
Ask Money Guy | February 11th, 2025
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Ryan Reynolds
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Brian Preston
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Britt
Brit M's question is up next. It says if you are Starting in your mid-30s, does the 25% rule still apply or do you need to increase that to quote unquote catch up for the years within the decade that you've missed? So I mean she's talking about investing here, so she's mid-30s starting now.
Brian Preston
They will correct me, but Britt and I have a mental block on it. If you just go to moneyguy.com resources, it's not titled what will 25% do for you? What's it titled? Come on, Megan.
Britt
How much should you say? How much should you say?
Brian Preston
How much should you say? For the love of all things, can we eventually name it so that we can search it off? How much 25% can do? There it is. How much you need to say? We even have something we pulled up on the screen, Britt, if you go ahead. I love the cross reference on this because it lets you see where you are, what your age is, what your savings rate, if you started at those ages and you'll quickly see now that doesn't mean because more likely you have something you know, but you can triage it but at least gives you a head start to know if you're behind the curve, ahead of the curve or right where you need to be. And then I'll let Beau share after this. But you can also go to learn MoneyGuy and do the know your number course and that will definitively answer that if you're ahead of the curve or behind the curve.
Bo Hansen
That's what I was going to say.
Brian Preston
Sorry.
Bo Hansen
No, no, no, no, no. What I was going to say is it depends. Like in your mid-30s, if you're just now figuring this out, do I need to save more than 25%? Well, ultimately depends on what your goals are. When do you want to retire? Are you going to retire at age 65? Are you working in a profession that has a pension or some other sort of guaranteed income when you retire? All of those things will really dictate whether you know if you actually are behind the curve. Here's a good piece of news that we know. 30 is still young. Mid-30s is still young because you still have time on your side. And we talk about the three ingredients of wealth creation, discipline, money, and time. We know that time is probably the most valuable, the most important one. And when you're in your mid-30s, you still have an abundance of time at your disposal. So there's a really good chance if you just start saving 25%, you're still going to be able to live the life you want to live on your terms, on a normal retirement timeline. Now, obviously, if you want to retire early or maybe you have bigger goals, like you want to have a vacation home or you want to travel or you want to increase your lifestyle or whatever additional savings may be required, but you have to triage where you are presently today and then what the finish line looks like to determine am I actually behind or am I where I need to be? And I just happen to be at the starting blocks and it's okay to be the starting blocks because I think maybe now more so than ever, there are a lot of people who just figured this out in their 30s. I mean, we love the idea if you're a 20 year old and you know that $1 can turn into $88, that is incredible. But I think a lot of people don't figure this out until their late 20s or early 20s.
Brian Preston
That's why the 25%. And by the way, don't forget, if your income, household income, is under $200,000, you can count that. Employer match. We've had very successful couples come on making a millionaire and you find out that they only saved 18%, not counting the employer match. And then you're like, well, wait a minute. Employer match really boosted it up as well. So. So it all works together.
Britt
Fantastic. Well, Brit M. I hope that helps. And we're really glad to see you here today.
Brian Preston
Can I share one More thing that we've been talking about behind the scenes.
Bo Hansen
I love every question. It's so good.
Brian Preston
It's unfair.
Britt
I just like that you asked permission.
Brian Preston
We had a just say a blockade. We were at an impasse on something that I have been begging the content team to do. And y'all were very noble because it was. Because it was gonna screw the algorithm up and y'all didn't want to do it. I was like, what is it? I have been begging and finally I put my foot down and I said, look, we're at the point. I just want to do this. Algorithm be damned. Oh my God. I just. Oh gosh, so sorry. Algorithm be darned. God dog it. What are we gonna do about that? I don't even know. We don't have a dumb.
Bo Hansen
But we gotta put an E on this episode.
Brian Preston
We don't have a dub button. I just screwed that all up. This is what happens when I don't sleep anyway. God dog it. Now I'm all messed up. I want to take the team to Dollywood.
Bo Hansen
Yeah, I do too. It'd be awesome.
Brian Preston
And I want us to create some content. It has nothing to do with finances. I think it would just be fun. I love theme parks and Dollywood is just right down the street. Three hours away, but it still would be something we could drive to. And everybody was like, no, we can't do that, Brian. It'll mess up the algorithm. You came up with a great idea. You said we need to do some type of spin off channel where Brian gets to do all of his crazy ideas. So I was going to just say at some point. Besides, believe me, I'm not a cusser, but for some reason when I don't sleep, that just snuck out. If you have suggestions on things that we could do on this side channel besides go to amusement park. So you'd be curious about Beau and Brian outside of work, let us know because I'm trying to. We're still kind of developing the idea and this would be great over lunch fodder for the content team. I didn't mean to screw that up.
Bo Hansen
I think you did awesome.
Britt
Well, there's some fodder there.
Bo Hansen
So I want to be clear because I was laughing for half of it. Your ask is, hey, are there other things maybe financial, maybe not financial that you'd be interested in?
Brian Preston
Well, because I shared that I've often wanted to give content on health as wealth. You know, I've been on this journey because, you know, my 40s, I knew I needed to be Exercised. But now that I'm in my 50s, I've been doing even more stuff to try to watch my health because I really do think you have an active role, just like wealth building. You can be very involved with actually controlling and managing your time, your wealth and I think your health in a lot of ways. I have found ways. I hesitate to say the word biohack because I know that's a popular thing, but I definitely can influence things. Things to. To. To be healthier.
Bo Hansen
Yeah. Since you brought this. Biohacking is just a term that it bothers me because it makes it sound like you're doing something like a shortcut, like you're, like you're taking some. Like you're doing a negative thing.
Brian Preston
I actually think it's a positive thing. It makes me think like I'm going to strap on, you know, like a Android arm or something and be able to go take over.
Bo Hansen
I think just like pro. I wish. I don't. I think biohacking gives it a negative connotation. I think it should be something besides biohacking. But I, I love healthy brine. It's one of my favorite brines. And four hours sleep, Brian. They're all very good brines.
Britt
Yep.
Brian Preston
We're going to have to add a dump button. All these years of broadcasting and then I say one.
Bo Hansen
Uh huh.
Brian Preston
You know what? We were talking about a bridge that was holding some water.
Bo Hansen
There you go.
Brian Preston
That's what it was.
Bo Hansen
That's what it was.
Brian Preston
Bridge is holding some water.
Britt
All right. Okay.
Bo Hansen
This is going to torment him.
Britt
I know it is.
Bo Hansen
For the rest of the day, Brian.
Britt
Let'S just move on. We have some more questions to get. It's all good.
Bo Hansen
So sad.
Britt
We're gonna give some great information and have some great financial discussions. Okay.
Brian Preston
By the way, I broke multiple. I said a four letter word and to the overlord of YouTube's they're probably. Did he say what he said? What about the algorithm.
Britt
Which is worse? I don't know.
Bo Hansen
I will say this is one thing that bothers me and I don't know if anyone tells, but a lot of times I like to listen to stuff like on my drives, like I listen to podcasts or whatever and sometimes it's health stuff or whatever. I do get really annoyed when there is like when there's, when there's health stuff going on. But like people use a ton of profanity because like I'd love for my kids to be able to be in the car and like be listening to health stuff going on.
Brian Preston
I know what podcast you're talking about.
Bo Hansen
Yeah, it prioritizes health, but then sometimes they'll just be like, dropping. I want the money guy show to be something that you can listen to with your kids in the car and be like, oh, this is awesome. My kids are going to get some solid 80s pop references and great financial information, and that's what we want.
Britt
Brian agrees. And that's why.
Brian Preston
Yeah, that's why I do feel bad because I don't want the E on our. On our episodes because I want it to be family friendly.
Britt
Oh, man, you are family friendly. It's all good. Okay, Tanveer has a question for you. It says, when is it time to start increasing your emergency fund as you get closer to retirement?
Brian Preston
That's a great question.
Bo Hansen
Oh, man. Right, okay. So I hate to keep going back to this, but it's so pertinent. We recently filmed an episode of Making a Millionaire, and it was wonderful. This couple had done a lot of stuff, really, really great. But his company offered him an early retirement. The early retirement was pretty attractive. And he said, you know what? I'm gonna take it. And he took that. And he met with us and we're kind of going through his stuff and we're like, hey, we notice you have, like, six months of living.
Brian Preston
He was very proud. He's like, and I follow the financial order of operations. I had six. I got six months.
Bo Hansen
And we're like, but hold on, didn't you just say you're retired? Because you know that our rule, like, if you're looking at, like, step four of the financial order, you want to hold it up. For me, Brian, step four is having a fully funded emergency reserves. And for most people, that's somewhere between three to six months of living expenses, depending on your unique circumstance. But when you get to retirement, when you get to financial independence, when you get to the point where you're going to start living off of those dollars, we do think that your emergency fund needs to expand. It ought to expand to somewhere between 12 to 18 to maybe even 24 months, depending on your unique circumstances. And so, Tanvir, this is a great question, because I think a lot of people miss it. They just think, oh, six months, six months, six months. And they don't realize, oh, no, there is a shift that needs to take place as I begin to enter into retirement. So, Brian, as you've counseled clients who have, like, been approaching that, that retirement horizon, how have you helped them, like, work through building that?
Brian Preston
And I think it can be a transit because you're not retired yet, so it doesn't have to be like full stop all of a sudden, stop everything, go all in on cash reserves. I do think it's one of those things. If you know you're retiring 12 months in the future, it's just over the coming 12 months, let's start boosting those cash reserves up. And you have to. And this is one of the things, when we take on clients, we do triage and try to figure out what are your true risk. I mean, because if you have a pension coming in, that obviously influences things. Even if you have Social Security coming in, that can change the metrics to a degree as well. It depends on what other cash flow you know you have coming in as well as your emotional well being. You know, people who are. This is one of the reasons we have this expanding rule. You might think that you are perfectly comfortable with having your diversified portfolio, but then you've never experienced a market downturn when you don't have earned income coming in any longer. It hits differently. There's already a natural transition that occurs when you go from being a saver and a builder to now you're going to be a non worker and consumer of the assets that you spent decades building. Anybody who's gone through retirement will know what I'm talking about is that there's a transition period and if I can give you a little margin in your life through that, extra cash reserves, it's just going to insulate you from some of the chaos and the craziness of the world so you don't make those desperate, weird decisions that actually jeopardize or definitely have a negative impact on your financial retirement and life.
Bo Hansen
Love it.
Britt
Fantastic. Thanks, Tanvir. Next up, we have a question from Faith P. She says if I'm expecting I won't stay in my job long enough to be vested, do I Skip Foo? Step 2 the 401k match.
Brian Preston
That's a great. That's a good question.
Britt
I know, right?
Brian Preston
But once again it has facets to it because, you know, here's something that, and I think it's. I'm glad she's asking about vesting, but here's a cool trend that's been going on in America is that I think when I first entered the workforce it was very common that everybody had graduated vesting schedules that really, you know, it's 20% a year and then after like six years you were vested, but they're along. I'm old enough that rules have changed now. Safe Harbor 401ks are more prevalent than you realize. So a lot of people, when you have a safe harbor 401k, you're vested quickly. I mean, immediately, most often. And then, you know, there's also cliff vesting if you're not graduated. You know, there's like, if you just work at a place for two years, it's 0 to 100, but then it's 100% vested. It all comes back to the point of do your homework.
Bo Hansen
That's right.
Brian Preston
I mean, you've got to know the numbers. And I'm glad you're asking, Faith. But also, you know, don't sleep on the fact that if you're on a graduated scale, if you work there for two or three years and you come out with 40 to 60%, there's still likely, you need to do the math on it, but that's still going to turn out. Maybe it's not a 50% or 100% guaranteed rate of return. It still could work out to be a 20 or 40% guaranteed rate of return. So pay attention to how that math. Don't skip the step of actually looking at the numbers.
Bo Hansen
Yeah, I want to throw two things out to you, Faith. One, there's a document called a summary plan description SPD Summary plan description. Reach out to your HR department, human resources and say, hey, can I get a copy of that? Because this document is going to outline exactly how your plan works and there may be a portion of your employer contribution that is safe harbor that's immediately invested and there might be a matching portion, there might be a profit sharing portion. You want to know that? Now here's the other thing. Should I just forget and move on and move away from it? Well, what if things change? What if you think you're not going to be here long, but you end up being here for two years? There are three years and you would have left some free money on the table. Now, maybe you won't get to take all of it with you, but here's what you did do. If you had to put in 3% of your money to get 3% of your employer money, and you're only partially investing your employer's money, you're still fully vested in your money. So that money that you put to work in step two, that money that you got working, you still get to take that with you. So you haven't really lost anything. You're not out anything by at least putting in enough to get the match. And then if you're there long enough for the match, you get to take it with you. Worst case scenario, you don't get to take it with you, but you still have your dollars working for you and you might get some portion of that depending on how long you've worked there. So I still say if you're working at an employer that offers it, I'm going to go ahead and try to max out the match just in case I don't end up changing because I don't want to look back and be like, man, thought I was going to transition in one year. It took me four years. I left free money on the table and I just walked away from those dollars I didn't have to walk away from.
Brian Preston
But I do want people make sure you understand there's a difference between matching and profit sharing. What I'm seeing more and more trends of matching contributions typically are vesting immediately because they're going that safe harbor route. And now it's getting to be where the profit sharing. Yes. Is going to have those graduated or because they want to have some golden handcuffs on you as the employee. So make sure you're not grouping both of those pots of money into the same, even though they might show up on your account statements the same way. They are funded in two completely different ways. So make sure you understand the difference between matching as well as profit sharing contributions because those can have different vesting schedules as well.
Britt
Wonderful faith. P. Thanks for the question. All right, we've got a question from Kevdog Millionaire. Up next.
Bo Hansen
Kevdog.
Britt
It says, hey, money guy.
Brian Preston
Kevdog, it feels like, doesn't it feel like you ought to just give it a little ruby?
Bo Hansen
If you could say it that way as you move forward, that'd be great. Please.
Britt
Thankfully, I already said it. So.
Brian Preston
We already have one court gesture on here. Let's not add another one.
Britt
The question says, when do you sell your winners? I am up 13 times on one position and I still believe it has room to run. It has grown to over 40% of my portfolio.
Brian Preston
Isn't this the dilemma?
Britt
I am 34 and allocating new money to indexes.
Brian Preston
Oh, that's a smart decision, Kev dog. Because, I mean, here's the thing. This is what I always tell people when they get into this. This, the, the, the blessing and the curse of individual investments is that even when you hit it, you start questioning yourself. Now, I want to give you credit, Kevdog is you've gotten over a thousand percent. So you've. And I've got, I've got one holding I've done this with and you have to figure out, are you riding it ride or die, or are you actually going to be smart and trim down the holding? It is a dilemma because it just, it gets to become bigger and bigger. And a lot of people, they, after it triples or quadruples, they sell it. And then when it goes up tenfold, you're like, oh, my God, I should have stayed on that. So you see, how many times have we seen somebody say, if you'd have put $1,000 in Amazon and whatever year that Bezos took that thing public, you'd have $120 million or whatever crazy number they come up with? I'm like, yeah, but nobody would do that, because after you turn that thousand dollars into $10,000, you probably. That's pretty good. And then. Or you'd have seen the economy went down and you'd have gotten out, and then you'd have been cussing it. The same thing happens, by the way, if you get in there and then it goes complete bad the other way. You don't know when to get out. Some. A lot of times people will double down on the bad behavior. Let's say, well, gosh, I liked it here, and now it's down 25%. Let's go buy some more of this. Here's what I would say, Kev, and then let you fill in some gaps, Bo, is that if this is. I would take a pulse on what is your daily happiness being impacted if you find that the days this stock is up, because now that you're up over 1000%, there's chances that every day that there's a good swing or a bad swing, it's more than your initial investment into that investment. It's a pretty amazing thing when you hit one of these winners. If that's driving your happiness, where you go home and you're one step from kicking the dog or doing something or getting in a fight with loved ones, take note of that. That's not a good thing. If this thing drives your happiness or your depression for the day, that would be a big determining factor for me. Now, if it's a healthy thing, because like I said, I've got one of these and it's fortunately, in a Roth ira, I've just decided I'm going to ride or die. I'm just going, whatever. I'm going to see what this. But as a percentage of my total net worth, especially investable assets, it's still a rounding error. It's only. It's only a percent or so. So it's not that Big of a deal. And it doesn't impact my happiness so much. You need to do that same thought exercise for yourself.
Bo Hansen
Yeah, I love you already said you're doing one of the things that we recommend. You said, hey, outside of this position, I am still saving, I am still building up my wealth, and I'm trying to put that in index funds and other things that are not concentrated in stock positions. I love that we see this all the time with, like, executives who come to work with us as clients, and they have a lot of concentrated stock exposure. Say, okay, there are certain reasons why we might not be able to sell that and reduce that exposure. Let's build the portfolio around it so that rather than decreasing the position to represent x percent of your portfolio, we just grow the other part of the portfolio so that it becomes a smaller and smaller position. But some stocks won't allow for you to do that. Some stocks are just going to go to the moon and they're going to take off, and it's going to be really hard for you to grow at the same pace as that stock. So then you have to ask the question, okay, I'm going to say, how much is enough? I don't really mean that. What I mean is, psychologically, if it were to turn down tomorrow and lose 50%, what are you going to do to yourself? How are you going to feel about not capitalizing on that? Most people are going to say, oh, I'd be sick. It'd crush me. Da, da da, da da. And so what we say is, hey, whenever you face a financial decision and you're really worried that it could be an emotional financial decision, are there things you can implement that will remove the emotion from the equation? And individual stocks are a great example. You got to buy at a good price, you got to sell at a good price. And if you sell too early and it goes to the moon, you're mad. And if you sell too late, after it tanks, you're mad. So one of the ways that you can remove the emotion from the equation is say, okay, right now it represents 40% of my total stock of my total portfolio exposure. I really don't want it to represent more than 20%.
Brian Preston
That's a great point.
Bo Hansen
Making up a number here. I would put together a strategy. Okay, 20% is this number. What I'm going to begin doing is every month or every quarter or every week or every, whatever the cadence is, I'm going to begin dollar costs, divesting out of this position. So that way I remove the emotion from It I'm just going to sell every Monday or every fifth or every first day of the quarter, I'm going to sell X percentage of the stock. Now, what's likely going to happen is if it's a stock that is going to the moon, it's going to continue to grow. And this dollar cost divesting strategy is going to keep chipping away at it, but not meaningfully reduce your exposure. So you're still participating in that, but you are going to slowly be taking chips off the table. Chips off the table, Chips off the table. And you're removing the likelihood that you have all of your wealth tied up in this thing. And the cataclysmic, negative, bad black swan thing happens. And you go from having this position that was up 13 times to now you have a position that really hasn't done a whole lot for you over any meaningful period of time. So I would say, how can you implement a non emotional divestiture type of strategy to get you at the end point you want to be at and then you constantly reassess, okay, I'm going to do this for six months. Where am I? Do I need to speed it up, slow it down? Okay, I'm going to do it for six months. Where am I? Do I speed it up, slow it down so that way you're not stuck with analysis paralysis of when to get out, when to stay, what to hold, what to get rid of. And it just allows you to begin moving the ball forward.
Brian Preston
You take the emotion out. You know, you make a great point, because I was internalizing this and my case study is it's a small percentage of my net worth.
Bo Hansen
40%.
Brian Preston
It's 40%. So I mean, that is going to definitely 13x. It's going to have an emotional impact. It's also going to have a financial impact. I would definitely. Now here's something. Now, what if Kev is able to save so much? Because maybe he is at the beginning part of this. That's why I would triage it in that way, Kev. But definitely don't let this thing derail. I've worked with executives. Y'all have heard me tell the story of executives at Lucent Technologies. Because we're from Atlanta and they all thought this thing was to the moon. And everybody's like, what's Lucent Technologies? I'm telling you, this was the highest of high flyers back in the 90s, you know, S&P 500 holding. And a lot of those executives had net worths that was many, many millions. And Then got crushed when that stock. You know, there's a reason you don't know about it anymore.
Bo Hansen
Exactly right. Hey, kudos to you, kevdog, for being 34 and sound like having. Having a home run. Now you just got to figure out what to do with it.
Brian Preston
I know you. You ready for transition, but I felt like this is. This is still a good time because there's something that I want to draw attention to today is the launch of the new food course. And I look, I've already screwed up something so big, then I'll go ahead and just throw more pie on my face. We'll just make this the court gesture. The whole content team, when they decided to show me the new course, and I want to give you an Easter egg that you can go look at yourself to see how embarrassing it is, is if you go to the bowling point section of the new course, you literally can watch my face turn four shades redder. And somehow we kept that in there. We didn't go and re record it. We just like, no, let it rip. It's good enough. And I was like, okay, it was the good stuff. And it was so good for you guys that you decided, you know what? When we're comparing and contrasting Brian's belly in the first course to now, what's going on? We chose this as the section, the Easter egg, to kind of draw attention to.
Bo Hansen
And it looked great, didn't it?
Brian Preston
It did.
Bo Hansen
It looked so good.
Brian Preston
Yeah. Really, the cameras we're using now really pick up those shades of red. So it was a great little Easter egg to share.
Britt
No, but that's actually what I was gonna transition to next is just to remind you that the new and improved financial order of operations course is live. Go to learn.moneyguy.com with the new and improved price that you guys really let us know worked better. It's now just $49. You can go sign up for that. And remember that if you already had the old course, you will be getting gifted this new course. It'll show up in your portal. You should get some emails about it. So be watching for that today. We're really excited to get this into your hands because it's just so much more comprehensive. I'm very excited to have this product out into the world today. So learn.moneyguy.com and don't sleep on that.
Brian Preston
We're giving it to you for free if you've already bought it, because we want to pay it forward. So if you get in this thing and you realize, holy cow, These guys weren't kidding. It really has really improved. But now, what I'd like to do, since I've been through this and I've seen the fruits that it can come from it, let's organize a group because we have group discounts. We've also designed this course with the thought for groups so that you can actually, you know, essentially have a teacher's edition so you can teach this thing. And we even designed it, especially the group edition. If you get beyond five to where even if you couldn't watch the videos, we give you enough of, like, group workbook, you get. Yeah, it's a workbook. We try to hit you from all angles. And it also integrates, man, the mission. The mission briefs. Pretty cool that y'all incorporate if you want to actually make it a book club event. We actually also combined it with Millionaire Mission. I mean, knock over everything. Just cut the cameras off just before the wheels. Who knows what I'm gonna get us completely taken out. But in all seriousness, I think it could be a cool opportunity for you to pay it forward if you've got friends. Because in addition to the workbooks, we've made it much easier to gift this because we've heard you guys, you said, hey, I'd like to give this, pay it forward to other people. Now we're gonna make that easy so you have a chance to go preview it because you've already made the investment. But once you preview and say, yeah, this is the real deal, go and pay it forward and give some. Some copies out.
Bo Hansen
I love it.
Britt
That's great.
Brian Preston
What is that? Is that the close? I was waiting for you to say something cool, but, you know, because I'm over here knocking stuff over. Bull and China Shop, guys, go ahead. We love.
Bo Hansen
We love. We love that we get to do this for you guys. We could not do the show if you did not tune in. We're so excited we have this coming out. We're so excited about the new mini shows. If you've not seen the highlights that come out every Wednesday, make sure you check those out. If you've not checked out the first episode of Making a Millionaire, make sure you go check that out. We have another episode coming out this coming Monday, and we are just so excited that we can create this content for you so that you can do money better.
Brian Preston
Guys, I think I've said enough today, so I'm just going to say I'm your host, Brian Preston, joined by the very capable Mr. Bo Mustache Hansen. Moneyguy Team.
Bo Hansen
The Money Guy show is hosted by Brian Preston and Bo Hanson. Brian and Bo are partners with Abound Wealth Management. Abound Wealth Management is a registered investment advisory firm regulated by the securities and Exchange Commission. In accordance and compliance with the securities laws and regulations, Abound Wealth Management does not render or offer to render personalized investment or tax advice through the Money Guy Show. The information provided is for informational purposes only, may not be suitable for all investors, and does not constitute financial, tax, investment or legal advice. All investments involve a degree of risk, including the risk of loss.
Money Guy Show: Episode Summary - "When Do You Need to Change Your Savings Rate?"
Hosted by: Brian Preston and Bo Hansen
Release Date: March 24, 2025
In this engaging episode of Money Guy Show, hosts Brian Preston and Bo Hansen delve into the crucial topic of determining the optimal times to adjust your savings rate. Through insightful discussions and real-life listener questions, they provide actionable strategies to help listeners optimize their financial plans and achieve their wealth-building goals.
Listener Question: Brit M asks if starting to save in the mid-30s necessitates increasing the traditional 25% savings rule to "catch up." (Timestamp: [01:06])
Discussion Highlights:
Assessing Personal Goals: Brian and Bo emphasize that the necessity to increase savings depends on individual retirement goals, desired retirement age, and whether one has access to pensions or other guaranteed income sources.
Bo Hansen:
"Ultimately depends on what your goals are. When do you want to retire? Are you going to retire at age 65?" ([02:23])
Time as an Asset: They reassure listeners that starting in the mid-30s is still advantageous due to the power of compound interest over time.
Brian Preston:
"30 is still young. Mid-30s is still young because you still have time on your side." ([02:42])
Employer Matches Enhance Savings: Highlighting the importance of employer-sponsored retirement plans, they discuss how matching contributions can significantly boost overall savings without solely relying on personal contributions.
Brian Preston:
"If your income, household income, is under $200,000, you can count that. Employer match." ([04:04])
Listener Question: Tanvir inquires about the appropriate time to increase the emergency fund when nearing retirement. (Timestamp: [09:04])
Discussion Highlights:
Transitioning Needs: Bo explains that while a 3-6 month emergency fund suffices pre-retirement, retirees should aim for a more substantial 12-24 months to cushion against unforeseen expenses and market volatility.
Bo Hansen:
"When you get to retirement... we do think that your emergency fund needs to expand to somewhere between 12 to 18 to maybe even 24 months." ([09:18])
Emotional Preparedness: Brian underscores the psychological shift from saving to spending, highlighting that a larger emergency fund can prevent panic-induced financial decisions during market downturns.
Brian Preston:
"Anybody who's gone through retirement will know what I'm talking about is that there's a transition period and if I can give you a little margin in your life through that, extra cash reserves, it's just going to insulate you." ([12:19])
Listener Question: Faith P. asks whether to skip the 401(k) match if she expects not to stay long enough to be vested. (Timestamp: [12:37])
Discussion Highlights:
Understanding Vesting Schedules: Brian advises listeners to thoroughly understand their employer's vesting schedules, differentiating between immediate vesting in safe harbor 401(k) plans and gradual or cliff vesting in others.
Brian Preston:
"Make sure you understand the difference between matching as well as profit sharing contributions because those can have different vesting schedules as well." ([15:37])
Maximizing Employer Contributions: Even with uncertain job tenure, contributing enough to receive the employer match is recommended to ensure personal contributions are fully vested and working for the individual's financial growth.
Bo Hansen:
"If you're working at an employer that offers it, I'm going to go ahead and try to max out the match just in case I don't end up changing because I don't want to look back and be like, man, thought I was going to transition in one year." ([14:03])
Listener Question: Kevdog Millionaire seeks advice on when to sell a highly successful investment that has grown to 40% of his portfolio. (Timestamp: [16:25])
Discussion Highlights:
Emotional Impact of Winning Stocks: Brian and Bo discuss the psychological challenges of managing substantial gains, emphasizing the importance of not allowing emotions to dictate selling decisions.
Brian Preston:
"If this is a healthy thing... if it's just a percent or so. So it's not that Big of a deal. And it doesn't impact my happiness so much." ([19:49])
Implementing Structured Selling Strategies: They advocate for strategies like dollar-cost divesting, where a set percentage of the investment is sold periodically to reduce exposure without entirely abandoning the position.
Bo Hansen:
"What I would say, Kev, and then let you fill in some gaps, Bo, is that if this is... you need to implement a non emotional divestiture type of strategy to get you at the end point you want to be at." ([21:26])
Maintaining Portfolio Balance: The hosts recommend steadily reducing the proportion of high-growth stocks to maintain a balanced and diversified portfolio, thereby mitigating risk and preserving gains.
Bo Hansen:
"Implement a non emotional divestiture type of strategy to get you at the end point you want to be at and then you constantly reassess..." ([21:26])
Beyond addressing listener questions, Brian and Bo share exciting updates about their offerings:
New Financial Order of Operations Course: They announce the launch of an improved financial course, now available at a reduced price of $49. Existing course participants receive the new version for free as a gift.
Britt:
"The new and improved financial order of operations course is live. Go to learn.moneyguy.com with the new and improved price..." ([25:06])
Group Discounts and Gifting Opportunities: The hosts encourage listeners to take advantage of group discounts and the ability to gift courses to friends and family, fostering a community of informed investors.
Brian Preston:
"We have group discounts. We've also designed this course with the thought for groups so that you can actually, you know, essentially have a teacher's edition..." ([25:46])
In this episode, Brian Preston and Bo Hansen provide valuable insights into optimizing savings rates based on individual financial circumstances and life stages. From adjusting savings in your mid-30s to managing high-growth investments and understanding 401(k) vesting schedules, the hosts offer practical advice to empower listeners to make informed financial decisions. Additionally, the introduction of their enhanced financial course underscores their commitment to educating and supporting their audience on the journey to financial well-being.
Key Takeaways:
For more detailed strategies and personalized advice, visit learn.moneyguy.com.