Being of service with Kleo Curry

Today we meet Kleo Curry, Certified Financial Planner at UBS. The ladies discuss Kleo learning from her grandfather, our responsibility of being of service, leaving political science for the finance industry, and the importance of representation. Kleo also tells us what keeps most of her clients up at night and shares an interesting statistic. They also dive into diversifying your assets, and having the “death” talk with her husband. 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kleo-curry-0049795
Website: ubs.com/team/potomacwealthgroup 

Kleo@ubs.com

CONNECT WITH US
Website: www.blackgirlflyofficial.com
Email: hello@podcast2impact.com
Instagram:  @blackgirlflyofficial

00:25 - introductions

00:56 - guest introductions 

02:16 - Kleos childhood goals 

05:14 - transitioning into the financial industry 

11:15 - advice for people on their wealth journeys

18:47- framing our lives into three buckets 

22:45- impact on the black community 

28:28- how do you approach asset allocation 

32:10 - impacts of not working with financial professionals 

34:30 - getting started on a financial journey now 

37:30- areas that are overlooked 

43:20 - Outro 

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Transcript

"Speaker 1","02;08;25;09","02;08;43;24","Welcome back to another episode of Black Girl Fly. I'm Your Girl, April Williams and Dixon. And today we have a wonderful guest here with us today. And I listen, this is so timely for me. So I'm very, very excited to have Miss."
"Speaker 2","02;08;43;24","02;08;44;09","Cleo."
"Speaker 1","02;08;44;15","02;08;55;21","Curry on the podcast today. And so she's going to give you the floor. Ms.. Curry What tell us, what are we here to talk about today? Tell us a little bit about yourself."
"Speaker 2","02;08;56;10","02;09;24;04","Thank you. It's great to be here. My name is Cleo Curry and I'm a financial advisor at UBS Financial Services Center out of Northern Virginia. I've been in the industry since 2003, and the thing that I like to say is that I bring a level of expertise that includes client service. I started out as a client service associate for a number of years."
"Speaker 2","02;09;24;04","02;09;57;04","I was not licensed, so I got registered so that I could trade and then provide advice and guidance. And then along the way, I developed an acute passion for financial planning and aligning goals and needs and priorities with people's assets and their budgets. So that turned into a career within the wealth management and ultimate becoming a certified financial planner and an advisor."
"Speaker 2","02;09;57;15","02;10;09;24","So I have been through 2008 and I would say that that at that point was where I really honed in on the need for planning despite market events."
"Speaker 1","02;10;12;17","02;10;21;11","And I'm just curious like, is this when you were a little girl, this is what you thought you would grow up to be just curious about that."
"Speaker 2","02;10;21;20","02;10;50;13","Now what I will say is when I was little, where I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, so born and raised very proudly, and my grandfather owned a string of businesses in Detroit. So he owned a beauty salon, a barber shop, and a warehouse that was leased by the Detroit Free Press. And so, as I would say, I was around ten years old."
"Speaker 2","02;10;50;16","02;11;17;06","He would bring me with him when he would go to collect rent. And that was my first experience where business ownership with responsibility, with accountability. And at the time I was too young to understand what was happening. But it really was something that I found to be a lot of fun and one, I got to get my hair done."
"Speaker 2","02;11;19;23","02;11;44;08","I got to know the beauticians and the barbers, and they were fantastic. And so he would collect cash. I was a cash business. This was before PayPal. This is the eighties, by the way. Oh, this is checks or cash. And so we get back to his house. And the way he set it up was he let me count the rent."
"Speaker 2","02;11;45;14","02;12;18;02","And if I got the count right, he would pay me. And he always told me that it was very important for me to understand that I needed to be compensated for my time and respect it and as a little girl, hearing that from your grandfather and then allowed that responsibility felt so big of him letting me count the money was, I think was my first time where I developed the passion for finances."
"Speaker 2","02;12;18;20","02;12;45;17","And what I will say is that money has always been something that I was interested in finances, stem sciences, because for me math always made sense. So the circumstances and life and the high, the low was all of those things were well outside of my control, but one plus one was always two, and that was something that gave me comfort."
"Speaker 1","02;12;46;00","02;13;06;09","It's so amazing in hearing your story. Just I mean, I don't think that we ever recognized the impact that something like that could have on you. I think you said so much. I hope the audience caught it. But in your grandfather giving you that opportunity and what that stirred up inside of you, I just think that that's amazing in itself to really come from that."
"Speaker 1","02;13;06;15","02;13;16;09","So how did you take that little girl who was so excited about counting the money and get to the space where you were, you kind of moved into this financial world?"
"Speaker 2","02;13;16;22","02;13;52;28","Sure. What happened next was I also developed an interest in political science, so I was very involved in my community. Church is a part of my story. Community service through the church was huge in my family and I was taught that it's always our responsibility to be of service, period. So in order for me to be a part of and to be a participant, there wasn't a hierarchy."
"Speaker 2","02;13;52;28","02;14;15;00","I'm always alongside the people that I move around with. So that developed into an interest in political science. And I moved to D.C., met my husband, got into political science, and found that I did not like it at all."
"Speaker 1","02;14;15;29","02;14;19;09","So I'm happy sometimes that does happen."
"Speaker 2","02;14;19;24","02;14;47;29","So my degree is in political science. Imagine I'm working on the Hill and all my friends are as well, and I look around and realize that this this serves my community service needs, but it doesn't quite hit that interest that I have. The real impact not only helping people when they're down, but helping them to create something before they there."
"Speaker 2","02;14;48;13","02;15;03;03","So I've met a woman. She was fantastic. She said you'd be good in finance and I landed in 2003 at UBS as a client service associate. And darn it. Yeah."
"Speaker 1","02;15;03;15","02;15;08;28","Wow. So you set 23. So you've been with UBS since 2003."
"Speaker 2","02;15;09;18","02;15;19;13","I did move over to another firm briefly and oh six and then returned back promptly and oh eight."
"Speaker 1","02;15;19;20","02;15;20;27","Oh, okay. Okay."
"Speaker 2","02;15;21;14","02;15;23;13","So I."
"Speaker 1","02;15;23;13","02;15;24;07","Grew up."
"Speaker 2","02;15;24;19","02;15;25;21","At UBS."
"Speaker 1","02;15;26;04","02;15;43;11","Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, that's a great story. And I think it's a topic that's so important to so many. And so when you started to embark on this work, how did you decide who you wanted to help it and really where to buy your stake in that reality? Well."
"Speaker 2","02;15;43;27","02;16;20;09","Sure. What I would like to say is that I figured it out very quickly and that the path was quite clear. That's not true. What really happened was I got into the industry and it's like drinking from a fire hose. So there's there's a lot of levels, there's a lot of walls, there's management, there's compliance, there's financial advisor, you have private wealth, you have high net worth advisors."
"Speaker 2","02;16;20;18","02;17;00;25","And what I quickly realized was that I had not been exposed to wealth management and that because of that, I did not see myself not only in wealth management, but I didn't see myself in a leadership capacity in that space. And I certainly I truly did not see myself ever becoming an advisor because I did not me at any point not seeing that the women were in there, but in my environment there was not one black woman who was a financial advisor working with specifically ultra high net worth and high net worth clients."
"Speaker 2","02;17;00;25","02;17;10;01","So I like to share that because I do believe if I had seen that sooner, I would have gone after it quicker in my career."
"Speaker 1","02;17;10;05","02;17;32;06","Now, representation for people, I think people don't always understand why that so important, but I think it's true, right? If you don't see anyone like you, what do you with what message that's in? Oh I did. I, I like when we have this conversation because I think sometimes we miss the importance of what we're saying and how that really impacts the audience."
"Speaker 1","02;17;32;06","02;17;45;28","Right. How many other people are going past finance don't see themselves in a career as an option. And so I just think that you open that up as an opportunity across the board, whether whatever domain space you may be had. That's awesome."
"Speaker 2","02;17;46;26","02;18;25;15","Thank you. And I did. I came across a lot of individual roles, whether male or female, who were not black, that were quite supportive and helped me to navigate into what ultimately became a planning role first and then ultimately entered into the financial planning space. I'm sorry, and ultimately as a financial advisor. So it did happen. And at the same time, I had to get to a point where I believed that I could do it anyway."
"Speaker 2","02;18;27;04","02;18;29;23","Even if I didn't see it, I could do it anyway."
"Speaker 1","02;18;32;01","02;18;56;17","Yeah, that's another great point. And I think a lot of our listeners are. I mean, so the percentage on that, not just on the study, fine. It's an unstudied engineering. No one in our family did either of those things and I think we can totally, totally relate to what you're talking about. So I think that representation is, you know, hugely helpful, hugely important."
"Speaker 1","02;18;56;25","02;19;28;21","But with or without that, you still need a strong willed dedication and resilience to really be able to achieve the outcome that you're after. And sometimes it'll work on the first try and sometimes you keep at it. You come back, right? You never know what what exactly may happen. I'm I'm super interested to get into some of your philosophy is around, you know wealth and asset management as we're starting to talk about, you know, who it is that you serve."
"Speaker 1","02;19;28;21","02;19;42;26","But, you know, our audience range is the gamut. So we always love to give, you know, what is the advice that you're giving to your ultra wealthy clients? And then, you know, what does that look like for someone who's not there yet? Was on the path or may just be starting out?"
"Speaker 2","02;19;44;17","02;20;14;19","Those are all great questions that I love to answer, because what I typically find is that all clients, all people, no matter who I've met or regardless of the level of wealth they have, they all have one question Will I be okay? It'll be asked in different ways. Some of the most common ways are Will I be able to retire?"
"Speaker 2","02;20;14;26","02;20;55;23","How much should I be saving? How will I put my kids through college? So the questions that are being put to me are universal. We all have the same concerns and what I believe is unique to me is because I'm diverse and ethnically right, and also because I'm a woman, I'm able to bring in the challenges that I've faced not only in my career, in my life, and I can bring that and sit on the same side of the table with my clients as they bring their challenges and their roadblocks to me."
"Speaker 2","02;20;56;12","02;21;23;22","So we start there and we start with what's going on. And I also like to ask what's keeping you up at night? So it may not be a literal what's keeping you up at night, but a lot of times there is a question or a concern that is annoying that needs to be addressed first. So the most important thing as an advisor, I like to say advisors advice."
"Speaker 2","02;21;24;14","02;21;58;27","So that's my job and my job is also to figure out the right questions so that I can get a better and deeper understanding about what needs to be addressed first, because we work together, you know, I work together alongside my client to be able to support their needs. And so what I typically do is frame the process that I take clients through, through the lens of liquidity, longevity and legacy."
"Speaker 1","02;21;59;24","02;22;16;13","But before we get to that, I do have a question about what you said before. And so you asked what you know, what keeps you up at night, what types of things that people say to me is like, I feel like finances are some things that for me personally, I'm like, is this related to my finances or know about my career and how long I'll work?"
"Speaker 1","02;22;16;20","02;22;21;25","Like, what are things that people should share with you when you're asking about, you know, those types of things."
"Speaker 2","02;22;22;21","02;22;54;02","Is what you just said. So what we usually will hear sometimes a couple is going through or contemplating a divorce and it is hard for them to talk about that. But if it's real, it's certainly something that we can help navigate together. The other thing that I find is when one spouse isn't asking questions, how do you get them engaged?"
"Speaker 1","02;22;54;02","02;22;57;14","And I think that is one that probably a lot of people."
"Speaker 2","02;22;58;09","02;23;34;06","So there are several ways to accomplish that. Number one, I can accomplish that by asking my spouse what they're most interested in, right? So it could be their family, their kids, travel work. There's something they're that is in their DNA that drives them that I can pull on that thread on. And then in truly I share with particularly women that this is a true statistic."
"Speaker 2","02;23;34;20","02;23;44;07","80% of men die married, 80% of women die single. So, yes."
"Speaker 1","02;23;44;12","02;23;51;16","Wait a minute. Play that back. You said 80% of women and 80% of men die married."
"Speaker 2","02;23;51;22","02;23;52;08","That's correct."
"Speaker 1","02;23;52;27","02;23;57;15","Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that's something. Wow."
"Speaker 2","02;23;57;26","02;24;29;05","And what that means is, is that a lot of times women in a relationship or their own woman will take care of day to day budget expenses. But the key decision making that impacts the family on a long term basis. What's the interest rate on the mortgage? How was the asset allocation on the house? When was the last time the estate planning was done?"
"Speaker 2","02;24;29;13","02;24;49;10","What tax bracket are you in? Those are those are planning areas. The woman often times will defer to her husband and say he takes care of that. And what I often will do is bring out that statistic. And I have lived it out. I have lived it out me."
"Speaker 1","02;24;49;14","02;25;05;23","This experience that my my uncle passed away and they actually had a 15 year bloom on their mortgage and his wife had no idea until like the six months before it was coming due. And I was like, Wow, you didn't know know that was a big that was a big day."
"Speaker 2","02;25;06;20","02;25;35;22","It happens all the time. And it's one of the things that breaks my heart because it is preventable. And one of the ways to to alter that perspective is to set up at least an annual meeting with the spouse that typically does not want to know the day to day or the quarter to quarter movement of the finances."
"Speaker 2","02;25;36;06","02;26;04;01","I ask, are you open to an annual meeting where we review everything? And then that also will give you the space to ask any questions? I've not heard or know because it's one time or two times. And when that happens and then something happens to the spouse because life happens more than death, meaning there could be a incapacity."
"Speaker 2","02;26;04;01","02;26;32;00","Someone may need to travel for a few months for work. There are a lot of different reasons why someone may need to step in and so regularly schedule meetings. If you fall into that pocket is crucial because you don't want to be navigating whatever life circumstance is causing you to now take ownership in that relationship and then also having to get up to speed."
"Speaker 2","02;26;32;07","02;26;33;24","It's it's jarring."
"Speaker 1","02;26;34;19","02;26;44;20","But you are going to cut you off for that. So, I mean, that was super valuable, but you were going to that rethink your culture, liquidity to bounce, right?"
"Speaker 2","02;26;44;21","02;27;21;01","So I like to frame our lives into those three buckets liquidity, longevity and legacy. So liquidity is anything that's happening now over the next, let's call it 24 months that is going to for you from a financial perspective, you're going to have cash or cash alternatives. This could be CDS, Treasuries. There's several different types of things that you can put your money into with regards to cash or cash alternatives and that sleeve."
"Speaker 2","02;27;21;17","02;27;55;28","And then you have your longevity. Longevity is going to be anything for you to work this out into different groups of people. If you are under 45, longevity is going to be the next 5 to 10, 15 years. Those things that are leading you up to retirement and then your legacy bucket is also going to be because you still have about 20 years to retirement, 20, 25 years."
"Speaker 2","02;27;56;07","02;28;21;24","That's going to be some of what falls into legacy. But legacy is what you leave behind here, heirs. So when you're thinking about finances, it's important to not group it all into one. It's not a lump sum. What's liquidity, what's longevity, and which legacy in each bucket is going to have a different investment allocation, a different tax consideration."
"Speaker 2","02;28;22;01","02;28;27;06","And also estate planning is for the legacy portion of your bucket."
"Speaker 1","02;28;27;06","02;28;43;26","So I'm just curious to know in that, do you hear like, do you ever sit down with someone and they understand that concern? Because I don't think that I've ever heard someone really separated out that way. This is the first time, right, that I have that I've heard that. Have you are you experiencing people who understand that or coming to you are."
"Speaker 1","02;28;44;13","02;28;53;01","So, by the way, I'm writing this down. No. Or it's I love."
"Speaker 2","02;28;53;06","02;29;25;09","The question because this is where as advisors I get to show you why it's important to have a team or a tribe that can help you frame and structure your financial picture. So to your point, when people come to me, they typically have not heard that, but they grasp onto it because it is very much an organized way to go through which you can view the lens of your finances."
"Speaker 2","02;29;26;05","02;29;54;10","I'll get into the weeds of how all of that works with clients and then they get a deeper and deeper understanding. But to surround it to your point, the understanding truly comes through experience. When you start to implement those strategies. So once we get that framework in place with liquidity, longevity and legacy, what I find is when market volatility goes up, we're in a volatile environment."
"Speaker 2","02;29;55;02","02;30;12;03","I can go back to liquidity, longevity, legacy, and that sets the tone because that's what we can control. I cannot control market events. You know, who is in office, in the administration. Those things will."
"Speaker 1","02;30;12;03","02;30;12;21","Happen."
"Speaker 2","02;30;13;03","02;30;27;28","Over our lifetime, repeatedly. So what we can control is what's going on with those three buckets. And that's why it's so important, because it will settles people down when when emotions start to get high."
"Speaker 1","02;30;30;04","02;30;49;22","So that makes a lot of sense. So as you think about kind of so, we talked about kind of knowing where people are and then kind of visioning for the framework of what you plan as you think about all the individuals that you sit with, especially like in the black community, How does this process, how does this impact the black community?"
"Speaker 2","02;30;51;07","02;31;28;17","It impacts us because most we've done research at UBS called our best to invest, invest to advance. And what we found is that among black investors, we put a premium on real estate. So I I've experienced that. I had real estate before. I had stocks, right? I had bought a house and there is a beautiful thing that we have in our culture about ownership and housing and tangible assets."
"Speaker 2","02;31;28;17","02;31;53;05","So houses are tangible assets. However, sometimes and a lot of times this can serve to our disadvantage because we're on average, we invest in equities at a rate of 26%. So we will hold about 20% of our holdings in equities. But for other high net worth investors, it's over 40."
"Speaker 1","02;31;54;01","02;31;55;24","Wow. Oh, wow."
"Speaker 2","02;31;56;05","02;32;16;16","So the reason why that matters is because equities historically will grow and real estate can be a hedge right to inflation, but also, if we have such a concentrated holding in real estate, it's a concentrated asset. It's not diversified."
"Speaker 1","02;32;16;22","02;32;35;02","So I know, I know I'm getting to the week you're going to be here and disclaimer, but I have a question about that. So as you think about investing in real estate and you think about something like the stock market, how is growth compare in the two sectors? So you talked about real estate being more of a hedge."
"Speaker 1","02;32;36;15","02;32;41;06","What's the what's the difference and what does that difference mean overall? An individual?"
"Speaker 2","02;32;41;21","02;33;11;29","Sure. So from a standpoint of real estate, just owning it, period, you can touch it, you can see it, you can live in it and you can sell it over time. I mean, we've been in housing markets, right? So the housing market world historically rise over time. But typically it's stocks that are really that growth engine in your overall portfolio."
"Speaker 2","02;33;11;29","02;33;39;26","And you and I want to be clear when I say this, I mean a diversified allocation of stocks of equities. So you have US holdings, you have large companies, you have small companies, you have growth companies, you got value and also have international. So when you hold a house in the United States right off the bat, you have a geographical concentration."
"Speaker 2","02;33;39;26","02;34;11;13","You're not participating in the growth in any country now. So for for someone that is looking to create, we're talking about wealth creation. That means it's got to grow, it's got to build. And it's it's got to last. That is where equities will serve a portfolio quite well, but it needs to be held over the long term and not sold when there's long when there's periods of volatility or when you get when emotions run high."
"Speaker 1","02;34;11;23","02;34;40;13","Yeah, that's huge. I'm still struggling with this. I'm like, I wonder if the audience be able Do you think the audience understands the impact of what you just said? I mean, like growth is how you grow your money, right? Like, like this is what changes whether you add 100,000 or 300,000, like. And for us to really be focused on something that I guess the growth trajectory is, is smaller, that's going to be a huge impact."
"Speaker 1","02;34;40;29","02;34;56;10","So, audience, I hope you guys have heard that. I'm trying to make it clear that I'm going to write notes too, but that seems really huge. And so how do you communicate that message? What do you do with that information? And how do you share it with everyone else?"
"Speaker 2","02;34;57;16","02;35;40;15","Is the best way to approach it really is with a trusted advisor because on the broad scale, I can say equities over the long term makes sense. But when you get into advice and guidance, what is important is how much am I putting in where, when, and that is where I'm wrong. Gravity, liquidity and legacy come into play because some of the positions that you may hold that are more longer term focus are going to be in the legacy bucket."
"Speaker 2","02;35;41;01","02;36;08;00","That means when last year happens, the markets are down double digits, right? So the equity market is down double digits. The bond market was also down that position is held. It is not sold. So that's the importance and that's how wealth is built. Wealth is not built by buying and selling impulsively."
"Speaker 1","02;36;08;19","02;36;26;21","Yeah. So you said something I want to like double tap on a little bit. You said it's also important about how much and how long in that. So so what are some things that we should know about how those those two things, how much, how long? How do you, how do you know what to do? Like how do you know how much."
"Speaker 2","02;36;26;23","02;36;28;18","How do you approach asset allocation."
"Speaker 1","02;36;28;28","02;36;31;07","Yeah, asset allocation, that's my only word."
"Speaker 2","02;36;32;10","02;37;03;25","But time your duration number one. So duration is how long you anticipate you will be in the holding. So if someone were to come to me and say, I want to buy a position and I need it next year, that's that's not a good fit, right? That that one year is too short. And if you say I want to hold it for five to 7 to 10 years or maybe forever."
"Speaker 2","02;37;03;25","02;37;34;07","So that's something that is a conversation that is asset allocation. So that that sleeve or that position of that holding can go into the portfolio that you're constructing. Meaning we've got large cap, we've got small I made you international and fixed income and so if someone wants to hold something for even two years is still too short of a time frame."
"Speaker 2","02;37;34;07","02;37;46;23","So I like to approach it from number one, what is your tolerance? How do you feel when markets go up or down? Do you have the appetite, risk tolerance?"
"Speaker 1","02;37;46;23","02;37;47;03","Yeah."
"Speaker 2","02;37;47;10","02;38;06;04","How do you sit through it? So time in the market duration and what is the money for becoming the money for your house then? That probably needs to be in a cash or cash like position because you cannot afford to to lose that money. You need that money."
"Speaker 1","02;38;07;21","02;38;37;00","Yeah. I find this conversation is so interesting. And I wonder, you know, I wonder if our listeners have really thought that, like at this level we, we talk a lot about finances but we that we've not talked about in this arena. I think it's it's bringing so much clarity to me and you just explain it like this and so putting some of those other conversations we've had with other experts in perspective."
"Speaker 1","02;38;37;00","02;39;08;05","Right. Which I think is is really helpful. And I think the key here is we have the expertise of a financial advisor here. And this is, you know, this is what they do and us. And so you all know we are not financial advisors, but I think just even having this expertise here and like reaching out to someone like Cleo or someone with her firm could really, really help folks get the clarity that they need on these different areas."
"Speaker 1","02;39;09;10","02;39;32;28","Well, I value expertise in this area. We I think we say we have money, we spend money, we save money. We don't, you know, think that we lose the fact that this is so impactful right now. So where I am now, I've seen my my parents or my spouse's parents try to get to retirement and I'm boy, they probably could've used advisor."
"Speaker 1","02;39;32;28","02;39;57;07","Right? Or I'm thinking people making decisions about mortgages now where we're at an all time high. I just think that it's important for us to stay really. How important is that? It's like in business, I find that businesses don't like to invest in marketing and I'm like, it's not a tangible I said it like you said, was clear, but it is something that you need to invest in to be profitable."
"Speaker 1","02;39;57;07","02;40;18;24","And I and I feel like that's a bit of Canada, the taboo associated that I seen with with a financial advisor. Oh man. I just think it's so important that we point out that this can be huge. Like what are some of the impacts do you see? Are people not or have you gotten to a point where you see people who do like you and called me 20 years ago and called me ten years ago, I could have made a difference."
"Speaker 1","02;40;18;24","02;40;19;18","Have you seen that?"
"Speaker 2","02;40;20;01","02;40;56;11","Yes, I have, unfortunately. And the good news is there is no bad time to pick up the phone and ask for advice. So whether you've made a poor decision or a catastrophic decision, it's not over. And I believe in redemption right at a core level. And with that in mind, any anything came truly be redeemed. As long as you're still upright topside and you're willing to do the work."
"Speaker 2","02;40;56;24","02;41;42;22","So I would say that it is crucial to not only have an advisor, but also to work with an estate planner and also a qualified accountant or CPA, because I work in harmony with all of those individuals that work on behalf of my clients. I'm not a qualified CPA and I'm not an attorney, so there will be times where we're going through the plan and I will identify something and they will need to seek additional guidance from an attorney or a CPA that will need to create the documents or give them what they need from a tax perspective."
"Speaker 2","02;41;42;22","02;42;03;29","So it is very important to review your bench or your tribe as plural. You need your advisor, your CPA, your accountant, and your attorney so that we can all bridge the gaps because there are a lot of gaps that can be identified."
"Speaker 1","02;42;04;21","02;42;27;10","You know? And so I think you where I'm going to put this out there, I think you're really nice that there's redemption. But I how can like for me and I guess this is also personal we told you beforehand we always think about self actually what is this about? And for me I'm thinking yes there is always and I should get started."
"Speaker 1","02;42;27;10","02;42;31;20","But tell me why I should get started now versus saying the same thing five years from now."
"Speaker 2","02;42;31;20","02;43;05;02","Yes. So the reason why you get started now and how to get started now is if you don't have a budget, that's how you get started. Because when I talk about liquidity, longevity, legacy, how do you know how much is in your liquidity bucket? Right? So for example, if your living expenses are 5000 a month, just use around number and three months worth of that is 15,000, six months of that is 30."
"Speaker 2","02;43;05;19","02;43;45;05","If you don't have $30,000 in your liquidity bucket and you know it's going to take you 5000 a month to get through each month, then that's that's liquidity. And the number may seem daunting, but don't let it disturb you from getting started. And the way to build a budget, I believe, for me is very basic. It's what I find is individuals get sometimes lost and the resources online should I use this one or them use any one that's credible and that will get you to your end goal."
"Speaker 2","02;43;45;05","02;44;19;20","But if you find that you're spending three to 4 to 5 days or more trying to figure out which app works best, stop, get pen, get paper and just start writing down what your expenses are and what your income ends, start there and start today and review it monthly. And and outside of that is once you get started, whether you write it down or you use an app, then the key is consistency."
"Speaker 2","02;44;20;16","02;44;53;05","Honestly, that's where I find that as an advisor. One of the other major things we bring to the table is consistency and accountability. And if you don't have that, what happens is you get very excited and you get started and then month three happens and then you don't do it, and then month three becomes year three. So the most important thing outside of getting started is commit, sustain, committed."
"Speaker 2","02;44;53;24","02;45;05;05","Because wealth is built, people build wealth by focusing on it. And if we stop focusing on it, then it won't. We won't build it. It's got to be a priority."
"Speaker 1","02;45;06;29","02;45;40;08","Yeah, I think that's such a good, tangible feedback for the listeners and things that, you know, they can implement right away. And yeah, so I think that's super helpful. I wonder if there is any I don't know if you already talked about this, but if there's any like other advice, it's like, you know, for people starting out like other big things that are often overlooked and then, you know, you're coming to these statements like, if you call me 20 years ago, this could have been different story."
"Speaker 2","02;45;41;02","02;46;21;16","Yes. One of the other areas that I find is often overlooked are digital assets and accounting for them. So digital assets, a lot of people think that I'm speaking about blockchain when I say that, but what I'm really referring to is your your passwords on your phone, your bank account, your computer, your e mail. So if you have a trusted person and something happens to you, there's someone else know how to gain access to all of your digital assets."
"Speaker 2","02;46;21;16","02;46;38;25","This includes your credit cards, your your rewards points that you receive from your credit cards, Anything that you get on a computer to primarily do or use your phone to primarily do that needs to be that is a part of the estate planning process."
"Speaker 1","02;46;39;22","02;46;50;28","So that's why I had to do that. So curious. So they ask you for passwords, but passports trying to restrict my career. I'm sure that's what happens then."
"Speaker 2","02;46;51;09","02;47;23;12","Yes. So here's my suggestion. Is whomever is your designated person more frequently? So at least quarterly is going to need to meet with them and share with them how to gain access. So this is the consistency that I'm talking about, is because my own husband, who I've been married to for 16, 17 years, he refers to it as the death talk."
"Speaker 1","02;47;26;00","02;47;27;03","When I say that. Okay."
"Speaker 2","02;47;28;11","02;47;56;01","And so it's hard for us to talk about these things. But the important component is I have experienced that in my own family where uncle passed away and everybody staring at his computer because nobody knows how to access it. And the last thing he would have wanted. So digital accounting for digital assets and also accounting for pets, who's going to take care repair if something happens to you?"
"Speaker 2","02;47;56;17","02;47;56;21","Oh."
"Speaker 1","02;47;57;12","02;48;05;11","Wow, I would've never put my pet in. Well, this and I'm not taking care of your pet just so we quickly."
"Speaker 2","02;48;06;16","02;48;29;11","But sometimes sometimes the agreements are informal, right? So they can be verbal, but oftentimes they're written because pets are expensive and you love your pet and you want them to be cared for in the same way that you've cared for them. And so you want to take action or make sure that they're not left uncared for."
"Speaker 1","02;48;30;02","02;48;45;08","So, you know, I think the digital thing was so important. I was like, I didn't even think about that. But I was thinking digital meant like, but I have a list of all the accounts that I have. I didn't think about the fact that we have to figure out how to get away. Oh, yeah."
"Speaker 2","02;48;45;21","02;49;03;07","Right, right. And is often the first thing that our loved ones have to do. They have to get access to something. And it's it's just it makes the pain more grievous than it needs to be."
"Speaker 1","02;49;03;21","02;49;51;01","Yeah. Wow. Okay. Yeah. It's like, my Lord, you give us a lot of homework minds, Okay? We need to get out of this podcast and go do some homework. But no, I think all of this I mean, it's just a great reminder, puts things, lets things in a lot of different perspectives. I mean, we talked about everything, but we just talked about your, you know, digital assets and how we can ensure that our loved ones have access to the things that, you know, we would normally have, though, you know, once we're not no longer here all the way to like things that, we should be thinking about our conversations."
"Speaker 1","02;49;51;01","02;50;18;13","We should be open starting to have and be open about with a financial advisor and even our families and our partners and things like that. So I feel I mean, I feel like if we don't do that, we might overwhelm. I feel like there needs to be a part to check on something. I always I guess I'll ask that to any other questions."
"Speaker 1","02;50;18;13","02;50;29;12","You as Cleo before we close out. Well, I was going to say I am a lot more questions and I'm sure the audience has a lot more questions. So how are we going to hold them? You? Is that good? Yeah. Yeah."
"Speaker 2","02;50;29;14","02;50;42;20","Amirli, you can find me on LinkedIn. My, my name's Cleo with a K, so KOCO last name Curry's C, u, r, Y, and also at UBS, Cleo at UBS. I am there as well."
"Speaker 1","02;50;44;03","02;51;00;25","So it was truly a pleasure. I think that now I want to I'm going to stop here and see if I can get some more answers. Get some time, baby, to sit here. This is the beginning. I know. I don't we haven't been. I feel like we haven't even scratched the surface. It has been the same here. Such a pleasure."
"Speaker 1","02;51;00;26","02;51;25;23","I'm going to stop you on LinkedIn now. But now I hope that listeners, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Cleo directly and feel free to, you know, let let us know if there any other questions you'd like to get answered on another episode with Miss Cleo. All right. Yeah. So into the next time I'm your Girls initiative and I'm excited that we are Black Girl Fly."
"Speaker 2","02;51;28;05","02;51;44;08","And UBS Financial Services and its affiliates and its employees do not provide tax advice or legal advice. And that investors should consult with their personal tax and or legal advisors regarding their particular situation."