Financial Flexibility and The Power of CoastFI with the CoastFi Couple - 159

[00:00:00] Welcome to Money Talk with Skyler Fleming, where talking about money is encouraged. Let's get talking!

[00:00:06] Welcome Money Buddies to this week's episode of Money Talk with Skyler Fleming.

[00:00:10] Today we're talking about CoastFI with the CoastFi Couple.

[00:00:14] I'll introduce them more here in just a minute, but let me explain what today's episode is all about.

[00:00:18] CoastFi. And it's this idea where you get your investments to a point where they will earn enough for you to retire once you reach a predetermined retirement age.

[00:00:26] Which can be a really appealing idea for anyone once you start to think long and hard about it.

[00:00:31] Think about a life where you can live on all of your means, and your savings are working hard for you in the background.

[00:00:36] We're going to get more into what CoastFi is with today's guest, but I wanted to paint a picture for you.

[00:00:41] I know that this is an idea that really excites me and my wife, and we really want to go for this.

[00:00:46] But we so often struggle with all the different goals that we know we need to save for.

[00:00:49] We may want a home someday, we want to go on lots of trips, and we want to enjoy life.

[00:00:53] But we also want to save heavily for a retirement that we hope is early.

[00:00:57] So that's where CoastFi can come in, and I think it's going to come in to help a lot of you listening today.

[00:01:02] I hope for us it can come in a way to alleviate some of the retirement savings stress.

[00:01:07] And I'm excited to talk to today's money buddies in order to help answer some of my own questions about CoastFi.

[00:01:12] And I know you're going to love today's interview, and you're definitely going to take away something from it.

[00:01:16] So make sure to stay tuned, because today we're talking to Matt and Yana Tarr from the CoastFi Couple podcast.

[00:01:22] They started their show a few months ago, and I was able to meet Matt at FinCon several months ago,

[00:01:26] and we decided that we both had some great knowledge to share with each other's audiences.

[00:01:30] So head over to their show after listening to this one, and keep an eye out for the episode of me and my wife on their show.

[00:01:36] And I'm excited to talk to them, because Matt and Yana are the hosts of the CoastFi Couple podcast and YouTube show,

[00:01:41] where they help couples build a stronger connection through open conversations about money, relationships, and raising financially savvy kids.

[00:01:48] Their approachable style and practical insights make each episode a must-listen for anyone seeking more intentional and balanced life on the path to financial independence.

[00:01:58] Before we get into the interview here, I want to, of course, mention today's money talking points.

[00:02:02] The money talking points for this week's episode are,

[00:02:05] What would it mean for you to be able to choose to work?

[00:02:09] Two, what would you like to prioritize now instead of investing for the future?

[00:02:13] And three, what steps do you need to take to get started with CoastFi?

[00:02:18] With those money talking points in mind, let's get talking.

[00:02:30] Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's interview on Money Talk with Skylar Fleming.

[00:02:35] Joining me today, I have Matt and Yana from the CoastFi Couple.

[00:02:38] We're going to talk about CoastFi today.

[00:02:40] I've never really taken a deep dive into one specific area of financial independence,

[00:02:44] so I'm excited for this conversation.

[00:02:47] Matt, would you kick us off, and then you can both introduce yourself.

[00:02:49] Thanks for having us on, Skylar.

[00:02:51] Sure, obviously, ThinkOn was my first time doing that in Atlanta this year as well.

[00:02:55] Just like you, we've been talking to a lot of people since that show.

[00:02:58] When we started out finding kind of financial nerdom,

[00:03:02] it's been really fun to see everyone else in this space.

[00:03:06] And I don't know, it's been enjoyable trying to pick apart everybody's individual personal financial plans.

[00:03:11] You know, our relationship kind of evolved, and Yana was the one that found CoastFi.

[00:03:17] Since we hit the CoastFi button earlier this past year, it's changed everything.

[00:03:23] And we've been excited to share the journey with other people.

[00:03:28] On our show, CoastFi Couple, we talk all about how we got there.

[00:03:31] Really, it was your idea.

[00:03:32] Yeah, well, I wouldn't say that the CoastFi Couple podcast was solely my idea.

[00:03:38] Shout out to our good friend Wally.

[00:03:40] But, you know, CoastFi came to me sort of as an idea of a stepping stone to financial independence.

[00:03:48] Once I figured out that it was something we could do, I couldn't eat.

[00:03:52] I couldn't sleep.

[00:03:53] I was running the numbers.

[00:03:55] I'm still always running the numbers.

[00:03:57] It's definitely been a game changer for us.

[00:03:59] It's brought us a lot closer to the financial independence community,

[00:04:02] which has been really exciting to have those friendships and that support.

[00:04:08] It's been great.

[00:04:08] Everybody thought we were crazy, right?

[00:04:10] And I'm sure you've been through this as well.

[00:04:12] Yes.

[00:04:12] It takes a very specific community to start listening to financial podcasts on your commute to work, right?

[00:04:20] On your free time, you just listen about money.

[00:04:22] Who does that?

[00:04:22] It doesn't sound on the outset very exciting or fun to do.

[00:04:26] And it took a couple of road trips for us to start doing it together because at first it was like, this is so boring.

[00:04:32] Like you guys have said, you're sharing your stories and experiences.

[00:04:35] And that's where people really gain a lot of that feedback.

[00:04:38] So I'm excited to have you both on this podcast.

[00:04:41] Let's start diving into CoastFlying.

[00:04:42] I'm excited for this interview because this is something that I mentioned to my wife as,

[00:04:45] hey, we're a lot closer to this than actual financial independence.

[00:04:48] I'm using this almost as a way for me to figure out what we want to do with CoastFlying and how it actually works.

[00:04:53] So I'm excited to pick your brain about this area of financial independence, both for myself and for my audience,

[00:04:58] as they are very likely a lot closer to CoastFlying than they're going to be to financial independence at the time of listening to this.

[00:05:04] But can you start us off just with what is CoastFlying?

[00:05:09] So CoastFlying is basically a tier in the financial independence movement that you get to a point where you've invested enough in your long-term investments that you no longer have to invest anymore.

[00:05:23] You know that by the time you're going to start tapping into those investments, it's going to have compounded and growth to be what you need it to be.

[00:05:31] So that way you can sort of take your foot off the gas pedal and just cover your annual expenses.

[00:05:36] And if you are of the financial independent movement, you are probably already diving into ways to decrease your expenses and live frugally,

[00:05:44] which is what we have done.

[00:05:46] Covering that annual expense becomes much more attainable.

[00:05:50] It's a lot easier.

[00:05:51] And it just really takes the pressure off of what kind of job are we going to have?

[00:05:56] What is our income going to be this year?

[00:05:58] It doesn't have to be an astronomical number anymore because our long-term nest egg is set.

[00:06:03] It's cooking.

[00:06:03] Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about that to explain.

[00:06:06] Because I know we did the same thing on our show, Skylar.

[00:06:08] When you hear these terms, some people have no idea what we're talking about.

[00:06:11] We've identified through research and such that the fire journey is a staircase.

[00:06:17] And we talk about this on our show.

[00:06:19] Like the first step in the staircase is our focus, which is CoastFy.

[00:06:23] CoastFy.

[00:06:24] And so what that means is what Jana just said.

[00:06:30] Essentially, when you have enough in your nest egg to be able to set it and forget it and know that by the time you hit retirement age, it's going to be enough to cover your yearly expenses, then that's the first step.

[00:06:42] So to your point, it just essentially says that we no longer have to worry about retirement.

[00:06:47] Now we just need to focus on our yearly expenses day to day.

[00:06:52] We did move our retirement number up a little bit just because we didn't want to have to work full-time jobs or even part-time jobs until we're 65.

[00:06:59] So when you're trying to figure out your CoastFy number, it's really important to identify at what age do I really want to fully fire?

[00:07:07] What is my annual expenses projected going to be upon full retirement?

[00:07:13] And what are my annual expenses now and the time between now and retirement?

[00:07:17] It's really just a math game.

[00:07:19] Matt used to say this to me all the time.

[00:07:21] It's just a math game.

[00:07:21] It's just a math game.

[00:07:22] It used to infuriate me because I couldn't see and I wasn't connected to the numbers in a real way.

[00:07:28] The podcasts are really helpful, even though some of them can be a little bit dry or a little bit too high level or maybe even a little bit too detailed.

[00:07:36] Taking those nuggets of information and applying them to your specific numbers, understanding your specific expenses, your specific investments,

[00:07:44] and knowing what those projections are going to look like will help you really click into place what your CoastFy plan could be.

[00:07:50] Now, to Matt's point, it's just one step on the staircase to financial independence.

[00:07:56] The next one is barista Fy and then lean Fy.

[00:08:01] Basically, the more you can decrease your expenses and the more your investments can grow, then the less you have to work.

[00:08:10] I think a lot of people in the financial independence community or the FIRE community think that it's just work, work, work, save, save, save, save, save,

[00:08:17] until I'm able to start tapping fully 100% covering my expenses.

[00:08:21] And that's one way to do it.

[00:08:23] And that's what-

[00:08:25] That was initially the plan.

[00:08:25] That was initially our plan.

[00:08:27] Yeah.

[00:08:27] And then burnout happened.

[00:08:29] So we had to make a shift.

[00:08:31] And this was something that we could both really be on board with and be at the helm of the ship financially.

[00:08:37] And it was exciting.

[00:08:39] Yeah.

[00:08:39] Yeah.

[00:08:39] Most people want to charge ahead where you just want to get through the work phase of your life as fast as you can.

[00:08:45] Now, who wants to work?

[00:08:46] Who actually wants to work for 40 years straight just working?

[00:08:50] Like, who wants to do that?

[00:08:51] So, yes, we're in that phase where we're charging ahead.

[00:08:53] And that's where I think this CoastFy is going to come into play so nice for me as well as I'm hearing you guys speak highly of it.

[00:08:59] And I'm sure many other people do as well.

[00:09:01] I want to, Matt, talk to you about that work piece as well.

[00:09:04] Because I was reading some information that you were experiencing burnout and things like that.

[00:09:09] And work wasn't going well, potentially.

[00:09:11] And one of the ways I like to make my podcast able for people to take home with them and talk with them is the money talking points.

[00:09:17] And one of them that I was going to give to the audience to go and talk about with their friends is,

[00:09:22] what would it be like for you to choose a job that you like instead of one where you feel like you have to work?

[00:09:27] Matt, what has CoastFy done for you in terms of your job choice?

[00:09:31] Yeah, it's completely changed my day to day.

[00:09:34] I used to work in a very high stress field.

[00:09:37] I was a global marketing manager.

[00:09:39] I was doing 80 hours a week.

[00:09:41] And it was just exhausting.

[00:09:42] And I did that for almost 15 years.

[00:09:44] There was a moment where I realized, and I was talking to Yana, I couldn't physically or mentally do it anymore.

[00:09:52] I had given it everything I could.

[00:09:55] And it was starting to impact my health.

[00:09:58] I was starting to have these panic attacks in the middle of the workday for various reasons.

[00:10:04] And because I luckily have a partner who understands the game, we sat down.

[00:10:09] We said, okay, you know what?

[00:10:10] If you keep doing this, your health is going to be negatively impacted.

[00:10:13] Let's talk about another way out.

[00:10:15] And that's when Yana found CoastFy.

[00:10:18] And the idea to be able to just slow down and pick a job that was either less stressful or more enjoyable.

[00:10:27] Or both.

[00:10:27] Or both.

[00:10:29] Was so attractive.

[00:10:31] So yeah, I left my job.

[00:10:33] Everybody thought I was crazy, at least in my workforce.

[00:10:36] We did the numbers again and again.

[00:10:37] We realized, hey, you know what?

[00:10:39] This makes sense.

[00:10:40] Why don't you start with a sabbatical?

[00:10:41] So I took a six-month sabbatical.

[00:10:44] I say sabbatical, but I wasn't planning on going back.

[00:10:46] I just essentially quit.

[00:10:47] The idea was that after a certain amount of time, I would get into something else that I enjoyed because we still needed to cover our yearly expenses.

[00:10:57] That has been amazing because it's allowed me to pursue jobs that I, or other paths that I'm really passionate about.

[00:11:06] Right now, I work with a company I believe in and is going to change the banking world.

[00:11:11] And because of that, I'm not stressed out about putting food on the table.

[00:11:15] I know the number that I need to make, but it's not as much as it used to be because I'm not having to worry about 401k plans or Roth IRA contributions.

[00:11:23] And so now I can just spend my day-to-day talking about the fun stuff.

[00:11:27] And you know what?

[00:11:28] If it blows up, great.

[00:11:29] But I have the flexibility to choose how much I give into it now as long as I meet that minimum expense level.

[00:11:36] Does that make sense?

[00:11:37] Yeah.

[00:11:38] And Yana, how does this maybe from the spouse's perspective where you're seeing someone struggle with their work?

[00:11:43] If you guys were in a situation where you were loaded with debt and things like that, Matt may not have another choice, but you guys handle your finances well and put yourself in this position.

[00:11:51] From the spouse's perspective, Yana, what kind of relief does that provide you to see your spouse be able to take that step back?

[00:11:58] When we first found CoSpy and I was running these numbers, we have a whiteboard in our living room to throw ideas.

[00:12:06] Matt is very visual and I think a mile a minute.

[00:12:10] I have to paint a picture for him sometimes.

[00:12:12] And that's really helpful to get us on the same page.

[00:12:15] We're running these numbers.

[00:12:16] And even though the numbers were clear, this is something we can do.

[00:12:20] There's such an emotional connection with the way that you set up your personal finances, your savings rates and your expenses and all those things.

[00:12:28] And it took months of sort of having these very deep conversations with Matt, looking at the whiteboard, looking at the numbers.

[00:12:41] And the fact that we have such an open communication and it's not, we're taking as much as possible, trying to take the emotions out of the money.

[00:12:54] Just looking at it as a numbers game and what makes the most sense to play this little game, you know?

[00:13:01] And over time, we finally got to a place where we felt comfortable making the shift.

[00:13:06] It was really amazing watching him struggle with the stress and guilt of making this financial move, not just leading up to it, but even after.

[00:13:17] Both of us believed that him walking away from the job would solve the stress of working full time.

[00:13:25] But it's amazing how much he was still going through the motions with his body.

[00:13:29] He really needed to take some time away.

[00:13:32] And to your point, we don't have debt.

[00:13:34] We don't have any debt besides our mortgage.

[00:13:36] Our expenses are incredibly low.

[00:13:38] But because we are who we are and fret over the numbers, it was a stressful transition, but it was absolutely the right call.

[00:13:46] It completely changed his relationship with productivity.

[00:13:50] Already, both of us were worried that he would take the sabbatical and not go to a place where he ever wanted to work again.

[00:13:55] Because I think that's part of the fear, right?

[00:13:57] If I ever step away, I'm never going to want to go back to it.

[00:14:00] But we're not even in our 40s yet.

[00:14:03] And I think that there's something to be said about finding productive work that you can enjoy.

[00:14:09] Luckily, Matt found that with Cube and he's really enjoying it.

[00:14:14] It's something he can build and be passionate about.

[00:14:17] And it's making us the money we need.

[00:14:19] So we got really lucky.

[00:14:20] We had something sort of right there in our line of sight that he could do.

[00:14:24] There really was a transition period.

[00:14:26] I mean, it was about a year ago we started building this plan.

[00:14:29] And it was about six months or so ago that he left his job.

[00:14:33] A little bit longer, actually.

[00:14:35] And then, you know, it's just it's taken time for us to sort of get to this place where it's like we're swimming, we're swimming, we're swimming.

[00:14:41] Oh, OK.

[00:14:42] Like we can feel the ground a little bit.

[00:14:44] We can do it.

[00:14:45] We're doing it.

[00:14:46] Everything's fine.

[00:14:46] Everything's OK.

[00:14:47] It wasn't a flip of a switch.

[00:14:49] It wasn't a set it and forget it.

[00:14:52] It takes some mental lift to build your plan and implement it with your partner in a way that you're both comfortable.

[00:15:00] This has been fantastic so far.

[00:15:02] What makes what makes that coast fine number more attainable than regular fi?

[00:15:06] Like especially if someone's maybe never heard of financial independence.

[00:15:09] Why is it easier?

[00:15:10] Great question.

[00:15:10] So we talked about the fact that the road to financial independence is a is what we call staircase and and true fire is middle of that staircase.

[00:15:20] And so what that means is when you hit financial independence, you don't have to work anymore at all because your investments are producing what you need to live on yearly.

[00:15:31] That's what fire is.

[00:15:32] With coast fine.

[00:15:34] We're not tapping our investments, but we don't longer have to add to them.

[00:15:38] And so it gives you the chance to breathe.

[00:15:41] You can work potentially a part time job if your expenses are low enough.

[00:15:46] The difference between fire and coast fine, the reason why it's harder to get to fire versus coast fine is because when you fire, not only are you tapping those investments sooner, but you're tapping those investments for longer.

[00:15:57] And so your number goes way up.

[00:15:59] Your financial independent number really has to meet that need.

[00:16:03] It doesn't have the chance to grow before you're starting to tap into those funds versus with coast fine.

[00:16:09] You save as much as you can.

[00:16:10] You put it away.

[00:16:11] You don't touch it.

[00:16:12] And you let it grow, grow, grow.

[00:16:13] And then when you do get to the age where you're going to retire, it's there and it's waiting for you and you aren't going to be retired for as longer.

[00:16:20] So instead of planning for 40 years of retirement or 50 years of retirement, if you're retiring in your 30s or 40s, if you're retiring in your later 40s or in your 50s, then you still have to plan for 30 or 40 years of retirement.

[00:16:33] But maybe you don't need as much, right?

[00:16:36] Just to start because you're tapping.

[00:16:37] You're letting it grow longer.

[00:16:39] It just depends on what you want to do.

[00:16:41] If you have enough in the bucket and you're young enough, like for example, when we talk about our kids, maybe if they start investing when they're teens or 19 or 20.

[00:16:51] They'll get to coast by so fast?

[00:16:52] Yeah.

[00:16:53] They just need a couple hundred thousand dollars in the bank, you know, by the time they're-

[00:16:57] If that, even if they start a little younger.

[00:16:58] If that, right.

[00:16:59] It's crazy.

[00:17:00] Exactly.

[00:17:00] Like if you're one of the lucky couples out there that can get their kids on a Roth IRA when they're like nine or 10, you just need to put maybe a couple thousand dollars in there and they'll be okay.

[00:17:10] It's just a math game.

[00:17:11] And yeah, there's a lot of really great calculators out there.

[00:17:14] We talk about using quite a few like wallet burst calculators, one that we've used on our journey just because it's fun and easy and it's free.

[00:17:22] But knowing, knowing your expenses is the hardest part.

[00:17:25] Being honest about what you spend and making sure that's enough is the first step because you won't be able to control the bleeding if you don't know what you're actually going to spend.

[00:17:36] Yeah.

[00:17:37] And you led perfectly into my next question.

[00:17:38] So thank you for that great transition about where to start with Coastify.

[00:17:41] You talked about tracking your expenses.

[00:17:44] How is that useful for you as you guys started building this plan, actually knowing where your money was going?

[00:17:49] Yeah.

[00:17:49] Yeah.

[00:17:50] If we don't know what our annual expenses are, then we can't build any projection.

[00:17:54] It's just a swing in the dark.

[00:17:56] Yeah.

[00:17:56] It's just a guess, you know, and I don't want to guess.

[00:17:59] I want to know before I'm, you know, he's quitting his job or I'm taking a step back.

[00:18:06] We want to know exactly what our numbers are.

[00:18:08] And if you are of the financial independent mindset and you're building a plan, especially if it's a tight plan like lean fire or Coastfire, barista fire, you have to dive into your numbers and don't be afraid of the pivot.

[00:18:18] That was one of the things that has really helped Matt and I throughout this entire process and journey is we are always going over the numbers.

[00:18:27] We're always able to pivot and bounce ideas off of each other.

[00:18:32] The very first step, and I will say it until I am blue in the face, is know what your expenses are annually and get yourself set up in such a way to where you can live your budget.

[00:18:45] That is in a way that's attainable, accountable and simple.

[00:18:51] So to maybe fine tune that answer, step one is do a budget.

[00:18:56] Yeah.

[00:18:57] Like pull out your expenses.

[00:18:58] And we started with Excel spreadsheets.

[00:19:01] I was tracking 10 years or were in an Excel spreadsheet by myself for a little bit.

[00:19:05] When we started coming on board together as a couple that changed, trying to do a budget meeting every month or so to make sure that we're on track.

[00:19:13] That's hard to do.

[00:19:14] And we talk about this on our show a lot.

[00:19:17] We found ways to automate that as best we could.

[00:19:20] And there are tools out there now, like we use Cube Money for our budgeting and it has changed everything for us.

[00:19:26] It really has made it via set it and forget it.

[00:19:29] And so we no longer have to worry about closing the books at the end of the month and balancing the checkbook.

[00:19:35] We just live in it in real time.

[00:19:36] If you have a budget and you stick to that budget, it all of a sudden paints the next path, right?

[00:19:44] Because you then identify how much you need to make a year to sustain your current lifestyle.

[00:19:50] When we say make a budget, you don't have to be living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

[00:19:55] You can make your budget whatever you want.

[00:19:58] Yeah, exactly.

[00:19:59] I think people have a visceral reaction at the idea of living on a budget.

[00:20:02] But one of the points that I made recently on our podcast was that just because you're identifying your expenses and building a budget doesn't mean you have to change the way you're spending.

[00:20:11] At the very least, track your expenses so that way you know where you want to maybe suck in or make a shift.

[00:20:18] It's going to naturally change too.

[00:20:18] Or really spend your money to your values if you have a certain idea of how you want to be spending your money.

[00:20:23] Maybe that's not actually the case because you have no idea.

[00:20:25] Just having that visibility and that accountability can really do a lot for the way that you're building your financial future.

[00:20:31] Yeah, and it changed us a little bit too.

[00:20:33] You know, I was the penny pincher coming into this, Skylar.

[00:20:35] I had a real hard time spending money on anything.

[00:20:39] And you can look at my closet.

[00:20:40] It's very similar to what it was 10 years ago.

[00:20:42] I don't buy stuff.

[00:20:43] Same.

[00:20:43] Yep, I get that.

[00:20:44] Yeah, you get that, right?

[00:20:46] Because there's other priorities.

[00:20:47] But what we've found, especially coming together as a couple, is there needs to be a concession on both sides.

[00:20:54] And now when we talk about making a budget, we prioritize family spending, family travel, family entertainment.

[00:21:01] Date night.

[00:21:02] Date night.

[00:21:02] We prioritize it.

[00:21:03] We put money into that envelope so that every month we spend it and enjoy it.

[00:21:08] And if we don't, it will accumulate and then we'll do something super fancy.

[00:21:12] We make a point to live by what we think are priorities for the month-to-month or the quarter-to-quarter, right?

[00:21:19] For both of us.

[00:21:20] For both of us, yeah.

[00:21:22] That's fantastic.

[00:21:23] I really like the idea that you have your priorities.

[00:21:25] You make sure to hit those.

[00:21:26] And if you don't hit it one month because you got busy, you let that roll over.

[00:21:29] But you still make sure that money's there.

[00:21:31] You're not suddenly saying, oh, we didn't go on a date night this month.

[00:21:34] Let's put that in our IRA.

[00:21:35] Because that could maybe feel like one of you has a different purpose in mind for the money, if that's what you're suggesting.

[00:21:40] Things like that.

[00:21:40] So I really like the idea of the program.

[00:21:42] You still want to pinch it, yeah.

[00:21:43] Yeah, it's so easy if you have like $2,000 or a couple thousand bucks sitting there and like, oh, hey, we didn't take that trip.

[00:21:49] Why don't we just put that in the Roth?

[00:21:51] And we have been in that position.

[00:21:52] We have.

[00:21:53] Yeah.

[00:21:53] And I'm like, no, I want to save it for the next trip that we might go on.

[00:21:56] Or I want to save it for this concert that I want us to check out.

[00:21:59] It's really about finding that balance between saving for tomorrow and living a life that you can feel comfortable and confident in right now.

[00:22:08] That balance might also shift and might be a little bit different for you versus your partner.

[00:22:14] Having those conversations in a way that is healthy and communicative is so important.

[00:22:20] The more often you do it, the easier it is to do it.

[00:22:23] Yeah, I feel like you guys, I'm kind of hearing you've moved beyond talking the dollars and cents in your budget.

[00:22:28] You're not saying let's put $100 towards this, 50 this, blah, blah, blah, things like that.

[00:22:32] And you're moving more into these bigger finding that balance conversation of what do we want to do in like six months with this money that we're saving up?

[00:22:41] Is it possible to find that balance?

[00:22:42] It sounds like you guys might have been on the right path to actually finding it because so many times people hear, oh, you got to find the balance.

[00:22:48] It's find the balance.

[00:22:49] It's there.

[00:22:49] And it just kind of sounds like fluff in the background.

[00:22:51] But is it actually possible?

[00:22:53] I definitely think that it's possible to get a better understanding of what's important to you and your partner and your family and how that applies to your finances.

[00:23:03] Once you are not putting yourself under the pressure of stress that really stressful full-time jobs can put you under, it has freed up so much of Matt's brain space for us to focus on what is truly important.

[00:23:19] The game has now shifted.

[00:23:21] It's no longer how much money can I make?

[00:23:23] How much money can I save?

[00:23:25] It's how do I prioritize my time?

[00:23:28] How do I prioritize my wealth?

[00:23:31] How do I prioritize my health?

[00:23:33] Right?

[00:23:33] Because that's what the true wealth is, is your health and your time.

[00:23:38] Once you've figured out what you need to save long term, once you've figured out what you need on an annual basis and you get those numbers into place, then there's just this automatic shift that happens.

[00:23:51] And it's less about chasing the dollar and more about really setting your values to your time and your family.

[00:24:01] And it is peaceful.

[00:24:03] That's fantastic.

[00:24:04] A good exercise that actually a friend of ours, he's got his own podcast, Everyday Money Heroes.

[00:24:10] What they do is they take a bunch of paperclips.

[00:24:13] They have like 50 paperclips.

[00:24:15] And they have a bunch of categories.

[00:24:17] And then amongst themselves, they'll put the paperclips in these categories as to what their priorities are in their life.

[00:24:23] And so then at the end of it, you look and you look at these piles of paperclips and you sit down together and then you collectively agree.

[00:24:31] It's like, oh, wow, you really prioritize travel.

[00:24:34] I wasn't doing that.

[00:24:35] Therefore, as we make our budget, we need to make sure that there's enough in there so that way you feel happy and filled in your life.

[00:24:43] And it took us years to figure that out.

[00:24:45] I was always the tightwad.

[00:24:46] And I wasn't stopping to smell the roses and do the concerts and all that stuff.

[00:24:50] Once you realize money is just a tool to build the happiness that you want, especially if you're comfortable at Coastify, where you all of a sudden don't have to worry about your future self.

[00:25:01] You know you're going to be okay.

[00:25:03] Then the game and the conversation shifts.

[00:25:05] Just how do you live your best life now?

[00:25:08] And that's a lot more enjoyable than always being in a state of scarcity.

[00:25:15] Yeah.

[00:25:15] Do you guys feel like is it a good idea to just race to Coastify?

[00:25:18] Because so often there's people out there that have gone full speed to full financial independence and lived a life of deprivation for a few years and hit it.

[00:25:26] And then they retired and didn't know what to do.

[00:25:27] But Coastify feels like this middle ground where your future is taken care of.

[00:25:30] Is it a good idea to maybe race to that stage?

[00:25:33] Or should we still kind of taper it a little bit?

[00:25:36] I wouldn't say that it's necessarily it doesn't need to be a race.

[00:25:40] I would say that especially for our situation, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up.

[00:25:45] Right.

[00:25:45] Like I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up.

[00:25:48] I found a job that paid as much as I could.

[00:25:51] And I started climbing the ladder and I hip hopped around.

[00:25:54] And then I found something that ended up being my career.

[00:25:56] I wasn't necessarily super passionate about it, but it paid the bills.

[00:26:00] I was slowly starting to get tired of it and burned out.

[00:26:04] I wanted to get to that stage of retirement as fast as I could.

[00:26:08] So that way I felt like I had a chance to do something else.

[00:26:11] But to your point, if you understand that financial independence is a staircase, you can stop at the first step and reevaluate.

[00:26:19] For me, it doesn't have to be a race.

[00:26:22] If you're doing something that you enjoy, set your investments up so that way you're going to be okay.

[00:26:27] But if you don't like what you're doing, then yeah, the faster you get to coastify, then the faster you can stop and reevaluate and find something you do want to do with your time.

[00:26:38] We forget that, especially since we're not even 40 yet, we've got a long time to go and I don't want to do nothing.

[00:26:46] As enjoyable as it is to talk to people about their vacations or sitting on the beach, you only can do that for so long.

[00:26:53] It still gets boring.

[00:26:54] It gets boring.

[00:26:55] Yeah, it gets I mean, as entitled as that sounds, right?

[00:27:00] Like, you know, we want to build.

[00:27:02] It's fun to build.

[00:27:03] It's fun to produce something and to leave a legacy for your kids if you've got kids or to start a small business because you think it could be fun.

[00:27:12] There's less stress now that it has to work.

[00:27:15] You get to build something at your own pace.

[00:27:18] As long as you're covering your expenses, then the world's your oyster.

[00:27:21] Like, go do something fun.

[00:27:23] But yes, I think that the faster you get to that stage, if you're not enjoying your current job, I would encourage you to just suck it up and get there.

[00:27:31] So that way you can explore.

[00:27:33] But we know people who love their jobs and they don't need to go down to part time.

[00:27:38] They like what they're doing.

[00:27:39] In that case, it's like the best of both worlds.

[00:27:41] And there's also a really important conversation around giving yourself those rest periods, those periods of break.

[00:27:48] Right. And where Matt and I are right now, yeah, we're coast by, but that might not necessarily be the case a year from now.

[00:27:55] He might get another super high paying job doing something that he's interested in.

[00:27:59] And then we're back on that fire path and chasing it.

[00:28:01] We can speed it up if we want to again.

[00:28:04] Yeah, we can slow down.

[00:28:05] We can speed up.

[00:28:05] Now that we've hit that first tier where it's like, okay, no matter what, we know that we're going to be fine upon our golden years.

[00:28:13] We just got to live freely and be smart between now and then.

[00:28:17] If we want to speed it up, we can because we found a job that pays more.

[00:28:21] Great.

[00:28:21] And if we want to slow down or take a six month sabbatical, we can do that too.

[00:28:26] It's really up to us.

[00:28:29] Peaceful.

[00:28:30] Peaceful and really empowering.

[00:28:32] Yeah.

[00:28:32] It's not up to somebody who has your auto loan, what you're going to do this month, because you have to make that payment or credit cards or things like that.

[00:28:39] I love what you just said there.

[00:28:40] Like it's up to you.

[00:28:41] If you want to go up that next step and maybe start to live off some of your investments in a few years, because you want to bring that retirement age a little closer.

[00:28:49] You guys could easily go find a different job.

[00:28:51] Maybe you take a step back from something you're doing to work for a couple of years to speed that number up.

[00:28:56] I love the flexibility that it provides.

[00:28:58] That's that's I think the it should be just called maybe flex fi is a maybe a side word that you could almost call it a little bit.

[00:29:05] Yeah.

[00:29:06] I'm trying to in my mind, I've heard a couple of ways to effectively paint the picture of coast fi.

[00:29:12] And one, you said you guys had a whiteboard.

[00:29:14] I've heard the paperclips idea.

[00:29:16] Maybe that's some different ways that you can use as exercises.

[00:29:18] What are some other ways or opportunities that coast fi can bring about that people can help visualize it in their mind?

[00:29:26] Well, I'd love to plug Cube Money one more time.

[00:29:29] This is a tool that takes your budget and allows you to live from it with a debit card.

[00:29:37] That's what really changed the game for us.

[00:29:39] We were so used to aggregating all of our transaction history at the end of the month and putting it into buckets and then say, oh, shoot, we overspent in groceries again.

[00:29:47] Darn it.

[00:29:48] Yeah, we got to suck it up next time, but still be in that pattern where you just couldn't control it.

[00:29:53] When we found Cube Money, this was years ago now.

[00:29:55] We've been using it for four years.

[00:29:57] We set our budget to where every category has a direct deposit of sorts that would fill it.

[00:30:03] We now live daily through this budget.

[00:30:07] And so anytime we go to the grocery store, we pull up our grocery cube and we spend directly from that grocery cube.

[00:30:13] And so it's very easy to never be in a position where you're tempted to overspend.

[00:30:18] And you can move things around in that budget, but since we're living it in real time, it has made things so much easier to be able to just build and dream.

[00:30:30] And honestly, we don't think about our budget anymore, which has been really helpful on our journey to CoSify.

[00:30:36] We don't have to go back through retroactively and actualize our budget.

[00:30:40] It lives right within the app.

[00:30:41] The app is tied to the card.

[00:30:43] I'm not going to overspend.

[00:30:44] We keep the cube spend and bills and goals and things different from our ally account where we have investments and things like some high yield savings accounts.

[00:30:56] We know that anything that's in cube is earmarked for spend or for certain goals or certain sinking funds.

[00:31:03] And that's really our annual expenses.

[00:31:05] And it is on lock.

[00:31:07] I don't have to think about it.

[00:31:08] We don't have to account for a Taco Bell run on a Tuesday afternoon.

[00:31:12] I don't have to worry about spending all this extra time going through the budget afterwards.

[00:31:17] Oops, we overspent.

[00:31:19] What are our actual expenses for the year?

[00:31:20] It's just made things so simple.

[00:31:22] It's completely changed our relationship with our budget.

[00:31:25] It's changed our relationship with each other and our finances.

[00:31:29] Yes.

[00:31:29] And it's just simplified everything.

[00:31:31] Yeah.

[00:31:31] Last point on this.

[00:31:32] One part that was really difficult when we were starting out is there was only one person that could sit at an Excel spreadsheet and do all that work.

[00:31:41] And so there was always this checking in with the other partner to say like, hey, I want to go out with my friends.

[00:31:46] Can I do that?

[00:31:47] Can you look at it?

[00:31:48] Because you're the one that manages it.

[00:31:49] Yeah.

[00:31:49] I am the person that manages the spreadsheet.

[00:31:51] I get that.

[00:31:52] Yeah.

[00:31:52] It puts a lot of pressure on that person.

[00:31:54] And then it makes you feel, well, first off, it builds some animosity.

[00:31:58] Because what if you say, no, we're already over budget or something.

[00:32:01] Then like your spouse is kind of frustrated and inflated.

[00:32:05] That sucks.

[00:32:06] That's not a way to live.

[00:32:08] What we've done is we've created a partnership through these tools, through CubeMoney, through being able to just live today and always be on the same page.

[00:32:17] We are both in the cockpit of the build out of the budget.

[00:32:22] We both have complete visibility.

[00:32:24] We both have the control to change it or shift it.

[00:32:28] It's not that he's building a spreadsheet and I'm not emotionally connected to the numbers.

[00:32:32] We are both doing it.

[00:32:33] If I want to spend an extra $20 at the grocery store and it's not in that cube, I can move from another cube and put it in the grocery cube.

[00:32:41] It's not a big deal because we've already earmarked what we want to spend on what.

[00:32:45] It really changes the dynamic between who is budgeting, like who's the budgeter and who's the spender.

[00:32:53] Because usually it's one person is the budgeter and one person is the spender.

[00:32:57] And now we are both the budgeters and we are both the spenders and we're driving the ship.

[00:33:02] But it also, it's not hard.

[00:33:05] I think part of the, when we talk with other couples, Skylar, it's usually like there's one nerd.

[00:33:10] I'm assuming that's you, buddy.

[00:33:12] That is me.

[00:33:13] It was me as well.

[00:33:14] And then there was another free spirit, right?

[00:33:16] That doesn't want to think about spreadsheets at all.

[00:33:19] Hate them.

[00:33:20] Yeah.

[00:33:21] I love them, so I don't get that.

[00:33:23] And we can't relate, right?

[00:33:24] But the more that we talked about it, because Yana didn't like the spreadsheet thing either.

[00:33:27] It just, we wanted to take that out of it, you know?

[00:33:30] And that's what we've done.

[00:33:31] We've made it so that we don't have to look at a spreadsheet anymore.

[00:33:34] We live today.

[00:33:36] We enjoy what money we have.

[00:33:38] And the investment thing is on lock.

[00:33:40] We make our next step closer to the next step, which is barista-fi, which means we both work part-time jobs because we're starting to tap those accounts later on.

[00:33:50] So it's building and it's fun now.

[00:33:52] It's no longer going back and retroactively looking at what did we do?

[00:33:56] What did we do?

[00:33:57] No more.

[00:33:58] No, no, no.

[00:33:58] Now we're looking ahead.

[00:33:59] What are we doing next?

[00:34:01] What are we building next?

[00:34:02] And that changes the mindset of the way that you interact with your money.

[00:34:06] I love the idea of shifting from looking to the future versus looking back at the past.

[00:34:10] I was telling Matt this at FinCon.

[00:34:11] That's what we do so much, where we put in the expenses.

[00:34:14] At the end of the month, we're saying, oh, we overspent our grocery budget by 50 bucks.

[00:34:18] It's not really a big deal.

[00:34:19] We have the money there.

[00:34:20] Right.

[00:34:20] It's like, we're going to be fine.

[00:34:21] But for your guys' point, you're looking ahead and actually making the decision.

[00:34:25] Oh, we shouldn't get this right now because it is low versus we're spending the money and

[00:34:29] then saying, oh, we shouldn't have done that.

[00:34:31] And then one or the other of us feels bad because I wanted some treats or soda that day.

[00:34:35] That's why it went over.

[00:34:36] Exactly.

[00:34:36] You make the decision before you spend the money and you have that visibility immediately.

[00:34:40] It just changes the way you're interacting with your funds.

[00:34:42] Yeah.

[00:34:43] I love to eat out.

[00:34:44] And so there'll be times where we're sitting and we're like, hey, do you want to go get sushi?

[00:34:47] And we look at our cubes.

[00:34:49] Do you want a DoorDash?

[00:34:49] We want to do it.

[00:34:50] So we look at our restaurant cube and we're like, well, hey, we can pull some from there.

[00:34:53] We can pull some for a date night.

[00:34:55] It's like, hey, you know what?

[00:34:55] We can make this work.

[00:34:56] And then we're just, let's go get the sushi.

[00:34:58] So it ends up being a collaborative event.

[00:35:00] Or it's you collaboratively saying, no, that date night's already been marked.

[00:35:03] And so let's have that fun date night in a week and a half versus let's just eat at home.

[00:35:09] But it's not him telling me no or vice versa.

[00:35:11] It's like the numbers are right here.

[00:35:13] Yeah.

[00:35:14] We don't got it yet.

[00:35:14] I love that.

[00:35:15] That's fantastic.

[00:35:16] And I think one of the things that's going through my mind that I've heard from several

[00:35:19] people in my life is, oh, that platform costs money.

[00:35:22] How much money have you guys saved from using a technology tool?

[00:35:26] Oh, thousands.

[00:35:28] Yeah.

[00:35:29] You're probably on this point because of it.

[00:35:30] Like the compound interest that you're going to make, all the things like that.

[00:35:33] Like it's infinite.

[00:35:34] So it's really important to realize, like one of the biggest obstacles that I get when

[00:35:38] we use a tool like Cube Money is people are upset that they don't get credit card points

[00:35:43] because it's a debit card based platform for us.

[00:35:46] We wanted the control and visibility and we were willing to sacrifice whatever rewards

[00:35:52] we'd get.

[00:35:52] And that study came out with Forbes just a year or two ago that said, if you're using

[00:35:57] a credit card, you're spending between eight and 12% more than people who don't.

[00:36:02] Because you're trying to get those.

[00:36:04] You're trying to get those points.

[00:36:05] You're incentivized to spend.

[00:36:07] They're not on your side.

[00:36:08] And so we talked about it and we're like, you know what?

[00:36:10] Like I'll take an 8% cash back to be able to have visibility and not have to worry about

[00:36:16] overspending anymore.

[00:36:17] There's no credit card giving you 8% back.

[00:36:19] No, no.

[00:36:20] So it was an easy decision for us to try it out.

[00:36:22] And actually, Yana tried it out.

[00:36:24] And again, she wasn't the money nerd at the time.

[00:36:26] Look how, I mean, you totally are now.

[00:36:28] Totally.

[00:36:28] Totally are now.

[00:36:30] And it's because of Cube.

[00:36:31] I know that's crazy to say that, but I did not care about budgeting.

[00:36:36] I didn't care about being super collaborative.

[00:36:38] I mean, we were in the boat and we were doing it together and I was trying to be a good steward,

[00:36:42] but I wasn't enjoying it.

[00:36:43] I didn't have an emotional connection to the way that we were building.

[00:36:47] And this, it really gamified the way that we spend money and it made it fun.

[00:36:52] Yeah.

[00:36:52] And so I started using it first.

[00:36:55] Then we got the family plan and we started using it together.

[00:36:57] I know that there's a lot of other apps out there and we looked at a couple, but this

[00:37:02] one was different in that I had real-time visibility.

[00:37:04] It was immediately connected to the card.

[00:37:07] We didn't have to go back and have another budget meeting later, which for me, I don't

[00:37:10] want to have to sit down with a retroactive budget.

[00:37:12] So yeah.

[00:37:13] We were able to, we're able to pull up our grocery cube, spend in the grocery line and

[00:37:19] walk out the door holding grocery bags and never having to think about it again.

[00:37:23] Yeah.

[00:37:24] Yeah.

[00:37:25] Wow.

[00:37:25] That's fantastic.

[00:37:26] And I just wanted to make sure to add that there, that people, when they see that 100,

[00:37:30] 120, however much it is a year for whatever app they're looking at, the savings you can

[00:37:35] get on the backside of that when you're using it well and it's helping you is enormous.

[00:37:39] It's going to be more than you're going to spend plain and simple.

[00:37:41] And let's say there's a couple, there's a young couple listening to this.

[00:37:44] You talked about how their Coast Find number is so small.

[00:37:47] And I just want to kind of give people some primers to start this conversation.

[00:37:51] How can a couple actually get this conversation going?

[00:37:53] It depends on the couple.

[00:37:56] There's always, like we mentioned before, the one person who maybe is the spender and

[00:38:00] more of the free spirit, doesn't want to have that conversation with money or maybe isn't

[00:38:04] different.

[00:38:04] And then there's the person who's the nerd and is really excited and wants to have that

[00:38:07] conversation.

[00:38:09] What Matt did is he kind of gently wore me down over time and exposed me to some of these

[00:38:14] concepts in ways that I could learn it at my own pace instead of forcing me to the table.

[00:38:22] I think trying to be open-minded and recognizing that having financial conversations with your

[00:38:28] spouse is a requirement for adulthood.

[00:38:32] Once you get to your point, you're not having as many of those.

[00:38:34] No, but early on in our marriage, we were doing it, but I was kind of checking it off a box.

[00:38:39] Like, okay, we're adults.

[00:38:40] We got to sit down.

[00:38:41] We got to do the budget.

[00:38:41] So I think being open to the truth that those money talks and those budgeting meetings, it's

[00:38:51] not a one-time thing.

[00:38:52] It should be often.

[00:38:54] And the more often you do it, the easier it is to do it.

[00:38:58] And going into it of the mindset that it's you and your partner doing it together and

[00:39:05] being a team is really the most important piece of building that kind of healthy communication

[00:39:12] around money.

[00:39:13] It's really easy to get angry or upset or frustrated when you're having these conversations,

[00:39:20] especially in a new partnership when you're still kind of learning about each other.

[00:39:25] Take a break if you need to, but come at it as a partnership.

[00:39:31] Yeah, I'll add to that because for a long time, since I was so involved in the financial

[00:39:37] community, I felt like my way was the right way.

[00:39:40] And it was just to pinch those pennies.

[00:39:42] But it wasn't until a couple of years after we started dating or maybe we were together

[00:39:47] back then where we sat down together and it's like, you know what?

[00:39:49] We haven't taken a family trip in a very long time.

[00:39:51] Why aren't we prioritizing the kids?

[00:39:53] So it took a conversation, a collaborative conversation to sit down and realize that we

[00:39:58] need to be able to stop and smell the roses.

[00:39:59] We need to enjoy the journey.

[00:40:02] Otherwise, we're going to burn out all the faster.

[00:40:04] We sat down.

[00:40:05] I started sending podcast links to Yana as we're going on road trips or something.

[00:40:10] We might listen to one episode, not more than that, just to prime that conversation for us

[00:40:15] to have later on.

[00:40:16] We involve the kids a little bit because we want to teach them all about this.

[00:40:21] We recommend listening to some of these podcasts and just being exposed to the lingo.

[00:40:26] So setting up yourself for success with your partnership and making sure you're having those

[00:40:31] regular healthy communications around money, making sure that you're setting up tools and

[00:40:36] a flow for your money that makes sense for your own personal finance game.

[00:40:40] And then also building community.

[00:40:42] That was another big piece of the puzzle for us, recognizing that we're not in an echo chamber

[00:40:47] about this and we're not crazy for building our lives this way.

[00:40:50] And there are other people that we can talk to about money and it's not taboo.

[00:40:54] You know, the only people that we really talk to about this are in the five space because

[00:40:59] other people either don't want to talk about it or don't understand.

[00:41:03] And we don't think we're nuts.

[00:41:04] We don't we don't really bring it up.

[00:41:06] We are probably all a little nuts in some way.

[00:41:08] Yeah, we know so many people who ignore this conversation with their spouse or they'll try

[00:41:14] and force it.

[00:41:15] And then there's this animosity that builds where they'll both just put their heads in

[00:41:18] the sand and they'll ignore it until it's too late, you know, and then you're you're

[00:41:23] looking up and you're, you know, in your 40s or 50s and you don't have enough and you're

[00:41:26] going to be working until you're 70 or 80.

[00:41:28] You can't ignore this.

[00:41:29] The earlier you start, the better.

[00:41:30] So might as well make it fun and learn as much as you can.

[00:41:33] Yeah, speaking of other podcasts to share to people, let's wrap up here by giving you

[00:41:37] guys a moment to talk about what you're doing.

[00:41:39] Where can people find you or learn more about your show?

[00:41:41] Yeah.

[00:41:42] So we do have our own podcast.

[00:41:44] It's called Coastify Couple.

[00:41:45] We are on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, iTunes and everywhere else you listen to podcasts.

[00:41:51] And we dive into all things Coastify and financial independence.

[00:41:56] It's very much focused on healthy communication around money, relationships, our strategies.

[00:42:03] We also interview people that we're interested in learning from.

[00:42:06] It's a space for us to continue to build community around what we're doing and share what's worked

[00:42:12] for us.

[00:42:13] I really hope that these types of conversations reach those people who are interested in FI

[00:42:22] or just getting started and trying to learn a little bit more about it.

[00:42:27] It's a good place to start.

[00:42:28] There are so many instances in my life where I just felt kind of hopeless until I found this.

[00:42:34] I went down the rabbit hole of all the books, blogs and the Mr. Money Mustaches and things.

[00:42:39] And so finding the outlet to be able to have these conversations and just be exposed to some

[00:42:46] of the terms, very helpful.

[00:42:49] We also have our website, the CoastifyCouple.com where we will eventually have community and

[00:42:55] have a blog and sorts and we're building that and that's been enjoyable.

[00:42:58] Fantastic.

[00:42:59] Yeah, that's a great, that's awesome.

[00:43:01] And so if someone really liked what they heard today, go check out your guys' show,

[00:43:04] The Coastify Couple.

[00:43:05] My last question here that I'd like to ask everyone, some sort of a similar question in this vein.

[00:43:09] What's one thing you wish you would have understood about Coastify when you were in your

[00:43:13] early 20s?

[00:43:16] Wow.

[00:43:16] I think just understanding that you have complete control over it if you learn it and learn how

[00:43:26] to play the game.

[00:43:28] Yeah, I love that.

[00:43:29] I must have changed majors in college at least three or four times because I didn't know what

[00:43:34] I wanted to do and I felt like I was making the wrong decision, setting myself on this path

[00:43:39] that I couldn't change.

[00:43:40] So to your point, Yana, knowing that you have the ability to pivot and it's just a math game,

[00:43:49] that gives you freedom, right?

[00:43:51] Spend the time to explore things that you like or interested in, but be on that path to where

[00:43:59] you can max out those retirement accounts.

[00:44:01] And as long as you're doing that for five or 10 years, you then have the rest of your

[00:44:06] life to explore other passions.

[00:44:09] And it's okay to change your mind.

[00:44:11] I burned out.

[00:44:13] I recommend everyone listening, don't get to the point that I did where it feels like

[00:44:18] it's hopeless.

[00:44:20] Just explore other options.

[00:44:22] Stay out of debt.

[00:44:23] Stay out of debt.

[00:44:23] Yeah.

[00:44:24] There we go.

[00:44:25] We'll leave it on that.

[00:44:25] Stay out of debt.

[00:44:26] That is a fantastic place to leave it.

[00:44:28] This has been a wonderful podcast interview.

[00:44:30] I recently broke my record a couple of weeks ago for the longest interview and then we just

[00:44:33] broke it again today.

[00:44:34] Oh, yeah.

[00:44:34] Hey.

[00:44:35] Thank you both for coming on.

[00:44:36] No, that was a fast one.

[00:44:38] I always say these long ones go so fast because that means you're having fun, right?

[00:44:41] This has been a great conversation.

[00:44:43] So thank you both for coming on the show and everyone be sure to go and check out the Coast

[00:44:46] Fight Couple podcast.

[00:44:47] Yeah.

[00:44:48] Thank you all.

[00:44:48] Thank you.

[00:44:58] Thank you so much to Matt and Yana for coming on today's episode.

[00:45:01] Wasn't that a fantastic interview?

[00:45:03] Be sure to go over and check out their podcast, the Coast Fight Couple show.

[00:45:06] First, I want to define what are the steps of financial independence.

[00:45:09] Before we really get into all the money talking points I mentioned earlier, let's read some

[00:45:13] quick definitions so that you have an introduction of each step so that you know that going forward.

[00:45:18] Well, Coast Fight.

[00:45:20] Coast Fight is the point where you have saved enough to get to financial independence by

[00:45:23] the time you reach a traditional retirement age through compound interest alone.

[00:45:27] Once you reach this point, you don't have to make any further contributions to your

[00:45:31] retirement portfolio and you could stop saving altogether as long as you don't touch

[00:45:35] your investments.

[00:45:36] Your portfolio will generate enough income in retirement for you thanks to the magic of

[00:45:41] compound interest.

[00:45:42] And then what is BaristaFi?

[00:45:44] BaristaFi is a financial independence strategy where your living expenses are covered by a

[00:45:48] combination of passive investment income so you are withdrawing a little bit from your

[00:45:53] investment portfolio combined with part-time work.

[00:45:56] With BaristaFi, you don't save and invest until you reach that massive FIRE number.

[00:46:00] Instead, once your portfolio has reached a certain size, you draw some passive income from

[00:46:05] your investments.

[00:46:06] And then in order to cover the shortfall, you will likely have to work a low stress or

[00:46:11] a part-time job.

[00:46:12] And that's where the flexibility and interest of BaristaFi comes in is working that low stress

[00:46:16] part-time job in order to just cover those ongoing expenses or those extra things that

[00:46:21] you want to pay for.

[00:46:22] Whereas your investment income is working for you with just a little bit of that being

[00:46:27] covered by part-time work.

[00:46:28] What is LeanFi?

[00:46:29] Well, LeanFi is living on a very lean budget and simple lifestyle.

[00:46:33] Now, LeanFi means your investments only cover really your basic expenses and that you don't

[00:46:38] really have much more you're spending on.

[00:46:40] You don't have much wiggle room for luxuries.

[00:46:42] It's honestly much harder to have children or live in a major city if you're trying to

[00:46:45] do LeanFi.

[00:46:46] But people who are LeanFi often supplement their retirement with some extra active income

[00:46:51] sources, similar to BaristaFi.

[00:46:53] But LeanFi, the whole point is really living on very little or having a lean budget.

[00:46:58] Now, what is FIRE?

[00:46:59] This is the typical retire early when you hit 25 times your annual expenses.

[00:47:04] But go back and listen to episode 157 with Tim and Gwen Joyner for an introduction to FIRE.

[00:47:09] But there's a lot of content out there.

[00:47:11] And today we're talking about Coast FIRE, so I'm not going to talk a whole lot about

[00:47:14] traditional FIRE.

[00:47:15] But there's also one step above that called chubby and then fat FIRE.

[00:47:19] And these are having high income from your investment portfolio.

[00:47:23] Think high six figures.

[00:47:24] This can require you to have 3.75 million or more invested to live off of based on the 4%

[00:47:31] rule.

[00:47:31] It means you're living a very comfortable FIRE lifestyle.

[00:47:34] So make sure you're considering that.

[00:47:36] If you want to live a comfortable, high earning lifestyle, you may need to go for chubby or

[00:47:40] fat FIRE.

[00:47:40] But go check out the Staircase to Financial Independence from the Coast Fight Couple.

[00:47:44] They did an episode on it.

[00:47:45] The link is in the show notes for that episode to go watch it on YouTube.

[00:47:48] So go check out their show and learn a little bit more about each staircase.

[00:47:51] But let's get into the money talking points today.

[00:47:54] The first one is, what would it mean for you to be able to choose to work?

[00:47:57] Well, it would mean a ton to me to have the freedom over your choice of work because you

[00:48:01] don't have to work the job that is making you the most money because your future is already

[00:48:05] accounted for with Coast Fight.

[00:48:06] That is a huge deal.

[00:48:08] Even just budgeting off last month's income and having some sort of an emergency fund

[00:48:11] gives you some semblance of balance and of the ability and freedom that Coast Fight

[00:48:16] can offer.

[00:48:16] Think about it when you're living paycheck to paycheck.

[00:48:18] Like you have to have to go to work every day and not working means not getting paid,

[00:48:25] which means not being able to live your life.

[00:48:27] But when you have a good emergency fund, you don't have to worry so much about job loss

[00:48:31] or taking a day off without PTO or something like that.

[00:48:33] It gives you just a little bit more choice.

[00:48:35] Now imagine your future expenses are taken care of when it comes to retirement.

[00:48:39] And you know how everyone says save 10, 15, 20, 25% towards retirement.

[00:48:44] Well, imagine that that percentage is now available for you to live your life and enjoy it now.

[00:48:48] Do you know how many people are living and enjoying their life now because they're not

[00:48:51] saving for retirement?

[00:48:53] Not a whole lot.

[00:48:54] You would get to do that because you're already done saving for retirement.

[00:48:58] It makes your life so much easier.

[00:49:00] And that's why it's such an appealing option to me.

[00:49:01] It would mean you would be able to choose where you want to work.

[00:49:05] Where do you want to work?

[00:49:06] What do you want to be able to do with your work day?

[00:49:08] Send me an email and let me know.

[00:49:09] I would love to hear from you about how CoastFi could help you with some flexibility

[00:49:14] towards understanding where you want to work.

[00:49:17] But think about that picture I just painted.

[00:49:18] You have the choice.

[00:49:20] You don't have to work in that $150,000 a year job that's high stress because you need

[00:49:25] to save for retirement because that's all done when you hit CoastFi.

[00:49:28] Now you can go work that $60,000 a year job or 80 or however much you need to cover your

[00:49:34] annual expenses because your retirement is taken care of.

[00:49:38] So keep that in mind.

[00:49:39] Well, let's move on to the second money talking point is what would you like to prioritize

[00:49:43] instead of investing for the future?

[00:49:45] This is a question that I want you to talk about when you share this episode with a friend

[00:49:48] to be able to envision a post-CoastFi life.

[00:49:51] What would you do once you reach CoastFi?

[00:49:54] For my wife and I, it's likely going to be that we can work less.

[00:49:57] I think we would end up taking that 15 to 20% we're saving for retirement and reducing

[00:50:02] our hours by that amount because we don't spend a ton of money.

[00:50:05] So we probably don't need super high paying jobs or anything like that.

[00:50:08] We enjoy being able to travel and spend time with each other.

[00:50:10] So we would like to convert that percentage we're saving towards retirement into time that

[00:50:15] we get back.

[00:50:16] We don't do a whole lot of spending otherwise.

[00:50:18] So our expenses are pretty low.

[00:50:20] So it would allow us to take less work.

[00:50:22] We would be able to take more time off or we could keep working the same and spend more

[00:50:26] money on here and now.

[00:50:27] But think about this.

[00:50:28] You're working the same job.

[00:50:29] You're currently contributing, say 5% to your 401k and investing other money into an IRA.

[00:50:34] Now you reach CoastFi.

[00:50:35] After increasing those amounts for a season to get to CoastFi, not only can you bring your

[00:50:40] savings back down from that extra high amount.

[00:50:42] So instead of doing 20% near a 401k, you're now doing 5, but you can even go below that.

[00:50:47] You can bring it back down to nothing for retirement because of CoastFi.

[00:50:51] So now you have even more money available now that you've hit this mark.

[00:50:54] This can directly translate into less work or a bigger lifestyle.

[00:50:57] But of course, be careful when I say bigger lifestyle.

[00:50:59] Do not let lifestyle creep creep in here because that can take you off course of CoastFi.

[00:51:04] And then you're suddenly needing to invest more money because your lifestyle's ballooned

[00:51:08] and gotten so big.

[00:51:08] So do be careful there.

[00:51:09] It would really suck to become CoastFi and then allow your spending to increase.

[00:51:13] And then your nest egg can't support the spending that you want to do when you're retired.

[00:51:16] So you do have to be really careful.

[00:51:18] Like Yana was saying, she likes to crunch the numbers and check it and make sure they're

[00:51:21] on path quite often.

[00:51:23] So what would you like to prioritize once you reach CoastFi?

[00:51:26] Do you want to work less?

[00:51:29] Maybe you have a season where you spend a little bit more knowing that that's going

[00:51:32] to come back down once you do reach retirement.

[00:51:34] Think about it.

[00:51:35] There's a lot of great options out there.

[00:51:36] And be sure to share today's episode with a friend.

[00:51:38] Go and talk about the second money talking point because I think this one is a fun one.

[00:51:41] But you also might have to teach them a little bit about CoastFi.

[00:51:44] So that's why you want to share them this episode so that they have that introduction.

[00:51:47] And then you guys can really engage in a fun CoastFi conversation.

[00:51:51] The third money talking point is what steps do you need to take to get started with CoastFi?

[00:51:56] Do you need to start tracking your expenses?

[00:51:58] Please go back in the episode and listen to Yana talk about how important tracking your

[00:52:02] expenses is if you need a reminder about that.

[00:52:04] I've been talking about that for longer than this podcast has been around.

[00:52:07] And I'm always preaching to track, track, track, and track some more.

[00:52:11] Having that data available is going to naturally help you figure out what you need to do to

[00:52:15] get and stay on track with your plan.

[00:52:17] For my wife and I, one of our goals is talking about and reaching for CoastFi.

[00:52:21] And it's going to be to envision a future where we are CoastFi because I think visualizing is going

[00:52:26] to be huge for us.

[00:52:27] And it's going to help us both get over the mental hurdles that we have for setting a more rigid,

[00:52:31] longer term plan like this.

[00:52:33] This episode is going to come out likely just after my wife and I talk more in depth about

[00:52:37] this.

[00:52:38] So I would love to follow up with this on social media.

[00:52:41] So be sure to check out the show notes, find me on social media and give me a follow to see

[00:52:44] how my wife and I do as we're talking about CoastFi more.

[00:52:47] Like I mentioned, my wife and I are actually going on Matt and Yana's podcast, The CoastFi

[00:52:51] Couple, to talk about our story a little bit.

[00:52:53] So that's going to be a great place to kind of hear how we work through this CoastFi discussion

[00:52:58] and talking about it more into our future.

[00:53:01] So go ahead and check out The CoastFi Couple podcast.

[00:53:03] But what steps do you need to take to get started with CoastFi?

[00:53:06] Track and envision it.

[00:53:07] If you're not already on the path, I would say make sure your expenses are being tracked because

[00:53:11] you need to know how much you're spending.

[00:53:13] That's basic.

[00:53:14] You need to also know your income.

[00:53:16] And I'm telling you that you need to know these things, but they're going to be super

[00:53:19] helpful for you.

[00:53:19] So please give them a shot, especially tracking, because you can choose what you want to do

[00:53:23] with your money.

[00:53:24] But I think everyone needs to track it in order to understand what they actually can do with

[00:53:28] their money.

[00:53:29] So make sure you're tracking your expenses and then have a vision meeting, have a dream

[00:53:33] meeting, especially if you're married.

[00:53:34] If you're not married, then set up a free money talk.

[00:53:37] Go over to moneytalkwithscatterfleming.com slash chat.

[00:53:39] And I'd love to talk about and envision this with you and talk through these money talking

[00:53:43] points.

[00:53:43] But I really think tracking is going to be a huge thing to help anyone get started.

[00:53:47] But that does it for today's episode.

[00:53:49] This was a fantastic one.

[00:53:50] And I know everyone listening had to take something away from it because it was a really good episode

[00:53:54] about a certain area of fire that I think is huge for really anyone to attain because it's

[00:53:59] so much easier than traditional fire.

[00:54:01] And I really hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did.

[00:54:04] A huge thank you to Matt and Yana from the Coast Fi Couple Podcast for sharing their inspiring

[00:54:08] journey and breaking down what Coast Fi is all about.

[00:54:11] They've shown us how this middle step towards financial independence can provide so much

[00:54:15] flexibility, reduce stress, and let you focus on living a life that aligns with your values.

[00:54:20] If you're looking to simplify your finances and prioritize what matters most, start by tracking

[00:54:24] your expenses, communicating with your partner, and dreaming big.

[00:54:27] Don't forget to check out the Coast Fi Couple Podcast for more tips and real life strategies.

[00:54:32] My wife and I are going on their show as I've mentioned.

[00:54:34] So head over there and listen to Rebecca and I talk about our financial relationship

[00:54:37] and money journey.

[00:54:38] Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend.

[00:54:41] The podcast is doing better than ever and I want to keep that momentum going.

[00:54:45] And that's thanks to all of the great listeners like each of you.

[00:54:47] Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Money Talk with Skylar Fleming.

[00:54:51] I'm your host, Skylar Fleming.

[00:54:52] Have a great week.

[00:54:53] Thank you for listening to Money Talk with Skylar Fleming.

[00:54:56] This show is provided for informational and entertainment purposes and may not be specific

[00:55:01] to your unique situation.

[00:55:02] Please be sure to do additional research before making any financial decisions.