WCI #299: Grab Your Slice with Monica Scudieri

This is the White Coat Investor Podcast where we help those who wear the white coat get a fair shake on Wall Street. We've been helping doctors and other high income professionals stop doing dumb things with their money since 2011. Hello and welcome to another White Coat Investor Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Disha Spath. This is episode 299, Grab youb Slice with Monica Scudieri.

If you're finding our podcast informative and helpful, we would encourage you to sign up for our monthly newsletter. It is totally free and includes useful, actionable information not available on the regular blog posts or this podcast. It's almost like being in a secret club. The kind of club that can boost your knowledge and enhance your wealth at the same time, with no strings attached. Sign up today@whitecoatinvestor.com Newsletter. You can do this and the White Coat Investor can help.

So here at the White Coat Investor we're often busy making content for you, our valuable listeners and readers. But now we want to hear from you. Your opinion is so valuable to us. So please take the time to fill out the White Coat Investor survey. It goes till the end of this month. Help us serve you better by giving us your feedback. At www.whitecoatinvestor.com survey we will give out 20 T shirts and a free CFE 2022 course in a random drawing. So make sure you fill out that survey and get entered the quote of the day. Today is the most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity by Amelia Earhart. Now, while she wasn't a finance expert, I totally agree with this and I completely think it applies to finances as well. Because so often we get stuck in analysis paralysis, which is the state in which we are so stuck on trying to figure out everything that we don't actually make a move. Making that decision to finally act, to make an investment, to open that account, that's the hardest step. Everything else, as Amelia Earhart puts it, is simply tenacity. So today I'd like to welcome Monica. Monica is a personal finance coach, author and blogger who has over 10 years of experience in the Fire movement through her own journey. She's the author of Grab your Slice of Financial Independence and writes@thepeaceofthepie.com welcome Monica. How are you today?

Thank you. Thank you Disha. I'm great, I'm great. How are you today?

I'm good, I'm fine. It's really nice to have you here again.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you for having me again.

Funny story we actually recorded this once already. And the entire time we had a wonderful conversation. I was so excited to share it with you. And we didn't record it. I forgot to press record.

It was a great conversation, but the pressure is on to duplicate it. But yeah, I'm excited we're going to do this again.

We just had extra practice. It's going to be lovely.

Yes.

So, Monica, tell me about yourself. Tell us about what your background is and what brought you here today.

Yeah, absolutely. So I'm first generation. My parents came from Italy and my dad was called for work and, and they both, their families, they didn't have a lot of money growing up. They come from blue collar families and so they came to this country for opportunity like so many immigrants come here. So we were raised with a lot of the culture, Italian culture, but living in the United States. And my mom was growing up a financial magician. She knew how to really stretch dollars. And they both worked very hard in their business. They both had, they had a small business they shared. But growing up, I, you know, I got my first job at 15 and I was, I was a spender. I didn't have the appreciation to worry about a roof over my head, clothes on my back. So money came in and I would go out, I would buy clothes and go out to eat with my friends. And when I got older, I did traveling and having a really good time. And a few times they had dipped into having some debt. And then as I got older, I got married and had kids. And that changes, you change your mindset a little bit. But we were still traveling and having a good time and inviting friends over and going out to dinner, never really having those money conversations that couples should have. And then we went through a divorce and I ended up with six figure debt, the kids, the house, and I lost my job. And so that is where my fire journey began, was when I started over with after the divorce.

Wow. So you got divorced and became unemployed at the same time.

Yes.

How was that? And that had to be so scary.

Yeah, it was definitely a somber moment. And it's the kind of thing where it's like, you know, this is not a good thing, you know, because there were, there weren't a lot of jobs. And especially when you're a single parent, you cannot have a long commute. You have to have, you know, the short commute the kids are in before and after school care. They need some flexibility because your sick time is for three people now. You know, I couldn't do overtime. I couldn't do weekend work. And so, you know, if there was a job to apply for, chances were not very high I was going to get it because there were many other people who didn't mind working overtime and putting in whatever they needed to or even drive further. So it was hard. You know, you get very creative when you're in those shoes. And you know, the debt, it was half mortgage, half, I call it other because it was just a mixture of all kinds of foolish decisions that we made as a couple. And so it was a quarter of a million dollars of debt, just 257,000. I ended up at one point rolling it all into one mortgage payment to try to make it a little easier. But you know, to make ends meet, I cooked for other people. I house sat, I sold furniture out of the house. We could do spring cleaning and just sell things just to make ends meet. And then I would get contract work here and there. So, you know, those first five years, it was hard. I was unemployed for almost two years of the first five years with contract work in between.

And tell us what your field of work was before this time.

So I worked in it. So I did work like project coordinator, project manager, assistant to the project manager, Agile coach, agile. I did those kinds of things.

Okay, great. So now you had a steady job where you're employed and now you're doing more part time work and your whole life has been restructured and you're trying to find a good fit for your family.

Yes.

And you're trying to make ends meet. Now you write about how this was a pivotal moment for your financial awakening where you really got your financial house in order. So tell me about that. What was the process where you kind of sat down and realized that something needed to change and how did you change it?

Yeah, so before the divorce, we did not do any budgeting, we did not track really anything because we both had good jobs. And so just the bills were paid every month for the most part. And so there wasn't any of that structure that we had. We didn't put much in the way of 401k savings. But after the divorce, when I had all that debt, the kids, and I lost my temp job, it was suddenly the understanding where I need to start figuring out where my money is going so that I can be more like my mom and stretch all my dollars. And I had a friend of mine who was actually really good at. And so he started to teach me a little bit about how do you track your cash flow? And that was really helpful. I did do one month and then I would compare the second month of the first one and third one to the second. And then it started turning into a little bit of a game of how can I. Can I feed the three of us for the month and then maybe spend a little bit like $25 less or can I stretch in another category to give a little bit more here kind of thing? So it started to turn into a little bit of a game. The other thing I did after the divorce was I looked at my credit score and I pulled my credit history. And just so that. That was just more information to know what my starting point was. The credit history was, is the debt that's listed on my name, is that really mine? Do I need to dispute anything there and start that process? If I did, those types of things really helped to lay a good foundation. And then the last thing I did was I calculated my net worth, which is painful when you have so much debt. And really any assets you have is really just one thing. It's the house you live in. So it's not like it's cash flow. There's nothing there that you can pull from. But I did it anyway because it was really all these things that I was doing, the cash, tracking my cash flow, calculating my net worth, pulling my credit score and pulling my credit history, all of those things were just what I call the foundational pieces so that I had an understanding of where I was. And I think the part that really helped me was doing that, understanding it, but also knowing that it's a point in time and that I have the power to make it better. And so those first five years, even though I didn't have steady work and I was penny pinching and didn't have a lot to play with, what it taught me was I had time to read, research, look at different ways to earn just money and income. And that's what I used that time for, was just educating myself so that when the opportunity did present itself, I was prepared. I knew what I wanted to do next and how I was going to invest my money moving forward.

Wow. So, yeah, you took this time to really learn and expand your mind. And what did you decide to invest in? What next steps did you take?

So, yeah, so that's a great question. Those first five years, even though I would get these temp jobs, they did offer 401k, but there was no matching. So I decided to put a very small percentage of my paycheck into their 401k. And the reason I did that was because that was part of my building the muscle. Building the muscle so that I would, you know, that's something that I was doing. And I'm glad I did, because even though it really highlighted how such a small amount of money can really grow to a few thousand dollars in a very short period of time, because those contract jobs were six months, eight months, nine months. But so, but even with that, it really showed how, you know, and so it gave me a little bit more confidence. So that was one thing I did. And the other thing I did was I did a lot of reading and research about real estate. And so in my area, there were some opportunities that if I was interested, I could get into once I could downsize once I had some, some available cash. And that is, I'd spend a lot of time reading and researching. I checked out different neighborhoods. I talked to my tax accountant, my financial advisor, my real estate person, who was. Because at the time I needed to sell the house and downsize because I couldn't afford to live in it, But I couldn't sell the house because the market was so dilapidated, for lack of a better word. And so I had to wait a few years to wait for the market to come back enough. It's not that I wanted to make some sort of a killing on the house, but I told my realtor, all I want is to make enough money off of this house so that I can downsize and put a good down payment down so that my mortgage is small. And that was what my only goal was. And so doing all those things put me in a really good position so that when I finally was able to sell the house and downsize and move into my new house, I was able to open up a home equity line of credit. And I used that home equity line of credit to buy my first rental property for cash.

What?

Yeah. And so. And then I was able to turn around and go back. So I had a pre approved loan that I would hold on to because I definitely didn't want to buy anything without that. So I would buy the house for cash, then I would turn around and go and open a loan out for 80% of the purchase price. And then I would pay off the 20% that was left on my home equity line of credit. And so what that did was I was able to do quick turnarounds. I was more favorable to sellers because they knew they would have cash on hand on the day of the sale of their property to me. And I only needed two weeks to do turnaround time just to get the paperwork in Order. So there was even a shorter period of time that made me very attractive over other people who didn't have that kind of flexibility. That's where I started. But I will say one thing which is really important, especially when you're starting out and when you're a single parent, is that it's very hard to establish that you are a good risk to a bank. And what saved me was I had a very good relationship with my banker for many years. And so he knew me and knew the character that I have and he went to bat for me and took a chance, I think that had that one person not taken a chance on me and given me that opportunity, I don't know that I could have started in the real estate side of things as far as the banks are concerned. And none of the banks wanted to give me a pre approved loan. None of them would work with me. You know, in a way I can understand because I didn't have a steady job, single parent, I had really no assets and all I had was child support, which ironically that is considered income. So they could see that. But I said, I don't understand how child support can be income. If their dad loses his job, well then he's not going to be able to pay child support. And they said, and that's true, but it's still considered good income. And so even though it wasn't enough income, that was still something, at least on my side. And so between trying very hard and pushing and having that one person advocate for me, I was able to get the pre approved loan. And that is where I was. Things really started to turn around and.

Very quickly, important reminder of how important relationships are in money and life. And the fact that this person was really able to advocate for you is huge. Now tell me a little bit about the thought process now what you did. You got divorced, you were unemployed, you had kids and you made some really bold moves. You downsized.

Yeah.

You know, your kids. That probably wasn't easy on your kids or you. And then you made a huge bold move again to, to take out that heloc, to buy a rental property in cash, get these people on your side and move forward. What was it that helped you break the analysis paralysis and take that bold step? What was the dream that you were working towards?

My dream as a single parent was that I never wanted to be in a position where I was vulnerable and so dependent on a paycheck. I just never wanted that anymore. And I didn't want my kids. I wanted better for my kids and Having that and knowing that it's not just me that I'm responsible for, but I have two kids that I'm also responsible for really was a wake up call. And it really forced me to turn a lot of things around. And I will say, it wasn't like we were penny pinching and kept the lights off and ate chips and whatevers. I mean, we still. I stretched all my dollars with the groceries and we made homemade pasta and I had the kids in the kitchen trying stuff and we still got the pizza with another family. We split the pizza cost. But it's the kind of thing where when you're a single parent, it's hard with kids. It's hard when you're married and raising children. The parenting is hard. And I just really felt like I just need to do better. It's just there were no other options. I have to do better. I mean, there were times, especially those first five years where, you know, the car broke down and I was talking to my mom on the phone and she goes, I'll just send you the money to get the car fixed. And it's very humbling when you're an adult and you have this job or you had a career and you've got kids and you're like, I can't even make ends meet. It's just, it's a very humbling thing to have to go back to your mom and, you know, and then she, she sends you money.

I can imagine.

Yeah. So it's just, you know, that that was where my strength came from, was just wanting more, A better life for the kids, a better life for me that I felt like I deserved, I deserve that. And, you know, and that's, that's what drove me.

And so where are you now? Were you able to create that better life?

Yeah, so. So, you know, once you have it in your head and you have that foundation of really understanding where the money comes and goes, because everybody's house is different. Families with five kids, families with one single people. I mean, your budgets and your spending and cash flows are all going to be different. And so understanding that really made a very strong foundation that I could build anything on. And so today it didn't. In the second five years of my journey, I was able to buy five rental properties and they have all been, they were all fixer uppers. I was able to do all the repairs I still had. I had a day job. And so I maxed out my 401k, I put money in my HSA, my Roth. I mean, I was really working so hard to paying myself first. And not only that, but the other half of that is investing it and investing it in ways where you feel like, you know, I'm going to see returns on that so that it makes things a little easier. And so I look for ways to make passive income. And when, when would that be available to me? And that was the other part that I didn't understand. But when you're putting Money in your 401k and your IRA, you know, these are all great things, but you're, you know, really realistically, you're not going to see that money until you're 59 and a half right when you get to that point. So if you're looking to do early retirement before that, you have to think about, okay, looking down the road, but also looking for today and so building those passive income streams that would be available to you today. And so it was really like a two part thing. And so I was just head down for those next second five years of making all of that, put that together. And then before I knew it, because I looked at, I calculated my net worth at the end of every year in 10 years, I was in a great position. I was in a completely different place. And so I was able just to grow the net worth. But it's just more than the net worth, because net worth doesn't mean that you can, if you have a high net worth, it could be all in your house. And that isn't going to give you really the money you need, the cash flow you need to pay expenses, unless you're Airbnb, your bedrooms or your car, those kinds of things. And so there's a lot of different pieces to it that I realized that there's so much flexibility. And even in today's world, there are a lot of different ways, dozens, hundreds of ways to make extra money outside of your day job. So, yeah, it was just, it's a lot of trial and error.

Right?

Yeah.

Let's, let's, let's talk some specifics about what you just shared. So what was your financial independence number when you first started your journey?

Yeah, so, you know, not knowing a whole lot, I decided that my financial independence number would be a million dollar net worth.

Okay, and did you hit it and.

Yes, and I did hit it. And then when I hit it, I realized, well, what does that even mean? And so my house was in that million dollars. So if I took the house out, well, then it's not a million dollars anymore. Now it's gone down. And so what does that really calculate to on a monthly income? How do I pay my bills when I have a million dollar net worth? And so that was a whole other journey for me to understand that because I came from, you know, a lot of debt and now I paid that debt off and then I built a net worth. But now how do I have that pay my bills every month and how do I take a vacation? And you know, so I did hit it, but it wasn't. It was like. It was great and a little bit surreal because it was so head down, just working toward this goal that it just came so quickly because I was so focused on it that it was kind of like. It was surreal. It was a very surreal thing.

Yeah, yeah, I agree. It happens quicker than you realize it's going to happen. And when it does, it seems very abstract. So tell me a little bit about the cash flow number that you needed. What monthly cash flow did you realize you needed and how did you make that?

Yeah, so for me specifically in our house, it's around $3,000. It's just for the monthly expenses. Groceries, going out once in a while for dining out, kids, clothes and little things like that. So roughly like that. So if I just generated that I'd be good. Then what about vacation? So I'm like, okay, and when about 4,000. But I'm a very conservative person, so I like to have. Just because of what I've been through, I like to have more of a cushion in my emergency fund. And so I have that. Plus I have my. I generate probably four or five thousand dollars a month is what I generate in cash flow. But I really only need three. If I don't take a vacation and I'm just kind of hanging out at home, really, 3,000 is going to cover everything and it's fine. So I like to have that buffer though, because, yeah, I'm always worried about it. It's kind of a funny thing because you have so much and then it's all taken away seemingly overnight and then you have. Don't have. It just. It changes a person.

Yeah, I totally know what you're talking about. Same thing happened to me when I was in my upbringing when we moved here from India and we started over and penny pinching and stuff. And then I had kids and I realized, whereas before I was living more of. Once we got, you know, more cash flow, we were spending it, we had the kids, we had realized that we really need to get our stuff together before these, for these children, you know, I need them never to Experience what I experience. You know, I never want them to be in a completely broke position. I'm sure life will happen and you know, there's always an option, but I'd like to do whatever I can to make sure that they don't have to go through the same thing I went through. Now the problem though is that when you not problem, but it's a challenge when you get in that single minded mindset to okay, I'm going to pursue financial independence or enough passive cash flow that I don't ever have to work. It's tough to then because you're working so hard. How do you balance working hard and achieving these goals and then actually spending time with the children that you're doing it for?

Right. Yeah. And you know, and that's a great question and it is, it is a balance. So I mean we, we're big on routines here. So my two kids, my son is Asperger's and adhd, so he's neurodivergent. And so routine is very important. And so our routine in the evening most of the time would be, you know, I'd pick them up in after school care, we'd come home, everybody put their things away, start making dinner. You know, they may be helping me or not because, you know, they were elementary school at that time. We all hang out and have dinner together. That was always very, very important to me when they were growing up. So we'd have dinner together, we'd talk about our day, what they like on the table, what they don't like. We always talk about food a lot. I'm Italian. No, we'd have those conversations and then, you know, they would take their plates, put them in the sink, they'd go upstairs, they have their bedtime routine. I do the dishes, I go upstairs, we'd have bath time and then get their jammies on. They'd have story time, I'd read. Sometimes I do little voices with the characters which my son did not appreciate, but those were the times. Oh my God, that could be a whole other conversation right there. But you know, so, you know, there were things like that we, on Wednesdays, a lot of times, if it was a really beautiful day, we would go to the park right after school and get a pizza and then just spend time there. On the weekends we would, sometimes we'd go to the library or bookstore. You go to like Barnes and Noble and it was like 95 degrees outside. So they're both growing up, are into books. And so we do a lot of things like that and then plus there's always around town, free stuff going on and so we would do things like that. But definitely try very hard to spend time together as much as possible. But when you're working and you're trying to get rid of debt, build. Yeah, it can definitely get hard. But the routine definitely helped, helped me for sure in being a parent. And I think it helps them too.

Yeah, absolutely. My kids respond so well to just giving them like a goal of a routine. Like I drew out, you know, for them. Like, this is what I want you to do. I want you to brush your teeth. Then we'll have two minutes of playtime, two minutes of, you know, and then some. Now they do like 30 minutes of book time, two minutes of cuddle time, and then it's, you know, lights off. Yeah, and they love that. Yeah, they do have that structure.

Absolutely, absolutely. I, you know, like we never had the problem of I want to stay up later, I want to, you know, I'm not tired, I'm going to run around. No, I never had that. You know, like we just had our routine. That's what we did. And then that, you know, they would go to bed and then I would have, I would read for a while or, you know, whatever, whatever I was going to do, but that was my quiet time. And then in the morning, just, you know, for your own, as a parent, just some of your own mental care, you know, I would get up an hour before the kids and just have, I'd have my workout, my coffee, I'd get things ready and then I would go wake them up. And then, you know, you do the herding cats thing of getting them ready. But yeah, but, you know, so, you know, you make it work where you can in the day and then make the weekends count as much as you can.

Absolutely, yeah. That 4:30 awakening or 5:00 clock awakening, if you can get it. If you get that parent time, just my this is me time. No one else is awake. Everybody's quiet. And I just get to do what I need to do, answer some emails, write a post or so or work out. But it's so important for mental health.

Yes, yeah, it's absolutely that. Just that little time for yourself. And I will share one other thing because I was actually talking to a friend of mine who's a grandpa now and I was saying how it can be hard, you know, when, when you're a single parent. And I said one of the things I would do and it wasn't very often, but, you know, but every Once in a blue moon, it's like, you know, you had a bad day at work and you pick up the kids and you're still just kind of, ah, just. I can't believe that happened today. You pick up the kids. And so I would tell the kids, I'm like, you know what? Mommy needs a timeout. Mommy just needs three minutes where you're just not going to talk to me right now. And my son would be like, oh, my God, Mommy needs a timeout. This is.

That's brilliant.

You know, But I tell you, it just would, you know, and it just give me a. Just give me a minute. I'm home. Just to. Let me just change my clothes, let me let it go, and then we can get on with our routine. It's a little thing like that. It's just a few minutes, but, yeah, it would really help a lot.

That's huge. So we talked about working out. So you're making time for working out. You're making time for your own mental and physical health during this process. And you also start writing about it, right?

So, yeah, I journaled a lot and I kept track of everything. So, you know, and that was really my way of, you know, like, because, you know, I would have. Sometimes I'd go, ah, you know, I'm not. I'm not getting any traction here. I'm working so hard, I'm trying, and nothing's happening. And then I would look at my goals, I would look at my journal and look back and I'd say, oh, yeah, I really am getting things done. But it may not manifest in cash flow, but other things are getting done. And those things are as important, because in the early years, my cash flow actually went down a little bit each time because it was just really hard in those days. But that didn't mean nothing was happening. I was reading like crazy all different kinds of books on personal finance and people's stories, articles, podcasts, blogs, I mean, you name it. Talk to different people and their journey and just really, just educated myself. So, yeah, but, you know, it's so funny. So even though I did those things where I was exercising, I was eating right and all those things, but stress of those years did for me take a toll. And so I ended up suffering from thyroid disease. And so. And that I truly, I just absolutely believe that was, you know, just from the stress of those years of just trying to make ends meet and trying to build what, you know, ultimately, you know, came to where I am today. But so it's not, you know, like, It's. I think that, you know, I was so focused and so driven and just trying to make everything work, that, you know, you do take that all in physically and you do sometimes can put yourself on a back seat even though you're like, you're trying to do all the right things, but sometimes it's just best just to kind of just be still. Just, you know, just be still and just, you know, breathe and that it's all, it's good and just, you know, give yourself that grace. Where for me, my mindset was, I can't believe you let things get so bad. Shame, guilt, shame, guilt. And push, push, push to make it better. And drive and drive and drive. And it didn't take many years, but you do cause yourself a lot of stress doing it that way. So, I mean, there's a balance there too.

Yeah. That reminds me of an article you had on your blog that was titled which would you rather be rich or wealthy? Tell me about the distinction you made there between richness and wealthiness.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's a great question because we sometimes, you know, we look at, you know, the Tom Cruise's out there or Oprah today and this incredible life of jet setting around and you know, eating fancy foods and fancy clothes and people look at that and they're like, ah, you know, I want to be rich, I want to be rich like, like that, you know. But the truth of the matter is, I think what most people really want is really to be wealthy. And to be wealthy is beyond money. Wealth is wealth in relationships, wealth in being happy with who you are and what you've contributed to the world to make it better. Wealth is raising good kids. It's that satisfaction of having lived a good life, not necessarily a flashy one or with the fancy car and the big house, but it's living a good life. And that is wealth beyond measure.

Yeah. And feeling satisfied at the end of the night. Not living in that moment where you're just wondering, in that scarcity, in that fear, but realizing how good you have it. Taking that moment, taking. Realize it.

Yes. And appreciate what you do have. Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, and that's something I think, you know, we, we forget sometimes in all the noise of the world. I think sometimes we, we can easily forget that. But just to, you know, just, just be happy with, with what you've done and, and appreciate that it's, you know, that you've lived a good life. Not necessarily a flashy one or a fancy one, because at the end of the Day. Just because you're a rich person doesn't necessarily mean that you're a happy one or you have a happy life.

Absolutely. And spending money doesn't make you happy.

It doesn't. It doesn't, No. I was going to say it was funny. I was just listening to this book on my phone and they were talking about how there was this experiment done where you had two groups of people and they were given, you know, in these groups, each person was given $100. In the first group, they were told, spend $100 on yourself. In the other group, they were told, give the $100 away. And what they learned was that the people that gave the money away to a friend, a cause, you know, a sick relative, whatever it was, that they were much more happy and satisfied than the people who bought stuff for themselves. Which is really interesting because that's what it goes back to is having that full life, you know, and making the world a little bit better. I think is. Sounds cheesy, but that's really what it comes down to is just having good relationships and helping each other out. And, you know, I think that's really what it just boils down to at the end of the day.

That's fascinating. Yeah. Jim Dali, the founder of this blog, always talks about how giving away money also feeds back to you and lets you know that you have enough, you know, that you are able to give and that gives you those satisfaction of helping someone else out. It's. It's actually a very selfish thing. Right. Can be in one perspective, but. Yeah, yeah, but you're, you know, but you're helping the world, you're helping people around you, and you're giving yourself the signal that you do have enough. And you in fact do. If you're able to give and still feed your family, you certainly have enough. So I think that's a wonderful reminder.

Absolutely.

So you've done so well. You made it through so much adversity. You got divorced and unemployed at the same time. But here you are on the other end. You have several rental properties, you have cash flow, you have net worth. And it sounds like you really have it all together. Advice would you give to other single women or men out there that are going through divorce? What are some things that they have to do in order to kind of follow the same path as you and get out of it on the other side?

Yeah, I would say grace for yourself. I think a lot of times when we go through a divorce, at least I'll say for myself, there is that Sense of feeling like a failure, that a chapter has closed. But I would encourage people to let that go and move on. Partner with your ex as much as you can to raise the kids. It is not divorce that ruins children. It is not marriage. It's a good marriage. And a good divorce can get kids through anything. A bad divorce and a bad marriage can be very hard for kids. And just to remember that, be that person for your kids. Be there to support them and raise them. But on the money side, I would say that, yes, it is hard when you are a single parent because your time is so precious, but leverage the skill set that come natural to you and find ways to earn a little extra. Find ways to cut in your budget. These are two things that we have control over. It's easier to cut out of the budget than it is to try to earn more income. And I would encourage people to look at that. And the last thing I would say is it's not enough to just save, but invest that money. Invest in things that you've researched, you believe in. You have that timeline, and those things are important. And having a team to help you out with that kind of stuff. When I started real estate, it wasn't just me, it was me. I have a tax accountant because I'm terrified of being audited. So I have a tax accountant. You know, you talk to your financial advisor, if you have one of those, your real estate agent, you're going to go into rental properties, make sure that they know rental properties. Buying a house for yourself to live in is a completely different skill set than buying rental properties. And so having a real estate agent that understands both of those markets and where you want to go and they understand what your goals are, are and just building that team and having people around you that support you, your goals and are there to rah, rah you on those days when you're just really tired, because you do, you get tired. And then just some grace and appreciate every baby step you take toward your goals. And you can do this. You can do this. Single moms, single dads, man, God bless you. Because that is hard. Raising kids is hard. Raising kids as a single parent is very hard. Absolutely. So God bless you.

Well, thank you for those wonderful pieces of advice. I mean, really great reminders of giving yourself some grace and then also finding the balance and getting through it on the other side. So, Monica, tell me, tell our listeners where they can find you if they want to hear from you more or see more content from you.

Yeah, yeah. I have a blog called the piece of the pie. And so you can find me there. It's an easy way to contact me right through the website. I have blog posts there. I offer coaching. The book is there if you're interested in the book. And this year I'll be working on the workbook to code with the companion for that book. Yeah. So, yeah, I would love to hear from people. Feel free to reach out. And thank you.

Thank you for coming here and sharing your knowledge. We really appreciate it.

Thank you very much. Now, this has been a lot of fun.

Again, again, thanks for being a great sport.

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I'll talk to you later, Monica.

Take care. Thank you. Bye.

I so enjoyed having Monica here today and I'm so glad she took the time to do this episode not once, but twice with me. It's so nice to have perspective of a single parent who went through a really difficult time in her life and apparently came out of it not just surviving, but thriving. She gave us important reminders about what to do in the situation, such as checking your credit score and making sure that all the debt listed under your name is in fact yours, and taking the time to contest that if necessary. She taught us about how to achieve financial independence not only with investing in retirement accounts, but also also with investing in real estate and the importance of having good people on your side and building a team. And she taught us about work, life balance and how to be there for our kids while we are pursuing financial independence or whatever other goal that we want to pursue to make our lives better for our kids. I think this was a wonderful conversation. I'm so glad I was able to have it and I'm so glad you're here listening.

If you're finding our podcasts informative and helpful, we would encourage you to sign up for our monthly newsletter. It is totally free and includes useful, actionable information not available on the regular blog posts or this podcast. It's almost like being in a secret club. The kind of club that can boost your knowledge and enhance your wealth at the same time, with no strings attached. Sign up today@whitecoatinvestor.com Newsletter. You can do this and the White Coat Investor can help.

All right, guys, don't forget about our WCI survey. It goes until the end of this month. Help us serve you better and please fill it out at www.WhiteCodeInvestor.com survey. We will give out 20 T shirts and a free CFE 2022 course in a random drawing if you just fill this short survey out as a thank you please leave us a five star review and tell your friends about the podcast that helps us get the word out and helps us help more doctors and high income professionals just like you. Here's a recent review that we got Best Podcast in Its Class I really enjoy listening to this podcast twice a week, a definite bright spot during my long commute. I've learned so much from these episodes. I started with the original White Coat Investor book and I'm so grateful for the lessons learned by listening to this podcast as so many financial principles are reinforced every week, especially the Q and A where many interesting scenarios are discussed. Thank you so much for what you have done and continue to do. Head up, shoulders back. You've got this and we can help at the White Coat Investor. Thanks so much for listening. The hosts of the White Coat Investor Podcast are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors. This podcast is free entertainment and information only. It should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult the appropriate professional for specific advice relating to your situation.