House Poor and Feeling Behind

Summary

Podcast Summary: "House Poor and Feeling Behind"

Jill on Money with Jill Schlesinger
Episode: House Poor and Feeling Behind
Release Date: May 15, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "House Poor and Feeling Behind," hosts Jill Schlesinger, CFP®, and Mark delve into the financial challenges faced by Bridget, a 41-year-old self-employed photographer from South Carolina. Bridget reaches out seeking guidance on managing their newly built home and mounting credit card debt, fearing they might be falling behind on retirement savings.

Bridget's Financial Snapshot

Bridget and her husband, aged 45, are parents to three children aged 12, 9, and 2. Last year, they invested in constructing a home valued at approximately $2 million. Despite both working full-time—Bridget as a self-employed photographer earning around $140,000 annually, and her husband in construction management earning about $100,000 plus bonuses—their financial landscape has become strained.

Key Financial Highlights:

• Income: Bridget earns ~$140k/year; husband earns ~$100k/year with bonuses.
• Retirement Savings: Both contribute the maximum to traditional IRAs, totaling $200k jointly. The husband has recently started a 401(k) through his employer, contributing about 9% annually, matched by his company.
• Mortgage: A 30-year loan of $600,000 at 6.75% interest.
• Credit Card Debt: Approximately $35,000.
• Other Debts: A remaining $3,000 on an auto loan, expected to be paid off by February 2026.
• Savings: Limited to about $12,000, after depleting previous savings to build the new house.
• College Savings: Established 529 accounts for each child, with ongoing monthly contributions.

Identifying the Core Issues

Bridget expresses concerns over feeling "house poor," a situation where a significant portion of income goes toward housing expenses, leaving little room for other financial goals. Additionally, the surge in credit card debt post-house construction has exacerbated their financial strain.

Bridget's Concerns:

• Falling behind on retirement savings.
• Managing substantial mortgage payments alongside credit card debt.
• Balancing fluctuating income as a self-employed professional.
• Ensuring sufficient funds for children's education.

Strategic Financial Advice

Mark provides a multi-faceted approach to alleviate Bridget's financial pressures and set a path towards stability and growth.

1. Addressing High-Interest Debt:

   • Recommendation: Secure a home equity line of credit (HELOC) or an additional loan to pay off the $35,000 credit card debt.
   • Rationale: Credit card interest rates average around 21.9%, significantly higher than mortgage rates. By refinancing this debt at a lower interest rate, monthly payments can decrease, easing cash flow.
   • Quote: "The interest rate's going to be less than the credit card for sure" ([11:29]).

2. Optimizing Cash Flow:

   • Recommendation: Temporarily pause contributions to IRAs and 529 plans to reallocate funds toward debt repayment.
   • Rationale: Reducing the outflow of cash towards investments can provide immediate relief, allowing more funds to tackle high-interest debts.
   • Action Plan:
     • Utilize the HELOC to eliminate credit card balances.
     • Redirect savings from paused retirement and education accounts to pay down debt.
     • Once debts are managed, resume and potentially increase contributions to savings and retirement funds.

3. Long-Term Financial Planning:

   • Recommendation: Focus on maximizing retirement savings once immediate debts are under control.
   • Rationale: "Retirement is more important than the kids. Kids can always get a loan to go to college" ([17:52]). Prioritizing retirement ensures financial security in the long term, whereas educational expenses, while important, can be addressed through alternative means if necessary.

4. Estate Planning:

   • Recommendation: Update wills and estate documents to reflect the current family and financial situation.
   • Rationale: With the addition of a third child and significant financial commitments, it's crucial to ensure that estate plans are up-to-date to protect the family's future.
   • Quote: "Do you have your wills done? Your estate planning done?" ([21:57]).

Potential Challenges and Considerations

Bridget's husband expressed reluctance to take on additional debt, highlighting the emotional and psychological toll of financial decisions. Mark acknowledges this concern, emphasizing the importance of finding a balance that satisfies both spouses.

Husband's Concern:

• Preference against increasing mortgage debt despite current financial strain.

Mark's Response:

• Encourages open communication and mutual understanding, recognizing the emotional weight of financial decisions within a marriage.
• Suggests a one-year game plan to stabilize finances before considering major moves like selling the house or refinancing the mortgage.

Implementation Timeline

Mark outlines a clear, actionable timeline to help Bridget and her family regain financial stability:

1. Immediate Actions (Next 12 Months):

   • Secure a HELOC or similar loan to eliminate credit card debt.
   • Pause contributions to IRAs and 529 plans to free up funds for debt repayment.
   • Pay off the remaining auto loan by February 2026, freeing up $533 monthly.

2. Mid-Term Goals (Post Debt Repayment):

   • Redirect funds previously allocated to debt payments into retirement accounts and savings.
   • Reinvest in children's education funds with renewed contributions.

3. Long-Term Vision:

   • Consider refinancing the mortgage if interest rates become favorable.
   • Explore options for selling the house only if it aligns with the family's happiness and financial goals.

Conclusion

By addressing high-interest debts and optimizing cash flow, Bridget and her family can alleviate immediate financial pressures. Mark emphasizes the importance of prioritizing retirement savings and maintaining open communication with her husband to ensure that both partners are aligned in their financial journey.

Final Advice from Mark:

• "Trust me when I tell you you're going to... have a one-year game plan" ([16:09]).
• "Change your work, change your wealth, change your life" ([23:06]).

Takeaways

• Prioritize High-Interest Debt: Eliminating credit card debt can significantly improve financial health and reduce monthly burdens.
• Flexible Financial Planning: Adjusting savings contributions in response to current financial pressures can provide necessary relief.
• Long-Term Security Over Short-Term Gains: Ensuring robust retirement savings should take precedence over educational funds, as financial security is paramount.
• Communication is Key: Financial decisions, especially those involving debt and savings, should be made jointly to maintain harmony and mutual understanding within the family.

For listeners facing similar challenges, Jill on Money encourages reaching out for personalized advice and exploring structured plans to regain financial control.

Transcript

[Jill Schlesinger]

It's smart to always have a few financial goals and a really smart one. You can set earning cash back on what you buy every day. And with Discover, you can get this. Discover automatically matches all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year.

[Mark]

Seriously, all of it.

[Jill Schlesinger]

And we trust you to make smart decisions. After all, you listen to this show see [e-mail] credit card buying a home in California can certainly feel intimidating. We hear from listeners all the time throughout the state, and they want to know, where can they even start? Many of them find that turning to a realtor changed everything. Realtors can help buyers understand what they can afford. They can explain all of the steps that are involved in purchasing a home, and they can walk you through every detail, from making an offer to closing the deal. Working with a realtor can help you feel less alone or unsure about the process. And that peace of mind that is the power of having a realtor by your side. Whether you're ready to move or just starting to dream, don't go it alone. Don't let what you don't know stop you from starting your next chapter. Find your [e-mail] that's championsofhome.com welcome to.

[Mark]

The Jill on Money Show. It's Thursday, May 15th, and we are here trying to help you make smart, maybe less emotional financial decisions. And you know, I know that's hard because our emotions are part of every single decision that we make. And you know, because money is so concrete, sometimes the emotions that we're feeling, we just kind of push it off onto our finances and we want to kind of separate the two and make sure that we are trying to help you get where you want to go, lay out some different opportunities and tamp down the emotions. And sometimes you guys are your own worst enemies. Like, you make yourselves crazy crazy because this is really hard stuff. So we want to help you out. All you need to do to get that help is to go to our website, which I know you've bookmarked. Jillonmoney.com in the upper right hand corner, there is always a contact us button. Wherever you navigate on our website, click the button, write us a note. And when you write that note, at the end of it, maybe you say, ah, you know what, I do want to come on the air with Jill and Mark because they're so easy to talk to. Check the box. Mark will do everything else while you're on the website. You'll see we've got a lot of content there. And you know, I'm just loving our family called Jill on Money Live. That is a subscription service. Maybe your cheapest subscription that you hold it is $45 for the next 12 months. And for that $45 you will be able to join us for live quarterly webinars. You'll be able to check out the back catalog of those webinars and the bonus audio and video content that we put behind the paywall. $45 to Jill on Money Live. Our next event coming up shortly, just a few weeks. Mike Quincy, he is the car expert of Consumer Reports. He will be joining us for our webinar on Thursday, June 5th at 7 Eastern Time. And I can't wait. I have so many questions because the car market is nuts and my mom's lease is coming up this summer. So Mike's big question is going to be what do I do with this 85 year old lady who probably shouldn't be driving anymore. And for any of you driving in New York, keep an eye out for Mrs. Schlesinger. She's been a bad driver. Not just late in her life but for her whole life. So going to have to figure that out with Mike. Anyway, join us for Jill on Money Live. 45 bucks, 12 months. Great deal. Okay, right now let's go talk to Bridget who's on the line with us from South Carolina. Hi Bridget, how are you?

[Bridget]

Good, how are you? Thanks for having me.

[Mark]

Of course. What can we do for you?

[Bridget]

Couple questions. I'm 41. My husband's 45. We have three kids. 12, nine and big age gap. Two. We recently built a house last year and I guess my main question is I'm feeling like we're maybe a little behind in saving for retirement, maybe a little house poor. And I just kind of wanted some advice moving forward on kind of the route we should take and also kind of what's bothering me most is a little bit of consumer credit card debt.

[Mark]

Is that a new thing for you guys?

[Bridget]

It is.

[Mark]

Okay. Yeah. It's a little scary. Okay, let's do some numbers. You said you're 41, your husband is 45. Are you both working full time?

[Bridget]

We are. I am a self employed photographer so I'm full time ish. But I kind of make my own hours. So.

[Mark]

Okay, but you, but you're making money about how much do you earn as a self employed photographer?

[Bridget]

I make about varies in the year by about 140.

[Mark]

Wow.

[Bridget]

4,150 a year.

[Mark]

That's amazing. Fantastic. I'm used to like my struggling artist photographer friends who make $0 and then have to pick up a side hustle. Okay, what about your husband? What does he do?

[Bridget]

He's in construction management. So kind of construction superintendent on various job sites.

[Mark]

And how much does he earn?

[Bridget]

He earns about 100k per year, but he also gets several bonuses, kind of worked in and we get like full health insurance paid for.

[Mark]

So nice.

[Bridget]

Different pluses with that.

[Mark]

Oh my God, that's great. So he's an employee. That's where you get your health insurance. That's great. Does he have a retirement plan through work?

[Bridget]

Oh, it's kind of a. Kind of a sore subject, yes. As of this year through work. We are just setting that up.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Bridget]

Yeah, we probably should have done that before.

[Mark]

Okay, stop with the should. Let's let push this aside. We're just gonna let. Can we just talk about where you are today? Don't judge yourself. Okay, I will judge you after we're off the phone. No, I'm not gonna do that at all. Okay, so does he have a 401k?

[Bridget]

Yes.

[Mark]

Okay, and what is his contribution level right now?

[Bridget]

He actually stepped in the room so I can ask him if he's sitting here.

[Mark]

Honey, how much money are you putting into your 401? 5%, 10%, something like that.

[Bridget]

He said after, after a match, it's probably about going to be about nine a year.

[Mark]

Okay, good, perfect. Okay, so there's just a little bit of money in there right now, right?

[Bridget]

Yes.

[Mark]

Okay, about how much?

[Bridget]

So I wouldn't even say a little bit. We just opened.

[Mark]

All right, just started. I'm just saying. Just started.

[Bridget]

Most of our IRA is in like a simple, just traditional IRA that we've been contributing the max each year. I mean the max being like 7,000 a year each.

[Mark]

Okay, so in your IRA that's all you're using an IRA, you're not using a SEP, you're not using any fancy self employment retirement plan, right?

[Bridget]

I'm not.

[Mark]

Okay, in your IRA right now, how much do you have?

[Bridget]

I mean joint. We have about 200k.

[Mark]

Great, fantastic. Okay. Did you hear that?

[Bridget]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Okay, good. Any money saved for these kids college or. Not yet, not yet.

[Bridget]

I had the 529 set up. We had actually had like separate savings accounts before building this house that we kind of drained when we built the house. So just this year I was trying to kind of gather some organization and so I do have 529 set up for them. You know, I think my oldest son has like a Thousand in it, but I'm trying to put in like 250amonth going forward for him.

[Mark]

All right, but you're. And you're putting your $7,000 into your IRAs. Your husband's now using the 401. We're going to deal with the kids in a second. So tell me about this dream house that you built. How much is this house worth?

[Bridget]

We kind of estimate like probably about 2 million. So with my being in construction, second house, he says probably higher than that.

[Mark]

Oh, well, he's in the business, so he should know. But you're not moving Anyway. We'll say 2.2. How's that? Do you have a mortgage on it?

[Bridget]

We do.

[Mark]

What's that? What's the outstanding balance?

[Bridget]

We started at like 600,000, so I think it's a 30 year loan, 6.75% interest. So we're still at like $595,000?

[Mark]

Yeah, don't worry about that. Don't worry about that. So it's only 600 grand that's outstanding? Yes, and it's at 6.75. And is there any other debt against the house, like a home equity line of credit or some home equity loan? Anything else against that house?

[Bridget]

No, against.

[Mark]

Okay. What's the credit card debt? How much is there?

[Bridget]

I estimate about 35k.

[Mark]

Okay. This is what happens when you build a gazillion dollar house.

I want to know what did you guys have in the savings accounts that you depleted?

[Bridget]

Well, I was trying to come up with that earlier because we had built some. Our last house, we had about a $250,000 mortgage on and we sold at 1.3. So we had quite a bit of profit on that house. And then we also had done some spec homes that we had gathered some savings from as well. So honestly, I can't exactly gather, but we probably had about 100, 150,000 on our own, and then we had the profit from the house.

[Mark]

Got it. Okay, and then you got the mortgage. Whatever. It's done is done. And is there any money in savings right now or not?

[Bridget]

I have like $12,000. I've been trying to, like, beef it up.

[Mark]

All right, and besides the credit card debt, any auto loans?

[Bridget]

We have a $3,000 left on one auto loan, but.

[Mark]

Nice. That's done soon. Okay, car where you are right now, forgetting about the 529 accounts for a second, how do you feel your cash flow is right now? Meaning given that you've got this big mortgage, you got the credit card stuff how is the cash flow? What does it look like for you? Does it. Is it a struggle every month?

[Bridget]

Yes, I would say it is a little bit of a struggle. It comes a lot from being self employed. My income is very fluctuating. It's not. I kind of make a lot at one point and then I'm slower for a season. So it can be hard to plan with that.

[Mark]

Yeah, I get that. And so it's sort of like feast or famine. It's like, oh, it's. I don't know if you do weddings, but like, you know, wedding season I make a lot of money. And then winter, not so much. Okay. Do you have a good next few months ahead of you, you think?

[Bridget]

I do. Right now I'm really busy and I actually do weddings and portraits. So it kind of for that reason it helps me kind of draw into the rest of the year as well.

[Mark]

That's good. Mark needs a new headshot, so maybe you could help him out with that. So you said, how much are you putting into the 529? A couple hundred bucks. Is that what you're doing?

[Bridget]

My oldest son, I've been doing 250amonth for his and then I have I think 150 for my 9 year old and then I just created the other one for my two year old and I've been doing like 100 in his right now.

[Mark]

So all of this is fine. It's okay. The car payment will be done when? Later this year. February?

[Bridget]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Okay, so February of 26th, what's that payment amount? Do you happen to know that?

[Bridget]

533.

[Mark]

Of course you know that. Okay. Mark, is there a way that you can see that they should try to get rid of that credit card debt? Is there any way? I mean, because I imagine the credit card interest rate like I know the average credit card interest rate is 21.9%. So is there any way that you think that they should get maybe an extra home equity loan line against the house to pay off the credit card?

I mean, that's a possibility. It's going to be the mortgage. The interest rate's going to be less than the credit card for sure.

Yeah. I mean, unless you don't have a zero balance credit card, do you?

[Bridget]

No.

[Mark]

Yeah, I don't think I would do that anyway because I don't know if you can pay it off in a year.

[Bridget]

Yeah, I mean, we've never really had credit card debt. It just sort of happened after the house and it just sort of, well, knock up on Us though.

[Mark]

Yeah, I hear you.

They could. You know, this is really just like a pause for like a year, maybe a little more than a year and just pause IRA contributions, pause whatever is going into the 529, capture that car payment when it ends at the beginning of next year. And then, you know, just focus on wiping it out.

There's two ways to think about that. So one is that you do that. Right. And so you. We know that you got two, three. So you're putting away 500. So it's 500amonth for 529s.

[Bridget]

Yes.

[Mark]

Right. And 533 would come from the car. You know what I would do? I mean your husband's in the business. I'm sure you like dealt with the bank. I actually would see like the 600 grand. Is it a fixed rate loan or is it adjustable?

[Bridget]

It's adjustable.

[Mark]

And was it a home equity line of credit that. I'm just trying to figure out what kind of loan it was because I'm wondering if there's some way to pop extra money. Money or whether we have to get a whole separate loan for you.

[Bridget]

It's a conventional, conventional like a building loan. And then it auto converted when we finished the house.

[Mark]

Okay.

[Bridget]

That's ourselves. And then, and I guess my whole question, my husband sitting here, he, his idea is we sell the house. We can sell it after. Now he wants to sell it next year, buy some cash and then have extra money. You know, buy a house.

[Mark]

You just built this house. Aren't you exhausted from it? Can't you enjoy it?

[Bridget]

That's where, that's where we're not mesh and we love the area. So we're just trying to figure out it's. It's a little bit.

[Mark]

It's possible.

[Bridget]

You probably need is.

[Mark]

I don't know.

I think it sounds like the real estate market in that area is nuts. You're still going to need a house that's going to hold five of you.

Yeah, yeah. What could you really buy? Could you buy a house like for a million and a half bucks or not?

[Bridget]

We could older. Yeah, you definitely could. We have built, you know, it's.

[Mark]

We bought older implies a lot of work.

Yeah, I know. But he's a construction dude. So they can do work cheaper than like mortals like you and me. Okay. I think that's a possibility. If you really are. If you can do it. But like you're exhausted and you have a two year old and like you're trying to deal with your life. I think there's two.

In an email, she says, you know, capital love our location, and they don't want to sell.

Oh, well, she doesn't want to sell. He does.

[Bridget's Husband]

I don't want to have debt.

[Mark]

You don't have a lot of debt.

[Bridget's Husband]

You don't paid for.

[Mark]

Yeah, well, that's not the debt. Yeah, here's what. Okay, here's what I'm. I've got two choices for you that I see. I'm not sure I would sell it this second. Unless you stumbled on something where you like Bridget's husband. If you said, oh, my God, I. Because you're in the business, you may see things that, again, that we might not see. Maybe if that happened. But what if you just wait? You're going to wait a year anyway because you want to be in this place.

[Bridget]

We have to be in here.

[Mark]

Right. Two years. So maybe with that being said, then I might go to the bank where you have that construction loan and say, can you price a. They may not even do it, but you have to see if they'll do it like a 50 or a $75,000 loan. Okay. Find out what the pricing is. Okay. I would get that loan right now, and I'd immediately pay off your credit card debt. Or if it's a line of credit, pull down 30. If you could get $100,000 line of credit right now. Okay, pull down 35 grand, pay off the credit card debt, and then you'll pay. You'll pay. You can pay your minimum payments on the equity line of credit. What's the loan amount? What's the loan percentage on the car?

[Bridget]

It's very low, like 2.

[Mark]

Okay, don't pay that off then. Okay. So just having that line of credit will relieve some burden. Okay, so again, if you get a line of credit or just a loan, whichever has better pricing, especially if you're going to sell this house, then I'm happy to do this. Okay, so maybe it's 50 grand or $50,000 line, pull down 35, pay off your credit card, start making payments on this thing, and now you've got some breathing room. Then In February, you're 533. That 533 from the car loan is going to go pay down your home equity line of credit. You're just going to help pay that down. It's going to be. Your cash flow will improve immediately because no matter what that line of credit is, it could be 10%. It's going to be cheaper than your credit card.

[Bridget]

Right.

[Mark]

Okay. And now you have some Breathing room in a year. I'm fine with you selling and buying a house, owning it outright. At that point, if that were the case, if you owned, if you had a million and a half dollar house and you've got no debt, the big thing you have to do is then say all of our money has to really start to go gangbusters on saving. So it would be building your savings account. So eventually let's just pretend you sell the house for 2.2. You've got, let's pretend it's $700,000 of debt because we've got, you know, Jill made me get a stupid loan and that was so stupid. But whatever, you still have it. Now you are at your one and a half million, right? But you have no mortgage payment and you have no credit card payment and you have no car payment. And now all of that money, that free cash flow, it's going to beef up your savings. You're going to max out your husband's retirement account and you're going to start putting more money into the kids college fund. You're in this weird mark's. It is a transitional period. This is a two year period. We just have to take the pressure off for two years. Then you're going to crank. You have good chunk of time to start saving money. And I'm just going to say this a couple of times because I know that your parents and this is, and education is important but like the retirement is more important than the kids. Kids can always get a loan to go to college. Kids can always make different choices. You can help them later. You need to get through this period of time, relief of your cash flow and also pay attention to your retirement. Imagine how much that money you're going to have. You know, we're talking about how much is your mortgage payment right now on the six and three quarter loan? 6.75.

[Bridget]

It's about five, including the escrow, about 5,000amonth.

[Mark]

All right, so you got to pay taxes. So unfortunately, sorry you have to do that. But let's say, let's say you're you know, 4,000. Let's say you're going to have 4,500 and I don't know how much you paying down on the.

[Bridget]

It's 30, 39 without the escrow actually but pretty good insurance.

[Mark]

And then what about the credit card? How much are you paying on that?

[Bridget]

You know it varies because I use it to pay like our insurance and then I pay it back. So I'm trying to stay on top of it every Month. But I mean, maybe interest per month is like, you know, 200 on the one, but I try to pay at least 2,000amonth on all of it, if not more.

[Mark]

Okay? So like honestly, just think about this. Go, go a year from now with me, okay? And now think about this. Instead of having all of this cash flow out to service debt, some of the debt is fine, right? Okay. It's like a housing debt. I'm not going to go crazy with it. Instead of that, now just imagine that you have $6,000 a month to divvy up between your husband's 401k, your savings and the kids college. You guys are going to be fine. Now listen, I don't live in the house and I look at a house, I am. So I'm the worst person in the world to ask. But if you love the house and you want to make it work in the house, it'll still work. It's just more pressure during this period. And why don't you just go. At the very least, okay? At the very least, if you get a line of credit, you pay down the credit card in a year, you'll see where you, how you feel. Maybe you're going to be much better off. Maybe you'll be making a little more money. Maybe, maybe, maybe he does not, he.

Does not want mortgage debt.

I know, I know this is like a, I get it. But like he's also married to the mother of his children. You know, our mother of dragons right here is. She's got three little dragons. And we've got to make sure that she's happy and he's happy. So I think at the very least we can table it for a year, get a line of credit, pay off the credit card, don't take the only, extend like pull down the credit, the line of credit for just the credit card. You will feel so much better once that's gone. And then you can start, you know, whatever you were putting down on the credit card. You'll put some money down on the line of credit and put some money into savings. Do that for a year. Just do it for a year. Trust me when I tell you you're going to. Yes. Oh, hello, husband. Speak up.

[Bridget's Husband]

Do you, do you think it makes sense to pull a line of credit or to, you know, possibly wait a couple and see if interest rates drop at all and then just do a refi.

[Mark]

Well, the problem with a refi for you guys is if you're going to sell, the cost of the refi is going to be Thrown out the window. It doesn't make sense. So unless you saw a refi that dropped to a very significant level, much lower, then don't do it. Like if you're really thinking about, I mean, first of all, if interest rates go down in a year from now, then you'll have a better chance to refi. So I wouldn't do it until you make the decision one way or the other about selling the house. Gotcha. Don't refi yet. And like I said, I mean do I think interest rates are going down generally, probably soonish. Next year, definitely. So next year you might say, hey, without the credit card debt and really looking at this line of credit which we were able to pay down, or you might say, hey, you know what we can do? We, we're able to refi at five and a quarter and now we're going to stay here and that may be enough for you. Now, husband, husband of Bridget, I want you to breathe a little and see, just let it be and don't hammer this home about. I want to be mortgage free. I get it. You want something, she wants something. And we're going to try to figure out the best way forward for you guys, but let's just chill. You're not doing anything for a year anyway.

[Bridget]

True.

[Mark]

All right, all right, let's. And also Mark and I want to maybe visit South Carolina maybe and we. Sounds like you have a very big house, so that's good for us. Do you guys. Now let me just ask you some dumb questions. Also three kids. Do you have your wills done? Your estate planning done?

[Bridget]

Basic. We probably need. Yeah, we do. We did do it a while ago, but not since the third kid has been.

[Mark]

Come on now he's worried about his morning mortgage and his estate documents don't reflect his current situation. Go find some lawyer who owes you.

[Bridget]

My brother in law is an attorney. I can't believe it's. Yeah, it's.

[Mark]

There you go. Okay, so here we go. All right. Now do we have consensus that we've got a year to go and we're going to make a different. Call us back in a year.

[Jill Schlesinger]

Let's see where we are.

[Mark]

Okay, we will put you to Mark, put them on the top of the line. If they come back in a year or nine months. Okay, go forth and prosper. And if something else comes up, like honestly, hubby, if you find something, you're like, oh my God, I stepped in this amazing opportunity. There's a, you know, $1.3 million house and I can buy it right this second. If that like pops up in your life, then we're going to talk about it, okay? And we'll see what what's going on. Okay. But for now, take a deep breath. We got a one year game plan. And let us know if there's anything else we can do. Bridget, are you okay?

[Bridget]

I'm good. Yes, thank you. Sweet.

[Mark]

If anyone out there has these kinds of conversations, bring the spouses on the line. We can have a conversation. Just go to jillonmoney.com, click the contact us button, write us a note. And if you'd like to join us on the air live, all you need to do is check the box. Mark does everything else. While you're on the website, check out all the content that lives there, as well as signing a form for that free weekly newsletter which comes out every single Friday. Great, awesome information. You can subscribe to us on the Odyssey app or wherever you find your favorite podcast. Try, try, try to lift someone up. Change your work, change your wealth, change your life. Thank you for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

[Narrator]

When investing your money starts to feel like a second job, Betterment steps in with a little work life balance.

[Mark]

It's.

[Narrator]

It's the automated investing and savings app that handles the work so you don't have to. While they build and manage your portfolio, you build and manage your weekend plans. While they make it easy to invest for what matters, you just get to enjoy what matters. Their automated tools simplify the complex and put your money to work optimizing day after day and again and again. So go ahead, take your time to rest and recharge. Because while your money doesn't need a work life balance, you do make your money hustle with Betterment. Get [e-mail] that's B E T T E R M E N T.com investing involves risk performance not guaranteed.

[Mark]

Hey gang.

[Jill Schlesinger]

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[Mark]

I know how hard it is.

[Jill Schlesinger]

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