
00:28:04,340 --> 00:28:05,680
people that I care about.

685
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:07,760
So it's about choices.

686
00:28:07,940 --> 00:28:10,380
It's about discipline, and it's about having a

687
00:28:10,380 --> 00:28:12,960
plan, even when it doesn't seem like the

688
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,300
plan's going to work long-term.

689
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:15,300
Yeah.

690
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:20,880
So Jeff, what I heard is what you're

691
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:22,420
saying is you agree that it's tough to

692
00:28:22,420 --> 00:28:23,520
raise your standard of living, right?

693
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:24,980
You have to make a lot of trade

694
00:28:24,980 --> 00:28:25,200
-offs.

695
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,680
I do, and that is my main point,

696
00:28:27,780 --> 00:28:29,240
and it's been every generation.

697
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,260
And I'm going back to your original point,

698
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,240
maybe not doing a good job about it.

699
00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:38,040
If the unhappiness or the happiness quotient, however

700
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,440
you want to measure it, if the unhappiness

701
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,180
quotient is higher now, I wonder why.

702
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:44,880
It's always been tough.

703
00:28:44,940 --> 00:28:46,160
There's always been sacrifices.

704
00:28:46,660 --> 00:28:49,540
I wonder why people are less willing to

705
00:28:49,540 --> 00:28:53,560
either make those sacrifices or they're more unhappy

706
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:55,280
to make those sacrifices.

707
00:28:55,580 --> 00:28:57,660
In recent years, I think it's very much

708
00:28:57,660 --> 00:29:03,160
a housing story because it's accelerated so much

709
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:03,720
more.

710
00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:05,000
It's been 5%.

711
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,420
Historically, it's been around 3.1%. But that's

712
00:29:08,420 --> 00:29:09,300
a significant leap.

713
00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,360
That's a 60%, 70% change in the

714
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:14,640
change of typical prices.

715
00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:18,680
You're talking about a 40% change compound,

716
00:29:18,940 --> 00:29:20,940
give or take, over the last five years.

717
00:29:21,340 --> 00:29:22,120
That's huge.

718
00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:23,140
That keeps people out.

719
00:29:23,620 --> 00:29:25,520
And it keeps a whole generation of people

720
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,120
that want to increase their standard of living

721
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:30,820
but can't and then have a jealousy factor

722
00:29:30,820 --> 00:29:33,420
if they see someone getting help from mom

723
00:29:33,420 --> 00:29:36,320
and dad or if they do see that

724
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,560
that's done well, that's been able to buy

725
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:38,900
a house.

726
00:29:39,060 --> 00:29:43,160
I think that's a natural human reaction.

727
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,980
Did you have a bottom line in the

728
00:29:45,980 --> 00:29:48,860
article as it relates to this?

729
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,020
I think we can certainly take a takeaway

730
00:29:52,020 --> 00:29:57,040
that maybe it's an uphill slog, but you

731
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,400
really need to do planning.

732
00:29:58,620 --> 00:30:02,760
You can't expect to get there without some

733
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:03,600
serious effort.

734
00:30:04,980 --> 00:30:07,680
So my bottom line is that inflation has

735
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:09,380
been around 2% over the last 20

736
00:30:09,380 --> 00:30:09,640
years.

737
00:30:09,860 --> 00:30:11,240
There's been periods when it's been a little

738
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:11,640
bit higher.

739
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:12,880
There's been periods when it's been a little

740
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:13,520
bit lower.

741
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:15,820
But the three things that actually really matter

742
00:30:15,820 --> 00:30:19,640
to people's happiness or increasing their standard of

743
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,300
living has been orders of magnitude higher than

744
00:30:23,300 --> 00:30:23,980
2%.

745
00:30:23,980 --> 00:30:26,540
We're talking three, three and a half percent,

746
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:28,340
and with shelter more recently, 5%.

747
00:30:28,340 --> 00:30:32,340
So we can measure how much electronics have

748
00:30:32,340 --> 00:30:32,760
gone down.

749
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,520
When I graduated from college, I think I

750
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,360
bought a TV for $1,100 and I

751
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:37,700
just bought one for $115.

752
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:39,400
That's great.

753
00:30:39,580 --> 00:30:41,280
That gets into the data, that gets into

754
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:41,980
the 2%.

755
00:30:41,980 --> 00:30:45,400
But it's a pretty insignificant part of trying

756
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,040
to build a life for me and my

757
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,440
family, which is ultimately the most important thing.

758
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:51,780
I own eight TVs.

759
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,600
I don't need eight TVs, but my kids

760
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:55,600
do need to go to college.

761
00:30:55,780 --> 00:30:57,360
I have eight TVs because they cost $100.

762
00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:58,420
They're cheap.

763
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,060
We've decreased the cost of things that are

764
00:31:04,060 --> 00:31:08,220
nice to have, and the necessities are wildly

765
00:31:08,220 --> 00:31:08,840
out of control.

766
00:31:09,060 --> 00:31:13,200
I think that compounding rate of effect has

767
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,720
become frustrating for people over time.

768
00:31:15,860 --> 00:31:17,180
That was my bottom line.

769
00:31:17,660 --> 00:31:19,240
My wife read the article and she said,

770
00:31:19,940 --> 00:31:22,360
you should really end with something happier.

771
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,100
I said, it's not a happy article.

772
00:31:25,100 --> 00:31:29,120
I told her, maybe in one of my

773
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,180
follow-ups, it'll be about how to be

774
00:31:32,180 --> 00:31:33,060
better than the average.

775
00:31:33,580 --> 00:31:38,620
I talked a lot about median and mean

776
00:31:38,620 --> 00:31:40,280
wages and costs.

777
00:31:40,940 --> 00:31:42,900
It's like, well, can you live a life

778
00:31:42,900 --> 00:31:43,740
that's a little cheaper?

779
00:31:44,500 --> 00:31:47,500
Can you find a way to increase your

780
00:31:47,500 --> 00:31:47,800
wages?

781
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,240
I've written similar articles before about how to

782
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,880
save money, how to live beneath your means,

783
00:31:56,340 --> 00:31:58,600
but ultimately you need to become part of

784
00:31:58,600 --> 00:31:59,380
the capital class.

785
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,460
You need to become an investor.

786
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,140
Otherwise, I think you're just going to have

787
00:32:04,140 --> 00:32:06,900
an endless struggle and frustration.

788
00:32:07,380 --> 00:32:09,620
I think we can look at the last,

789
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,580
what is it, since the great recession, the

790
00:32:13,580 --> 00:32:17,560
wealth class versus the wage class, vastly different

791
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:18,260
experiences.

792
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,000
If you had wealth, it grew dramatically.

793
00:32:21,420 --> 00:32:23,980
If you had wages, it grew a little

794
00:32:23,980 --> 00:32:24,240
bit.

795
00:32:25,020 --> 00:32:26,180
Big difference.

796
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,380
You have to find a way to be

797
00:32:29,380 --> 00:32:31,940
living below your means so that you can

798
00:32:31,940 --> 00:32:35,040
have some creation of wealth over time.

799
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,080
We've talked about this on other episodes.

800
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,620
It's not easy to do, but you're making

801
00:32:41,620 --> 00:32:42,080
choices.

802
00:32:42,500 --> 00:32:45,620
If you're deciding to go to college, are

803
00:32:45,620 --> 00:32:48,000
you going to a college that's going to

804
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,480
result in a vocation, a job, or are

805
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:51,640
you just going to college?

806
00:32:51,740 --> 00:32:53,460
Are you going to do two years at

807
00:32:53,460 --> 00:32:54,220
community college?

808
00:32:54,340 --> 00:32:55,900
Are you going to take out $60,000

809
00:32:55,900 --> 00:32:58,080
loans and study sociology?

810
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,900
These are decisions that are important.

811
00:33:02,780 --> 00:33:04,920
The debate about the value of a liberal

812
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:08,860
arts education is another topic for another day,

813
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:10,740
but I follow your point.

814
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,200
I meant it as an example, not a

815
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:14,560
- I totally got your point.

816
00:33:14,740 --> 00:33:15,280
It's a value.

817
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:16,880
Thought-provoking stuff.

818
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,420
If you want to learn more about this,

819
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:19,660
head to our webpage.

820
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,660
You can read Brian's full article, Why the

821
00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:25,720
Economic Vibes Are Off.

822
00:33:26,420 --> 00:33:29,300
If nothing else, you can go to somethingmorewithchrisboyd

823
00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:33,100
.com to find our webpage, or you can

824
00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:36,060
go to wealthenhancement.com.

825
00:33:37,580 --> 00:33:40,140
If we can be a help to as

826
00:33:40,140 --> 00:33:43,460
you're trying to navigate your financial planning and

827
00:33:43,460 --> 00:33:46,760
portfolio management, whether for you or for your

828
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,160
family members, don't hesitate to reach out to

829
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:49,720
our team.

830
00:33:49,900 --> 00:33:52,640
Until next time, keep striving for something more.

831
00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:56,120
Thank you for listening to Something More with

832
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:56,840
Chris Boyd.

833
00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,300
Call us for help, whether it's for financial

834
00:33:59,300 --> 00:34:03,240
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those

835
00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,260
quality of life issues that make the money

836
00:34:05,260 --> 00:34:06,360
matters matter.

837
00:34:06,740 --> 00:34:10,000
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd

838
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:13,199
.com, or call us toll free at 866

839
00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:18,719
-771-8901, or send us your questions to

840
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:22,679
amr-info at wealthenhancement.com.

841
00:34:22,860 --> 00:34:24,800
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd

842
00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:25,639
Financial Talk Show.

843
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,260
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Jay Christopher Boyd

844
00:34:28,260 --> 00:34:30,580
provide investment advice on an individual basis to

845
00:34:30,580 --> 00:34:31,120
clients only.

846
00:34:31,300 --> 00:34:33,280
Proper advice depends on a complete analysis of

847
00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:34,460
all facts and circumstances.

848
00:34:34,659 --> 00:34:36,560
The information given on this program is general

849
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:38,580
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as

850
00:34:38,580 --> 00:34:40,179
pertaining to your specific situation.

851
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:42,340
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the

852
00:34:42,340 --> 00:34:44,340
information from this show will generate profits or

853
00:34:44,340 --> 00:34:45,460
ensure freedom from loss.

854
00:34:45,659 --> 00:34:47,820
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or

855
00:34:47,820 --> 00:34:49,920
conduct their own due diligence before making any

856
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:50,679
financial decisions.