Rethinking Debt, Habits, and Money Stress

In this episode of the Dr. Sev Talks Money podcast, Dr. Sev and Andy Bennetts, financial empowerment coach, explore why many people struggle with money even when budgeting, paying bills, and trying to do everything right.

They break down common money beliefs that may be holding us back, the emotional and mental weight of debt, and how to move from financial overwhelm to financial clarity with simple, practical changes.

They also unpack the emotional and spiritual impact of debt, question popular financial advice like “never use a credit card,” and discuss how the banking system profits when we don’t fully understand how money works.

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Join Dr. Sev’s Wealth Warriors Community for more financial discussions and insights (FREE to join): https://www.skool.com/wealth-warriors-community-1025/about

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The Dr. Sev Talks Money podcast’s mission is to empower women to approach money confidently, reframe their financial habits, and build a future where their money is a tool for opportunity and security.

Through Dr. Sev Talks Money YouTube channel and Podcast, I provide actionable advice and inspiration to help you achieve financial freedom. Join me for one-on-one coaching, group sessions, workshops, or speaking engagements as we journey to financial empowerment together. It’s never too late to begin again—let’s make it happen!

Here is one way you can support the Dr. Sev Talks Money podcast and YouTube channel:

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/DrSevTalksMoney

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Andy’s information:

If today’s conversation inspired you to take charge of your finances, visit EmpowerWealth.Solutions and click Get Started. There you’ll find free tools, resources, and a way to book your own ‘Debt Behind Me, Wealth Before Me’ session. Because debt isn’t a life sentence — you really can change your financial future.

Andy Bennetts is a former educator turned financial empowerment coach and the founder of Empowered Wealth Solutions, partnered with United Financial Freedom. He is known for helping families break free from long-term debt, rethink traditional banking math, and build financial futures rooted in faith, stewardship, and freedom.

Through his work, Andy helps families eliminate debt years faster, including their mortgage, save tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary interest, and replace financial stress with clarity, peace, and long-term vision using a proven, math-based financial strategy.

Website: https://empowerwealth.solutions/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Empower-Wealth-2024

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andy.bennetts.2024

Transcript

Have you ever felt like you were doing all the right things with your money, budgeting, paying your bills, maybe even investing, and yet it still feels heavier than it should, not because you’re doing anything wrong, but because money isn’t just about numbers, it’s about how we think, what we believe, and how we move.

Hey, hey, hey, Savvy Squad. Welcome to Dr. Sev Talks Money. I am your host, Dr. Sev, personal finance educator and coach who rebuilt my credit from the five hundreds to eight 50 and paid off 39,000 in debt after a late life divorce. And today we’re having a conversation about what it really takes, to move from financial stress to financial clarity in a way that feels sustainable.

I’m joined by Andy Bennetts. A financial empowerment, coach and founder of Empowered Wealth Solutions, Andy helps families focus on clarity, stewardship, and building a financial future that supports the life they want. Andy, welcome to the show, Dr. Sev, thank you so much. I’m so excited for our conversation.

Appreciate the opportunity. Yes, I’m excited to have you here. Now I’d like to start off with an icebreaker. Okay. So an icebreaker can bring some levity into the conversation. Alright, so what’s one money decision you made in your twenties or thirties that makes you either laugh or cringe now?

Oh goodness. Um, probably cringe. Um, my wife and I have had many conversations about, um, this one decision that just continues to. Kind of eat away at things. And that was to, uh, to buy a timeshare. Um, ah, at, at the moment it made perfect sense. And have we traveled more because of it? Yes. Have we been able to do some things?

Yes. Was it the smartest financial decision? No. So that, that’s just one that, that is, um, that one’s been kind of a tough pill to swallow. We’re, we’re at the very, very back end of that, where things are, you know, pretty much paid off. So now we’re just paying the, the, uh, the yearly fees, which again, that’s, that’s questionable.

But I would say that was the one that, um. In hindsight, we probably would’ve done things a little bit differently. That that one makes me cringe a little bit still to this day. Yeah. We all have those cringe moments. Yes. Yes we do. And the beautiful thing about it is it’s data that we can learn from.

Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah. One, one of my favorite things to do is just, uh, as a, as a parent, right, is to kind of. Try to share those lessons with my boys and say, you know, Hey, let’s, I tried this, it did not work out well. Let’s, let’s have you go a different route. So I’m, I’m hoping to impart some of that knowledge on them.

Yeah. Yeah. So you talk about how people can be doing everything right. Financially and still struggle. Yep. What are some of those right things that people are doing that might actually be slowing them down? Yeah. And, and I don’t even think that it’s, it’s their fault. And I think that’s kind of the, one of the biggest eye-opening moments that I had on this is that, um, people don’t know what they don’t know.

Right. And, and yes. Um, it’s kind of the pay and pray method, right? I mean, we’re are we paying our bills on time? Yes. Are we making our, our minimums? Yes. Um, but yet it feels like we’re running on a, um. On a treadmill, right? We’re not getting ahead. Right? Why is this, why is this balance almost never going down or whatever.

That’s, that was the aha moment is like, okay, I felt that way, but I didn’t know that there was a another way, um, to do that much, much faster, to relieve that stress and to feel like you’re actually making some progress and giving some hope. I think that’s probably of all the things that I get to do, working with people, uh, on their money and just educating.

’cause I, my, my heart is an educator is, um. Giving people hope that this is not the reality they have to live with The rest of their life is probably my absolute favorite aspect of what I do. Yeah. And, and hope makes the heart happy. Makes the heart glad. Yes.

When our minds are clouded with uncertainty. Right. And, fear. We tend to make decision. Emotionally that sometimes doesn’t serve us. Absolutely. So I love that you are giving people hope so that now there’s a pathway that they can see. You know what, there’s hope. Let me consider some options here.

Correct, correct, correct. And I mean, to that point, um. We as humans are emotional creatures. Yes. And we make, and we sometimes make very poor choices, like you said, because we are in that moment of stress, that moment of, uh, desperation. So we are, are making choices that are not, um. Do not benefit us in the long run, but we can’t see past our current situation to be able to see the impact.

And I think that’s another thing that I love about, uh, the system that we use, is it shows what impact current decisions make on the future. There’s a lot of budgeting apps tells you, you know, what to spend now and what we spend in the past. But what we get to do is we get to say, Hey, if you make this investment now, or you buy this car now, what is that going to do to your future?

How, how, how far away does that push your, your debt-free date? Um, could you invest in a property? I mean, all these options that people have spinning around in their head, that’s great, but they don’t know what, uh, impact that’s going to make on their future, and our system does that. So it’s pretty incredible.

So let’s zoom out a bit. Um, there are common money beliefs that, in the financial rules that the gurus always put out, and I’m not a fan of those either. Okay. Um, and there are some of those rules that people follow, they sound right.

Mm-hmm. But may not actually be serving them well. Correct. What are some of those? Um. Well, I think we are all on the same page as far as, as kind of our, um, maybe not. I wouldn’t say hate, but we’re, we’re not, we’re not in love with some of the, uh, the, the models and the, the teachings of some very, very popular people.

Um, I think Dave Ramsey, I know that he’s had very great success with some people, um, but I feel like some of his, um, just hard stances are, are not very realistic with, with life today, right? I mean, yes, debt, debt is a reality that, that people have, that are going to face. Um, it doesn’t mean that you. Go into it willy-nilly and, and without thoughtful process of this, there is a such thing as a good debt and bad debt.

Um, but, you know, never using a credit card ever I think is not realistic. And I think it honestly kind of demeans, I mean, it, it, what it feels like from, from someone, you know, kind of hearing these words is like you as, as you know, quote unquote, expert. Feel like, um, us people are so dumb that we cannot control our finances, cannot have some self-control, right. To not spin things when we, when we’re not supposed to. Right. So I think that there’s, there’s one of them, there are other, um, methods out there that are good, but I do think that they get probably a, um, they are put up on this pedestal. Like, oh, this is the gold standard.

There’s, if you do this, then everything’s gonna work out. And I think, um, we, we often relate things to a GPS. Right. So you. If you had to drive all the way across, you live in Georgia, I live in Colorado. If I was going to drive to you, could I find my way on a paper map? I could, right? But what happens when there’s construction?

What happens when there’s weather? What happens when there’s road closures? Whatever the case is, right? Um, a paper map would not give you the most UpToDate, um, most efficient route. And when something changes, you’re gonna have to go back and kind of go. And, and reroute to a different spot. Whereas a GPS is gonna give you live up-to-date things.

And I think a lot of people, um, follow methods and strategies and people that they heard a long, long time ago, kind of like a paper map and just think that that is the gold standard of everything. Not understanding that there is technology out there that can be with them in their pocket at all times.

Updating and kind of rolling with the punches of what life throws at ’em. So I, I think that’s a, just a smarter way to kind of think about money. Yeah. I love that map analogy and I’m an an analogy girl. I love analogy because I just think relating things to real life people can get a, make a connection.

Correct. Especially when it comes to money. So this is a good place for me to invite you guys to my ecosystem and then we’ll be right back. Hey friends, quick pause. If you’re enjoying today’s episode, the best way to support the show is to share it and leave a rating on your favorite podcast platform, and you know it.

Five is our favorite number, and if you’re watching on YouTube, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share. Thank you.

Okay, so. Debt isn’t just financial, it’s spiritual and emotional. Mm-hmm. That is a powerful statement. Can you walk us through what that really means for someone who feels stuck or overwhelmed right now? Right. So, um, my, um, my upbringing was, was in the Christian faith. So I, I relate a lot of things to just Christian faith.

You mentioned just a second ago, um, how you like analogies and you like stories and. The best teacher ever Jesus, right. Told, told things in, in analogies and stories. So I, I like to, uh, bring in stories as much as possible. So, just kind of a side note, but, um, the idea of, of it being a spiritual battle as well, um, scripture’s very clear that, that, you know, God wants us to steward our money.

In a wise manner. Right. And, and a wise manner is not being leveraged so much that we are paying more to our creditors than we are to our future. And I think a lot of Americans find themselves in that situation where they are, you know, if you start looking at your interest payments or your, your loan disclosure documents, you are paying so much money to creditors.

Is that really the best steward of our money? I, I, I would say it is not. Right. So there’s, there’s. Biblical passages that say, do not be in debt to any other other person. Right. So there’s, there’s a biblical truth right there. And then there’s the emotional aspect. I mean, we, we know how. Impactful. Um, money, stress is on, on, uh, relationships, on marriages.

Um, it, it’s just, it’s, I think it’s like number one or number two. Cause of divorce is money issues and money arguments and that kind of stuff. So there’s that side of it. And then I know that there’s a lot of. Um, wonderful people listening to this episode right now that have dreams. Maybe God put that on their heart that they want to, to give more to this ministry, or they want to go do this thing, or they want to bless this family or go on this mission trip.

Something to that effect. The, the sad reality is that there’s a lot of people that are not able to do what it is that God has put on their heart just because they don’t have the funds to do that. So, uh, I think another thing that I, I often, uh, end up talking to people about is people misquote the Bible.

They say money is the root of evil. Yeah. That’s not what it says, right? It’s the, the love of money is the root of all evil. So if you are putting the love of money and the pursuit of money above everything, you’re stepping on people, you’re doing this kind of stuff that is evil, right?

But having money to bless others and to do things that, that God would honor, that that’s what, that’s what it’s for, right? Use it as a tool to, um, pour out, you know, whatever it is that God has put on your heart. That’s how I see it. Yeah. And I would, that, that is such an off misquoted, uh, scripture when people want to, and especially those with poverty mindsets.

Yes. Who just want to say, oh, you don’t need all that. Mm-hmm. Well, uh, you might not need all that, but I do because then I’m able to be a blessing to others. Right. And so I’m not going after It’s not. When I pursue my goals, it’s not for love of money, right? It’s so that I can be a blessing and you know, there are more scriptures around money than in the Bible than any other scripture, even salvation, right?

So, and there’s no reason for that because He knew we were gonna mis misconstrue, right? How we look at money and what the value it is and how we’re supposed to use it in this world. So a lot of people are feeling exhausted by what’s going on in the economy, what’s going on in the world, what’s one shift either in mindset or strategy that can help someone.

Move from financial stress to financial clarity. Oh man. Do I just, are you only gonna gimme one? I’d love to share more. It’s hard, right? Because, um, you, you mentioned mindset is, is so important, right? I mean, and I’m sure you talked to, to many, many people that. You know, you can see the path in front of them, right?

You know, Joe and Joanne come to you and they say, Hey, here’s our situation. What can we do? And you’re like, oh, no problem. Do X, Y, and Z. And they’re like, oh, well we don’t wanna do X, Y, and Z. It’s like. Oh yeah. Well, okay, right. I guess you could do A, B, and C, but that’s not gonna be as impactful as X, Y, and Z.

So I would say to start there, um, I guess one, find somebody that you trust. I mean, I, I, there are, there are people out there that will take advantage and, and miss, um, misguide you for their own benefit. So definitely do your due diligence. Make sure that you feel comfortable talking to the person and that you trust that they have your best.

Interest at heart when they’re having a conversation with you. I’m, I have no doubt that, uh, people that work with you, Dr. Sev, feel that, right? They know that they can share these things that might be a little bit, um, uh, personal to them just because they know that you care specifically for them and that you want good things for them.

So, I, I try to do the same when I’m working with people. So, one, find the person that you can trust, I would say. The, the next one is, again, back to that mindset is have an, have an open mindset. You mentioned poverty mindset. If, if you are, um, if you come into conversations with, with the idea of lack and there’s not enough and we can’t pay for this and da da mm-hmm.

Um, that’s, that’s really hard for you, for you and I as experts, as coaches to, to battle through. Right? We can try to lead them on, on those things, but I would say you need to open your minds to, there are other ways, there are other strategies that are available. But you have to be open to hear them for any of those to land.

So I would say have an open mindset with somebody that you trust that there are other options and then, and then pursue those, that that make sense? I think those are a couple. Um, I can continue on. This is what I do. This is what you and I both do, so I, I don’t wanna continue blathering on, but I, I feel like those two are very important and everything else past that starts with those two.

Yeah. And if you have more to share, you know, hey, this is an open mic. Right. Okay. Um, because, because right now our people are, are struggling. Mm-hmm. People are struggling and if there are ways that we can enlighten them to open their minds, to provide ways for them to think about something a little differently, then we want to do that through these mediums because.

We want to be a blessing to people. We want them to understand that where you are today is not necessarily where you’re going to be tomorrow. Um, and there are ways out of it. And I said ways because sometimes we’re, we are focused on one way to do things because that’s how we, what we’ve been exposed to.

Right. But sometimes there are more ways that. We have never thought about. And that’s one of the reasons I do this show because I bring people on to expose us to different ways that we can look at, uh, money or we can look at our processes and not to create any kind of complexity, but what are some simple things that you can do?

’cause my people, the people who listen to my podcast, they’re not looking for complexity. They’re looking for. Help me think about this a different way, correct. A simpler way. Yep. Um, because I am open to hearing those things. Yes. So, yeah, if you have more, go ahead and share. Alright, here we go. I love it.

Just need needed to know who, who the audience was that we’re talking to, so, no, that’s perfect. Um, I, I, I’m gonna try to get it exactly right, but it’s a, a quote from, uh, atomic Habits. Mm. Love that book. It says, people do not rise to the level of their goals. They fall to the level of their systems. Mm. And that, that just hits me so, so hard because it’s like, you know, we can all say, Hey, I want to, you know, retire at this age, or I want to have this paid off, or we wanna have this much money in the bank.

It’s easy to say those things. Right. What are you doing strategically to, to reach those goals? Right. It’s great to have goals. I’m not saying don’t have goals, but you need to have systems and a plan in place. Otherwise, we’re just. Pray and pay, right? I mean that that’s, we talked about that at the very beginning.

If you follow, here’s another just little hard truth for you. If you follow the bank and the credit card systems plan for you, you will be in debt the rest of your life. That is a reality. They love that you are staying in debt because that just lines their pockets. That gives them brand new banks with marble floors.

That’s the reality. So we need to, um, I don’t know, remove ourselves from this reality of like, understand that bankers are nice people, but the banking system is not created with your best benefit at heart. Okay? So what can we do to find a system that uses the same? Strategies that banks do, but they do that in the idea of using it for your benefit, not theirs.

Right? That’s the system that we put in place that says, again, just like the GPS, Hey, we’re gonna move this money strategically to this spot because that’s gonna pay down the most interest. Hey, we’re gonna move this money over here ’cause that’s gonna gain interest. Right? There’s another one that I didn’t learn until like the last three or four years ago.

People have money sitting in savings account or checkings account, checking account, doing nothing. Yes. It’s literally just eroding, right? I just checked my son’s account and there was a, a fee, like a $2 and a $7 fee just because it was a below a certain thing. Like it’s literally just eroding, um, away.

Alternative plan, put it into a high yield savings account, right? Mm-hmm. There’s ones that, that are three and 4%, so that at least kind of keeps up with inflation at that point, so you’re not losing money, but, but the idea of having tens of thousands of dollars sitting in your checking account, hundreds of thousands even Exactly.

It’s doing absolutely no good and it’s just eroding. So. I don’t know, five or six different ways that you could Yeah. I had a client who had over a hundred thousand sitting in a 0.1 something percent account. Good. And when I tried to show her the numbers Right. She was hesitant to move it because she said the, well, the banker said, well, of course the banker said, of course they would.

’cause it’s good to keep your money at 0.1%. Mm-hmm. And then I can take that money and, and let lend it to Severine for a car. Yeah. For, you know, 8%. Yeah. Or for a mortgage for 7%. Yep. Or a credit card for 20 something percent, or you know, whatever. Exactly. So if, if they wanna keep that money in inside of their system.

Yeah. So they are not making even an effort to educate people. Or if they do, it’s more along the line of what benefits them. Correct. And so you heard in here, move that money out of that 0.1% account, put it into a high yield savings account. There are a lot of them out there. There’s Barclays Bank, there is Ally Bank, there is American Express there.

There are just a lot of them. Just do your research. Yep. And find. A high yield savings account. And it just means the yield or the the interest that you’re getting on your money is going to be higher than the typical bank, right? I mean, or the typical savings account. Correct. So let’s, let’s relate it back to, uh, a biblical principle, right?

Matthew 25 talks about the parable of the talents, right? The, the master goes away. And I thought it was very interesting. I, I just read a, um, a devotional on this the other day. It said that, um. The master gave the talents according to their skills or according to their gifts. Right? So it’s like mm-hmm.

God gives you more if you can, if you can handle more, which is a whole nother thing. We don’t have to, it’s not a preaching session, but I thought that was very interesting. So one got five, one got two, and one got one. Right. So what did the, the person with one do? Oh, I’m sorry. With five, they went and invested it.

They doubled the money. Same thing with two went out, invested it, doubled the money. It’s very interesting. And, and let’s, let’s take this to like current, like what would this look like if the parable of the talents was right now, it’s kind of what we just said, right? The parable of the one talent is somebody that, that what does they do?

They bury it, right? Either putting it in a checking account, leaving it as cash under your, uh, mattress. That is the, the, the modern term of burying your money. And what did the master do when he came back? He was angry. He was not happy. Right? He said, you wicked and lazy servant. At least you could have put it into now a high yield savings account where you could have earned some interest, right?

But you did nothing with that. You buried that account. So again, if we’re, I feel like Bible’s a pretty, um, good standard right? To kinda live from. Um, if we’re gonna take the same concepts from that, that’s exactly what it is. Having your money sitting there, doing nothing is like being the wicked, lazy servant.

That’s not being a good steward. Yeah. Yeah. And we, we have to make our money work for us the best way. ’cause our incomes are stagnant. So, and the cost of living is going up. So we have to be careful or be strategic in looking at what are some ways that I can make a little bit more money on the money that’s sitting there.

Yep. So let’s talk legacy. Legacy and stewardship. What would you say building wealth with intention actually look like? That’s a great question. Um. And, and it’s funny that you’re asking me now, not like a few months ago, ’cause I would’ve given you a very different answer. So that’s, that’s a lovely thing about, you know, being on podcasts and, and just, uh, here’s another little side note.

Continue to learn, right? There’s, there’s, yes. If you tried to, you know, encapsulate everything that you could possibly learn about money, you, you would never, it’s never ending, right? There’s always something to learn. So continue to learn, continue to grow. Continue to listen to Dr. Sev, ’cause I know she’s got good stuff.

So just a little freebie there. Um, but what I would’ve said a few months ago would be like, okay, so um, leverage your 401k your IRA, you know, do, do the, uh, the standard things of what you’re gonna do for your investment. And, um, take advantage of those. If, if a company’s gonna give you a match, take advantage.

That’s great. It’s not that, that’s, those are bad. And again, it’s kind of like varying degrees. I had somebody explain it to me that it’s like, um, Western medicine and Eastern medicine have very different ideas of how to, to tackle a problem. Sometimes one is more effective than the others. It’s not that one is right and wrong, it’s just a different way to look at it.

So I would say when it comes to legacy is be mindful of. The money going in and then how the money comes out. When the money comes out, what, what fees are related when you, when you have to pull that out. Right. Is there a, um. Either a surrender charge or do you lose money when you’re having to borrow against it?

Are we taxed on the front end or on the back end? Right. Yeah. The one thing that I, I thought was just brilliant, and I’m sure financial investors have have used this, um, for years, but I just recently came into it, is if you had the choice, um, as a farmer, we’re gonna pretend we’re all farmers at this point, and the government wanted to tax you, would you wanna be taxed on the seed or the harvest?

Good one, right? Good one. Oh my goodness. That was like that. That blew my mind when I heard that is like, oh my gosh. Of course I would wanna be taxed on the seed because that’s so much smaller. Yet most financial planners and investment plans right now have us, what we’re taxed on the harvest, right at the end.

We’re getting taxed on all of this yield that we’ve had for 20, 30 years. Um, and. This is another sad reality. There’s no guarantee that the tax rate is going to be what it is now, and I would say as. Times continue on and we have wars and rumors of wars and the government is what it is. There’s probably more tax that are gonna be coming out, not less.

Right? So we’re really kind of rolling the dice a little bit as to what the tax rate is gonna be. I know, I think it was in the seventies, it was like at 50%. Um, there was one time around World War I that it was at 90%, can you imagine surrendering 50 to 90% of your investment of your retirement account?

Because that’s what the government. Says they’re going to do at that point. Like, what are you gonna do? Right. So be mindful of, of, of how taxes work and, and when, when you’re getting taxed in the most strategic way to do that. That’s a long answer. Yeah. No, but that, that was very insightful because, uh, I know when I started my investment journey, I had no idea.

I did not think about tax expectations of, you know, what should I put in where, you know, when I’m making less money and my tax bracket is lower. Yeah. You know, what kind of strategy I should have versus when I’m making more right. And my tax bracket is higher, and then what are the implications for down the road when I pull it out?

Right? All those things are things I never thought about. Yep. So, so it’s, it is never nothing that we share is ever. Too long or too much. Mm-hmm. Because there’s always someone who needs that information. Yeah. And, and I always feel like if it was shared, it was supposed to be shared. Very good. Very good. I found something very interesting just a little while ago, probably in this whole, um, you know, re revelation of different things to, to look at with investments is the 401k was never designed.

To be an investment vehicle, like a retirement vehicle, sorry, an a retirement vehicle. It was created more as a, Hey, this is more advantageous to companies. So companies are like, Hey, let’s do this, and hey, we’ll, we’ll be so nice. We’ll actually match this. And we’re thinking, oh my gosh, this is wonderful.

Not coming, not thinking about the fact that what 4 0 1 Ks did is they basically eliminated your um. Your pensions. I mean, pensions are no longer a thing because that was guaranteed money that people had until they were 95 or whatever the case is. That’s more expensive to the companies. Why did those go away?

Because it’s not beneficial to the companies. So again, kind of hard truth, but that’s the reality of what’s going on that, that you just don’t hear of from your regular financial planner because again, they, they benefit from getting people into 4 0 1 Ks and IRAs and the different things like that. Yeah, always follow the money.

Yeah, it’s exactly. Always follow the money. Maybe you should start a podcast called, uh, Dr. Sev Talks Money. I dunno. So what would you want people to take away from our conversation today? Um, I would, I would challenge and, and hope for, for the people that are listening today is that, um, again, we kinda started with that idea, like, what’s the hope? If you are living right now with no hope of ever being debt free, I would say, again, back to the previous thing, find somebody that you trust.

I would love to, you know, earn your trust in that. Having a conversation, I know Dr. Sev has, has great conversations with people and just be open to different, hearing, different ideas of, of that not being a reality. Right. Um. I love what I do. I, I help people to say, Hey, here’s where we’re at, right? It’s the GPS analogy.

Again, we have to figure out where you’re at. I am in southwest Colorado. Here’s where I’m at. This is how much I owe. Here’s how much I make. Right? Here’s, here’s what my discretionary income, that’s like my gas, right? Here’s where we’re at, this is where I want to go. How do I get there? The fastest way. And what we can do in those conversations is we can say, here’s the bank’s plan, and here is our plan with the financial GPS.

Every time, if it’s a good fit, we are saving them at least 10 years of time and a hundred thousand dollars in interest. Uh, this is something my, my, um, the, the, the folks that I work with, I heard just right before I came on here, is interest is optional. That’s, that blew my mind. Interest is optional. It really just depends on how you’re paying it, how strategic you’re being, when you’re paying it, how much there’s so much going on, which is again, the idea that it’s nice to have.

Mathematical systems that are doing all that for us, because I’ve got a lot of things to do. I’m sure you do as well. So if we can trust that math is math for us and for our benefit, then I can kind of. Know, uh, and have some certainty and have some hope that, hey, I’m getting out of debt as quickly as I can.

I can see where I’m at, um, in the process. And, um, yeah, so I would say engage with, with, with myself, with Dr. Sev about how can I leverage and use my money in the most strategic way, be a good steward, uh, to make sure that I’m not giving away any more than I absolutely have to. Yeah. So are there any special programs or anything that you’re working on right now that you’d like s some support with?

Um, I don’t think that there’s probably very many people listening that are in my neck of the woods. I live in a very remote area in southwest Colorado. I’ve mentioned that just because I, I am doing some in-person workshops. I’m very, very excited. I’ve got two this month. Uh, the last one is, is a brand new one.

I’m calling it Empowered Stewardship. Thriving in today’s economy. Um, I cannot wait. I’m so excited to do that. I’ve got some special guests coming in right now. We’re doing that in person. Um, I would love to, in the very near future, be able to start putting those out as webinars because there’s millions of Americans that need to hear this message that there is a better way to get out of debt.

There’s a faster way. There’s a better way, a, a way to. Be a better steward of what God has given you. And we can partner with you lock arms and walk in in a proven way to, to help you get to that, that, uh, mission. So Empower Wealth Solutions. Thanks for sharing that. Um, that shows our podcast that we’ve been on some of the workshops.

It, it has ways to engage with me. Um, my initial meetings are just 30 minutes. I learn a little bit about you. We, uh, we talk about, um. It’s a good fit and what we can do to help you out. And then if, if not, I promise we will give you value even if it’s not something that we engage, um, past that first meeting.

But we’ll give you some, some new, new tips and tricks for sure. Yeah. Then again, um, I want to reiterate Andy’s website. It’s EmpowerWealth.Solutions and, as Andy said you can get to that website. You can find out more about all the things he’s working on, um, his podcast and how you can make an appointment with him to have that initial 30 minute, uh, discussion and then see if you wanna take it any further.

Great. Yeah. So Andy. Thank you so much for, uh, being on the Dr. Sev Talks Money podcast and for sharing your wisdom, uh, with us. Um, it has been my pleasure. And for those of you who are listening, if you take nothing else from this conversation, take this. Money isn’t always the more money isn’t always the solution.

Mm-hmm. And doing more isn’t always the answer. Mm. Sometimes it’s about stepping back. Asking is the way I’ve been taught to manage money, actually working for the life I want. Amen. Love it. That’s where the real shift happens, because society gives us messages and clues and cues that sometimes are not serving us.

Mm-hmm. So the real shift begins when we ask those questions. What you’re telling me sounds great, but does it fit my life and the life that I’m planning? So as you think about that, just know that we have you in mind. Mm-hmm. And we are thinking about how we can serve you so that you can weather the economy, whether it’s up or down.

Mm-hmm. So as always, until next time, take care of yourself and your money.

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Dr. Sev serves people who want to take control of their finances. She does this by providing a practical plan that’s tailored to their specific needs so they can reach their own financial goals.

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