Money Musings 💭 There's always a 🏠 compromise
What you’ll find below:
Reflection: What we're doing with our house money
Money Move: An important add for your money parties
You Gotta See: How motherhood impacts pay equity
Reel of the Week: Top 10 sinking funds for stress-free budgeting
If you’ve been following along our house saga (here, here and here), you might be wondering, what will Ashley do with her house money? 🤑🏡
Spoiler alert - I’m going to share the juicy details below but not without a little backstory.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this after my conversation with Ali and Erica on the Finding Mr. Height podcast. Erica shared her experience meeting with a financial advisor.
As he was making his investment recommendations, all she could think about was… can you log in and show me YOUR MONEY? What are you invested in? Is this an absurd thing to ask of someone?
And it got me thinking… in an industry with so little trust and some very lacking transparency, what’s better than to see what the pros are doing.
Would this be something you’d be interested in? A bird's eye view on how those you deem experts are allocating and using their own money?
I would like to see it! Well I’ll start with a little peek into my own finances.
We aren’t sure when we’ll find our next place to buy but it’s definitely in the cards within the next few years, so we’re not going to invest our house funds in the stock market (as I walk the walk and save that for long-term investing).
When we received the check for our house money (which included our initial investment and our gains), I put half the money right into a Betterment savings account that was offering a 5.5% interest promotion through the end of the year.
While I’m not a rate chaser on my HYSA (meaning, I won’t switch accounts for a 0.2% increase, the higher the balance on your account, the greater the impact that 0.2% has). And 5.5% is 1% more than what I’m earning in my other HYSA.
The other half of the money, we invested with my dad. He runs a private lending business called Security Capital Ventures where he brings together lenders (i.e. investors) and borrowers on 12-24 month real estate loans.
The loans are collateralized at a 65% or lower loan to value meaning they will only lend up to 65% of the appraised value of the property. This brings down the risk of the investment.
The financials depend on the deal but let’s say borrowers pay 12% interest, investors earn 10% / 11% and his company makes the spread.
Over the last ten or so years I've watched and learned so much as he’s built this business with his close friend and mentor, and I’ve always wanted to be an investor. 💰
So there you have it! If you could peek into anyone’s finances, who would it be and what would you want to know? Hit reply and let me know!
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
ADD THIS TO YOUR MONEY PARTY.
If you are keeping up with your monthly Money Parties, AMAZING! 👏
If you’re not, or aren’t sure what a Money Party is, you can learn what one entails and how to throw one here.
I’d like to add a quick step to your Money Parties 🎉 that will be a game changer.
Finish the party by celebrating something you did well that month, big or small.
Focusing on a win and taking the time to celebrate it can increase motivation and encourage the habits that are working.
I also encourage you to do this even more frequently by sharing your money wins here so we can celebrate you and your wins each week! I also share a prompt on Instagram on Sundays.
you Gotta see this
MOTHERHOOD MIGHT BE THE BIGGEST LEVER TO PAY EQUITY.
As women, being paid less for the same work greatly impacts our finances. And if you’re a woman of color, have a disability or part of the LGBTQ+ community, the difference is even more stark.
What you might find surprising is that 80% of the gender wage gap can be attributed to the motherhood penalty.
What’s the motherhood penalty? Here’s a great rundown by Lauren Smith Brody, author of The Fifth Trimester and co-founder of Chamber of Mothers.
The ‘motherhood penalty’ is the opposite of the ‘daddy bonus.’ It’s the measurable negative impact (5-6% per child) on a woman’s earnings and on her status and perceived competence and commitment in the workplace. And it’s all completely due to bias.
How do we beat the motherhood penalty? Paid leave is a biggie. And not just for mothers. For every 1 month of paternity leave a dad takes, mom’s earnings increase by 7% when they are measured 4 years later.
Plus, as more fathers take paternity leave, care work is not solely seen as a women’s issue.
Fun fact. There’s also an extremely compelling business case. If we had gender equity in participation in the workforce, U.S. GDP would increase by 26% (according to a McKinsey study).
your weekly money wins
Here are all the amazing money moves you made this week 👏👏👏
Emily: I have a treat dish in my office for undergrad students. I love doing it, but with inflation, the expense adds up. After Halloween, I posted on my neighborhood Buy Nothing group offering to pick up extra candy from homes that didn't get many trick or treaters. I now have a few months worth of treats for free!
Erin G: Asked my boss for a raise! I’m not sure if/when a raise will come though, but my boss already advocated for me with HR
Kara M: Needed a second car and found a great used car low mileage and paid cash! So freeing!
Kristi B: Dusted off my 2023 financial slides and ideated on 2024 goals
Heidi Bui: My side hustle got its first 3 digit in $$ order!
Em: Just opened my first HYSA!!!!
Julia R: Set up maximum auto-investment to 401(k)! 23K max next year!
Leigh B: Reached 30% of down payment goal in only 4 months. Will surpass the goal at this rate!
Alli: Successfully budgeted to host a dinner party at my house and stayed within my limits 💃🏻
Camille: Learned the makeup of my mortgage payments to see how I can better roundup the principle
Cailin S: Booked travel for our 10 year anniversary trip to Maldives/Sri Lanka in cash with out guilt!
Kitty R: Put half my paycheck into my high yield savings account!
Kelly J: Decluttered basement and made over $300 cash on Facebook marketplace
Mary: Finally got a new CC with better rewards
Phoenix A: Started my HYSA over and looked at credit reports
Kaela: Survived without acquiring more debt (and made timely payments on my outstanding debt)
Liz: Moved my student loan payments to weekly and increased amount slightly
Jessica T: Was able to set aside money in savings and pay a large chunk of my debt.
Caitlen: Going for a promotion
Kasey B: Put $10K into my high interest savings! (Prob for taxes but at least it's working for me now!)
Olivia: All clients on retainer + set up guardianship acct for my son 🥹
Vanessa C: Accompanied my aunt shopping and I walked out empty-handed :)
Katie: Fully paid off our flights for our honeymoon
April: Consolidated credit cards. Went from 28% interest rate to 11% 🎉🎉
Lauren S: Planned out big priorities for 2024 and started editing the budget to make them work!