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FEMALE SPEAKER: Chance to enjoy some of the tunes
that we set out to set the mood.
From Barrett Strong's, "Money"-- that's what I want--
to Pink Floyd's, "Money", to Lady Gaga's, "Money Honey",
it's multiple generations of music all singing the same
tune.
Money is kind of a big deal.
So that's why I'm so excited to introduce you
to Alexa Von Tobel.
And let me read a little bit about her
so that you can get just as excited as I am.
So Alexa is the CEO and founder of LearnVest,
and she's a certified financial planner
who attended Harvard College and Harvard Business School.
Alexa has been featured as a financial expert in the Wall
Street Journal, The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes,
InStyle, Glamour, the list goes on.
She has been recognized in Inc's "30 Under 30".
She's just been a really, really strong presence
in what's going to be a great and important road.
So without further ado, I really want
to have you meet Alexa Von Tobel.
[APPLAUSE]
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Hi guys.
I'm gonna stand here if that's OK.
Hi guys.
Thank you so much for coming out.
It's Thursday, so I really appreciate
that everyone's coming to hear a little bit about money.
Come in, sit down.
This is going to be totally informal,
and here's the goal of today.
When you leave here in one hour, I
want to make sure that you've learned everything
that you need to about money.
Ask questions.
Stop me.
I'm in middle of actually my book tour,
so "Financially Fearless" is our book.
It's a New York Times bestseller.
It's actually number one on Wall Street Journal on business.
So that's pretty exciting.
It came out about now 12 days ago, 15 days ago.
And so we've been going around the country giving this talk.
I actually gave it to the Google in New York.
I'm going to the Google in Beverly Hills
after this and a bunch of other companies and organizations.
So I've done it a lot.
You're going to have questions.
Ask them.
And I'm going to stay and sit up here at the end
and actually ask one on one questions
if you wanna take the time to do something
that's really specific to you.
So 10 seconds on me.
I grew up in Florida, I went to Harvard.
Went back to Wall St-- to Morgan Stanley and worked as a trader
on the prop-desk.
Went back to Harvard Business School in the fall 2008.
Won a big business plan competition
and ultimately dropped out.
I think we were in the heart of the worst recession in 81
years, and I was literally customer number one.
You guys are really great product people.
I literally didn't know what to do with my own finances.
I was young, I didn't have a ton of money,
I didn't have no money.
I was trying to figure out like, what's a credit score?
What are the things that I need to know?
And what I found was, it was such BS.
Literally trying to navigate your money.
It's like, you literally go Google tons of content.
You don't know it's updated, you don't know if it's wrong.
I actually just had some at the Google in New York come up
to me and actually was in tears.
And she was like, Alexa, I really
need and want to figure out my money.
She was like, I'm not in a bad position.
She was like, but I spent over eight hours trying
to find a financial expert, finally found someone.
Took about a week to get them on the phone.
We got on the phone, and they want
to charge me like a $3,000 retainer,
and then I have to commit that I wanna
work with them for over a year.
She was like, and I don't have thousands of dollars
to spend to figure out my money.
And the bottom line is, I was like, why isn't there a way
to make people feel great about money?
To make it extremely accessible, and frankly, affordable.
And I'm going to share some really important stuff.
But the goal of today is for you to walk out feeling smarter.
I'm really psyched that we got you guys books.
And without further ado, we'll get started.
So first, what is LearnVest?
We've raised $45 million.
We're now one of the leading and fastest growing
online financial planning companies in the whole country.
We raise money from Excel Venture Partners.
We actually just closed a big round of another $20 million.
We're located in New York City.
We've got 110 employees.
By the end of year we'll probably have about 180 to 200.
Plainly, simply put, we are a program for your money.
We literally, and you guys get product, as I said, so well.
We spent the last three years, got
some of the best certified financial planners.
That's the doctor for your money.
Most people don't even notice CFP is.
We then took a bunch of really great product people
and technologists, and we built really rich software
that can take any household, whether you make $50,000,
or $500,000, And quickly find out
what your big weak points are.
Like where you have sort of red alerts,
and then figuring out how you can make progress
on your money.
It's a really simple program.
The goal when I set out was that I want to make it accessible.
It shouldn't be this like, five day process,
where you don't know where to go.
You don't know if it's actual expert.
It's really expensive.
Because the message that happens there is you then
tell yourself, I shouldn't be doing this.
It's so complicated.
It's so hard.
Clearly I shouldn't be taking care of my money.
When in fact, that's not the point.
And then finally, we wanted to make it trusted and unbiased.
So our experts at LearnVest don't sell anything.
They just give you advice.
And my whole family's in medicine.
And one of the things that I started
recognizing as I was building the company,
was you literally could go to some experts
and they actually get paid to sell your product.
The problem there, it's like going to the doctor
and them getting paid to pump you
full of antibiotics and shots, when you're actually just sick
and need someone to take care of you.
Next slide.
So first, follow me and LearnVest.
We're on the tour for the next 30 days.
But also, shoot questions to us.
We will answer them.
But we share a ton of behind the scenes,
a ton of really important money hacks at all times.
So, this is us.
Next.
And really quickly, so the book's
call-- I wanted to call the book, "The F Word",
first of all.
Because none of us wanna talk about money.
It's this topic.
It's super stressful.
In fact, like for a century, like
we've taught everyone never to talk about money.
It's this totally impolite thing.
But the problem is, everyone deals with money.
In fact, we make 6 to 10 money decisions every single day.
And we will every day that we're alive on this earth.
I actually go so far as to say that financial planning should
be, literally should be a civil right.
Just like sort of getting access to health
care, because if your money's in complete disarray,
you can't protect your family, you
can't take care of yourself, you can't
lead even a normal average life.
And so, I'm actually going on this tour.
It's kind of crazy.
I was in Denver this morning, I was in Nashville yesterday,
Chicago the day before, Indiana the day before that,
and going back to New York.
Shooting everything from, tomorrow morning
we're on Good Morning America.
We're supposed to be shooting Piers Morgan tonight,
all the way to next week Seattle, San Francisco,
Jacksonville, etc.
Running around the country, doing this.
Going to high schools colleges, churches, hospitals, companies.
Literally giving this money talk so
that everyone gets empowered.
We call it "Financially Fearless America"
because a really important rule is, I've probably
talked to well over 10,000 people,
and I've actually never met a single person that has said,
I feel great about my money.
It is just this topic of stress, anxiety, eating cu-- none of us
grew up with enough money, trust me.
Even if you did, you know someone who grew up with more.
It's really this topic of pretty deep stress and strain.
You're not saving enough, you don't make enough.
Because it literally is this topic
that you always are comparing.
And the problem with that is, we know mathematically, about 85%
of the audience is too embarrassed
and too stressed out to actually go and jump and make progress.
And about 15% sort of feels maybe ish confident.
They're like, I think I'm doing it, I think I'm doing it.
And what we find is both a really bad,
because you end up not actually making progress on your money.
Next.
So some really important stats.
Right now, 76% of the country, and I gave a TED talk on this,
feels out of control when it comes to their money.
And we describe exactly what we found.
It is like being in a boat in the middle of the ocean
and you literally just don't know which way is land.
That may sound dramatic, but it's actually pretty accurate.
And the reason, what we find, is the average person
can spare a lit-- and by the way,
this is obviously not above the average audience,
and you'll see some stats about the more money you make,
how things actually can get more complicated.
But the takeaway here is, you're in the middle of the ocean.
And let's just say you can spare a few thousand dollars a month.
Which, let's just say that that's
what this room can spare.
You then have so many priorities,
that you're not quite sure which bucket to fill first.
Do you pay down student debt?
Do you pay down credit card debt?
Do you contribute to your 401K?
There's a matching program here.
Do you think about 529 plans for your kids?
Do you help your aging parent, which,
that is a really big new topic that our generation will
be faced with.
Do you have emergency savings?
Do you contribute to your mortgage?
I mean, you quickly can see, that you end up being like,
where does my next dollar go?
Like, how do I prioritize?
And the takeaway is, most people feel pretty stressed out.
Next.
So right now, 61% of the country,
so just think about the whole country,
literally lives paycheck to paycheck.
Which means that they are not in the position,
if anything happened, to be able to go grab some cash
and do something.
Most people have less than one month
of savings of what their life costs them.
And what's really interesting, especially for this room,
is 30% of people who make over $100,000,
live paycheck to paycheck.
So I say that because we sort of intuitively
think having more money means that you have less money
problems.
But we all know exactly what happens.
You get the slightly bigger home,
with the nice marble counter tops.
And you drive the nicer car.
And you go on the slightly nicer vacations.
So simply having more doesn't mean
that you have any less problems.
And I make that point, because when
you think about your own money, and when
you think about sort of the we all
do the comparison situation.
Simply because someone makes more money does not
mean that behind the scenes, they're in a better situation.
And I can tell you, we've seen the bus driver
who makes $60,000, who owns two homes, and has no debt.
And we've seen the Wall Street guy or gal
who makes $250,000 who has $20,000 of credit card debt,
doesn't own anything.
And the takeaway there is, what you make,
and what you do with it are very, very different things.
Next.
So, I always go through these excuses
and I say it just because I have literally-- LearnVest
is massive.
We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of users.
Adding anywhere from about 1000 to 5000 a day.
People write in all the time, and I read probably at least 50
to 100 emails every day.
And I can't tell you the number of people
who-- we hear the excuses.
And it's things like, but I don't have enough money
to care about my money.
And actually, mathematically, when you have less money,
it is actually more critical for you
to know where your next dollar should go.
Which, my whole TED talk was about how financial planning
should not be a luxury product.
Right now, if you have well over a million dollars,
there's a slew of places you can go to get investment advice.
But if you have less, which 98.6% of the country
has less than a million dollars, there's
not a lot of great places to go.
In fact, I would argue that there was not a great place
to go, before LearnVest.
So first, I don't have enough money.
I'm ashamed.
I don't want to get started.
Last night, I was in Denver, and a woman who was in her
'60s came up to me and was like, I cannot tell you what I would
have given for someone to tell me this when I was
in my '20s, '30s.
Maybe even '40s, because it could have changed so much.
She was just like here I am, and I can't do a lot.
So we always say like, the problem's not going to go away,
you just have to solve it.
And it's about making that barrier
to solving it pretty low.
We get a lot of, I don't even know what a financial plan is.
Well, that's what I'm going to walk through.
That's what the book walks through.
And I'm gonna share some of my favorite hacks for you
guys today that are absolutely worth your time.
And then finally, we see a lot-- again,
a small portion of people say I kind of
think I handle on things.
And then we actually look at their finances
and see that they're no better off,
but they just sort of think that they are.
And so the takeaway is, put those excuses aside.
You already did.
You came to this talk.
But I like to say them out loud, because they sort of run
through all of our heads.
Next.
So, this is LearnVest.
We literally as I just said, raised $45 million
with the whole goal of disrupting
the financial planning space.
Let me talk about what that means for a second.
Right now, like that whole offline, go see a planner,
print out your documents, bring them to them.
It is so anticrated.
When you think about the incredible things
that a company like Google has done, or Apple's Genius Bar,
or even Weight Watchers, a program for your weight loss.
For me, the financial space is so old school.
Literally, banks are open from like 9:00 to 5:00.
Actually the bank near me closes on Saturdays its open
from 11:00 to 2:00.
I'm like wait, what?
It's Saturday.
But it is this last space that hasn't been completely
disrupted by incredible technologies.
And so all we did was pretty simple.
We built an incredible basic way to filter any household
to make sure that they know what to do.
And then we connect you to an expert on our staff.
And then we got rid of all the BS.
All the friction.
I don't know where to find someone.
It's way too expensive.
I don't know how to get them my information.
So the tips that came out, that are in this book,
are from four years of being a certified financial planner
myself.
From talking to literally thousands of customers.
From tremendous amounts of research.
And I'm going to tell you guys the one,
because at the end of the day, I'm
not that different than you guys, in the sense
that none of us have extra time.
We're all-- you know, you have your job, you have your family,
you have your kids, you have your health,
you're juggling so much.
So one of the big things at LearnVest,
we only share things that are worth your energy.
Things are going to make a real impact on your financial life.
Next.
So we developed this thing, it's called the Action Program.
It's literally a seven step process.
And it can take any one.
Any household.
One thing you guys should know is
our users are between 25 and 65.
Our core users are really in their '30s and '40s,
and they're often households.
You know, if you're single, it's single.
But if you're married, it's both.
And we put you through this filter.
What I'm going to do today is walk you
all through the filter.
So think about your own situation.
Think about the tips that really resonate.
Write down questions.
And again, I'll answer some broad ones at the end.
And then I can sit up here and answer one on one questions.
So, the first step is organize.
I cannot tell you guys the number of people,
really well educated by the way.
So I don't care if you went to Harvard Business School
and work at Goldman Sachs, you went to community college,
we don't learn about this in school.
I had two great educations.
Doesn't matter.
We don't learn about it in high schools or colleges
across the country.
I was actually just at the White House
last Thursday with Congresswomen trying
to figure out how we can actually
start changing some of the rules around that.
But the takeaway is, regardless of your education,
regardless of what you make, we see disorganization everywhere.
And here's what I mean by that.
First of all, ideally, all your accounts are online.
I mean, even my husband who went to Harvard with me,
he still had that like one account
that doesn't have anything online.
And I was like, what are you doing?
We've gotta like, be able to see that.
You've got to be able to log in.
You can't wait for paper statements.
Or to have a bank it's literally in a different state
that you actually can't go and see.
So one of the things that we recommend
are, and again, we don't work with any banks directly.
We don't promote any accounts.
Everything that you do you should be able to be online.
And I'll give you a quick sense.
So, people come in all the time and we end up
realizing that they have like 14 accounts.
When you have a household, and you have kids,
it quickly can turn into 20 accounts.
And so we just say, fewer is better.
Plain and simple.
You know, you're FDI insured up to a huge amount of money.
And so first, link them to the LearnVest Money Center.
It's our free tool.
Great, great five star ratings etc.
If you go to the next slide.
Let me give you some really specific things.
So first, my accounts, I actually have personally,
two credit cards.
Now with my husband I have a third.
I have my Bank of America account,
because I have ATMs within three blocks of me
in both places, my job, and my home.
I have all my money over at Fidelity, and my 401K is there.
That's it.
That's what we got.
That's what we're working with.
And it's really--
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE].
ALEXA VON TOBEL: FDIC?
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] split their money
between different accounts so that none of them
was above the limit.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: If you have, if you're with a partner,
you have up to $2 million of FDIC insurance.
And it's across four types of accounts.
So, I'm not in a position where I have more than $2 million
of cash, so you're ultimately protected.
And then if it's in a brokerage account, it *** insurance,
and that's even more.
So the takeaway there is, if you are in a household that
has less than that, it makes sense
to be able to put your money there.
For us, why I just showed you how
we have our accounts set up, is because everything then
goes into one email address.
It's basically Alexasbills@gmail.
I get all of our statements in one place.
If you looked in my like Gmail right now,
I have 23,000 unread emails, because you
know, all of the alerts that you get.
I get my news alerts from everything.
And what would find is, bills, statements, alerts,
things I should probably be seeing would get lost.
So what we say is, with your household, link everything
up to a new, fresh, clean account.
Next with that, then I run my finances
like I run my social life.
I have my Google Calendar set up.
And I have some really specific alerts.
They're outlined in detail in the book.
But the following: in January, I contribute
to my IRA, and my 401K.
You guys have matching, so that's free money.
You should take advantage of every dollar that.
If you can go above the $17,500 that you can put into a 401K
at work, then you want to contribute to an IRA.
We recommend that contribute to an IRA at the beginning
of January because you get a full extra year of tax
free earnings.
And the takeaway there is, either sit down
and put in the $5,500 that you can,
or set it so that it's going to automatically do it
across the year.
That's an alert on my calendar in January.
In January, I also go to all my doctor visits.
I do them all in one month.
And I'll share with you in more detail a few reasons why.
But your health is your biggest asset.
And actually, you have great health insurance,
take advantage of it.
In January I also sit down with my husband.
And if you have a family, what are we trying to do?
What are our goals for the year?
What are we trying to save for?
And really sit down and map it out.
Where do we want to be in one year?
Three years?
Then break it down into months.
You can really get a sense of what you should be saving.
These are the beginning pillars of what
a financial plan looks like.
I also, every three months, check my credit score.
And every year I check my annual credit report.
Just again, they're on annual renews.
They just alert.
I get them on my phone.
It's pretty straightforward.
I can't forget.
But those are the things that we do.
You then have alerts for when your credit cards are due.
And I'll go into a lot more detail what
goes into your credit score, but the takeaway is, missing a bill
is literally one of the simplest things that
can hurt your credit score so badly,
and it's just not worth it.
And particularly the bills that really mess up
are doctors visits.
Because they're mom and pop shops.
They tend not to have great online systems.
Right?
You go to your dermatologist, they send you a paper bill.
We as young people in this generation,
we move all the time.
So if you don't do mail forwarding, you miss a bill,
it's $86.
They turn you over the credit agencies.
Those are the sort of things that
happen that really affect people's credit scores that
are simple.
So what we say is, make sure you have a uniform system
to track everything all in one place.
Next, as I said, set up an email address
where everything comes in.
The average person doesn't check their bills.
Why we say-- there's Mint and then there's
LearnVest, and both of us, you can see everything
in one place.
We have no ads in it.
It's literally just your data.
And one of the things that I do pretty much every day,
at least every few days, is login, take a money minute,
and just check what's going on.
The reason I do that is, pretty much every three months I
find an issue.
And I'll explain what that means.
Let's say I ate at a restaurant for $100.
I tip 20%, it was $120.
I will find, if I log in, sometimes people
change your tips.
It happened.
I'd be like it was-- you're nodding, it happens.
It's crazy.
But I was like, wait, I didn't tip $40.
And one of the things is if you don't actually
have everything that's online, accessible.
Linked through a place like LearnVest,
where you can see everything in one place, where
you can log in-- you know, if I go,
I can't tell you what I eat for dinner seven nights ago.
So if I go look at a bill, I don't
know if it's exactly right, but I take the time to do it
and then I use credit cards where I can dispute things.
So one, I think it's really important
that everything's online.
I think it's really important all linked to one place.
And I think it's really important,
one of the things we learned is, well over more than half
the country doesn't even open their bills.
And game here plan number one is open your bills.
Have them come into an email address.
And then finally, I log in once a day
so I can actually see what's going on.
Next.
Step two is focus.
So this is a really important step.
And again, we built this entire system
to put a household through it, and it's
very thoughtfully in a certain order.
So first, we've gotta get you organized,
we gotta know what your numbers are,
we gotta see exactly what's happening.
From there, we have to figure out
what comes in every year or every month, and what goes out.
And let me explain.
So I can't tell you the number of people
that are like, I make $100,000.
And I'll be like, you don't.
You make $68,000.
Because you have to think of your life in after tax dollars.
And the reason why we say that is, one,
it's really easy to over inflate what your household income is.
Like, you make $100,000, I make $200,000, we make $300,000.
But you have to think about an after tax dollars.
So first, look at your paychecks.
Quickly figure out, multiply it by 26 or 27,
based on the number paychecks you get.
That's the first thing.
What really comes in?
And for freelancers, for people who
have extra money on the side, it gets more complicated.
Then, what goes out.
So, plain and simple, you have your obvious fixed expenses.
Your rent, those sort of things, that are clear, you know them,
they're very regular.
But on the other stuff, the restaurant and bars,
the travel, the shopping; that's the stuff that people never
really have a good grasp on.
And so one of the things is one, do
you know that there's actually money at the end of the month?
So, if you're not tracking it, and again, 61% of the country
is living paycheck to paycheck.
Which basically means they're spending more than they make.
And so, again, good people with good incomes, that happens.
So what we look at is what comes in, what's going out,
and we help you get a real sense.
And you know, LearnVest has great trends and analysis.
And at the end, we find out what is left.
We then go through this is really good negotiation process
with you where, let's just say, your household makes $7,000
a month and at the end, there's only $1,000 left.
We figure out, is there anything else we can do?
And we have great tips in the book.
And our planners literally work and tweak,
and we find a way, how do we get $1,000 to be $2,000?
Because we can get you towards your goal so much faster.
So we help you figure out how to cut costs,
things you can turn off, really great hacks.
And basically, we come up with what's
the number at the end of the month?
Let's just say it's $2,000.
Next.
So one thing is, you go to your budget.
This is a really important financial planning principal.
So I'm a CFP, just so you guys all know what that means.
It basically means you have to go to school for about a year.
Pass many tests.
You then have to take a two day, 10 hour exam.
And honestly, it's the hardest exam I've ever been through.
It's only about a 30% pass rate.
It's not only extremely broad in the topics
it covers, but extremely deep.
And this is one of the best principles
that I learned in it.
So, I didn't make it up, but it's
one of the things that sort of changed my life, in terms
of thinking about my money.
So let's just say, for the sake of this example,
that my household makes $10,000, after taxes.
That's what comes in.
So when you think about living within your means,
what that really means, is 50% or less,
should go to essentials.
Essential is what this actually essential to live.
It's the roof over your head, it's your groceries,
it's your utility bill, and it's your transportation
to and from work.
So for you guys, you drive.
So it's not just whatever your car payment is.
Your auto insurance, and your gas.
So that's what's essential.
Ideally that's 50% or less.
One of the reasons is, if you're a two person household,
if someone lost their job, you would still
be able to maintain your essentials
without going into debt.
A really important about that 50% is, of the 100, 30% or less
is your rent or mortgage.
So this is the one that people get wildly wrong.
And I can't tell you the number of people that will come in,
and their rent or their mortgage is 60% of what they make.
And we can see in a 10 second window,
that you're going to have a pretty jeopardized
financial future, because of that one decision.
And I say that for the following reason.
20% is supposed to go towards the future.
And I'll walk you through why.
But 20% of what you take home every month
should go to if you have debt, paying down your debt.
If you don't have debt, contributing
to your retirement.
If you are already maxing out your retirement,
your next savings goal, whatever it may be.
Whether it's saving for your kids 529 Plan,
helping with some dream, some small project
you want to work on, whatever it may be.
And then, 30% is the fun stuff.
That's the lifestyle budget.
That's the like do you want to go shopping?
Do want to go travel?
Do you want to have an Equinox membership, etc.
And one of the reasons why people often will be like,
well my rent's 60%.
And we're like, well your 20%'s gone.
And the truth is, you can't really
live on your 30% being anything--
we say-- people are like, but I can make that 10%.
Well here's the problem.
Every time your phone rings, literally every time,
someone's calling you to ask you to spend money.
They're calling, do you want to go for margaritas?
Do you wanna go to the gym?
Do you wanna go to the game?
Do you wanna meet for yoga?
Do you wanna get a manicure?
Your parents need something, doesn't matter.
Every time someone's calling you ,
they're asking you to do something that requires money.
And people just don't have the willpower to always say no.
That's also not a fun life to live.
And so what we find is, if you are in a position
where your rent is more than 30% of what you take home,
you often end up in a big mistake.
You're not saving enough for the future.
You're in a position where you wildly have to underspend,
which is pretty difficult for a lot of people.
And so the takeaway there is, my mentor,
she's one of the early founders of Goldman Sachs.
And she's on the board of Goldman Sachs, said to me
early when we were building LearnVest together, she goes,
Alexa, the number one thing you can
do to always keep your finances in shape,
is always spend beneath your needs
in your living environment.
And so if it's rent, that's pretty clear.
But for your mortgage, is what we call PITY, principal
and interest, taxes and insurance,
because those are the four things that you
must have in order to be able to afford that home.
So right now, if you're way over 30%,
we don't recommend you go sell your house.
It's just, you need to be aware that you're actually at risk.
So next.
Really quickly, on credit scores,
this is one of the ones guys, that I can't tell you,
I had like almost a full hour of questions last night
about this.
And it's pretty regular.
Here's the takeaway, your credit score really matters.
As extremely smart, talented people in this room,
it is the only grade that matters
after you leave the education system.
And here's why it matters.
So over my life, in the next 60 years,
I'm gonna buy probably four or five homes.
I'm probably also going to like, get a nice car,
start another business, whatever it may be.
Every time I go to borrow, they're
going to look at one number.
They're going to be like, what's your credit score?
They'll look at your income too, but that's basically the grade.
From there, it's the difference of 4% interest or 3% interest,
based on what it looks like.
Over 40 or 50 years, that could be more than $100,000,
$200,000, of saved earnings in interest,
because my credit score is good.
It's that simple.
And again, this is literally why I was in Washington.
I was making it so that credit scores, and giving college kids
credit cards, should be outlawed.
The average college senior gets their credit score
on like, Freshman welcome day, with a free piece of pizza.
And they graduate with $4,000 in credit card debt.
And they're already in a position
where they also have $20,000 in student debt
and they make less than that in their first few years out
of school.
So as a result, it's really hard for them
to change that situation.
So, credit score really matters.
It ranges from 300 to 850.
Everyone in this room, you want it to be about 700.
Ideally, it's above 760.
That's considered excellent.
That makes a big difference.
And here are the three things.
Only look at the top three, because the ones at the bottom
aren't even worth your time.
Number one, payment history.
Never miss a bill.
Missing a bill knocks it about 60 points, even up to 100.
And it takes literally a year, two years, three years to fix.
Something as simple as an $86 dermatology bill.
Number two, is your credit utilization rate.
So what's important about this, and it
sounds like a complicated concept, it's not.
Let's just pretend I had one credit card,
and it was $10,000, that was my limit.
So I have one credit card, let's just say $10,000 limit.
If you're carrying no debt, you don't have to care about this.
If you're carrying zero credit card debt at all times,
you always pay your bills in full,
you're at 0% for that credit utilization.
You're in good shape.
If you are carrying debt, and let's say
that I'm carrying $5,000 of debt on that one credit
card, that $10,000 limit, I'm utilizing my limit at 50%.
If it's above 50%, red flags go off.
So you first, want to get your credit below 30% utilization.
Which means, across all your credit cards,
you have to know what your total limit is.
But Additionally, the takeaway, the big thing
here is, just pay down your debt as quickly as you can.
That's the best way to improve this, and it is a huge portion.
And then finally, your length of history.
So, the take away here is, you want
to go to annual credit report once a year, as I told you
in the beginning.
You want to print out that credit report.
And you wanna look at all the things
that are associated with your social security number.
I promise you, you will find mistakes.
Most people do.
And the takeaway is, you want to know,
not only what's associated with you,
so that you can dispute anything that's not yours.
But also, you may find, you know,
that silly Bloomingdale's credit card that you
opened to save 15%, blah, blah, blah.
And the takeaway there is, what you want to do
is, never close your oldest credit card.
And the reason being is, that's your longest line of history.
So that's what goes into your credit score.
It really matters.
And the takeaway is, don't miss bills,
pay your debt down to zero, and don't close your oldest credit
card.
One important thing is if you're sitting here
and you have seven credit cards, don't go out and close all
them.
You really can only close one credit per year
because it affects that utilization.
What it does is, it starts quickly
lowering your ability for limit very quickly.
And it can make or your credit score dip.
So don't do anything major with your credit.
Also, if you're going out and borrowing in the next year,
or going back to grad school, or anything like that, because
it will dip a little bit.
So.
I love the site called CreditKarma.com.
I know the founders.
They're good people.
They have the same mission that LearnVest does.
To empower people.
And you can check your credit score there for free.
Next.
After all of that's done, you're organized,
you know your numbers, you know where you stand,
you know your net worth, then we go into Planning.
So go back to, remember I said my household,
let's just say at the end of it, I
have $2,000 of free money every month.
So we then make that money, it has
to go essentially to three things.
This is three priorities before anything else.
First, paying down your debt.
Second, is dealing with your retirement
and making sure that you're on track.
And we run this really simple rule for you.
We can take anyone in this room, find out how old you are,
find out what lifestyle you would like in retirement,
and look at your account and we can tell you if you're on track
or not.
And then finally, an emergency savings account.
So when you think about financial planning,
these are three essential pillars
that are critical to starting.
And I can't tell you the number of really smart people
that start being like, I wanna invest and I wanna buy a home.
And we're like, you can't do that until you
make sure you've covered these three things.
So let's run through them really fast.
And guys I'm gonna go a little faster because there's
a ton of good content in here I wanna get through.
So really quickly, good debt, bad debt.
All debt is not created equal.
Bad debt is credit card debt, and it's car loans.
The second you drive a car off the lot, depreciating asset.
So, any debt that has a depreciating asset,
is considered bad debt, and it hurts your credit score,
and you want to get rid of it.
Good debt is things like student debt and your mortgage.
The asset in a house, hopefully it goes up in value
and it's not considered as negatively
against your credit score.
And then student debt, and guys, you know, the entire nation
is under a trillion dollars of student debt.
So I can't tell you the number of people who have come in.
My brothers are doctors.
One's a surgeon.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt.
The good thing there is, the government has set up a system,
because our brain is the asset, and they're investing in us,
so that we can actually earn greater for the future.
The one takeaway there is, I can't tell you
the number of people that come and say,
I'm going to go to x school.
I'm gonna pay $100,000 to get a master's degree, and I'm like,
is it going to increase your salary enough to pay it down?
So don't just collect degrees for the sake of it.
If it can't increase your salary, it's pretty tough.
Next.
So, retirement.
This is a really simple graph.
I brilliantly came up with it, it's so complicated.
It's so simple.
You're 25 years old.
I wanna retire at 65.
I live to 95.
So I work for 40 years to fund 70 years.
Plain and simple.
I only really work for half the time
that I will be funding myself.
So if you are not putting away at least 20%
towards the future, you're not going to be on track.
It's that simple.
And I was literally with the head
of the treasury for all Colorado yesterday.
And we were talking about the fact that, literally
quick history tip here.
In the '70s, pretty much all of our parents, a lot of them,
had pensions and Social Security.
They literally, we, as a country would fund your retirement.
The problem is, great science is happening.
We're living much longer.
And companies started flailing because growing populations,
they weren't able to keep up.
So what happened is, we went from a very paternalistic
government, where we were trying to fund people in retirement,
and we shifted it to you and us all funding our own retirement,
via the 401K.
The big problem was, there was no education about that.
So they gave us the responsibility,
but didn't make us really understand the big impact.
And the result is, most people are off track for retirement.
And it's really tough, because a lot of our parents
are not going to be on track.
And so it means that we will be funding our parents.
And I'm telling you guys, I see this from even affluent people.
Where there just like, my mom's living til she's 98 years old.
And it's $100,00 to have care.
It's very expensive.
And as a result, our money could be filtering out.
Which means, we're worse off, and our children are worse off.
And it's this huge domino effect.
So the takeaway here is, walk away from here,
increase your 401K.
If your 401K maxed out, which is awesome,
go contribute to an IRA.
Next.
Quick graph.
When I was Harvard undergrad, I was like such a math dork,
that I like went to a money presentation that I found.
And here's the really simple things.
Compounding interest.
It's not magic it's math.
And Jessica starts when she's 20.
She puts away the same dollar amount as Kate.
Literally at retirement, simply putting the same dollars
but with a 20 year difference, what happens
is, Jessica has over a quarter of a million dollars more.
So if you think about the biggest hacks
that you can possibly come up with,
right now, before you have a lot of responsibilities,
put away as much money as possible into retirement.
That's the takeaway.
And one thing you guys should know,
is we see a lot of people in their late '30s
early '40s with a few kids, with mortgages,
thinking about their kids college.
And they never contributed to their retirement.
And it's really hard once you're in that position, where you're
running a full household, to find extra money.
So the takeaway is, you want to contribute ideally
before you have kids.
And again, wish this was a class, before you have kids.
Because once you do have a family, it gets much harder.
And this is a great earning audience,
so you will always be able to be maybe
better off the average American.
But it's still pretty hard.
And so, I'm lazy.
Start early.
It does the work for you.
Which is great.
Step four, is Build.
So then, after we get through that.
We've made sure those three things are on track
and have a game plan.
In step four, this is when you should
start to think about the other things.
Am I having children?
Do I like my home?
Do we want to upgrade our home?
Are we thinking about starting a small business?
Are we thinking about a vacation to Tahiti?
I love the customers that walk in the door and their like,
I truly wanna go on a trip.
And we're like, let's first make sure that we
can cover you and protect you.
So, then we start to build towards the future.
We have these really great tracking devices.
It's all through the money center,
that you can set up goals.
We show you how many months you're going to be there,
and we do it all automatically for you.
Step five is Protect.
And I'm going to take an extra few minutes on this one guys,
because this is one of the most important things
that you will learn that I will say here today.
So, my same mentor who was a professor at Columbia
basically was like, Alexa, what if I
could promise that you will never go bankrupt.
I'm like, that'd be pretty cool.
Put me in coach.
What do I have to do?
And the takeaway was, be properly insured.
LearnVest doesn't sell insurance.
In fact, I don't like people, typically, who sell insurance.
Because they get big chunks of commission.
And they typically tell you probably more than you need.
But what is important about this is, insurance is actually,
in the financial planning exam, it's
step one of a financial plan.
We made it step five, because people
tend to be pretty daunted by it.
And it's not a sexy topic.
It is not fun.
I actually joke that I drank a whole bottle of wine
while I was writing the chapter on Protect Yourself.
But it is so critical, you guys.
And let me give you a few important examples.
So first, 62% of the country that went bankrupt this year,
went bankrupt not because they didn't have insurance,
because they were improperly insured.
Meaning, they didn't know what they're riders said.
They didn't know Hurricane Sandy-- my husband's family had
a house in this place called Breezy Point.
Literally most people lost almost everything they had.
And it was because they didn't know
that they didn't have flood insurance.
And when it flooded, sorry.
That's not covered.
And it's literally critical for you to know,
what's not covered, what is covered.
Am I in a place where, I was in Denver yesterday
with tornadoes.
Do you have tornado coverage?
You need it.
If you're in California, earthquake coverage.
And the takeaway here is, I'm going
to walk through all the types but, insurance.
One, it's not that expensive, often.
But it is critical that you layer it
into your financial plan.
And one thing for me, you know, I built LearnVest,
not because I want people to be rich,
but I want people to be able to enrich their life.
And for me, what's invaluable, is financial security.
So that anything in the world can happen,
and I don't have to worry about the money.
You can lose your job tomorrow, and you have a game plan
to figure that out.
Someone in your family can get sick, and you're OK.
And you guys are going to be able to focus
on the person who's sick, not all the money
implications of it.
And when I promise you, like life will happen.
I share in the first chapter of the book,
one of the reasons I'm really passionate
about personal finance is, when I was 14,
my dad unexpectedly passed away.
My mom had three kids.
And she didn't even know where our money was.
So there, she was dealing with a major life event,
scrambling to figure out what to do with our finances.
And I think what's really important is, in those moments,
that's why you have a financial plan.
So you can look at whoever's really suffering
and say, we're fine, we're going to figure it out.
So the takeaway on insurance, if you go through quickly.
Next slide.
So you can't read it, but I can.
You need homeowners, and you need renters.
I have an employee who actually literally just started, got
renters insurance, because she's working at LearnVest,
and everyone who works at LearnVest
has a full financial plan.
Her apartment was on top of a pizza place
and the oven caught on fire, and burned her entire apartment
down.
She lost 90% of what she owns.
And she came to me.
She had like two weeks out of the office
to deal with the crisis.
She came to me was like, because of you, I get all new stuff.
All new.
And renters insurance is $20 month.
And I mean, these stories happen,
and they happen all the time.
And I get to hear about them, because all the emails come in.
But it's critical.
So homeowners insurance, and you need renters insurance.
Disability, I'm pretty positive that Google offers it.
Opt in today.
You are 10 times more likely to be disabled then
you are to die.
And the takeaway there is, if something bad happens,
you want to make sure that you're
getting not just Any occupation, but Own occupation.
That's the key.
That replaces whatever salary you currently have.
If you have Any, so let's say you work here,
and let's say you make $100,000.
And you have Any disability insurance called Any.
What it means is, if you can go work at McDonald's, you
don't get $1.
Because you get a $30,000 job at McDonald's.
So it's really important that you know the difference.
Term, you need it.
You need, if you're married, if you have kids,
you need life insurance.
And again, our experts from LearnVest
will tell you the exact dollar amount.
They will tell you exactly what you really can afford,
and what you should be protecting.
If you have a lot of assets, if you're
someone who has a really nice home, who
has money coming from their family.
You want maybe umbrella insurance.
You want to further protect your assets.
Long term care, this is a pretty fascinating one.
And because we are all living longer, in your '30s and '40s,
you can buy long term care pretty inexpensively.
And it all depends on what your medical history
is, and things like that.
But like, my grandmother, who I saw
last Sunday is 95 years old, and she's like, kicking.
She is like, icy as hell.
And I'm like, oh my god, she's going live
for like, 10 more years maybe.
And the home she lives in is like really expensive.
It's like $90,000 a year.
And luckily, she was able to afford that.
But I wouldn't be able to pay for that if that happened.
And so one of the things that's important
is, this is an insurance that may make sense in your '30s
and '40s to potentially get.
And then we also walk through these documents.
And I'll give you estate planning documents,
as boring as they are.
You can go to LegalZoom, you actually
get a discount through LearnVest at LegalZoom.
Fill them out.
Takes a few minutes.
And I'll give you an example.
If you have a child, and you don't have a Guardian letter,
those are the sort of things that we call red flags.
And we would help you do first.
Because money doesn't matter.
But if, God forbid, something happens to you
and you don't know who's actually
become the legal guardian of your child,
for me that's step one.
And so that's the sort of stuff that our program
takes into account.
And what we do is we put you through the filter,
and we figure out all the things that
are critical that you must do.
And then we start talking about the things you want to do.
Next.
And then finally, step six is Maximize.
And so, really smart people, and I mean really smart people,
come in the door of LearnVest every day, and they're like,
I want to invest.
And we're like, yeah, we'd love you to invest.
But let's first make sure that you
have those pillars in place, and that you're
protected from everything.
And if at the end of that, you still have extra money,
then here's what we ask you.
So we'll look at your 401Ks, we'll
make sure that you have the appropriate asset allocation,
we'll make sure that they're invested
in things that are inexpensive.
I'm going to assume that you have a great 401K here.
But outside of that.
Let's say I have an extra pocket of money
after getting through all of those steps,
but my husband and I are going to buy a house
in New York in the next two or three years.
Money shouldn't be invested.
It should have zero equity exposure.
And so we put you through a few things.
One is the rule of five.
Do you need the money in the next five years?
If it's money to go on a trip, to go start a small business.
Just literally, you want to have it
there because you're having a baby in a year.
We're like, no, no, you can't invest it.
So literally, rule of five.
If you need it in five years, it should
have zero equity exposure.
The other thing is quick--
AUDIENCE: What's equity exposure?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So literally it's any set of stocks.
It's ETFs that have like an S&P 500,
it's anything where the underlying
asset is portions of companies.
What we would recommend, potentially
again, depending on who you are and what your goals are,
is things like CD ladders or bonds.
And long story short, another important tip that maybe you'll
appreciate is, for your 401K or your IRA,
which are both just investment accounts for retirement,
most people can't maximize.
It's $23,000 a year you can put away.
You should be doing that, before you
should be doing anything else.
And what we look at is, it's called the rule of 120.
You take 120 and you minus your age.
So let's say I'm 30.
120 minus 30.
90% should have equity exposure, because that's
where all the risk is.
And over the last century, the average stock market return,
the average over a century is 10%.
So that's great.
And in fact, you need to be investing
to outlive that inflation, which is 3% a year.
The takeaway here, a lot of people
just quickly jump to conclusions mat, and they're like,
I should be investing.
And the takeaway is, it's really about these principles
to make sure that you're doing it in the right thematic order.
And then step seven is literally,
anytime your life changes, we gotta
rerun every scenario for you.
And one thing I will tell you guys
is, if you're doing anything major,
if you're buying a home, if you're having a child,
if you're changing majorly jobs, moving across coasts.
If you're in a position where someone in your family is sick.
You're going to major life event,
take the time to talk to an expert.
It is critical.
You don't know all the things you don't know.
And it's not all Google-able.
You can't go and find them.
And the real big key here is, before LearnVest existed,
it was thousands of dollars to be able to talk to an expert.
But one thing that we really say is,
these big things that you're going through, I just
talked about insurance, the riders
are like multiple, multiple pages of fine print.
You're no lawyer.
Like you're not an insurance expert.
It's worthwhile to make sure that God forbid, Hurricane
Sandy or an earthquake happens, you're protected.
And you guys can absolutely all afford
to be able to talk to an expert.
And it's worthwhile.
And I'll just say, as part of just the LearnVest program,
we actually worked with a bunch of behavioral experts from MIT,
and some really serious behavior scientists.
And figured out that a lot of people learn this stuff,
and then it's overwhelming, so they don't actually do it.
So one of the things that we're doing, it's January.
90% of the country's financial resolutions is do it.
And when I wrote the book, if you go to the next slide.
So when I wrote the book, one of the things that we did was,
we wanted to make not only financial planning affordable,
but we wanted people to actually do it.
So just 10 seconds on how our company works,
because you guys obviously are so attached to the web.
So it's literally like a gym membership.
You pay an up front fee, you get connected to an expert,
and then it's $19 a month, and you can shut it off
at any time.
If you go to the next slide.
Here's what the process is.
You fill out an online profile, and this asks you everything.
Where are you today?
Where do you want to go?
What would you like to have happen?
What does financial security mean for you?
What are the risks that keep you up at night?
And we actually go and build everything.
Next.
You get your own dedicated financial planner
through LearnVest.
These are people on our staff.
They're CFPs, which I just told, in order
to even be a CFP you by nature have
to have about four years of experience.
Most of ours have 10.
But you get the same dedicated expert,
and they're on demand for you.
If you go to the next slide.
So this is literally what a financial plan looks like.
We built our own software because the stuff
that was out there was pretty bad.
What it does is literally, and you
can't see it necessarily perfectly is, we literally
build you a budget.
Show you where every single dollar should go.
We even then build a calendar.
And it shows you, so go back to let's say
you have $2,000 at the end of the month
that you can use toward your goals.
We break it down month by month, where it should go
and what it should look like.
And I think the takeaway here is,
this is what a financial plan looks like.
It is dollar per dollar.
And what I love about financial planning
is, guys I come from a family of doctors.
You know, when it comes to cancer like,
it's really stressful because we don't have the answer.
Like, we're working in labs trying to figure it out.
Financial planning, and why I believe
with all my heart and soul, literally
should be accessible to everyone in the country is,
it's just math.
It is not-- at the end of the day, what's
complicated is the rules and all the legislation.
But if you know what someone's dollar amount is,
you can put it through a system and you can tell them
exactly what they need to do.
And so anyways, we build you a calendar.
And then the final thing is, we literally give you unlimited,
if you go to the next slide, we give you
unlimited phone and email support.
Your expert's on demand for you.
Put them on your speed dial.
And you always get the same person.
And so, this is in a nutshell what
I've spent the last four years of my life building.
If you go to the next slide.
Google got you guys books, which is awesome.
In the book, everyone gets a $50 credit
if you want to work with your own expert.
And if anyone wants to get a plan,
we just as a thank you for having us here,
we'll give you an extra month of service.
But I'm going to stand up here, and I'm
going to answer any questions.
And the one thing I will say that's so important
is, everyone can make progress.
I would gamble to say that everyone in this room
is in a pretty good situation, where you actually
have extra money at the end of the month
that you can put towards goals.
So then it's a matter of making sure that actually happens.
But anyways.
Most people are pretty stressed.
Lots of people have questions, so I'm
going to stay as late as I possibly can,
before I go to the other Google.
What's your question?
AUDIENCE: OK.
My question is something you said about credit reports.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
AUDIENCE: Credit rating.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
AUDIENCE: And, I want to make sure I
understood what you said, so--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
AUDIENCE: You said, credit utilization
is based on a balance held over a period.
So it wouldn't be the amount a person used and then paid off.
That doesn't count towards credit utilization?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're absolutely correct.
So let's just say, I actually have an American Express credit
card.
Also you guys should call and actually increase your credit
limits if you are able, if you have good credit.
So I have an American Express card with a $50,000 limit.
If I go buy a car on it, which by the way
would give me great points.
My whole life is 1% on sale, which is awesome.
And I pay it off in full every month, no issue.
But American Express doesn't let you carry a balance anyways.
But if you have three credit cards, total limit of $10,000,
and you're carrying $10,000 of debt month over month,
that's when you are in big trouble.
And the key there is, just pay your credit card off in full.
And for those--
AUDIENCE: Every credit report I actually got,
ever, told me that my revolving balance
is negative [INAUDIBLE] let's say $10,000 credit limit.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
AUDIENCE: My revolving balance is like, $3,000,
but it's paid off every month, the credit report still
said that's negative on my credit report.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Because you're spending-- but
are you carrying any of the debt?
AUDIENCE: No.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Month over month?
AUDIENCE: Nothing's carried forward.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: I think you may have a misunderstanding there.
Because if you pay it off in full every month,
you're good to go.
So, that's the key.
And again, you can send us your credit report,
and we'll actually walk you through it if you want us to.
Step by step.
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] like, you're
using too much of your credit.
[INAUDIBLE]
AUDIENCE: Ask for more.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
What I would do is, if you have a good credit score,
first I'd call.
One of the reasons why we tell you to increase your credit
limit, is it boosts your credit score a little bit.
But also, if God forbid, like *** totally hits the fan,
you are in a position where you can go out
and access, God forbid something really catastrophic happens.
We would never want you to use credit, but is there.
And so it's one of the things, and for example,
also when you get really sophisticated with your money,
I have a $50,000 credit limit.
I could by a car, and get points for it.
Which actually means it's like 1% to 2% off.
That's the sort of stuff that like really
is sort of maximizing your finances.
Go ahead.
And-- Yeah.
FEMALE SPEAKER: If everybody can come to the microphone.
It's just better for the recording.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Oh, perfect.
Sorry.
Everyone come to the microphone.
And guys, I love these questions.
I get them nonstop.
And there's really, like there's no such thing
as a dumb question.
AUDIENCE: My question, you mentioned Mint.com,
which I've been using, and it's been helpful.
But there are some bugs with it.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Like certain accounts don't work at all.
And the biggest one for me is our Google stock account
doesn't work with it.
So I'm just wondering if you know if your software does,
and what the differences between your software and Mint are?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So great question.
And I love you for asking that.
So first, our biggest--
AUDIENCE: Other reasons as well.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
The first biggest difference, and I
think Mint is a great tool that you can see everything
in one place.
We don't recommend anything.
In fact, what I don't like what Mint does,
is they do make all these recommendations of products.
You opening extra credit cards, not
good for your finances at it's core.
Good for Mint, they'll get $150.
But the other thing is, so we run no ads through it.
But the real key is, if you're working
with one of our experts, they can,
once you upgrade, and work with a planner, boom.
They can see your entire account right there.
They can set goals for you.
They can set budgets for you.
You don't have to communicate anything.
You don't have to take the time and energy to say,
here's all my paperwork.
Here's what's going on.
So the biggest real difference is, the tool is free for us,
and it's just part of the app.
It's working with a planner that actually
makes you change your finances.
So, that's the biggest difference.
And for the Google stock, I do not know the exact answer.
We'll get back to you as soon as I possibly can.
Go ahead.
I wish I had Google stock, that'd be awesome.
AUDIENCE: So beyond insurance and financial investments,
retirement savings, is there anything
you think most people don't spend or consume enough?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: I mean I really can tell you this.
I don't care what your household looks
like, if you walk in the door for us,
we find big blind spots.
Things that you were like, whew, you
don't have like the right level of auto insurance.
That's not good.
You drive like, seven times a day.
So one of the things that we find out, and again,
like step one.
Get organized.
Have less.
Follow it.
Track it.
I mean, you guys saw all the crazy Target stuff.
Neiman Marcus got broken into today, their credit cards.
Track it.
Because it behooves you-- sorry.
It behooves you in every single way.
So we get you organized.
Then we make sure that you actually
know what you can spare.
And a lot of people don't spare as much
as-- if you're making $10,000 a month, your household,
we're like, save $3,000.
Come on.
Like, let's do it.
And then we can start working towards your goals.
And I think, to answer your question,
those goals include things like, you
need to be able to pay premiums on insurance.
Because that's actually step one of protecting your household.
So most people do not have the right insurance.
They don have the right legal documents in place.
And it sounds really complicated,
but what's great about our experts,
they just tell you to do.
They're like, shh.
Here's what you need.
We don't sell anything.
So we're totally aligned with you.
And then, go talk to these three providers and go.
Now you're armed in a position to get it.
So that's the biggest thing, is I
think most people aren't saving enough,
and then they just don't know what their blind spots are,
necessarily.
And they're often not paying what they need to on insurance.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: So you mentioned not closing
you're oldest credit card.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
AUDIENCE: Is that per provider?
I'm in the position where I just actually changed
Bank of America cards to a to a rewards version.
If I close the old one and start using the old one instead,
is that going to create a discontinuity?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Potentially.
So one of the things that you should know
is, I had like a card when I was 16, 17, that my mom had opened.
And I had like a junior card on hers.
First that wasn't building my credit,
but that was my oldest line of history.
I then have another line of credit--
I had my own credit card that I opened when I was like 21.
So oldest credit card.
I then said hey, I'd like to change that card
to better card that would suit my needs today.
And they were like, if you close it,
that ends that line of credit.
And so the takeaway there is, sometimes
it does make sense to keep a credit card that's
not like your favorite, because it
is you're oldest line of credit, and to get another card.
And so like I'll give you a sense of some of the cards
that we like.
So one in general, free American Express cards are great.
You get points, and they actually
make you pay them off in full every month.
So I like that.
You're not able to carry debt there.
Chase has a great freedom rewards card
for people who like, spend a lot on groceries and gas.
So when you're outside of New York City,
and you're driving a ton.
Great.
5% back.
So I would say go open another card
and use it and just keep it open.
Because there's not any risk.
If you have just a few credit cards and you monitor them.
What I don't like are like, they Ann Taylor cards, the Gap
cards.
All that BS, which actually, it's a funny story.
Over the holidays, I was buying a $17 shirt at the Gap,
like a work out t-shirt.
And they were like, would you like to open a line of credit?
You'll save $4 today.
And I almost punched the poor woman.
I was like, you're talking to the wrong girl right now.
[LAUGHTER]
ALEXA VON TOBEL: But the takeaway
there is, those are the cards that don't even have on-- you
can't log into some of them.
The national average on a credit card is 17% negative APR.
On those cards, it's often like 30%.
So that compounds daily, by the way.
The best savings account in the country is 1% right now.
So, they're horrible.
So the takeaway, I would say, leave your oldest one open,
and then go get another credit card that you really like.
AUDIENCE: All right.
Thank You.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're welcome.
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] create a statement
if your balance is not zero.
So there's no statement that shows that you paid.
[INAUDIBLE].
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
I mean.
It's nuts.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: So I have two questions.
The first is, what about opening checking and savings accounts?
Do those affect your credit score?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Not at all.
A checking account, a debit card is not credit.
So that's one thing that's really important guys.
Debit, credit, like black and white.
And then opening things like savings accounts,
that's totally fine.
One of things that I don't like is
when you have a mutual fund at this old brick and mortar
store that you like aren't tracking,
and don't even know if like-- one of the reasons why we like
people to really consolidate is, we
need to look at-- so I'm just going to make this up.
Let's say I have a million dollars,
across like my cash and my investments.
We have to look at your portfolio as a whole.
Is everything properly allocated based on what your goals are?
And when you have a little bit of money
there, a little bit of money there,
a little bit of money here, you can't track it all.
It's much harder to look at it as the full picture.
AUDIENCE: OK.
And so you recommended calling our credit card companies
and asking them to increase your line of credit.
So last time I did that on my credit card,
they asked me for a reason.
What is the reason that you recommended getting that.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
So, there's scripts like this in the book,
if you have credit card debt, exactly how you can potentially
negotiate it down.
You may not always win.
But you can say, I've just been a really healthy customer.
As you can see, I pay my debt in full,
and I ultimately want to be able to use this card more.
That's what they want to hear.
That's how they make money.
So you're like, I just want to be able to use this card more.
It's my favorite credit card.
Boom, you're done.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: They're like, please,
thank you for spending on my credit card.
AUDIENCE: Are your financial planners
able to work with you if you have accounts internationally,
in addition to US?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So, it's pretty fun for us
how many people are like can you help us.
So, one of the things, it depends
exactly what the situation is.
And I can spend a lot more time to like ask you in detail,
but the takeaway is, if you have accounts in other countries,
we can help you think that through.
But if you were like a Canadian citizen,
and everything is there, and you happen to just be living here,
we're not going to be the best.
Because you're going to be dealing
with like 401Ks in Canada that are actually very different.
They're called like RBSs, or something.
But the takeaway is, if you have a few accounts
abroad, we can help you think it through.
But if you are living full time in the United States,
and like going to stay here for a long time.
And I want to go abroad as quickly as we possibly can,
I'm just dealing with customers coming in every minute right
now in the US.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: All right.
I was wondering can you make mortgage payments
on like credit cards and get points back?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: That's a really great question.
So a few things.
It depends.
The most likely answer is absolutely not.
But one thing that is really helpful
is, if you want to be in a position
where you are just like hacking your life,
you can make your mortgage payments twice a month,
instead of once a month.
Where you make an extra payment throughout the entire year.
So instead of 12 payments you can make 13 payments.
Is what it adds up to.
And so that's one of the best things we help you do.
Because also that interest compounds daily.
So what it not only does is force you just to budget better
and actually make an extra payment, but over time,
we like, and it's in the book.
We like, run a scenario for you of like how much you
can save on interest simply just by doing that.
So that would be a smarter tip.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're welcome.
AUDIENCE: So, one thing that I think
that when I've looked at what CFPs can provide
for me, or for people in general,
it's like a lot of when you've got money
that you need to put in different pots, that's
one thing.
But like, if you have like a question about should I
become a landlord?
That's a harder question to answer,
and I'm wondering how do you deal with something like that?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So actually, I mean that's like a pretty not--
that's a pretty standard question that we get.
For a few reasons.
Actually, what's amazing about the financial system
in the United States is, once you get really organized
and start getting pretty healthy,
there's so much awesome stuff you can do.
So then we're like, second properties,
where you can become a landlord, and all the tax benefits.
And there's like tax shelters that are really complex,
but if you are in a position where you can potentially
become a landlord, we could show you
exactly what the benefits would be.
So that's a pretty standard question, actually.
We have a lot of customers who are landlords, or who
have rental properties, that have been beneficial tax
benefits.
And then, if you have kids, there's
so much cool stuff that you can do.
I'll give you a 10 second example.
Your parents can actually tax free, pay for their educations.
Move money to your children's accounts.
You can overfund your first 529 plan
so that your second kids are going
to be better taken care of.
I mean, there's so much stuff once you're in a position
where you have extra money.
So in fact, I should have said, you know,
our average customer's household individual incomes are actually
above $75,000 to $100,000, and household incomes
are in the $200,000 to $300,000 range.
Those customers come in, and we can do so much for them.
But we also sign up 23-year-olds who
are like, I'm just getting started.
And we're like, yes, get started.
Because then you'll be in position
to be able to have more money for the future.
So when you have healthier finances,
there's so much more you can do.
And yes, we answer that question a lot.
AUDIENCE: Thanks.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're welcome.
AUDIENCE: Two questions.
One is the, one of the frustrating things about,
about online-- about the packages that
pull your online accounts is that there's always
this account where you can't really pull the information.
So do you have some kind of system?
I just put it into a spreadsheet and upload it, or?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
Even better.
We just let you add a manual account
so you can add any-- first of all,
you can link to LearnVest literally everything.
Debt, student debt, mortgages, credit cards, small businesses.
You could actually link your entire small business
into LearnVest and have your own small business
if you're a small business owner.
You can add assets like jewelry, cars,
literally like solid assets.
You can add things like annuities.
You can pull those through.
And then, if anything doesn't link,
so some people have credit unions.
And they're like these tiny little very like--
and one of the things is, we'll look at your credit union
and be like, is it worth you keeping it?
Are the benefits so strong?
And if you can't link it, you can add a manual account.
And your planner just helps you do that.
But also, the planner helps you evaluate whether or not
you should keep those accounts.
AUDIENCE: And the second question
has to do with privacy.
I mean, if I join, I'm going to like, everything is open to you
guys.
How do you deal with that?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So, 10 seconds on that answer.
So number one, it's actually just a mirror in.
I think you guys as like technologists
will appreciate this.
You can't move a dollar.
It is a mirror into what's happening with your finances.
So first, there's no account numbers,
it's just a window into what's happening with the money.
So you can't accidentally have it hacked and move money,
you're not at risk.
There's no account numbers or anything like that.
Second, were a registered investment adviser.
We report to the SEC.
So, we go through compliance both technical,
literally running all of our technical compliance,
but also internal compliance, every literal month.
But the takeaway here is, deeply safe and secure.
Also just one of our very recent investments
was places like American Express Ventures invested,
because American Express eventually
is going start offering LearnVest with their credit
cards.
As a bene-- not a benefit that they pay for,
but as a way to help improve their customer's well being.
So we have to go through all their technical scrutiny
as well.
So, yes, yes, yes.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Two questions.
I recently reread "The Millionaires Next Door".
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep
AUDIENCE: And one of the things that they mentioned--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: I loved those.
AUDIENCE: Is that people who are wealthier or good accumulators
of wealth actually spend about eight hours
a month managing their money.
Do you have like a recommendation
for how much time we should be spending a month,
and also, do you see that prolong over time,
or once you have like, hopefully, you know,
I would love to get the point where everything is set up.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Like do you see that time decreasing?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
So a few things.
What I just described for you, And again,
like I could have sat here for five more hours, to be honest,
was a system.
The program that we built is a system, that literally hacks.
You saw, as I was describing it, like we
make you do the 50, 20,30, because that 20%
should be going into your retirement,
and we should get that automated.
So what we create is a foundation
that runs a system that automates it,
so that it runs through.
I also then told you about habits.
And actually, the last chapter of the book
is about protecting yourself from yourself.
Because we all have pretty bad habits.
We actually asked our users to confess, and on Good Morning
America tomorrow I'm sharing some confessions
from some of their users.
Good Morning America had them call in.
So one, we teach you really good habits.
I log in, as I said.
To my LearnVest account once a day, for a minute,
just to see and track and see what's going on.
But I do spend.
January, I sit down and we go through
and really make sure we have a complete plan.
And guys, it's like anything else in your life.
If you have a plan, you will do more.
If your goals are set, which we actually write your goals down
in the LearnVest platform, so they're there.
And then you can expert that checks in with you.
And then you get awesome benefits
that are like little surprises, once you
start achieving them from us.
And the takeaway there is, writing things down,
having some hold you accountable.
That's how you end up really making progress.
And so it's not eight-- I think eight hours a month
is a lot, to be honest.
As an expert who like is a total geek for this stuff,
I don't spend eight hours a month.
But some months, maybe I will spend eight.
Some months I spend 12.
I mean it depends one, what's going on.
And then, just so you guys know, if you
want me to sign your books, I'm going to sit up here,
so we'll go through any of that.
Did you have another question?
AUDIENCE: OK, yes.
What do you think of Lending Club
as a vehicle for investment?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
I just think that if you're in a position where
you have like an extra million sitting around,
then I would be like, maybe something like that
could make sense.
But the truth is, of all the things
you could be doing with your money,
I would put that as probably lower on the priority list.
They of course, are like-- they actually
were shut down by the SEC for a full year.
Yeah, they had a bunch of problems.
And I'm not saying that they're like risky today,
but what I am saying is, I think that it's probably
not your highest priority.
I think there's probably safer things
to be doing with your money.
AUDIENCE: Hey.
So, I'm curious what your thoughts are
on paying your mortgage down early,
versus taking that money and kind of putting it
somewhere else.
Because obviously with your mortgage payment,
you have interest deductions, all these other things
like tie into it.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
So again, what we would do is, literally
run what's going on in your life through the system.
And you can actually see, it's based
on what's going on with your interest rate.
What other things that are-- interest rates
that your juggling.
And potentially, the answer is yes.
Potentially the answer may be, you know what?
That extra cash is going to be much better served
doing this next goal that you have,
because that mortgage isn't bad for you.
So it really depends on who you are, where you're going.
Do you want to sell your house in this period of time or not,
etc.
So.
Great question but the answer there is, run a financial plan,
and it tells you perfectly.
AUDIENCE: Cool.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: So, I understand that financial planners
don't sell us anything right?
But do they make specific product recommendations?
So let's say I need life insurance, or investments,
mutual funds.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So literally, our financial planners
are all full time on staff for us.
They're salaried by us.
Their bonus is only based on customer satisfaction, customer
results, period.
And efficiency of getting back to you.
That's it.
So that's how they get compensated.
Let's just say that you come in and you're like,
I need life insurance.
Just, let's use that as an example.
AUDIENCE: Right.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: We would go through and figure out
what is actually best for you.
Hey, you do need a million of term.
That's what you can afford.
That's the best thing that we can do for you.
We don't sell it.
We will then make a recommendation that
looks like this, we like MassMutual
for this specific product that you need.
And we also like Guardian, and we also like Prudential.
And then will help you go and look at those,
and then you can get quotes.
Or we'll connect you to an agent who can then get quotes.
We will not get a single dollar in that recommendation.
Zero.
It's one of our pillars of our company's policy
of being trusted and unbiased for our customers.
AUDIENCE: Right but I still may need
to go to an agent who would get a commission on it.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You will go to an agent
and they still will get a commission on it.
That's correct.
But the takeaway there is you won't be in a position
where you go to that agent, and end up getting too much, or too
little because you don't trust them,
and you don't know what you're supposed to be doing.
And one of the things that we're in the middle of piloting
is actually us doing it for you, and you paying us
a simple fee of like $100, and we'll go get it for you.
But we are just piloting that right now.
So that we'd just say, let us do it for you.
AUDIENCE: OK.
Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're welcome.
Go ahead.
Hi.
AUDIENCE: I just had--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: And by the way, thanks guys for, I mean,
this stuff everyone really needs help.
And so, I'm always never surprised
by how many questions people have.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: Do have any recourse if you go to a CFP
and you get bad advice?
Like factually incorrect things, or they
advise you to do something and it turns out not to work?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So--
AUDIENCE: I'm not talking about like telling the future
with like stock market or anything like that.
I mean.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
I mean, so first, I'd would be like, were they actually a CFP?
So let me just give you an example.
I worked at Morgan Stanley.
A lot of times, they just have people
who are just well educated.
They're actually only licensed by like a series seven,
and they like, will give advice, but they're actually just
managing investments, if that makes sense.
So like, a lot of people go and get advice,
and they'll just manage your investments.
But none of that other stuff, which is actually
step one for what you should be doing.
So the takeaway there is, I would first be like,
were they even an expert to begin with.
If they work for a reputable company that
reports to the SEC, you can complain.
And you can write a complaint that then goes on their record.
We personally will never hire anyone
with even a single complaint.
Done.
Get outta here.
We're not hiring you.
So I think that's the sort of stuff.
So the answer is, the recourse is
that you can file a complaint on their record.
But, I would then, a lot of people
get advice from people that are not experts.
Because it's really complicated.
Like, you don't even know who really an expert is.
So that's why we say, we really believe in the CFP.
There are 69,000 in the country, and I'm even
on one of their boards.
That's like how deep we are with the CFP.
AUDIENCE: OK.
Thanks.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Good question.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: You described your automated system that
tells you should do this, and this, and this, and that.
And I've found with other systems
that they are often very inflexible.
Like, they would make assumptions like, oh, customers
should not have to deal with single stocks.
They should always use mutual funds.
Or customers are generally not able to control themselves.
How much they spend.
So we assume they always over spend, or something like that.
And so I find these systems fairly useless,
because they don't adjust to my own personal habits.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
So, a few things.
AUDIENCE: How's your system handling that?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So actually, what's
really cool about our system, and this is like super dorky,
but just to give you a sense.
There's actually behind the system, is 44 standards.
They're literally the 44 standards
of every single person's life.
It's not in the book actually.
We took it out because it like overwhelmed people.
But there's actually a grid.
And it literally, for each step, there's
basically 15 things that are critical.
And when you get a plan, we actually
will circle what's urgent, so that you are aware of,
here are the things.
But that's when you then get on the phone with your expert,
and when we're delivering a plan.
And so it happens in the sign up flow,
when you're actually filling out the form.
But then also, on the first call,
we call it the listening call.
Where you say, here are the things
that I like that I want to do.
We'll then tell you, hey, maybe you want single stocks.
We don't like them for these reasons.
You now know.
But if that's what you want to do, we'll help you.
But we'll tell you it's like really
damaging for your finances.
You know, some people walk in and they're like, I really
like to bury money my backyard.
And we're like, I get that you love
that, we don't recommend that.
And so, there's a little bit of like a process.
But you get to weigh in on what you care about.
And also, we help you ultimately work
on what you want to work on.
But if there's something that is really critical,
we're like you are at risk.
And then, you can either do it or not.
We strongly recommend you do it.
We try to hold you accountable.
But at the end of the day, we don't force you to do it.
AUDIENCE: So once I tell my adviser on the phone that I
really--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So it's a very flexible schedule.
So the takeaway--
AUDIENCE: So that I really want to bury
my money in the backyard, is your system
able to deal with that?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yes.
The takeaway is, the system literally, is built.
There's 44 standards, and they can move around
based on what the customer wants.
There's also a few filters where it's
like, this customer's really overwhelmed.
So let's give him slower goals.
This customer's a champ.
I walk in, I'm like, let's go tell me everything.
I want to know it.
I want to see it.
But it depends on, and you can decide.
So you actually, it's very much built around who you are.
And that's actually one of the things
that's a requirement of LearnVest.
You have to know your customer to a law.
You have to know your customer.
How they want to act.
What they care about.
And that form you fill out, is actually,
it's not just like us being like, we'd love to know.
We actually legally need to know what you care about
and how you want to operate.
So.
AUDIENCE: A different question that just came to my mind.
There was the previous question about privacy,
and you said you don't have any account numbers
and stuff, right?
But you do link into our account so
that we can see our balance in your system.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: But it doesn't pull your account number.
AUDIENCE: So how do you get my information if you
don't-- without having all my bank information?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So it's as simple as this.
Let's just say you're linking your bank.
You literally, to link it, all you do
and it takes less than about 45 seconds.
You go, Fidelity, my username, my password, boom.
And it pulls in just the information.
The data.
It's not pulling in your account number, your routing number.
It's not pulling in all of that information.
But we can see at the transaction level,
so you can see--
AUDIENCE: But you would have my username and my password.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: We have your username and your password.
But we don't store your username and password.
It's just like Mint.
It's just like Quicken Books.
It's just like--
AUDIENCE: I don't know these products.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: But don't you update that information all the time?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Every time you log in.
It just pulls it.
AUDIENCE: But then I have to type in my other passwords
all the time?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: No.
Once they're linked their linked.
And that connection's there.
And every time you log in, we refresh the latest data
from the last 30 day-- the last 90 days.
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: And if you had an account for like, me
from the beginning, we store all your trends
from literally day one.
And you can see it all.
It's really amazing actually.
I, living in New York, restaurant and bars,
I'm like, I live at my company.
Right?
Like I literally like can't cook, because I'm just working.
And so it was like, I never knew what
I was spending on restaurant and bars.
And quickly it was like, oh my goodness.
I can see exactly, and it's much worse than I thought.
So we can pull those trends and analysis.
But when you log in, you don't have
to re insert your username and password.
It's one time and then it pulls.
OK.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You're welcome.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
I am getting married this year and I was wondering--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Congrats.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: I got married this year.
AUDIENCE: Huh?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: I got married in 2013
AUDIENCE: Oh good.
Yes.
So I was wondering, if I sign up for this,
and then my fiance also signs up, can we merge?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: It's per household.
It's just you guys.
Both of you.
One account.
AUDIENCE: So we can go--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: My husband and I
have a plan, even though I'm the CEO and a CFP
and wrote this book.
We have a second set of eyes looking at what we're doing.
AUDIENCE: Even if our bank accounts aren't joined yet?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
Totally fine.
AUDIENCE: We can sign up under the same account?
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
It's your household.
AUDIENCE: And you guys would work with us as far as--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: You can both get on the phone.
Sometimes my husband doesn't get on the phone
because he has to miss it.
I get on it, he can get on it.
And actually, to be honest, I've been giving it--
so we like literally see it gifted as a baby
gift, a wedding gift.
We see kids giving it to their parents,
parents giving it to their kids.
Last night people bought like 10 plans for their friends.
I mean, it's really amazing how often it's gifted.
But particularly for a wedding, it's such a critical time.
Like you're dealing with all that stuff.
Our experts are experts at that.
And so you both-- and it's one-- you
don't have to buy two plans, just one.
And also, if your life changes.
Let's say tomorrow, you're like, we're having a baby!
We don't make you re-buy a plan.
We just rerun your information.
And be like, hey you now have a different goal.
And so that's why it's like a gym membership.
You pay the up front fee, it's $19 a month,
it's always the same expert.
AUDIENCE: OK.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Cool.
Do you have another question?
Wow.
Awesome guys.
And guys, keep me honest Annie for when
I know I have to go to the other Google.
And guys, page 11 is your dedicated promo code.
Use it.
And if you guys get a plan, I'm just going to say,
Annie's email address is a-n-n-i-e@LearnVest.
If you buy a plan today, and just shoot us a note,
we'll get you an extra free month of service.
So another free month of $19.
That's just a benefit for you guys.
AUDIENCE: One of the biggest parts of any financial planning
is taxes.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yep.
Income tax planning is actually six pillars of-- the CFP
is six pillars.
Income tax planning, insurance planning, investment planning,
retirement planning, general principles, and then,
what did I miss?
Estate planning.
Estate planning was ***.
So, our experts are experts in all six.
AUDIENCE: So we just learned this, actually.
The advisors actually give like tax planning advice and--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So as part of-- so, so, let me
give you an example.
If you have like, over $5 million,
and you're in a position where like,
you have pretty complex income tax planning,
we would actually go and recommend
that you do that with an income tax expert.
However, most people.
Your income tax planning is actually
just the basics of financial planning.
And so yes.
You do get basic income tax planning advice.
But if you're someone who's like, owns five properties,
like, we're like, you've complexity
that is beyond a normal plan.
Let's go get that.
Estate planning was actually the pillar called protect.
So we include that in insurance and estate, is pillar five.
And we do give basic estate planning advice.
Because that's things like, simple things guys
like TOD and P-- stuff that you wouldn't even
know to know about.
It's really basic things that you can just
do on your account, wherever it may be, to protect, God forbid,
anything happens.
AUDIENCE: So that includes things
like setting up trusts and--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So if you're setting up a basic trust,
that's the type of thing our expert can talk to you about.
If you're setting up some very complex trust,
depending on again, and one of the takeaways that we say is,
we have customers who have millions of dollars,
and that we can give really great advice to and service.
But we would look at how complex you are, what's going on.
And if it's something that if you're in that situation,
and it's so beyond, we would say,
here's an estate planner that we really like, that we trust,
work with them.
AUDIENCE: I see.
OK.
Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Any other questions?
Go for it.
AUDIENCE: Yeah, I have a follow up to his question.
Now, in your answer it sounded like you're
giving advice for income tax.
You're giving advice for estate planning.
But you're not actually doing the estate planning with me,
do you?
I mean I'd still need to get the forms from somewhere else,
and still need to fill them out myself, and still need
to file them myself.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: So here's, I'll give you an example.
So first, the income tax planning
is actually part of actually making a plan.
So I'll give you an example.
When I recommend a Roth IRA versus a regular IRA,
that's actually a little bit of income tax planning.
Because based on which one you should get,
is based on what your income is and what
your tax bracket will be.
So that's part of the plan.
Just in general.
Income tax planning is sort of a pillar of all planning.
If you're in a position where it's like,
you're making $1.5 million and we could maybe
help shepherd some of that so you could afford taxes
in like a thoughtful planning way.
That's like, high level income tax planning.
So just in general, income tax planning is part of every plan.
And then for things like documents.
So we actually get a discount at LegalZoom.
We like them a lot, because they make it really affordable.
A lot of people go get wills and end up
spending $1,000 to do it.
And we're like, you can get just as good of a will doing this.
But we'll show you exactly which one you need,
exactly how to fill it out.
And then one thing that confidentially we're
rolling out is as part of getting a plan with us,
were also starting to offer classes.
So detailed, step by step.
If you're like, how do I fill out my will?
Literally, here's exactly, those sort of things.
How do I deal with getting a mortgage?
Or refinancing my mortgage?
Step by step.
That's the sort of content that we're
creating so you can just like, attend a quick 30 minute class,
or download a webinar.
We show you exactly how to do it.
AUDIENCE: And come tax season, right now basically, I still
need to get my own CPA or do you have to--
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Yeah.
We do not do your taxes.
But we help you prepare for what you need to do, and tell you
what you need to do.
But we don't actually file them for you.
AUDIENCE: OK.
Thank you.
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Just separate types of financial planning.
Any other questions?
OK.
Great.
So Annie, a-n-n-i-e, if anyone wants to get a plan,
we'll give you an extra month of service.
If anyone wants me to sign a book while I'm walking out,
I'm happy to do that.
And page 11 is your unique $50 promo code.
Awesome.
[APPLAUSE]
ALEXA VON TOBEL: Thanks guys.
Annie, do you have some pens?