February 10, 2025 • 44 mins
Get ready for an enlightening episode of Covering Your Health with Evelyn Erives! This week, we're tackling the vital topic of financial wellness with the incredible Catherine Hadnot, a community manager at JPMorgan Chase. Catherine brings a wealth of knowledge and practical advice to help you master your finances. From smart budgeting tips to savvy saving strategies and effective debt management, she's got you covered. Plus, we'll discuss why financial education is key to building a secure and prosperous future.
Whether you're just starting your financial journey or looking to refine your money habits, this episode is packed with actionable insights to empower you. Tune in and take the first step towards financial freedom with us.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP.
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
Whether you're just starting your financial journey or looking to refine your money habits, this episode is packed with actionable insights to empower you. Tune in and take the first step towards financial freedom with us.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP.
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Welcome back to Covering Your Health with Evelanie Revez,
presented by IEHP.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
So happy to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I am very excited about this next topic because I
have tons of questions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
For our guest today. We are just two months now into.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
The new year, and what better way to really get
ourselves on track with our health than by focusing on
our financial well being. I know, finances, right, Okay, we
all get a little anxious. So when we start talking
about things like this, But today we welcome Catherine had
Not to the Covering your Health family, and you're just
(00:36):
going to love her, I know it. We're going to
talk about all things money matters, from the importance of
finding the right debt solutions to creating a financial.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Budget, oh the B word.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
As a community manager with JP Morgan Chase, Catherine has
really traveled across.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All regions of the ie and the High.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Desert specifically to help educate the public about financial wellness
by attending public events, setting up one on one conversations
to help people like me set a foundation for a
strong financial future. You're gonna love this.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Money is time, so let's get started.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Welcome to Covering Your Health A wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:37):
podcast is presented by i EhP. Now your host Evelina Revez.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
All right, well, let's get started. Hello Catherine, thank you
so much for being here.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Absolutely well, hello to you too. Is so exciting to
be here.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I am so glad that you're here.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've been wanting to talk about this particular topic for
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm glad we're getting to it on season two.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But before we do talk about all the things financial,
wellness and all of that, I want to know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
What was your passion as a child that landed you here?
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So it's funny enough, Evelyn, is that I kind of
stumbled into banking. So growing up, I want to be
a professional dancer, So okay, I've wanted to go in
terms of my career, and I was able to get
to that level. Ruptured my achilles tendon right when I
got to a point to where okay, you've made it girl,
(02:30):
but no, no, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That could be a whole nother podcast, whole nother one.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
However, So I actually had a friend of mine toeld me,
you know, you should get into banking. It's a great career.
So I looked into it and found an opportunity that
was close to home for me as I was healing.
And then I started working at Washington Mutchual who then
you know, converted to JP Morgan Chase.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay, yes, and that was how many years ago?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
That was now this year? Sixteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Okay, So let me ask you about that transition, because
that's a very different world.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Absolutely, do they connect in any way?
Speaker 4 (03:09):
They do? Okay, they connect a lot because being on
stage dancing and then being on stage in the banking
world as well. You know, when we serve, when I
served on the teller line, you know, you're the front line,
so customers, you're the first person that they see when
they walk in. You're greeting them with a smile, You're
thinking them. They want to feel like where they're putting
(03:29):
their money, they can trust you. Yeah, And so I
think that goes to my dancing career as well. If
you're dancing with someone, they want to trust that you're
hitting every move right.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Oh yeah, absolutely, we.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Also want to do the same thing when we're helping
our clients.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I had a feeling there was a connection. My daughter's
a dancer too, and it's her dream right to like
dance and teach dance and do all of the things.
But I keep telling her we're gonna have backup plans. Absolutely,
you gotta have backup plan. You have to, yeah, because
you just never know, and it is a very body
or oriented career where you you know, things change all
the time. So I'm so glad that you found your
(04:03):
next path. Yes, and you're so passionate about it.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I am.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So let's talk about some of that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
You began your career at JP Morgan Chase, that was
back in two thousand or early two thousand and nine, two.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yes, And as a community manager, how do you support
the financial education side of that?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Yes, So I get an opportunity to support an entire community.
So my area that I cover specifically right now is
the High Desert community. Okay, So there are one hundred
and fifty community managers that do this special incredible work
seventeen specifically, and so cow so from Ie to La
(04:44):
to oc to San Diego. We have a strong team
that does the same exact work. And so with my
community specifically, I get to go out boots on the
ground and deliver this education. It is truly a labor
of love to be able to help grow and scale
in terms of our business owners, our consumers. We just
get to do a lot of great work out in
(05:06):
the field.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Nice, So tell me what that is. I mean, what
does this education consist of?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yes, so, the education that we bring forth to our
communities is around budgeting techniques, saving goals, how to commit
to tracking their expenses, credit debt management. Oh, I know they're.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Getting I'm gonna start shaking. Trust me. I know.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
It's one of the stories I actually share when I'm
out in the community. I always start off telling my
participants I'm going to be very transparent throughout this workshop.
It's not going to be a cook cookie cutter workshop.
I'm going to keep it real with you from the
beginning that my finances also were not where they needed
to be. At one point, I struggled right and there
was learning, lots of learning and education over time that
(05:54):
I had to learn, and so I tried to pour
those things back into them and share some of the
things that you know, I did, or the mistakes that
I made, or just the knowledge that my mom tried
to give me. Yeah, but because I was so I'm grown,
Oh yeah, you know what I'm doing, you know. So
I think that that was the true learning for me
(06:15):
after a while. So I try to just give that
back to them.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I feel like with the education of financial wellness, really
that should be a high school course or a middle
school course absolutely, which we're not teaching. We're not teaching
it at all. And I remember going through high school
and getting to that. I think it was my senior
year when they finally do econs.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yes, and senior year, I already have a job, right right,
Like I should have. I should have been learning about
all this exact and then it's only like half the
year they teach it, and it doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
It's really stuff that you don't It's like stocks and things.
You're like, I don't. I am eighteen, I'm seventy exactly
at stocks.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Yet right right, I'm just trying to get to the
basics of yes, I do with this paycheck?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
How do I budget this?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So I have guess money in school money and all
of the different things.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, oh, I know. Education is just so key. So
you live by a very cool motto, which I really like.
When your finances are well, you are well.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yes, So what are some of those common questions that
you have kind of seen across your job while doing
this education?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I think most of the common questions that I personally
see when I'm out in the field is, you know,
is this truly even possible?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You know, other than I get financially well.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I cannot get financially well, and what does that truly mean?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And so I share with them that there was a
time that I was severely in debt and that during
that time, as you can imagine, my stress levels were up. Yeah,
I wasn't feeling well, you know, because it was how
could I get myself into this? But how do I
get myself out of this? So much harder? Right?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So much harder, much harder?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Even with credit? You know, it's many times people are like, well,
you know, I lost ten points and all I got
was two points? How does that work?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Right?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
It's like I take ten steps back to go two
steps forward. But it's it's a game of inches, right,
and so you have to think of it in a way,
is that you're it's a work in progress and it
takes time, but you have to commit to it. But
how do you commit to that? It's taking small, actionable
steps to be able to get you to where you
are well. And so for me that you know when
(08:23):
your finances are well, you are well, I think it's
everything right.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
It's going to say the peace of mind, right, mind, yeaholdly,
I definitely feel better when I'm not thinking about debt, right.
And that's and that's such a big topic, especially right
now in the world we live in where everything is
so expensive and budgeting is something people are still kind
of foreign to.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I feel like in a lot of cases.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yes, So what are the big questions that you get
asked while you're doing your education workshops and things like that.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
So some of the questions that we're asked, or I'm
asked specifically, is around, Okay, so I want to create
a budget that works best for me, but.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
How do I do that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Or I only have limited income, how am I able
to budget? I'm not in a position to budget, so
what we try to do is we try to break
things down into what we call smart goals. And so
with smart goals, we really try to hone in on
taking things one step at a time, and so I
think a lot of times we start thinking about everything
(09:24):
all at once. That's natural, right, and so it's a
it is am right. But when you can start to
peel the layers back one layer at a time and
create that small goal and get really specific about what
it is that you're trying to achieve, it is definitely
something that is achievable. But one of the things I
also share with them is that I've been to a
(09:44):
point where I've created my own smart goal and I've
got to the end of that smart goal and I'm like,
oh my god, I didn't make it. Here's the beautiful thing.
It's your goal, and so you can hit the reset
button and start over or create something different that works
best for you. We teach ourselves a lot of times
as we go through the process with our smart goal,
and you could say, hey, this didn't work this time,
(10:06):
but let me tweak a couple things and maybe this
may work better.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Just go around, because life happens, life is life, Life
be life in.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It's just it's just wild like that.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I think, you know, my husband and I and we
we could go on and on about this. Over the
course of our marriage, you know, had different goals, right
Like we started with like, oh, we're fine, we're going
to figure this.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Next step out and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And then it's like, oh baby, oh a hospital bill
uh huh that we didn't know was going to hit
us that hard exactly, things like.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
That, and it just it it adds, it adds, and
it does feel overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
But you're right, so small actionable steps and goals, yes,
to make that happen. What are some of the misconceptions
that you see people talk about with you.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Some of the misconceptions is around generational wealth. We hear
people talk about like what does that even mean? Or
or you know, being able to say that, you know,
only rich people can save. We hear that, or you know,
I don't think budgeting is even possible when I have
so many different competing priorities up against me. And so
I think it's important to you know, be able to
(11:16):
talk through those things, especially when it comes to saving
for emergencies. You know, as we all see, you know,
the devastations of what's happened, you know, with the fires,
and it could be with an earthquake or whatever else
could happen. It's you know, you know, start now and
kind of work through those things. You know. My heart
just I can't even begin to go into that because
(11:39):
I'm thinking, like, how do they how are they feeling?
How do we help?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Where do they start?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Where do they start?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
That? That's the big question.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And we did a couple of episodes about that, and
and that is one of the things. It's did I
have money for an emergency like this? I have nothing now,
and what do I do?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Now do I go into debt right now? Do I
use the credit card the emergency credit card?
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, yeah, And I could see that now.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
The generational wealth question, and it always is something I
feel like that is a newer thought process or a
thought right to people. And I think it has to
do with celebrity. Okay, I think we're seeing these influencers
of the world right and we're seeing the Kardashian We're
seeing all of this, and we're you know, all these
(12:25):
people that they're like, oh, we're self made.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
They're not and have self made.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
We all know the backstory, and so that feels hard
to compete with when you're a regular person living in
the ie and you are just like, I don't have
those parents, I didn't grow up in that city. I
have different opportunities afforded to me than those that you
were given. Yes, so what do you tell people? I mean,
(12:53):
how do you bring them to It's okay and you
can still get.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
There absolutely, So I think what I start with a
lot of times is, well, let's have the conversation about
generational wealth and what it actually means, right, and it
is to be able to have things and be able
to pass down, you know, to our children and then
our children passed down to their children. But I think
it's more, you know, the education piece, like how do
we even do that right? And it starts with having
(13:18):
those conversations very very early. You mentioned earlier in the
conversation around like we don't have these conversations in high school, right,
but we are actively working to be able to do that,
and a lot of our communities we actually are going
into the high schools and we're having those conversations because
we believe that it's critically important to start to talk
about what generational wealth is and being able to pass
(13:40):
down to our children and our children passed down to
their children, you know. So I think that that's kind
of where we've been living. I had a superintendent told
me one day when I was asking him about teaching
in his schools, and he goes, you know, Kat, he
calls me cat by the way, Yeah, so everyone calls
me cat cat. So he said, you know what, cat,
he goes when it comes to generational wealth. I heard
(14:02):
you ask someone do you want to be rich or
do you want to be wealthy? And I had some students.
I had one student out of sixty students raise his
hand and said he wanted to be wealthy. And part
of that was because his grandfather talked to him about wealth.
But if you think about that, that was fifty nine
kids in that classroom that had never heard of the word.
(14:24):
And so, how do we get in front of those
things now and educate them on things or educate them
what's possible because although you may not have all the
things that you see on social media, because we know
our young adult population, they are actively involved in the
tiktoks and all those different dads. So how do we
(14:46):
help them understand that anything is possible. But the education
that we're going to bring forth to them will help
them start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You gotta learn, got to learn. You gotta learn that
if you don't learn, you can't grow.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
It's funny you may you may know him. He's in
the high Desert, Arce Stone.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yes, a great friend. You know he talked.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
We've talked about his comments before in the past. Is
so many of students and so many young people, inner city,
young people people here in the I E. Don't see examples.
They don't see the examples of what it is like
to be successful. They don't see the examples except for
(15:28):
the celebrity ones, right, and then those look like, well
then I have to be famous, I have.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
To do X, y Z bad things.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Right, But they don't see those examples because so many
of the people who become successful from those worlds.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So it has to start in those classrooms. It has
to start in those places where everybody is on a
level playing field in the classroom.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You know, JP Morgan Chase.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Are they doing I mean, I'm so curious, like, are
you working with the school districts?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yes, we are, so a lot of us are working
with school districts, high school districts. We're also we're also
working in the colleges, so we're going on to college
campuses because this education is it's it's not just starting
at the at the bottom with our young people, it's
also our adults as well, because we have some of
our adults that would wish that they could teach this
to our children, to their children, but they just may
(16:28):
not know how. So definitely, we are in the high schools.
We are helping, we are trying to figure out ways
to make this one of the things that's you know,
in there. I met a gentleman at a round table
a couple of months back, and he talked about how
he just wanted this to be a part of the
curriculum for his high school students. And so I'm hoping
(16:49):
that it could be because just imagine if this was
actually you talked about, that is, if what if we
just would have had this education our junior years, senior
year to prepare us as we become adults with how
do we properly budget our money when you start working,
what to do with your paycheck, how to open a
bank account right sometime, to build credit, build credit?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
To me that was like the big one. I was like,
how do I even start that right?
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Right? And for me, I went out and got a
credit card and I said, oh.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
This is like Christmas, right, so get me started. I
wiped till I dropped you right.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And so it's like, how do we start to have
those uncomfortable conversations because money is an uncomfortable topic for
many people, and when you start to talk about money,
it gives people like, oh my goodness, like I don't
even want to go there. Let's not talk about it.
But it's it's JP Morgan Chase and all of our
community managers and our teams. You know, we're trying to
(17:44):
meet people where they are and we truly understand my
My one of our managers, she talks about this a lot.
She says, we do this work together, but how do
we lean into the communities that really really need us
to be able to teach this education? So we definitely
lean in and offer different things of support off for
different ways of supporting them.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
So I love that. That's wonderful news. That's that makes
me happy. I have three kids, three totally different groups,
so a middle schooler of that high school, and I
have a college I'm a student, my college student. Still
has not opened a credit card because she is so fearful,
but I've tried to talk her through.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
She is a big saver. I love that about her.
She's super good about it. She's paying for her college
so she she and I had worked a deal in
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
We've come up with a plan and she wanted to
be she wanted.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
To take charge of her college education. And I thought,
no problem, I will let you do that. Yeah, no,
I definitely.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
We've been supportive, but she really wanted to own that right.
So she's saving her money, and she's she's she's always
thinking about money though. She's always she's always like, Okay,
I don't want my checking account of all below this.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I want savings account to.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Be at this level, this, this, this, And I said,
you know, you probably should start.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Building a little bit of credit now.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You're responsible enough, you know, And we talked about like
the different ways to do that, because she's she doesn't
she doesn't have a car that's you know, it's being
paid for by her father. So she's like, I don't.
I can't build it that way. I can't you know,
these other little things. So I'm like, maybe we'll talk
about a credit card. What is your recommendation for a
young person to start building credit?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
So I think the first step is being able to
just get started, but asking a lot of questions. I
had a young person recently asked me, you know, kat
I want a credit card, but I am scared. And
part of that was because someone in this family scared aman.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Oh yeah right, and that happens they start telling you things.
Don't do it, don't do it, You're gonna get in trouble.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yes, yeah, yes, And so that fear sets in, and
so I tell them, you know, the first step is
just go into a bank and ask to speak to
a banker, no matter what bank it is, so ian
and asked to talk to them. They will give you
information about the credit cards, how they work in terms
of the interest rates, you know, how much you have
to pay back, and then obviously you would want to
have some type of working, some type of income to
(20:10):
be able to pay back. No, you can't what exactly
pay back what you owe because there's some questions that
they're going to need to ask you in order for
you to get that credit card. But I think the
first step is really just to learn you know about
how credit cards work before you get into them. And
it's hard, Like you said, when you hear don't do it,
don't do it, you know, it's okay, Well, let me
(20:30):
learn a little bit more behind this so that way
I can make a sound decision when it comes to
getting a credit card. I wish I would have listened
to that, because I found myself with this credit card
and before you, I think I had it for a month,
and I think the limit maybe was like five hundred bucks.
I think I maxed that thing out so quickly. I
said this is this is a gift, you know, and
(20:54):
and then the payment came right and I said, oh,
minimum payments thirty bucks.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I got that problem, no problem, I do, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But what I didn't know is is that the interest
that I was going to be paying. And so I
had to learn that. So I try to tell people, Okay,
when you get your first credit card, you want to
ask questions, right, you want to see how this credit
card works. You know, only get one, no one, don't
get multiple. I got all kinds. I got, you know,
this credit card, this store credit card. I was like
(21:26):
pulling them out, you know. So it's starting small, yes,
and balancing that piece of it first, but paying that
credit card off, not just paying the minimum, pay it off, yeah,
because you don't want it to kind of linger forever,
because eventually someone like me back in the day, I
just spent it all up and was bury playing the minimum,
(21:48):
and it took me years to pay things.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
To get it off. Yeah. Yeah, I remember.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
My first credit card was actually a Macy's credit card,
and I actually worked at Macy's. Okay, so the reason
I even had a credit card is because that was
how they gave you, your employee just count.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
That is how they get you.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
No, I was eighteen, yes, and I was I needed
work cloths, ok you know, so literally that was how
I was starting my credit history. And I do remember
my dad, though very very strongly in my ear, saying
you have to baby your credit. That would always be
what he was saying, you have to baby your credit.
And I think it's because he learned a lesson along
(22:25):
his way with my mom and him and you're getting
their house and doing all the things. You know, they
didn't have a lot of credit when they bought our
very first home, and he's like, I needed a co signer,
and I had, you know, and all of these things.
So he was teaching me that. I remember him teaching
me that very young. But I was like, baby, what
does that even mean? Right, like, baby my credit So
(22:45):
I had that credit card, and then I remember getting
like a second credit card that was a bank credit card.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I had my Macy's credit.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Card, which I eventually paid off once I stopped working there, and.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I was like, thank you, right right, because I would
have been trouble. I love Macy's way too much.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, and I got my bank credit card, which I
have to this day. Yes, and it's crazy to me
to think that, but that's because my dad told me
to baby my grid, so as I did, and I
would use it for those big, crazy things that would
hit us, and then we would not try to knock
(23:18):
it out, you know, and pay a little bit more
than the minimum and.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Just make it some month. You can't some right, you can't,
because life life's right. So it is.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
It's one of those things, and it is something we
all need to be talking to our kids about, and
we need people with really good knowledge like you to
be in there to help and guide that conversation, because
even as adults, we also have you know.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Questions absolutely, and those a lot of times when we're
in when I'm in workshops with our adult population, they're like,
you know, Kat, Like, one of the things that I
wish is that I just learned these things a long
time ago, and I said, hey, I hear you loud
and clear, but know this is that I'm here today
to help you move forward. Today is day one.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
That's right, Let's start moving.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Forward, right, because what you didn't know didn't break you, true, right,
It's okay, you're all right. You know you're still standing
and although you may not look what you've been through. Yeah, right,
you're still standing and you still can move forward. So
today's day one. Let's take it in baby steps. And
remember I'm not just I'm here at a workshop and
I'm gone. You'll have my contact information, You'll be able
(24:21):
to reach out to me to connect with my one
Chase partners so that way they can help you and
service you with other additional things, like we're just not
a one stop shop. We continue the conversations, we do
series so we can come back and answer questions so
we're always there for them.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I love that. Well, let's talk about budgeting, because that's
something I.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Think is scary.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yes, it's still scary to me.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Like, if I know I have a budget, I'm like, okay,
I don't want to hear.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Mess anything up.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
How can someone get started with creating a just as
a plan and sticking to it And what are some
steps that we can financially take to protect maybe are.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And things like that down the road.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Yeah, So I think when it comes to budgeting, it's
commit to tracking your expenses.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
A lot of times what happens is we may have
all kinds of things coming out of our accounts that
we're not aware of, like those subscriptions that we love
so much. Oh my god, you're right, and you may
not even be using them, right, And so it's let's
start by kind of pulling back the layers in terms
of what you've been spending, track it right, and then
look at what your expend with your money, what money
you have actually coming in every single month, and start
(25:29):
to kind of separate things a little bit. See what
you need, see what you don't need, look and see
where the money's actually been going, because you'll see like,
oh my god, that McDonald's was so good, that Chipotlee
was so good. Oh my god, that was only twenty bucks.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Right, and then at the end of the month they're like,
that was four hundred dollars exactly fast food exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
So if commit to tracking the things that you look
back at and you're like, oh, I probably didn't need that,
So go back and start to highlight things. I told
a young girl one day, I said, color codeed look
to see actually where things have went. And then there's
so many different types of budgeting apps out there, jpmore
can Chase has different things that you could use to
help you budget. Are these like free? They're free? Yes,
(26:09):
you can go online to Chase dot com and you
can find these things there. Some people can go back
old school. I know. That's how my dad said he
did things, is that he just had a pen of paper.
He just write it all down, or he was using
a checkbook. Now many people don't do that anymore. However,
you do have those ones that come through and say hey,
can I get a register? And we're like, where are
the registers?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I don't even know.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Where those are?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
But what is is that? You know?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
But it's really to commit to tracking those things. Writing
things down and budgets are hard. I mean let's just
be they're hard, but they're so critical, they're so important
for those emergencies that may come up when it comes
to loved ones. I think the other piece I would
add here is many people don't understand what like beneficiaries are,
(26:54):
and we talk about these in our workshops, is when
we open up bank accounts, a lot of times we
don't add people as beneficiaries on a bank account, and
it's important to be able to do that in the
event of an emergency, a loss of a loved one,
for them to be able to go in and take
yes and have access because oftentimes in my career I
(27:15):
would see someone come in, whether it was a spouse
or a child, come in and say, hey, my parents
had an account here, you know, and we can't really
give them any information. This is why you have to
have conversations, those uncomfortable conversations about, you know, losing someone.
It's being able to do that. I lost my brother
(27:35):
when he was nineteen. There were things that we didn't
even know, like we didn't prepare for that, you know,
like ever right, and it was one of those things
that it stunned us, you know, But there were no
beneficiaries it's having those conversations ahead of time, so that
way your family members can be able to go in
and assume what's going on and be able to be
(27:57):
guided by our team of experts to help them with
the next phase in trying to get the money. There
are apps.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Now, right that do the whole thing, where you can
find what subscriptions you have.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yes, I always see commercials for that.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I like, there's like apps I think you can do
where you can figure out all of those different subscriptions.
Maybe those are the first things that go right. What
do you see that people get rid of first? I mean,
just what have you seen, like in your time with people?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
You know what? I think what I've seen people try
to hold onto would be like Hulu, Netflix, Yes, but
then people find themselves with apps like if I like Canva. However,
some people don't use it all the time. They just
needed it temporarily. Yes, okay, so they signed up. Oh
good point, right, they signed up for the trial, and
(28:45):
then after the trial expire, then now they're getting hit
with a certain dollar amount. But they've never went back
and actually checked. And so it's go back. If you've
gotten trials for something and you didn't go back and
double check that you've actually canceled it before the trial.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Right, you know, yeah, those kind of things.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
There's a savings there.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
You know I told someone recently because they're like, oh, Cat,
I just love Starbucks so much. I can't do it.
You can't tell me to stop because I just don't please.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I love my Starbs. Don't let it star right, right?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
And then she said, here you come with this budget stuff,
you know. And so, but what she did say to
me was, it is something that I've struggled with. And
when I go back to pay certain bills, I look
back and sometimes I'm short on my bill because I've
spent X, Y and Z Starbucks. How did I get
myself into this? And I said, well, give yourself grace
(29:39):
because you just didn't know, right, And so how do
we move forward, you know, with helping you create a
budget that works best for you. How do we reduce
maybe that one Starbucks a week? Right, if you're doing
it five days, how do we take you back to
four days?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Yeah? Starts small, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So I love that. Let's talk about retirement. Okay, okay,
So here's my first question. I'm not even gonna look
at my question. I have questions, okay, but here's my
question now that I've been talking to you, Okay, when
should we start thinking about retirement. What is the age
or is it when you're in your first professional job
(30:18):
or what is your take on that?
Speaker 4 (30:20):
So for me, it's I got started right away and
that was because I had someone like a manager tell
me this is critically important. You need to get started.
If you haven't started yet, it doesn't mean that you're
behind the eight ball, that you're late. So I would say,
if you're in a job right now, working and they
have an opportunity for you to participate in their four
(30:42):
one K PAN or things like that, I would say,
get involved with that. I would also talk to an
expert about that as well. So go into your job,
ask your HR department. You can go into the bank
and ask questions to our one chase experts, so that
way they can help you and provide you with some
resources and tools to kind of get you started. But
retirement is everything. I'm excited. Actually my mom is retiring
(31:05):
this week. Oh yeah, excited, And I'm like, Mom, what
you gonna do?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Girl?
Speaker 4 (31:10):
And she's like, I don't know. You know, she's almost
she's almost nervous, you know, because.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Your whole life is your whole sometimes, right, like, this
is my work. I'm passionate about what I do. I
didn't think it was ever gonna end right, you know,
but here she is. But also such a proud moment.
My parents just retired. My dad just a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
During the pand I think it was right around there.
And he did not He was just like, I can't.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
Wait to start my life, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
He was that and and he worked really hard and
he really he was again the guy that was always
like baby, recredit all the things, and so he had
a plan and he built. He was building a house
for my mom and all of these beautiful, beautiful things.
And they are the happiest people I've ever seen in
my life right now they are living and I get that,
And I'm like, am I gonna get that?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Because it's a big question, you know, there's always so
much complexity to the thinking.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Am I gonna have enough money?
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Right? I do have before one k? Yeah, am I?
But but is it going to be enough?
Speaker 4 (32:12):
You know?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
So starting early is probably the key. And knowing that.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
And knowing that starting early and knowing that. I think
even learning from my mom as she's gone through this
journey because I've been watching her with preparing for her retirement,
is she started to kind of plan out, like how
it was all going to happen five years ago, and
whether it was getting her cars paid off, and you know, sacrifice,
making sacrifices for certain things. And sometimes we have to
(32:39):
do that. You know, someone told me one day, you know,
a cat, you have to act your wage. He said, ooh,
that's good.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
That is I'm writing that down.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
And I stopped and I said, oh, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
That is classic great.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
And I said that a wage he goes because oftentimes
what can happen is we may have friends that say,
oh let's go here, let's do that, let's spend this,
let's been that. But if it's not within your means,
then maybe you shouldn't do it right right, And so
acting your wage. And so I've seen my mom act
her wage. Although she loves to shop, okay, I will
(33:17):
say that, but she budgets out for those ways.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
She knows what she loves.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
She knows what she loves. And now that she's here
for retirement, she sat down with me, and she's like, cat,
guess what, you know, my car's gonna be paid off
in about six months. You know, I put a little
bit extra. So when she got a little bit of
a bonus, I believe last year, she was like, I
put that money aside and put it towards what was important,
which is to putting more to on my car to
reduce the interests. Right, And so I said, great, mom,
(33:44):
I'm excited for a So now she's ready to retire,
and she's going to be comfortable with retiring, and so
I'm excited for her. I'm excited for all the things.
And I'm here for her to even do those things
with her, because she will reach out to me and say, well,
what are your thoughts and what are you think?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I always feel like so.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
We even with like my children, and now my daughter
has a job and she actually has two jobs, and
you know, with her saving and situation, I told her,
you know, I go, we should start talking about like
where you're going to put that savings, right, because there's
there's plans in place, right, so tell me a little
bit about those.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
So I would say, for for this conversation in terms
of like planing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Youth and young.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
Yeah, so I would encourage someone who's looking to do
more with their savings to maybe talk to someone in
a branch, Like I said, it doesn't have to be
JPMorgan Changes. It can be wherever they bank right now,
specifically with maybe a financial advisor, to talk about how
they can make their money work for them, you know,
over time. So being able to sit down and have
that conversation with them, so that way they can give
you or open the lens to what your money can
(34:48):
do when you do other things with it besides your retirement.
And so although we may not have all the answers
or I may not have all the answers to them
because a lot of times in our workshops there's specific
products that we do do get to talk about, but
we know and we have connections to our one chase
experts and they will be able to give you all
that information.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Beautiful. Yes, yeah, it's one of those topics.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
It's you know, when you're a young kid, you're like,
I'm not thinking about retiring because that's like forty.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Fifty years away.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yes, it feels like the end of your life, but
it's really not, you know, it's really and if you
do it right. It could be in a very younger
part of your life, absolutely, you know. I mean were
people are living to such long, beautiful you know ages
now looking at it like that and thinking, you know,
by sixty you.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Could be there. Or you buy fifty five, you could
be there.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Just let's talk about all of those things. And again,
I think communication is probably.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
The key, right, Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yeah, absolutely, So talking about retirement, talking about finding ways
to stay within your budget. I mean those are all
things that are going to eventually build your financial wellness
and your well being.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
Yes, absolutely, to your motto, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
With will budgeting or eliminating debt help improve a credit score?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
So budgeting absolutely will help. The second part to your question,
can you ask that again.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Or eliminating debt, Yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Eliminating this absolutely, that would help the credit score number,
hands down, that's going to help.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
However, there is a such thing as good debt and
bad debt, right, and so when you think about good debt.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Talk about that because I think that's super important for
people to understand.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Yes, So when it comes to good debt, some of
the things we talk about in our workshop is buying
a home. That's great dead right, great debt, good debt right?
It is it is something that because it belongs to you,
it's yours right. And so when we think about bad debt,
it's you know, a ton of credit cards that you
have that you maxed out and things like that. But
when you can reduce the amount of debt that you have,
(36:51):
that's when you're going to see that credit score incrementally
start to increase over time. We live in a we
live in a space now we want instantaneous gratification when
it comes to things, but we really have to be
patient when it comes to our credit score. Our credit
is our life. The things that you want in life
(37:12):
you have to have good credit for. So whether that
is buying a car, renting an apartment, sometimes you need credit.
They run your credit right, just getting the things that
you want. When you want to buy your first home,
which we love to talk about when it comes to
our workshops and we have like our first time home
buy our workshops, you know, we talk about that, you know,
and credit is the first piece that we touch on.
(37:33):
And many times we'll have people say, oh my god,
like my credit is just not where you know, I
want it to be. We try to encourage people also
to pull their entire credit report. You can get your
free credit report once a year, the entire report for FREUD.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yes, so you can go to Annual Credit Report dot Com.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
And get that and it doesn't ding your credit to
pull your credit when you do it like that, it
does not because that's another thing that they tell you
right like, oh, well, you know if we pull your
credit and it's going to show that we pulled your credit,
and it's like, oh well, then don't pull my credit.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
I don't know exactly. So I think this part of
it is when when you actually go and you do
it yourself, when you go to Annual Credit Report dot Com,
which who we partner with, so that way you can
actually see your credit report. You can then have an
idea of actually what's on your credit report. And oftentimes
people find things on there that are certain errors that
are on the credit report that they may never even
(38:26):
noticed that we're even there. But when someone else runs
your credit, that is when you have those hard inquiries.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Okay, okay, So this is.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
When you go buy a car, when you apply for
a credit card and things like that, or you apply
for your first apartment, you know you are going to hit,
you have a ding that you're going to have happened
when it comes to that heart.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
How does that affect your credit when you have those inquiries?
Speaker 4 (38:50):
Yes, So those credit inquiries usually stay on your credit
report for up to a year, falls off after two years,
and you can see sometimes from ten to twenty points.
It just depends, you know, when it comes to those
points on your credit on your credit score for your
credit cards using But eventually you will get those points back.
And so when people actually one of the questions, I
(39:12):
would say, let me back up a little bit, is
someone just asking this question because they want to buy
a car. Okay, So you're like, kat, I want to
buy a car, but I'm really afraid that my credit
score is going to drop and it's in a good
place right now. And I said, well, this is a
good debt for you, right like you need a car,
this is something that you're really serious about. You're going
to take care. You're going to make your payments on time,
(39:35):
you know, which is forty percent of your credit score
is paying things on time. And so I said, as
you do that, you will receive those points back with time.
But don't miss a payment. Yeah, you know, that's critically
important it is to not miss a payment because that
is forty percent of your credit score.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
So fascinating that it's gosh, it feels like what everybody
worries about the most when it comes to their find answers.
It's like, I want to build credit, but I'm afraid
to build credit because it pulls your credit and it's.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Like a strange little hurcle.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
But realistically, those inquiries are not as devastating as like say,
missing a payment correct or things like that, and they
do eventually come back and you can rebound and you
can show that you are being.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
A good person. Yes, what's the word?
Speaker 1 (40:23):
What's there's what's a good credit or a good credit?
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Ee?
Speaker 4 (40:27):
I would say too, is even with the inquiry? Yeah yeah,
talk about a person who's you know, really been working
on their credit worthiness. I would say, is that you
also want to avoid too many inquiries, okay, because what
could happen is is that you're also going to see
to where you start to reduce and lose points as well.
Over time, it may make it a little bit more
harder to get back to where you want to be
(40:49):
because the more you know, a hit you have to
your actual credit report is it starts to hurt you.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
So so essentially for someone who may not understand and credit,
you need credit, and the reason you need credit is
so you can make those big purchases in your life, right,
so that you can get your house, your.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
First time home.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And what you're showing on your credit report to maybe
a mortgage company is that you are responsible, you are trustworthy,
You are trustworthy. You're not going to be frivolous with
your credit. Correct, You're not trying to open Victoria's secret.
And this and may season all that you know, all
of the different credit cards out there which will take
(41:33):
away some of that money that could be going towards
a mortgage payment.
Speaker 4 (41:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yes, So I mean that's that's essentially why we need
to be careful and baby our credit and those kinds
of things. Yes, well, this is also fascinating. I am
so glad that you have been here because this has
been really really informative.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Even to me.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
And and it makes it less scary, Yes, it really
makes it less scary when you know, okay, there can
be a way if you.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Are in debt right now, there's a way out of it.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
There is a way out of it, absolutely, and it
is about making sure you have all of those ducks
in row and your budgets and all of those things.
So let's talk about the three final things before I
let you go.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That you feel like people should really take.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Away from this conversation the three key takeaways.
Speaker 4 (42:18):
I think the three key takeaways that someone can take
away from today's show is that it's never too late
to get started. You can start today. Start with tracking
those expenses, you know, look at what you got on
your mobile apps or your bank statements, whatever you're comfortable with,
to see where your money is going. I would also
(42:39):
say too, when you get ready to start your budget,
take your time and really try to commit to it
and know that you may fall short sometimes, but that's okay, right,
And I think the last point I would say when
it comes to someone who maybe is in debt right
now and feeling, you know, the heaviness of that is
that you are going through something right now. Like I
(43:00):
call seasons, This is a season that will pass, and
so when you start to create habits, you can make
a difference by taking those small increment changes and save
the money when you can, but don't beat yourself up.
You will get through this. Yeah. Yeah, oh I.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Love that, Cather, Thank you so much. Cat, I forgot
we're friends yet. Yes, that was beautifully said. I think
this is going to help a lot of people. I
hope that you continue to, you know, give the education.
I love that you're doing that. Yes, I love that
j JP Morgan Chase also gives that, you know, the
opportunity to have these type of employees that do this
(43:45):
service for the community, because it really is a vital
service to the to the to the Inland Empire and
the High Desert and beyond. So thank you so very
much for your time get out there and talk to
our kids some more.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I love that we're looking forward to it, and thank
you so very much for being here.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
It's been a pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Evelyn M.
Hello, Welcome back to Covering Your Health with Evelanie Revez,
presented by IEHP.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
So happy to have you here today.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I am very excited about this next topic because I
have tons of questions.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
For our guest today. We are just two months now into.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
The new year, and what better way to really get
ourselves on track with our health than by focusing on
our financial well being. I know, finances, right, Okay, we
all get a little anxious. So when we start talking
about things like this, But today we welcome Catherine had
Not to the Covering your Health family, and you're just
(00:36):
going to love her, I know it. We're going to
talk about all things money matters, from the importance of
finding the right debt solutions to creating a financial.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Budget, oh the B word.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
As a community manager with JP Morgan Chase, Catherine has
really traveled across.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
All regions of the ie and the High.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Desert specifically to help educate the public about financial wellness
by attending public events, setting up one on one conversations
to help people like me set a foundation for a
strong financial future. You're gonna love this.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Money is time, so let's get started.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Welcome to Covering Your Health A wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:37):
podcast is presented by i EhP. Now your host Evelina Revez.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
All right, well, let's get started. Hello Catherine, thank you
so much for being here.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
Absolutely well, hello to you too. Is so exciting to
be here.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I am so glad that you're here.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
I've been wanting to talk about this particular topic for
quite some time.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm glad we're getting to it on season two.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
But before we do talk about all the things financial,
wellness and all of that, I want to know about you.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
What was your passion as a child that landed you here?
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So it's funny enough, Evelyn, is that I kind of
stumbled into banking. So growing up, I want to be
a professional dancer, So okay, I've wanted to go in
terms of my career, and I was able to get
to that level. Ruptured my achilles tendon right when I
got to a point to where okay, you've made it girl,
(02:30):
but no, no, yes.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
That could be a whole nother podcast, whole nother one.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
However, So I actually had a friend of mine toeld me,
you know, you should get into banking. It's a great career.
So I looked into it and found an opportunity that
was close to home for me as I was healing.
And then I started working at Washington Mutchual who then
you know, converted to JP Morgan Chase.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Okay, yes, and that was how many years ago?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
That was now this year? Sixteen years ago?
Speaker 3 (03:00):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Okay, So let me ask you about that transition, because
that's a very different world.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Absolutely, do they connect in any way?
Speaker 4 (03:09):
They do? Okay, they connect a lot because being on
stage dancing and then being on stage in the banking
world as well. You know, when we serve, when I
served on the teller line, you know, you're the front line,
so customers, you're the first person that they see when
they walk in. You're greeting them with a smile, You're
thinking them. They want to feel like where they're putting
(03:29):
their money, they can trust you. Yeah, And so I
think that goes to my dancing career as well. If
you're dancing with someone, they want to trust that you're
hitting every move right.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Oh yeah, absolutely, we.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Also want to do the same thing when we're helping
our clients.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I had a feeling there was a connection. My daughter's
a dancer too, and it's her dream right to like
dance and teach dance and do all of the things.
But I keep telling her we're gonna have backup plans. Absolutely,
you gotta have backup plan. You have to, yeah, because
you just never know, and it is a very body
or oriented career where you you know, things change all
the time. So I'm so glad that you found your
(04:03):
next path. Yes, and you're so passionate about it.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
I am.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
So let's talk about some of that.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
You began your career at JP Morgan Chase, that was
back in two thousand or early two thousand and nine, two.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yes, And as a community manager, how do you support
the financial education side of that?
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Yes, So I get an opportunity to support an entire community.
So my area that I cover specifically right now is
the High Desert community. Okay, So there are one hundred
and fifty community managers that do this special incredible work
seventeen specifically, and so cow so from Ie to La
(04:44):
to oc to San Diego. We have a strong team
that does the same exact work. And so with my
community specifically, I get to go out boots on the
ground and deliver this education. It is truly a labor
of love to be able to help grow and scale
in terms of our business owners, our consumers. We just
get to do a lot of great work out in
(05:06):
the field.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Nice, So tell me what that is. I mean, what
does this education consist of?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Yes, so, the education that we bring forth to our
communities is around budgeting techniques, saving goals, how to commit
to tracking their expenses, credit debt management. Oh, I know they're.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Getting I'm gonna start shaking. Trust me. I know.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
It's one of the stories I actually share when I'm
out in the community. I always start off telling my
participants I'm going to be very transparent throughout this workshop.
It's not going to be a cook cookie cutter workshop.
I'm going to keep it real with you from the
beginning that my finances also were not where they needed
to be. At one point, I struggled right and there
was learning, lots of learning and education over time that
(05:54):
I had to learn, and so I tried to pour
those things back into them and share some of the
things that you know, I did, or the mistakes that
I made, or just the knowledge that my mom tried
to give me. Yeah, but because I was so I'm grown,
Oh yeah, you know what I'm doing, you know. So
I think that that was the true learning for me
(06:15):
after a while. So I try to just give that
back to them.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
I feel like with the education of financial wellness, really
that should be a high school course or a middle
school course absolutely, which we're not teaching. We're not teaching
it at all. And I remember going through high school
and getting to that. I think it was my senior
year when they finally do econs.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yes, and senior year, I already have a job, right right,
Like I should have. I should have been learning about
all this exact and then it's only like half the
year they teach it, and it doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
It's really stuff that you don't It's like stocks and things.
You're like, I don't. I am eighteen, I'm seventy exactly
at stocks.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Yet right right, I'm just trying to get to the
basics of yes, I do with this paycheck?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
How do I budget this?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
So I have guess money in school money and all
of the different things.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, oh, I know. Education is just so key. So
you live by a very cool motto, which I really like.
When your finances are well, you are well.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yes, So what are some of those common questions that
you have kind of seen across your job while doing
this education?
Speaker 4 (07:20):
I think most of the common questions that I personally
see when I'm out in the field is, you know,
is this truly even possible?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
You know, other than I get financially well.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
I cannot get financially well, and what does that truly mean?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:33):
And so I share with them that there was a
time that I was severely in debt and that during
that time, as you can imagine, my stress levels were up. Yeah,
I wasn't feeling well, you know, because it was how
could I get myself into this? But how do I
get myself out of this? So much harder? Right?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So much harder, much harder?
Speaker 3 (07:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Even with credit? You know, it's many times people are like, well,
you know, I lost ten points and all I got
was two points? How does that work?
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Right?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
It's like I take ten steps back to go two
steps forward. But it's it's a game of inches, right,
and so you have to think of it in a way,
is that you're it's a work in progress and it
takes time, but you have to commit to it. But
how do you commit to that? It's taking small, actionable
steps to be able to get you to where you
are well. And so for me that you know when
(08:23):
your finances are well, you are well, I think it's
everything right.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
It's going to say the peace of mind, right, mind, yeaholdly,
I definitely feel better when I'm not thinking about debt, right.
And that's and that's such a big topic, especially right
now in the world we live in where everything is
so expensive and budgeting is something people are still kind
of foreign to.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I feel like in a lot of cases.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yes, So what are the big questions that you get
asked while you're doing your education workshops and things like that.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
So some of the questions that we're asked, or I'm
asked specifically, is around, Okay, so I want to create
a budget that works best for me, but.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
How do I do that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Or I only have limited income, how am I able
to budget? I'm not in a position to budget, so
what we try to do is we try to break
things down into what we call smart goals. And so
with smart goals, we really try to hone in on
taking things one step at a time, and so I
think a lot of times we start thinking about everything
(09:24):
all at once. That's natural, right, and so it's a
it is am right. But when you can start to
peel the layers back one layer at a time and
create that small goal and get really specific about what
it is that you're trying to achieve, it is definitely
something that is achievable. But one of the things I
also share with them is that I've been to a
(09:44):
point where I've created my own smart goal and I've
got to the end of that smart goal and I'm like,
oh my god, I didn't make it. Here's the beautiful thing.
It's your goal, and so you can hit the reset
button and start over or create something different that works
best for you. We teach ourselves a lot of times
as we go through the process with our smart goal,
and you could say, hey, this didn't work this time,
(10:06):
but let me tweak a couple things and maybe this
may work better.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Just go around, because life happens, life is life, Life
be life in.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
It's just it's just wild like that.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I think, you know, my husband and I and we
we could go on and on about this. Over the
course of our marriage, you know, had different goals, right
Like we started with like, oh, we're fine, we're going
to figure this.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Next step out and we'll go from there.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And then it's like, oh baby, oh a hospital bill
uh huh that we didn't know was going to hit
us that hard exactly, things like.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
That, and it just it it adds, it adds, and
it does feel overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
But you're right, so small actionable steps and goals, yes,
to make that happen. What are some of the misconceptions
that you see people talk about with you.
Speaker 4 (10:53):
Some of the misconceptions is around generational wealth. We hear
people talk about like what does that even mean? Or
or you know, being able to say that, you know,
only rich people can save. We hear that, or you know,
I don't think budgeting is even possible when I have
so many different competing priorities up against me. And so
I think it's important to you know, be able to
(11:16):
talk through those things, especially when it comes to saving
for emergencies. You know, as we all see, you know,
the devastations of what's happened, you know, with the fires,
and it could be with an earthquake or whatever else
could happen. It's you know, you know, start now and
kind of work through those things. You know. My heart
just I can't even begin to go into that because
(11:39):
I'm thinking, like, how do they how are they feeling?
How do we help?
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Where do they start?
Speaker 4 (11:43):
Where do they start?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
That? That's the big question.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And we did a couple of episodes about that, and
and that is one of the things. It's did I
have money for an emergency like this? I have nothing now,
and what do I do?
Speaker 4 (11:56):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Now do I go into debt right now? Do I
use the credit card the emergency credit card?
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, yeah, And I could see that now.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
The generational wealth question, and it always is something I
feel like that is a newer thought process or a
thought right to people. And I think it has to
do with celebrity. Okay, I think we're seeing these influencers
of the world right and we're seeing the Kardashian We're
seeing all of this, and we're you know, all these
(12:25):
people that they're like, oh, we're self made.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
They're not and have self made.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
We all know the backstory, and so that feels hard
to compete with when you're a regular person living in
the ie and you are just like, I don't have
those parents, I didn't grow up in that city. I
have different opportunities afforded to me than those that you
were given. Yes, so what do you tell people? I mean,
(12:53):
how do you bring them to It's okay and you
can still get.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
There absolutely, So I think what I start with a
lot of times is, well, let's have the conversation about
generational wealth and what it actually means, right, and it
is to be able to have things and be able
to pass down, you know, to our children and then
our children passed down to their children. But I think
it's more, you know, the education piece, like how do
we even do that right? And it starts with having
(13:18):
those conversations very very early. You mentioned earlier in the
conversation around like we don't have these conversations in high school, right,
but we are actively working to be able to do that,
and a lot of our communities we actually are going
into the high schools and we're having those conversations because
we believe that it's critically important to start to talk
about what generational wealth is and being able to pass
(13:40):
down to our children and our children passed down to
their children, you know. So I think that that's kind
of where we've been living. I had a superintendent told
me one day when I was asking him about teaching
in his schools, and he goes, you know, Kat, he
calls me cat by the way, Yeah, so everyone calls
me cat cat. So he said, you know what, cat,
he goes when it comes to generational wealth. I heard
(14:02):
you ask someone do you want to be rich or
do you want to be wealthy? And I had some students.
I had one student out of sixty students raise his
hand and said he wanted to be wealthy. And part
of that was because his grandfather talked to him about wealth.
But if you think about that, that was fifty nine
kids in that classroom that had never heard of the word.
(14:24):
And so, how do we get in front of those
things now and educate them on things or educate them
what's possible because although you may not have all the
things that you see on social media, because we know
our young adult population, they are actively involved in the
tiktoks and all those different dads. So how do we
(14:46):
help them understand that anything is possible. But the education
that we're going to bring forth to them will help
them start somewhere.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
You gotta learn, got to learn. You gotta learn that
if you don't learn, you can't grow.
Speaker 4 (14:59):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
It's funny you may you may know him. He's in
the high Desert, Arce Stone.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Yes, a great friend. You know he talked.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
We've talked about his comments before in the past. Is
so many of students and so many young people, inner city,
young people people here in the I E. Don't see examples.
They don't see the examples of what it is like
to be successful. They don't see the examples except for
(15:28):
the celebrity ones, right, and then those look like, well
then I have to be famous, I have.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
To do X, y Z bad things.
Speaker 1 (15:37):
Right, But they don't see those examples because so many
of the people who become successful from those worlds.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
So it has to start in those classrooms. It has
to start in those places where everybody is on a
level playing field in the classroom.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
You know, JP Morgan Chase.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Are they doing I mean, I'm so curious, like, are
you working with the school districts?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yes, we are, so a lot of us are working
with school districts, high school districts. We're also we're also
working in the colleges, so we're going on to college
campuses because this education is it's it's not just starting
at the at the bottom with our young people, it's
also our adults as well, because we have some of
our adults that would wish that they could teach this
to our children, to their children, but they just may
(16:28):
not know how. So definitely, we are in the high schools.
We are helping, we are trying to figure out ways
to make this one of the things that's you know,
in there. I met a gentleman at a round table
a couple of months back, and he talked about how
he just wanted this to be a part of the
curriculum for his high school students. And so I'm hoping
(16:49):
that it could be because just imagine if this was
actually you talked about, that is, if what if we
just would have had this education our junior years, senior
year to prepare us as we become adults with how
do we properly budget our money when you start working,
what to do with your paycheck, how to open a
bank account right sometime, to build credit, build credit?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
To me that was like the big one. I was like,
how do I even start that right?
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Right? And for me, I went out and got a
credit card and I said, oh.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
This is like Christmas, right, so get me started. I
wiped till I dropped you right.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
And so it's like, how do we start to have
those uncomfortable conversations because money is an uncomfortable topic for
many people, and when you start to talk about money,
it gives people like, oh my goodness, like I don't
even want to go there. Let's not talk about it.
But it's it's JP Morgan Chase and all of our
community managers and our teams. You know, we're trying to
(17:44):
meet people where they are and we truly understand my
My one of our managers, she talks about this a lot.
She says, we do this work together, but how do
we lean into the communities that really really need us
to be able to teach this education? So we definitely
lean in and offer different things of support off for
different ways of supporting them.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
So I love that. That's wonderful news. That's that makes
me happy. I have three kids, three totally different groups,
so a middle schooler of that high school, and I
have a college I'm a student, my college student. Still
has not opened a credit card because she is so fearful,
but I've tried to talk her through.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
She is a big saver. I love that about her.
She's super good about it. She's paying for her college
so she she and I had worked a deal in
the beginning.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
We've come up with a plan and she wanted to
be she wanted.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
To take charge of her college education. And I thought,
no problem, I will let you do that. Yeah, no,
I definitely.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
We've been supportive, but she really wanted to own that right.
So she's saving her money, and she's she's she's always
thinking about money though. She's always she's always like, Okay,
I don't want my checking account of all below this.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
I want savings account to.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Be at this level, this, this, this, And I said,
you know, you probably should start.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Building a little bit of credit now.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
You're responsible enough, you know, And we talked about like
the different ways to do that, because she's she doesn't
she doesn't have a car that's you know, it's being
paid for by her father. So she's like, I don't.
I can't build it that way. I can't you know,
these other little things. So I'm like, maybe we'll talk
about a credit card. What is your recommendation for a
young person to start building credit?
Speaker 4 (19:29):
So I think the first step is being able to
just get started, but asking a lot of questions. I
had a young person recently asked me, you know, kat
I want a credit card, but I am scared. And
part of that was because someone in this family scared aman.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Oh yeah right, and that happens they start telling you things.
Don't do it, don't do it, You're gonna get in trouble.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
Yes, yeah, yes, And so that fear sets in, and
so I tell them, you know, the first step is
just go into a bank and ask to speak to
a banker, no matter what bank it is, so ian
and asked to talk to them. They will give you
information about the credit cards, how they work in terms
of the interest rates, you know, how much you have
to pay back, and then obviously you would want to
have some type of working, some type of income to
(20:10):
be able to pay back. No, you can't what exactly
pay back what you owe because there's some questions that
they're going to need to ask you in order for
you to get that credit card. But I think the
first step is really just to learn you know about
how credit cards work before you get into them. And
it's hard, Like you said, when you hear don't do it,
don't do it, you know, it's okay, Well, let me
(20:30):
learn a little bit more behind this so that way
I can make a sound decision when it comes to
getting a credit card. I wish I would have listened
to that, because I found myself with this credit card
and before you, I think I had it for a month,
and I think the limit maybe was like five hundred bucks.
I think I maxed that thing out so quickly. I
said this is this is a gift, you know, and
(20:54):
and then the payment came right and I said, oh,
minimum payments thirty bucks.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
I got that problem, no problem, I do, you know.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But what I didn't know is is that the interest
that I was going to be paying. And so I
had to learn that. So I try to tell people, Okay,
when you get your first credit card, you want to
ask questions, right, you want to see how this credit
card works. You know, only get one, no one, don't
get multiple. I got all kinds. I got, you know,
this credit card, this store credit card. I was like
(21:26):
pulling them out, you know. So it's starting small, yes,
and balancing that piece of it first, but paying that
credit card off, not just paying the minimum, pay it off, yeah,
because you don't want it to kind of linger forever,
because eventually someone like me back in the day, I
just spent it all up and was bury playing the minimum,
(21:48):
and it took me years to pay things.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
To get it off. Yeah. Yeah, I remember.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
My first credit card was actually a Macy's credit card,
and I actually worked at Macy's. Okay, so the reason
I even had a credit card is because that was
how they gave you, your employee just count.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
That is how they get you.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
No, I was eighteen, yes, and I was I needed
work cloths, ok you know, so literally that was how
I was starting my credit history. And I do remember
my dad, though very very strongly in my ear, saying
you have to baby your credit. That would always be
what he was saying, you have to baby your credit.
And I think it's because he learned a lesson along
(22:25):
his way with my mom and him and you're getting
their house and doing all the things. You know, they
didn't have a lot of credit when they bought our
very first home, and he's like, I needed a co signer,
and I had, you know, and all of these things.
So he was teaching me that. I remember him teaching
me that very young. But I was like, baby, what
does that even mean? Right, like, baby my credit So
(22:45):
I had that credit card, and then I remember getting
like a second credit card that was a bank credit card.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
I had my Macy's credit.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Card, which I eventually paid off once I stopped working there, and.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I was like, thank you, right right, because I would
have been trouble. I love Macy's way too much.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
Yeah, and I got my bank credit card, which I
have to this day. Yes, and it's crazy to me
to think that, but that's because my dad told me
to baby my grid, so as I did, and I
would use it for those big, crazy things that would
hit us, and then we would not try to knock
(23:18):
it out, you know, and pay a little bit more
than the minimum and.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Just make it some month. You can't some right, you can't,
because life life's right. So it is.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
It's one of those things, and it is something we
all need to be talking to our kids about, and
we need people with really good knowledge like you to
be in there to help and guide that conversation, because
even as adults, we also have you know.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
Questions absolutely, and those a lot of times when we're
in when I'm in workshops with our adult population, they're like,
you know, Kat, Like, one of the things that I
wish is that I just learned these things a long
time ago, and I said, hey, I hear you loud
and clear, but know this is that I'm here today
to help you move forward. Today is day one.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
That's right, Let's start moving.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
Forward, right, because what you didn't know didn't break you, true, right,
It's okay, you're all right. You know you're still standing
and although you may not look what you've been through. Yeah, right,
you're still standing and you still can move forward. So
today's day one. Let's take it in baby steps. And
remember I'm not just I'm here at a workshop and
I'm gone. You'll have my contact information, You'll be able
(24:21):
to reach out to me to connect with my one
Chase partners so that way they can help you and
service you with other additional things, like we're just not
a one stop shop. We continue the conversations, we do
series so we can come back and answer questions so
we're always there for them.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
I love that. Well, let's talk about budgeting, because that's
something I.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
Think is scary.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yes, it's still scary to me.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Like, if I know I have a budget, I'm like, okay,
I don't want to hear.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Mess anything up.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
How can someone get started with creating a just as
a plan and sticking to it And what are some
steps that we can financially take to protect maybe are.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
And things like that down the road.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Yeah, So I think when it comes to budgeting, it's
commit to tracking your expenses.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
A lot of times what happens is we may have
all kinds of things coming out of our accounts that
we're not aware of, like those subscriptions that we love
so much. Oh my god, you're right, and you may
not even be using them, right, And so it's let's
start by kind of pulling back the layers in terms
of what you've been spending, track it right, and then
look at what your expend with your money, what money
you have actually coming in every single month, and start
(25:29):
to kind of separate things a little bit. See what
you need, see what you don't need, look and see
where the money's actually been going, because you'll see like,
oh my god, that McDonald's was so good, that Chipotlee
was so good. Oh my god, that was only twenty bucks.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Right, and then at the end of the month they're like,
that was four hundred dollars exactly fast food exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
So if commit to tracking the things that you look
back at and you're like, oh, I probably didn't need that,
So go back and start to highlight things. I told
a young girl one day, I said, color codeed look
to see actually where things have went. And then there's
so many different types of budgeting apps out there, jpmore
can Chase has different things that you could use to
help you budget. Are these like free? They're free? Yes,
(26:09):
you can go online to Chase dot com and you
can find these things there. Some people can go back
old school. I know. That's how my dad said he
did things, is that he just had a pen of paper.
He just write it all down, or he was using
a checkbook. Now many people don't do that anymore. However,
you do have those ones that come through and say hey,
can I get a register? And we're like, where are
the registers?
Speaker 3 (26:29):
I don't even know.
Speaker 4 (26:30):
Where those are?
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Right?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
But what is is that? You know?
Speaker 4 (26:33):
But it's really to commit to tracking those things. Writing
things down and budgets are hard. I mean let's just
be they're hard, but they're so critical, they're so important
for those emergencies that may come up when it comes
to loved ones. I think the other piece I would
add here is many people don't understand what like beneficiaries are,
(26:54):
and we talk about these in our workshops, is when
we open up bank accounts, a lot of times we
don't add people as beneficiaries on a bank account, and
it's important to be able to do that in the
event of an emergency, a loss of a loved one,
for them to be able to go in and take
yes and have access because oftentimes in my career I
(27:15):
would see someone come in, whether it was a spouse
or a child, come in and say, hey, my parents
had an account here, you know, and we can't really
give them any information. This is why you have to
have conversations, those uncomfortable conversations about, you know, losing someone.
It's being able to do that. I lost my brother
(27:35):
when he was nineteen. There were things that we didn't
even know, like we didn't prepare for that, you know,
like ever right, and it was one of those things
that it stunned us, you know, But there were no
beneficiaries it's having those conversations ahead of time, so that
way your family members can be able to go in
and assume what's going on and be able to be
(27:57):
guided by our team of experts to help them with
the next phase in trying to get the money. There
are apps.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Now, right that do the whole thing, where you can
find what subscriptions you have.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
Yes, I always see commercials for that.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
I like, there's like apps I think you can do
where you can figure out all of those different subscriptions.
Maybe those are the first things that go right. What
do you see that people get rid of first? I mean,
just what have you seen, like in your time with people?
Speaker 4 (28:23):
You know what? I think what I've seen people try
to hold onto would be like Hulu, Netflix, Yes, but
then people find themselves with apps like if I like Canva. However,
some people don't use it all the time. They just
needed it temporarily. Yes, okay, so they signed up. Oh
good point, right, they signed up for the trial, and
(28:45):
then after the trial expire, then now they're getting hit
with a certain dollar amount. But they've never went back
and actually checked. And so it's go back. If you've
gotten trials for something and you didn't go back and
double check that you've actually canceled it before the trial.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Right, you know, yeah, those kind of things.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
There's a savings there.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
You know I told someone recently because they're like, oh, Cat,
I just love Starbucks so much. I can't do it.
You can't tell me to stop because I just don't please.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
I love my Starbs. Don't let it star right, right?
Speaker 4 (29:17):
And then she said, here you come with this budget stuff,
you know. And so, but what she did say to
me was, it is something that I've struggled with. And
when I go back to pay certain bills, I look
back and sometimes I'm short on my bill because I've
spent X, Y and Z Starbucks. How did I get
myself into this? And I said, well, give yourself grace
(29:39):
because you just didn't know, right, And so how do
we move forward, you know, with helping you create a
budget that works best for you. How do we reduce
maybe that one Starbucks a week? Right, if you're doing
it five days, how do we take you back to
four days?
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Right?
Speaker 4 (29:54):
Yeah? Starts small, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
So I love that. Let's talk about retirement. Okay, okay,
So here's my first question. I'm not even gonna look
at my question. I have questions, okay, but here's my
question now that I've been talking to you, Okay, when
should we start thinking about retirement. What is the age
or is it when you're in your first professional job
(30:18):
or what is your take on that?
Speaker 4 (30:20):
So for me, it's I got started right away and
that was because I had someone like a manager tell
me this is critically important. You need to get started.
If you haven't started yet, it doesn't mean that you're
behind the eight ball, that you're late. So I would say,
if you're in a job right now, working and they
have an opportunity for you to participate in their four
(30:42):
one K PAN or things like that, I would say,
get involved with that. I would also talk to an
expert about that as well. So go into your job,
ask your HR department. You can go into the bank
and ask questions to our one chase experts, so that
way they can help you and provide you with some
resources and tools to kind of get you started. But
retirement is everything. I'm excited. Actually my mom is retiring
(31:05):
this week. Oh yeah, excited, And I'm like, Mom, what
you gonna do?
Speaker 2 (31:09):
Girl?
Speaker 4 (31:10):
And she's like, I don't know. You know, she's almost
she's almost nervous, you know, because.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
Your whole life is your whole sometimes, right, like, this
is my work. I'm passionate about what I do. I
didn't think it was ever gonna end right, you know,
but here she is. But also such a proud moment.
My parents just retired. My dad just a couple of
years ago.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
During the pand I think it was right around there.
And he did not He was just like, I can't.
Speaker 4 (31:38):
Wait to start my life, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
He was that and and he worked really hard and
he really he was again the guy that was always
like baby, recredit all the things, and so he had
a plan and he built. He was building a house
for my mom and all of these beautiful, beautiful things.
And they are the happiest people I've ever seen in
my life right now they are living and I get that,
And I'm like, am I gonna get that?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (32:02):
Because it's a big question, you know, there's always so
much complexity to the thinking.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Am I gonna have enough money?
Speaker 1 (32:08):
Right? I do have before one k? Yeah, am I?
But but is it going to be enough?
Speaker 4 (32:12):
You know?
Speaker 2 (32:13):
So starting early is probably the key. And knowing that.
Speaker 4 (32:17):
And knowing that starting early and knowing that. I think
even learning from my mom as she's gone through this
journey because I've been watching her with preparing for her retirement,
is she started to kind of plan out, like how
it was all going to happen five years ago, and
whether it was getting her cars paid off, and you know, sacrifice,
making sacrifices for certain things. And sometimes we have to
(32:39):
do that. You know, someone told me one day, you know,
a cat, you have to act your wage. He said, ooh,
that's good.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
That is I'm writing that down.
Speaker 4 (32:50):
And I stopped and I said, oh, that's so good.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
That is classic great.
Speaker 4 (32:55):
And I said that a wage he goes because oftentimes
what can happen is we may have friends that say,
oh let's go here, let's do that, let's spend this,
let's been that. But if it's not within your means,
then maybe you shouldn't do it right right, And so
acting your wage. And so I've seen my mom act
her wage. Although she loves to shop, okay, I will
(33:17):
say that, but she budgets out for those ways.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
She knows what she loves.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
She knows what she loves. And now that she's here
for retirement, she sat down with me, and she's like, cat,
guess what, you know, my car's gonna be paid off
in about six months. You know, I put a little
bit extra. So when she got a little bit of
a bonus, I believe last year, she was like, I
put that money aside and put it towards what was important,
which is to putting more to on my car to
reduce the interests. Right, And so I said, great, mom,
(33:44):
I'm excited for a So now she's ready to retire,
and she's going to be comfortable with retiring, and so
I'm excited for her. I'm excited for all the things.
And I'm here for her to even do those things
with her, because she will reach out to me and say, well,
what are your thoughts and what are you think?
Speaker 2 (34:00):
I always feel like so.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
We even with like my children, and now my daughter
has a job and she actually has two jobs, and
you know, with her saving and situation, I told her,
you know, I go, we should start talking about like
where you're going to put that savings, right, because there's
there's plans in place, right, so tell me a little
bit about those.
Speaker 4 (34:19):
So I would say, for for this conversation in terms
of like planing.
Speaker 2 (34:24):
Youth and young.
Speaker 4 (34:25):
Yeah, so I would encourage someone who's looking to do
more with their savings to maybe talk to someone in
a branch, Like I said, it doesn't have to be
JPMorgan Changes. It can be wherever they bank right now,
specifically with maybe a financial advisor, to talk about how
they can make their money work for them, you know,
over time. So being able to sit down and have
that conversation with them, so that way they can give
you or open the lens to what your money can
(34:48):
do when you do other things with it besides your retirement.
And so although we may not have all the answers
or I may not have all the answers to them
because a lot of times in our workshops there's specific
products that we do do get to talk about, but
we know and we have connections to our one chase
experts and they will be able to give you all
that information.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
Beautiful. Yes, yeah, it's one of those topics.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
It's you know, when you're a young kid, you're like,
I'm not thinking about retiring because that's like forty.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Fifty years away.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yes, it feels like the end of your life, but
it's really not, you know, it's really and if you
do it right. It could be in a very younger
part of your life, absolutely, you know. I mean were
people are living to such long, beautiful you know ages
now looking at it like that and thinking, you know,
by sixty you.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Could be there. Or you buy fifty five, you could
be there.
Speaker 4 (35:36):
You know.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Just let's talk about all of those things. And again,
I think communication is probably.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
The key, right, Yes, it is.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
Yeah, absolutely, So talking about retirement, talking about finding ways
to stay within your budget. I mean those are all
things that are going to eventually build your financial wellness
and your well being.
Speaker 4 (35:58):
Yes, absolutely, to your motto, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
With will budgeting or eliminating debt help improve a credit score?
Speaker 4 (36:09):
So budgeting absolutely will help. The second part to your question,
can you ask that again.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Or eliminating debt, Yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (36:18):
Eliminating this absolutely, that would help the credit score number,
hands down, that's going to help.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
Right.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
However, there is a such thing as good debt and
bad debt, right, and so when you think about good debt.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
Talk about that because I think that's super important for
people to understand.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
Yes, So when it comes to good debt, some of
the things we talk about in our workshop is buying
a home. That's great dead right, great debt, good debt right?
It is it is something that because it belongs to you,
it's yours right. And so when we think about bad debt,
it's you know, a ton of credit cards that you
have that you maxed out and things like that. But
when you can reduce the amount of debt that you have,
(36:51):
that's when you're going to see that credit score incrementally
start to increase over time. We live in a we
live in a space now we want instantaneous gratification when
it comes to things, but we really have to be
patient when it comes to our credit score. Our credit
is our life. The things that you want in life
(37:12):
you have to have good credit for. So whether that
is buying a car, renting an apartment, sometimes you need credit.
They run your credit right, just getting the things that
you want. When you want to buy your first home,
which we love to talk about when it comes to
our workshops and we have like our first time home
buy our workshops, you know, we talk about that, you know,
and credit is the first piece that we touch on.
(37:33):
And many times we'll have people say, oh my god,
like my credit is just not where you know, I
want it to be. We try to encourage people also
to pull their entire credit report. You can get your
free credit report once a year, the entire report for FREUD.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
I didn't know that.
Speaker 4 (37:50):
Yes, so you can go to Annual Credit Report dot Com.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
And get that and it doesn't ding your credit to
pull your credit when you do it like that, it
does not because that's another thing that they tell you
right like, oh, well, you know if we pull your
credit and it's going to show that we pulled your credit,
and it's like, oh well, then don't pull my credit.
Speaker 4 (38:05):
I don't know exactly. So I think this part of
it is when when you actually go and you do
it yourself, when you go to Annual Credit Report dot Com,
which who we partner with, so that way you can
actually see your credit report. You can then have an
idea of actually what's on your credit report. And oftentimes
people find things on there that are certain errors that
are on the credit report that they may never even
(38:26):
noticed that we're even there. But when someone else runs
your credit, that is when you have those hard inquiries.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Okay, okay, So this is.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
When you go buy a car, when you apply for
a credit card and things like that, or you apply
for your first apartment, you know you are going to hit,
you have a ding that you're going to have happened
when it comes to that heart.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
How does that affect your credit when you have those inquiries?
Speaker 4 (38:50):
Yes, So those credit inquiries usually stay on your credit
report for up to a year, falls off after two years,
and you can see sometimes from ten to twenty points.
It just depends, you know, when it comes to those
points on your credit on your credit score for your
credit cards using But eventually you will get those points back.
And so when people actually one of the questions, I
(39:12):
would say, let me back up a little bit, is
someone just asking this question because they want to buy
a car. Okay, So you're like, kat, I want to
buy a car, but I'm really afraid that my credit
score is going to drop and it's in a good
place right now. And I said, well, this is a
good debt for you, right like you need a car,
this is something that you're really serious about. You're going
to take care. You're going to make your payments on time,
(39:35):
you know, which is forty percent of your credit score
is paying things on time. And so I said, as
you do that, you will receive those points back with time.
But don't miss a payment. Yeah, you know, that's critically
important it is to not miss a payment because that
is forty percent of your credit score.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
So fascinating that it's gosh, it feels like what everybody
worries about the most when it comes to their find answers.
It's like, I want to build credit, but I'm afraid
to build credit because it pulls your credit and it's.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
Like a strange little hurcle.
Speaker 1 (40:09):
But realistically, those inquiries are not as devastating as like say,
missing a payment correct or things like that, and they
do eventually come back and you can rebound and you
can show that you are being.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
A good person. Yes, what's the word?
Speaker 1 (40:23):
What's there's what's a good credit or a good credit?
Speaker 3 (40:26):
Ee?
Speaker 4 (40:27):
I would say too, is even with the inquiry? Yeah yeah,
talk about a person who's you know, really been working
on their credit worthiness. I would say, is that you
also want to avoid too many inquiries, okay, because what
could happen is is that you're also going to see
to where you start to reduce and lose points as well.
Over time, it may make it a little bit more
harder to get back to where you want to be
(40:49):
because the more you know, a hit you have to
your actual credit report is it starts to hurt you.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
So so essentially for someone who may not understand and credit,
you need credit, and the reason you need credit is
so you can make those big purchases in your life, right,
so that you can get your house, your.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
First time home.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
And what you're showing on your credit report to maybe
a mortgage company is that you are responsible, you are trustworthy,
You are trustworthy. You're not going to be frivolous with
your credit. Correct, You're not trying to open Victoria's secret.
And this and may season all that you know, all
of the different credit cards out there which will take
(41:33):
away some of that money that could be going towards
a mortgage payment.
Speaker 4 (41:38):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yes, So I mean that's that's essentially why we need
to be careful and baby our credit and those kinds
of things. Yes, well, this is also fascinating. I am
so glad that you have been here because this has
been really really informative.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
Even to me.
Speaker 1 (41:52):
And and it makes it less scary, Yes, it really
makes it less scary when you know, okay, there can
be a way if you.
Speaker 2 (41:59):
Are in debt right now, there's a way out of it.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
There is a way out of it, absolutely, and it
is about making sure you have all of those ducks
in row and your budgets and all of those things.
So let's talk about the three final things before I
let you go.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
That you feel like people should really take.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Away from this conversation the three key takeaways.
Speaker 4 (42:18):
I think the three key takeaways that someone can take
away from today's show is that it's never too late
to get started. You can start today. Start with tracking
those expenses, you know, look at what you got on
your mobile apps or your bank statements, whatever you're comfortable with,
to see where your money is going. I would also
(42:39):
say too, when you get ready to start your budget,
take your time and really try to commit to it
and know that you may fall short sometimes, but that's okay, right,
And I think the last point I would say when
it comes to someone who maybe is in debt right
now and feeling, you know, the heaviness of that is
that you are going through something right now. Like I
(43:00):
call seasons, This is a season that will pass, and
so when you start to create habits, you can make
a difference by taking those small increment changes and save
the money when you can, but don't beat yourself up.
You will get through this. Yeah. Yeah, oh I.
Speaker 1 (43:22):
Love that, Cather, Thank you so much. Cat, I forgot
we're friends yet. Yes, that was beautifully said. I think
this is going to help a lot of people. I
hope that you continue to, you know, give the education.
I love that you're doing that. Yes, I love that
j JP Morgan Chase also gives that, you know, the
opportunity to have these type of employees that do this
(43:45):
service for the community, because it really is a vital
service to the to the to the Inland Empire and
the High Desert and beyond. So thank you so very
much for your time get out there and talk to
our kids some more.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
I love that we're looking forward to it, and thank
you so very much for being here.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
It's been a pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
Evelyn M.
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