What Would You Do With an Extra $1,000 a Month?
On this week’s podcast episode, Tim Ulbrich takes you through an exercise to envision what you would do with an extra $1,000 a month and what steps you could take to make it a reality.
Summary
Tim Ulbrich flies solo on this week’s podcast episode to take you through an exercise to envision what you would you do with an extra $1,000 a month and what steps you would need to take to make it a reality.
The context behind this exercise comes from Andrew Yang, a 2020 Presidential Candidate. Yang proposes the Freedom Dividend, or Universal Basic Income, in which every U.S. citizen 18 years or older would receive $1,000 a month. Your Financial Pharmacist does not endorse Andrew Yang and does not want the focus of this episode to be about politics or the implementation of the Freedom Dividend, but instead encourages listeners to dive into the questions posed,
Tim begins by asking this question: What would you do with an extra $1,000 a month? The more you think about it or write your answers, the more that come to mind. Perhaps you’d put the money toward paying off debt or maybe you’d save it or donate it or invest it. Maybe you’d spread it over multiple competing priorities. Maybe you’d use the additional money to pay off your mortgage sooner. Tim shares several responses to this question from the YFP Facebook group in which he hears dreams, hope, peace of mind, and accelerated financial plans. In these responses, he also hears that some may feel that their goals, hopes and dreams are out of reach.
So, how can you change your financial position so that you have an extra $1,000 a month? Tim encourages a mindset shift from what if to how, from I hope so to how can I, from I wish to one step to make this happen is….
Tim explains that this fundamental mind shift may allow you to explore opportunities to bring in additional income that you may not have thought about before. He also suggests that the focus doesn’t have to be to gain $1,000 extra a month but instead aiming for $100 or $200. Refinancing your mortgage or student loans, taking on a side hustle, working extra shifts or moonlighting, trimming your spending, downsizing your home or selling a car you don’t really need, or asking for a raise are all potential avenues to help increase your income each month.
To close, Tim reshapes theses questions: 1) What will you do with an extra $1,000 a month and 2) When will it happen, what will it look like, and who will hold you accountable to get there? The team at YFP has created a lot of resources to help, including offering fee-only financial planning services with Tim Baker or Christina Slavonik, who are both Certified Financial Planners.
Mentioned on the Show
- CommonBond
- Ask a YFP CFP – Email Your Questions: [email protected]
- Freedom Dividend
- Your Financial Pharmacist Facebook Group
- Start.: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff
- Refinance Your Student Loans
- YFP Resources
- YFP Calculators
- YFP Blog
- YFP Podcast
- YFP Planning
Episode Transcript
Tim Ulbrich: Hey, what’s up, everybody? Welcome to this week’s episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast. And before we jump into today’s show, I’m excited to announce that we are going to be taking more of your questions on the podcast through a new segment we’re doing called Ask a YFP CFP. Yes, one of our CFPs, one of our Certified Financial Planners over at Your Financial Pharmacist, Tim Baker or Christina Slavonik, will be answering listener questions on a regular basis. So we’re ready for your questions. You can send them in by shooting us an email over at [email protected]. Again, that’s [email protected]. And in the subject line, you can write, “Ask a YFP CFP.” Please don’t be shy. Likely if you’re thinking of a question, I’m sure many others of our listeners are thinking the same.
OK, so for this week, I’m flying solo to talk about two questions, two questions that I’m encouraging every listener to consider. No. 1, what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month? And No. 2, what steps do you need to take to make this a reality? Again, No. 1, what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month? And No. 2, what steps do you need to take to make this a reality?
So let’s start with some important context for where this idea, where these two questions are coming from. And I’m going to intentionally be very brief here as I have no intent for this episode to have a political slant, but rather I want to use an idea that was recently presented by one of the presidential candidates to help spark a conversation. So I’m not, YFP is not, endorsing this presidential candidate or his ideas. So I would ask that you fight the urge to rebuke the idea and rather embrace the exercise. This is a conversation that is not necessarily about the implementation of this candidate’s ideas but rather using this idea as an exercise to dream a little bit, to think about what would it look like if you were to get out of the rut that often we find ourselves in month-to-month and take a step back and dream about the bigger picture and the goals that you have as it relates to your financial plan.
So who am I talking about? What am I talking about? After watching one of the recent presidential debates, there was 10 candidates who were up on stage. One of those candidates was Andrew Yang. And he has out there a proposed Freedom Dividend. And essentially, this is a form of universal basic income, and what he’s proposing is that it would provide all U.S. citizens over the age of 18 with $1,000 per month. So again, that’s called the Freedom Dividend, and it’s a form of universal basic income. And he’s proposing to provide all U.S. citizens over the age of 18 with $1,000 per month, regardless of income, regardless of current financial situations.
So when I heard this, it got me thinking about what would I do with an extra $1,000 per month? So again, regardless of politics and whether or not you agree with this concept of a Freedom Dividend, this is a fun exercise that I think we can walk through together. And for those that want to learn about this concept, we’ll make sure to link to some information in the show notes.
So first question here: What would you do if you had an extra $1,000 per month? So regardless of the source, whether it was the Freedom Dividend, whether it was a major slashing of taxes that were to happen — obviously, that would have to be pretty major — whether it was a significant raise, whether it was investing in real estate, whether it was maybe starting your own business or starting a side hustle, maybe it’s walking into an inheritance. Whatever may be the case, regardless of how this came to be, the question here is what would you do if you had an extra $1,000 per month? And I want you to take a moment and think about this question. Now, for those that are driving, I don’t want you to think too hard. But for those that are listening at home, I want you to write it down. Again, what would you do if you had an extra $1,000 per month? And I think this question is an interesting one. And the more you think about it, I think you’ll find that similar to me, the more ideas that will come to be, the more ideas that will come to mind, dreams will get bigger and the excitement starts brewing.
So would you put it towards one area? Maybe it’s paying off student loans. Maybe it’s paying off a credit card or paying down a mortgage early. Maybe it’s saving for a rainy day or giving or putting more towards investing. So would you put it towards one of those areas, or would you try to spread it out over multiple priorities that you’re working on? I think it’s important to get specific here as when we talk about the second question, which is how will this become a reality? Getting specific will then put you in the mindset to begin to think about what would it look like, what would it feel like if this were to become a reality?
Now, I want you to think about — and as I mentioned, I want you to think about and ultimately ask yourself, how would you feel and how would this accelerate or change your financial plan? So for example, if you were wanting to put this money towards making extra mortgage payments, let’s say you currently have 20 years left on your mortgage and you put an extra $1,000 per month, run a calculator. What would that look like? How would that change your payoff date? And again, how would that make you feel?
So I posed this question to the YFP Facebook community this past weekend. And in short, it really was incredible to see the responses that were out there. And the engagement from that post really told me something about the power of asking questions such as this one, which allows you to dream a little bit about your financial plan. And here’s some of the responses that came in from the group.
Tyson said, “I’d put the $1,000, I’d put a little bit of it towards debt, charity, and save. It would take away the living paycheck-to-paycheck of life.”
Katie says, “We’d pay off medical and student loan debt.”
Isaac says, “I’d use it to kickstart my own company.”
AJ says, “Student loans, helping parents retire, and charity.”
Joe says, “I’d use it to enroll in online education to pursue my dream of becoming an animator. I refuse to go through a traditional school and put myself into a crazy amount of debt.”
Jacob says, “It would lower the risk of financial ruin and allow my wife and I to pursue several business ideas as well as construction projects around the house.”
Debbie says, “10% to my church, 70% to my debt, and 20% to travel.”
Beth says, “To pay off debt, pre-pay bills, home repairs, vocal lessons for a child, dental, vision, and savings. Definitely spend each month in my community,” with a heart.
Hartley says, “The first thing I would do is get a better vehicle. We currently have a quickly falling apart truck he drives to work, and I walk. My work is closer to where we live. Next I’d begin paying off debts, get my credit in order. And third, I’d put opening our business finally into the works.”
Rebecca says, “I’d pay off my house a lot faster and become debt-free sooner.”
Tiffany says, “I’d pay off personal, medical, and student debt, get my son into some activities, buy new shoes I’ve been putting off, put money into new house savings, retirement, and my son’s savings. Probably actually go on a vacation once a year, not cringe when I pay $200 for my son’s inhaler. Lots of stuff.”
Jimmy says, “12,000 a year plus $12,000 for my wife=$24,000 a year straight to debt. We save enough for projects, funds, and travel outside of this, so $24,000 would be a nice chunk to battle all debt and still enjoy the quality of life.”
Joe says, “I’d create more jobs as this would allow me to take more risks with my ideas without threatening my family’s security.”
And Holly says, “I’d pay off my house within three years and then travel and put away more for retirement.”
Robert says, “I would invest it in real estate.”
And Denise says, “If I had $1,000 per month, I would get long-awaited treatment for my injuries I had to put on hold while helping three injured daughters with medical issues. They are nearly grown, and treatment would allow me to have longevity and start working on dreams I could not work on while raising six children into adulthood alone, working two and three jobs, putting myself through school with minimal child support. Yes, I would heal first, then get an e-commerce business more profitable to fund my philanthropic endeavors.” Wow.
Do you hear what I hear in these responses and in reading between the lines when we asked the question, what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month? I hear dreams. I hear a sense of hope and excitement. I sense peace of mind that $1,000 would take off the edge, help people get caught up, help accelerate a plan or help to invest in starting a business. I hear people getting out of the month-to-month mindset and rut that is so easy for all of us to get stuck in, myself included. I hear people that have intentional goals in mind, who have thought of this. But I also hear in a sense that some feel those goals, hopes and dreams are out of reach, that there’s no different path than the one currently being taken. That short of something like the Freedom Dividend, these goals aren’t going to become a reality, which takes us to our second question. The first being we discussed what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month? The second question is how can you change your financial position so that you have an extra $1,000 per month?
So now that we have a sense of what the goal is with an extra $1,000 per month, I would challenge you to shift the mindset from ‘what if’ to ‘how,’ from ‘I hope to’ to ‘how can I,’ from ‘I wish’ to ‘what’s one step I can take today to,’ from ‘I hope the Freedom Dividend comes’ to ‘I’ll figure out my own Freedom Dividend, and if it comes, it will be a bonus.’ There’s a fundamental mindset shift in those statements. One that is a sense of waiting, one that’s a sense of hoping and dreaming but also has a sense that it may not become real. The other being a sense of action, a mindset of making that dream a reality. So again, how can you get an extra $1,000 a month is the second question that we’re reflecting on. Of course, we aren’t necessarily talking about a clean $1,000 per month. Maybe it’s that, but this is one example. Maybe it’s starting with $100 or $200 a month and going from there. As John Ackhoff says, one of my favorite authors and he that wrote the book “Start,” you just have to start. So maybe it’s $100. Maybe it’s $200. Maybe it is $1,000 that’s going to make this become a reality.
So how can you get an extra $1,000 per month? I want you to think about that question, reflect on that question, and write it down. Maybe it’s refinancing your mortgage or your student loans. We’re in historically low interest rates, and maybe that’s an area you haven’t reevaluated. Perhaps you bought a home, let’s say a year and a half, two years ago, at an interest rate of 4.5%. You might be able to get that down lower to 3%. Maybe you have student loans that are at 6-8%, and if refinancing is a good fit for you, there may be significant savings there that can happen month-to-month. So maybe it’s refinancing your mortgage or student loans. Maybe it’s starting a side hustle or a business. Maybe it’s picking up extra shifts with your employer if that’s an option or even moonlighting at another institution. Maybe it’s trimming your spending, and these be small cuts here or there, cutting the cable or lawn service. Or maybe, maybe it’s a more dramatic move like downsizing the home, selling the car, offloading the boat. Maybe it’s asking for a raise besides accepting cost of living adjustments. Really evaluating what value do you bring to your employer and really asking for appropriate compensation for that if you feel like that’s warranted. Maybe it’s spending a little to earn more, such as investing in real estate. But rather than just one of those, likely it’s a combination of one or more of these factors or others that I didn’t even list in that short list. I hope it’s a combination of both growing the income, growing the top line and cutting expenses because I think that’s where the magic happens. While cutting is good, I think cutting without a mindset for growth can be a dead end. And I think that’s important to say again: Cutting has its place. Cutting is important, and it can be good and it can be necessary, but cutting without a mindset for growth can be a dead end, can have a ceiling to what you’re able to achieve.
As with almost anything in life, I think this comes down to finding a balance. Here, we’re looking for that balance between what would it mean, how would it feel, what would it look like for you to achieve this goal that we’re talking about of what you would be doing with an extra $1,000 per month and balancing that against what would you be giving up. For example, if $1,000 per month is what you’re going to put toward paying off the mortgage and that would change your payoff time from let’s say 25 years to 15 years, so you cut 10 years off and you decide that in order to make that a reality, you’re going to pick up extra shifts and cut expenses to grow the top line, cut expenses, the question is, is it worth it? Is that extra time invested, that extra money earned and what comes potentially with a sacrifice of time, is it worth it to cut 10 years off your mortgage? And I think the answer is it depends. It depends on how much you value your time, how important it is to pay off the home early, and how much you enjoy the things that you’d be giving up. There’s no right answer here.
So let me wrap up our time together by reshaping the questions we started with and then letting you know how we, the YFP team and the YFP community, are here to help. So remember, we started with the question, what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month? And we followed that up with how can you change your financial position so that you’d have an extra $1,000 per month? So instead of what would you do with an extra $1,000 per month, I would encourage you to shift that to what will you do with an extra $1,000 per month? One implies a hope, a wish, a dream that may or may not become a reality. The second is a different mindset of a plan of making that come to be. And second, not just how you can change your financial position, but when will that happen? What will it look like? And who will be keeping you accountable in that process?
So in terms of YFP, how are we here to help as a team and as a community at large? First, we’re here to support you through a host of resources that we have on our website, everything from free guides, calculators, extensive blog posts on a variety of topics, your weekly podcasts such as the one that you’re listening to here right now. Our mission at YFP, you’ve heard us say it before, is to help you as the pharmacy professional on your path towards financial freedom. And we talk about that term financial freedom all the time. And for each person, I think that can mean something very different, something unique, and I’m hopeful that through this exercise today, you’re one step closer to determining what financial freedom means to you. Second, we can help you through our Facebook group, which is now more than 4,000 pharmacy professionals that are committed to helping one another on this journey towards financial freedom. This community is there to help, whether it’s to answer a question that you have or to give you a place to share a win or keep you accountable on your own journey. So if you’re not already part of the community, I hope you will join us over at the Your Financial Pharmacist Facebook group. And third, we at Your Financial Pharmacist offer fee-only comprehensive financial planning that is customized to the pharmacy professional. So whether you want to pay off your student loans, whether you want to make the right investment decisions, or you simply want to build a solid financial plan, our certified financial planners Tim Baker and Christina Slavonik are here to help you get your income working for you. And you can learn more about that at YFPPlanning.com. Again, that’s YFPPlanning.com.
So as we wrap up this week’s episode of the Your Financial Pharmacist podcast, we need your help in spreading the news about the revolution that is happening among pharmacy professionals that are committed to taking control of their financial future. And you can help us with this by helping others find our show that we release each and every week. And you can do that by leaving a rating and review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. As always, thank you so much for joining us, and we look forward to having you join us again next week. Have a great rest of your week.
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