Financial adviser details how to reduce money-related stress
Updated: 1:51 PM PDT May 28, 2025
FINANCES AS BEING THEIR NUMBER ONE STRESSOR IN LIFE. AND THAT’S ACCORDING TO A RECENT REPORT BY CNBC. NOW, JOINING US THIS MORNING TO TAKE A DEEPER DIVE INTO ALL OF THIS. VICE PRESIDENT AT CAPTRUST AND FINANCIAL ADVISOR CATHERINE MCCALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. HAPPY TO BE HERE. SO WHAT IS THE EASIEST WAY I KNOW. KIND OF A LOADED QUESTION HERE, BUT WHAT’S REALLY THE EASIEST WAY TO REDUCE THE STRESS WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY? I MEAN, I THINK EDUCATING YOURSELF IS REALLY BASIC AND IMPORTANT. I WOULD BE SHOCKED TO FIND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY HITS THEIR BANK ACCOUNT EVERY MONTH. AND THEN HOW MUCH MONEY NEEDS TO COME OUT OF THEIR BANK ACCOUNT. MEANING WE GOT TO PAY THE MORTGAGE. WE GOT TO PAY THE WATER BILL. WE GOT TO DO THE REALLY, REALLY BASIC THINGS. AND THEN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE $2 AMOUNTS IS YOUR DISCRETIONARY MONEY, RIGHT. THAT’S WHAT WE’RE GOING TO SPEND EATING OUT. THAT’S THE MONEY WE’RE GOING TO SPEND ON VACATIONS. HOPEFULLY SAVING SOME OF THAT MONEY. IF YOU CAN UNDERSTAND AT A BASIC LEVEL, EVEN IF YOU DON’T DO A GRANULAR BUDGET, I UNDERSTAND THAT’S VERY BORING FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, BUT IF YOU CAN AT LEAST KNOW HOW MUCH DO I HAVE IN IN THAT DISCRETIONARY FUND EVERY MONTH THAT WILL TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, WHERE AM I AT IN TERMS OF MY BUDGET OVERALL AT A HIGH LEVEL, AM I IS THE CHECKING ACCOUNT SHRINKING EVERY SINGLE MONTH, OR AM I GOING INTO MORE DEBT, OR AM I SAVING SOME OF THAT EVERY MONTH? AND I KNOW I’M KIND OF ABOVE THE WATER, RIGHT? SO TALKING ABOUT DEBT, HOW CAN CREDIT CARDS AND OTHER DEBT ADD TO OUR STRESS? I MEAN, THAT SEEMS LIKE A, YOU KNOW, SELF ANSWERED QUESTION. YEAH, I MEAN, THERE’S A LOT OF LAYERS TO IT. ABSOLUTELY. SO RATES HAVE GONE UP CONSIDERABLY OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN TERMS OF CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES. RIGHT NOW IT’S UP TO ABOUT 20%, WHICH IS A HUGE AMOUNT OF INTEREST. IF YOU HAVE EXISTING CREDIT CARD DEBT OR JUST ANY AMOUNT OF DEBT. I’M A HUGE FAN OF JUST RANKING EACH ONE BY INTEREST RATES. SO THE HIGHEST INTEREST RATE NEEDS TO BE THE HIGHEST PRIORITY. THE LOWER INTEREST RATES, YOU’RE GOING TO MAKE MINIMUM PAYMENTS ON, AND THEN YOU’RE JUST GOING TO START. I THINK DAVE RAMSEY WOULD CALL THAT THE SNOW BELT SNOWBALL METHOD, BUT REALLY JUST HITTING THE BIGGEST INTEREST RATES FIRST, BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO PAY ANY MORE INTEREST THAN I HAVE TO. RIGHT? I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY, THE IDEA WAS PAY OFF THE SMALLER ONE FIRST, BUT IT MAKES MORE SENSE TO ATTACK THE ONES THAT HAVE THE HIGHER INTEREST RATES. YES, BECAUSE THEY’RE THE MOST EXPENSIVE. I, I’M A HUGE FAN OF. THE REALITY IS YOU NEED TO BE KIND OF OPEN ABOUT THAT WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS. SURE, IT’S GOING TO CREATE AWKWARD CONVERSATIONS, BUT I THINK BEING ABLE TO SAY, HEY, LISTEN, I NEED TO TO GET THIS UNDER CONTROL AND MAYBE MAKE SOME SACRIFICES WITHIN MY WITHIN MY DAILY LIFE. SORRY, I CAN’T EAT OUT TODAY. I’M PACKING MY BAG LUNCH, I CAN’T, I REALLY WANT TO GET THIS DEBT UNDER CONTROL. PLAN A PICNIC WITH EVERYBODY. EXACTLY. EVERYBODY CAN BE IN THE SAME BOAT. OKAY, SO YOU TOUCHED ON FAMILY. SO WHAT IF YOU’RE MARRIED AND YOUR PARTNER NOT SO GREAT WITH THEIR FINANCES. WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND? THEY’RE VERY COMMON. MARITAL ISSUE. I’M A HUGE FAN OF A MONEY DATE. SO THIS IS WHERE YOU GET DRESSED UP. YOU GO OUT TO DINNER, YOU SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR NORMAL ENVIRONMENT. NO KIDS, NO DISTRACTIONS, AND YOU SIT DOWN WITH ALL OF YOUR FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND REVIEW THE SPENDING. WHAT ARE OUR GOALS FOR OUR MONEY? THAT CAN BE A POSITIVE THING TOO, RIGHT? HEY, WE WE WANT TO TAKE A FAMILY TRIP TO EUROPE THIS SUMMER. WHAT CAN WE DO TO GET THERE? DEBT FREE, OF COURSE. AND THEN ALSO TALKING ABOUT WHAT YOUR LONGER TERM GOALS MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN TERMS OF RETIREMENT. HAVING THAT OPEN COMMUNICATION IN A PUBLIC SETTING TENDS TO REDUCE THE, YOU KNOW, TOXICITY OF ANY OF THAT CONVERSATION, MAYBE, AND CREATE A MORE POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT TO HAVE GOOD COMMUNICATION. MAYBE NO ALCOHOL ON THAT DATE EITHER. NO ALCOHOL AT THAT DATE, BUT ALSO MAYBE A GOOD RULE, I THINK, AMONG SPOUSES IS HAVE AN AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT THE TWO OF YOU CAN SPEND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED LIKE THAT. REDUCE THE FRICTION INVOLVED IN THAT. BUT IF YOU GET OVER THAT THRESHOLD, THEN WE NEED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT YOU SPENDING THAT MONEY.
Financial adviser details how to reduce money-related stress
Updated: 1:51 PM PDT May 28, 2025
Seventy-three percent of Americans rank their finances as their number one stressor in life, according to a recent report by CNBC.Kathryn McCall, a CAPTRUST vice president and financial adviser, joined KCRA 3 on Wednesday to talk about ways to reduce stress when it comes to money. “Educating yourself is really basic and important,” she said. “I would be shocked to find the number of people that don’t know how much money hits their bank account every month and then how much money needs to come out of their bank account.” The difference between those two dollar amounts is discretionary money, she said. Watch in the video above.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Seventy-three percent of Americans rank their finances as their number one stressor in life, according to a recent report by CNBC.
Kathryn McCall, a CAPTRUST vice president and financial adviser, joined KCRA 3 on Wednesday to talk about ways to reduce stress when it comes to money.
“Educating yourself is really basic and important,” she said. “I would be shocked to find the number of people that don’t know how much money hits their bank account every month and then how much money needs to come out of their bank account.”
The difference between those two dollar amounts is discretionary money, she said.
Watch in the video above.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
