Money Musings 💭 What if you could retire now?
What if you could retire now?
No, I have not been hacked by a cheesy get-rich-quick scheme (although that has happened to a friend of mine recently).
Let me explain…
I had the opportunity to interview Rachel Sanborn Lawrence, the head of Financial Planning for Ellevest for my book. We talked about the process she takes people through when they are planning for retirement.
She starts by having them visualize their retirement and actually walk through what their lives will look like.
You know I love this.
She explained that one of her clients described this day. She wants to wake up, pour herself a cup of incredible Fair Trade coffee and sit on the porch and drink it for a half hour. She went on to talk about how she’d spend the rest of her day, but it got me thinking about what a powerful exercise this is.
First, when we dream about how we want to spend our days in retirement, it makes it feel more real. We can imagine what our lives will be like then and it makes it more motivating to put money towards those goals.
But a really amazing side effect of that is that we might realize some of what we want in retirement is completely possible for us now.
I could 100% decide to prioritize a half hour each morning to enjoy some incredible coffee on my porch. When Rachel described it, it sounded so great that I actually started doing it. Not every day, but a couple days a week.
Deciding what you want your retirement to look like might sound very high pressure. Go with whatever comes to you right now. It’s allowed to (and definitely will change).
What do you envision a day in retirement looking like? Give yourself 5 minutes to dream. And then hit reply and let me know.
PS If you haven't been over to the Fiscal Femme blog, we've been featuring the incredible personal finance experts who were part of our Women's History Month roundtable series each week and the wisdom they shared during the events. Check them out here and below.
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
SHOULD YOU LEASE OR BUY A CAR?
For those in the market for a car, I’m sorry. Buying or leasing a car is not a fun process for most. I think the only person I know who truly enjoys it is J (my partner) because he loves to negotiate. Like it takes him days to negotiate. In order to decide if buying or leasing is best for you, I recommend following these steps:
1) Know your budget (including all the extra things that go into maintaining a car). Don’t forget insurance, maintenance costs (scheduled and surprise), gas and parking (especially if you live in a city). Consider the cost of insurance, maintenance, gas, and parking (especially if you live in a city).
2) Run the numbers. List out what each option would cost you over the next 10 or 20 years (including all the extra things, how long you plan to own the car and the resale value). I like to look at these side by side. Most financial advice will recommend you purchase a (used) car.
When you run the numbers, buying typically makes the most sense IF you keep the car after you pay down the car loan. That’s the real kicker. Most people don’t do this or don’t want to do this. But once you pay off your car loan and have a car that’s payment free, that’s really when buying vs. leasing saves you a lot of money. So be realistic about your plans and map them out over the course of your plan. Sometimes seeing how much money it would save is enough to get you on board!
3) Make sure to do your research and negotiate. It’s important to know your stuff going into a negotiation. Know what you want and do your research about what’s a good price. Definitely call up multiple places and negotiate. Give each place a chance to beat the other’s lowest price. If they do beat it, go back to the other so they can beat it. I know this takes work but it’s a big purchase you don’t make very often. Some places are looking to meet quotas (especially volume dealers) and will even take a loss on a car in order to meet the quota. Ramit Sethi, the author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich, recommends a service called FightingChance.com to help arm you with the car info you need to buy.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
WE NEED FINTECH MADE FOR WOMEN.
When personal finance articles mention the wage gap, the wealth gap, or the investing gap there tends to be a lot of focus on how women can change and do better. Here’s how to ask in a way that will help you evade the double bind. Here’s how to start investing even while the industry excludes you. But real change will happen when the companies themselves start creating financial technology and services that are made for women (in addition to changes in policy!)
When you look at the top ranks of most financial companies, you’ll see that Boards and management teams are largely made up of white men. Only this year did Wall Street see its first woman CEO of a major bank, Jane Fraser. Until women and women of color are working on financial products, they won’t be inclusive.
This is not just a women’s problem. This is a major missed opportunity for financial companies to serve over half the population it’s been leaving behind. Financially served women and women of color will do tremendous things for our collective well-being as a society.
We have some great companies working on this problem and I’m so excited to see what others we have coming our way. AND I can’t wait to partner with and support the work they are doing!