The Struggle is Real: Tips for Mastering Money in Your 20s Justin Lee Peters

Whether you consider yourself a writer or not, you’ve been asked to write before. This could be an essay for school, an email at work, or a caption for a post.  Sometimes when we are writing, we have a complete brain fart. No matter how hard we try, the words aren’t coming out. We write a sentence and delete it. We start writing another sentence, get halfway through it, and give up entirely.
Then other times, we sit down to write and the words effortlessly flow onto the page. Your thoughts are coming together nicely and you feel so focused.
You may have heard this term before but psychologists call this flow state. Signs of a flow state include focus, enjoyment, and persistence. You can be in flow while playing sports, reading, gardening, and many other activities.
Flow can be beneficial whenever it comes to work. It can help you accomplish challenging tasks, accelerate learning, and experience fewer distractions. All of these characteristics are important for being a high performer.
But can we put ourselves into a flow state rather than just relying on in-the-moment energy? Luckily there is and my friend Justine Elizabeth is here to share how we can do that. Justine is a Flow Coach who makes flow trainable so you can reach new heights without burning out.
I was a little skeptical about flow training. Of course, I’ve experienced flow states in the past but I was unsure if it was truly trainable. But as someone who is always looking to step up my performance both with work and my hobbies, I had to dive in and learn more about it. I should have never doubted her but I was pleasantly surprised with what I learned from Justine and I’ve already implemented her tips to enter a flow state whenever I know I have an important task to finish.
Justine is a student of this craft. I think she is a perfect teacher to introduce you to the power of Flow. 
Key Takeaways:
What is flow?Benefits of flowThe flow cycleExamples of flow aids and ailmentsHow to more easily achieve a flow stateDifferentiating between a productive flow state and unhealthy overwork

More of Justine:
Website: https://theflowcodes.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theflowcodes/

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Humans are weird whenever it comes to money. We drive five miles out of the way to save a few cents on gas. We buy things we don’t need because they’re on sale. We don’t ask for a raise although we’ve been working hard at the same place for years.
We all have irrational behaviors when it comes to money and a lot of this has to do with psychology. Common biases impact our ability to make logical decisions. You’ve probably heard of a couple of these biases before. Some examples include the sunk-cost fallacy, anchoring, mental accounting, the status quo, and the bandwagon effect.

Although we’ll never be able to truly rid ourselves of these biases, there are practices that you can put into place to make more rational decisions.

My friend Paco de Leon is on the show today to talk about some of the reasons why we do the things we do and she’ll share exercises you can do to recognize and recover from situations that are impacting how you think and behave when it comes to money.

Paco is the perfect partner to have this conversation with because she is thinking and talking about this subject all of the time. She is the host of Weird Finance, a podcast for creatives who are looking for explanations of complex financial concepts in a friendly, approachable way. 

I know you’re really going to enjoy this one so buckle up. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the 1st gen immigrant, TED speaker, and founder of The Hell Yeah Group…Paco de Leon.

Key Takeaways:
Why we are built to pay attention to scarcity and how that impacts our relationship with moneyHow we can make better decisions by understanding our window of toleranceCurbing impulse buying with the $100 buy listEnjoying simplicityHow to get comfortable with moneyMine Yours and Ours budget

More of Paco:
Podcast - Weird Finance: https://thehellyeahgroup.com/weird-finance-listen-now
Book - Finance for the People: https://thehellyeahgroup.com/finance-for-the-people

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Work optionality is the idea that you work because you want to, not because you have to. As you’re listening to this in your 20s, this concept might seem like a pipe dream. That’s truly fair. Most of us don’t have this luxury. We are building wealth, along with just paying our bills, and it takes income to do that.
But this idea might not be as far away as you think. Regardless of your timeline, as your wealth grows even before you hit financial independence, I think you should be itching closer to a life designed by you, not your employer or clients.

This might include changing your hours, taking more time off work, participating in mini-retirements, pivoting careers, or starting a business.

This is an idea that Rachael Camp, Founder of Camp Wealth, is routinely discussing both online and with her clients. And I asked her to come on the podcast to do the same. Rachael is a financial planner who helps young professionals maximize their money for financial freedom. She has also redesigned her life over the last few years and she told me it feels way more aligned.

In this episode, we break down the nuance between traditional FIRE and work optionality. Rachael shares steps you can take to start progressing towards a work-optional life and she shares questions to ask yourself to uncover what that life would truly look like. Also at the end of the episode, I ask Rachael to break down some of her most popular tweets from the last month.

This is a really fun, wide-ranging conversation and you can probably tell, I had a lot of blast getting to know Rachael.

So if you’re ready to do the same, let’s get into it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the former Hoosier turned Denverites…Rachael Camp.

Key Takeaways:
The difference between traditional FIRE and work optionalityImportant questions to ask yourself to get closer to your ideal lifeRules to help you spend moreWhy you should take more risks in your 20sHow to make a plan for your money

More of Rachael:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CampWealth/videos
Website: https://www.rachaelcampwealth.com/

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Let’s not sugarcoat it, the path to financial independence is a grind. Even with an aggressive savings rate and an extended bull market run, you’re going to be at it for a while.
Setting the hard work aside, we also have to ask ourselves, what are we racing towards? Yes, of course, financial independence and freedom, but what would you do with that newfound free time?
This is where I’d like to insert the idea of mini-retirements. This intentional time off work can help us reenergize and explore what retirement life would look like. This is actually what our guest, Jillian Johnsrud, did. During her journey to financial independence, Jillian embraced 12 mini-retirements and now she coaches others on how to take a mini-retirement themselves.
I love the idea of mini-retirements. I’ve already taken one in 2020 and plan to take many more throughout my life. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made in my 20s but it didn’t come with some doubts. Most notably, is this temporary time off worth delaying financial independence? 
This is a question I asked Jillian and what she told me surprised me….mini-retirements didn’t delay FI for her, they did the opposite. They expedited it. Stick around if you want to hear that story and more.
I hope you enjoy my conversation with the master of retiring often…Jillian Johnsrud.
Key Takeaways:
The importance of taking breaks on your path to financial independenceWhat a mini-retirement is…and isn’tDifferent intentions for mini-retirementsHow to propose a mini-retirement to your managerHow to structure mini-retirements so they don’t feel wastedCrafting your mini-retirement storyReconciling embracing mini-retirements and delaying your path to financial independenceHow to reduce costs during a mini-retirementCreating your mini-retirement go-bag

More of Jillian:
Website: www.RetireOften.com
Retire Often podcast: www.retireoften.com/podcast/

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

We always hear the importance of taking advantage of our 401K and IRA accounts. The tax advantages and employer match are too good to pass up on. But is this true for early retirees? If I’m planning on retiring in my 40s, should I be locking my money away in these accounts? How do I bridge the gap between early retirement and 59.5 - the age at which I can withdraw from these accounts penalty-free?
Well, the good news is that isn’t 100% true. There are ways to withdraw from these retirement accounts early without paying a 10% penalty and some of these strategies are fairly simple.
Sean Mullaney, President of Mullaney Financial & Tax and writer behind the informative blog, FITaxGuy.com, is here to share how to do this.

In this episode, we deep dive into a couple of the strategies to ensure that your money can be accessible to you if you retire before 59.5. Sean also shares a tax-efficient strategy for which accounts you should withdraw from first.

This is Sean’s 3rd appearance on the show. He also appeared in episodes 39 and 40 where we discussed what you need to know about taxes in your 20s and the mechanics of an HSA.

Every time Sean comes on the show I learn something new. Through this conversation, he actually changed my mind about how I am currently funding my Roth and Traditional accounts. He’s such a wealth of knowledge whenever it comes to the tax code and tax planning.

If you also want to learn from Sean, let’s get into it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with FI Tax Guy…Sean Mullaney.

The discussion is intended to be for general educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice for any individual. Justin and The Struggle is Real podcast do not endorse Sean Mullaney, Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. and their services. 

Key Takeaways:
A tax-efficient ladder for funding your life post-FIHow to manage “uncontrolled income” in your brokerage accountLong-term vs short-term capital gains and how they’re taxedRoth basis: contributions and conversionsOther exceptions to withdrawing money penalty-free from your retirement accounts

Mentions:
Accessing Retirement Accounts Prior to 59.5: https://fitaxguy.com/accessing-retirement-accounts-prior-to-age-59-%c2%bd/
IRS Exceptions to tax on early distributions: https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-exceptions-to-tax-on-early-distributions
IRS Publication 502: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-502

More of Sean:
Blog: https://fitaxguy.com//
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SeanMullaneyVideos

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I love playing with compound interest calculators and one equation I’m routinely calculating is the number of years until I reach financial independence. Using the 4% rule, I multiply my living expenses by 25 to get my FIRE number. I use that, my current net worth and various contribution rates to predict when I’ll reach FI.
But then I started thinking about this equation. Instead of using my current expenses should I use an inflation-adjusted number that would more realistically match my future expenses? Also, now I’m second-guessing my average return rate. Does that include inflation or should I be adjusting that rate too?

All of a sudden, I’m a little turned around. Not knowing if the number in front of me is an undershot or overshot. I don’t want to be so far off the mark that my calculation isn’t giving me a realistic path to financial independence.

So what is the right way to account for inflation whenever running our numbers? Luckily Jesse Cramer is back so tell us the right way to go about this calculation.

Jesse has a way of simplifying topics. He is routinely doing this through his podcast, The Best Interest. Jesse takes complex financial topics and puts them into layman's terms. Jesse is so good at doing this that this is the 3rd time I’ve invited him on The Struggle is Real.

In this episode, we get straight into the topic of inflation and answer questions like why products get more expensive over time, 2 ways to correctly calculate your FI number, and how to protect your portfolio from inflation.

So if you’re ready for that, let’s get into it. I hope you enjoy my conversation with TSIR’s most frequented guest (for now)...Jesse Cramer.

Key Takeaways:
How products and services get more expensive over timeHow inflation is measured2 ways to calculate your FI number without mistakenly leaving out or double counting inflationDoes the 4% rule account for inflation?How to inflation protect your portfolioHow concerned a 20-something should be about inflation whenever retirement planning

Mentions:
Accounting for Inflation in Retirement and FIRE Planning: https://bestinterest.blog/accounting-for-inflation-in-retirement-and-fire-planning/

More of Jesse:
Podcast: https://bestinterest.blog/the-best-interest-podcast/
Blog: https://bestinterest.blog/

More of The Struggle is Real:
Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/
Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/