When Angela met David, he had already made some bold money moves and eventually built up a six-figure cryptocurrency portfolio. Then things came crashing down.
“Instead of being extra smart about it, we had a kid, refused to get jobs or got jobs that paid too little and quit, lived a rich life as if we were actually rich, but only with investments,” Angela wrote to Ramit Sethi ahead of an episode of his Money For Couples podcast. “We blew all the investments out.”
Now, the couple and their five-year-old daughter live with their mother in a two-bedroom house, trying to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves. They’ve both since found work, but continue to struggle with money, even without any housing costs.
David’s investments in crypto ended up doing very well, but unfortunately, the success got into his head.
“I went through $200,000 of cryptocurrency and treated it as income instead of going out and finding a job because my head was in the clouds,” he said.
He and Angela moved to Colorado in 2021, and over the course of a year, they cashed out David’s investments and spent freely.
Once reality caught up with them, they moved to Colombia, Angela’s native country, and then back to the U.S. where they settled in with David’s mom in Massachusetts.
Angela and David both have jobs now and earn a combined income of $118,000. At the time of the episode they had $4,242 in savings, $4,000 in assets and $761 invested, but are $34,632 in debt. However, despite having no housing costs, they struggle to meet their financial goals.
As Sethi continued to probe the couple, things started to come into focus.
The more Sethi asked the couple about their spending, it became clear the couple doesn’t keep track of their finances. How can they meet their goal of, say, buying a house when they can’t even account for the amount of times they eat out each week or how much they spend on gas?
Getting on a budget and evaluating their spending should be a top priority for these parents.
David mentioned one of his goals was to add to the couple’s investments. The $761 in investments they owned were all in cryptocurrency. Sethi advised him to stop putting everything into crypto and diversify his portfolio. It’s the same advice any financial planner would offer. A diverse portfolio offers less volatility and more protection in case of a downturn. In other words: don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Sethi also noted a lack of enthusiasm when it came to tackling the couple’s debt. It’s recommended the couple address this issue before approaching ambitious ideas like saving for a down payment on a home.
“People who are in debt will do everything except pay their debt,” he quipped. “Literally, everything on the planet.”
It certainly seems like the couple has the means to both get out from under their debt and save up for their financial goals. They just need to get their spending under control.
Sethi called Angela and David “dreamers” — individuals who are forever optimistic but don’t look at the actual numbers. They need to face reality and come up with a real plan. Here’s what they can do:
Get on a budget: The couple needs to start tracking every penny coming in and every one going out. Once they see the full picture of where their money is going every month, they can reign in their spending and bring it down to a level where they can cover their essentials while leaving room for meeting financial goals.
Attack the debt: The longer you hold onto debt, the more costly it will be in terms of interest. Debt can hold you back from achieving financial milestones, such as saving for a down payment on a home. Focus on repayment, and while you’re at it, start building an emergency fund to give yourself a financial cushion that protects you from going further into debt.
Fix the communication gap: During the podcast, Angela admitted her stress level was at 10 out of 10, while David said his was a two or three. If one person has less urgency about a situation, it may be a good idea to try getting on the same page and working together. Having regular money meetings where they can both contribute to the conversation may help
Diversify their portfolio: Investing in crypto can be part of a financial plan, but probably shouldn’t be the whole plan itself. The couple may want to explore investing in low-cost index funds, which track a portion of the stock market and can offer instant diversification by investing in different sectors at once.
Cut the “expensive procrastination”: Angela mentioned she sometimes spends thousands of dollars on courses and retreats. Sethi called it “expensive procrastination disguised as self-development.” And he may have a point. Now may not be the time to spend an extraordinary amount of money on something that won’t offer a return on your investment.
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I Will Teach You To Be Rich (1)
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