00:00 Speaker A
All right. So in your experience, what small habits have the biggest risk of cascading into the biggest financial crises? And I’m thinking about credit card debt, or not having a budget, or not having health insurance. What are your thoughts?
00:15 Speaker B
Um, being unconscious is the is the overarching habit that gets people in trouble. whether you’re unconsciously spending because we just swipe and dip and click and tap and it it money moves so quickly, whether you are unconsciously not paying attention to your investments. You’ve got to get yourself to focus on what’s coming in, what’s going out and where it’s going. And if you know those three things, you’re going to be in much better shape.
00:46 Speaker A
So so many people just go money, ugh, right? Like it’s too much work.
00:54 Speaker C
You know, it’s gotten easier, I think as a person who’s not a deeply finance person and I would say the biggest mistake for my audience for small business owners is not starting. So they tend to wait to pay themselves, they tend to wait to start their 401k, they tend to wait to start putting money into their medical expenses. So my I think the biggest mistake they can make is whether you’re making a dollar or you’re making half a million a year, you need to start putting money away for your own services, even if you’re a solopreneur. It’s really important.
01:29 Speaker B
I’ve run into a lot of small business owners who believe that their business is their retirement plan, which is such wonderful optimism, but we know, you know, it doesn’t yeah, doesn’t always turn out that way.
01:36 Speaker C
It’s very rarely the case. Yeah.
01:42 Speaker C
Also, if you are more secure and know where you’re going, you will be a better leader. If you know you’re putting money away for your long-term, you will make wiser decisions in your business.
01:54 Speaker A
Yeah, there’s a recent study published by the uh Investment Company Institute by Sarah Holden and a co-author where they looked at who has the best chance of of success in retirement. And someone who has a long-term planning horizon. So if you’re the SOA, Society of Actuaries says notice that most people only have a planning horizon of 10 years. But if you have something that’s like 10 years and longer, you have a better chance of having a better retirement outcome.
02:11 Speaker C
Right. Right.
02:20 Speaker C
Right. And I I think even, you know, I I suggest for people for their own children uh to teach them to start putting money away early. So the second they, I mean my kids are in 4-H, you know, they sell their rabbits and they’re having to put their little money away and understand how to save for long-term. And I think we can all teach the next generation that. So in your sandwich, you’ve got elder care, so you’re making these Medicare decisions for your parents, but then you should also be teaching your children how to get there.
02:51 Speaker B
Yeah. And and I’m not surprised by that long-term time horizon because we’ve learned a lot from the um the people who study behavioral finance about visualization. And I think visualization is just if you can see it, then you can do it. And these folks who have the long-term time horizon are seeing a lot further into the future and helping their future selves.
03:16 Speaker A
I I put my face into those aging apps and it’s scary.
03:19 Speaker B
Me too. Yeah.