Mindful Money 071: Jay Zigmont - Build the Life You Want: Life & Financial Planning for an Underrepresented Population
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Dr. Jay Zigmont is a PhD, CFP and the Founder of Childfree Wealth. He is a fee-only, advice- only fiduciary and the author of The Portraits of Childfree Wealth . Most financial advice treats parenthood as the default. Dr. Jay has built a financial planning system that caters to the unique needs of those whose futures don’t include kids.
Today, Jay joins the show to talk about why having children has become a default scenario in financial planning. He details the differences in financial planning between those who choose to have kids and those who choose to be childfree, and gives advice on how to build the life you want and then have the finances fit it.
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Key Takeaways
00:58 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Jay Zigmont, who joins the show to talk about an early lesson that became integral to his money story and why he chose to focus on helping a unique demographic
10:01 – Jay shares the story of how he made his first million and lost it before he turned twenty-five
13:37 – Improving your money mindset
14:40 – From Adult Learning to Financial Coaching
16:21 – A systematic bias in the financial services industry
21:34 – Childless and Childfree demographics and statistics
26:31 – Key differences between planning for a life with kids and planning for a life without kids
32:08 – Long-term care
36:14 – One thing that a childfree person should do to lead to greater personal and financial success and one thing to avoid doing
37:38 – The last thing Jay changed his mind about and the thing in Jay’s life that he is most grateful for
39:31 – Jonathan thanks Jay for joining the show and lets listeners know where to connect with him
Tweetable Quotes
“The hard part is that when you run your own company, you work for a crazy person, which is yourself.” (07:24) (Jay)
“The childfree demographic is an underrepresented minority group that people aren’t talking about. And when they are talking about them, they’re judging them.” (08:19) (Jay)
“Money doesn’t buy happiness. You don’t know that until you actually have money. I was living in Connecticut, commuting three hours both ways to New York City until I could afford an apartment. I had no money. I was busting my butt. But you learn that, ‘Ok, it’s easy to make money. How do you manage it? How do you grow it? How do you keep it?’ That’s a different question.” (10:55) (Jay)
“There are systematic biases - technically the term is ‘pro-natalist’ which advocates for more kids - built into the system that the childfree folks then have to essentially unbuild. But I have to teach people financial advice that matches them.” (18:00) (Jay)
“What’s happening is the younger generations are going, ‘Yeah, the concept of working twenty- five years and getting a watch and pension is gone. The classic two and a half kids and the white picket fence and the marriage could be gone too.’ And that’s just a rethinking of The American Dream. I don’t blame them for picking a different path. It’s just a different society now than it was for hundreds of years.” (25:36) (Jay)
“I call it ‘Life & Financial Planning.’ I start with. ‘What life do you want to live?’ Then I go to what your finances are, and then your taxes.” (28:41) (Jay)
“If you ask me, ‘Hey, who’s gonna take care of you when you get older?’ My answer is, ‘My bank account.’” (33:12) (Jay)
“My answer is always, ‘Pick the life you want to live, then make your finances fit it.’ You don’t have to follow the default path.” (36:32) (Jay)
Guest Resources
Childfree Wealth YouTube Channel
Books Mentioned:
Mindful Money Resources
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