To Learn More about Kristen Judd [Click Here] for her Media Kit
Janine Bolon: Welcome to the three-minute money tip with Janine Bolon. And today, I have a guest and this is always exciting because we get new perspectives. We get new ways of looking at things and we have Kristen Judd, who is with us today. She has a degree not only in Accounting and Finance, but she got back into Financial Services after she did some corporate work. Sounds like a lot of us, does not it? Anyway, owning a couple of small businesses really helped her reach back around and find out what was necessary. Now, I met Kristen at a meetup group that she had called wine, women, and wealth, and ever since then, we have been like peas and carrots. Literally, we are hand in hand with the way we believe the philosophy of money should be. So, Kristen, thanks so much for being with us today.
Kristen Judd: Thanks for having me. Pretty excite —
Janine: It is exciting. I know right? [giggles]
Kristen: Yeah.
Janine: And so one of the things I wanted to ask you and I am just going to ask you this one question and then you run with it, and that is what is the one thing we need to be asking ourselves before we save?
Kristen: That is an awesome question. And you know, I think it is — We can get very caught up in all the shoulds. I should be doing this. I should be finding my iron ray. I should max out my four-o-one-k. I should. And one of the things that I think a lot of people forget is this idea or this space of what do I want my money to do? What do I want it to actually create? And the number one question that you should ask yourself is this — What is my tax rate going to be when I touch my money? Yes, it is a weird question because nobody really gives themselves that kind of perspective.
Kristen But, it is the most important one because if we put it into this pre-tax space, right? So four-o-one-k, and IRAs, and steps, and kiosk, and [making sound] we call that alphabet soup. What will happen is that will only get some of our money when we want to touch it because our Uncle Sam, who might not be our favorite uncle, will want to have some of that money. Right? And so then the other space is this tax-free space which more and more people are becoming more accustomed to, but it is absolutely the first question you need to ask because if you put it in this first bucket. This tax-deferred bucket [background noise].
Kristen: It is a little bit hard to switch it over to tax-free. You have to go over the great wall of IRS, and pace and penalties, and some taxes, and all that kind of stuff. So it is best to know what you want your money to do [background noise]. So if you want some of your money, go ahead and find that tax-free, or that tax-deferred space. But if you want all of your money, then I highly suggest that you fund as much a night. There are ways that you can get around the caps that are the IRS gets you in that tax-free space. And so for me, like I really get very excited talking about tax-free because one of the biggest reasons why the wealthy are where they are at is because they play with the IRS code.
Kristen: We all have access to the same IRS code. It Is just whether or not, we can decipher it. Understand it. Utilize it, or find someone that does, and which is the way I have learned how to do it. I thought I was just savvy enough until I got a love letter from the IRS. So then I stopped doing it. Anyways [laughter], so funding this tax-free space is really the most valuable space and should be funded first before this. Because the less you pay in taxes, the more money you get to keep. And that is what the game is all about. So, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me and I can show you some tips and tricks.
Janine: And that is Kristen Judd, and she is not only a person that has a wonderful group called wine, women, and wealth, and works with folks in that way. She will also be happy to get on a one-on-one Zoom call with you, to give you some guidance. If you feel, it is appropriate. So feel free to reach out to her and you will see her contact information in the description below. And this is Janine Bolon, with the three-minute money tip.
[END]