Mindset: How Kristin Doubled Her Salary & Created a Student Loan Payoff Plan
Episode Summary
In this throwback episode from 2021, Allegra speaks to Kristin J. about her plans to DOUBLE her salary without changing titles or going back to school. Kristin also explained her student loan payoff plan, with a short-term goal of paying off 20k in private loans in a year and a half or less.
Episode Notes
In this throwback episode from 2021, Allegra speaks to Kristin J. about her plans to DOUBLE her salary without changing titles or going back to school. Kristin also explained her student loan payoff plan, with a short-term goal of paying off 20k in private loans in a year and a half or less.
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Transcript
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Hi guys, it's Caro Factora’s podcast editor. Today is week five of a six week series where we feature incredible women of color in the Factora community, celebrating their money wins across the board. This conversation from 2021 features Kristin J. A nurse who spoke to Allegra about the pretty major money moves she was making after taking the wealth circle by moving to an area where nurses are paid more hourly Kristin plan to double her annual salary, which would allow her to take on a pretty aggressive student loan payoff plan, with a goal of paying off 20k in private loans in a year and a half or less. But the reason I really love this episode has more to do with the way Kristin talks about how her mindset towards wealth building has changed over time. She has this really incredible perspective about what money actually means and how she didn't use it not just to improve her own personal circumstances, but to impact her community at scale as well. I hope you take away as much from this conversation as I did. And now I'll let Allegra take it away.
This is Allegra Moet Brantley and you're listening to the coffee and coin podcast where women talk well, I'm the founder and CEO of Factora. Have company on a mission to lead 1 million women to 1 million in net worth. Because when women have more money, we'll have more power to be the change we want to see in the world. If you're ready to hear real women share their real numbers and investment journeys and have a sneaky feeling you should be doing a little more with your money, you are in the right place. Just sit back, relax and turn me up.
All opinions expressed by Team Factora and podcast guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Factora Incorporated. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be used as the basis for investment decisions. Team Factora. And podcast guests may maintain positions in the securities or investments discussed in this podcast.
Welcome back to another episode of Coffee and coin. I have Kristen J on the pod today. Welcome Kristin.
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Where are you calling us from? Where are you from originally? And throw one other city in there? Because you know what I mean?
So I am calling you from Central Jersey. I'm originally from here, but I was in Austin for about a year and a half before I moved back home.
Are you cold? Oh my gosh, I moved to Austin from New York City. And I lost my thick skin immediately. I really thought I was one of those people who could be in cold weather, no big deal. But the first trip we did back to the northeast, I couldn't warm up. I was miserable. So I hope that you're better off than I was.
Yes. It's definitely a hard adjustment. I got a little too comfortable with the Austin weather. But I guess this is my new norm so.
So you have to just not be cold. My no matter. Okay, well talk to us about what do you do for a living?
So I'm a registered nurse. I've been a nurse for about two and a half years at this point. And it was my second degree. So I had a bachelor's degree from Temple University. And then I went back and did an accelerated program and Nashville, still kind of fresh in the career in my opinion.
What was your career before nursing?
So I actually took a six month gap between my first bachelor's and nursing school. But I worked as a unit secretary in a hospital and I also did some research during undergrad.
Wow. So you've always been drawn to healthcare working?
Yes. Ever since I was about five years old. I knew I wanted to be in healthcare.
Wow, how did you know that?
I just felt that I had like a natural passion for helping people. It didn't feel like work or tedious. Like it just felt very innate.
Wow. I love that. I also have a passion for helping people but not when it comes to their body. I'm like, I don't know if you heard this or if I shared this story in the last full circle. But I got bit by a cat last year and then had to get rabies shot. I mean, I cannot even tell you how important it is that there are people who do what you do because it's so many nurses and they're trying to make me feel better at one I was embarrassed. I got bit by a cat. I'm getting rabies shots in my 30s too. It was just I'd never stayed overnight at a hospital. I've never even been to an emergency room. So like the whole situation went from you know what shouldn't have even happened to like a big deal really quickly and it was all very scary. So thank you for what you do. All right, let's take it back. And you know how we always kick these coffee and coin episodes off? Talk to me about your first money memory and then just in In general, what was money like in your family growing up?
So my first money memory would probably be when I was about five years old. And my parents decided I would get an allowance of $20 a month. I do remember not having a close relationship with money, not kind of understanding a lot of its power. My mom created a system where we would, you know, place our allowance in a piggy bank, and I would pull it out if I wanted, like food at a state fair or something like that. But I never really looked at it as a tool to do more than those kinds of menial things.
Where are you excited about getting an allowance?
I was excited. But I still don't think I saw the value in it. And then in terms of just growing up in my money, memories with my parents, my dad's in real estate. So that's a lot of fast money. So I don't think I even took time to kind of understand what was going on, because it was a little bit overwhelming to decipher exactly what he does and all the terms.
Well, then talk to me, what about what your mindset was like around finances in general, maybe in your early adulthood, and just before you found your way to Factora, so I would definitely say I was overwhelmed. I knew I wasn't kind of capitalizing on the ways to make money work for me. But I didn't know where to begin, I kind of had an imposter syndrome in terms of my belief of having access to a high net worth, I kind of felt like, I know, people did have high net worth, but I didn't feel like it kind of applied to me. And just also kind of creating a connection between me having autonomy over my money. So in terms of the conversations with my parents, I felt that they were infrequent. They told me to save. But I didn't know how to really make passive income. And I didn't inquire about it.
Yeah. So who would you have the majority of your money conversations with?
Probably my mom, my dad was definitely the type who if we, you know, needed $10, we could always come to him. But my mom was the main one who said, you know, you need to learn how to save your money. You need to learn how to make sure that you know, you're keeping track of what you have available to you. But never anything about stocks or passive income or just making my money work for me.
And did you have a system setup for saving that you liked before Factora?
Oh, essentially what I would do just put everything in a piggy bank and only pull it out if I maybe went to like the outlets or to the store to get a snack. And then she kind of did start to teach me a little bit about tracking things on a paper system. And when I remembered,
yeah, so kind of, you know, you would try things but didn't have your flow. And then talk to me about your your salary. What is it like working as a nurse? How much do you make? And is it hourly? Or is it salaried?
So it's hourly, if you go into management, it's more likely to be salaried at that point, which can be a double edged sword, because then you work a lot of hours and don't get compensated for it. But for me, it's hourly. So nursing kind of pays you based on where you're living. So in the south, the pay is not that great. I started my first nursing job making $24 an hour. And I didn't always get 40 hours a week. And up north, on the east coast. I mean, I'm getting offers for 50 an hour, so it's different.
Wow. So what was your average gross income before you moved?
So when I worked in Austin, I'm gonna say it was about 50,000. Do you
have the opportunity to double that now? Double it? Yes. Yeah. I love that. That factor into why you moved?
Yes, absolutely. So luckily, my family and I are pretty close. And so they offered me a space to stay to kind of get myself aligned with the goals that I have paying off student loans, increasing my income. So I reduce my expenses and increase my income. I
love it. That is my favorite. You know, from the course I'm always like, there's two sides to this coin, we can spend less, or we can earn more if we can do the two at the same time. It's like supercharging our money. So I'm like smiling from ear to ear right now. Not that podcast listeners can see that. I'm talking about student loans. How much do you have in student loans? How does that feel? How have you dealt with that? Are you doing the forbearance right now during COVID?
Yes, so right now I have about 75,000 in student loans. And that includes 20,000 in private loans. There are repayment programs, for example, I was able to get about 2000 taken off for a government program that pays for Perkins loans for nurses, so definitely look into that if you're a nurse, I think the private loans just because of the fluctuating interest rate and lack of cap on them kind of made me a little more uncomfortable. So that was one of the main goals that I had when I was thinking of moving back to the east coast to take care of those
to get rid of though first and then work on the lesser APR.
Yes, exactly. And I
chose loans from your first degree or nursing or a combination.
So they're a combination, the private loans are from my nursing degree, and then the government loans are from undergrad.
Got it? Got it. Got it. You know, what the undergrad loan rate is? Or is it multiple loans at different rates?
So for the undergrad loan rate, I have different rates, but it would be 4.53% APR.
Okay, that's not bad. But the private loans, you said those are fluctuating? Yes.
So right now they're 8%?
Not as good for sure. So okay, so that's your priority is working to pay those off. So you're just with the 5%? Well, thanks for sharing on student loans, the actual numbers, what so what's your plan?
So right now, I have a couple offers, I'd like to do a full time position and then a per diem position. So essentially, with that, you just have a minimum amount of shifts, you need to work per month. So what I would do is just take that second income, just shove it towards the private loans, and try to get those taken care of in about a year and a half tops.
Wow, I love that. I mean, the fact that you have a means to pay off 20 grand and a year and a half is already really cool. I'm sure a bunch of people listening to this are rooting for you. And I know that you'll do it. But I also think that you're kind of using a method similar to it. I see a lot of women, in fact, who are due if they have one income, maybe it's a salaried income, they use it for their life. And they're investing and if they have another income, they either use it to pay off debt if they have it or to supercharge their investments, if it's all available, which as you know, is one of the things we talked about is really just getting clear on all of your expenses so that you can be really strategic with what you want to do not just now, but in the future. Okay, so talk to me about how you found Factora why you wanted to join.
So I actually found out about Factora, through Eventbrite. When I first moved to Austin, I was on Eventbrite, just kind of trying to get involved in the community. And I saw an event that had free coffee at Capital One cafe. So okay, well, you know, talking about finance, free coffee, sounds like a great plan. I came and that was a session with Whitney. And she was just talking about her journey to a net worth of a little over a million dollars. And I thought that was an incredible story. And I met some amazing woman during that whole event. And so I went to another coffee and Colleen and I brought my friend along. And I realized it was something I wanted to be a part of. So I started following you guys on social media.
And now you're on a coffee and coin. Full circle. So you guys, we haven't been able to do an in person event in basically a year which, you know, rip, because those were really hard, but we'll make well, we will make them happen again. But I love that Whitney's story inspired you I think that's the whole point of this, right like you sharing your numbers. Right now on this podcast and your journey and the changes you're making. If it just inspires one person, we have done our jobs today. Okay, so what about your net worth? What was your net worth before Factora?
So my net worth is in the negative because of my student loans? Before Factora, it was $57,000. During the program, I was able to increase my net worth by about $4,000 just increasing savings and making a little more investments into my brokerage accounts.
Love it. And this was only you took the fall wealth circle, right? Yes. Okay, so in a quarter, she has upped her net worth by reducing her debts by four grand in three months. That's amazing. And then talk to me about some of your aha moments or learnings for
me, I think Factora just kind of showed that money is a catalyst for change. Something that I found as a common kind of theme in our wealth circle. Break off groups was some people didn't necessarily feel that they were money hungry, per se. But as we delve into our why and our values, it helped us to realize that it's not just about amassing wealth, it's about creating freedom. It's about being able to give back to the communities you care about. And it can be use as a catalyst for change. And so that is enough reason to make efforts into prioritizing your financial picture.
Oh my gosh, I could not have said that better myself, I think our mission 1 million women to 1 million net worth, it's big, it's sexy, and it probably makes people stop. But I can also see how people who haven't been a part of our network can also think All right, do we really need a million women, millionaires, like millionaires aren't always very good. And, you know, you have to do a lot of things that might not be, you know, value add to the world to create, and like you said, a mass, that type of wealth. But I think really, that's just us trying to state that one, it is powerful to have autonomy over your finances, because it gives you autonomy over your life and your choices. And I think we're all like, oh, we live in a free country. It's like, no shits, not free, I gotta pay for my rent, I gotta pay for my food, I gotta pay for my car, my phone, I have a lot of bills to play. So I need money to do that. And then I also want money beyond that, so that I feel security for all the stuff that's gonna go wrong. Because, you know, emergencies happen. I got bit by a cat and ended up in the emergency room. And by the way, that was the one month I didn't have health insurance. I was literally moving on to my boyfriend's health insurance. And he started work the day that I got hit by the cat and went to the hospital. Talk about timing, folks. That is the point you never know what's going to happen. And you need that security, which finances and having, not just having money, but understanding your money and how to utilize it, and pull from this account or do whatever you need, and having systems in place allows. So sorry, I went on the horn for a minute, but I'm back. I love what you had to say and how you said it, because I think it's just really true. So now talk to me about your financial strategy post Factora, what changes have you made? Did you opening different accounts? How much are you you know, saving or investing and where? Give me the deets? Yes,
so I started a TD Ameritrade brokerage account, I hadn't really put much into it. So I had just we work at backlog. So I woke it up. And then I also started investing more into Elvis, which is on the robo advisor account that I've really enjoyed using, I think they're really good at making sure that women feel empowered and educated and feel that they're able to take on the challenge of you know, delving into the world of stocks. And so I really do like it. So I put some more investment into those two accounts, I increased my savings and investing rate. And so that was kind of a positive for me, I made sure to pay off my car loan as well. So I had about a $12,000 car loan that I had opened up in fall of 2016. And so during that factor, I paid that off. Yes.
so on.
So yeah, and then I also made sure to open a high yield savings account with chime.
Love it. Okay, let's keep digging. So how much was your savings? Right? And what did you increase it to?
So originally, it was 19%. And I increased it to 37%.
Amazing. And you did or didn't have the LMS account before? Is that something you opened?
So I had to invest account before as well. But I was putting maybe $20 a month into it. Okay,
so how much do you contribute to your investment accounts monthly? Now,
I contribute 650 a month to the investment accounts.
And you are either doing nothing or like 20 bucks. Yes. That's a huge increase. That's amazing. I don't know if you do this, but it's one of my favorite things to do. Whenever I increase my amount that I'm contributing to investments, quickly, I'm just like, times 12. So how much is going to be in this account at the end of the year? Because that's, you know, money that I put in? And then let's see how much that would be in 10 years if it compounded at around 8%. And then another 10 years, I literally opened up compound interest calculators all day long. I'm such a nerd.
Yes, see the potential. But it's so exciting to be
like, Okay, if I just put away like $650 a month, then I have a few grand. And then what's that few grand gonna be in 30 years from now dozens of grants. What would you tell someone who's maybe at the beginning of their financial journey?
I think it's important to know that this is accessible. While I do feel that of course, being able to have expendable income can be a privilege. There are many ways that you can gain access to that. And it's accessible to those who believe that it's accessible to them in the sense that you're able to access the space, you deserve access to this space. And it allows you, like I said, just a means to make the changes you want to make and contribute to causes that you want to contribute to, and help the communities that you care to help. And that in itself is enough reason to increase your financial literacy and meet with a community of people who are like minded.
Okay, that was so good. I have to dive into some of that, when you said it's accessible. If you believe the first thing I hear is mindset. Are you thinking mindset are, you know, kind of just dig into that a little bit more?
Yes. So I think mindset was the biggest hurdle for me, I knew that nurses had the potential to make, as we can see, during this pandemic, great deals of money. However, a lot of times based on my experience or location, I kind of would just dismiss the fact that I deserve to access the space of having a high net worth and, you know, advocating for myself in negotiating when I go to jobs, and, you know, just basically selling, selling what I have to offer. And I think that the first step is knowing that you deserve to access financial literacy education, and that it is for those who feel that they may not have had mentors or people around them to tell them, hey, you know, you, you deserve to make this money. And so I think that mindset was the biggest, you know, hurdle that I had to overcome. And after that, it allowed me to be in the space to see opportunity for money and paying off debt, and it just created a lot of abundance.
I love that. I think it's I think it's really true, that mindset piece, people kind of want to consider it as an afterthought. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. If you don't think you deserve to have a high net worth, or if you don't think it's possible for you to have a high net worth, which is kind of one in the same but the latter we can say well, no one maybe in my family did or no one talked to me about it. It's really easy to be like Well, I'm not have the ability to or like family type or whatever, we can rationalize so much in our human brain. It's crazy. But when you can blast that thought, and actually change it to one that says, No, not only do I deserve it, but I can absolutely have it in my lifetime, as long as I continue believing and take steps towards it, even if they're baby steps, even if it's just like I'm gonna wake up those sleepy accounts. I'm gonna automate some more and then when you double your salary this year, you'll be able to double your investments well more than that probably, especially with your expenses so low so yeah, no listeners here it needs to hear me preach further. We all know how much I love this. But I think you said it so eloquently. So I guess we will leave it there. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your wealth circle experience, and I will see you in our lovely wealthy women's community. If you enjoyed this episode, come join us in a wealth circle. It's our live online 12 week course and community where we teach you how to create a personalized financial plan alongside hundreds of other women building wealth. It will change your life and your money for good. You can apply at factorawealth.com forward slash wealth circle. That's factorawealth.com forward slash wealth circle. See you in the next episode.