Hiking Insights: Financial Planning Lessons from the Trail
About the Guest(s):
Amy Irvine is the founder and CEO of Rooted Planning Group, a financial advisory firm dedicated to offering comprehensive financial guidance. With a career spanning over two decades, Amy is known for her insightful approach to integrating personal life goals with financial planning. Her mission is to help individuals and families establish financial stability and achieve their life ambitions through informed financial decisions. As the host of the podcast "Money Roots," Amy blends her expertise with practical advice, making complex financial concepts accessible and actionable for her audience.
Episode Summary:
In this engaging episode of "Money Roots," Amy Irvine reflects on the parallels between hiking and financial planning. Broadcasting from a picturesque cabin in North Carolina, Amy shares her rejuvenating hiking experiences and connects them to valuable financial insights. As the episode unfolds, she elaborates on the concepts of creating mental space, reducing financial 'noise,' and the significance of personal financial goals.
A major theme of the podcast is the importance of establishing "brain space" and reducing noise when making financial decisions. Amy emphasizes how moments of tranquility, akin to silent hikes, can lead to more thoughtful and informed financial choices. She also discusses the societal pressure of comparison and how focusing on personal goals over others’ achievements can lead to more fulfilling financial planning. By drawing analogies, Amy conveys that financial planning is not just about managing money—it’s about aligning financial decisions with deeply personal life aspirations and maintaining a focus on long-term goals.
Key Takeaways:
- Brain Space and Financial Health: Prioritizing personal time to recharge can lead to more focused financial planning and rejuvenate your decision-making process.
- Managing Financial Noise: Just as noise can disrupt a peaceful hike, external influences and pressures can impact financial choices; it’s crucial to tune out unhelpful noise.
- Comparison is a Deterrent: Escaping the habit of comparing oneself to others fosters contentment and personal goal achievement in financial planning.
- Comfort in Discomfort: Embrace situations that may feel uncomfortable financially, as they often lead to better long-term comfort and stability.
- Pack Light, Be Prepared: Like hiking, financial planning should involve careful preparation and readiness for unforeseen events, balancing needs with simplicity.
Notable Quotes:
- "There's so much going on in my head...I just need to reboot, shut down and reboot because I need to clear out all the miscellaneous junk that's in there."
- "Noise, to me, is something that we hear so much of...and how does that impact our spending, our behaviors around money?"
- "We need to stop comparing ourselves both financially as well as other ways."
- "Sometimes you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable so you can get comfortable."
- "Pack light, but be prepared means take enough stuff with you that if you need something, you have it."
Resources:
- Rooted Planning Group: Rooted Planning Group Website
Tune in to hear more from Amy Irvine as she provides thoughtful and practical financial advice through the lens of her personal experiences. Stay connected with "Money Roots" for more insightful episodes that blend life events with financial planning.
Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Hi, I'm Amy Irvine, founder of Rooted Planning Group, and this is Money Roots, a podcast where my team and I explore the real conversations behind financial planning.
Speaker B:Because life is about events supported by your dollars and cents.
Speaker B:Let's get started.
Speaker A:Hello, podcast listeners.
Speaker A:Amy Irvine, CEO and founder of Rooted Planning Group here once and you may hear a little bit of chipperness in my voice as I record this podcast.
Speaker A:Technically, I'm taking a few days of vacation, but my mind doesn't have an easy time shutting down.
Speaker A:I don't know about you.
Speaker A:I'm sitting in this beautiful little cabin in Haysville, North Carolina, looking out at the mountains.
Speaker A:I just did a 16 mile hike yesterday, which was fabulous.
Speaker A:It was so much fun.
Speaker A:Maybe the descent wasn't as much fun as the I ascent, but nonetheless, nonetheless, it gave me lots of time to think, which is something I often do when I'm out hiking.
Speaker A:So here's some things that I thought of that I wanted to share with you and make a connection between how something we can feel really passionate about can give us great lessons in financial planning and money skills too.
Speaker A:So first of all, let me start with the brain space that this allows for.
Speaker A:So brain space, to me, you know, there's so much going on in my head.
Speaker A:I don't know if you guys feel the same listeners, but I've even said my disc is full.
Speaker A:I just need to like, reboot, shut down and reboot because I need to clear out all the, you know, miscellaneous junk that's in there.
Speaker A:And that's what vacation does to me.
Speaker A:Okay, so where's the connection between that and financial planning?
Speaker A:This is where I think it's so important when we're working with clients to actually talk about creating something that helps you rejuvenate and create brain space.
Speaker A:Whether it's staycations, vacations away from the home, maybe it's just a, you know, hike each morning or walk each morning, or go out and exercise, or maybe it's meditation or yoga or whatever it is.
Speaker A:It's so important for you to incorporate something that creates that brain space.
Speaker A:And if there's a financial cost to that, then incorporating that into your plan.
Speaker A:Okay, so brain space was something I thought a lot about on this recent hike.
Speaker A:Then the next thing that sort of rolled into my mind as I was thinking about brain space was noise.
Speaker A:As I ascended to to the peak of the mountain that we were walking hiking on the I noticed how the noise changed and how I cut calmer.
Speaker A:And what I mean by that is, you know, it Went from road noise and sort of outdoors noise to just the bees, the birds, an occasional airplane.
Speaker A:But there wasn't the noise that was in my head or even that I heard, you know, earlier, even in the day.
Speaker A:And noise, to me, is something that we hear so much of, whether it's financial noise, personal noise, just noise from our friends, noise from our family noise.
Speaker A:And how does that impact our spending, our behaviors around money?
Speaker A:It's a huge impact.
Speaker A:And so how do we remove the noise that we get every single day around the financial decisions that we're making?
Speaker A:And sometimes we don't think it's a financial decision, but it actually is a financial impact because of the noise that we're hearing.
Speaker A:I see this a lot too, with, like, fast food ads.
Speaker A:People don't want fast foods in their body most of the time.
Speaker A:But, you know, you get inundated with all these commercials about fast food, and then you want fast food.
Speaker A:Advertising is noise.
Speaker A:And so as I was again, climbing and thinking about.
Speaker A:And by climbing, I mean hiking.
Speaker A:I don't mean, like climbing with ropes or anything like that.
Speaker A:I just mean walking to the top on a path.
Speaker A:But the noise brought a great.
Speaker A:The reduction of noise brought a great deal of calmness to me.
Speaker A:And, you know, I started thinking about how do I spend money and what's important to me and where do I spend money that probably isn't important to me?
Speaker A:And so the noise in financial planning and even the financial news sometimes can be.
Speaker A:Well, all the time can be noise.
Speaker A:How do we start to remove that from our lives a little bit and incorporate what's most important to us around our spending?
Speaker A:So really important tip around noise.
Speaker A:Okay, here's another one that I found hysterical.
Speaker A:As I was sort of, you know, my mind was flipping about on different things, and that's comparison.
Speaker A:So comparison.
Speaker A:As I was hiking, I.
Speaker A:We met a few people along the trail.
Speaker A:And I'm thinking, and this, you know, is amazing to me because this is supposed to be a nonjudgmental environment.
Speaker A:And I. I noticed that I was comparing myself to how fast they were going or how slow they were going, how much, like, if was I in better shape, were they in better shape?
Speaker A:How far were they going compared to how far I was going?
Speaker A:This is crazy stuff.
Speaker A:Like, what does it even matter?
Speaker A:They're having fun.
Speaker A:They're out there enjoying themselves just like I am.
Speaker A:But when it comes to financial planning, do you ever notice how we compare ourselves to our friends, our neighbors, and our family members?
Speaker A:It's about the stuff most of the time too.
Speaker A:Their car versus our car.
Speaker A:Their house versus our house.
Speaker A:Their perceived bank account underline.
Speaker A:Perceived bank account versus our bank account.
Speaker A:It's comparison after comparison after comparison.
Speaker A:How do we stop that and just start looking at what's important to us and our financial plans?
Speaker A:Think about what's important to our journey.
Speaker A:Who do we want to spend time with?
Speaker A:How do we want to spend time with them?
Speaker A:Then we can actually take a look at what we're doing and stop comparing ourselves to everybody else and just look at what we want to do.
Speaker A:Where's our happiness factor come from?
Speaker A:Doesn't have to be what everybody else has.
Speaker A:Who says you have to have XYZ car?
Speaker A:Who says you have to have X XYZ size house or rooms?
Speaker A:What do you want?
Speaker A:So we need to stop comparing ourselves both financially as well as other ways.
Speaker A:And I thought that was just so interesting and made a direct connection to financial planning.
Speaker A:And then I have a funny one.
Speaker A:I hope you find it funny.
Speaker A:I was thinking about when I first started hiking and I, I didn't, I, I've always been somebody who enjoyed being outside.
Speaker A:Always, always.
Speaker A:But the hiking component of, has come along in the last few years and I really do enjoy it.
Speaker A:But I got thinking about what, what made me uncomfortable when I first started doing it.
Speaker A:This is so funny.
Speaker A:So the, the phrase that I want to use is get comfortable being uncomfortable so you can get comfortable.
Speaker A:I'm going to say that again.
Speaker A:Get comfortable being uncomfortable so you can get comfortable.
Speaker A:Okay, what does that even mean?
Speaker A:Now again, I find this funny.
Speaker A:You may think tmi, Amy, you may laugh, but it's the God's honest truth.
Speaker A:When we first started hiking, I, you know, we go on these 5, 6, 7, 12 mile hikes, which means that you need to do a couple of things.
Speaker A:You need to hydrate, you need to eat well, you know, you need to listen to your body, yada, yada yada.
Speaker A:That's all true in life as well.
Speaker A:But I didn't like peeing outside.
Speaker A:Okay, go ahead, laugh your you know what off.
Speaker A:But that is true.
Speaker A:That was one of my uncomfortable things.
Speaker A:But I'm telling you, if you're doing a 12 mile hike, you're going to have to do this.
Speaker A:So I had to get comfortable doing that because let me tell you, if I didn't, I would be very uncomfortable.
Speaker A:And if I didn't drink enough water to make myself have to pee outside, then I'm going to have to pass out because my body just isn't going to survive those kinds of long hikes without the proper amount of hydration.
Speaker A:Okay, so you're probably thinking, amy, where are you going with this one?
Speaker A:I don't understand.
Speaker A:My point is sometimes you have to get uncomfortable being.
Speaker A:Excuse me, Sometimes you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable in your financial world as well.
Speaker A:And making small adjustments can make you feel uncomfortable because you are doing something that was actually comfortable.
Speaker A:It could be things like sometimes spending more on something makes you feel very uncomfortable, but the longevity of that, spending more on something actually benefits you.
Speaker A:I could go out and buy the cheapest hiking boot, but you know what?
Speaker A:I'm gonna have to replace that hiking boot time and time again.
Speaker A:It's actually going to end up costing more.
Speaker A:So I've got to get comfortable spending a little bit more money when I normally am not comfortable.
Speaker A:It could be the opposite.
Speaker A:You've got to slow down on spending money or back off on spending money on something in particular because the resources just aren't there.
Speaker A:And that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker A:But in the long run, it will make you feel comfortable because if you are able to save more, if you.
Speaker A:If you're, you know, not going to pass out from dehydration or your bladder bursting, in my case, as I was talking about being uncomfortable, then it is going to create a level of comfort later.
Speaker A:And that's the part that you have to be thinking about, okay, where am I going to be comfortable in the future if I get uncomfortable now?
Speaker A:Where am I going to be comfortable in the future?
Speaker A:So get comfortable by being uncomfortable or doing something uncomfortable so that you can be comfortable.
Speaker A:I know that one is long stretch on that, but in my mind, as I was thinking about where I started out with my hiking journey and now how comfortable I am, you know, finding a little quiet little corner that I can go relieve myself in, I am very comfortable with that because I know that I'm going to be more comfortable once I do it, and I'm well hydrated.
Speaker A:So just think about hydration and the things that you need to do and get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Speaker A:All right, so then the next one, no more gross stuff, but the next one is pack light, but be prepared.
Speaker A:And that's where I think the core of financial planning actually comes in.
Speaker A:Pack light, but be prepared means take enough stuff with you that you.
Speaker A:If you need something, you have it, like band aids and.
Speaker A:Oh, I don't.
Speaker A:A couple of the things that I always think of, Band aids, Advil, an extra pair of socks, a few other things might be some eye drops in case you, you know, the allergies are really acting up.
Speaker A:Some water is definitely a critical component, but pack light enough that you can carry it to wherever you're going, but you're prepared at the same time.
Speaker A:Now this is where I have a lot of conversation around what stuff is important to you versus what experiences are important to you.
Speaker A:And sometimes making the decision between I'd rather have this stuff, which is perfectly fine, versus this experience, because most of us need to choose which one we're going to have.
Speaker A:So that's one of the lessons that comes out of the hiking, is pack light, but be prepared.
Speaker A:And by be prepared to be thinking about, well, you know, what if I was injured, what would I do?
Speaker A:Do I know how to contact?
Speaker A:When we were hiking this particular last hike, I don't know why it came up, but Brent said, you know, what if, do you know what to do if you actually fall like over edge or something and you had to, you were like rolling, like that's what actually happened.
Speaker A:Like, how do you stop yourself?
Speaker A:It was one of those discussions of be prepared.
Speaker A:Well, your arms need to go out flat, you need to make yourself as wide as possible instead of curling up or trying to continue to roll.
Speaker A:Be prepared with knowledge about how any financial decision actually impacts your family.
Speaker A:And I could go down a whole nother road on this one about thinking about disability, life insurance, savings, emergency funds, all of that sort of stuff.
Speaker A:But pack light and be prepared can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
Speaker A:So if you're thinking, what does that mean to me?
Speaker A:Dig into that a little bit.
Speaker A:Listen to how your body is feeling when you say those words.
Speaker A:And then finally this one I think is so interesting too that I was, I was noticing myself as I was walking along where, where my attention was now.
Speaker A:I knew that I started down at the base of the trail and I was trying to walk up to the summit.
Speaker A:Like I knew that that was my long term goal.
Speaker A:So if you think about goals and long term goals, it could be something like put my kids through college, it could be buy a house, it could be, you know, retire.
Speaker A:But you, you set, you know where you are right now and you know where you're going to be or you want to, you think where you want to be because sometimes that changes along the way too.
Speaker A:But you yourself, you're setting a goal for yourself.
Speaker A:And so when I started out the hike, I knew where I wanted to go eventually.
Speaker A:But my immediate tension, attention, excuse me, was between what was right in front of me, the next step, and about 10 or 15ft in front of me.
Speaker A:And my eye kept jotting back and forth and back and forth between that immediate step, that 10 steps in front of me.
Speaker A:That's the way it is with financial goals too.
Speaker A:What's the next step that I'm going to take to make sure I get to the summit or whatever my summit is, but also that I pay attention to what's right in front of me and happening.
Speaker A:Because if you're out hiking, you need to be looking for stones and roots and those kinds of things to make sure that you don't trip.
Speaker A:But in life it's the same thing.
Speaker A:We need to be looking out for things that we won't trip over when we're planning for long term girl goals because that's where, that's where we'd have to do course corrections.
Speaker A:And so, you know, looking out between what's right in front of you in that 10, 10ft, you know, again, what's coming up, Jotting back and forth, jotting back and forth.
Speaker A:Guess what?
Speaker A:I eventually made it to the summit by just paying attention to that next step and what's 10 steps in front of me?
Speaker A:I eventually made it to the summit financially.
Speaker A:That's what we need to be doing, paying us, paying attention to what's right in front of us, what's 10 steps in front of us and eventually keep working towards whatever that goal is, whatever that summit is.
Speaker A:So those are my hiking slash financial planning, I guess you want to say connections.
Speaker A:These are the things that I thought about when I was on the trail yesterday.
Speaker A:And I guess the final one that kind of came to mind is, of course, risk.
Speaker A:What are the risks associated with any hike, with any financial plan?
Speaker A:How do we incorporate those?
Speaker A:And I, I guess that really goes to, you know, be prepared.
Speaker A:Friends.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for listening to this particular podcast.
Speaker A:I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you enjoyed the connection that I made between hiking and my vacation and financial planning.
Speaker A:Thanks all for listening.
Speaker A:Stay tuned for the next podcast.
Speaker B:That's it for today's episode of Money Roots.
Speaker B:I'm Amy Irvine from Rooted Planning Group.
Speaker B:If you found this conversation helpful, we'd love for you to share the podcast with a friend, family member or colleague who might enjoy it too.
Speaker B:And if there's a financial question on your mind, send it in.
Speaker B:Your question could be the topic of a future episode because at the end of the day, life is about events supported by your dollars and cents.
Speaker B:Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time on Money Roots.
