Why the Right Time to Build Wealth is Now

Summary

Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin: Episode Summary Episode Title: Why the Right Time to Build Wealth is Now
Release Date: May 20, 2025
Host: Morgan Lavoy
Guest: Emily Holmes, Executive Producer and Longtime Listener

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Introduction

In this episode of Money Rehab, hosted by Morgan Lavoy, the conversation centers on determining the optimal time to begin building wealth. Joined by Emily Holmes—a dedicated listener and the show’s executive producer—the discussion delves into personal finance strategies, overcoming emotional barriers, and setting actionable financial goals.

Guest Introduction

Emily Holmes shares her background and recent life changes, setting the stage for a meaningful dialogue about wealth building.

Emily Holmes (03:35): "I have had some big life changes lately and am now wondering when the right time is to start building wealth."

Current Financial Situation

Emily outlines her and her husband Jack’s current financial arrangements, emphasizing their joint and separate accounts, as well as their investment strategies.

Emily Holmes (06:02): "We have $40,000 in the joint account—$20,000 invested in the stock market and $20,000 in checking."

Morgan probes into their budgeting habits and financial management, highlighting the importance of living within or below their means.

Morgan Lavoy (07:34): "Do you feel like you are living within your means or below your means or above your means?"

Emily acknowledges their ability to save and invest, expressing a desire to enhance their budgeting to better assess their financial standing.

Emily Holmes (07:50): "I feel like I'm living below my means and saving every month, which makes me feel good about it."

Building Wealth Now

The core of the episode explores why now is the ideal time for Emily and Jack to focus on wealth building, especially considering their recent marriage and future plans.

Morgan Lavoy (05:23): "Is now the right time for me to start thinking about building wealth?"

Emily contemplates their future goals, such as buying a home or starting a family, and how these influence their financial planning.

Emily Holmes (08:24): "It's not money that I'm saving for anything in particular. We're renting in New York and plan on having kids."

Overcoming Emotional Blocks

A significant portion of the discussion addresses the emotional challenges associated with wealth building, including feelings of guilt and imposter syndrome.

Emily Holmes (11:27): "I feel a little guilty about it... It's more like survivor's guilt, where I didn't do anything wrong, but I am luckier than she was."

Morgan Lavoy (12:32): "Guilt means you made a mistake. Shame means you are a mistake, which you are definitely not."

These emotions can hinder proactive financial planning, and the conversation emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and overcoming these feelings.

Setting Financial Goals

Morgan guides Emily through the process of setting clear, actionable financial goals to facilitate effective wealth building.

Morgan Lavoy (19:43): "Step one is to come up with some really clear goals together. Goals have price tags."

Emily identifies her primary financial goal: ensuring her future children have access to higher education without financial strain.

Emily Holmes (14:57): "I would like to build wealth so my kids can go to whatever college they want without worrying about financial aid."

Steps Forward

The episode concludes with practical advice on moving from emotional contemplation to strategic action, reinforcing the idea that consistency and clear goal-setting are key to successful wealth building.

Morgan Lavoy (18:55): "Wealth building is not about one magical fix. It's about consistency."

Emily expresses optimism and readiness to discuss their financial plans further with Jack, embodying the proactive mindset encouraged throughout the episode.

Emily Holmes (20:44): "I feel good... Those steps don't feel scary. They feel very reasonable."

Conclusion

Morgan summarizes the discussion by reiterating the importance of starting wealth building early and leveraging available financial tools and guidance.

Morgan Lavoy (21:12): "For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you're waiting for the perfect moment to start building wealth, please don't."

Emily and Jack are inspired to take concrete steps towards their financial goals, demonstrating the episode's actionable insights.

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Key Takeaways:

• Start Now: There’s no perfect time to begin building wealth; the sooner you start, the better.
• Set Clear Goals: Define what wealth means to you and establish specific financial targets.
• Overcome Emotional Barriers: Recognize and address feelings like guilt or imposter syndrome to enable effective financial planning.
• Consistency is Crucial: Regular saving and investing are foundational to wealth accumulation.
• Collaborate with Your Partner: Joint financial planning strengthens accountability and clarifies mutual goals.

Quotes to Remember:

• "Wealth building is not about one magical fix. It's about consistency." — Morgan Lavoy (18:55)
• "I feel like I'm living below my means and saving every month, which makes me feel good about it." — Emily Holmes (07:50)

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For more insights and personalized financial advice, listeners are encouraged to submit their money questions to [e-mail] and engage with the Money Rehab community on Instagram and TikTok.

Transcript

[Nicole Lapin]

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[Morgan Lavoy]

More cured my writer's block.

[Nicole Lapin]

Being away for work, for fun or for both is a per to host your space on Airbnb. That way not only do you get to experience a new part of the.

[Morgan Lavoy]

World, but you're also making money while you're doing it.

[Nicole Lapin]

And if you think hosting is overwhelming.

[Morgan Lavoy]

I have a solve for you.

[Nicole Lapin]

With Airbnb's co host network it is easier than ever before to host. Now you can hire a high quality local co host to take care of your home and your guests. They can do everything from creating your listing to managing reservations to messaging guests and providing on site support.

[Morgan Lavoy]

It can even help with design and styling.

[Nicole Lapin]

Also, by hosting on Airbnb you can become part of another family's story, maybe even their hero. As you know, I stayed in an Airbnb for months when my house burned down and I truly do not know.

[Morgan Lavoy]

What I would have done otherwise.

[Nicole Lapin]

So if you've got a secondary property or an extended trip coming up and you need a little help hosting while.

[Morgan Lavoy]

You'Re away, you could hire a co.

[Nicole Lapin]

Host to do the work for you. Find a co [e-mail] host.

[Morgan Lavoy]

I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert. You don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some Money Rehab. Today's episode of Money Rehab is sponsored by bank of America. So I have some good news. According to a recent bank of America survey, Gen Z and Millennials are actually feeling good about their financial futures. And while we love a good confidence boost, what I love even more is action. Because feeling good about your financial future doesn't mean much unless you're going to do something to actually make that future happen. So today I'm bringing on a Money rehabber who you may recognize she has had some big life changes lately and is now wondering when the right time is to start building wealth. And spoiler alert, it is now. I'm teaming up with bank of America for this episode to show you ways to start investing for your future with Merrill. But don't just take my word for it. Let's break it down. Morgan Lavoy, welcome to many Rehab.

[Emily Holmes]

Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Not the first time.

[Emily Holmes]

Not the first time. No. I've been here before.

[Morgan Lavoy]

How many times? All the times in one way. But how many times as a caller listener?

[Emily Holmes]

Maybe three.

[Morgan Lavoy]

That may.

[Emily Holmes]

This is maybe my fourth time. Does that sound right?

[Morgan Lavoy]

Well, yeah. We need to get you a jacket, so I guess let's step back. How do we know each other?

[Emily Holmes]

I'm your producer. I work on this show with you. We've been doing that together since 2021. So that's how we know each other. But also, I am a listener to Money Rehab. I follow. I do whatever you tell Money Rehabbers to do. I'm an OG Money. I'm maybe the first Money Rehabber.

[Morgan Lavoy]

I should say you are. I think. I think you were you even a Money Rehabber before That's what the name of the show was called.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah. You originally wanted to call it the Money Show.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Oh, I did. I forgot about that. I do love a literal naming convention.

[Emily Holmes]

It's a good name.

[Morgan Lavoy]

And you have a question today. So exciting.

[Emily Holmes]

I do. So I, like you said, have had some changes in my life recently. I got married. That's the big. That's the big one. And I'm also turning 30 this year. And so it's a Time where I'm thinking about financial planning a little bit more than I have. It feels like time to get a little bit more serious. It feels a little bit more serious now that my husband and I have a joint checking account. So there does just feel like an extra level of, you know, responsibility there. And so my question really is, is now the right time for me to start thinking about building wealth?

[Morgan Lavoy]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Emily Holmes]

Okay, Great. The end.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Welcome to the family. Jack, by the way, congratulations to you, too. You guys have a joint checking account, and as a money rehab OG disciple, a yours, mine and ours situation.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, I have my account and then. Which is just my account from before we got married. So, like, before a month ago, the same. And then Jack has his separate account, and then we just opened a joint account a couple of weeks ago. And we put what's in there right now is just what we've been given as wedding gifts from friends and family.

[Morgan Lavoy]

And what are you guys doing with that Joanna account?

[Emily Holmes]

We have been dollar cost averaging into the stock market. We also opened up a joint brokerage account, and so we've maybe invested half of it in the market so far. And then the. The rest of it, I don't really know what we're gonna do with it because we both have enough money in our separate accounts to, like, cover half of rent and things like that. We could potentially invest kind of all of the stuff that's in the joint account. These are just the questions that we need to figure out and why I'm here. What should we be doing with it?

[Morgan Lavoy]

Okay, well, how much money is in there? How much money do you guys get?

[Emily Holmes]

We've been very fortunate, I should say. Each of our parents gave us a wedding gift that they said we could use on either during a wedding or just for whatever we wanted. And so we decided to do a really small wedding ceremony with just our immediate family. So there's eight people total. And so we pretty much got to keep all of the gifts that we've gotten from them and from extended family and things like that. So we had $40,000 in the account, and so we have 20,000 invested, 20,000 in the checking account now. And we haven't decided what we're going to do now.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Well, let's figure it out. So. So before we get into it, let's talk about your current financial situation, shall we?

[Emily Holmes]

Let's do it. Let's do it.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Do you feel like you are living within your means or below your means or above your means? According to bank of America, 95% of Gen Z, which you are, and millennials, which I am, say that they are living within their means. Where do you land?

[Emily Holmes]

I think that I am. I should have a better budget, and I don't, so. So that would be how I would really be able to tell if I'm living below my means, which would be my goal. But I'm able to save every month. Save and invest every month, which makes me feel like I am. So I feel like I'm living below my means and. And feeling good about the way that.

[Morgan Lavoy]

I spend now with the 40,000. This is your fund for what? Primarily a house, a baby.

[Emily Holmes]

I know. I just. Just the future. I really. I really don't. I don't know. I think the way that I'm thinking about it is it is money that I want to turn into more money more than anything else. Like, it's not. It's not money that I'm saving for anything in particular. We're renting in New York. I don't think we would buy a place here. I am really happy to rent here. I like being a renter. I like having a landlord. I think just with kind of weighing the benefits and costs of owning real estate in New York, it makes more sense for me to be a renter right now. And then we plan on having kids. Not within the next three years, but like I say, saving is probably a good idea because seems. Seems expensive to have a baby. I don't know. You tell me.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Sure. It sure is. Okay, so I'm assuming you've played with a compound interest calculator on this money, or do you not, like, do the things that you do for work for yourself?

[Emily Holmes]

I don't really.

[Morgan Lavoy]

That's so interesting.

[Emily Holmes]

I know. And I. And I should.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Because, like, how often do you play with the compound interest calculator? Just for this show.

[Emily Holmes]

For this show. All the time. But I think that. Because I. I guess, like, Jack and I talk. Jack and I talk about money a lot, but we don't. It sounds that we don't have goals. What.

[Morgan Lavoy]

What is even happening right now?

[Emily Holmes]

Like, I, like, be clear.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Like, you're the most organized producer.

[Emily Holmes]

Thank you.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Employee. Human. Like, there's a spreadsheet for everything. There's.

[Emily Holmes]

I love spreadsheets.

[Morgan Lavoy]

A calculator for everything. I mean, we have our own proprietary calculators even. I'm so surprised by this.

[Emily Holmes]

I know.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Jared and I play with compound interest calculators all the time.

[Emily Holmes]

I'm sorry that you guys are cooler than us. You guys are better.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Feldmans we all have the same last name. Okay, so you guys haven't yet played with the compound interest calculator?

[Emily Holmes]

No, we haven't.

[Morgan Lavoy]

On your free time.

[Emily Holmes]

We haven't. And I think part of it is because we haven't talked very seriously about, like, where we want to live in five years. And we. We have talked about kids, so that's not a question mark so much. I think we would maybe take it a little bit more seriously if we had a certain goal in mind by a certain date. And we don't. We don't have that, so we should.

[Morgan Lavoy]

When you hear the idea or the phrase wealth building, what comes to mind for you?

[Emily Holmes]

A whole mess of things. I think a little bit of imposter syndrome because I don't come from wealth. A little bit of guilt because I don't come from wealth too. But also those are two kind of bad things that immediately jump to mind. But also there's. There's good stuff too. Like, I feel very lucky and grateful and empowered. So all of those good things too, but there's also a little bit of. Yeah, like guilt and imposter syndrome mixed in.

[Morgan Lavoy]

What are you guilty for? What'd you do?

[Emily Holmes]

Just when my mom was my age, she was making $35,000 a year and she had me, and so it just feels like I. I don't know, like, my. My mom worked so hard to provide for me, and she helped me pay for college, and I don't have debt, and it just. I just feel a little guilty about it. You know, I work hard.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Guilt means you made a mistake. Shame means you are a mistake, which you are definitely not. But I understand that sometimes it feels that way. But you didn't do anything wrong.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's true. That's true. I guess it's like almost.

[Nicole Lapin]

It.

[Emily Holmes]

It feels a little bit more like survivor's guilt, where it's like, I didn't do anything wrong, but I am luckier than she was or, like, have had more opportunities than she did, despite her working, you know, just as hard.

[Morgan Lavoy]

So how does that affect what wealth building looks like for you? You want to do more, you want to save more, or you feel.

[Nicole Lapin]

Stymied.

[Morgan Lavoy]

And, like, sort of struck with inertia around it?

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, I think maybe that's why I'm a little. Why I'm playing with compound interest calculators less for myself. I think maybe it's creating a little bit of, like, avoidant behavior around talking about long term planning. To be clear.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Like, I don't Think everyone. You know, I'm not surprised that everyone is not playing with a compound interest calculator on their free time. Just to be clear, it's only for you because I know how much time you spend on it. Normally.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, no, it's a really good point.

[Morgan Lavoy]

I think everybody should, but, like, I'm. I'm never surprised when somebody's like, no. As a matter of fact, I have not used a compound interest calculator lately. So it's not something that, like, you need to be doing. But it's interesting that there's this, like, block for you from what you do at work and how into this you are around investing compound interest and then for yourself or is like a little bit of a block.

[Emily Holmes]

It is. Yeah. It is weird, isn't it? I've never really thought about it.

[Morgan Lavoy]

We're getting deep here, so should we unblock?

[Emily Holmes]

I would love to unblock.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Okay, so for you, is there a number that feels wealthy for you, or is that. Do you have, like, a magical number that you think I'm wealthy? I mean, it's going to be different than what the stats are because the stuff is super personal.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah. I think something that I would like to do that I haven't done yet is think about how I can build wealth where my kids can go to whatever college that they want to and not have to worry about financial aid being a big factor. And so I haven't really taken a look at. You know, when I went to Skidmore, tuition was $60,000 a year. It's probably more now. And so I think something that would be useful to me would be to, like, think, okay, so that's like $240,000 for one kid. We will maybe have, I don't know, one or two. And so having that saved, I think, would be a good goal.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Okay.

[Emily Holmes]

Saved. Saved. And. And have it not be our life savings, like, saved in a way where it's like, we. We can spend and we won't have to, you know, sell our house or, like. Like, we can still have the life that we want, but also spend that money on college for kids.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Okay, so for you, it's being able to pay 100% of college. Let's just assume if it's around today's dollars, we're talking about $500,000. I think that that's a good start. We have.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah.

[Morgan Lavoy]

You know, a rough number of what will make you feel wealthy. How does Jack feel about it? Is there a thing that makes him feel wealthy or he came for money so it's different.

[Emily Holmes]

I think it's different for him. I think he would probably have a higher number than I would and not to do anything differently necessarily, but just to like, have it in the bank. Like, he, it's, it's not that he wants to buy a fancy house or go on a crazy vacation or anything specific like that. I think for him it's more about being like, I know my net worth is X and that feels like wealth to me.

[Morgan Lavoy]

What's interesting is that you have some blocks around this between like, what, you know, for money rehab and what you're doing for your own money rehab. But you're putting your money into the places we talk about on the show. You're putting your money, you're doing the dollar cost averaging, which is, you know, taking the full amount that you have and trying not to time the market and put it in a different increments so that you're getting the average of what the price is worth over time. Because we want to buy low and sell high, not the opposite. But we don't know where the low is and we don't know where the highest. Because this is the first time you're really investing, right?

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, I, I started, I started investing when I started working with you. I had 401k at my old job, but I didn't know what was, what it was doing or what it meant. So I, I wouldn't. Even though that, like, was technically an investment, I wouldn't really count that because I didn't set up the account or like, know what it was doing or anything like that. And so I think that it is interesting because while I am doing some of the like, quote unquote right things, I am not thinking about it as strategically as I think that I should and could. And now is probably the time to start doing that, especially since it's like, I do feel like a bigger sense of responsibility and accountability now that I have a joint account. And it's like, this is, you know, financial planning for like two people and a family. And so I need to be more thoughtful because even though I'm not doing nothing, I should probably have my goals a little bit more defined and play with compound interest calculators more.

[Nicole Lapin]

So here's the deal.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Wealth building is not about one magical fix. It's about consistency. And it sounds like you and your now husband are committed to being really consistent about saving and investing. So I think we've covered a lot today. Dear Morgan, I would say step one is to come up with some really clear goals together. Goals have price tags. And so first, you know, figure out the life you want and then reverse engineer to figure out how to get the money to live that life. I know that some people have magic numbers that just feel good to them for no other reason than feeling good. And maybe that's part of it too.

[Nicole Lapin]

I.

[Morgan Lavoy]

There's probably like some number that feels really good. Take that into account, figure out where your destination is so that we can reverse engineer how to get you there. And is that enough? And then maybe you put numbers on what feels like enough so it's not as emotional. Because it sounds like there's like an emotional. I didn't have enough component to this.

[Emily Holmes]

Yeah, I think that that all feels very doable. And it does feel, I don't know, it just, it just feels like it makes sense. I, I feel like I didn't even realize because I felt like I was doing the right things. I didn't realize that I was also kind of doing it in a bit of a blind way. So I think those steps don't feel scary. They feel very reasonable. And I, I do feel, feel like they can be motivating, like you said, like, get myself more excited about wealth building and that. It's not a dirty word.

[Morgan Lavoy]

It's definitely not. It's very exciting. You're starting early. You're doing so many of the things that we talk about on the show all the time. There's some like, block around it. But I think it's pretty normal for people to, you know, not take their own advice. And so it's a good reminder to get your financial hygiene on yourself. Put your oxygen mask on first, even before helping our listeners.

[Nicole Lapin]

Yeah, it's a good point.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Okay, so how do you feel about getting started?

[Emily Holmes]

I feel good. I feel good. Jack and I are going to dinner with his mom tonight. Otherwise, I would say tonight we'll talk about it. So maybe we'll talk about it over the weekend. Over the weekend, we were thinking about going out to dinner because it's our like almost one month anniversary of being married.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Listen, I mean, I haven't been married a year, so who am I to talk? Sounds like perfect dinner to me. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you're waiting for the perfect moment to start building wealth, please don't. The earlier you start, the better off you'll be. And if you're looking for the right tools to help you save or just get a plan together, check out bank of America. Bank of America. Is the one stop shop where you can get guidance, tools, solutions and view your bank of America banking and manage your Merril Investing accounts all in one place. To learn more go to b of a.com financial next steps which I have.

[Nicole Lapin]

Linked in the show.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Notes Brokerage services are provided by Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner and Smith Incorporated, a registered broker dealer, registered investment advisor member SIPIC and a wholly owned subsidiary of bank of America Corporation member fdic. The views and advice expressed by Money News Network are independent and not endorsed by bank of America Corp.

[Emily Holmes]

Foreign.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host Nicole Lapin. Money Rehab's Executive producer is Morgan Lavoy.

[Nicole Lapin]

Our researcher is Emily Holmes.

[Morgan Lavoy]

Do you need some Money Rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your Money questions money [e-mail] to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one on one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagram @moneynews and TikTok MoneyNewsNetwork for exclusive video content. And lastly, thank you. Seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself which is the most important investment you can make.