Childfree Wealth®

Ep. 13: Meet the New Co-Host

April 12, 2023 Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® Episode 13
Childfree Wealth®
Ep. 13: Meet the New Co-Host
Show Notes Transcript

Welcome to the Childfree Wealth Podcast, where we talk about all things personal finance and being Childfree! We are excited to introduce our new co-host, Bri Conn, who brings a fresh perspective and a wealth of knowledge to the table.

Bri is a marketer by trade, but she's currently working towards becoming a Certified Financial Planner. Her passion for personal finance and helping others achieve their financial goals is evident in everything she does.

When Bri isn't working or studying, you can find her outside with her dog Lily. She loves hiking, running, and swimming, and she's always looking for new ways to explore the great outdoors.

We can't wait for you to get to know Bri and hear her insights on personal finance and investing. Tune in to our podcast to learn from her and Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP®.

Be sure to join the conversation by emailing us at podcast@childfreewealth.com, following Childfree Wealth on social media, or visiting our website www.childfreewealth.com!

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00:00:00:15 - Bri

Hi. You're listening to the Childfree Wealth podcast we’re your hosts, Bri and Dr. Jay, Certified Financial Planner®. Here we discuss life and finances as it relates to being childfree. This podcast is for educational entertainment purposes only. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast.


00:00:24:22 - Dr. Jay

Hey everybody, Dr. Jay here from Childfree Wealth. You may have heard this podcast before called the Childfree Life and Finances podcast. Matt and I were doing that podcast for a while. Matt's actually gone off on a different path, different career. He's still childfree, but he's following a different path. And of course, in the financial world, that changes marketing and all that fun stuff.


So we've relaunched, restarted, regroup, worked this process and said, All right, let's make this podcast a little different. And I have a new co-host I’ll introduce you to a minute. We'll work through the whole process, but we'll get you there. If you want to reach to Matt. His contact information is still out there. Or you can always email us at podcast@childfreewealth.com.


All right, so now the podcast called the Childfree World Podcast doesn't really change much is just branding. And I'm going to be co-hosting this with Bri. Bri is just joined our team at Childfree Wealth as a Customer Service Associate, but also as Marketing Manager because I've been told that I suck at social media. So Bri's job is to bring me into the whatever, 2020s at least, and get me up to date there and get the marketing out and build this.


But Bri also as a unique thing, is learning to become a Certified Financial Planner. We're going to have some fun with this because what we've decided is why not teach you all what she's learning? You know, we can teach the childfree spin and how it fits. And one of the challenges I've given, Bri, is when she goes through all this training is to find any mention in there of being childfree.


I didn't find any when I did my training, but we'll see. We'll go through the process. We'll do that. But also, frankly, Bri's got a completely different perspective than me. I hate to age myself, but she's two decades younger than me. So I feel like the old person in this room, and she has just a different look on things and that's awesome.


So Bri, say hi and introduce yourself.


00:02:23:25 - Bri

Hi. My name is Bri Conn. I am working towards becoming a Certified Financial Planner. I'm currently a marketer and working with Jay now. He has been training me these past few weeks to become a financial planner. It's going to take a few years, but I'm excited to do it. I've always had an interest in money, but I didn't really know where to go with it and found out I could become a Certified Financial Planner after a few years of listening to different podcasts and reading different blogs and following people online.


I am childfree. Like I said, it's just never felt like something I needed to have to be complete in life and I'm really excited to go forward and learn more about what childfree means and money and also learning how I can eventually help you guys as well.


00:03:11:01 - Dr. Jay

That's great. And I think one of the things you'll find is as you dove into learning about this finance stuff is you can go down whatever rabbit hole you want. Like you can spend all your time researching one little thing or you can try to figure out all the financial planning process or how it is impact by being free or and there's so much it's like drinking from the fire house.


It is just way too much. And I know you're studying for the Series 65 right now, so kind of tell us what that's like and what that the Series 65 is about.


00:03:41:01 - Bri

The Series 65 is a uniform financial law exam, so it is all very in-depth regarding laws and technical aspects of money and talking about different acts from 1933, 1940, 1956, different things like that, all that stuff. So that's where the experience portion comes in and the learning and watching different client calls and being in listening to the calls. Right now I'm just learning all of the little nuts and bolts back behind that a lot of people don't necessarily want to listen to or read about, and that's fine because it is all very technical and in-depth. So that's where I'm at right now.


00:04:19:07 - Dr. Jay

Yeah, the series 65, man, that's kind of a rough haul because it's all the like small details that just really almost don't matter to clients. But you're required to know, you know, anybody that's ever done a certification exam for anything knows there's all this stuff and you are like, oh, well, you know, this is how I buy and sell things. 


And what it is, it makes almost no sense until you start working with clients. So we will actually pull that apart, walk through that. Just so everybody knows, you take the Series 65 exam, you can become a a investment advisor representative. That's just a checkbox. Childfree Wealth is actually a registered invite investment advisory firm with the Securities Exchange Commission.


It just means we do a heck of a lot of paperwork for a giant pain in the butt, but it also is kind of how we make sure we're doing the right things, the fiduciary compliance. And man, I spend more time in compliance than ever want to do.


Also, just see and get a feel for where Bri is going. She's going to become a Certified Financial Planner. The difference there is a Certified Financial Planner, you actually have to take six additional classes and do between 4000 and 6000 hours of experience on top of passion exam and all the paperwork and all that. And that's quite a process. So everybody is listening. You're going to get to go through the next two or three years with Bri and I and diving into this.


And it's it's interesting because I have experience working with clients and I've done coaching for over a decade in different ways. And it's always one of those challenges of translating what's in the book into practice. Have you seen that yet?


00:05:53:29 - Bri

Oh, absolutely. There's been different topics so far that I've seen. It's like when I'm reading a book, it doesn't really make sense. And then you get to a client call, I'm listening in and I'm like, Okay, that it's clicking now. I understand it. I can see how this ties in and how this impacts people's lives. And there are just other things to where I know we were talking a couple of weeks ago about bonds and Silicon Valley Bank and how all that ties in.


When you see an example of it, it is so much more real and easier to understand than just reading it out of a textbook.


00:06:27:04 - Dr. Jay

Yeah, for all the finance nerds out there, the Silicon Valley Bank, actually most recently went under was a bond duration issue, which is something that, you know, you're taught to calculate and I had to do for my MBA. And like we have like a whole class in the Excel forms we calculate. I would never use that in real life.


And then you see a bank, poof, go up because they miscalculated. It wasn't exactly the the math behind it, but also the environment. And, you know, people pulling their money. But that brings it to life. So speed of life, you tell me about you and kind of your life and who you are as a person.


00:07:02:20 - Bri

Yeah. So I am in my twenties. I just got married a couple of months ago here and my wife and I live in northeast Ohio. I've been working from home for a while and then met Dr. Jay. And now, now I'm here working on becoming a Certified Financial Planner. We love to be outdoors. If I'm not working either in bed, that I will be outside either hiking or swimming or running anything like that.


I love doing all those. I've got a cute little dog. She is a Australian cattle dog and Husky Mix. Her name is Lily and she has had heterochromia. She’s got the one blue eye, one brown eye and is absolutely adorable. I grew up in South Dakota before I moved out here, went to college, got a degree in communication, worked in marketing for years, and now I'm kind of changing my path.


00:07:53:22 - Dr. Jay

Change your path. All right, so I'm going to dove into this and I'm going to treat you like a client, whether you like it or not, and ask you one question. So, all right. You're in your twenties. What do you want your life to look like in your forties?


00:08:06:27 - Bri

In my forties, I was just talking about this last night. I really first of all, I never thought I'd be married. I was very adamant that I did not want to be married and now here I am. So that changed. But I always envisioned that I would live in a tiny house with my German shepherd, and now that is kind of changing, but also staying the same.


I want to be able to travel around, stay in different places for a month or two at a time and just explore the world. And I love being able to go learn new things and new people. So that is my hope that I have the time, freedom and flexibility to do that.


00:08:44:17 - Dr. Jay

Okay. So I got to dove in here. You know, I'm going to say what you just told me is you want to be the childfree nomad and kind of wander the world and do that. But what was interesting about it, and I'm going to call it out, is you didn't talk about what you want to be when you grow up and like job or finances.


00:09:00:10 - Bri

It's true. I didn't.


00:09:02:00 - Dr. Jay

Why?


00:09:03:07 - Bri

I don't know. I guess that was just in my mind that was implied.


00:09:06:11 - Dr. Jay

So here's the thing. It's a generational thing. It's also a childfree thing that we can actually focus on things that are more than our job. And if you ask somebody in their forties, what are they going to be in their fifties or whatever, they talk about their job first, which to me is kind of wrongish. Like, seriously, we're not just our job, you know, I do this job so that I can provide support for my wife and also so I can have good money to go boating.


Like, seriously, that's why I work if I don't, you know, I didn't ask if I didn't have to work, I would not have money for boating. But you started with a life. So the question is then if you started with a life, why does financial planning start with the numbers?


00:09:56:00 - Bri

You need money to do things. And for me, I guess my perspective on it is having the money to be able to do those things takes away some of the stress.


00:10:10:02 - Dr. Jay

So I hear you the the theory on this and the kind of the background to see you get it is that there's two things in life. There's the rent and ramen phase, and then there's the rest of your life, the rent and ramen phase, when you can barely make ends meet, can't keep a roof over your head, can't give food.


And by the way, in that time, it's all about money because you've got to have enough money to like literally keep a roof over your head and keep yourself that. But then what happens is once you get past that phase, people start doing weird stuff and either increase their housing. So they always are essentially poor and always in the rent and romance phase.


Or they start living your life. So I heard you want to live your life instead of fear.


00:10:47:22 - Bri

Absolutely. If I could just get an RV and move around, I would do that. I know that probably is not going to happen. My wife and I disagree on that. She's very much… She's an airline pilot, so she's on the road a lot and wants a home base. Whereas I'm like, You're on the road a lot and I'm not and so I want to go.


00:11:07:23 - Dr. Jay

How are you going to like solve that one? If you guys have different perspectives.


00:11:12:13 - Bri

She can fly to me when she's off.


00:11:16:12 - Dr. Jay

It's great. I have a lot of people that say, hey, I want to do the nomad life, the van life, the RV life, the whatever. And Corinne, who also works, that's one of our childfree wealth specialists, actually did that. She did the van life, did the sailboat life. We'll have to have her on and talk about that. But one of things you got to find out, it's all a whole lot sexier on Instagram than it is in real life.


You know, I'm talking to somebody today who's going on the vanlife and right now has a leak in her roof and now is, you know, dealing with that issue. It just looks a lot more attractive now personally, I want to do essentially the same thing, but on a boat, you know, just getting the boat in the water versus the van, I don't know.


So you think you would be able to do that by the time you're 40 to do that before then?


00:11:59:09 - Bri

I would love to be able to do it. And then the next seven years.


00:12:04:06 - Dr. Jay

Cool. So why don't you?


00:12:06:12 - Bri

Because right now I'm going through my CFP® education. I do not want to think about having to pack things up and move around. So that's number one. I want to complete that first and kind of get my feet settled in that before I make a big adjustment.


00:12:21:08 - Dr. Jay

So what's the magic date like by the time you're 30, 35, when you want to like when we got to call you out cause we're gonna put you on a podcast and say, Bri, set a goal, and this is what it is we're going to hold you do it.


00:12:31:27 - Bri

All right? By the time I'm 30, that gives me a little less than five years.


00:12:36:24 - Dr. Jay

All right. And I think the hard part for this is people often say, okay, my finances need to determine if I can do this. You're right in the rent and ramen part, but once you're out of that, start with what life you want and then figure it out. So you might have to get rid of a whole bunch of crap in your house, and I hate to call it that, but you know it is.


And do a little minimalist and make some adjustments. But would you be happier if you were living that nomad life?


00:13:05:25 - Bri

Oh, absolutely. We went from living in a three bedroom to living in a one bedroom, and now we have a two bedroom place we live in. I'm like, God, I don't want all this space. I would rather have less space and just be able to go and not worry about things. The one bedroom, it was small, but it was comforting because I could go do whatever and didn't have to worry about much.


00:13:28:21 - Dr. Jay

You know, I think it's one of those things I call it Marie Kondo in your life and figure out what brings you joy and get rid of the stuff that doesn't. And real quickly, you realize the things you've been doing are not really what you want to do. I mean, I don't know this this is where you and I differ because we got 20 years differences, get a mid-forties and you're like, how did I get here?


And off? And then we all had what we call a childfree midlife crisis. Yet your personal professional financial goals. Then what? And you'll get to that. But you have all this future ahead of you. And I don't know, I'm just excited to see what you do with it. So we get to 30. How are we going to know you're ready?


00:14:12:11 - Bri

I, I would do it now if it wasn't for the fact that I know all of the work on about to go through and education is going to be difficult.


00:14:24:09 - Dr. Jay

So you're willing to sacrifice the next, let's call it, three years in order to have that different life?


00:14:28:23 - Bri

Mm hmm.


00:14:29:28 - Dr. Jay

Why?


00:14:33:02 - Bri

Because sometimes when opportunities present themselves, you have to take them. And I did not think I would be working towards becoming a financial planner this soon. And, you know, you and I randomly connected and Facebook group, and now I'm here. And so I wouldn't change that. And I want to say yes to that and do those things. And I know that I can still go and do the things I want to do after I finish my education.


00:15:00:29 - Dr. Jay

So what you're saying is it's my fault.


00:15:03:23 - Bri

I mean, hey, I guess if you want to call it that, then sure.


00:15:10:19 - Dr. Jay

Oh my you! You know, it's funny and I work with clients all the time and I do what is called life and financial planning and I don't know, I always I, I joke about it is true. I'm always kind of messing with people's heads. I open the head and spin around, say, okay, what are your goals? Cool, let's go get them. They’re like, well, I can't do that.


Did you have one of those moments?


00:15:31:08 - Bri

Oh yeah. I mean we, I don't know how much we talked on the phone and on Zoom and it was just like, oh, I can do this already. Like I never, never planned that. And it really threw me for a loop and it was kind of hard to say, Yeah, I can do that and accept the fact that, yes, I can do it and it's what I want to do and I can do it so soon.


00:15:59:14 - Dr. Jay

Yeah. And I think I get stuck on that because like they're like, well I have to do like the good boy, good girl, things I have to do, you know, I have to do these things. It's not the standard life plan, you know, had to go to school, get to get married, got to have kids, buy a house, you know, or you can do whatever you want, seriously.


And I swear, at half my time, I spend just telling people, yes, you can do what you want, Neil. No, I can't. Well, yes, you can't. No, you can't. And it will get stuck in this back and forth and it's about pulling apart. All of these goals and debates are happening. You're saying what really matters to you, like, okay, X, Y, Z, and I go, Well, let's go figure out a plan to do that.


That sounds about right, Bri.


00:16:41:04 - Bri

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I, I have spent quite a few years supporting my wife and getting her to where she wants to be, and for me to shift into saying, okay, now I'm going to be the person who's being supported has been difficult. And it's been, I think, harder for me and for her because I struggle to say this is what I want and this is what I'm going to do and I need your help getting there.


00:17:09:03 - Dr. Jay

We call it the Garden and the Rose. One person's growing and one person's providing support, and it is hard to swap the roles. Let's be real on that. I mean, it just it just is. And it's obvious, you know, you need to and you need to work through it. I mean, is there been if we had the fight yet or we were freaking out or how's it going.


00:17:28:03 - Bri

Between my wife and I? It's been pretty good. I've gotten better. And I know like you and I have talked before, you're like, okay, come on, brave, fight for yourself. And I was like, Yeah, you're right. And I know I need to do that. And so it's it's been going pretty good. We do have very good communication between us.


It's something we worked through. We've been together for almost six years, and so we've spent a lot of time working through our communication prior to getting married. And now having this change has been easier than I anticipated. But in my mind, it was going to be a lot harder, which made it hard for me to stick up for myself.


00:18:08:21 - Dr. Jay

That's fair. I mean, the the relationships and the communication and working with a couple, that's a big part of it, you know, and figuring out the balance to him. And I think when you talk about the concept, they say, well, we are we're DINKS, dual income, no kids. Cool. That means that you can take turns growing and afford it and adult.


Yeah but the dynamic in our couple would have to change and it does like I'm not saying it's going to happen I just have to so both can grow and it's it's hard. You've also, you know, said, okay, I'm going to go, you know, buckle down and over the next three years become a CFP®, which is not one of the easier ones to do.


So we'll get you there for everybody listening. You can also be involved in this podcast. We'd love to have you email us questions. We'd love to have you join us. If you have a question or you want to just discuss things, you can reach out to us at podcast@childfreewealth.com. Also, Bri is going to be working on figuring out social media for me and for the for the group.


And I laugh, you know, because I put stuff up there and I know I'm doing it wrong and I'm just going to hand it all to Bri. And she's joined the team just recently, so she's got to get up to speed on that. But you will be able to see us on all the socials at Child Free. Well, and we will we will be putting up this podcast ideally every week.


Might get a little off, but you know, let's go for every week is our goal. So we'll be able to catch you as we go along. Also be on the look out. We're going to be doing some fun stuff with the child free convention coming up in July. Also August 1st is International Childfree Day. Keep an eye out because we are actually going to do some contests, let's call it, because we have a billboard coming out in Times Square celebrating international child free day. And there's going to be ways for you to be involved. So follow us on all the socials at Chilfree Wealth. Well, you can also visit us online at childfreewealth.com welcome and email us at podcast@chidlfreewealth.com. 


All right, Bri, let's dig in. Let's go into our next topic. Thanks and have a great day!


00:20:17:09 - Bri

All right. Thank you!