In this episode of Boldin your moneySteve Chan sits with Jackie Cummings Koski and co-hosts of Keep up to Fidiscusses her inspiring journey to financial independence after overcoming poverty, divorce and single motherhood. Jackie shares practical advice for the late starters, those in their 40s, 50s who feel they are behind in their 40s, 50s and in their 50s who feel they’re behind in saving for retirement. They cover the importance of thinking, overcome the fear of investment, and cover the way they build wealth even if they start to be late. Whether you’re looking for guidance, motivation, or a sense of security that it’s not too late, there’s something for you in this episode.
Watch our video YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcsvmvz4krw
Listen now
Listen to the podcasts on Simplecast Or here:
Callout:
[14:40] Better investment
[29:58] [48:00] Fire for dummy
[24:18] [25:37] A simple road to wealth by J Collins
I’ll catch up with the FIBACEBook group
[34:03] Money Psychology: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness by Morgan Haussel
[45:56] Link to WSJ article
Transcription
Steve Chen (40:25):
That’s great. So, that’s pretty surprising. The whole thing about this podcasting and Zoom video where we can bounce back and see each other, I think it’s amazing. Maybe you can share some stories from great comeback stories and people who helped people who did great things like you.
Jackie Cummings Koski (40:41):
Ah, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh We have some real stories. And I think one of the most enjoyable ones was Christa and Ed. They are a young couple. They were in their 30s, maybe in their early 40s with four boys, and it was actually a case study of the economy and we followed up with them. So, through how they share their stories and working with them, one of the most important things we saw was that she was a single mother for a long time and met after she had already had two children, so in the way they worked together to understand something like this, they had to deal with the attempt to put a boys school.
(41:34):
And even if they have not reached financial independence or retired early, it is now very clear. She had a gorgeous vehicle and I was driving a gorgeous vehicle so that’s nothing wrong. But she recently posted that she sold a car, and when we were working with her, it was something we didn’t need to judge, but she really looked at everything and came to that decision. And that’s how beautiful it is. We’re not the one who comes in and says you need to cut this, this, and that. When you don’t even know their worth, you don’t know the behind-the-scenes story of why they made this decision and what it means to them. My job and finance experts trying to help someone is to help people get to their decisions and help them set their own value system and we support them. Just listening to what they are saying will help you become a better expert.
(42:49):
So, although she has not reached financial independence or retired early, I love her perception that she has come on her own.
Steve Chen (42:58):
At least when people have a plan and a kind of vision, they can understand what is going on, take action, and see some progress. And if you’re starting to save money and start preparing some, if it’s starting to put a lot of pressure on, I think it’s powerful to know that they’re okay, just like putting a paycheck on a paycheck. And there aren’t many financial shock absorbers to pick up slack if something goes sideways. It doesn’t seem to be perfect.
Jackie Cummings Koski (43:28):
You can say you receive daily feedback from community listeners via your Facebook page. There is a speech pipe that allows you to leave audio messages and lets you leave messages on social media platforms and podcast players. So it warms our hearts. Some of the messages we get. We had a 30-year-old woman, and she was an immigrant who came to the United States. She is 38 years old. She said she just heard all 120 episodes of your podcast. This is where people should start. Everything was very helpful. And it was just hearing her voice and the excitement it was like wow, I finally get it. And I’m one, I’ll mention individuals, but I always do this, but the people in the media that we can talk about are what you talk about.
(44:24):
Obviously they are asking us something about finances, investments, etc. Well, in my opinion, their normal people like me and you, and they need their finances together too. So I’m always on the side conversations with a journalist, writer or interviewer. And there was one producer, and a few years ago I was lucky. There, there was a segment in Rachel’s ratio and his producer. I helped her make the segment and she wanted it to be about 40 1 ks and a place for people to start investing. And she wanted to focus on target date funds. I told her, I said, the average person doesn’t know what they’re investing in. That’s what they want to see. Some of these target date funds aren’t all created equally, so perhaps in one click you’ll get one pager that shows everything there is.
(45:18):
If, for example, 26 intentions are to join the All Stop Index Fund and access the Target Date Fund, and say that there is only 80% on the stock market, that doesn’t match what you want. I said, hey, you think her name was Kathy, and I said, did you see your 401K? Do you know what you have there? She, in fact, I’m not. Well, the next day she sends me an email, she goes, oh, I finally entered my 401K and saw what I had, I got all your advice. So when it happens in some sort of organic, I’m always happy. Everyone needs a little financial education.
Steve Chen (45:56):
Yes, that’s interesting. We were actually lucky Wall Street Journal We covered, and Jeremy Olsen, the editor of the main kind of personal finances out there, was this guy, and he himself had a plan. He turned just 50 years old and turned into a 401k billionaire, and he said, “Okay, this is funny. They’ve worked, saved, built some wealth, and now they’re really paying attention, because I turn this money into these assets and it’s going to continue for the rest of my life, be smart, smart, think about healthcare and everything. But yeah, everyone, even if they’re in business, there’s always a lesson in how we can do well. Okay. Well, Jackie, this was great. So when you catch up with Fi podcasts, the community, etc., I send people out there. Are there any other resources you think people should know about?
Jackie Cummings Koski (46:50):
Yes, I think it’s the biggest thing, we’ve talked a lot about the community. That’s why we have a very active Facebook group. We have 17,000 people there now, and that’s kicking spammers and con artists from there every day
Steve Chen (47:03):
everytime. Yes, you had to put it down.
Jackie Cummings Koski (47:04):
Yes, it’s a warm, welcoming community and we often host events. Maybe they’ll have a webinar on topics or hold an in-person event at a meeting like the Economics. We’re always a bit together. So the community part was huge. And it’s apart from the podcast, perhaps they’re listening to the podcast, we spoke to the em about the Facebook group. That is all interaction, activity, education. There are even many experts who were guests before our podcasts. Facebook Group answer the questions. So, it’s probably the second most valuable resource I can turn to them. And of course I wrote that little book Fire for dummy If you’re kind of normative type of thing or a guide, then a lot of what I’m talking about on the show is in the book. And you will take it step by step until you reach that economic independence, starting with the psychological part, knowing where you are, bashing everything and building that wealth without having to tie the basic formula to work.
Steve Chen (48:12):
wonderful. Jackie, it’s great to hear you. It’s also great to help people who feel they haven’t started on time and hear them think it’s true for everyone. now. Everyone wants to start saving early and investing early, but it’s great that people are successful. Jackie, thank you for your time and the work you are doing. It’s great to hear what you say and hear about the impact.
Jackie Cummings Koski (48:36):
Well, Steve, this was amazing. I’m very happy to talk to you.
Steve Chen (48:39):
Same as well. Well, then, for those who are listening, check out the podcast where all the feedback is welcome. All comment backs are welcome. If you want to present a review, it’s also very useful for podcasters looking to grow their audience. It’s okay, thank you.
