November 2023
All too often, we get caught up in the daily motions of work and forget the benefits of resting and traveling. In this first episode, Wealth Advisors Stacey and Kevin discuss how vacations can better one’s quality of life, relationships, creativity, and motivation.
They also explore the importance of financial savviness when traveling, like using the right credit cards to gain points, considering travel agencies, realizing which aspects of your vacations are worth spending more on, saving ahead of time for bigger trips, and finding balance between enjoying the present and preparing for the future.
Stay tuned for more Couchside Conversations episodes!
We have topics coming up like…
- Battle of the Spouses: Financial Edition
- Parenting Tips for Financially Savvy Kids
- Protecting Your Family Using Insurance
- Gen X: Complexities of the “Sandwich Generation”
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Read related articles here:
Thriving Beyond the Grind: Unleash Your Potential with Guilt-Free Time Off by Thao Truong
Money Scripts: Recognizing Your Relationship with Money by Thao Truong
Welcome to this episode of Couchside Conversations. I'm really excited to talk with Kevin today about the very fun topic of vacations. We often find that our clients and ourselves feel this like guilt about going on vacation because we're trying to be financially responsible, but the reality is that your money, your finances, it should really lead to you having a better life. So, Kevin and I are going to chat about our viewpoint on vacations and maybe some of the tips that we have for you as we are financially responsible, but also, I think, investing into ourselves in our lives.
So, Kevin, you've shared with me in the past that you really enjoy going on vacations because it almost produces a sense of, like, wellness or well -being for you and your family. Can you share a little bit on your perspective on that?
Sure. I love to travel. I mean, it's no secret that my wife and I really look forward to getting away and whether it be with the kids or without the kids, but when we travel, it's exactly what you said. It's leaving the distractions behind. It's being able to escape for a little bit. And what's a little unique about our situation is we still work. Like, it's really not fully escaping, but what it allows us to do is be creative. It allows us to talk about aspects of our business and what we're working on in ways that maybe we can't because the day -to -day grind is real. And so, sitting on a beach having a margarita saying, "What's our next three, five years in business look like?" And saying, "Let's dream big." A lot easier to do that when the waves are crashing and the sun's shining versus sitting in a conference room. And so, there's that element of getting away actually, I think, makes us better at what we do. Right? Sometimes our worlds are just, like, small. And so, you make them bigger by getting out of your regular day -to -day community and workplace to dream a little bit is that what you want to become. You meet so many different people from different walks of life that bring different perspectives. And, like, what do you do? And you can just talk about things in ways that maybe you can't in your local community or with, you know, other people. So, there's so many benefits for us and we love it. And I actually see the same thing for you. I mean, obviously, Tahoe is such a special place. And you being in the office is incredible. Being here is so important to what you do. But when you get away and come back I don't want to say you're a different person but you have that bounce in your step again that passion that it just it read like you can see it it's it's palpable so I don't know if what does it feel like for you when you and Marcus just can go and what do you do when you're in Tahoe.
I think one of the things that I love about Tahoe is just that my husband and I grew up there and so it almost feels like I have two homes but the Tahoe home is like the home for creativity for innovation for nature and beauty and relaxation and being able to like take that deep breath and the fresh air and then my home here is like for the other part of me that loves to be creative and achieve things and and accomplish different parts of maybe my career but then also accomplish what we're trying to do in our organization and so I find that escaping to Tahoe gives me that breathing room that I need to then come back here and like do the things that we want to do and impact the world and the way that we want to impact it so it's like a a nice like blending of all of the best parts of life and I think investing into having a place in Tahoe is a big component to investing in my career too like sometimes we don't think about that you think about having a second home and you're like oh man that's a big financial responsibility but what if that financial responsibility actually leads to more opportunity across the board and I think that sometimes we're hesitant to do these things but if we can actually think about the long term in the bigger picture it makes some of the short -term decisions a little easier.
We joke around the office we know when you come back from Tahoe there's something that's going to be tried or changed it's like I do love that, okay Stacy's coming back what's going to be new what did she dream up and that I mean but that is the value we are better here because of you getting away and and thinking through it. And so, you know, for us, I think we're better parents. When we spend a little time away from our kids, love our kids, we're fully involved with them, coach, cheer, dance, all that stuff. But by spending a little bit time away, refocusing, working on our marriage and relationship, it makes us better. I think in the same way as an employee, as in, you know, a partner, employer, you're better. You get to come back and you get to reset and refresh. So, I think oftentimes, our generation, it's our parents or, you know, even our industry. We say like, you shouldn't spend money on travel or on other things because you need to save for the future. A dollar saved is going to compound over time. You're going to have so much more wealth. So, we're like, we're almost fearful to make that investment or spend that money. And, you know, I think at first, Nicole and I, we would tell ourselves that we're better for doing it. But like, we actually truly believe that and have seen the fruits of doing that. And so, as we, you know, talk to modern clients and younger clients around what they should be doing, encouraging people to take that trip and invest in themselves and their wellness is so important.
Oh, totally. Actually, I call it the future me versus current me dilemma, right? Current me knows what I need today. Future me is saying, hey, you got to save for this. But if we're always focused on the future, we don't live in the present. And I think that's one of the things that I love the most about vacations. And when you were just sharing that about like you and Nicole going on vacations together, part of it is just figuring out a way to be present with each other in life. I think it's such a struggle for all of us to like balance all of the different things we have going and we're constantly multitasking and we're like, half in this conversation and half in that conversation. It's crazy. Yeah. Sometimes when you get away or for Marcus and I, when we go paddle boarding out on the lake, it's like, it's just us having a discussion and there's not phones and pinging and emails and side conversations. And I think that's also a value that vacation brings is it allows you to be present. And I think presence generally leads to more happiness as well. 100%.
It's necessary. And one other point point on that too when I think through like something to look forward to, we're both passionate, we love our work, we could work all the time but everyone goes through a period, a phase where it's like work is, it's stressful, it's hard and if you know that you're headed to Tahoe in a week or going to Italy or have a concert on the books, like that ability to have, you know, I don't call it light at the end of the tunnel but I'm gonna grind it out because we have this reprieve and this time to reset. Again, I think it makes us better at our job, it's that the health element of it is so important so having that start on your calendar makes such a big difference.
Well, I know one of the things that our clients struggle with is they ask the question of like, how much can I spend on vacations and then how do I make vacations, finance, like how do I become financially savvy when I go on vacation? Do you have any like tips or thoughts on whether it's developing a vacation budget or on how to make vacations feel like you get more bang for your buck?
Obviously the budget element of it is gonna be so dependent on each person's situation. There's definitely, you know, you think about a European trip or just a getaway to a local hotel laid by the pool. I personally don't see the value in the bang for your buck traveling to Europe is incredible, but just sometimes that one night getaway. So I think people think they have to spend all this money. You can do it in a reasonable way, but knowing your budget and then planning for it. I find that the trips that we just kind of go spontaneously, we overspend, there's still a lot of fun. But knowing what you're going to do, even saving for it, I think gives you a sense of excitement. So every month you identify how much in that paycheck is going towards that budget. You have the start on your calendar. You know that you're building towards it. To me, that is the smartest way to go about it. But then also I know you look at like different credit card savings or travel perks. So do you have anything that you like to utilize when you're looking to plan the trip and save or enhance that experience?
Well, I do also use what you just shared, the bucket approach. Like I have a, accounts are free to open. So I have like, I have a taxes account and I have a travel account and I have a home improvement account and I love kind of filling those buckets because it also I think validates the work we do, right? You work so hard and then you fill the bucket and then you're like, yeah, I get to use that bucket for like, it's first of the labor, right? So I think that's one thing that I would recommend for anyone to do is just, even if they don't love having all the accounts like I love having, but if they want to like mentally bucket what they earn, I think that's also really fulfilling. Well, it keeps you two from putting it on a credit card and we'll talk about credit cards, but like, I believe the worst thing you can do is, well, let's just go spend on a credit card. We'll figure out how to pay for it later, right? So doing it the other way where it's like, I've saved X amount of dollars, put it on the credit card, but then pay it off because there's perks to that, but also you're not putting yourself in a hole where I've seen you put it on a credit card, you think you'll pay it over a few months, but then the dishwasher goes out and then your car breaks down and all of a sudden that credit card bill doesn't get paid off. So having that bucket approach, I think avoids that. For sure. And speaking of credit cards, so there's two credit cards that I love the most for travel. One is the Capital One Rewards Card. Capital One is really good if you want a low fee card and a card that you can just log online and they have this tool called the Purchase Eraser and anything that fits in the travel category, hotel, airfare, you just go on and as long as you have the points, you can just erase the purchase. And so you don't have to like go through their website and book things through them to get it. You just can like, anytime you spend money on travel related things, you just go on or erase the purchase as long as you have the point. So Capital One is great if you want a low fee solution. If you want travel perks, the American Express Platinum card is a little bit better. You get Uber cashback, discounts on hotels. Last time I went to Europe, I booked it through American Express, had an issue, American Express deals with the airlines for you, but then they also provide like really good international specials. So you can go on your American Express website. The downside is you have to book everything through American Express. Express. So you know, both of them have their pros and their cons, you also get airport lounges on the American Express line, but it's also more expensive. The annual fee is a little bit hefty. So I think if you can think through your credit cards and just choose whichever one matches what you want in life, that to me makes sense, but I certainly would book, travel or spend money on credit cards as long as you have the money to pay off the credit card at the end of every month, because my husband and I, I would say half of the travel we do is on points. And so it's basically free money. I don't have to budget it from my paycheck because my credit card is giving me that adventure. So I think leveraging credit cards is really key part of this. Yeah.
And you touched on it a couple times. It sounds like convenience, right? Both those cards, like we're busy. We have so much going on. If it can just be easy, I think oftentimes our friends and colleagues, it just makes their life a little bit better. We, you know, one of the things I was like, I don't want to spend money on using a travel agent or like you think about some of those costs, every time we've done it, they pay for themselves because they have, they can negotiate rates. So like the room might be cheaper or they'll throw in breakfast and for a family of five breakfast at a hotel is expensive. So you think you're paying them a certain amount, but a lot of it is already covered in what they provide, but then the convenience part of it. They know, don't go at this time or that hotel looks great in the photos, but in real life, it doesn't look like there's nothing worse than showing up and being like, wait, this is not what I booked. And so having an expert and someone that really can give you those. So those perks, I think, you know, the credit cards, like using travel experts for, for my friends, I know that is like the biggest thing. Just can you just, can you book this for me? I have an issue, American Express, can you take care of it? Well, and some of the travel experts are not that expensive. Like people think if I go through a travel agent, it's going to cost me so much more. I, last time I've done, did travel, a travel agent, I got more in perks than I spent in the fees, you know, and you have a better experience. So it's, I mean, we can, we have access on the internet we can all book and do things but sometimes with busy lives and kids and work and everything going on having someone be able to do that and just say here's an itinerary do you like it I don't really want to go paddleboarding for me because it's a lot of work you love it it makes travel really enjoyable and then going back to the first part of the conversation we can focus on ourselves we can focus on rejuvenating thinking about business strategies and all of those things.
One thing that I mentioned is the dilemma of currently versus future me and sometimes we think it has to be like this or that right like you either have to like save everything for retirement or you have to like live for today right we can balance both of those things is there any recommendation that you would give to people as they think through like how do I balance currently versus future me we have to first of all right it's you're not putting everything away and not not working on today but also you can't just spend everything and we're living to be a hundred now so you need to save for the future I think you know financial planning is really important obviously what we do and the impact that we can have to understand all right you're already putting money away for retirement in your 401k or you haven't you have an investment property so finding out like do you need to put more away how much more can you spend on on travel having that knowledge opens up so much freedom because oftentimes we think we can't because we have to do something else we're in reality if you just know what you have you actually can't yeah so I think the planning element the understanding the big picture and even just mapping out your goals how many people don't know what they want in life they just kind of fly by the seat of their pants so knowing like hey if I could live out my perfect life and today and in retirement what does that look like yeah it's a lot easier to plan, it's a lot easier to make decisions when you know that and have that roadmap so we talk a lot about how like finances aren't taught when we're younger and we wake up one day and we're like how do we navigate all of these complex situations I also think goal-setting isn't taught when we're younger to be like hey We want to get here What are the steps that we need to take to get there? And it's one of my favorite things that we're doing for our clients is like being that objective third party saying like How do you balance these things like you can do both, but it does take a little bit of maneuvering here and there Well, well, I think traveling and saving for retirement is not a this or that topic. There are this or that topics one of the fun things that we're gonna do today is play a game called this or that. So in this or that we're gonna ask each other a series of questions that you and I have not prepared.
Okay, so first question plan a trip from A to Z or travel with minimal planning.
I tend to just travel without planning and it goes against everything I said earlier But fortunately my wife is the A to Z planner So it tends to have a trip planned A to Z and then in the middle I'll throw something in without hey By the way, I booked this let's go. So the trip is planned out, but I like spontaneity I think that's create some of the best memory. So for me, it's definitely the latter, but planning is important.
Only visit places that you've already been to or only go to places that you've never been to, new experiences .
Oh, wow. Um Okay, I Love going to places have already been like I just I had to go the first time right so I'm not like opposed to it I did it once but the idea of like knowing where to park What restaurants to go to what I liked there what I didn't like there like I always get I always get nervous like is this a safe area? Is this not a safe area? Well, do I not know about it? And so maybe earlier in life. I wanted to go to new places and today I'm like, oh, I want to know already the things and then that way I'll have a good time.
Yeah. All right, Kevin tough one. Miss your flight or lose your luggage?
Ooh, I would rather miss my flight. Especially if it's Nicole's luggage. 'Cause we did have an experience where she lost her shoe bag and let me tell you what nightmare that is. That was expensive. You need walking shoes, you need dinner shoes, you need, that was crazy. I just think the inconvenience of getting somewhere and not having what you need, but if it's she and I together missing flight, but if you have the kids with us, I would say just get me there, we'll figure out the toothbrushes and buy a souvenir shirt. But yeah, I think losing your luggage is just such a hassle and financial burden at certain points. And overwhelming what if you had something important in there, totally get it. And if you can get a flight soon right after, no big deal.
Okay, so this one's a destination question. Would you rather be on a beach in a villa or in a cabin in the mountains?
In a cabin in the mountains in summer with a lake. I just manipulated that question. I do love the snow. We live in Tahoe part of the time, and so I enjoy that aspect of it. But this year, particularly, it snowed, I think, over 70 feet, and I'm a little tired of the snow now. All right, Kevin. First class flight or five -star hotel?
How long's the flight? And how long's the stay? Okay, I am someone who I've never really flown first class, and I was like, I'd preach to everyone, I don't need it. Like, just put me on a plane, get me to where I want to be, and let's enjoy it. I did fly first class for the first time a couple months ago. - Oh yeah? - And like now, it's like, it was actually a red -eyed in New York, and so Nicole surprised me, 'cause I'm a big guy and the seats are small, and she's like, I want to be refreshed when we get there. We laid flat. I mean, it was, we used points, so that was amazing. I would say the hotel if I saw hotel where you have the service and the amenities like getting there is one thing but like once you're there that is really what you're paying for so if you have the points and if money was no object I'd fly first class but that's not something that's a high priority for me.
I have a question that's regarding cost okay would you rather travel five times and have a strict budget or go on one trip and spend whatever you want trip.
I want to feel safe when I travel and I want to like enjoy food and beverages and like I think of going to a restaurant as like going to an artist home like I would just want to know what they're gonna create and I love the whole experience and I don't want to look at the menu and think like that I can't have some of the things when it has the MP the market price and you're like I want it I actually was not expecting that answer yeah I just hope that doesn't offend you anyway I was yeah one just being someone that likes to kind of know and have control so I was thinking maybe you could kind of plan out your budget but yeah food is so expensive yeah especially when you travel and but it does make the experience because if you're in a different different place different country like yeah I feel like you really understand the culture and the people through their food right and that's just such a cool experience so and I think it's just maybe this has changed in my life too I feel like I would have five years ago you could ask me that question I probably would have said five budget trips but I mentioned it earlier I'm like kind of obsessed with this idea of presence so I just want to go all in on the thing that I'm doing at that time and not like worry about a bunch of other factors that are happening in life and it's great what else could happen yeah do you want to stay in an air well actually I know the answer to this question but I'm going to ask you anyways.
Do you want to stay in an Airbnb or a hotel?
I'm going to show kind of my, I got a bougie travel side. I want fresh towels in my bed and I want to be able to call concierge and say like can you help us with dinner reservation. So I'm not a big Airbnb fan. I get it traveling with families and big parties or on a guys trip. I can do an Airbnb. Nicole and me or the family, I mean there's just, goes back to that refreshment. You don't have to deal with as much when you're in a hotel so is that what you, is that what you bought? No, I knew it. I knew we were doing that. One other thing I would just mention on the Airbnbs is often times they're not cheaper. So you have to look at like Airbnb fees, Airbnb cancellation, Airbnb like cleaning and when I've compared and contrasted a hotel that allows me to cancel up to 24 hours in advance versus an Airbnb where I have to put half the deposit down now and I can't get it back. Often times Airbnb's are not worth it. So just even a travel tip for everybody is like make sure that you're looking at the Airbnb fees because often times a hotel might cost you 30 bucks more a night and you get like folded towels and things like that.
Obviously we both love travel and we're passionate about the benefits of doing that and encouraging our friends and clients to do it as well. Thank you for tuning in and watching us.
