Navigating Financial Storms: Expert Strategies for Middle-Income Families

So today we're going to talk to Renee Turner , who's been in the financial services business for over 30 years . So I figure if anybody could share with us , she can . Okay , so welcome Renee Turner . Hi Renee , thank you . Hi Kami , I'm so glad to be here . You know what ?

I'm so glad that you had time to talk with us on today and during this time , just hearing some of the financial situations , I know you mostly work with the underserved market , the middle income families . Just prior to COVID , what are some of the struggles or challenges that you've seen with the families ?

And now , because of COVID , have you seen some drastic differences ?

So with the middle income market , it is the largest demographic , you know , and underserved , because most financial services companies traditionally want to talk to people that already have a lot of money , that have a six-figure portfolio that they have available to invest or manage , and so for middle-income families , they've always been treated by financial institutions as

pretty much transactional Go through the drive-through window , call an 800 number , go to our website , and so middle income people have lacked any kind of meaningful personal financial guidance and as a result of that , yes , even before 2020 started , before the pandemic , middle income families had a lot of challenges . The reasons , I think , fall in three categories .

Number one a lack of knowledge about how money works right , not a high level of financial literacy .

Most of us go through our educational experience , whatever it is , whether it's high school , associate's degree , bachelor's degree or an advanced degree and we learn a lot of things , but we get very little education on money , how money works , personal finance and so that caused the people then to make financial mistakes .

If you don't have knowledge in an area and you're trying to figure it out as you go , obviously you're going to make a lot of mistakes . The second reason is middle-income people generally don't have a financial plan , and so they're going on this journey of life .

They've got financial goals buy a house , send the kids to college , have a good retirement but they don't have a written financial game plan that's saying okay , this is what we need to do in order to achieve those goals . So that's a setback . And then the third reason is they don't have a financial coach .

Again , the traditional financial professionals only want to talk to people that already have a lot of money , and so middle-income people don't have access to a financial professional . I call it a money coach . That's going to say hey , let's talk about what your goals are , let's get a plan together . When things change , we can , you know , kind of do a reroute .

So I think those three reasons cause middle income people to have financial challenges before the pandemic .

And looking at the average household , for I remember young , it's like , ok , let's open your first checking account , let's go to the bank , let's do that , but then to have the extended knowledge of , okay , this is how we really plan the future , and so I don't know how many households have had that financial literacy area in their homes .

So I can see where that's a challenge . That's a great challenge . And you starting your business whether you're an entrepreneur or just desiring to do something different or just working in a company , not necessarily having your own business , but having those financial plan there and how that could interrupt or hinder progress right .

We might be taught to be savers , but not taught to be investors , maybe not really educated on how to handle debt , you know , and how to try to create a life where you don't have a lot of debt , and if you do have debt , how to get that debt paid off as quickly as possible . So you're exactly right .

If it's not taught at our dinner tables for most middle income people it's not then we step into adulthood without that basic knowledge , but the world treats us because we're adults as well , you know .

Buyer beware you know , because you're going to have to make these financial decisions whether you have financial literacy or not yeah , yeah , yeah , so you were talking .

Most people acknowledge that they knew they weren't saving enough for retirement and so they were concerned that , man , I don't even feel like I'm on track to have a good retirement . 50% of people that have debt report that they spend half their monthly income just on making their debt payments Right .

And then , um , most American households there's not enough life insurance . So , god forbid . If a breadwinner dies , whether it's that single parent , if it's a single parent household , if it's a couple , if one of them dies , then the family is left to try to navigate with an income not coming in . So all of those things , tammy , were true .

Before the pandemic , people were already not on the best financial footing . And then , with the pandemic pandemic , we all knew what happened .

So now you find out , like literally one day in March , you find out that you're being laid off , you know , and you thought you had a stable job or we're going to keep you on , but your hours are going to be cut , you know , or they might've called it a furlough , but we're going to bring you back as soon as we can .

So if you had less than a thousand dollars set aside for emergencies , you know , maybe you had some money in a retirement account , but you know , man , if I tap into that , I'm going to have all of these penalties . I have this debt . These creditors are not showing me any mercy .

They still need to be paid , and so people that were maybe not on the best financial footing before the pandemic , of course , were thrown into true financial chaos with the onset of COVID .

Don't get too drawn into the negative news , because you do have the ability to rise above and get yourself back on the right track . But let's say you are still working , no matter how tight things may seem .

You need to make a commitment to saving money , to establishing or reestablishing an emergency fund , even if you can only put away $25 a month that's not even a dollar a day , right . So you're going to start making that commitment to saving money . Debt maybe you've already created debt .

You're not in a position right now to , you know , pay a lot of extra money on debt . The first decision is to not make any new debt as far as you can control it . If you've got an income coming in , no new debt . The first decision is to not make any new debt as far as you can control it . If you've got an income coming in , no new debt , right .

And so I want you to uh , to remember , uh , if you don't remember anything else that I say over the next few minutes that D , e , b , t stands for don't even buy that , right ?

If you're about to make a purchase and it's not a house , or you don't have to get a car , if you're going to have to pull out a credit card or fill out a loan application , when you do 90 days same as cash , that's a loan application . 12 months same as cash , that's a loan application that you're going to remember .

That Renee Turner said don't even buy that . Don't make any new debt , and then you can put yourself on a strategy called debt stacking to just begin slowly attacking the debts you have , one at a time . When you get one debt paid off , take the money that's not going to that credit anymore , pay it on the next one , next one , next one .

So it's not going to turn around overnight , but you can start saving money . Don't make any new debt . Start working on the debt that you already have . Make any new debt . Start working on the debt that you already have .

And and then the most important thing , tammy , is to make a decision that you're going to be prepared , because we don't know what's going to happen a year from now , three years from now , five years from now . So if you realize you have made some financial mistakes , the great news is it's a new day .

Yes , you can decide I'm not going to repeat the past , I'm not going to make those same financial mistakes , and so , as I move forward into this new , this new normal , I'm going to make some better financial decisions and be better positioned yeah , that that commitment to do better .

You know debt collectors and some people , some companies , have been very understanding and like , okay , we're going to , we're going to help you out , we're going to delay , you know for X , for a period of time , but just having a conversation with the debt collectors , what are your thoughts on that ? Just don't ignore the phone , don't , let's just let it ring .

You see them calling .

And the thing that drives you crazy when you're talking to somebody that's trying to collect a debt because , look , I've been in this position I didn't graduate from college with financial literacy and so I made financial mistakes but having the conversation and you're gonna have to answer their crazy questions well , what happened ? Why are you behind ?

Well , because we're in a global pandemic . You know , my hours were cut because I'm not working . But once you get past that , just telling them look , I sincerely have an intention of taking care of this obligation , but this is what I can do right now and just really being honest with them about what you can do and what you can't do .

Don't make an agreement to do something that you can't do , cause then they're going to call you next do and what you can't do . Don't make an agreement to do something that you can't do , because then they're going to call you next week and ask you why didn't you do it right ? And ask them , you know , do you guys have any programs available ?

You know , can we negotiate where I can , just you know , pay less money for a period of time , you know . And so there are options that they have . If the person you're speaking with doesn't volunteer those options , then you ask let them know , I want to take care of this obligation . This is my situation . So what options do you guys have available for ?

I graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree , so I had more physics and chemistry and calculus than you could ever want to think about . But what I didn't have was any classes on financial literacy , student loans .

Going through college with nine kids , my parents couldn't pay for us to go to college and then , you know , back in those days they would have credit card companies at the student center .

And I was telling an adult about it , that you know these people and they're asking for a credit card . And they were like , go ahead and get you one , you know . And so what did I do ? I marched back in there sign up for a credit card . And why did I do that ?

So I came out of college I always joke I got my degree on layaway because I had student loans and credit card debt . So I really started making and credit card debt so really started making financial mistakes early . Unfortunately didn't dig too deep of a hole , but it really was a lack of knowledge so early in my husband and I met in college .

My husband , mel , and I got married right after we graduated and he came from a family that was a true middle income family . His parents were educators . I came from a lower middle income family . You know my parents worked really hard to , you know , provide . I thought that we were middle income till I met some people that really were middle income .

And at the end of that process the gentleman mentioned that you know , they were offered an opportunity to get your financial licenses and really become knowledgeable about money and investing and things like that and help other people .

And that's when my passion began , because I honestly felt like if we could have two Georgia Tech degrees in our household and neither one of us have a real knowledge base about money and financial planning , there has to be a lot of people that are just like us , right , and and that's where the passion began to um , educate people about money , how money works ,

and at least give them the knowledge so they can make better choices . Everybody won't choose to , but everybody , I believe , deserves to at least have the knowledge .

I've talked to quite a few . Some of them are considering starting their own businesses because they're having just some challenges getting out there . What would you share with those ? What advice would you share with them ?

You know , everybody won't be an entrepreneur , but I think if that's in your heart , you should pursue that . But here's the reality you might have to have a job while you develop that business , right ? So don't look at it as you're selling out or you're not pursuing your dream .

If you have to take a job , that job would not be your dream job , probably , but if it's a job , it's going to give you some financial stability so you can put focus and attention on starting your business . That I think . Don't be ashamed to do that and don't feel like that somehow goes against the fact that your real passion is entrepreneurship .

Then the other thing is you do have to figure out what you're passionate about , right ? I think the most successful entrepreneurs they find an area they're already passionate about , an area that they discover they really enjoy that . They like to explore this area , even if they're not getting paid .

An area that they discover they really enjoy that they like to explore this area , even if they're not getting paid to do it . And then you've heard that you know , find something you love . And then that way you find in . How can I turn this into a business ? And it doesn't mean there won't be hard days .

You know people say then you'll never work a day in your life .

you can be a jack of all trades a master , whoever said that was never an entrepreneur , because as an entrepreneur , sometimes you start off and you're doing everything yourself until you build up to that point .

So you're right , one step at a time , you know , working your other job , keeping money coming in , and even if you just have to make phone calls or do your research , you can progress into it . And that's how we did my business .

When I transitioned from working with a company , I took it one step at a time , you know , to build up , and the first time I came out I fell flat on my face .

Second time I got a little smarter and I started building up my resources you know , getting equipment and doing things like that and then transitioned out so I had something in place I could transition to . Yeah , so it makes a difference .

You need to try not to create a lot of debt Some businesses do require , because there may be equipment and things like that . Like you said , that you're going to need to build up some inventory , but as much as possible , do it without creating a lot of debt .

I know we all heard the story about people that financed their business on credit cards and then they became a multimillionaire , but there's many , many more stories of people that tried to finance the business on credit cards and it all fell apart and now they're in debt and they're worse off , you know , than they were so .

I think sound money management techniques apply whether you're going to work you know for somebody else or whether you're going to be an entrepreneur yeah , and you have two beautiful daughters and I know they're all college , been to college and everything .

Our oldest has a master's in clinical mental health counseling and she works at a local university in the psychiatry department working with students . You know , helping them navigate when they're having some challenges . Department working with students .

You know helping them navigate when they're having some challenges , um , in that arena and they need to get the appropriate help yeah .

You know helping her set up a Roth IRA . You know , which is something I think everybody should have whatever plan you have at work , take advantage of it . Our youngest , of course , just got graduated with her master's . So I just told her last week she's about not quite one month into work .

And then , hey , the next time we get together we got to start your start you an IRA . You can start an IRA with $25 a month , 50 a month , 100 a month . It doesn't take a lot of money to get started and they're both very hard workers . They're both really careful with their money . You know they don't spend freely .

So you know it's that combination of taught and caught . You know in terms of the financial things , and they both have aspirations that are entrepreneurial as well , but they're starting out . You know learning and building . You know working with jobs .

A million dollars or more is what it's going to take for you to live comfortably after you retire and not have to go back to work . So , in order to accomplish that , become a millionaire in reality . Why ? Because nobody wants to work when they're 80 years old , right . Then it starts with the mindset . Right , what you think about is what will come about .

You know you'll never outperform your level of belief . So I believe everything and this is biblical starts in the mind , right . And so developing the mindset , the thought process , the belief system , then the work ethic right that you can become financially independent , you can become a millionaire . And now it starts with your mindset .

definitely mindset . And one more word of encouragement to all of those who are out there dealing with financial challenges because of COVID . Let's just circle back around with them and just kind of give them a word of encouragement .

You have goals , you have a vision for your life . Whatever your situation is the matter of the whole , you in . You're in right now and you can achieve your goals . So you have to think about not the life you have today . If it's not the life you want . You have to spend time every day .

Think about the life you want , think about how you're going to feel when that life becomes reality , and then put a plan in place . What do I need to do to get there ?

You can't do anything about the tree that you didn't plant , that you didn't plant last year or 10 years ago , but you can plant a tree today and it can become a beautiful , beautiful tree , you know , blooming and giving shelter 10 , 20 years down the road . So , being hurried , focus on the future and set those goals and chase them down .