THE Cambridge Connection - Episode 16

Ironically enough, at the same time, I do need home repairs. I’ve got some windows that are pretty much falling apart. And that I have to, I have to decide what’s more important at this point. I do have to set priorities. Working from home, it’s easier not to have to worry about having a vehicle so much as it is for having windows or shelter in the house.

So these are things that I’m just kind of, you know, in the back of my mind, something’s going to be done by the end of the year. Here comes Grandma again. She would say, if you can’t do the full payment, do something. Start with $5, start with $10, so you know you’re making some progress. Absolutely.

But it’s important to the listeners to know that we deal with debt and we deal with income and expenses. So my intention for this month of January is, number one, I’m going to redo my budget. I’m going to re-evaluate it. I’m going to journalize my expenses, which for the listeners, journalizing is basically where you track every dollar of income that comes in. Good for you.

That you’re spending on things. We all know energy costs have gone up. So that’s going to be fluctuating every month, have to be planned for that. So I’m totally redoing my budget and I’m going to be journalizing my spending so I can turn to February and have a plan into the summer. My car loan is almost paid off, so that’s one of my goals for the year.

I’m going to try to accelerate that and then I’m going to take my own advice. And you’re going to put the money away. And I’m going to put that money away into an account. And then this way, if a repair comes and I’m not ready to buy a car, because we know the car industry is all over the place now too, it’s difficult to get a vehicle, especially the one you want. You can walk onto a lot and if they have inventory, you might be able to walk away with one, but that money can also be used for maintenance and anything that comes up that my car needs.

So those are my intentions so far for 2022. Perfect. Sounds good. Well, good luck. Thank you.

Show preview and sponsor message

Good luck to you too. And I’m not going to talk about diet. No. I’m not going to talk about exercise. Who cares?

We’re going to talk about financial wellness. Right. And eat that piece of cake. Absolutely. So this is a great show.

We actually have a guest today. His name is Paul Kiley and he’s from Stacey Braun and Associates. Exciting. Good. Great.

Looking forward to that. So we’re going to be talking about new year, new intentions, how to get yourself financially well, some investing discussion. So that’s going to be fun. And we’re going to jump into our real people, real problems conversation, as well as share another Cambridge Credit success moment. So no matter where you are with your finances, this is going to be positive.

We’re going to go after it. We’re going to take a quick break and then we’re going to jump right in. This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection right here on WHMP. Hi everyone. Christopher Viale here.

As president of Cambridge Credit Counseling, I’m excited to share that we’ve just celebrated our 25th anniversary and through two major recessions and the pandemic, we’ve helped millions of consumers and families like yours regain control of their finances and pay down your debt safely and responsibly. My dedicated staff works so hard for our clients. Remember, the call is free. 1-800-CAMBRIDGE. Welcome back and Happy New Year, everyone.

Real people real problems conversation

This is The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie. And we’re going to start this year off 2022 with a real people, real problems conversation. Tina, what do you got? All right.

Today, we’re going to talk about an individual that came to our organization, Cambridge Credit Counseling, to pay off outstanding unsecured loans. Unfortunately, at the time, she had experienced substance abuse, had turned her life around after hitting a very rough patch previously, and she’s looking to get back on track financially. Unfortunately, because of her substance abuse issues, she did fall behind on her mortgage and she came to us and was wondering what is the best course to get back on track. Her source of income, she had net 484 twice a month, and she was also on Social Security. What is the best advice to get back on track first with the mortgage?

So Cambridge Credit Counseling provides renter’s assistance counseling, but they’re only able to do that in Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and California. gov and there’s an emergency rental assistance program that is available. So if you are behind on your rent or struggling with your rent payment, that’s another resource to help people to get back on their feet. Oh, perfect. Perfect.

So moving on, additionally, with the substance abuse, obviously it’s a very touchy subject, very sensitive subject. What would you recommend as far as treatment there? Well, you’ve got the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration at 1-877-726-4727. And like everything we’re talking about today, intentions. It’s never too late to get help.

It’s never too late if you’re struggling financially to reach out and get resources that can assist you. So what was the ending of this situation? Well, based on the financial information provided, the counselor was able to enroll them in a debt management plan. It was a recommended course of action. The gross income and the net income definitely allowed for a payment to be made towards the actual loans that were taken out during this difficult time that this consumer had.

And there was also enough left over at the end of the budget for savings, for actually putting money into savings, provided that they can stay on that intention of not going back to the substance abuse and keeping up with the help regularly. And you would imagine that a lot of, if you’re having debt problems, it’s probably very difficult. We talked with the Mental Health Association about the stress it puts on you. So it’s putting it all together. It’s putting together a game plan and goals.

And the most important thing from this story that you shared with me was even with the assistance, the budget’s still very tight. Absolutely. So the counseling and customer service that’s available to assist and coach along the way obviously is important. org, there’s a financial literacy section that is available with all kinds of great articles, one being if your credit is struggling, how are you going to reestablish it? org if you need some information on all tips on budgeting, anything that has to do with financial wellness, financial literacy.

They have a tremendous education portal and there’s no cost to that information. It is all available for print and download. And as a certified credit counselors, we are trained and aware to see the underlying problem of things. We may not be a drug counselor or a mental health counselor. However, we can definitely see where it ties into the financial aspects of things as well.

So you’re going to get the help hopefully all around when you give us a call. This is why we share real people, real problems to have this conversation, whether it be car accident, sickness, divorce, substance problem, mental problem, anything that has to do with life getting in the way. It’s an important conversation that we have with our listeners so that if they have family members or friends or even themselves that can resonate with these stories and know that help is available, it’s a truly incredible approach to let people know that help is available no matter what your situation is. Absolutely. Help is there.

Well, thanks again for sharing this story with us today, Tina Marie. It’s really encouraging to hear stories where people were struggling and they’re turning themselves around. So thank you so much. My pleasure. All right.

Banter before the guest interview

We’re going to take a quick break. We’ll be right back. This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection. You know, Gordie, I was thinking now that it’s just you and me hosting The Cambridge Connection each week, we’re sort of like, I don’t know, one of those famous radio teams. You know who I mean.

You mean like Bonnie and Clyde? We aren’t that famous yet, but what we get to share every week with our listeners is expert knowledge from a community of people who are making a difference every day by helping others achieve financial independence and freedom. And that includes your day job as a rock star counselor at Cambridge Credit Counseling. One of the reasons I love being a part of The Cambridge Connection is that we have the opportunity to share real stories of people and organizations that make a difference across all aspects of financial wellness. And we also get to share stories of real people with real financial problems and offer possible options they can follow to turn a negative financial situation into a positive one because everyone’s situation is different.

So folks, join myself, Tina Marie, and our special guests and experts each and every week right here on The Cambridge Connection on WHMP. Welcome back to The Cambridge Connection. I’m your host, Gordon Oliver, with my co-pilot, Tina Marie. And on the phone, we have a special guest, Paul Kiley from Stacey Buran & Associates. Welcome to the show, Paul.

Interview with financial planner Paul Kiley

Happy New Year to you, your staff, and your family. Hey, happy New Year as well. Really, really grateful to have you on the show. And just for our listeners, can you kind of give a little explanation of your career path? Sure.

I’m a certified financial planner. I have a master’s degree in taxation, IRS enrolled agent, and I’ve been working with a company named Stacey Buran & Associates for the past 18 plus years. Prior to that, I worked for Citigroup for approximately two. In my current role, I’ve been providing financial education to unions and just general public in working with people with tax questions, investments, retirement, asset allocations, and looking to assist in any way we can. Busy time of the year, I assume.

Required minimum distributions, potential changes in the tax code. Have us swamped at this point in the year. So you’re partnered with Cambridge Credit Counseling as far as when people in these organizations need assistance with debt problems. Can you talk a little bit about that partnership? Yeah.

You know, Cambridge and Stacey Buran & Associates work together on a lot of unions and similar contracts that we have. And we work in conjunction with Cambridge to assist with the total financial plan. So a lot of times what we’re doing is referring membership to Cambridge to help them work specifically with either student loan counseling and or debt consolidation. And it’s, you know, we look at the whole picture. And then, you know, we use Cambridge as an excellent resource to kind of work with the clients on the areas of expertise, such as the debt consolidation and student loans.

Yeah. I’d like to share just a couple of stats that I just pulled. The latest Fed data shows the consumer credit card balances rose to $800 billion in the third quarter, which is $17 billion increased from $787 billion in the second quarter of 2021. I think with the economy the way that it’s going, expenses are going up. Experts are saying this is going to be a tough year with energy expenses.

That partnership, obviously there are many people that are going to need to look at their budget. They’re going to have to change expenses as they go. So there’s certain skills that the counselors at Cambridge Credit Counseling teach, like journalizing expenses. Do you see that in your line of work? Absolutely.

I think, you know, the budget is the foundation to any financial plan and strategy moving forward for individuals. I always tell people running a household is like running a business. You have to know what your cash inflows, outflows, capital improvements, you know, capital inflows, outflows. And you know that without a defined budgeting plan, it’s very difficult to track and achieve their goals. And actually convincing them to stick to the plan.

You know, a lot of them, yeah, I can do that, I can do that. And a month down the road, something comes up, they’re tempted to spend on something they necessarily don’t need. And they do. So it’s all about discipline as well, I think. Absolutely.

And it’s time consuming. And I like to say that, you know, everyone is getting nickels and dimes to death. Just paying your major bills isn’t so much the concern at this point for a lot of people. It’s everything else that goes with those bills, such as the cell phones, the subscriptions. I mean, if you look at your Netflix, your Hulu, your satellite radios, or alarm systems or whatever else that you’re paying for, everything seems to be on a subscription basis.

And when you look at those, they add up. And we’ve actually discussed this in the past, those buy now, pay later apps, the Affirm. A lot of consumers are doing that, especially around Christmastime, where they would purchase online and do an afterpay. And there’s just another expense that they typically would forget about. And a lot of people aren’t, oh, I see it often that people aren’t canceling subscriptions that they’re no longer using.

So you know, we’re seeing a lot of subscriptions are useful if you’re taking advantage of them. But the way I think they’re primarily designed is that they become, you know, just an automatic withdrawal from your account. Forgettable. No longer forgettable is a very good term. If you’re just joining us, I’m here with Paul Kiley from Stacey Braun.

This is The Cambridge Connection. So Paul, this is our first Intention show of 2022. If for our listeners... So, for our listeners, you could give some advice on things that people should be thinking right now in the new year, trying to set new financial goals. Well, you know, one of the financial goals I think that, you know, comes up every year is inflation adjustments to the more cost of living adjustments to the 401Ks, 403Bs, and retirement plans.

So this year, 2022, contribution limits were increased to $20,500 if you’re under the age of 50, and that’s from 19,500 in 2019, or 2021, I’m sorry. And the catch-up is $6,500 if you’re over the age of 50. So essentially, whereas in 2021, you could contribute a max of $26,000 if you’re over the age of 50, in 2022, it’s $27,000. It’s good just to review those numbers. Also, if you received, sometimes companies will increase compensation year-end.

I always say sneak away another percent or two if you can afford to, meaning that there’s no harm in trying to increase your retirement account withholding, especially if you received a raise or increase in compensation. Yeah, let’s expand on that a little bit. I’m sure that you find employees that just simply are not investing and suggest they don’t have the money to even find one or two or three percent. Very common. And what I find is, a lot of the time, if you just sneak it up on yourself, and a lot of 401k plans, a lot of retirement plans these days have the option of automating an increase annually.

So, I know, for instance, the 401k plan at our firm allows you to increase your contributions automatically by one, two, three, or whatever percent you feel, beginning January 1. I think it’s an excellent way to just kind of creep up those contributions. And when you look at the after-tax aspect of it, it’s less significant than most people think and most people don’t see it or know they’re going without it. Yeah, and you brought up, you know, talking about budgeting and journalizing expenses. No better of a month to do that, to really take a look at what’s coming in, what’s going out to try to find that little extra percent, and especially if the company that you work for is matching the contribution you put in.

Yeah, I mean, it’s lost money, you know, if you’re not taking advantage of at least the company match. You know, and if you happen to be married or, you know, filing jointly, a lot of times what I’ll do is I’ll make sure that if a company is offering a match that the spouse who works for that firm is at least taking advantage of the match, as opposed to splitting it amongst both spouses. So we don’t want to leave money on the table. Seeing that you’re an IRS enrolled agent, will you look at the taxes that are coming out of someone’s pay from the employer and see if there can be adjustments there as well? Or do they need to talk to a CPA for that?

No, we could definitely, I do it often. You know, with taxes, you know, it all comes down in the wash at the end of the year. So if you’re over or under withholding, you know, we would just either create a deficit or a surplus at the end of the year where you’ll get a refund or owe. Sometimes I do find that people are short cash flow throughout the course of the year and receiving, you know, substantial returns. So we could always adjust the withholding to help put more cash flow into the monthly base, monthly budget.

Awesome. So Gina Marie, counseling people, you recognize most people don’t even have $400, let alone $1,000 in savings. So it’s very difficult for a lot of people to even consider contributing to a 401k when they’re living month to month, or I should say even week to week. So Paul, what advice would you have for our listeners to try to find that, to try to work that in without creating debt stress or anxiety? What would you recommend?

You know, it’s tough when we’re trying and living our going paycheck to paycheck, but I do find that if we analyze our monthly spending and we go through it in detail, that there could be, or most likely are areas that we could reduce costs. May not actually impact your standard of living much at all. And that’s that saving that you can then say, I can put pre-tax into a retirement plan. So if you take a look through those subscriptions, or if you take a look through expenses that you may not need or could go without, then you could then redirect those funds into your 401k without really impacting your cashflow. This is what coaching and counseling is all about.

When people coaching in sports, coaching in anything, you need to listen to someone that can give you a different voice or maybe a different strategy. And that’s why it’s important for family members and friends, if you’re struggling with debt problems, obviously 1-800-CAMBRIDGE. You can call to get counseled. Paul, do you want to let listeners know how they can find you at Stacey Braun? com.

And you could provide all the information on our company. We also have our 800 number, which is 888-949-1925. All right, listen, I really appreciate you joining us. And before I let you go, I need our listeners to know that you’re also a member of the Financial Planning Association, you’re a personal finance employee education foundation member, and lastly, National Eagle Scout Association of the Boy Scouts of America. So congratulations to your career.

It’s really great working with you, and thanks for helping people with such an important topic. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Happy New Year, my friend. Happy New Year as well.

Special thanks to Paul Kiley for coming out with some really, really great information while we work together in this conversation about setting intentions financially for the new year. This is Gordon Oliver with the Cambridge Connection. We’ll be right back. Now that it’s 2022, if you’re searching for a financial planner that provides objective financial planning advice by a certified financial planner and or a registered investment advisor, reach out to Stacey Braun Associates for your first consultation. Stacey Braun Associates provides asset management services to individuals, labor management pension funds, union and corporate organizations, and they are 100% employee owned.

Cambridge credit success story

So when you need to plan, plan to talk to a Stacey Braun Associate. com today. Welcome back. Happy New Year, everyone. This is Gordon Oliver with the Cambridge Connection here with my co-pilot, Tina Marie, and we are sharing right with you right now a Cambridge credit success moment.

Tina Marie, take it away. All right. Today, we’re going to talk about Nicholas from Texas. Nicholas was recently married and interested in purchasing his first home and starting a family. He spoke to his mortgage lender who, after reviewing his credit report, referred him over to us for assistance.

Nicholas was a little bit surprised. He had accumulated a numerous amount of debt over the previous years, debt that he actually forgot about and didn’t even realize was being reported to the credit reporting agencies, including utilities that had been turned off over the years, contracts for phones, cell phones that were broken, just a lot of miscellaneous debts that were pretty much pushed under the rug. To his surprise, it caught up to him. and he was denied the mortgage loan and referred to us to help improve his credit score and his financial situation. So after speaking with him, conducting once again a full financial assessment, we learned that he had over $3,000 in forgotten debt with collection agencies.

So luckily I was able to put him on an affordable monthly payment, got him out of the debt within 48 payments. He’s now working back with the same loan officer on his way to purchase his first home. That’s exactly the way the process should work. If people can’t get into a mortgage now, it’s do you have a plan to get there? So for a mortgage company, sending a client to Cambridge Credit Counseling to get them straight to get them where they need to be and actually to be in a good position to take on such a debt, there isn’t a better relationship to have.

Exactly, and to teach the consumer how to budget is one of the things. Mortgage lenders, they want to lend you the money. They want to, but if you’re a risk, they want you to get the help to look into different avenues where they know a credit counseling agency is very productive. There’s two points here though, right? It’s being mortgage ready for the mortgage company, which is one thing, but it’s also as a consumer getting ready to take on a debt, being ready to handle such a debt so it doesn’t get you in more trouble.

Being financially stable, absolutely, and learning not to overspend as we keep talking about. I love these stories. We try to bring one every single week so that people can relate if they’re in any kind of a situation where they feel like they’ll never get into a home or they’ll never get a mortgage. It’s about having a plan. We’re setting intentions on this show for 2022.

So if you are looking to get into a mortgage and either you can’t get approved or you’re not ready yet, it’s time to talk to a financial counselor, see what needs to be done so you can get yourself in the right place. Yep. Step one. Step one. Nothing worse than having a mortgage with a high interest rate.

Obviously- Exactly. that puts you trapped into your home and- Or being surprised that you had all these collection agencies on your credit report without even knowing. I mean, some people out there don’t even realize it. They’re so old. They think they go away.

It doesn’t always just go away. I love that you just said that. You know they don’t go away. People just like, eh, I’m not paying it. Well, that’ll catch up sooner or later and it’s not a good strategy at all.

Yes. It’s going to cost you more in the long run with your interest rates. All right. Well, we’re going to close up the show. I’ll be right back.

Closing remarks and show wrap up

This is Gordon Oliver with The Cambridge Connection. Tina Marie, thank you as always. Oh, my pleasure. Hey, everyone. Gordon Oliver here and you probably know me as the host of the Saturday morning show, The Cambridge Connection here on WHMP.

30 AM, we spend 28 minutes together that will empower and educate you about financial wellness and connecting with organizations that are available to help you through any financial challenge. So please join me next Saturday right here on The Cambridge Connection on WHMP. The new year is here. Join Gordie and Tina Marie as they share the inside scoop on setting up a budget, planning for the unexpected and more right here on WHMP. Welcome back, everyone.

Happy New Year. This is Gordon Oliver closing up the show this week. Obviously 28 minutes goes by very quickly. A huge thank you to Paul Kiley from Stacey Braun for sharing some insights and no matter what your financial position is, there’s lots of opportunity and we treat the information that we provide with optimism, but we also understand just like we share with real people and real problems that everyone’s situation is different and that’s why we bring as much information we can to the show to help you with information that’ll get you where you want to go with your financial goals. We’ve got some great experts on the horizon in the student loan arena to be able to give great advice on how loan forgiveness works, what repayment plans are available and what to do depending on what your situation is to deal with your student loans.

m. com or you can find our show on SoundCloud or even where you listen to your favorite podcasts. Once again, be part of the conversation. org. If you’re a real person with a real problem, please email it.

We will not give your contact information out on the show. We’d love to answer any questions that you might have through that segment or feel free to call 1-800-CAMBRIDGE.