2617: Practical Magic for Your Money by Jessica Jokisch of ChristineLuken.com on Financial Dignity & Psychology

[00:00:00] This episode is brought to you by Old Spice. Old Spice Sweat Defense Dry Spray is exactly what

[00:00:06] your armpits have been dreaming about. This spray gives your armpits the ultimate defense,

[00:00:11] with ridiculously long-lasting sweat and odor protection power. Get the swaggering

[00:00:15] set of confidence with patented motion-activated fragrance technology, which also happens to

[00:00:20] smell like lime and cedar wood. Old Spice Sweat Defense Dry Spray. Tap to banner or

[00:00:24] visit this episode's page to learn more. Wealth Simple is offering a 0.5% match when you transfer

[00:00:33] an account. When you transfer an account. That's what I said. That's what I said. Is

[00:00:37] Wealth Simple CEO Mike Ketchan copying me? Am I copying you? It seems like he's really

[00:00:43] into matching. Start an account transfer by February 29th, and Wealth Simple will match

[00:00:48] it by 0.5%. Visit wealthsimple.com/matching for details. Offer available on eligible transfers,

[00:00:55] additional term supply. Do I have to say all that? This is Optimal Finance Daily episode

[00:01:01] 26-17. Practical Magic for Your Money by Jessica Yokish with ChristineLukin.com. And

[00:01:09] I'm your host and personal finance enthusiast, Diania Merriam. Now let's get right to today's

[00:01:14] post and start optimizing your life. Practical Magic for Your Money by Jessica Yokish with

[00:01:25] ChristineLukin.com. There are two camps when it comes to teaching people about money. In

[00:01:31] one camp, we have the practical and tactical financial experts, armed with spreadsheets,

[00:01:37] interest calculators, and checklists. In the other camp, we have the Magical Money

[00:01:42] Gurus, armed with vision boards, crystals, and sacred archetypes. So which one can actually

[00:01:49] help you master your personal finances and say goodbye to money stress for good? Actually,

[00:01:55] it's both. And neither. Let me explain. Why You Need Practical Magic for Your Money?

[00:02:03] The Practical Financial Experts. The practical financial experts are the money nerds armed

[00:02:08] with spreadsheets, financial calculators, and a plan to retire a decade or two ahead of

[00:02:13] the pack. They are focused on what to do with your money. Budgeting, cutting expenses,

[00:02:19] piling money into savings, demolishing debt, and maxing out retirement accounts. Many people

[00:02:25] weren't taught the basics of personal finance at home or school. So this is valuable and

[00:02:30] needed knowledge. If you want to get your money together, you definitely need to learn

[00:02:35] what to do with your finances. There's a wealth of knowledge in this camp on how to master

[00:02:40] your spending, accelerate debt payoff, and invest wisely for the future.

[00:02:46] As the practical financial experts have the money management techniques in spades, they're

[00:02:51] missing something vital.

[00:02:54] By and large, these folks ignore the psychology of personal finance, why people do what they

[00:02:59] do with their money.

[00:03:02] Scientists recently discovered the moment of decision happens in the same part of the

[00:03:06] brain which processes emotion.

[00:03:09] That means it's literally impossible to make a purely logical decision.

[00:03:14] This is one of the reasons why I saw my former Financial Peace University students fall off

[00:03:19] the wagon 12 months, 18 months, or 24 months after completing the course.

[00:03:25] At first, it baffled me.

[00:03:27] I thought they had all the knowledge they needed to succeed.

[00:03:30] It wasn't until I started studying the emotional side of money and behavioral finance that

[00:03:35] I finally figured out what was missing.

[00:03:38] The Magical Money Guru's The Magical Money Guru's are armed with vision

[00:03:43] boards, affirmations, crystals, and sacred archetypes.

[00:03:48] These individuals preach the woo-woo side of personal finance.

[00:03:52] It's all about your energy and how you feel about your money.

[00:03:56] They're focused on your relationship with money, healing past money, trauma, forgiveness

[00:04:01] work, and gratitude.

[00:04:03] I learned none of this when I earned my Certified Financial Counselor designation.

[00:04:08] When I began to discover this side of personal finance, a whole new universe opened to me.

[00:04:14] I realized why some of my students and clients struggled to implement various financial tactics.

[00:04:21] Emotions drive our behavior and if we don't understand how this works, we'll be forever

[00:04:25] fighting against them instead of harnessing their power.

[00:04:30] Many of the practices the Magical Money Guru's Teach are actually supported by science and

[00:04:35] aren't as woo-woo as you might think.

[00:04:38] There are scientific reasons why vision boards, positive money affirmations, and improving

[00:04:43] your relationship with money actually work.

[00:04:47] Some of these gurus know these things are effective, but few of them teach the science

[00:04:51] behind why they work.

[00:04:53] And some of these Magical Money Guru's do teach things that are just plain hookup.

[00:04:59] Reading your money horoscope might be entertaining, but it's not going to get you out of debt.

[00:05:04] The missing ingredient in their financial rituals is the tactical knowledge needed to

[00:05:09] make real progress.

[00:05:11] It's wonderful to feel good about your money, but it must be paired with practical action.

[00:05:18] Mindful Money Management

[00:05:20] If a practical financial expert and a Magical Money Guru had a baby, it would be named Mindful

[00:05:26] Money Management.

[00:05:28] When we marry the deep understanding of the emotional side of money with the practical

[00:05:32] Personal financial strategies, success is inevitable. This mindful money management approach

[00:05:39] is baked into all of my teaching, coaching and writing. It's important to uncover why

[00:05:43] we do what we do with our money, and then correct those negative patterns which keep

[00:05:48] us stuck in destructive behaviors. Yes, this involves exploring our past money stories,

[00:05:55] doing forgiveness work, creating vision boards and writing positive money affirmations. Uncovering

[00:06:01] and fixing my client's internal money blueprint is the first step. Once I understand what

[00:06:07] my client's emotional money triggers are, I then suggest practical actions to fuel

[00:06:12] their positive emotions and short-circuit the negative ones. We create a personalized

[00:06:17] prosperity plan to accomplish their unique goals. Yes, this involves action checklists,

[00:06:24] using a spending app and doing the homework. The path to lasting financial dignity. The

[00:06:31] path to lasting financial dignity is this, bringing a deep understanding of the psychology

[00:06:37] of money together with useful financial strategies. This is the practical magic for your money.

[00:06:44] My clients are usually amazed by their financial progress when these two powerful forces are

[00:06:49] brought together. I'm wrapping up a coaching engagement with a couple who increased their

[00:06:54] net worth by $56,000 in the six months we work together. Wow! So, have you followed

[00:07:02] either the practical financial experts or the magical money gurus with limited success?

[00:07:08] You're not alone. It's time to bring those approaches together and start mindfully managing

[00:07:14] your money. You just listened to the post titled Practical

[00:07:21] Magic for Your Money by Jessica Yolkish with ChristineLuchen.com. And I'll be right back

[00:07:28] with my commentary. Something always comes up when you're running a small business. Any

[00:07:32] business owner will tell you that. Running a business is just plain hard, endless to

[00:07:37] do lists, employees to take care of, and your ever-present bottom line. So if you're a small

[00:07:42] business owner, kudos to you for staying on top of it. And now I have a solution for you.

[00:07:47] I want to tell you about gusto. Gusto built an easier and more affordable way to manage

[00:07:52] payroll, benefits, and more. They help over 300,000 businesses by taking the pain out

[00:07:57] of tasks like automated payroll tax filing, direct deposit, health insurance administration,

[00:08:04] 401(k), onboarding tools. You name it, gusto makes it easy. And they really care about

[00:08:10] the small business owners they work with. Their support team is attentive and helpful. And

[00:08:15] since money can be tight right now, you'll even get three months

[00:08:19] free. Just go to gusto.com/ofd and start setting up your business today. You'll see what I mean

[00:08:25] when I say easy. Again, that's three months of free payroll at gusto.com/ofd. Have you ever noticed

[00:08:34] how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our

[00:08:40] new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you

[00:08:46] into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just

[00:08:52] comforting. They can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good

[00:08:58] sleep. So press play on Good Sleep tonight, because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep.

[00:09:05] Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily.

[00:09:13] I have to admit, this is a wildly relevant article for me right now.

[00:09:18] If you've been listening to me host the show for the last three years,

[00:09:22] you heard a lot of practical money tips. That's where I was at with my own relationship to money.

[00:09:29] I was fixated on reaching financial goals. But now that I've essentially reached all of my

[00:09:35] financial goals, my interests have shifted. I look around at the fire community and I see a

[00:09:42] bunch of millionaires who feel nothing but fear when it comes to their money.

[00:09:46] It seems like complete madness to me. If you've accumulated enough money to satisfy all of your

[00:09:54] wants and needs, why wouldn't you look at your accounts and net worth and feel a sense of peace?

[00:10:00] We all think that we'll feel better once we have more money. But I've come to realize that just

[00:10:06] because you have money doesn't mean you enjoy the emotional benefits of having money. The pursuit

[00:10:12] of financial independence is rooted in scarcity. We believe that if we hoard enough money and hit a

[00:10:20] target net worth number, it will make us feel safe. I believe we're asking our money to do

[00:10:27] way more emotional labor than it is capable of. Being able to fully enjoy financial freedom

[00:10:33] requires that we move from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.

[00:10:38] And this is deep inner work. If you'd like to hear more from me on this topic,

[00:10:44] I did a 20 minute speech on it at a campfire event in California. The video is available on

[00:10:50] the campfire YouTube channel and it's called unlocking the abundance mindset. But that should

[00:10:56] do it for today. Thank you for being here and listening every day. Have a great rest of your day

[00:11:01] And I'll see you on tomorrow's show, where your optimal life awaits.