What To Do When Your Finances Fall Apart

Episode 92: Pocket Change Podcast

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Full Transcript

Shea:

Hey, this is Shea.

Carrie:

And this is Carrie.

Shea:

Welcome to the Pocket Change Podcast.

Carrie:

Where you'll learn better ways to spend, save, and invest, and take control of your financial journey. So, Shea, today our guest is going to talk to us a little bit about how finances are kind of hard to talk about sometimes.

Shea:

Yeah, some people don't like talking about money.

Carrie:

No, I mean, that's kind of a vulnerable subject, especially if you're talking about a hard time that you've gone through.

Shea:

That's right. And our guest has a personal story, and a really a financial, you know, turnaround that he can use to help other people.

Carrie:

That's right. All right. We're excited to welcome our guest, Graham Boykin, one of our financial champions here at Leaders. Welcome to Pocket Change, Graham!

Graham Boykin:

Thank you for having me!

Carrie:

So, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got to be at Leaders.

Graham Boykin:

So, my name is Graham Boykin. I'm an AVP with Leaders Credit union. In my career, I've worn a lot of different hats. I've started at WBBJ and I was doing production, directing and producing. I did that for about six years or so, and then I left there and went into retail with Verizon. I was, I did leadership and inside sales with them for a long time. And I, you know, we had our had our fourth child, and while I was gone, you know, Leaders took my resume and gave me some, gave me some options. And I came over here. And also, I have been a member since I was about 16 years old. And Leaders has always been a part of my life for a very long time. And I've always thought, you know, this would be, you know, maybe one day would be a good fit for me.

Shea:

Okay.

Carrie:

We’re so happy to have you with that.

Graham Boykin:

Yeah. Glad to be here.

Shea:

All right, Graham, you’re here at our Thompson Farms branch. What does a day in the life look like for you there?

Graham Boykin:

How much time do we have? Because there's a there's a lot. We wear a lot of different hats as we, we make sure everything is running operationally. We make sure, you know, the ATM is up and running, that, you know, there's no lights that are out. You know, all the all those, all those sort of things. But, at the end of the day, we always, you know, it comes down to members. We help our members first and foremost and most importantly. But yeah, there's a lot of operational stuff that goes on as well behind the scenes that we have to take care of. But you know, people or people come first.

Carrie:

So, when you're sitting down with a member, how do you walk them through patterns that they can improve.

Graham Boykin:

I think what we usually do, or what I try to do, is I try to sit down with them and have a conversation. It doesn't become, it's not a product pitch or anything like that. We're just sitting there trying to have a conversation about what they're in for. And sometimes, you know, what they tell you that they're coming in for is just a symptom of something else. So, what we try to do is try to dig a little bit deeper and figure out what is actually the problem, and what, you know, what a solution may look like. So, if we can look at those things together, and ask those discovery questions, it helps us better serve our members to find a solution, whether that is a another checking account, if it's a loan, if it's, you know, any number of things that we can offer, or if it's just a simple, you know, guided conversation, sometimes we just try to try to clear the weeds for them a little bit and try to make, you know, something, make a little bit more sense out of a problem, if that makes sense.

Carrie:

Get to the core issue to fix the problem, to not repeat the pattern.

Graham Boykin:

Right.

Shea:

So, sometimes people you know they, they come in maybe trying to avoid you know looking at finances, what are some of the reasons people avoid it?

Graham Boykin:

I mean, I think the, the overall I would say probably, most people it's out of sight out of mind type of thing. If you can, you know, avoid it and, you know, keep your phone in your pocket and you don't look at the app or you don't look at your statements and you just keep moving along, it's easier to just avoid it. But, you know, as you know, if you keep avoiding things then the problem is just going to get bigger. So that's, you know, we like to try to, you know, pull things out of the, out into the open and, and see them. And that way you can fix the problem where you can see what's actually going on. You can diagnose things a lot easier that way.

Shea:

I think also, though, not even maybe avoiding a problem, but just if you don't look at it or maybe even explore the options that your financial institution or credit union has, you may be missing earning interest on your savings, or maybe saving some on a loan payment or something like it does pay to ask questions, to say, “What do you offer?” If I'm not, you know, if I'm just coming in, getting money every week, in and out, in and out, maybe not stopping to think about, you know, maybe there are other offerings I could take advantage of. Or I could use a mobile app that I can track my spending better, you know, all those type of things. So, I'm sure you encounter that a lot too.

Graham Boykin:

Oh, all the time. And sometimes it does take just that conversation. It takes somebody kind of to, to take your hand and put it on their shoulder and just kind of step back just a little bit, just so they can see a bigger picture of what's going on. And then, it brings typically a lot of clarity when, when you're able to do that with somebody.

Shea:

Yeah.

Carrie:

That's great. So, what's the most memorable financial turnaround you've ever witnessed?

Graham Boykin:

I'll share my own story. Just because. My wife, was battling cancer and we've been, you know, on a on the rough end of things. So, you know, when that was going on, I was having to really pay attention to finances. And that was really the first time I'd ever really, you know, really struggled to try to get my hand on things. So, during that time I, you know, focused on what we would call like the four walls. You make sure you can eat and make sure your house is paid, your mortgage is paid your utilities. And then you can eat and then everything else kind of comes after that. So, at that time I reached out to, you know, anybody I had any kind of alone with or I, you know, creditor or student loan payments, anything like that. And I kind of told everybody that I could what the situation was and said, “Hey, you know, like I, I may not can make the minimum payment now, but I can pay something just, you know, help me out if you don't mind. You know, just, you know, we’re trying to get through a really tight spot.” But I'm thankful to have gone through something like that. Because, you know, my wife has recovered. She's doing amazing. And it's allowed me to be a better resource for other people that may have been on the tough end of things. So, I think that's made me a better person overall and a better person to have a conversation with over finances when it's, when it's tight.

Shea:

I think that's important for, you know, members and listeners to hear too, is that, you know, it is important to contact your creditors or lenders and, you know, explain those things. A lot of that goes back to, you know, burying your head in the sand when things get tough, but that can open up the door to keeping that relationship, you know, solid and in good standing. Because, as long as they know you're committed and want to I mean, we take out debt, and it has to be repaid.

Graham Boykin:

That’s right.

Shea:

You know, that's the agreement. And so just, you know, being upfront about it. I think a lot of people don't realize, like they're going to say yes, like, “Yes, we want to have this agreement, you know, as is.” And so, I think a lot of people can do that and explain the situation. There's a lot of times work arounds and things that companies and lenders will do to help people that have a, have a struggle. So.

Graham Boykin:

Absolutely.

Carrie:

So, are there any other ways that you have learned that, you know, would help the situation and, and our members, if they're in a tight spot?

Graham Boykin:

Yeah, absolutely. We would, I would recommend coming in to a branch and sitting down with one of our Financial Champions, to look at the whole picture ,just so you can have a completely, you know, outside party look at what's happening. And sometimes that can really benefit you because you have a different perspective there of somebody sitting across from you, like me, that has been through something like that already. And, and maybe what I did may not work for you, so I don't, I don't try to look at it from that aspect, but I do try to see the whole picture for somebody and put myself in their shoes and, and try to diagnose it and go from top to bottom, like, “Okay, let's, let's figure out what we can do.” And if we need to, you know, we have you know, we have a lot of resources here as well that we can reach out to. We have, you know, Jonathan Jones, who's incredible at what he does. So, yeah, we have a lot of different, a lot of different ways we can help with those situations.

Carrie:

And so, for those listening, Jonathan Jones is our financial counselor. And so that is a free service that we offer whether you're a member or not. And I definitely agree with that. It's great to just start there. And he, he's a great problem solver and may can help someone out in that situation.

Graham Boykin:

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Shea:

All right, so you've got kids. You mentioned you have a family. So, what are you teaching your kids about money?

Graham Boykin:

So, I'm some of them. I'm trying to hide it from them. And the other ones, I'm trying to I'm trying to teach them some responsibility. It's different at what age points they're at. So, my 17-year-old has a, he has a checking account and a savings - he has three savings accounts I think. But I'm teaching him the responsibility of saving. He actually works and he still receives a paper check. So, he comes in and he sees the whole process go down. He knows what's going to go where and what's required to go where. And you know, his goal is, you know, we're going to save up and hopefully by him a vehicle, while he drives my old car. But yeah, he's, he's learned the value of hard work and, and what money can do for you and how it can be used as a tool. And now my 11-year-old, I'm trying to hide it from him because he would spend it all on Robux and all that stuff if he could.

Carrie:

Yep.

Graham Boykin:

So, but I do allow him access to it sparingly. And he’s good at saving his money as well. He wants to, you know, when he wants to buy something, a new headset or something, you know, I'll let him make that purchase so he can, you know, understand money is not free. It comes from stuff. You know, it comes from working. It comes from birthdays or Christmas and things like that. And my, my two little ones, they just, you know, anytime they get cash, I just throw it over there.

Shea:

Yeah. You're saving it no matter what. That's right. They don’t have a choice.

Graham Boykin:

That’s right. That's right.

Carrie:

That's great. That's how I am with my boys as well. And you spoke my language. Roblox, and the headsets. All the things that have to do with gaming. I don't even know all the stuff. But I'm the same way. I believe that if they want something new, then they can save their money and they can buy it themselves. And then they're proud of it because they worked hard to save that money for it.

Graham Boykin:

That’s right.

Carrie:

So, they earned it.

Graham Boykin:

You find out it breaks a lot less often when they spend their own money on stuff.

Carrie:

That's exactly right. I've definitely seen that firsthand.

Graham Boykin:

Yeah.

Shea:

I need to start that now!

Carrie:

So, speaking of that - yeah, that's true, with yours! Going into, you know, advice with your children, what about for you? What's the best piece of financial advice that you've ever been given?

Graham Boykin:

I think, probably is, give every dollar a job. You know, you tell every dollar where to go. I've never been a big budget person because I don't, I just don't have the time to actually write down a budget. But what I do is I kind of reverse engineer it, and I just make sure that every dollar that's coming in has a place to go. It is, it is still budgeting. It's just my own way of doing it. But I send, I make sure that every dollar that's coming in has a place to go and that everything is accounted for, and there is a reason for it to go there. So, you know, that's the best thing I can think of that you can do with your money. You just have a place, you know, when it comes in, you know where it's going to go. If it's if it's going to go in savings, if it's going to go to debt, if it's going to go to tithing, whatever it is, you have it figured out. So, nothing comes up unexpected.

Carrie:

That's great.

Shea:

So, if you had some extra change in your pocket, what would you spend that on?

Graham Boykin:

Probably food for my kids. Cause I have four of them. And it's very expensive to feed them all.

Shea:

Get them a little snack.

Graham Boykin:

Probably go towards the food budget.

Shea:

Yeah.

Carrie:

Yeah. And they're always hungry, too.

Graham Boykin:

Never fails, yes. Of course.

Carrie:

All right. Well, Graham, thanks for being with us today. We've enjoyed our conversation with you.

Graham Boykin:

Yeah. Me too. Thank you for having me.