Vaginance | Money & Life In The New Roaring 20s

Brace yourself for one of the wildest divorce with children stories ever. You won’t believe it when you hear it but this does have a happ(ier) ending!

On this episode, the ladies of Vaginance are joined by our dear friend and badass mortgage broker Arien Bowersock.

VagGUYnance* in the house! You heard from us, now you get to hear what our partners thought of the Fair Play Deck experiment plus an update from Taylor & Joey on how it’s been going the past 6 months.

In this episode, we discuss our partners’ experiences with the fair play deck for dividing household tasks. They emphasize open communication, personalized decks, clear communication, stand-up meetings, and support in a healthy partnership.

*Maggie’s fiancée Phil is clearly not a ‘guy’ but she has allowed us to affectionately call all four of our partners Vaguynance because a clever play on words is too rare to pass up.

How do you and your partner divvy up everything that must be done? Are you living the utopian dream of equal partnership? We tested out the Fair Play Deck for this episode. Some of us liked it, some of us struggled with it, everyone had thoughts!

Hangout with us as we rehash everything great and terrible from the past year. Guess who no longer has a hot doctor and who now has a dog! Find out what happened to our net worth, where we’re headed in our careers and what our financial plans are for 2023!

Finally released almost a year after recording it, we promise this episode was worth the wait! We’re joined by special guest Megan as we explore pitfalls of dying with money in your bank account and why you shouldn’t wait until retirement to live out your dream life experiences. This book will either validate the wild and reckless decisions you’ve made or encourage you to save a little less and live a lot more.

* Die With Zero | Book

* Bridget Casey’s Badass Die With Zero Spreadsheet

* Since we recorded this episode, Bridget Casey & Alyssa Davies have actually started a podcast and they have a great Die With Zero episode! Check it out: Money Feels Podcast

Maggie’s amazing fiancé Phil joins us to talk about sexuality, atypical identities, attraction vs arousal, why labels can empower some people and make others feel hemmed in and, in all things, the importance of open minds, communication and respect.

Books from the episode:

* A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities by Mady G. & Jules Zuckerberg

* The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality by Julie Sondra Decker

We all need an emergency fund but how do we keep it from losing purchasing power during times of high inflation? Oh what a question! We get into HYSAs, the Ultimate Liquidity Portfolio, interest bearing USD Crypto Stable Coins, Treasury Bills and the hot new kid on the block that’s catching everyone’s eyes… I-Bonds!

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Fundamental Premise: Retirement Accounts VS Emergency Funds

* Retirement Account (sub 40 years old)* Goal is to maximize growth; focus on higher risk, higher longterm return assets* Long enough time horizon to absorb market fluctuations* Emergency Fund or Cash On Sidelines* Goal is to minimize loss and hedge against risk.* Short time horizon, high liquidity need.

Cash Buffers, Emergency Funds and Opportunity Funds

* Cash Buffer – ie. 1 month’s expenses on hand, in cash so it’s ready if you need it today* Emergency Fund* Might be enough to cover things like…* 3 to 6 months of unemployment* Insurance Deductibles for your healthcare, house, car, pets* Typical, hard to predict expenses like replacing the transmission on your car* As much as you need to sleep at night!* Able to be liquidated to cash in your bank account before your Cash Buffer runs out.* Opportunity Fund* Money you are saving for investing but need to keep on the sidelines for now and out of risky or longterm lock up investments. Examples might include a down payment for a house or money you’re saving to start a business or take advantage of an unexpected investment opportunity.* Similar liquidity need as your Emergency Fund

Strategies for hedging against inflation for short-term cash on the sidelines:

* HYSA – High Yield Savings Account* Interest on these is pretty abysmal and may not be worth the effort of setting up the account and moving your money back and forth plus paying taxes on the pittance of interest earned.* ULP – Low Risk ETF Portfolio – * Goal is to preserve purchasing power and this portfolio has achieved that goal more frequently than stocks or cash, before or after inflation and taxes, during a wide variety of economic conditions, and over a wide variety of time periods.* How It Works:* 88% US Intermediate Term Treasuries (ie. VGIT ETF)* 12% Total Stock Market index (ie. VTI ETF)* Rebalance once per year

* USD pegged Stable Coins* Companies offering the stable coins hold other assets equal to or greater than the value of USD stable coins they’ve minted & adjust the assets they’re holding to maintain a 1:1 value with USD.* Providers: Celsius and BlockFi* $50 Signup Bonus for Celsius: sign up, transfer $400 USD into Celsius and keep it there for 30 days. Referral Code: 1434050ef7* Bonds* You are loaning money to a government or corporation; they are paying you interest on the loan.* One Month Treasury Bills “T Bills”* I Bonds* Rates are published as annual percentage but the rates actually change every six months (May 1st & Nov 1st). So, if you buy an I Bond during the current cycle, you will earn 3.56% (half of 7.12%) during the first six months you own the bond. During the second six months, you will earn the new rate that will be published May 1st.* Not covered: CDs, Money Market Accounts, Money Market Funds

More Info On the “ULP”

This is an idea put forward by Christopher Kawaja in his book

To combine finances or to run like hell in the opposite direction, that is the question. We share our own partnered money setups and then dive deep into the much lauded book The Two Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi… some of us liked it, some of us hated it but we were all left wondering whether it’s even possible for two people to live on one income in the modern economy.

Some Things Everyone Should Know About Divorce

What marriage really is as far as the government is concerned… a financial contract with a state mandated asset allocation in the event of divorce. Do you really want the state’s one-size-fits-all guidelines? Yeah no, get a pre-nup/maintain a post-nup and then stash it in a filing cabinet and assume you’ll never have to use it.

Social Security contributions (and payouts!) are relative to earned income… and fucks over stay-at-home parents, particularly in the event of divorce. In order to receive any Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse, you have to have been married for at least 10 years AND you can never marry anyone else…. did we mention that the average length of marriage in the US is 8.2 years?

Pensions that are not vested at the time of divorce (meaning they will reach their true full value at a later date, aka upon retirement) ARE considered marital assets and should be equitably divided after having a valuation done to estimate the vested value.

* The Two Income Trap | Book by Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi* Spousal IRA* Bankruptcy is a tool! We talk about this more extensively in an upcoming episode we recorded Live At The Fig!* The Couples Financial Coach Podcast – episode featuring Yulin Lee* Frugalwoods sharing their experience with having children while combatting the “Baby Industrial Complex”* Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism | Book by Kristen R. Ghodsee

The Roaring 20s continue and 2021 had it all: gamestop, crypto, travel in the time of Covid, new jobs, relationships, investment accounts, properties, health insurance, life insurance, death paperwork, you name it. Listen in to find out our favourite splurges of the year, major milestones we tackled and what 2022 holds on the horizon.

Favourite Splurges

Aprés Delight CBD Intimacy Oil brought to you by Coalition Snow

Taylor’s Chicken Coop Automatic Door Opener

Ruggable Snake Rug

Becca’s Favourite Airpod knockoffs

Mountain Rings to replace Jewels’ lost wedding ring | Made By: Mackenzie Jones | Bought At: Made Local in Calgary

Plush & Cozy Sheepskins

Off & Out Camp

Maggie’s Super Cushy, Back Pain Free Nike Running Shoes

Class of 2021 Investments: Yearbook Style

Most Likely To Succeed

Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund

Tried and true and Taylor’s Top Performer for 2021.

Best Personality

Gamestop

Simply electric! This little number was by far and away the most fun stock pick of the year. What a rollercoaster ride! Relive the glory days and listen to Becca’s intro of our Gamestop episode to feel alive again.

Best Legs

Scotch

When you fall in lust, fall hard. Yet to be seen whether this will be a classic story of unrequited love.

Most Dependable

Automatic 401k Contributions

Be like Maggie. Win today, win tomorrow, win forever. Get that money invested before it ever hits your bank account.

Best Dressed

Investment Property

From ugly duckling tear down to hip longterm rental, a true Princess Diaries makeover. So much work but oh so worth it.