Finding Happiness with Your Current Income Through Financial Coaching
Financial Coaching
Many individuals earning six-figures struggle to make ends meet. Join us with financial coach, Ericka Young, as we explore why this happens, the stress that can come with increased income, and solutions to alleviate financial challenges.
We also speak to the benefits of implementing a coaching program in the workplace. Discover how this not only aids employees in managing their finances but also contributes to employee retention.
Links:
Ericka's Young's Website
Follow Ericka on Instagram @erickayoungofficial
Time Stamps
00:00 Welcome to the Financial Wellness Journey
00:29 Introducing Erica Young: A Financial Coaching Journey
02:20 The Shift from Individual to Business Financial Coaching
03:22 The Impact of Financial Wellness Programs in the Workplace
07:00 Financial Wellness: Beyond the Numbers
11:46 Implementing Financial Wellness Programs: Strategies and Outcomes
17:46 Personalized Financial Coaching: Tailoring to Individual Needs
22:43 The Impact of Financial Planning on Stress and Relationships
23:24 Small Financial Changes, Big Life Impacts
24:20 The Power of Incremental Progress: Atomic Habits
24:41 From Financial Struggle to Empowerment
25:09 Building Long-Term Relationships with Companies
28:48 The Misconception of Financial Wellness in Companies
31:28 Navigating Money Conversations in Relationships
35:40 The Importance of Financial Transparency and Partnership
41:32 Starting Money Conversations Beyond Numbers
42:37 Closing Thoughts and Gratitude
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Welcome to the Financial Wellness Journey
Michelle Moses: Hello everyone and welcome to the me financial podcast. I am Michelle Moses, your host. I am a certified financial planner, a realtor and a former e commerce store owner. And today we are going to be talking about the benefits of having a financial wellness program at your company and what that can do for your employees.
Introducing Erica Young: A Financial Coaching Expert
Michelle Moses: And to talk about this, I have Erica Young here. She has been a certified financial coach for over 19 years. and has served over 500 families. She believes that personal finance goes beyond the numbers and has developed creative ways to break down the mental and experience based barriers to financial success.
She also has a best selling book called Naked and Unashamed, 10 Money Conversations Every Couple Must Have. Thank you so much for being on.
Ericka Young: Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
Michelle Moses: Erica and I go way [00:01:00] back. We, um, actually started our businesses, uh, at the same time, uh, we're both been in business for 19 years and we were in the same class with a money coach learning all about feelings and finance.
I mean, back in the day, I mean, that was probably 15 years ago. So yeah,
Ericka Young: long time ago. We're dating ourselves. Yeah.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. I mean, it
Ericka Young: was probably 15. Experience. Yeah. Yeah, that was the
Michelle Moses: beginning when we were both trying to dig ourselves out of, and I think it was more of just trying to build a business in the life that we wanted to, that we had a dream of.
Ericka Young: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's helpful to make sure you're not trying to do all that by yourself. And yeah, I always sought out those communities ever since we had that first interaction because I think it's helpful for business owners for sure.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, it absolutely is. So yeah, so we go way back and then Erica moved away.
She's in Indianapolis and we haven't talked in quite a few years besides on like LinkedIn. So I'm just really happy to reconnect with you today. So thank you.
Ericka Young: Yes, absolutely. I'm so glad you reached out.
Michelle Moses: [00:02:00] Yeah, so okay, well, let's get started. So So obviously you worked with families before because your book is about the money conversations about couples.
And Erica has a podcast with her husband, um, that she, that they're always, you know, going back and talking about how they talk about, um, money and finance and different things that have come up about debt and, you know, all the things that come up.
The Shift from Individual to Business Financial Coaching
Michelle Moses: Um, so Erica, what made you make the move from working with individuals and families to working with businesses?
Ericka Young: First of all, I love working with people individually. But I had done that for so long and I really felt in my heart something was missing. Like I had spent quite a bit of time helping people get out of debt, manage their money, create budgets and all of that good stuff. And I love that. I'm a nerd. That's that part isn't going to change.
But I just felt like this longing for more impact. That was the word I could not and still can't get away from. And as I started doing a bit more research and trying to understand [00:03:00] how can I make a bigger impact? It wasn't just the stage and speaking in front of people, it was more so, how do I reach more people?
Instead of spending an hour with one family, how can I spend an hour with a hundred families? That's exactly
Michelle Moses: why, yeah, I started this podcast. I was like, I have all of this information and I just want to give it to people. Yeah, that's right. But I like your way of putting at the impact.
The Impact of Financial Wellness Programs in the Workplace
Ericka Young: Yeah, and I feel like, um, in that regard to when we're talking about a workplace, the benefits to the employee are numerous.
Obviously, them getting a handle on their finances, having camaraderie with their coworkers. These are, these people are their work friends and they talk about a lot of stuff. Um, even if we're still over Zoom, it's totally fine. Like you, this is your work family and you get close in a different kind of way and being able to have that synergy around.
Yeah. Um, learning something new and that professional development around financial wellness is also a, it's a prime spot. You spend so much time in that spot.
Michelle Moses: Well, and that's why you're there is to earn money. I [00:04:00] mean, right, right. So
Ericka Young: that speaks to needing to manage it well and to feel that your employer, it cares about that part of your life.
The benefit to the employer is, it's just numerous. The one big thing that we don't think about is that it actually does affect the employer's bottom line because people come to work stressed. They come to work worried about their finances. Most people do. Over 60 percent of our workforce is stressed about money.
And when you think about the reason right now, they're stressed. is because of inflation, let's say, right? Um, or the effects of after post pandemic world and how that has changed our landscape and our money. And so I think, you know, We're worried about it. We bring it to work and then we're not our best selves.
It affects the bottom line, period.
Michelle Moses: Well, and if you're spending all that time at work and, you know, there's so many things that I could say about what you're saying, because you're spending all this time at work and you don't necessarily [00:05:00] always, especially if you have kids, you don't always have the time at home to be managing all of your finances.
And so if you're able to go to work and even spend an hour, Just thinking about it and focusing on it, it's going to make you feel better. And, you know, you read all of these things about how money affects just the basic stress level or even poverty help with mental health, you know? And so if, if, and again, with just retention of employees, I mean, yeah, again, there's just so many ways you could go with it.
Ericka Young: Retention is the big deal, right? Because that's the one thing employers don't tend to think about, is that if their employees are financially stressed, they are twice as likely to be looking for another job outside that company. They think that their answer is more money.
Michelle Moses: Right.
Ericka Young: When in truth, if you give them tools to help with their financial health, they can maximize on the dollars that they're earning.
through the company that they're at. And so that garners loyalty, and it helps people to be appreciative [00:06:00] of what it is that they have. Now, obviously, I'm an advocate for pay increases and all of that good stuff, but if we're looking to retain employees Right. Reduce the stress that they're coming to work with and not give them a reason to look elsewhere based on money,
Michelle Moses: right?
And I think that you you're I mean gosh you're hitting on all these points that are just like, oh, yes, this is it Because more money is not always I mean, people always think that it is, you know, cause it's like social media is so filled with all of this. Like I can't afford a house because of this whole victim mentality that I just, I have a really hard time with it.
Cause it's just more about like, what can you do now? And most of the time, what you can do now is just look and pay attention to your finances. I mean, even people that have a lot of money, they still get stressed out about money. And I give them little tools and I'm like, here's a little piece of paper of all the money that you bring in every month.
And they're like, that helps so much. And every time I get stressed out about it, I just look at that little piece of paper. Right. I mean, just looking and paying attention to it.
Ericka Young: [00:07:00] Yeah.
Personal Finance: Beyond the Numbers
Ericka Young: 70 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and this is independent. of income. People always think that financial health or wellness, these types of activities and programs are for the people who aren't making money or lower income households.
And quite frankly, most of the, those 500, 600 families that I've worked with make over six figures. So we're not talking about folks that are destitute. And, and I believe the more money you make, the more responsibility you have to manage it well, because it's not just you that's impacted. It's everybody.
that you pay. This could be your landscaper, the person cleaning your house, obviously your children and how they're raised up in this household to either be entitled or know how to manage dollars, right? Like the more money you make, the bigger the responsibility it is for you to take care of that, those dollars and help it to go farther, make a larger impact in [00:08:00] your sphere of influence.
And so I'm. Really passionate about the fact that everybody needs this. And, you know, the other thing is when you bring it to the workplace, then we don't have the barriers to access that can be found in other communities. There's a lot of Um, underrepresented groups who are at work and who can access this information really easily versus only being taught to find a financial planner.
Right. Everybody needs an advisor or a financial planner to manage their assets, but if they're not the ones who are helping them get out of debt or create a budget, those kinds of things, then we're kind of missing the mark. And we want to make sure that we're able to provide this type of help and access to everybody.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, I can't agree more. I mean, there's people that make hundreds. I got somebody that makes over a million dollars and he still stresses about money. And it's only because your lifestyle, you know, everybody has the lifestyle that just goes up with it. [00:09:00] And it truly is where that it's, I say this all the time.
Where the tire meets the road is your, I call it a spending plan because people hate the word budget, but, um, that I, you know, your, where the tire meets the road is your spending plan. It is paying attention to your money and that is really the only thing that's going to start to help you feel better.
And so if you're able to do that at work and, you know, and the employer is showing that they, um, see this as a value and that, you know, again, they want them to And I could see how this would just be kind of a win win because they want them to stay there. And obviously companies don't want to pay like too much for people, but if they can make them happy with whatever their income is at that time, then that's a win win.
Right?
Ericka Young: Well, and the other thing is, right now, the retention rate has basically gone up since COVID for many companies. I was talking to a company this year. their retention, their ability to retain their employees. And so I'm going to say the amount of employees that [00:10:00] they have lost, they have lost twice as many employees after the pandemic as they did, you know, compared to prior to the pandemic.
And so they're, they, they really need to look at how much is that costing them. And so And this could be millions of dollars that it's costing them because people are jumping ship. They're going somewhere else. And when you think about it, if they love their job and they only left for money, some of them even are coming back to the job.
And that's costing the company the minimum, at minimum, the onboarding process. And how much is that total? And when companies think about that, you know, It makes sense to pay a little bit for a financial wellness program, a fraction of that, those lost dollars in order to retain folks. And, and it's the right thing to do.
It's, it's the way to keep top talent at work.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. Yeah. And I, it just, when your finances are in order, it just helps your most of your life because I feel [00:11:00] like When your finances in order, you're dealing with a lot of your emotions in your life. And it's the same thing with eating. Like I, I always compare finances to eating and well, um, like health and wellness.
And, uh, it is kind of the same thing. Like as you're dealing with all of these emotions that you have around money, it could also help, it can help your finances, but then it's also going to help, you know, I think just having respect for yourself and it goes into the other parts of your life. So.
Absolutely. I agree 100 percent with I'm just like, Oh, yeah, raise the roof. We are kindred spirits. Yeah, we definitely are. Absolutely. We say the same thing. So how do you so when you go in, what are the some of the things that you start with? I mean, are you starting with like, a speech with small groups, you know, like that kind of stuff?
How does it begin?
Implementing Financial Wellness Programs: Strategies and Outcomes
Ericka Young: It's important to have a kickoff. It's important to there are a lot of elements of a financial wellness program, and it honestly is. You know, catered to that particular organization and what it is they need and their budget and how many [00:12:00] employees they have. But in general, we always need to have a kickoff.
We've got to get the employees excited. We need to let them know that, you know, this is, um, from the top, most senior position, this program. Right. This is
Michelle Moses: important to them.
Ericka Young: Right. And the best way to do this is to make this an ongoing thing. So, um, we have a kickoff where there's some high level. here's why this is important.
This is why your company is bringing this to this group. Um, but ideally you would have ongoing learning. So be that in person or virtually in terms of webinars, just every single month having some type of learning opportunity that is recorded so that the employees can have that anytime. I think it's also great to have newsletters that have some financial tips as well in there.
Um, I do also Do you find that people
Michelle Moses: read those?
Ericka Young: You know what? Not as many as we think, right? I mean, you know, 20 to 30 percent of the population will actually read them, [00:13:00] but 30%, about 20 to 30 percent of most populations at work or just in general are the ones who, who really, really need it.
Michelle Moses: Like, yeah, cause not everybody's going to want to participate.
Some people are just going to be like, yeah, I don't need this or I don't have the energy for it. So.
Ericka Young: While I say 70 percent of the population lives paycheck to paycheck, there's only about 20 to 30 percent who you would consider financially distressed. They're concerned about, you know, getting out of debt.
They don't have money in savings. Um, and, and, They have some stress indicators, and so they might be the ones when they're paying attention to actually read more further or and there will be those enthusiasts who are just like, Oh, this is interesting information. But no, not everybody is going to read it.
And the truth is that as the coach coming into the organization, when I do offer, you know, one on one coaching for employees, I know that Not everybody's [00:14:00] going to do it. So the smaller company, sure, I'll get 50 percent participation in terms of, you know, those who want to do one on one coaching sessions.
Um, not everybody wants it, but I love, I mean, I think it's great if a 35 person company. Has 17 people. Right. That's a
Michelle Moses: lot. Yeah.
Ericka Young: Fantastic. But now, now we're talking, you know, making a real impact in that organization. So that's, I get excited about those things. And when it's a thousand person organization or 2000 person organization, and we're getting 50 or 60 people to participate in coaching, that's fine.
But if we're getting a couple hundred people on the webinar, I'm happy with that too.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. I mean, it's, it's more than just a couple at a time, you know, so yeah, that's,
Ericka Young: yeah, you're making a difference. The other thing is people, they have to want it more than you want
Michelle Moses: it. Yeah. You can't like, again, lead the horse to water, that whole saying.
I mean, it's. Yeah, it's like a 50 50, they need to meet you in the middle kind of thing.
Ericka Young: And I think that goes for [00:15:00] any of the benefits that a company offers. Um, if you ask any company how their people are actually taking advantage of their benefits, they offer these benefits and they have for years and years.
But most people aren't really fully participating. I mean, they're getting less than half participation anyway. And many of the people are enrolled in their health care, but are they actually, do they care about their flexible spending? Are they doing anything with that? Are they taking advantage of,
Michelle Moses: yeah, are they paying attention to it?
Yeah.
Ericka Young: Yeah. I mean, some companies are offering free gym memberships and people don't even know about it. Right. I mean, there's tons of benefits that the company offers. Participation levels can wane. That's why I think there's three parts to what I offer with financial wellness. One is, yes, the workshops or the in person live sessions where I get to speak and, and talk to them.
Michelle Moses: And how often are those like you, cause you have the kickoff and is that like once a quarter or something?
Ericka Young: It depends. I like to do monthly. Um, but it depends on the [00:16:00] company. And then coaching one on one for those who really want to have that individualized help. And then the third solution is like a digital solution that's available 24 7 that this company can offer to people who want to just kind of remain anonymous and still learn and still get the benefit of.
having a financial wellness program at work. And a lot of people, you know, like to participate in that. So if we can,
Michelle Moses: and what does that mean? What do you mean digital? Like a, like a zoom call online
Ericka Young: learning platform that they can log into, they can put their budget in. They can have modules that are, you know, they can read blogs on different topics and learn about, um, how to improve their credit score or budget.
that kind of thing at their own pace. They can do it on Saturday night at 10 o'clock if they want to, or two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, or you know, three o'clock on a work day. I mean, it's available whenever they want it, and That gives flexibility. So we get a chance to gear this to all different kinds of learning [00:17:00] styles.
And that way the company is holistic in its approach. Yeah, I think that's important to do.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. It's important. And so when you offer the one on one coaching, are you doing, so do you go in there and then have like a day where you're working with people and then they just come to you at certain time slots?
Ericka Young: Yeah, I've done that. Um, and I also do it virtually as well. Um, so now it's most of my business, 90 percent of it is virtual. And so I will, um, schedule, you know, these, these appointments as well over zoom and, and make sure that that flexibility is available too.
Michelle Moses: And so that, do they have to do some homework first?
Like, Hey, you need to come, you know, do this, fill out this budget and then we'll go through it or You know, what does that kind of look like?
Ericka Young: Yes, they have to fill out some homework. Now, I don't get into a lot of the details that I would with private clients that I know I'm going to meet with for six months, but.
when we're in workplaces, [00:18:00] there's a standard form that I have to fill out for the employees so I can get an understanding of where they are.
Michelle Moses: And is it all numbers or is it also about like their, how they feel about money?
Ericka Young: It's both. Okay. For me though, I like, more facts. I need to understand some of the facts and I can ask questions about how they feel.
Michelle Moses: Okay. All right. So you're asking, you're asking more about like the debt. Okay. Like you're asking more about the debt or, um, car payments and stuff like that.
Ericka Young: Yes. and you know how they currently operate with their money and that kind of thing. And then I do have separate assessments to understand their habits and things like that.
So it kind of depends on how deep we're going into this, how, what the commitment, the company, So for instance, if they will allow their employees to have more than one session, then, you know, we can go a little bit further. Oh, so
Michelle Moses: they might only limit it to one session. Okay. So it just depends. Okay. All right.
Yep. So those are the things [00:19:00] we work out in the beginning. Yeah. But then if they wanted to come with different words. to you as an individual after the business, you know, like I could, yeah, they would go on to that. So let's pretend that you could meet with them multiple times though.
Tailoring Financial Advice: The Personal Touch
Michelle Moses: And so you're looking at the numbers and then you, you're talking to them about, um, the, about the emotions around it and how all of that happened.
Um, and then are you also asking about like how the husband and wife might feel about Either share a checking account or not share a checking account. You kind of go into stuff like that too.
Ericka Young: Um, I do go into that. My biggest thing with that first session is, is there something right now in the way of their financial progress?
So what is top of mind? What is painful the most? What is keeping you up at night? If I can get to the heart of what is keeping you up at night about your finances? and give them food for thought, a way to get unstuck, or some other tip that can help them [00:20:00] right in that moment, or a to do item to help them in that way, then that is the highest return on our time together.
Michelle Moses: Right.
Ericka Young: If, if that is an emotional block, we go down that path. If it is an imminent issue with some debt, we go down that path. If it is a way that they're not able to communicate with their partner, we go down that path. But I want them to answer
Michelle Moses: the biggest one.
Ericka Young: What is that thing that made them come and schedule this appointment that if we only answered that question, they would be satisfied.
And then that, that gives me the opportunity to focus in on what are the next questions to ask that person. So that's why Honestly, that's why my business from the beginning was called TaylorMade Budgets because I have learned how to tailor the session for [00:21:00] what it is that they're needing in the heat of the moment to help them get the highest return on having invested that time with me.
And That is why no one's situation looks like anyone else's.
Michelle Moses: It doesn't. I mean, it's all completely different. Yeah.
Ericka Young: Yeah.
Michelle Moses: And that's what I say almost in every podcast I feel like is, it's just like, you know, everybody's situation is completely different. It's, it's really mind blowing to me. And we think that, uh, financial advice is so I mean, so I think like so many people think it's like an Excel spreadsheet and like one plus one is two and it's just not like that at all.
It's so much more about emotions and what you're doing day to day and how you feel about your life and then how that translates. Okay. So back to getting this most bang for your buck on the anxiety. Do you find that when you go down these individual roads, like what you're talking about, that people come back and they're like, that really helped?
And the, Do they come back to you and they're just like, Oh my gosh, [00:22:00] thank you so much. Like what, what are a lot of people's reactions?
Ericka Young: Well, absolutely. Um, when you focus on what is their highest need and then you give them an opening, you shed some light. Of course, they're appreciative. One of the biggest things that I like doing with businesses is doing a pre assessment of where their company is.
And then a post assessment. And then that gives the employee the opportunity to write in their thoughts on how this worked for them, how it was impactful for them, and it also gives them data on how the needle has been moved. So when we see Higher participation rates from start to finish. That's a needle being moved in the right direction.
The Impact of Financial Planning and Small Savings
Ericka Young: When we see people feeling less stressed about their finances because they actually have a plan, that's a needle being moved. If we see that they're able to communicate more effectively with their partner and show up to work as their full self, Now that's a needle being moved. [00:23:00] And of course, debt going down or participation in their company 401k or the feeling like, Oh, I found some money and now I can invest with my advisor.
All of those things are, are the needle being moved, even if. You know, we can't judge it based on, oh, wow, it was only a hundred dollars or, oh, wow, this is, yeah, but it's something,
Michelle Moses: it all adds up. Yeah. I mean, and that's what I say about like, when I go over my budget, I'm like, you're going to start like seeing a double charge.
And then I log on to Verizon and I'm saving 10 because I signed up with my debit card. And, and you start to like, you know, when we had. Our, um, personal health insurance, I would start to shop the health insurance. You know, like it just starts those little tiny things you feel like, okay, I'm just in there and I just call, you know, the whole in arena, I'm in the arena, I am trying, I'm doing something.
And that does more for your financial outlook than I think anything else. That you're just, yeah, that you're just paying attention and that you [00:24:00] care and that you're showing that you care and that even just making just a little tiny bit of progress is huge. And again, going back to the health and wellness, I'm like, it's just like when I switched to, you know, eating greens every day and I might only eat like a little bit of greens, but I'm eating greens every day, you know, like it's just that little tiny thing.
So it's kind of the same thing.
Ericka Young: Absolutely.
The Power of Incremental Changes and Personal Stories
Ericka Young: I love the book Atomic Habits.
Michelle Moses: Yes. That's a good one. Where
Ericka Young: it just talks about that 1 percent and how impactful a 1 percent change can be over time. That's huge to me. And so I don't want to ever discount someone's small improvement because over time it becomes something really huge.
Michelle Moses: Mm hmm. I mean, I remember when I first started my business, And, and I'm so glad that I went through being so broke because I used to think that, you know, oh, you can save 50 bucks. Like, what's wrong with you? I mean, you know, I was like that. And then being so broke, I was like, wow, I get that. People can't save $50.
Like this is a big deal, you know? Yeah. And [00:25:00] so I just doing anything is, yeah, it's just a huge help. So yeah. So what would be progress over Perfect. Yes, exactly. Exactly.
Building Long-Term Relationships with Companies for Financial Wellness
Michelle Moses: So what would be your ideal? Because you're talking about, okay, so working with these companies and then you meet once with someone, is your ideal to kind of keep that going for like a couple years?
I mean, I guess they get new employees and stuff. So why wouldn't it just go on? So does it just go on from year to year to year?
Ericka Young: Ideally, it will. I mean, I'll be very frank and say that this change, this shift has occurred over the last year and a half. year to year and a half right now for me. And I'm right in the season of renewing with, with organizations right now.
So, so thank you for saying that because I feel this good, positive energy. And like, I'm looking right now to, to sign some contracts to, um, renew. Um, because I have worked with, [00:26:00] um, one organization for six months and another one for a year, and both of those I would love to continue with, and so I'm right in the middle of that, and I think that a lot of the times, if we don't, if we aren't consistent with our employees, they won't continue to feel that loyalty.
They'll say, oh, this was just for this moment, or this was to let folks think. You know, think that they really care because they weren't really committed long term. And so I think it does your employees a disservice, honestly, to not continue, um, because you're sending a message that it was just for the moment and, and you're right there, there are new people that flow in and out.
There are seasons in people's lives. Cause sometimes they might listen to
Michelle Moses: you for two years and then be like, okay, I'm going to do this. Now I feel like I have the brainpower to do it, you know,
Ericka Young: I've had, I can't tell you how many times I've had clients who became [00:27:00] clients years after we first connected. I had one client in particular.
She wasn't ready when we first had our conversation. I always offer a 30 minute conversation free of charge to kind of understand where you are. And she was like, I'm not ready. a year later and 25 more thousand dollars in debt, she finally was ready.
Michelle Moses: Um,
Ericka Young: and so that particular client, when we worked together, paid off over 60, 000, all of her debt.
Wow. And, um, she was able to retire and she paid off her home. Like that's huge. That is
Michelle Moses: huge to go from, but she was
Ericka Young: ready. And then there, there was another gentleman that a couple of years ago, he reached out to me. He was like, I've been following you for 10 years. And he's like, I'm finally ready.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, there's always those people and it's like you're their person and they have you in the back of their mind.
And they're like, just, okay, when, when, when am I going to do this? And so that's
Ericka Young: why ideally for me, I'd like to continue an ongoing long term. [00:28:00] you know, contracting relationship with, say, five companies. I don't need 25. I just need five good ones that are committed long term to their people. And of course, I'm sure as transitions occur and I need to hire people and, you know, things happen and you evolve.
But, um, ideally I'd love to keep longer term relationships with specific companies that are really committed, um, because it's, it's not easy finding companies that, you know, Are in it for the long haul.
Michelle Moses: Right. And that they really care about their employees in this way. Absolutely.
The Importance of Financial Wellness Beyond 401k Plans
Michelle Moses: You know, and I feel like if they imple implemented something like this and took it away, it would be like giving daycare for a year and then being like, Ooh, see, sorry, can't, you know, we're not gonna do that anymore.
You know, like that kind of stuff. And I
Ericka Young: think they're slow to adapt this as a benefit to only about 20 to 25 percent of companies actually offer something like this and not in the level of [00:29:00] detail that I do. And so I think, and a lot of companies feel like they're offering financial wellness when they're offering a 401k plan.
And that is a misconception, right? That is a misconception. That is a retirement plan. Yes, that's great. Yes, it's a part of someone's financial wellness. Sure. It is a piece though. It's not everything. And, and I think if companies realize that their employees are in debt, they're stressed, they're worried.
And if they could relieve some of that, have a game plan, they could have higher participation in that 401k plan. They could have more people participating in their stock, employee stock purchase plans, or actually taking advantage of the other benefits because Right, the FSA. That's something else. Like, if you don't know what you have, then you're not going to take advantage of it.
You're not buying the life
Michelle Moses: insurance and the FSA or, yeah, all that little stuff.
Ericka Young: All a part of it. It's all a part of it. Mm
Michelle Moses: hmm. Okay. Well, I wish you luck in finding, um, some more because I think that this is like, [00:30:00] it's so much more to, yeah, I agree with you with the 401k and that having this financial wellness piece and to have someone that they could call, you know, because I think a lot of times people have no idea who to call and I do manage some 401ks and no matter how much I say, Hey, I'm here to answer questions about all of your stuff, but I can only do that because I work for myself.
Most of the time when people find it, manage a 401k, they can only give advice on the actual investments inside of the 401k.
Ericka Young: That's right.
Michelle Moses: And to me, my opinion on this is, well, why the hell am I getting paid on that, honestly? Because they can just go into a target date fund and I feel like I get overpaid if I do that, but nobody really takes me up on it because they're not, I'm not like, you know, I am an advisor.
I don't title myself as a coach. And so I really think that it's great what you're doing and making people feel better because I always say like everybody feels guilty about money. Every single person on the [00:31:00] face of the planet feels guilty about money. We always think we should save more. Uh, we should spend more.
We should go on this vacation, you know, whatever it is, we always need to be keeping up with the Joneses. And it is just something like taking care of your body, taking care of your financial wellness is just as important for your mental health and for, I think, your longevity on this earth. Honestly, I really, yeah, I just, I think it's really important.
Ericka Young: It's it money.
Navigating Money Conversations in Relationships
Ericka Young: Money stress, money fights is the number one issue in coupled up relationships. It is 65 percent of couples fight about money in some way or have some type of disagreement or I might call it a dust up where we're like, that's what I wanted to bring
Michelle Moses: up later is I love that you say that you guys call your arguments dust ups.
Ericka Young: Yeah. I mean, there are moments when there's just this tension. Um, you don't agree. and it happens to most. And if you can learn [00:32:00] the language or learn your partner's money language in a better and more deep way, committed way, then you can reduce those. They won't fully be eliminated. Um, I can't even sit here and say that my husband and I don't have these dustups.
Like we, we do. We've been married 25 years. I've been a financial coach for eons and we're out of debt. And we're in a good, healthy financial place, and we still have them. We still don't agree on everything. And so, but, but, we know how to have a healthy conversation. Even when we disagree. Yeah, and get to a
Michelle Moses: resolution or a compromise that works for us.
Rather than having a stalemate and then just being like, we just can't talk about this anymore. Which is, I think, what happens a lot.
Ericka Young: Then you don't get anywhere.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, yeah. You don't make
Ericka Young: any kind of progress. Yeah. And, and, and so, and then you alienate, somebody's alienated, right? And so if we're arguing, fussing, and fighting, it just means that somebody hasn't been heard.
They feel like they haven't been heard. And so we can't [00:33:00] avoid, having the disagreements because we're not the same person, but we can learn how to have a healthy relationship. And that's why I wrote my book to, you know, Naked and Unashamed, Ten Money Conversations Every Couple Must Have is because, you know, it breaks down your money past and how to uncover that and then discuss it with your partner, your money present, and this is all the numbers and where you are today and being able to face that.
And then your money futures potential, where you see yourself tomorrow, why these things are important and how to value that and get, go after it. And I think we tend to think that money matters are all about the numbers, that money present. But if we don't uncover our past and really dream about our future, we're missing big, big pieces of this puzzle.
No one's going to do a budget because it's the responsible thing to do.
Michelle Moses: Right.
Ericka Young: We tend to behave like, oh, this is what adults do and it's just boring. No, do a budget because you actually have something you're [00:34:00] going for. I'm, I'm playing defense with my budget so that I don't go into my emergency fund, so that I have a future or I can retain the future that I've created for myself.
Um, I just feel more secure.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. And I just feel more secure when I know what's going on. Cause especially with Christmas, like right now I'm like, okay, I need to, I need to check in and make sure that I'm feeling okay about what we got going on. Um, yeah. And it just is so, so very helpful. So yeah. And I think, um, being able to have those resolutions anytime that you're looking at your future with your husband, or this is how I feel about my husband and I is that when we're on the same page.
I mean, you better watch out because we create things so quickly, it's, it's almost mind blowing. And when we're not on the same page, like stuff just doesn't happen, you know, we're just kind of going along. But when we are on the same page, I mean, it is like we are blasting towards the future or something.
It is just really, really powerful.
Ericka Young: It is powerful. And I think when folks have [00:35:00] not experienced that. They don't realize what they're missing.
Michelle Moses: Right. And it is just so awesome because it's like things just fall in place and you're on a team and you're both working towards the same thing. And I, you know, I always equate like having a family is like I'm in this red wagon and people keep like dropping things or putting their leg over and I keep like, Like trying to like put it back in the wagon so that we can go forward
Yeah. And as we had more kids, it just got, you know, you're just kind of weight down more and you got more people, but the communication is so important and, um, and again, yeah, it'll just like catapult you forward. So I, I love all of your analogies of everything. I mean, I gotta go into this.
Unveiling Financial Vulnerabilities: The Path to Partnership
Michelle Moses: Um, the naked part is that your analogy is that you'll get naked with people before you'll actually share your finances and that you're being that vulnerable with your body and being naked with them, but you're not going to share your finances with them.
Ericka Young: Yeah, we do this. This is, this is so incredibly common. [00:36:00] We're looking for that quick fix, that pleasure factor, all of that. But. None of us think our body is perfect. Right? I mean, after we've had kids, like we, we got stretch marks, you know, all the things, right? Men too, got, you know, no one thinks their body's perfect.
And it's the same with finances. Right. And so, and the vulnerability that we feel when we put on a swimsuit or swim trunks, that we're willing to go that distance and share that with somebody and not talk about salary and not talk about do you tip and not talk about, you know, are you saving for your future?
It's, it makes us uncomfortable. Um, I can't tell you how many times That I have experienced with, with couples, they, they don't know what the other partner makes, um, in terms of income, not fully, right? They see what comes into the account, but they're not sure of the big picture. They don't, they don't have these conversations.
Um, [00:37:00] and then just yesterday I had a client meeting and a number was shared about a debt that the partner had no idea of. And it brought tears. And, and in the meeting, we don't share these things because we're, we're worried that someone's going to judge us. I mean, there's so many emotions around money.
But to me, that's like
Michelle Moses: cheating on me. Like if, if my, um, if my husband had like a secret credit card, I would feel like he was cheating on me.
Ericka Young: Oh, yeah.
Michelle Moses: Like that. You're lying to me. You're not being completely honest.
Ericka Young: And they're more concerned about being judged or feeling guilty or having made a mistake or some other thing than they are about being honest with their partner.
And, and we have to break down These, these ideas and these notions and, and know that honestly, being open and [00:38:00] honest about things that are hard, bring you closer.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, you just got to be able to say
Ericka Young: it. If we can talk about why there was the need to use a credit card without the other partner knowing, like, let's not talk about the balance first.
Let's talk about why you
Michelle Moses: have that behavior.
Ericka Young: Yeah. What was a part of that moment? that caused you to say, I'm going to make this purchase without this person knowing. And let's discuss that because that is the root of it. And then if you can get to the root of it, then we can talk about how we can put in safeguards so that it doesn't happen again.
And, and that you're a team, like, like, let's create this team environment. So I think a lot of times we're, we're not, we don't give ourselves the opportunity to slow down enough to have a conversation that goes that deep. That's the honest truth. And it really doesn't take that long. I teach people getting naked with your money should really take like 15 minutes a day.
We're all we're doing is focusing on one little topic. And [00:39:00] we do not have to have a money summit that takes all day. We're not doing that because somebody is not going to want to do that. Neither party is going to be excited about that. Let's be honest. But if you get, if you normalize, just like we say, what are we having for dinner or who's cooking or who's cleaning or who's picking up the kids or whatever it is, like these are many conversations.
Did you buy this? Are you buying that? Yeah. Let's talk about money in the same way.
Michelle Moses: Yeah, just a little things. And as you're just kind of like picking away at it, then it all adds up.
Ericka Young: Yeah. You know?
Michelle Moses: Yeah. Yeah. And, um, I remember when, but that whole thing about not being partnered, when my husband and I were first getting together, I just remember the moment that I was like, we have to partner on this.
Like, this is where we are becoming one on this. Two, like, your money is my money. My money is your money. We are having shared goals. We're gonna be making shared decisions. Like, it was just like a vision that I had. Um, and I, I wasn't scared by it. I'm sure other people would be, you [00:40:00] know, 'cause we're, we do what we do.
So, yeah. Um, it's a little bit different for us, but I was like so excited. I was like, wow. This is going to be amazing. You know, like if we're working together on this, this is just going to be so cool and so fun. Um, and so I think that people could look at it that way if they're willing to talk. I mean, a lot of this comes down to being willing to talk about stuff.
Ericka Young: And I think sometimes we don't have to believe that our money conversation has to actually start with the dollars and cents. It doesn't have to begin with numbers. Sometimes the conversation. That is so
Michelle Moses: powerful. Yes. It
Ericka Young: is. It's. It's one of those things. We're afraid because we don't like numbers or the numbers we have.
We're not super proud of like one of the numbers when my husband and I were dating and we were in premarital counseling, they the pastor told us to bring our credit reports to the office. And I was like, Oh, Lord, are you serious right now? And there were numbers on there that I did not want my future partner to see.
And I was worried [00:41:00] about that. I was like, Oh my gosh, he's going to see this number. And it was my student loan debt. And I already had a car payment. I already had credit cards and I already had a delinquency. Like I was just like, Oh my God, all the things, I knew everything I'd wanted to hide from him. And I think if we, you know, now I will say that that ended up turning out better than my, all of my fears and reservations.
And we were forced to do it, frankly, because it was an assignment in this setting. And most people would not force themselves to do that, so it ended up working out for us. But if that's not your start, let's talk about what did you learn when you were coming up about money? What were your first behaviors with money?
Did you have a job as a teenager, you know, did you have to pay for gas? Did you come from a family that had means or didn't?
Michelle Moses: Or do you even do you worry about money? Do you sit alone? But you know wake up at night and just you're thinking about money and what how you don't have enough or
Ericka Young: and a really [00:42:00] good statement When you're having these conversations, it's just simply tell me more.
Tell me more. Allow the person to expound upon what it is that they're saying. And, and that's validating because they're feeling heard. They're feeling like you care. It's setting the stage for more conversations in the future. All of that is going to bring you closer. It adds value to the relationship, not just value to your own personal bottom line.
I think that is so important for people to know.
Michelle Moses: That is so powerful. Thank you. So that just makes my heart feel all warm. I love that. Tell me more. I just love that. Thank you so much.
Concluding Thoughts and Encouragement
Michelle Moses: Well, Erica, thank you so much for being on here. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing all of your wisdom with us.
And I just think you have so many good nuggets. I can't wait to splice this up for social media. Cause I think there's so many like, thanks to come of it.
Ericka Young: Awesome. Well, this was fun. Thank you so much for having me.
Michelle Moses: Yeah. So Erica is found at Erica young. com and she has. [00:43:00] a book and financial wellness programs and you can follow her on LinkedIn.
She does public speaking. She does all kinds of things. So I encourage you to check her out. And thank you so much for listening, everybody. Um, be sure to subscribe to the podcast and scroll all the way down. Cause I know people get confused about how to review a podcast. Um, and give me a review and let me know if you have topics that you want to hear about.
I hope that, uh, what we talked about today helps you feel a little bit better about your finances. So thank you.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor or professional before making any financial decisions. The hosts and guests of this podcast are not responsible for any actions taken based on the information presented.