If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I doing this money thing right?”—this episode is for you.
You have money. But what should you actually do with it? Today, I’m answering listener questions straight from our voicemail inbox—including some common (and totally relatable) money dilemmas like where to park your emergency fund, what to do when you inherit financial decisions, and whether it’s still safe to invest given our political climate.
If you’ve ever felt confused about what you should be doing with your money––after this episode you’ll walk away knowing exactly where your money should be right now.
Key Takeaways
Your Roth IRA isn’t invested by default—you have to take step two.
One of the most common and costly mistakes people make is assuming opening an investing account is enough. If your money is just sitting in a Roth IRA or brokerage account but not invested into funds or stocks, it’s in “financial purgatory.” Tori stresses this could cost you millions over a lifetime—don’t skip the critical second step.
High-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) are a must—and you only need one.
A HYSA is essential for emergency funds and short-term savings. Tori explains how modern HYSAs with “vaults” or “buckets” allow you to organize your money for multiple goals (vacation, emergency, pet fund) without needing multiple accounts across banks. Having too many accounts can actually make your finances more complicated.
Online banks vs. credit unions vs. brick-and-mortar banks—what’s best?
Online banks offer the highest interest rates because they don’t have physical locations to maintain. Credit unions offer better loan terms and personalized service than big banks. Tori recommends a mix: use online banks for savings, credit unions for everyday checking or cash deposits, and avoid traditional banks like Wells Fargo or Chase for savings due to low interest and high fees.
Credit cards are powerful—but timing matters.
Opening a new credit card may cause a temporary dip in your score, but it’s typically worth it if you’ve built the right habits. However, if you’ve recently struggled with debt, it’s better to pause and understand your past financial behaviors before adding more credit to the mix.
Yes, you should keep investing—even in uncertain political times.
Despite volatility and fears tied to the current political climate, Tori emphasizes long-term investing as a key wealth-building strategy. She’s still investing herself. But she adds: if you don’t have at least three months of living expenses in a high-yield savings emergency fund, pause your discretionary spending and build that up first.
You don’t have to stick with a financial advisor just because your family did.
One listener shares that their grandmother trusted Edward Jones completely—but Tori warns that while it may feel familiar, Edward Jones charges excessive fees. She empowers listeners to break up with financial advisors who no longer serve them and directs them to Stock Market School for an alternative.
Notable quotes
“You don’t need to feel shame for not knowing—no one teaches us this. But once you do know, it’s your responsibility to act.”
“Don’t let the news sabotage your retirement just because Trump’s being Trump.”
“You’re not alone in this. So many women feel confused or overwhelmed by money—but that’s exactly why this community exists.”
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Transcript:
Tori Dunlap:
Today, I am answering all of your questions, everything from high-yield savings accounts to investing to credit cards to how to avoid the biggest financial mistakes. Let’s get into it. Hi, financial feminists. Welcome back to the show. My name is Tori. I’m a money expert. I’m a New York Times bestselling author. I’m a multimillionaire, and I’ve helped over 5 million women save money, pay off debts, start investing, start businesses, and feel financially confident. If you’re an oldie but a goodie, welcome back, and if you’re new here, welcome to the show. We’re excited to see you. We hope you stick around.
Today, I am taking voicemails and questions straight from you all. If you want to submit a voicemail or question for our next episode, you can go to speakpipe.com/financialfeminist. Again, that’s speakpipe.com/financialfeminist, and we might use your question on the show. We like to do these Ask Tori episodes every once in a while just to get a bunch of different questions answered, a bunch of your concerns, and especially the ones that are really topical. We’ve got some great questions.
Everything from, “Should I be investing right now, even if the stock market’s crazy?” To, “How do I use credit cards if I have a better relationship now than I used to with money?” And, “What is a high-yield savings account? Why do I actually need one? Should I have more than one? What’s the advantage of doing that?” But before we take questions, let’s start with a win. It’s always a nice thing to ground us in celebratory wins to cheer on members of our community. And this win is from Caitlin.
Caitlin:
Hey, Tori. Oh, my goodness. Can I just tell you that? I just want to say thank you. So I’ve been a huge-
Tori Dunlap:
I’ve just got cussed. Thank you. [inaudible 00:01:38] I’m going to cry.
Caitlin:
… fan of yours for years. I’ve actually met you when you came to Chicago for your book tour, and I switched this stale Roth that I had been sitting on last year, and I moved it to Charles Schwab. And I swear I used to have screenshots on my phone that broke that said my money was invested.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh.
Caitlin:
So this year, when I was doing my tax-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, no
Caitlin:
… getting all my tax stuff together, I noticed that my money didn’t look like-
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, no.
Caitlin:
… it was invested. It’s been bugging me. And you always say, I listened to you say it so many times, “Make sure your Roth IRA is invested.”
Tori Dunlap:
I do say it a lot.
Caitlin:
And guess what I found out today?
Tori Dunlap:
My money wasn’t… Oh, no.
Caitlin:
It wasn’t invested. I had to actually go in and buy the stocks, the mutual funds. I didn’t realize that. So I just wanted to say thank you because without your little angel self on my shoulder reminding me, almost every podcast, “Take a shot,” right, to go look and make sure my Roth is invested, I would’ve been just sitting on a cash fund for years. And I know so many people get stuck in that accidental trap. My money is invested now. I’m going to make more money. Let’s fight the patriarchy, girl. Thank you so much.
Tori Dunlap:
Okay, guys. Okay, guys, vulnerability moment here. If this… If you’re new to this show, fucking strap in. Okay, we just posted about this on Instagram, but last year I got meme’d by these far-right incel bro accounts on social media. It had millions and millions and millions of views. And to be honest, I barely thought about it because I was like, “I have better, bigger shit to fry… bigger fish to fry. I have bigger shit to do. I have bigger fish to fry. I just have to keep moving, and I can’t think about this.” And then I reposted the video, the original video that we did a couple of days ago on Trial Reels.
And if you don’t know what that is, it’s like this new Instagram feature where you can basically post your content, typically like your older content that did well, just try to get new followers. And lo and behold, after two days, it went to all of these incel bro accounts again. Half the comments are like, “Oh, I’ve seen the original,” which means, “God, how many people have actually seen this video? How many men have seen this video?” And then the other half are just horrible things about my appearance, about how I am unlovable and I should go die. And it’s been a really hard couple days, and usually, this shit doesn’t get to me because it’s just so constant.
We probably get a hate comment, and I’m not being… I’m not exaggerating. We probably get a hate comment every minute. This is every five seconds. And so, literally just before I hopped on with Kristen, I had my fun little cry moment. It’s scary to be online. It’s scary to put yourself out there. It’s scary to have a bunch of really hurtful things said about you, but not only that, there’s this many shitty men in the world. That’s the thing I keep thinking about because I have a lot of really good men in my life, and I’m like, “Oh, this is the minority,” and it is. But, “Oh, this is just a couple of shitty guys,” and like, “No, they’re in my comments. It’s tens of thousands of people.”
And then just this nice message, I really, I just needed this today. Okay, to break it down, Caitlin, a couple really cool things you’re doing. First of all, I can tell you listen to the show a lot because I always make the joke if I’ve said something a million times in the show, “Take a shot. If you’ve heard me say it, and you’ll end up drunk on the floor.” But yes, I talk about this all the time, is that the vast majority of people open an investing account. They think it’s like a vank… bank account, right. So you open your Roth IRA, you open your 401k, you open your general brokerage account, but no one tells you to do step two, which is actually to invest the money.
And I have a whole section in the investing chapter of my book where I talk about how to do this, how to make sure it’s invested. But what ends up happening for countless women, including Caitlin, who even is a loyal follower who’s heard me say this, is that she wasn’t invested. She had not done step two. And that’s not because Caitlin or anybody else is stupid. It’s because nobody teaches you. And what happens if you don’t do step two is it’s just like a bank account. Your money’s just sitting there in financial purgatory, and it’s actually not even a bank account because it’s not earning you anything in interest. It’s just sitting there in financial purgatory, waiting to be invested.
So, Caitlin, I love that you figured it out because the thing that keeps me up at night is the women who don’t figure it out, who spend literally decades investing in quotes, investing their money when it’s not actually invested. So I love that you caught it. I appreciate you sending in the voicemail. I appreciate you listening to this show and reading the book. And we’re so glad that we prevented you from literally potentially the most costly financial mistake of your life because if she had continued to put money into that Roth IRA and not invested, over her lifetime, would’ve costed her probably two to $3 million. That’s a lot of money.
So please learn from Caitlin. Learn from when we talk about this. Please make sure you’re doing step two. And the easiest way to check is exactly what she did. “Oh, the money’s the exact same. I put in a thousand dollars. It has not changed. It’s probably not invested.” Caitlin, I appreciate you calling in. I appreciate your win. Please, everybody, learn from this use case. When we come back from a word with our sponsors, we’re diving right into answering questions on bank accounts and credit cards. Stay tuned. Welcome back, team. We are taking a first voicemail from Martha about high-yield savings accounts. Let’s listen in.
Martha:
Hey Tori, my name is Martha. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to having more than one high-yield savings account? I started my own high-yield savings account a few years ago, which is where I keep my emergency fund, but I also have the high-yield savings account that I inherited with a modest couple thousand dollars in it. Is there any advantage or disadvantage to keeping them separate, or should I just consolidate? Thank you so much.
Tori Dunlap:
I think this is a great question. It’s a common question, which is, should I have more than one bank account? And if so, why? If you’re new here, high-yield savings accounts are just like everyday savings accounts, except they’re going to earn you more in interest. At this point, I should have the words high yield savings account tattooed on my forehead I say it so much. It is one of those, again, take a shot when you hear me say it, but it’s because everybody needs one. They’re just like everyday savings accounts, except they’re earning you more in interest. Why wouldn’t you have one?
The one that we recommend, which you can find, if you’re curious, at herfirst100k.com/H-Y-S-A, has the capacity for you to break up one account into different sections. So you’ll hear this called vaults or buckets. So this is a nice way for you to have one high-yield savings account that’s earning you the most in interest, but it’s getting broken out into different financial goals. So, Martha, you have this inherited high-yield savings account, and then you have your high-yield savings account that was yours for your emergency fund. And that’s exactly why everybody needs a high-yield savings account because everybody needs an emergency fund.
So, if I was you and I was using the one that we recommend, I would just combine the accounts but have them in different vaults. I would have one that’s my emergency fund, and then if I’m using this money for something else or a different goal, maybe it’s a wedding fund, maybe it’s a vacation fund, maybe it’s my pet emergency fund, that’s where I’m going to have my money in different vaults. The reason why we actually do want to think about your money this way of multiple accounts or multiple segments in one account is that you need to give every dollar a job. Every dollar you have needs to be there for a particular purpose.
I know a lot of women end up making a mistake with their savings because, probably, if you were taught anything about money, the one thing you were taught was save, the importance of saving. And then you just put your money in an account, but you don’t really know why you’re doing that and it doesn’t really have a concrete purpose so that when you do encounter an emergency, you feel guilty for trying to take your money out, or when something happens in another regard, you want to go on a fun vacation, and you’ve saved your vacation fund, but it’s mixed in with your emergency fund. It’s hard to delineate which money is which money.
So this is a nice way for you to have all of your money in one place if you want it and to have these different segments, the vaults, the buckets so that you can identify what money is what money. I think, Martha, if you want to take both of those high-yield savings accounts, put them together, amazing. You can also just keep them separate. That’s okay. But if you get to the point where you’re opening high-yield savings accounts at a bunch of different institutions, then it’s like, “What’s my password? What’s my login? How do I remember to pull this form for my taxes, right?”
This is what I just encountered is unfortunately I have made the mistake of opening up a bunch of high-yield savings accounts in a bunch of places because I’m a little squirrel in winter. I’ve put my nuts in different trees and I have to remember what trees my nuts are buried under. And so, that’s one thing that it just gets to be slightly more complicated. So unless you have a complicated financial situation like I do, for example, one big account with different vaults or different buckets is a great way to go. And again, you can find my high-yield savings account recommendation at herfirst100k.com/H-Y-S-A. That was a great question. Let’s take another.
Erica:
Hi, Tori. Can you please explain the pros and cons between a credit union, a brick-and-mortar bank, and fully online bank? I currently use a fully online bank for their high-yield savings, and I also use my local credit union for other services. My husband, however, he uses a common brick-and-mortar bank.
The reason being is that his job is primarily cash tips, so he says that he needs that convenience in order to do the cash deposits of having the brick-and-mortar bank. I’m trying to convince him to do a credit union because of the other better benefits that they provide, but if [inaudible 00:11:53] can provide me with insight on any further pros and cons between the three, that would be great. Thanks.
Tori Dunlap:
This is a great question from Erica, and I think it is a super common one, which is, do I need to have a brick-and-mortar financial institution that I go to? Should all of my money be in an online bank? For a lot of people, that’s why they don’t sign up for high-yield savings accounts is there’s this, “I can’t see it, I can’t feel it, so what’s going to happen with my money if I just deposit it into an online bank?” Let’s do definitions first. An online bank is where you’re going to find almost every high-yield savings account.
Online banks exist to solve a lot of the problems that brick-and-mortar banks have had, and the reason online banks offer high-yield savings accounts and the rates are so high is because, one, they don’t have the costs of a brick-and-mortar bank. They’re not paying for rent or a mortgage on a physical location. They’re not paying for tellers. They’re not paying for a massive bank vault somewhere. So these are things that allow them to offer a high-yield savings account at a really high interest rate.
They also are trying to get your business. They are putting marketing dollars behind making this savings account the more sexy option, right. Higher interest, the one that we recommend, has no fees and no minimums. It solves a lot of the problems with traditional banking. When we’re talking about a brick-and-mortar bank, there’s more problems than solutions, to be quite honest with you. They’re charging typically fees for just keeping your account open. If there’s not a certain amount in it, this is the minimum part of no fees and no minimums, they’re going to charge you a minimum fee.
They’re going to charge you an account management fee sometimes, and their interest rates are shit, quite frankly. They’re not very good. They’re like 0.3% or less. The brick-and-mortar bank that I use, and again, I’ll tell you why I use it in a second, it’s not even comparable compared to a high-yield savings account. This last one, a credit union, is the kind of happy medium. You get a lot of that perks of being in person, but I remember when I was buying my car, I was 22. I needed a car to get places.
It was the purchase… biggest purchase I had made up to that point, and it’s the car I still own. That was the place where my interest rate was cheapest for my car loan. And so your credit union can offer a lot of really good perks, especially on things like loans, so mortgages, car loans, personal loans, et cetera, and you get hopefully that in-person kind of touchy-feely experience. Credit unions are also owned by the community. They’re not owned by a massive conglomerate. They’re owned by people in the community.
Now, you may be asking, “Tori, why do you have an in-person bank or an in-person credit union if you are the champion of high-yield savings accounts?” Well, actually, for a very similar reason as, I think, Erica’s brother mentioned, which is I actually need a physical location to go deposit cash. So, for him as a tipped worker, this is a scenario where I would recommend having some sort of in-person financial institution, probably actually a credit union in this case, because the perks are better because you need to get the money.
You need to be able to put the money into an ATM, right. The thing with high-yield savings accounts, you can do it. It’s just harder. It’s way harder to try to deposit cash than it is depositing a check. The reason I need a physical location in addition to my high-yield savings account is because I don’t use a debit card. I have a debit card because the high-yield savings count I recommend comes with a debit card, but I do not use it.
And so if I need to get out cash, especially if I’m about to go on a trip and I need a certain amount of cash for emergencies or because I know I’m going to be in a place that I want to get a taco and it’s at a taco truck and they’re only going to take cash, I need to go to a brick and mortar location to do that because it’s a lot harder for me to go to the ATM to get the money out of the high-yield savings account, et cetera. But it’s also, for me, as a business owner, I sometimes need to go to a physical location to get checks or to deposit bigger invoices, right. There’s reasons to have an in-person account, and it sounds like, for Erica’s brother, that reason’s very valid.
However, your day-to-day banking, the money that’s coming in and the money that’s coming out, a checking account, especially if you know you’re going to need some cash, great to have at an in-person institution. I would recommend a credit union in this regard. However, for your savings, do not use a credit union. Do not use a regular brick-and-mortar bank, a US bank, a Wells Fargo. Do not use those kind of accounts for your larger savings because they’re going to offer you nothing. They’re offering you scraps in interest, and that money can be better used elsewhere. So, I have a little bit of savings at a physical location in case of emergencies.
I have a checking account at a physical location in case I need the money, but also you can have your money at a Chase or something like that. It doesn’t have to be your local bank, but I would say a credit union is the best option if you’re looking for something brick and mortar and then your money that’s really working harder for you, your emergency fund, your bigger savings, et cetera, that should be on an online bank. That was a great question, Erica. Let’s take our next question. This one is about credit cards and getting a better relationship with them.
Danny:
Hi, Tori. I love everything that you do. I think you’re a rock star. My name is Danny, and I’m from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Recently, my dad did the nicest thing he’s literally ever done for me and transferred $12,000 of my credit card debt to him so that I can start paying him back and not have to pay interest.
Tori Dunlap:
Wow.
Danny:
Truly, this is the nicest thing he’s ever done for me. He doesn’t do that many nice things. Anyway, so that’s a huge win, and it skyrocketed my credit score up to 758, I think, the last time I checked, which is in the excellent tier.
Tori Dunlap:
Yeah.
Danny:
So my question is, now that I’m able to use my credit card beneficially and responsibly, do I open another… I have a Discover Card, right. That was for my own… That was the last one. Do I open another one, or do I wait for my credit to raise a little bit more because I don’t want to open another credit card account and then have my credit score go back down to below excellent, or should I just do it because it’s going to be a temporary dip anyway? Thank you so much. Love you. Bye.
Tori Dunlap:
I’m cracking up at Danny going, “He doesn’t do a lot of nice things for me.” That’s the one that had me. Okay, Danny, so love that we’ve found a workaround. I honestly don’t know if I would’ve recommended it. It’s always a little weird when you take out a loan from somebody you love because it just gets to be potentially emotionally dicey, but we’re here now, and I love that at least it’s saving you the credit card interest. If you don’t have a dad in your life who’s going to do this, personal loans are potentially a good solution.
We have the one we recommend at herfirst100k.com/tools, but this is a nice way to consolidate your debt so that it feels more manageable. Okay, Danny, your question, I’m going to answer generally, and then I’m going to answer specifically to you. When we’re talking about opening a credit card generally, it is a pro, assuming you’re going to use it positively, even if your credit score takes a little bit of a dip. That’s to be expected. That’s totally normal. That’s not something to be alarmed by and to prevent you from getting a credit card because credit cards build your credit.
They offer you points. They offer you perks. They offer you additional insurance. Credit cards, when used responsibly, are incredible tools, and they will, ultimately, typically build your credit should you use them responsibly, even if you do take a little bit of a dip when you open the credit card. Now, Danny, in your particular case, I need you to give yourself a little bit more time. It sounds a bit as if you went through a really bad breakup, and now you’re like, “I’m ready to date again,” and I’m like, “Slow down.” I don’t know if you are.
Have we actually looked at the habits or the financial trauma that influenced your credit card debt? Have we excavated the reasons we went into credit card debt in the first place? Have we really understood why we had a negative relationship with credit cards and why we now think we could have a good one? You know yourself better than I do. I listened to a minute, 15-second voicemail from you. You know yourself better, but it does feel a little bit like, “Hey, I’m going to be back on the dating apps right after a breakup, and I have not sat in processing that breakup.”
We need to understand what is the relationship you had with credit cards in the first place and how do we prevent those sort of bad habits or that financial trauma from influencing our relationship with credit cards the second time around. If you’ve done that work, great. It might be time to get another credit card. If you haven’t done that work, please do that first. Get some good financial habits under your belt, and then we can think about opening up a new credit card.
But I don’t want you to not have determined why the slippery slope was so slippery before you say, “Yeah, I’m going to get back out there.” So, hopefully, that’s helpful. When we come back, we are diving into your investing questions. We appreciate your support of our sponsors. They allow us to bring you this show completely free. We’ll see you back here soon. Welcome back to the show Financial Feminist. Let’s dive into our first question after the break.
Bella:
Hey, Tori, I just had a question about investing right now with the current administration that is running things. I’ve heard rumors about them wanting to get rid of the FDIC. Elon is all up in the Treasury Department. I just want to know if we should still be investing in the stock market right now because of potential losses within the stock market, it crashing, having another black Tuesday, or should I be putting my money into a high-yield savings account?
I just really want to know what steps I should be taking to have my money available to me in case shit should go crazy. I understand that investing is really, really important, and for these next four years, I really want to keep my money close to me, and I still want it to build, though, so I just want the best kind of advice right now for what I should be doing.
Tori Dunlap:
So this question from Bella actually came to us about two months ago, and it’s hard to believe that it’s both still relevant and also so much has changed. I’m going to give a very brief answer because we literally have done now two episodes that are hour-long, at least a half-hour long about this. “Should I keep investing? What do I have to do to protect myself during a recession, during a stock market crash, during a Trump-Elon love fest?” Okay. So, I will link both of those episodes down below. Please go listen to them. We put so much time and energy into those episodes. They’re really, really jam-packed. They’re really valuable. But I’m going to give you two tips.
One, I’m still investing. We’re playing the investing game for the long term. It’s really important that you don’t let the news determine your financial future. The last thing I want is for you to sabotage your own retirement because Trump’s being Trump. At the end of the day, the stock market goes up and down. That’s what happens. We expect that, and it can be really scary, but again, we talk more in these episodes about how to navigate not just the finances of it all and the numbers and the stock market ups and downs but also your own emotions. The second thing is that your emergency fund is crucial right now.
It is crucial on any given Tuesday, but it is especially crucial right now, and I’m giving advice that I’ve never really given before, which should tell you the urgency of it, which is that if you don’t have an emergency fund, if you do not have a full three month of living expenses emergency fund I actually need you to stop your discretionary spending for a period of time, right. You’re going to get it back, but I need you to stop spending money on things that are not necessities so that you can stock your emergency fund because layoffs feel inevitable at this point.
There’s going to be a lot of layoffs. We are… As we’re recording this April 23rd, the stock market’s continuing to just be really volatile. There is continued really urgent talks of a recession. I need you to protect yourself right now. I need you to take this shit fucking seriously, and if that means temporarily cutting some stuff so that you can feel better protected financially, we need you to do that. And if you already have that three-month emergency fund, might not be a bad time to increase it, increase it to four, increase it to five. Again, I know I sound like a broken record, take a shot. Absolutely.
But if you do not have an emergency fund in the high-yield savings account, if you don’t have a high-yield savings account, there’s no excuses anymore. I need you to have one of these accounts because they’re going to earn you more in interest. It’s like an additional income without you having to do a goddamn thing. So please, if you do not have that emergency fund, we are temporarily pausing our discretionary spending and we’re putting money into that emergency fund in that high-yield savings account. All right, let’s take this next question from Jenna.
Jenna:
Hi Tori. My name is Jenna, and I’ve been listening to your podcasts. I love them. I’m so glad that you’re out there. I am on the older side of… I’m about ready to retire in about eight years, and I have some money saved up, and it’s in the market. I haven’t done it. It was actually a lot of inheritance that I got about four years ago, but it’s all very unorganized, and I feel very disempowered, and I need to take my power around it.
I’m going to probably retire in about eight years, and I was wondering if your Stock Market School would be a good fit for me, and I was looking at, there was a price mentioned on the podcast for 597, but when I went to push on to the school itself, it went up to $900. So, I didn’t know if I was missing something there or if that price is no longer available, but I’m very interested and would love your input. Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing from you.
Tori Dunlap:
Hi, Jenna. For any older listeners, we welcome you. I know I’m a little bit younger. I know I typically talk to folks who are like 20s, 30s, 40s, but if you are older than that, you are still welcome here and I hope you know that. Jenna, thank you for thinking of Stock Market School. We built it exactly for you. So yes, it’s a perfect, perfect program for you. It is one of our two signature programs.
It is the reason actually that I just rang the opening bell at the NASDAQ is that we have at this point now nearly $100 million invested in Stock Market School by our community members, and 80% of the women who have joined who have contributed to investing that $100 million have never invested before. So, a lot of places are just going to teach you how to invest.
A lot of places are the technology to actually invest, like a Fidelity, or a Charles Schwab or a Vanguard. We do both. It’s not just courses and master classes and live coaching with me. We literally built an app. We built the investing technology to couple with that. So the price has increased since a year or two ago because we’ve made the program even more robust. I do monthly live coaching. It’s one of two places where I do live coaching.
We have exclusive master classes. We have, again, that technology to invest. We’re constantly making updates to it. So, right now, it’s fully priced. The retail price is 994, and this is a yearly subscription. Again, a lot of other places, and I know we’re going to talk about Edward Jones in a second, are going to charge you 3% of your portfolio, which adds up to thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars every single year. Also, most financial advisors will charge you two to $400 per hour.
So, if you meet with them for five hours, you can do the math on how much that might cost. For us at Stock Market School, we’re giving you 20-plus hours of me and my team’s time every single month, and I want to make this a really easy yes for you, Jenna, and for everybody who’s listening who wants to learn how to get started investing, who wants to learn in a way that doesn’t fearmonger, that doesn’t panic you, that gives you really good information and where you learn straight from me and learn what I’m investing in and learn the tips and tricks.
So we are giving anybody listening to this podcast episode 50% off that annual subscription, so it is now less than $500 a year. It’s at 497. You can use code Podcast to sign up. So, Stock Market School, you can get more information, testimonials, all of that at herfirst100k.com/invest, and then you’ll use code Podcast for 50% off. We will also link it down in the show notes.
So I want to give you even better price than that 597 for you to be able to sign up, support a woman-owned business, but also to actually take your financial education seriously and get some really, really good advice about how to invest step by step. So I would love to see you, Jenna, there, and anybody else who might be listening. Let’s take our next question all about investing in your 401k if you’re a green card holder.
Stephanie:
Hi Tori. Love the podcast. Love the book. I am obviously not an American. There’s a lot of green card holders and people right now in very precarious situations in terms of their future in the US. Don’t need to explain why that is, and I’m just kind of getting to grips with my financial situation. I’m wondering if it’s worth still paying into a 401k and maybe divert that money to investment instead.
Tori Dunlap:
Stephanie, I’m not going to say who it is, but somebody very close to me in my life is also a green card holder and is from the UK and is doing a lot of what it sounds like you and all other green card holders are doing, which is playing safe right now because you’re worried about Trump deporting you, and I do not blame you in the slightest. I was talking with this particular individual in my life about the protests that were happening and if they were planning on attending, and he was like, “I kind of have to just keep my head down right now because I don’t want to give Trump a reason to deport me.”
So, first, I just want to acknowledge any stress you’re feeling it’s so real. Second, we’re going to keep investing in our 401k, especially if you plan on being here in the United States for a while. If this is not something you’re doing just for a year or two, but you’ve created a life here, maybe your family’s here, maybe you plan on staying here for a decade more. Yep, we’re going to invest in your 401k. Most definitely. We want to be able to get those tax breaks.
We want to take advantage of any sort of tax breaks we are offered, and not a bad idea to continue investing in your 401k even if you are a green card holder. So hopefully that answers your question. When we come back from break, I’m answering more investing questions from our voicemail inbox, and we’re going to dig into your Instagram DMs straight to our inbox. We’ll talk to you soon. Hi, Financial Feminist. Welcome back from break. Let’s take a question about Edward Jones, my nemesis.
Speaker 9:
Hi Tori. I love your podcast. I listen to it all the time, and I send it to people all the time, but there’s one thing on it that always brings me pause. You hate Edward Jones, and-
Tori Dunlap:
I do hate [inaudible 00:32:36].
Speaker 9:
… I am learning about money. I am trying to become a Financial Feminist, but my grandmother had all her money with Edward Jones, and she trusted her financial advisor with her life. When she was dying, and we needed to get her to do something, and she had dementia, we were like, “Your financial advisor said so,” and she was like, “Okay, then I’ll do it.” It could be about anything. So, I grew up learning to trust Edward Jones.
Tori Dunlap:
The power this financial advisor has.
Speaker 9:
And my grandmother died, and the money she left us is all with Edward Jones. I don’t feel like I have the capacity to invest by myself. I feel like they’re doing a decent enough job with it. I’m 25. I’m just leaving my money with them, but I keep hearing you say how much you hate them, and I’m stressed because I feel like I also trust them since my grandmother trusts them, but also I don’t really know anything.
Could they be doing a good job? Could they be what I need right now, and then, in the future, I do something else? I just want to hear a little bit more about it since we have a family connection with them, it feels like. But maybe it’s fake. I don’t know. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much.
Tori Dunlap:
Oh, I love this question. Your grandma sounds like a hoot also that she trusts the financial advisor so much that it’s like, “You need to take to your medicine. No, I don’t want to take my medicine. Well, your financial advisor told you to take your medicine. Okay, I’ll take it.” The chokehold your financial advisor had on your grandma. Okay. First, the fact that you’re investing at all is a win, okay, even if it’s with Edward Jones, so I don’t want you feeling more panic or shame from me of worrying you’re doing something wrong.
The fact that you’re 25 and investing at all is great, so don’t stress about that. Okay. The fact that you’re doing it, even if it’s not with an institution I love, is better than you not doing it at all. Amazing. Period. Full stop. Indent new paragraph. However, here’s the deal with Edward Jones. I’ve talked about this on the show before. They are charging you an exorbitant amount of fees, and I know you’re thinking, “I don’t have that much money. What is a couple percentage points and fees in order for them to just handle it for me?” God, okay. I’m trying to figure out.
You can keep this, that’s fine. I’m like, I’m trying to give you the not-full rant, Tori, but enough rant Tori. We’ve talked about, again, I’ve said this almost word for word before, but Edward Jones charges not even reasonable fees. They’re like charging you an account, open fee, an account close fee, a trading fee. Let’s talk about that. So every time they invest, every single time they invest for you, so they could be investing for you like every two weeks if you give them money every time you get paid, they are charging you a fee every time to do that, plus their normal management fee.
That’s a lot in fees, and I’ve proven time and time again that these fees are not actually beneficial, so if we are paying these fees, but they got you something, sure, maybe I can make a case for it, but they don’t. I know you’re scared to invest yourself. I know people listening are scared to invest for themselves. That’s why we created Stock Market School, and yes, I’m going to shamelessly plug my own thing because, frankly, I think it’s way better, and I’m not charging you a fee. I’m charging you this one annual subscription, not just for the investing, but for everything else.
For me, hopping on coaching and my time and my expertise, for all of my team’s time to do master classes and all of the incredible learnings about retirement accounts and about how to play catch up if you feel financially behind in explaining to you what an index fund is. We’re not charging you a fee for every single time you invest. We don’t charge you that fee. We’re not charging you a management fee to just keep your account open. We don’t charge you any of that because it’s bullshit. I want your hard-earned money to go to you actually bettering your financial life, right. I want your hard-earned money going to your investments. That’s what it’s there for, rather than going to bullshit fees.
Now, the personal connection you feel with your Edward Jones person, I actually love that. I think that’s so great. I love that your grandma had a really good relationship with her financial advisor. If things aren’t working for you though, you’re allowed to break up with your financial advisor. We’ve also talked about this on the show before. Kristen, I’ll have you link the episode where we literally walk you through the script of breaking up with your financial advisor, but you can just say, “Hey, Steve, thank you for all of the incredible work you did with my grandma.
She cared about this relationship so much, and I so appreciate all of the time and the energy you spent with her. I am looking to make some different investing decisions, and I’m looking to move away from Edward Jones. Thank you again for all of your contribution. Please let me know how I can close my account and move it” to wherever you want to move it to. That’s how you can do it. I think a lot of women, whether it’s this situation or a romantic relationship or a job, they feel like, “I owe them something. They were nice to me, or they were nice to somebody I cared about, and even if it’s not working for me anymore or I get new information, I have to stay loyal to them.”
Kristen said this even before we hopped on. This was not me. This was Kristen, podcast producer, who was like, “You are one of tons of people that they work with.” Now, it doesn’t mean that everybody’s an asshole. I’m not saying that, but you are a number to them. They are a multi, multi-billion dollar corporation, and you leaving is okay. You’re allowed to leave, especially if you have new information. If you stay with Edward Jones, I don’t love it but do not stay there longer than a couple of years. If you truly do not feel like you can manage this, which, by the way, you can.
I’ve built an entire platform that helps you do this and has thousands and thousands of members and help me ring the NASDAQ bell like it’s proven to work, but if you can’t get over that hump right now, okay, just don’t stay with them long-term because as you build your wealth, that 3% fee plus a management fee, plus all of that is going to get really expensive. I’m going to take two rapid-fire questions from your Instagram DMs. You can add us on Financial Feminist Podcast. That’s the easiest way to get in touch, and we would love to take your questions. Okay, two quick questions from Instagram.
One, “Should I pay off my car loan faster or save money?” You always want to save an emergency fund first. Always. But if you’re wondering whether I should invest or pay off debt, you want to think about the 7% rule. I talk about this a lot in my book. 7% is the magical number because 7% is the average return we can expect in the stock market. So, if your debt is more than 7% interest, you’re going to work to pay down that debt faster. If it’s under 7%, you actually could be earning more money by investing, so you’re going to work to invest and prioritize that over paying off that loan faster.
We have this in more detail in my free investing workshop, herfirst100k.com/secrets. Second question. “I just got my first credit card. What’s the best way for me to start off so I’m successful with using it?” Great question. One, make sure that you are not spending beyond your means. Use your credit card like your debit card. Two, make sure you’re making on-time in full payments so you’re not waiting until after the due date. You’re not, again, putting money on a card that you can’t actually afford to pay off. You want to make sure you’re making on-time in full payments.
And last but not least, get to know your credit card. Get to know what sort of perks and benefits there are. Many sorts of credit cards can save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year on things that you’re already buying, whether it’s subscriptions that you can get for free, DoorDash Plus, or Disney Plus. You can also typically get car insurance through your credit cards or Travelers Insurance, so I don’t pay for additional car insurance when I’m renting a car somewhere. So get to know your credit card intimately, know what’s there, know what perks and benefits it’s going to offer you that can save you money long term.
These are so many great questions, financial feminists, and again if these questions spark something in you, we have episodes about every single topic we discuss today that give you more detail, that give you more information. I also have a book that has been read by more than 250,000 people called Financial Feminist. If you’re listening on Spotify to this podcast right now, you can get the audiobook read by me for free if you have Spotify Premium, so go ahead and search Financial Feminist. You can also see other episodes, but you can see the book. You can listen to that book just like you’re listening to the podcast, and Stock Market School was the big kind of shameless plug I made today.
If you’re interested in joining or you’re interested in just getting more information, you can go to herfirst100k.com/invest and use code podcast for 50% off your annual subscription. Thank you for being here. Thank you for supporting feminist media.
Thank you for listening to Financial Feminist, a Her First 100K Podcast. For more information about Financial Feminist, Her First 100K, our guests and episode show notes, visit financialfeministpodcast.com. If you’re confused about your personal finances and you’re wondering where to start, go to herfirst100k.com/quiz for a free personalized money plan.
Financial Feminist is hosted by me, Tori Dunlap. Produced by Kristen Fields and Tamisha Grant. Research by Sarah Sciortino. Audio and video engineering by Alyssa Midcalf. Marketing and Operations by Karina Patel and Amanda Leffew. Special thanks to our team at Her First 100K, Kailyn Sprinkle, Masha Bakhmetyeva, Sasha Bonar, Rae Wong, Elizabeth McCumber, Daryl Ann Ingman, Shelby Duclos, Meghan Walker, and Jess Hawks. Promotional graphics by Mary Stratton, photography by Sarah Wolfe, and theme music by Jonah Cohen Sound. A huge thanks to the entire Her First 100K community for supporting our show.
Tori Dunlap
Tori Dunlap is an internationally-recognized money and career expert. After saving $100,000 at age 25, Tori quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K to fight financial inequality by giving women actionable resources to better their money. She has helped over five million women negotiate salaries, pay off debt, build savings, and invest.
Tori’s work has been featured on Good Morning America, the New York Times, BBC, TIME, PEOPLE, CNN, New York Magazine, Forbes, CNBC, BuzzFeed, and more.
With a dedicated following of over 2.1 million on Instagram and 2.4 million on TikTok —and multiple instances of her story going viral—Tori’s unique take on financial advice has made her the go-to voice for ambitious millennial women. CNBC called Tori “the voice of financial confidence for women.”
An honors graduate of the University of Portland, Tori currently lives in Seattle, where she enjoys eating fried chicken, going to barre classes, and attempting to naturally work John Mulaney bits into conversation.
