Hey, hey, hey, ba fan, we just had our first YouTube lib and it was amazing. If I do say so myself, and I do say so myself, listen, learn, take notes to your mama cousins. And then because we had a time, honey, we had a time last night, we are I'm.
Welcome to right. This is our first BRUNNABISI live. Right it is.
I feel very like it's a party, but also it's like a bad party.
It's like wait, yeah, wait, okay.
So this is the session day, July twenty eighth, twenty twenty welcome you, hey, hey, hey, ba fama. This yesterday our very first Brunnabashan live YouTube event. So it's time for some real talk all things sess you on. It is July twenty eighth, And if you've been listening to the podcast, you know what it really means that after weeks of hype, we finally have our first clues on whether or not we are really truly in a recession
and the answer might surprise you. And we're gonna talk about how it's going to impact you, and we're gonna also talk about, you know, what you can do to not only survive but thrive through whatever it is economics or economics or economics economists are saying, right, So just so you know, typically folks say like a because I don't want to say economists again and say, oh, I got it. Okay, you got it. The econdomis called a session.
It's called of a session. When the GDP, which is the gross oh my gosh, gross semestic domestic product, I'm.
Like, we don't know. I'm gonna google real quick.
We got the sline for two consecutive quarters. That means six months in a row. So the GDP really is like goods and services, right, and so for a country. And so we just found out that, yes, that has happened, and we just completed the second quarter of the year as of today.
So right on Q.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis at leased their Advanced Estimate of economic growth this morning, and many's going to tell you what's the deal? What do they say? So we can gorgeer loins? Ok?
Yeah, I never understood why it was pronounced gourd anyway. Yeah, So here's what's happening, y'all. A second straight corner. The US economy did shrink again zero point nine percent. That's never a great thing. It's less than the first court the last quarters you know declined, but still it's a second quarter of straight decline. So it's bad news bears
for the US economy. A big part of that, of course, has been the fact that consumer spending has been slowing down, investments in business and the investments that businesses are making have been slowing down. It's not all bad news, though, And like this picture of what's going on in the economy is super complex, and the way that it's affecting you guys at home and even us, you know, in my basement and Tiffany, you know, in her beautiful office, it's all affecting us a little bit different. So I
think we should have like an open conversation. I welcome you guys to ask your questions about, you know, what is concerning you, whether it's like financially or professionally, about the recession that we're in. And while you guys are submitting some questions, please do live chat and for those of you who are catching the replay, feel free to
slide into our DMS. We're at Brand Ambition Podcast on ig with any questions that you guys have, or any thoughts or concerns but let's talk about some of the like what's really happening holistically, Tiff, Like, you know, yes, the GDP is down, Yes, inflation is.
Hea Hi yes, hello, hello Hi.
That's a huge contributing factor, even more so in this quarter to the slowdown in the GDP. Consumer spending, Like I don't blame people for spending less, yes, you know, I think like even personally, I'm doing things like I wasn't doing before, Like instead of ordering my groceries like I used to do that willy nilly, especially during the pandemic, order the groceries so I could pick them up and just you know, pop the trunk and they would deliver them.
But I realized I'm spending more money doing that because of fees, and so I've actually like gone back to just shopping in person and like planning my little grocery trip. And I am like my husband and I it's really hard to not spend seventy five frickin dollars when we order out on the weekends and during the week So we've slowed down, you know, the restaurant eating.
I'm trying to cook at home more.
Because our grocery bill is crazy, like two three hundred dollars a week just buying regular stuff. And I feel like that's what a lot of people are feeling, right.
No, absolutely, And something that I just want to preface this with is that I know, sometimes with sessions seem like, oh my gosh, what's going on? They are a natural part of the economic cycle. The sessions usually happen every
ten to fifteen years or so. And truth be told, we have like that we went through our longest stretch of not having and we broke that stride in twenty twenty because you know, we had that mini recession in twenty twenty during that panorama, right, but that was the longest the US had ever gone in.
Its history without a recession.
So you know, we're kind of overdue because even though we had that panorama, we had that mini recession in twenty twenty. I didn't really feel it, y'all didn't really feel it. Why, because we were stimuli to death, right, We got all that mulus money. You ain't had to pay that mortgage, you had to pay that ring you had it been it'st alone. So as a result, you know, we're kind of like overdue for recession. Think of a
recession as a refresh. Mandra and I were talking offline, and a recession is kind of like a like a forest fire, right, So forest fires are definitely devastating, but it is a way for mother and nature to reset. So typically a forest has reached capacity, it can no longer support itself. And so not the forest fires that I started by those folks who do like the pregnancy gender reveal and you know, pop off fireworks and burn
down you know, a neighborhood. No, no, no, we're talking about natural forest fires that typically happen because there's a lightning storm, the lightning hits a tree, the tree lights everything on fire. It's because it is time for the force to reset, and recessions are a refresh.
They helped to weed out to toxic assets.
They helped to weed out bad investments, bad companies that are really not doing you know well and are actually bringing down the economy.
So just I just wanted to for you to keep that in mind.
But this was this recession non recession because the federal government is not claiming it, you know, you know how like your ex boyfriend wasn't trying to claim you. You know, they're not trying to claim it. Although you're like, but we live together. How you're not claiming me. That's how the recess is giving that like, so two consecutive quarters of down.
Of downturn, but you're not claiming me.
But the reason is because also I see someone asks a question about the job market, it's because unemployment is that a historic cloths literally generational lows. So typically during recession that's not so. But also inflation is at historic highs. People are not spending as much. They were support that came out with Walmart and Target. They were both saying how they're basically doing fire sales and selling off so much of their inventory at a loss because they experience
inflation as well. So like companies have to pay more for goods and services, and then we also experience inflation as consumers, and they are cutting costs even though they've had to pay more for the product or service in order to present it to you. So you know, we're on this weird yoyo of like, but there's plenty of jobs, but people don't have, you know, the money to spend
on things that Target and Walmart unless it's necessities. So I just wanted to give you like a broader perspective of like, what does that kind of look like?
That's why I got a really good deal in an at Airondack chairs. Yes, well, should we go to the questions real quick? Hey, everybody, I see the comments. This is my first time on YouTube live, so I'm excited. And Tip does this like in her sleep, but I'm excited. So we see oh heyba and the chat. Okay, we got a question from let's say Carla. Carla asks what does this mean for job security? Do you think there will be layoffs?
Yeah?
Yeah, there already have been, you know, big companies. They're smaller companies that are that are making layoffs too. I mean we've seen companies like Twitter, Redfin, which is a big realtor like home buying you know company Shopify. Just this week, I have a friend out Shopify and he he said that there was ten percent cuts at Shopify, you know. So, yes, layoffs are happening. I think this
is to be expected. One of the key indicators for you know GDP, which we're seeing declining, is the investments that businesses are making. And I think the one of the biggest investments businesses do make is people, so labor and it's often like we're expensive. Salaries are expensive, so you do see companies when they're trying to save, you know,
potentially have layoffs. What I'm hearing, you know, as I'm a I do career code, and what I'm hearing from clients is I was in the interview process for such and such and I've been told that it's on pause for a while, you know. And I think maybe instead of like layoffs, which you may be encountering, is like those hiring freezes or hiring pauses where companies are just like, let's just chill, you know, let's just not say yes to new headcount or you know, new hires until we
see how things shake out. But I think if you're someone who you're working now and you're concerned, you know, I think it's really industry specific. Have you noticed t if like a lot of recruiters have been getting laid off and it makes sense, yeah, you know, there's some.
I think at Twitter, for example, it was only the first wave of layoffs were recruiters were like from the talent acquisition part, which like makes sense when you think about it, right, because I mean, if they're slowing down hiring, you need as many recruiters, and I think if you're you know, and and other jobs. By the way, you know, I still have clients for getting jobs at places like Google that's on job offers this week, so there's still lots of jobs to be had. But I think it's
really like what is the skill set? Yeah, the type, And I think it's it's a good reminder of the importance of always investing in your skills and what and how you can develop yourself so that you are one of those people that it's harder for companies to lose, you know, in that opera, illustrate your Oprah for sure, and even thinking like okay, maybe instead of like sometimes at companies they may try to reassign you to another team. So what other skills do you have? What o their
team could you see yourself fitting into? But yeah, I can understand why folks are a little concerned because layoffs they're not like at crazy crazy highs, but you know there are it is happening out there.
Yes, So next question we're gonna go with Jessica. Jessica ask when do we start to see the impact later this year or mostly next year. Good question, Jessica. So we're already seeing the impact now. So I did see a quick question about are we in a recession? The answer is you're no, say meaning I don't know, right, so we let's we are in a recession ish So by technical definition of two consecutive quarters of economic downturn GDP going down, down, down, Yes.
We have hit that.
So the GDP they're officially announced, it's six months straight we've had of economic downturn. Okay, like a contraction in the economy, so less versus more. But we also have growth in other areas that typically would also indicate a recession. So it's like we down bad here, we upcute here.
So they're like, eh, you know. So to answer your question, Jessica, like when we start to see the impact, you're seeing it now right, like one, because high inflation rates are are one of the recession indicators, and we're seeing that things costs more.
I know, the last time you went.
To the grocery store, you were like, oh, hell now right, the market is all over the place.
You know, Well, she's down, down, down. I mean like it's like.
People, I tell people, don't look at you, you don't look at your home. K leave that thing alone. Because that thing is haanging right now, so you're seeing that there as well.
You might be seeing it.
Like I mentioned earlier, some retailers are slashing prices because they have to get rid of inventory and get an inflection of cash because people are not buying past the necessities, so they are buying the TV.
So people are sticking to groceries as they ought to.
But groceries also have a low profit margin, meaning that they don't make a lot of money off groceries. So when you go to Target and you're like, ah, like we are all to do and you buy your groceries, Target is giving you groceries at like a discount because they know you're going mosey on over to other things.
I have to avoid the home good section.
Oh yes, I can't.
Go over there.
Home goods also like electronics, those are high margin item, meaning they can sell them at like at multiple So you buy it for a dollar, they you know, they buy it for a dollar, they settle to you for two and so.
But people are not doing that. They're stacking just to grocery.
So that's also an indicator meaning that like you're going to see the impact now and you will continue to see the impact, and if we enter into a like fully recognized a session, you will continue to see the impact during the recession and after the recession. And so so I hope that answers your question. Yes, so that they're like, yes, we're in the impact now, whether they call it a recession or not, we're feeling the impact now.
Absolutely, we feel in it. We had a late comer, so she asked, are we in a recession? Yeah, ish, we're in the latest data again for those late comers, zero point nine percent decline in GDP. This is a second quarter of straight decline. So it's not looking great. It's not looking great, but we are trying to talk about other indicators. And let's take a question. Where did I see it, Ashanti? Yes, Ashanti. Ashanti says, I'm currently unemployed due to my job ending and I'm looking for
better opportunities. Would the possibility of a recession affect my abilities to negotiate for more money? So here's some good news, Ashanti. Actually, wages are still up. So wages have increased somewhere between like four and five percent this year, and labor demand is really strong. I mean, I love this. I'm gonna can I post a link. Anyway, there's a there's something called the Hiring Lab and it is a study and research set. Indeed, dot Com which is like one of
the biggest job posting sites, you guys know that. Indeed, they have been tracking job opening since the pandemic. Job openings are still up over fifty percent compared to the beginning of the pandemic, so wages are up, demand for employees, demand for labor is still strong. So if you're in the job market, it could actually be a great time for you to negotiate for more. And I wouldn't want anyone to think I should accept less or let me like low ball myself because I want to have a
good chance at getting a job. Try to resist that. But that being said, think about the field that you're in and is the demand of especially for your skill set. Don't know what fel what field you are in particularly, but you know you may have a bit of an easier time negotiating more pay if you're in like a high demand field versus like we were talking about earlier about people in recruiting or the talent acquisition field. Maybe a little bit trickier, but there's still reasons to be
optimistic about your job search for sure? Good?
All right, it looks like Tamika has a question. Tamika, will inflation ever go back down?
Make me?
Let me get my crystal ball? Hold on where not put it? It's around here somewhere.
Well, here's what I'll say, although we don't have a crystal ball.
Typically, the United States has a stable inflation rate about one to three percent, which we have maintained for many, many, many years.
This inflation rate of like what we're over nine percent now?
Is it's Craig Cray.
Yes, it's not our typical so of course there's no way for us to know. But if we're going to look at history that you know, we can we can postulate that inflation hopefully will return to a to a you know, like our normal inflation a rate of one to three percent, I mean, because we cannot continue to maintain at this at this inflation rate.
This is why, honestly why you see the Feds raising rates.
Because when when things whenever there is an issue with the economy, they don't have too many tools to navigate.
They can give away money, they can offer aid to say you don't have to pay for things, but they can also like restrict access to credit, and they do this by raising rate rates, right, They're like, hey, you know the the you know what you're going to pay for your interest rate that you're going to pay for a house or a car is going to eliminate some people from being able to afford our house or car.
These are the these are the tools that the Feds have at there and the federal government has at their disposal. So I say all that to that they use these tools to hope to stabilize the economy. So I would hope that they would bring the inflation rate back then or else we're in big trouble. And if we look at history, history tells us that, like they should be able to do so.
Well, let's talk about one of the biggest drivers of inflation too, which has been the fact that, like there has been increased demand for stuff, but because of the pandemic, like we're still in this period where companies can't create this stuff as fast as they used to or to meet that demand. So like it's classic. Even me with my B and econ, I can tell you that when supply decreases and you got more people wanting stuff, then
you know that can lead to some inflation. So hopefully, once you know, companies get a handle on their supply chains and we're able to like level things out, we may see that come back to a little bit of normalcy. But I feel like one of the biggest things you mentioned the FED rate hike, and I want to go to Jessica Rogers' question.
She asks, what.
Could this mean for home buying? And this increase in FED rates directly, it doesn't. Actually it's like a myth that when the FED increases rates that mortgage rates fall and stuff with that. But because because the FED rate impacts other parts of the system, it typically like indirectly
impacts mortgage rates. So rates are getting more expensive, and we have seen, like I was just reading this article that said that, you know, because people are facing higher mortgage costs, like the fact that you could get like a two percent interest rate during the pandemic and now it's like what four or five percent. It's it's getting really expensive. Plus there's just not a lot of homes
out there. Yeah, we're already like Craig Cray high, So it's actually Americans are canceling their deals to purchase homes at the highest rate since the start of the pandemic, And I think that must be because they're like sticker shock one thing, and then it's like maybe weight for rates to come back down, because obviously mortgage rates can go up and down. So like, if you're not rest right now to buy a home, you may want to wait. You know, it may be the best thing for you
financially to just like let things simmer down. But yeah, I mean, tipt didn't you tell a story about someone who like missed out or couldn't buy afford a house.
Well, it was around the corner from where I lived. There was a woman who she had locked in a rate at like three point whatever percent.
You know, she was great.
Her real estate agent dropped the ball and you know, you can only hold a rate typically for like thirty days and you can get an extension, and so they failed to file or whatever, do whatever so she can get her extension.
So the house that she wanted to get, she couldn't afford it with the new interest rate. So it's not a house.
And cost what you're gonna pay monthly on the house is the cost of the house, but also the cost to borrow money to purchase at house. So if you're buying a house cash woo woo, you don't got to worry about interest rates. But if you are financing, it's going to factor into what your monthly amount is. Actually had to have a come to Jesus talk with my brother in law this morning because you know, he's buying
my late husband, Darrell, our second property. He's purchasing it, and then I'm going to take that money and set it aside for my bonus daughter, Alyssa, to add to her you know, her legacy or the legacy her father left her. But I told him, I'm like, bruh, don't drag yourfe eat, I said, because you might price yourself out from that house. Thankfully, he's going through a program called NAKA which helps to I think the interest rate that they're offering him a three point five percent, which
is great, so they're locking that in for him. But I'm like, make sure that you are doing everything they ask because you know, I'm in Jersey, so housing prices are still increasing that as dramatically as before, but with interest rates increasing, I don't know what NACA is going to do. You know, they have their own program about keeping interest rates low. But I said, if these things creep up, you might not be able to afford the very same house you could afford six months ago. So
I put a little fear good in him. But hopefully that puts a little fear of God in you too. So yeah, So with housing, I mean there's no way. I mean everyone's claiming like it's not gonna be as bad as the two thousand and eight crash, or there might be not a crash at all.
I don't know that you should be holding your breath for crash or not crash.
It's if you want to purchase a house, you know, take your time to do so smart and keep your debt to income ratio low with lower lower debt payments by paying off your debt, keep your credit score decent, you know, maintain income coming in. If you do those things, you know there are deals to be had in every market, and if you're patient, you can find them.
Okayva Fan, We're going to take a quick break and be right back with more Recession day, taking more of your questions about are we in a recession? Is it's a recession? What's going on? See y'all back after the break.
We got another question, She wrote, No, it's that he Man. I don't remember one of those.
You know, he Man was the the whatever, the initial like character from Hannah Barbara. I think whatever, and then she wrote was like the girl's version. But I love me some she row so she ro barely.
How do we prepare? Honestly?
Who?
Great question?
So one of the things I tell people, and I've been saying this for a long time, you got to drop down and get your noodle on. Girl, drop down and get your noodle on.
So what is that you have to know today?
If you don't do nothing else today, calculate your noodle budget. That is your ramen noodle budget. Think about back in college. You know you'd eat them nasty ramen noodles. I'm not talking about the delicious ones from like the authentic Asian restaurant. I'm talking about the plastic ones from the twenty five
cent pack. So you know, your noodle budget really is your If I had to eat ramen noodles, if I had to get rid of the excess and only take care of the necessities, you know, what would my budget be. So maybe your life costs you four thousand dollars a month. You know you get your hair done every once in a while, nails a little bit, go out with the girls.
But if you were to cut out those luxuries and just got down to the necessities, by the health and safety things that you must have, what would your life cost you? You could save six hundred bucks a month and instead of four thousand, it cost you thirty four hundred dollars. You don't have to live at your noodle budget, but you need to know what it is in case you hit a financial roadblock, you lose your job, things get too expensive, like the things you need to get
too expensive. You know what your noodle budget is and you can drop down to it because if you don't, so many people end up losing their job and they lose their house and their cable is still on. I am people that was me where I still had these like expenses that were draining me even though I had just lost my job. And so if I would have dropped down and got my noodle on, I would have had excess money to live a little longer at my current space, and then also excess money to possibly put
out for saving. So first things first is like, you know, cut back expenses if you can save as much as you can, because that's what's going to see you through reduce your debt payments. You know, if you're able, definitely call your service providers if you're experiencing hardship. They so many of them, especially now with the pandemic, they have hardship departments that can help you.
Talk us about like reducing your debt payments for a minute, because I was talking to one of my one of my Mandy money makers, and she was just saying, like I because of interest rates rising, like credit card debt is getting more expensive, right, So if you're carrying credit card debt, like, there's things you can do to consolidate.
So in her example, she did a balance transfer. So if you've got lingering consumer debt, you know, I feel like, let's talk about some ways you can like actually tackle that to reduce your debt. So like balance transfer, you can do a debt consolidation loan. So if you go to like a credit union and get a personal loan and then you use that to pay off your credit card debt, but actually like make a plan for it because it's only going to get more expensive. And the
beauty of those personal loans they come with a fixed interest, right. Yeah, So it does not change, unlike your credit card debt, which is like all over the place.
Yeah, that's great, and you're right. I met she Ro not she wrote ba Yeah got me. I was like sheh, like I was where I saw she Row? Did I read that wrong too?
Her name is she Row, but I called her she Rah, which it was the opposite of he man she ruh.
Either way, you knew what I was talking about. Thanks poison. I yes, Ah. Let's see who's next. Let's see Callicia. Let's see Calicia.
How do you think federal student loan repayment may be impacted? We're supposed to start repayment, but if we're in a recession, are people going to be able to pay?
Yeah?
I feel like this is like a more political question than anything else. I honestly think the listen and I mean, we're we welcome all political beliefs here. But it's not looking good for democrats. It's not looking good for progressives. Like inflation, it's it's killing people, you know, not killing,
but it's really, you know, hurting people financially. And I think I read a stat that's something like even though we're you know, the official official recession bell has not been rung yet still like more than half of Americans think feeling like we're are in a recession, right, that's bad for Democrats, And I feel like for popularity's sake, going into the fact that we have midterm elections in November.
Midterm elections are really really important, you guys. You know, this is when senators representatives in Congress are getting elected, going up for re elections, So please vote. But I think maybe to maintain popularity, I wonder if they wouldn't just continue, like extend it again, because they said they
were going to end it almost every quarter. I feel like for the past couple of like the past year, and I think because of how unpopular you know, Democrats are right now, they may try to like win us over, which is not a bad thing. But you know, time will tell.
What do you think to no, I agree, I think that there's no way to know, Like you know, they might pitch.
We don't get to decide, you know, we have to just wait, honestly for the what the president and his administration are going to do.
Now, will if it does come back, will people be able to afford it?
It really depends on that individual person, you know, the good thing about federal student loans, though, if you are in hardship, you can still apply for some sort of hardship assistance for bear deferment or for bearans, so you can that that's not gonna be taken off the table. So if you're like I can't afford it, as long as you have not maxed out how many deferments or how many forbearance, I'm asked, if you've taken up, then you can still do that if you still need to help.
Because I was the deferment queen. Okay, Like I was like girl defer deffer so until I got on my feet, So that is also an option. Can I just say, like, despite it being like scury time, if you have like if you have been you know you have a stable job.
I mean no job honestly is one hundred percent right, And so if you.
Are like, Okay, I'm pretty solid in my job. I've got good savings, you know, I'm my dad is pretty I'm living below my knee means, and I've got you know, I'm ready kind of to like invest, you know, now is.
A good time.
Like so the thing about a recession, I have just like wrote notes on it, and I was like, I wanted to say exactly roid, which is.
What.
So what happens during a recession is that good assets go on sale. So assets can be at homes, could be businesses, could be the market, so bond stocks, good assets go on sale during recession. So if you are financially stable and you've accumulated a decent amount of savings, you can go shopping for things that are only down because the economy is not down, not because something happened to that company.
And so that is an opportunity.
That's why recessions honestly generate more millionaires than any other time in economic history, because people who start off with you know, a few hundred thousand or or a few things or one hundred thousand or whatever. You know, people who start off with that and invest when in good
assets that just are currently on sale. When the sale is over, their asset just goes up through no work on their part, and all of a sudden, they owe you know, they own twice as much, three times as much, four times as much as a result of investing when something was down, just because the economy was down.
So just keep that in mind too. That is not all doom and gloom.
Yeah, all the more reason if you already are contributing to your four one K or your IRA, just keep those automatic payments going, Just keep it going, don't do anything. Should we take another question from the crowd, How about what's next?
Abigail?
Abigail's question? Would it be wise to ask our boss what they are planning to do to get us by in the recession? I love this question.
I'm getting this a lot.
I don't know.
I would not be at all afraid to ask that question. I think it's an obvious one. I would start with your boss. Just be prepared if your boss is like because I'm a manager and I you know, my my, you know, arching orders come from the top. But I think that you can absolutely ask, you know, do you foresee this impacting our team? And is there a plan in place? And it's a really good time to get a sense from your company.
Do they have some shit together?
And is there a strategy? You know, are we well prepared? I had the benefit of working for like startups and then big companies that had been around for decades. And what I found at you know, places that I've been around for decades, They've endured a couple of recessions at this point, the same way Tiff and I have were like old crotch d like third recession. So I feel like companies that have been standing their ground for a long time, they've already gone through things like this, you know,
and they've proven resilient because they're still standing. So you can even look to the past, how has the company in the past responded to recessions and economic downturns? And if you're interviewing right now, I know we're talking about someone who's working, but if you're interviewing and you're thinking about joining a new company, ask yourself like or even ask the recruiter or the hiring manager, how have you guys responded to economic downturns in the past, and what's
that response looked like. I think it's definitely a fair question to ask, for sure.
Yeah, because honestly, what we talk about.
So for my companies, during like the twenty twenty like Minivum session, when the pandemic hit, I remember being like, okay, because before I'm a pretty decent saver, but I said, you know, if during the pandemic we're able to maintain we had a really good year because quite honestly, financial brands tend to do really well during economic downturn because you'll be like, hey, So I said, okay, we're seeing an uptick on like most industries. But I knew good things don't.
Last all ways.
So what I did was, I said, okay, we're going to push from having I think at the time, we had two months worth of emergency savings, so like our total operating expenses including payroll saved, and we pushed and I pushed and I pushed to get to six months. So all of my companies have six months worth of operating expenses including payroll saved UMP, so just in case I don't make it home to you know what I mean. So that helps a lot with any instability that might
come up. I saw that Microsoft this is doing I don't know what they're doing now, but this is during the pandemic. They had one year worth of operating expenses, and I said, if it's good for the goose, gosh darn, it's good for the gander. And so that's what that's what made me say, like, I don't know if I'm going to do a whole year, but six months was good.
So it allows us to in the back of my head, I think to myself, well, we have six months or more to get to figure out and pivot just in case something really detrimental happens.
All right, let's take a next question from Cynthia. Cynthia says, I am in real estate law. If interest rates continue to climb, I'm concerned that this will impact my job. Do you think foreclosures will rise like they did in two thousand and eight?
Very good question.
Well, could I just say that the repullman has been coming for y'all cars, you know, the car cars. What it's there is there's been a huge uptick Mandy in car repossessions, which is a one of the key indicators for a recession.
Huge uptick on car repossessions.
So of course cars are not the same as homes, you know, because obviously, like you know, you don't have a car and you can't get around, but you don't have a home and where you live. But I would just say that, like, I don't know if what that means for foreclosures, but I do know when people have hard financial times, they can't for their financial obligations and they're not they're not quick to say I'm not.
Paying for my home.
So what you usually see is this if you remember during the two thousand and like nine ten eight recession, right that the home market, the home we didn't see the crash until years later.
It's a delayed response because it takes people a while.
They're like, well, I'm not gonna pay my cable bill, I'm not gonna pay my cell phone. Oh, I'm not gonna pay my car. I'm not gonna So it's usually what you see is a ripple, and the homes come later. So if it's going to happen where we see this increase in like foreclosures, you know, I don't think it's going to be like this instant. You know that instead that it will be a ripple of all of these other economic downturns because people unemployment is down, so people
still have jobs in order to pay for homes. So I just say all that to say that I don't know that I would switch markets, you know, because at the end of the day, people are needed in every single sector in an industry that we have now, they just it just means that it might look different. So I would just keep my eyes and ears open of like what a pivot and if you're interested in this industry still, what a pivot might look like.
In case that does happen.
Can we also talk about you know, it's very thinks. A lot of things are very different than they were in two thousand and eight. There were a lot of bad mortgages being sold to families. But prior to the two thousand and eight housing crash, and that's why we saw so much foreclosure because you know, people were getting homes that they just could not afford financially, and they were getting huge mortgages and taking on lots of yeah, lots of dice the financial situations because they were so
close to the edge. And so when we did see that decline in the economy and jobs were lost in all of that, like really quickly, tons of people were just way too over mortgaged and that's why you saw so many foreclosures and short sales and things like that. I feel like this time around, debt or sorry not debt, but underwriting for mortgages is stricter now because of policies
that were put in place after the recession. You've got institutions like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which are you know, watchdogs for lenders and making sure that they're abiding by those policies. Also, I think we're savvyer as consumers. I mean, i'd like to think you listening to Brian ambition, Like, you know, hopefully we are more financially prepared. And because
of the pandemic and those stimulus checks. If you've been like you know, stacking your coins and saving and investing, you're more resilient if that were to happen. Maybe you're not as quickly to like lose your house. So it's not exactly the same as two thousand and eight, I
will say that. And so also like there's programs in place, so if you're struggling to buy your home, like contact your lender, you know, see what kind of hardship you know, programs they may have, and just ask for help, you know, before you get to that point. That's what I'll add there.
Yes, next question on the docket, lou Louly Louli MoU I'm literally said, should I wait to get a home improvement loan?
Not a he lock?
Okay, so a he lock just so you guys know, it's a home equity line of credit that basically means you borrow against the house the house is almost like a credit card and you tap into it because banks are like worst case scenario, don't pay me back, I take your houses and then I use it the paybyback. So that's my home equity line of credit. So she's asking, you know, should she take out just you know, not a home equity line of credit, which most people tell
you don't do it. Should she just take out an improvement loan, which you can do to, which is different personal personal?
So my my only conception, Well, here's the thing.
We've been spoiled with that super low interest rate that we had, and I know it's like, oh my god, like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna wait till the interest rate gets back down to two or three percent. Is probably not likely because that was a historic Wait what that was the gap selling Jeanes for fifty cents? That's just not you know that Like when my parents brought their house in the eighties, it was like interest rates were
double digits. It was not uncommon to have ten twelve, So even five percent, that's like kind of like average, like you know, that's where So you know, I would say that if you were going to take out a you know, a personal loan and the house is going
to be kind of like the backing for that. Typically personal loans where you have a a tangible asset as the backing that, the interest rate is typically better because companies feel like the bank feels like, worst case scenario, we could take your house if you don't have our money versus just like swiping a card to just having credit where there's like nothing backing it. They just have to like yell at you and try to get their money.
That you should get a decent interest rate. I would look at your credit score and ask myself, okay, you know, is my credit score enough to get me the very best interest rate out there. I would also look to see like are you solid in other areas if you have other debt you're trying to pay down. I don't suggest people getting into more debt right before or during the pending recession unless they're super super solid in other areas and this is like, you know, this wouldn't be
a hard burden to take on. You know, now is not the time to buy new stuff if we are entering into a recession. Like I said, technically, you know it's looking like a recession. But although they're not claiming it to be thus. So so I would just say, be mindful of your holistic financial overlook view and whether or not you should move forward, and if not, you might want to wait it out.
Yeah, and shop and compare, Like, get some estimates. See if if you can get, you know, an estimate of what you're alone a home improvement loan, like a personal loan rate may be, and compare that to what an estimate of a rate may be for a heelock. If you work with a lender or a bank, then maybe you can compare. Maybe it's like I'll just choose the option that has the lower rate, but definitely, like keep in mind if you can't pay that back, your home is on the line. So I agree with Tiff.
First of all, I love that some of you guys are sneaking watching at work. Like, well, let me not say love it because I got employees, but you know, I wouldn't be mad at them, Honestly, I would.
Say, if you get to work done, star're.
Talking about it at work anyway, might as well.
Do it how you do it, you know, like oh, the Robinson Crue, what you had to say, Robin san Cruz, Robert Zuku, said, Oh, I love you ladies.
You have changed my life in so many good ways.
Yah, we ave a listener. We have a listener. Yuri from Australia who says, it's two twenty five am here, but I had to catch your live. I'm a diehard fan.
Oh yeah, we love you too, we do, we do, mate, Cracky, I don't know. Oh my gosh. So we're going to wrap up. You have any closing thoughts? Yes, I am the career queen.
I think that the career is the root of all of our you know, our wealth building and all of that.
So for me, it's all about professional resilience. You know, whether you are worried about the job that you have now or thinking about the job that you want in the future and what this could mean for you, just bring it back to what you can actually control, and how are you building professional resilience so that you can weather any storm, not maybe not this recession, but the next one, because they're sure always going to be another one.
So are you expanding your professional brand? Are you letting people know about all the excellent work that you're doing. Are you looking for opportunities for professional development, to invest in new skills? That are in demand for your field, are you, Like Tiffany always says, illustrating your oprah, so that people you're not someone's best kept secret, that they're actually, you know, aware of all the excellent work that you're doing.
I have, I've got lots and lots of resources on this and how do it, you know, build professional resilience. You can check me out follow me at Mandy Money for all career advice. But that's my key takeaway is professional resilience. It will make you feel much more in control during times like that's when a lot of stuff is really out of our control at the end of the day.
And my final words are just like kind of like, you know, just really think about hunkering down, you know, not getting into brand new debt right now unless it's absolutely necessary. Really trying to book up on that saving so you can have a little cushion just in case, but also booke upon savings so you can lean into invest in get the girl, get you them jeans on sale, you know, get these assets on sale, and honestly, remember
people first, right, so checking on your people. I know this is not super moneyish advice, but like you know, sometimes people are struggling and they're not saying and so you know you're not alone in this. Checking on your people, have regular conversations. You want to make sure that if we do hit really bad economic times that you know people know they can you know, you're the people that you love and care about know that you are checking in on them. They can lean on you, you can
offer support, they can offer you support. And continue to listen to Brown Ambition. Ooh, you know what, since we're doing and sidebar. Hello, this is like literally the recession book right here, Get Good with Money. Okay, if you're if you're listening and you're a listener instead of watcher, I'm holding up the book. Okay, no, but for real, I wrote it for times like this. It is to build times like this, you need a strong financial foundation. And that is what Get Good with Money is all about.
That is what financial wholeness, that's the ten steps that I wrote about in the book is all about.
You can get you a copy at get Good with Money dot com. And we love y'all.
We love seeing y'all ey or hearing from y'all every Wednesday, every Friday. Just continue to listen and tell your friends about us. Because this is cute over here.
Thank you, ba fan.
We love y'all.
We did Worthies. That was fun.
That was fun.
Hey ba Faan. We could not do this show without your support or the support of our team behind the scenes. The Brown Ambission podcast is produced by Cumulus Podcast Network. It's edited by the wonderful Imani Crosby and produced by Tanya Bustos. Dennis Stimplinsky is our in house tech curu, and I am Bandy Woodard Santos your co host, and I will see y'all next week.