Ways to Means

Welcome to our last episode! Join us as we reflect on our lives since starting Ways to Means and particularly how our decisions and milestones have been influenced by the podcast. We look back on our favorite moments and lessons learned.

Thanks to all our listeners for being a part of this experience. We learned so much and we hope you did too. 

In today’s episode, we welcome Tannis Fuller, the co-director of the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund which we often refer to as BRAF throughout the episode.

BRAF provides support for people seeking abortions including covering costs of the procedure, travel, childcare and more. They serve central Virginia, which includes the Charlottesville area and are members of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF), a membership organization of over 76 funds across the United States.

This summer, the Supreme Court ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization functionally overturned Roe v. Wade which has been protecting a woman’s right to an abortion since 1973. In light of this decision, many states have outlawed or severely restricted abortion, which means the demand on abortion funds in abortion-protected states such as Virginia is only growing as more women must travel to see these services.

We are so grateful to Tannis Fuller and all the amazing people at Blue Ridge Abortion Fund who provide this critical support for women seeking abortion. If you are moved by today’s content and the work BRAF does, please visit their website at blueridgeabortionfund.org and sign up to be a monthly sustaining donor right now. And don’t forget to also share this on social media and talk to the people in your life about abortion. Thank you for being a part of this important work and service to our community.

https://blueridgeabortionfund.org/

On today’s episode we are talking to three different people who embraced the power of negotiation. From moving industries and negotiating salary increases to buying a house for under asking in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, they’re going to show us everything is negotiable!

Our guests are Kim Tran, Alyssa Cardin, and Ashley Suzanne. Kim Tran (@yourworkinspires on instagram), offers 1:1 career and leadership coaching.

On today’s episode, we speak with Jes Koepfler, the Head of Client Experience Research for Vanguard's Retail Division. Vanguard is a registered investment advisor that has been around since 1975. The company is known for its four core principles

1. Define clear goals,
2. invest with balance and diversification,
3. minimize cost, and
4. stay disciplined over the long term.

The founder of Vanguard, Jack Bogle, is also known for starting the first index fund, which we discuss in our stock market primer episode.

We talk to Jes about what it means to design for the user, how design can cue users to take certain actions, and how the corporate philosophy is embodied in the Vanguard website design and ultimately, the experience of the user. Jes also talks about how her professional experiences have informed how she manages her personal finances.

This week Susanna is in New Orleans for Mardi Gras so we caught up with a friend of hers, Max, who is a full time professional gig musician playing upright bass with different groups and at different venues across the city. As he explains, he and his peers are holdouts, operating as part of a cash-based industry in an increasingly cashless economy. He’s also self-employed, earning uncertain income that fluctuates according to erratic impacts to demand, such as covid. We talk to him about how he secures gigs, navigates a unique compensation structure, and how he approaches things like healthcare and taxes.

This week, our mutual friend Lou joined us on the podcast to discuss her recent first time home buying experience. We talked to her about the process, from wishlist to loan closing, and captured the good the bad and the ugly of searching for a home during this hot stretch. It's been a seller's market lately, thanks in part to the pandemic creating some unpredictable demand patterns, so we wanted to learn some secrets from someone who has braved the frenzy. If you are a first time home buyer, or get sick pleasure out of tales from the pandemic home buying experience, this one's for you!

Pursuing a career in art and running your own business are two of the most insecure and challenging pursuits in the realm of personal finance. It’s a commitment that requires accepting uncertainty, persevering through setbacks, mental grit and a lot of hard work. Finding success on this path, therefore, is an impressive achievement that warrants celebration.

On this episode, we talk with Jessica Wachter, an abstract expressionist artist based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Her pieces have been shown in public and private collections throughout the world and are her sole source of income. After years of uncertainty, setbacks and side gigs, Jessica says she’s living the life she once dreamed of as a professional artist We caught up with her to learn more about the journey of her career and the ins and outs of running of a business based off your art.

And now for something completely different! This week, Hannah and I decided to take a break from guests and get a little introspective. The way we cover personal finance topics on this podcast is influenced by our own money mindset, as our guest from last week, Walli, calls it. One thing we’ve made sure to emphasize is that we are not finance experts, but just as important is to expose our own biases, and be transparent about how our backgrounds and perspectives color our opinions here. This week, you get to know your hosts a little better, as Hannah and I ask each other questions about our upbringing and cover broad themes in personal finance with a few differently formatted segments. We have a lively debate about the “latte factor,” examine how we value purchases with a new game show segment, talk about the intersection of Marx and minimalism, and evaluate a series of famous quotes in the context of personal finance.

• In this episode we talk about “the latte factor,” a concept popularized by David Bach in his book The Latte Factor: Why You Don’t Have to be Rich to Live Rich”
• We also reference the book “the Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism” by Kyle Chayka
• The clip we sample about replacing your coffee with green tea is from the TikTok user @bearenger
• Hannah mentions Backstage Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in underestimated and underrepresented founders, and its founder Arlan Hamilton.

Walli Miller is a financial coach from the Bronx who guides women towards financial wellness and freedom, and has made it her mission to help 25 women become the first millionaires in their families. She takes a holistic approach with her clients that includes helping them to understand how their mindset and attitudes affect their money management habits.  In this episode, we talk about the difference between living within your means and building wealth, how to build generational wealth and mitigate the allure of materialism in younger generations, the importance of financial independence for women, and how knowledge is power for communities like hers that have had restricted access to political influence and wealth-building opportunities.

In this episode we mention:

Get Good With Money  by Tiffany Aliche (the Budgetnista)

A professional degree or accreditation is a huge factor that influences your personal financial outlook. In some industries, a masters degree comes with new job opportunities and wage premiums, and in others it doesn’t boost your earning potential at all. Getting an advanced degree means time spent not earning and money spent, not saved, so it’s a weighty decision. In this episode, Susanna does a retrospective, back-of-the-napkin cost-benefit analysis of her own masters degree, before we bring our guest Taylor on to talk about her decision to pursue an advanced degree in accounting. Taylor spent her early career working low wage jobs in a high cost city, and looking for jobs in a saturated field while slowly going into debt. She describes her moment of reckoning, how she found her way out of debt, into new-found confidence, and onto a career path that has already paid dividends.

This week we are covering the stock market with an introductory primer tailored to the uninitiated and intrigued. Investing in the stock market can feel opaque and overwhelming, but it’s something anyone can learn and everyone should aim to understand when planning their long term finances. We’re no Gordon Gekko or Wolf of Wall Street, but you don’t have to be in order to enjoy the benefits of managing your money. Over the past few months, we have both sought to gain knowledge and confidence in investing, and we’re sharing what we’ve learned so far. If you think investing in the stock market means shouting orders into a dial-up phone a la Giovanni Ribisi in the Boiler room; if you think you ought to be investing in the stock market, but don’t know where to start; if you have a large or growing savings account and want to know why I’m telling you that’s not as good as it sounds; if you think you’re too old and it’s too late; or if you have found internet resources on the topic overwhelming, this episode is for you.

In this episode we mention:

- The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life  by J.L. Collins

- The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach

Amy is an optimizer, and she also knows how to pace herself. She approaches her lifestyle and personal finances by setting objectives and periodically reflecting on her progress towards them, an approach that also serves her well in her career as a product manager. She wants to enjoy her life along the way so she strives to balance her short and long term goals and to value joy as well as financial stability. In this episode we discuss budgeting, setting authentic goals, lifestyle minimalism, and more.

For reference: Amy mentions Gabrielle Collard and the Coach Space blog. Check out the blog and read about the deathbed manifesto here: https://thecoachspace.com/gabriellecollard/