Achieving the Impossible with Laniece and Jo
At the my company, the Financial Gym, we like to call the financial plan you get from us the starter plan. It really is an initial roadmap plotting out how you can achieve your goals. Some clients get the road map and put everything into place and follow it to a tee. Some clients get the roadmap and think it’s impossible and never even do the work. And then some clients get the roadmap and life throws them a series of detours and the road trip changes. The plan is a guideline but it’s never really set in stone.Some plans we work on are easy to put together because the clients’ financial lives are easily aligned with their goals, and then some plans, like today’s guests, are not easy to put together because the roadmap is filled with uncertainty. When my trainers have to deliver those types of plans, they’re actually not overly concerned, because after years of doing this, we know that anything is possible if our clients put their minds to it. We actually LOVE it when our clients accomplish what seems impossible at the beginning and this is the case with Laniece and Jo. They are two Financial Gym clients working with my trainer Joy, and they join me today to share why they wanted to fix their financial lives and how they went about accomplishing what seemed like impossible goals from Joy.
What are we drinking?
Laniece — Apple Cider Mimosa
Jo — E & J and Cranberry Juice
Shannon — Gin and Tonic
Podcast Notes
A year ago, Laniece reached out to the Gym, because she and Jo were engaged and were going to combine finances.
About 95 percent of warm-up calls are female. The Financial Gym community is 60 percent female and 40 percent male.
The biggest cause of fights and contention in marriage is due to money and they wanted to have a third-party involved to make sure they are going in the right direction.
They were both invested in their finances, but not in the details.
Everybody has a vice - Jo spent a lot on food, but not much on other things. Laniece spent a lot on her hair.
The first meeting it was surprising to see their incoming and outgoing numbers on a screen.
The biggest difference in goals is that Laniece didn’t want a wedding. She thought it was a waste of time and money. Their financial plan showed that it was going to be tough to pull off.
For the wedding, they called in a lot of favors and they made many things themselves. Instead of a limo, they rented four luxury SUVs from a rental place for less than half the cost of a limo and they had them for the entire day. They chose brunch for their meal at 3pm on a Sunday, and saved compared to serving dinner on a Saturday night.
In addition to paying for the wedding, Jo and Laniece wanted to buy a house. Jo wanted to buy a house right away, because the area Laniece was living was not safe. Laniece wanted to stay there for two years to pay off debt and save up a down payment.
They came back from their honeymoon and their landlord said they had 65 days to move. There is a program called NACA that offers financial benefits to home buyers, but it is a strenuous process.
Rent in Philadelphia is typically $1,500 to $1,700 per month, and they were paying $900 per month, so they decided to purchase a house.
The NACA program restricted the purchase amount and required that they keep a certain amount in their bank account at all times. It was an extreme financial reset from spending on their wedding.
Anything is possible depending on how much work you want to put into it. It’s your journey and you are the driver.
At their quarterly review, Jo and Laniece were saving 21 percent of their income. Their mortgage is $1,382, which includes escrow.
They attribute their success partly to their support network and their faith.
Once you know where you are financially, it helps you make better decisions.
Goals help you stay focused. When you get complacent, you fall off the wagon.
Sometimes you need to delay or cut in order to meet the bigger goal.
There is always a goal.
Clients who have goals will get there. It is difficult to motivate clients who don’t have goals.
One of Laniece and Jo’s goals is to leave a legacy. Another is to make more money.
The reason the Financial Gym exists is to help this generation and future generations get and stay financially healthy. The biggest problem is financial education is not happening at home.
Laniece’s advice is if you are feeling like your finances are out of shape, reach out for help and get the reality of the situation.
Jo’s advice is to not wait to get help with your finances. Get started as early as you can. The earlier you get on top of it, the healthier you will be. You will slip, but there will always be a boulder you can hold onto.
TAKEAWAY: My biggest takeaway is to never give up on your dreams and never think that any financial goal is impossible. For the last five years of building the Financial Gym, I’ve witnessed many stories similar to Laniece and Jo’s, and the greatest common denominator was a sheer determination to make their dreams a reality and never giving up even though the path seemed hard. I hope you set out today to lay out your hopes and dreams and take action in making them a reality.
Random Three Questions
Is there any place else in this country you would like to live?
What is a show you both agree you like to binge watch?
If you both won a million dollars, what would you do with it?
If you’d like some help in laying out your financial plans and putting those plans into action like Laniece and Jo, I hope you’ll reach out to my team at the Financial Gym. If you’ve ever thought about joining, there’s no better time than now. We have a number of summer promos for individuals and couples that are about to come to an end. Go to financialgym.com to sign up for a free warm up call to find out more.