Dr. Constance Craig Mason: In this world and you have some value to add. But
we understand that when life starts, uh, lifeing,
it starts to chip away at your self worth. It
starts to chip away and what you believe you can
contribute in this world and that can
affect how you earn money, how you save, how
you invest. If you're swiping all these credit cards,
creating debt for yourself like this has a
lot to do. Our significance and how we navigate
this world has a lot to do with how we build
wealth.
Anthony Weaver: Welcome back to another exciting episode of the about
that Water podcast where we help the Sandwich
generation build strong financial habits so that you can
talk about money, spend money, and even
enjoy your money with confidence. And today
I have the awesome opportunity to bring on Dr.
Constance Craig Mason, an award
winning financial planner and a, uh, visionary
behind the Money Talks movement with
over 16 years of experiences
transform lives by addressing financial trauma, fostering
holistic wealth creation and empowering
undeserved communities to reclaim
their financial futures. So how are you doing
today?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I'm doing wellself, Anthony.
Anthony Weaver: Uh, today it's a, uh, new year.
Same me.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: That sa me. Okay, that's
new.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. Well, I'm trying to change things this year to
kind of cut back on a lot of things. So that's what I'm trying to say.
Like it's the same me, but I'm gonna uh, cut little things out
the way.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I love that perspective.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. How about you for this year?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I think it's a little bit of new me. I
think I am shifting some things
around, uh, mostly within my own well
being. And that's why I feel like I'm so passionate about
other people's wellbe being. But, um, also
scaling my business and building teams. So
I feel like the inner me is shifting a little
bit, but for the better.
Anthony Weaver: Nice. Yeahuse.
One of the things that you have as your mantra, which I really
love, is called, uh, wealth
isn't what you hold
is what you heal. It's very
powerful thing. So can you actually explain what
does that mean?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Absolutely. Wealth is not just
what you hold, it's what you heal. Because
oftentimes working in this space and you know this to be true,
people are always excited about the numbers. You
know, how much savings, how much are they investing? What's the
new stock tip? Everything is about quantifying
numbers. But I believe that there are some
financial traumas that might be tied to
how we arrive to those numbers. Right. What we
have experienced in our lifetime, what we have watched our parents
and grandparents and guardians
experience about Money. And that kind of transcends
over to us. And so I believe that, you know,
once we begin to heal some of those spaces,
our assets will continue to grow.
Actually, they might even accelerate. Right. Because we're not
triggered emotionally, eating, emotionally,
spending, or overextending ourselves. So it
just goes so far beyond the numbers that I
just believe once we get to the inner selves, we'll
be able to magnify not just for ourselves, but for
our generations to come.
Anthony Weaver: And speaking of generations, because you have
children that you'also taken care of
and obviously a loving husband.
And, um, so what does it mean to have
options with your family? Because
options is one of the things that came up a lot, uh, in
your lifesty. So can you say a little bit about
that?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I'm so glad you touched on that word.
Uh, I believe that wealth is also
options. Because even when I grew up in the inner
city of Baltimore and poverty, we didn't have any
options. Every basic thing that we would get to
do, from going to school to, um, going to
high school to getting our first cars,
things like that, it wasn't modeled before us. And so it
was either this or this. This is it.
And, um, when I started learning more about money in my
young adult life, it really transcended itself
to be like, hey, if you learn more about money, you could
create options. So you could have a
myriad of choices of cars or
homes or schools that you send your kids
to. So it's not just about the tangible things.
It's also about what you choose to spend your time
on, who you choose to spend your time with.
And oftentimes people say, right,
like, even if you have a, uh, hectic work schedule
and or home life, by the time you get home,
you're kind of tired, right? You don't want to go
out and go do some leisurely things which
could actually bring you joy towards your well being,
but you don't feel like it. And so I believe that
options are, uh, the thing we should be
chasing. Not money, but we should be chasing options,
because that's where the peiece comes from.
Anthony Weaver: Man, I'm so glad you brought that up because I also grew up in
Baltimore, you know, inoverished neighborhood. So
your story is definitely a reflection
of, uh, what it's like
in the poverty, because obviously not everybody in Baltimore grew up that
way. But it's just for a lot of us who have
experienced that, U m, you know, we live up in
that scarcity mindset because that's all we knew. You know,
we Watch our parents struggle, you know,
so.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: And it was, it was normal and it
shouldn't necessarily be normal. Right, right.
Anthony Weaver: So, you know, because you grew up in that. I know. You
know, some. It's almost feel like, uh, we both
can resonate on that term. We know how to stretch a
penny.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Yes, yes.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. So how did. Go ahead.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I was saying stretch it. Stretch the pennies.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
Um, because one of the things that we try to do, obviously in
the financial realm and one of the things that you're currently doing, which is
breaking those cycles of financial trauma, um, it
seems to be such a bold goal that you have going
on. Can you talk about how did you change
or broke through some of those traumas?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: You know, it's funny and it's one of the smaller things that
most people don't even pay attention to. But when I,
I got married a young age. Right. I married,
um, well, seven years after. So I got
married around 27 years old. Uh, and my husband's older
than I am and so I grew up in poverty. He did it, he grew up
in the middle income family and he used
to try to go window shopping with me. And
I would be so frustrated.
I would be so frustrated, like, why are we going
and looking at things that I can't afford to buy? And it was
like torture to me. But that just gave me a glimpse
later on, looking back at those experiences. He was trying
to, you know, have some quality time, trying to dream
and envision ourselves in a different place. And I'm just
like, I don't have money for this type of car or
home or, you know, neighborhood and all this kind of
stuff. And it let me know that I had a poverty
mentality. And a lot of that was rooted in childhood
trauma. Right. Financial traumas. But
I didn't know that that was a thing. I just thought that this is a
waste of time. You know, I didn't see myself
as worthy of these experiences. And
now since I'm healing those things, I'm able to
easily identify when it's just something that I'm
triggered by and I can push past it, or
if it's something that I'm still hung up on, you know, and I
need to work through it. So it often
comes up when I'm talking with clients because of course they
think I'm just going to jump right into the numbers and the
financial statements and I'm asking them about their life,
I'm asking them about what they want to do versus what
they have to do. And that's A difference, uh, of
mindset. It's a, it's a different way to care
about your clients. And I find that I attract
people who not necessarily are traumatized,
but I do attract people who want more and just don't know
how to get it.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. So how does that work with
your children now? Because though he did that with you. Do
you do that now with your children?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I do. And I have one daughter. She's kind of like
the middle child. Um, and she has really
pressessed on to the whole I got to get a handle on my
finances earlier rather than later. She's watched
me grow my business in terms of being a black woman
in business at a young age, and she kind of went along in
that journey with me. So she's been able to see the dry moments
in business and she's been see me have
some really successful months. Um,
and it has added to who she believes she can
be and what she believes she can do with her money.
Now, my boy is the youngest one. He's really starting to get
into it now. He's about 24 and he's very
regimented like his dad. So any type of
systems, processes and things he can put his hands
on, tangibly he's with it. And then we have
some older boys who, you know, they're still trying to figure it
out. I don't think they necessarily believe the things that we've been
telling them. They're like, I'm going to find out for
myself. And I'm like, okay. But
that's just the point. Like, it's almost like your own
village doesn't always necessarily believe the
things that you're trying to say. But strangers
are like, hey, give me the information and I'm ready for
it. So it's just interesting how, you know, your kids and
even family and friends, you know, not
chomping at the bit to really take your advice per
se.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. Because one of the things that I, uh, notic in your
story, you are not giving up on the
people that are around you. You seem like to always
reach back. Um, and what is
the significance of January 1st
of 2009 to you?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Well, actually, it was around that time
in a few months past that I had some
significant medical issues that had come out m of nowhere.
It seemed to come around the time that I turned 40,
and I was super excited about turning 40 because a lot of
people had said, oh, your life's go going to change. You
not playing these games anymore. Like, you're going to
be grown up. And I Was like, I'm here for
it. And so I had a young, uh, grandson
on the way, my business was fine. And all of a
sudden I started having chest pains out of nowhere.
And I was just like, okay, this could be
anxiety. You know, it could be gerd, as
they say. It could be anything. And so it kept happening for
me. At the same token, I started
having some depression to come down, and I was like,
well, where is this coming from? Because again, like I said,
everything seemed to be okay. But I feel like
once I started trying to attack the mental health
component and say, let me dig deeper to see what this is.
It literally feels like a cycle of, uh, mental
health affecting your physical health, aff your mental
healthecting your physical health. And that's what was happening. I
was cycling in these spaces, and I was being
vocal about it. I was sharing like, hey, you know, I'm doing well
in business. I don't know where this came from. Um, but it was one of
those times where you have to really sit back and assess.
Like, are you overextending yourself? Are
you, uh, a people pleaser? A lot of these things
come from childhood trauma. So you're living your
life in a way that you feel like, okay, this is just how I am.
But in actuality, you're just acting out
your own ways of coping with things. And those things
might not be a good way to cope, you know, but
it's all, you know. And so at that point, I had
several hundred thousands of dollars of racked up of
medical tests and appointments and
specialists, and they were running me through all these things to try and figure out
what was going on. And they figured out some of it. But
I believe the root of it was me trying to get to
my most positive mental health
state. Because a lot of things had to be burned off.
A lot of systems and processes had to be implemented in
my business. I had to allow my kids
to start taking on some more independence for
themselves. Like, there was a lot of things that I had to do for
me that was in actuality affecting
my pocketbook. Because when you sit down and you're
depressed or you're not fully functioning at your
best, how can you go and get that next client? How can
you save and invest and pay down debts and all the
things that you talked about doing, it's like you, you
have to deal with self first in order to move forward. So
that was like, really the start of when I started looking
at the cycles that I was going through.
Anthony Weaver: Um, okay, that is really
good because Some of the people who are actually thinking about getting
into this business of, uh,
well, say if they even have a business of their own and they doing
more of a customer service aspect and you
talk beyond the dollars, uh, more
so your self worth and self
care, um, what are
the strategies that you will give somebody who is starting out
to kind of keep their emotions in
check by separating themselves from
their business?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: It's kind of hard to separate yourself from your business
in the beginning, right? Because usually when you are, uh,
launching a business, whether it's service based or product based,
it's usually based on something you really care about.
And oftentimes it's tied to some type of hardship
or some type of experience we've had in life. We don't want
anyone else to go through that particular thing. And
so you develop this service of this product to solve
that particular problem because you know
firsthand how this thing plays out if you
don't get those resources or that help. And so it's kind
of hard to differentiate the two in the beginning. But
I would say self awareness is one of the main
things that have helped me on my journey to
healing. And it is really, and I hate to say it
this way, looking in the mirror, right? Not just looking at the outward
aesthetics of what's going on, but like really
knowing if there are cycles such as you'll be
doing fine and then all of a sudden you're not and
you can't really pick what is
really happening. And so I tell people, I said, sometimes you might
have to, you know, listen to friends and family around
you. You know, sometimes they will be telling you, hey, you're a
little snippy. You know, I noticed that you seem a
little frustrated. You know, is it me? And
we don't want to look at this as someone judging us
because oftentimes there's some truth in what these people are
saying. And if they really care about you, they're trying to get you
to a place where you can deal with that thing and move
on, right? And so that helps with your
relationships with the people you care about. You're probably
even able to serve better. Since you want to start this
great business, you're probably even able to serve better. If
you're able to take a look at yourself and say, okay, maybe I
procrastinate, but there's a reason why you're
procrastinating. Is there some fear tied to it? Is
there some imposter syndrome tied to it? Are you
afraid of failing? Are you afraid of success because
you don't have a team to sustain that. Right. So
the procrastination that you might be experiencing is not
necessarily related to laziness. It's usually related
to something else in you. So these are the things that I
would say if you're starting a business to really start digging
into who you are. Because uh, even if you get people
who really want your product or service, you don't want to let
those people down by being all over the place and not being
able to keep up with the customer service level that you
had envisioned for your business. So being able to really
be honest with yourself about where am I really in my
life? And if I can make tweaks, if I can
get the uh, support from the people around me, like,
are there mentors that I look up to that have been there,
done that, got the T shirt and they can kind of pour into
me and give me those what to dos and what
not to do'and that could kind of save you some heartache and
some money and time.
Anthony Weaver: O, um, man, um, I'm glad you brought up
mentorship is because one of the things
that I love about your story is that you had a
mentor starting out with your business.
Um, you're just super excited, bright
eyed, bushy tail, like, yes, I gotta make this work.
Uh, can you take us back to that moment when you
decided to take that deep, that leap
into starting this whole journey?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: It's true. I was actually just about to turn
30 at the time. And this was a young lady
who was my kids godmother. She's still in financial
services to this day. And we were actually living together because,
you know, sometimes you got to pull it together and help each other
out. And um, she had found this financial
services company and she'd been watching me, you know, Google stuff
and improve my own life. And she's like, you love this stuff, you know this
stuff like the back of your hand. She was like, you know, you could make
money from helping people with their finances. And I
was like, I never thought about that, right?
And at the time I had a lot going
on. But I was married when she finally
approached me nearly seven years later because she stayed on me about
doing this business and it just wasn't the right
time, you know. And once I got married, she came right
on back and she was like, listen,
now you married, now you got support at the house.
You can't keep telling me you can't come and check this out. And
so sure enough, I go and check it out and at this point I'M like, I have
a full time job. I was working in healthcare at the time.
And I said, if I'm going to be away
evenings, weekends, things like
that, I need to know exactly what I'm doing.
You know, how quickly can I earn income? Like,
what am I going to be doing with these people? And sure enough, like,
she was a very aggressive and
poignant, um, I don't want to say salesperson, but
she was really good at being able to get people to see the big
picture and make changes. And so we would go
out, you know, every evening, dog on there and on the
weekends and we would sit across the table from families, people
just like ourselves, and we would teach them about how
money was working. And a lot of times, unfortunately, these people
didn't have life insurance, which is one of the basic financial
fundamentals that you could put in place. And so
as I was learning, I was also able to
help these people. So it was like I was a newbie, but I
was making good money and I was feeling passionate and
empowered by doing that at the same time because these people look
just like me. A lot of them were in my age group and I
felt like we could learn and grow together. But she was
somebody who I never saw myself as a business
owner. She implemented, hey, this is not just
something that you're doing. Like you actually have a
business here, so you want to treat it like a business. You want to
have your write offs, you want to be able to, you
know, help people and grow a team so that you don't
burn out. And these are the things that she taught me early
on. And I was just so super grateful. So I'll always
credit her for being kind of like one of my first mentors
in the financial services space. And then I try to be
that for the young ladies that are coming up behind me
in the financial space. You know, there's things that, you know, we
should be doing things that we should not go down that
route. And um, I find that. And
people are looking for that mentorship, even if that's not what
they're calling it. They're really just looking for someone to see
them in the stage that they're in and help them get to the next
level.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And how would somebody saying that, hey,
they see what you're doing, you're doing all these amazing
things. What would be
the proper way to approach you, to ask you
to be a mentor for them?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: O. Uh, let's say I'm
asking for a.
Anthony Weaver: Friend just.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: All over social media. So a quick dm.
Um, I will hop on a one one call. Um,
I love collaborating with my peers
in finance. Um, we've done quite a few events
together, book projects, you name it.
Um, so just send me a quick DM or email me and
just let me know where you're at and what you're interested in
doing. And if I have the time to definitely pour in,
I certainly will.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And when you're talking about those
collaboration spaces, um,
I know that you used to do the in person
events at the library and I was like,
why don't most people use the library anymore? Like
they so convenient. It's so
convenient.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Very convenient, very affordable. Right? And you
have everything right there, AV
equipment, plenty of tables and chairs.
Like a lot of the commercial spaces that we go to, the host
star events, conferences or what have you.
It'like you have to pay a lot of money just to
be in the space and then you have to pay
to have the chairs and tables and
bring the screens in. And uh, it's just like by the time
they I la carte you, you could have had it done and over with at
the public library. And uh, again when you're starting
out, you don't have a lot of money to pour into your
business or to pour into an event like this, but you do
need leads to be able to offer your
services. And so if you're able to host it in a
professional space during business hours
where people know these places, most people know
where their library is. You know, you can go in
there, show your expertise, show that
you care and find a way to get those
leads back to you. Whether it's a registration list
and evaluation form, however, you need to
get those leads so you can continue to build a
relationship with these people that took the time to
show up. Because that's part of the problem. I feel like uh,
we all want to do the best for our potential clients,
but people have to be able to show up one not just for us. Uh, they
ain't showing up for me like they're showing up for
themselves. Whether it's a free ticket or
a ticket that they have paid money for. That's part
of the action steps, ah, is
showing up, uh, and then once you show up, uh, you know, what are
you learning? What can you take away from that experience?
Sometimes you have to pay money for the next level,
but sometimes you don't and you just start having these
conversations that are going to impact your life down the
line.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah. And because I was sex actually thinking about doing an in person
Event. And I was debating on, should I go to
a restaurant, Just say, like, hey, everybody, just show up here.
I'll work hand in hand with the restaurant owner or something like
that. Or like, and obviously,
like, charge people like $30 or something like that just to kind of COVID
the plates and so forth and the vini
or do you do at the library? Don't
charge everybody, Just kind of. The whole thing about
it is because at the end of the day, we do need to put food on
our tables too, as business owners. So do
you look at it just like, hey, you do the library for the free
one quarterly. Just to kind of say, like, hey,
I'm, um, here, I'm available. This is only a
quarterly thing.
I'm thinking about different business strategies to kind of help
promote your business, uh, in real life
versus doing like a podcast tourorro, uh,
like you and I are doing now. So what was your thoughts
on trying to get started? If somebody's looking to get
started, I.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Think quarterly is a good way to go because, again,
if marketed appropriately, right? We were doing a
lot of word of mouth and like Facebook at the time. This was
like early 2018, 2019.
And, um, you know, we didn't want to pay a lot of money
to host the event. And I brought a lot of my financial
peers to speak on panels with me during
those events. And so I wanted them to have an
opportunity to get in front of the room so that they could share their
expertise. But then I also wanted the attendees
to be in a safe space where they could have these
uncomfortable conversations. They didn't even have to identify
themselves as to what was their burning question.
Like, you know, raise your hand and say, oh, this is what I want
to know. Like, they would fill out index cards upon
arrival and they would write down their
anonymous question. And so the cards would be
color coordinated based on topic. And so
now my panelists know exactly what their color
code is. So when they see that card, they know it's a question for them.
And then the attendees get to learn exactly what
they came there for. Right. They don't have to identify themselves and say,
hey, I'm filing bankruptcy. And I have this question. Like,
uh, that question that they had a few other people probably had
in that space. It was ashamed or, you know, a bit fearful
to ask it. And so when I say safe space, I'm saying,
come, learn and grow. Don't just get
some brochures or take a couple of notes that you
don't know who said what. Right?
You'have a Face with a name
so that when this is over, you can go to that person that was
on the panel because you, you vetted them, you got a vibe from
them, they answered your specific question, and now you
can follow up. So I believe quarterly gives you enough
leads to where you can work it and not overwhelm
yourself. But then it also allows you
to say, I'm not, you know, every weekend I'm tied
up doing something for business and not doing anything
for self or family.
Anthony Weaver: Man. Okay, so you get me
excited about to do an in person event caus I was like, oh man, that sounds
pretty cool. I don't know where to start. Um, um, but we
obviously can talk offline. U uh, because I don't
want to run the whole show about me asking my
questions.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: By all means on that.
Anthony Weaver: Thank you.
Um, um, now one of the things that,
uh, has been coming up, at least
with my clients that I'm working with, is dealing
with having the parents as they're getting
older. And you mentioned earlier about life
insurance, how everybody should have it.
Um, when is it a good time to actually have that
conversation with your parents
about life insurance?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: About our parents getting it or if they have it?
Anthony Weaver: If they have it or getting it. Because a lot of people don't like to talk
about death. We all know it's going to happen.
It's just a matter of when. But what do we do as the
people that outlive them, what do we do
and how do we actually start having that conversation with
them?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Yeah, I want to make it not taboo
anymore to talk about money. Right? That's why we have the money
talks. It's like uncomfortable conversations,
but they're transformational in the aspect
that we all know, our parents and our grandparents or
our guardians, right. We know if they are
comfortable talking with us about money. Some of them are,
right. They can't wait to tell us, oh, I've done this,
I've done that. Or you get the house and you get the kitchen
table and you get this and you get that. So it's like,
if it's easy to talk to them, by all means, just
go ahead and say, hey, you know, I was wondering, as I'm getting
older, you know, I need to set up things for myself. What
do you have in place? And it will allow them
to say what they already have. And they may even say,
you're the beneficiary on that, or you and your brother are,
or however it works. So now that gives you the
idea that you don't have to worry about taking on somebody
else's burden if God forbid, they would pass
away because oftentimes you're grieving, right,
and that you don't know how that's going to go or how long you're
going to be in that space. But then to have
to abruptly stop what you're doing and
take your savings to pay for parent,
grandparents, something like that, and of course heartstrings,
you're going to do it, you're going to take that money
and you're going to take care of it. And then when the smoke clears, you're going to
look back at your finances and say, now I got
to start this all over again or now I got to start
accelerating my 401, you know what I'm saying?
And so if we're able to find out what they
already have, and again if they have it, they're going to
tell you they have it. If they don't have it, they may say,
well maybe you need to help me get some um. Now we do
have some carriers out there who are really
strict on pre existing conditions, but there are
some nowadays that there's very minimal
underwriting where you could get guaranteed issue
coverage, you know, depending on your age and things like
that. But, but it's really no excuse
nowadays because even people who have like
hiv, aids, cancer, heart
conditions, mental health, even people who smoke
marijuana can get
medical and health coverage and life
insurance and it's usually at a reasonable rate, depending
on how much coverage you need. So I just feel like, you know,
we shouldn't be afraid to ask people who it's going to
impact about those things. That's what they call
insurable. So if you have insurable interest in
a person, it's usually somebody where if they would pass
away there would be a financial burden to you.
So in the aspect of spouses,
children, young children, adult children, right. If
you're, let's say your elderly parent
doesn't earn a lot in retirement. So maybe
if they don't have a policy that is kept pace with
inflation, they got that thing 30 years ago and
it's like 8,000 do, what is that going to
do for the cost of final expense today? So somebody
stilln to have to come out of a pocket to support the
coverage that they did keep in place. And if you don't
have that kind of money laying around, well, maybe you can get a
small final expense just to support what they already have
in place. Right. So you're not caught trying to do this
in the midst of everything else. You're doing. You talk a lot about the
sandwich generation. I'm definitely in that
sandwich generation where I have kids and grandkids, but I also have
my mom, who's in her six. And so it's like, you want
to do what's best for you. You want to be a model for your
children and grandchildren, and you also want to be that
support to those who were, uh, of support to you when
you were coming up. But it doesn't have to be burdensome.
So the conversations definitely need to be had, even
if they're uncomfortable, because it's really all about care.
Right. I care enough to inquire about
what you have going on so that if it doesn't affect me,
great. I'm happy to hear that it won't affect me
negatively. And sometimes there's legacy
that's coming your way, there's assets that are coming your
way, and you might need to know how that works, because maybe
there's a tax consequence attached to that
asset, or maybe there's money'coming that
is not taxable coming your way. So you would want to
know that sooner than later.
Anthony Weaver: Um, so one of the things that stuck out to
me is when it comes to say you
do have that $8,000
policy, but all of a sudden you want
to adjust it to today's inflation
rate.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: It depends. It really depends on how the carrier
has those plans set ah up. Oftentimes they will
allow you to do, like, what they call a policy
change. So a policy change form that you
would complete is where you're taking it from X amount of coverage
up, usually increasing that to a higher
amount. And then, of course, now, yes, the premium that you're
quoted is based on your current age and not the age you were
when you got that $8,000 policy many years
ago. So now you have the premium price
equivalent to your current age. But sometimes
they might not take you through all the underwriting because
you had that existing policy, but sometimes they
will consider any new, uh, medical
concerns that have come up. So you really got it. I would
recommend that you have an agent so that that agent can
let you know. Okay. Because sometimes you have a policy, you don't
know how to read all the jargon that's inside of it. So the
agent can look at the jargon and say, oh, yes, they do
allow you to make changes to this. If not,
it's just like getting a new policy where you're going to have to
be reassessed and see what you can
qualify for.
Anthony Weaver: That is great info. Because I'm thinking about how
can one person another
utilize it today.
Um, so say if they do come through financial
times or financial hardship, is there
ever a life insurance policy that you can actually withdraw
from, um, to kind of live off of why you
still living?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: There are, and I'm so glad you brought that
up. So there are the permanent types
of policies which are universal life or
whole life. Most people have heard of those types.
And then you got index universal, you got variable
universal. But the gist of it is universal or whole
life. Those are the cash value building
types of policies. And with that meaning as
you're making your monthly premium payment, the entire
payment is not going towards the case value. There's
cost to insure us. So they take that off the top
and then what's remaining goes inside that
cash value. It's kind of like a savings inside the
policy. And then either annually or
monthly, they credit interest to that particular cash
value account. So every year you're earning on
the cash value. Now, depending on whether it's a
whole life or universal and how they are set up, you could
choose to borrow from that cash value
and then if you pay it back, great. If you don't, they subtract
it off the end when you pass away minus the
interest. The other thing is you could choose to
withdraw from it. Usually universal,
you can withdraw from it, which is different than
borrowing. So with withdrawals you don't have to
pay it back. With borrowing you
can pay it back. So there's the major difference.
So a lot of times people are saying, hey, well if I'm
doing what I'm supposed to do and I'm being responsible and I'm
covering myself and or my family in the event that
we pass away or in the event that we have some
extended medical event and I have these hybrid
living benefit attached to my policy. Okay,
great. But what if I want to buy my first
home and I need money for the down payment?
Or what if my kid is going off to college
and I want to help them get their first car? Or what
if I'm going to head and retire a little bit
earlier than Social Security would like me to
and I need a couple of years of income to supplement
my lifestyle until I go ahead and claim
that Social Security benef ###it so these things can
build up over time. But again, consistency is
key. You know, if you get covered and then you let it
lapse, well, there goes that. So then now you've got to
go and start all over with your cash value building
so most things as it relates to money,
consistency is key to that.
Anthony Weaver: Yeah.
And before we get to the third
segment, I have one question, um, which
is like, what are some common misconceptions
of building that generational wealth? Uh, could
people help redefine what it means
for their families?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Yeah. So one of the main misconceptions that I come
across is that people feel like they have to have a lot of money at
any given point to build the wealth.
So there's a basic formula called the wealth formula,
right? It's very basic, but it gives you the
components of what's required to build wealth.
So for the wealth formula, you need money, any kind of
money. $1000 doesn't matter,
matter. Some kind of money. Then you
need time. You need time
for this money to accumulate. Then you
got a plus or minus whatever rate of return
you're getting. So if you're putting your money someplace where you're
getting interest, plus or minus, you put
your money in the market, plus or minus, whatever the
performance is. And then you got to offset
inflation, which is eating away at our
purchasing power, and of course, tax.
So if I'm thinking about this as a formula, how many
of these components do I have, right? Do I
have an extra $25 per
pay? Maybe you do. Okay, great. So you've got
that I'm alive and hopefully well,
so I have some time. Now
where am I going to put this money that will
accumulate over time? That's going to give me
a great rate of return. When I say rate of return,
that's great. I mean outpacing inflation,
at least giving you more than 3%. So
that could be high yield savings accounts if you're not ready
to invest right now. But just something where you're
earning a rate of return. Now when you gain this
money, you're going to have some taxes at some
point, right? Whether it's, um, income taxes,
you might have capital gains taxes, depending on where you
put it, you might have, um, uh, a
state inheritance taxes, depending on if you leave it to
someone else. So the point is, you've got to be
consistently over time, putting some amount of
money somewhere where. Or you're earning at
least 3 or more percent to
outpaced inflation. And then eventually you're going to have
some taxes to pay on that. But I tell people I'd rather
pay taxes on money that I have grown
than to pay taxes, money that I have just earned and
didn't really see the benefit of. Does that make sense?
Anthony Weaver: It makes total sense to me.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Paycheck. The paycheck is not where it's at anymore. Like you
got to take something from that payg and
start stocking it away. Now we know the
younger we are and the more consistent we are,
then we'll have something called the rule of 72 that's helping
us along. Right? So the rule of 72 means that
whatever your rate of return, you just divide that
number by 72. So for example,
over the last hundred years, The S&P
500 has earned about 10% on your
money. So if you take 10, divide that by
72, that lets you know it would take
7.2 years for your money to double. So
in 7.2 years, and I'm 45
now, how many doubling periods have I
had in my own working life where
every seven years the money that I put
somewhere could have doubled at least three or four times
by now? But that's what I mean. I don't have to
have $50,000 to invest at one time, but I
could have done dollar every week.
I could have done $50 twice a
month. Because the rule of 72 means you're going
to have that compounding of principle and
interest and knowing that I also need
to have time on my side. So the
people who say I can't save or I just, I don't
understand this investing stuff. Time is wasting
away. And that is one of the biggest
components of how you build wealth.
Anthony Weaver: I love that. I love that. O man.
So, so going into the third segment, which is the
features, um, and this just kind of
focusing on other, like
yourself, your career and even with
uh, dealing with family. So
what areas, um, are you focusing
on improving your own life or your
career?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: So right now I am focusing on
delegation, I am focusing on systems
and processes and my well being.
Those are like the main things because again, if
I'm able to have my systems and processes in
place, then I can duplicate myself in another
advisor or I can duplicate myself in
an executive assistant or a director or
somebody like that and then delegate to them the things
that I know that they can do so that I can focus on the
things that I do. Right? So I do the numbers for the people,
but you can create the experience for the people, right? You can
help me with the email automation, you could help me
with all the other things behind the scenes that
allows me and them to maintain our well
being where nobody is maxing out every
day on these things that help us and help our
clients to grow. And so I started that
process last year and so I'M getting better and
better, closer and closer, um, to my optimal
schedule and you know, being able to maximize my
revenue.
Anthony Weaver: So when you did the book Money Talks, you actually
were curated, um, or
eliciting information from other
financial uh, people and also a lot of
couples doing that timeframe. And I had to first off, uh,
say thank you for actually doing such a
book like that because I've seen it but
I've never seen it done like from
the ground roots, if that makes sense. And you were
the first person was like hey, everybody doing the
book or what you got?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Like, exactly.
Anthony Weaver: Um, and you continue to still do that, um, in
everything that you do and I really wish the
best for you and nothing but the best. Um, and
so as a best selling author and
speaker, like, what are your top insights
that you hope to take away from
like that you hope that the audience really take away from all of the
work that you'put in so far?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Wow, that's an awesome question, Anthony.
Um, what I want people to take away from, like
you said, the trilogy, all three of those Money Talks
books is that they are
significant in this world, right? Whether you're
married, not married, whether you're a financial expert or
you're just somebody in college trying to wing it and figure it out,
you are significant in this world and
you have some value to add. But we understand, understand
that when life starts lifeing, it starts to chip
away at your self worth. It starts to chip
away and what you believe you can contribute in
this world and that can affect how
you earn money, how you save, how you invest.
If you're swiping all these credit cards, creating debt for
yourself, like this has a lot to do.
Our significance and how we navigate this world
has a lot to do with how we build wealth. And
so whether you're on this side of it or you're a financial
expert going through things as well. Because these
financial coaches, advisors, insurance
agents, they are all human and they go
through things as well. Even though they have the knowledge, even though they
have the experience, they still go through bankruptcies,
they still go through divorces, they still have
traumas that come up in their life that does not take
away from their passion for what they do, but it is
something that chips away at their self
worth. And so when you're thinking about platforms
that we've been able to create for other experts
to share their stories authentically
in a saf safe space, you know, that's what I feel
like I contribute to this world. I feel like I'm going to
Forever create safe spaces for people
to share their stories, whether in my office
or in a book project or at some
event space where you can feel like, hey, this
person hears me, this person sees me.
And if I'm not happy with where I am in my
life, there's somebody who could help me, take my
hand and help me along on this journey
and I don't have to be ashamed of it. So I feel like that's what I
want people to take away from any of the projects that they may see
me doing in person. Virtual, um, in
any spaces that I see you, I hear you. And if you
want to make changes, somebody's going to come up
alongside you and help you do that.
Anthony Weaver: Man, I thank you for being in this world and
I'm glad to be alive while you're alive because you're
doing so many great things and it's an honor to be
in your space.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I appreciate that. Any likewise.
Anthony Weaver: O thanks.
Is there anything that you want to leave the audience before we
dive into the final four questions?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: The one thing, if I could just state
one thing, it would be to
assess. Now I know that people are
in their feelings sometimes as it relates to money.
We're in a new year now and this is the best time
to ass what was going on in
your finances last year where you
felt like it wasn't, um, showing you the
best possible way to not just
survive, but to thrive. And so when
you're able to look back over what your income looked
like, when you're able to look back over what your
expenses were for last year, are those
things the same for this year or are you
able to do anything to shift that?
Meaning if you have a heavy debt load, what
can you do to get that debt load down? If
you find that you can't really get the debt load down with
the income that you have coming in, are there ways
for you to get extra income? Um, whether
that's part time online remote work,
you launch something, you sell something that you
have at the house that you really don't need and you're just holding
on to it like someone will buy it, right? And there you
could knock that credit card balance down. So the point I'm making
with the assessment is really take a look at it
and see where you were and see what it is that you
would be able and willing to do for this
year that will position you for joy,
that will position you for gratitude, that will
position you to be that go to person come
the following year when they're saying, how did you do that.
Like, how did you legit get out of this debt? How
did you save that first thousand dollars when you
were saying, hey, I just, I just can't save.
So I want assess to be the word
that they take away from this conversation.
Anthony Weaver: So, man. All right. You like a wealth of
information? I love it.
U uh, so you ready for the final four
questions?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: I am.
Anthony Weaver: Alghty. Number one, what does
wealth mean to you?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: O this is an easy one. We
touched on it. I believe wealth is
creating options. However that looks
for you. You know, if you want to make sure that
your kids have a better way than you did
when you grew up, then what do you have to implement
so that they do? Right. If you want to make
sure that, um, there's a name for
the family that you have helped to create. Right.
What types of impact are you going out here
and doing so that that name can mean
something in the community? So I feel like creating
options is very individualized, and that's what I
love about it, because what I would create for me is very
different than what you would create for you, but it's so
significant to you, and that's what I love about
it.
Anthony Weaver: Thanice, number two, what
was your worst money mistake?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: That's another good one. Uh, not
getting started on my savings early
enough, I feel like, because now we know
time is a big component of how we build wealth.
It's like if you keep living in this paycheck to
paycheck cycle or there's always something traumatic
happening in your life year over year, you're not
able to start putting that money away. Or if you
do, then you end up having to go back and grab
it for that emergency or that unforeseen
thing, and then that makes you feel like you're incapable
of getting it done. And so I feel like in
my 40s, I'm just really getting to the idea of
like, yes, I can do this and yes, I can be
consistent and see results. Um,
because I feel like the impact that I'm trying to make is way bigger than
me. And so it takes way more money than just enough to
sustain me. So I wish that I was
able, able to, you know, save a little something, even if it
was five, ten dollars a lot sooner than I had
started.
Anthony Weaver: Number three, what is your
favorite financial or non financial
book?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: My favorite non financial book is the
Bible. I really feel like it changed
my life. I got saved at 19 years
old, and I really feel like me reading
that book and learning more about the higher
power and learning what he said
about me was a game changer
because no dis to any family or friends coming up.
But it was like, sometimes they didn't have the words to
pour into you. Right? They didn't have the words.
And so it's like, if no one's really pouring into you
emotionally, spiritually, from that perspective,
where do you get it from? Sometimes you get it from the wrong
places, and you end up being in some poor
relationships. And so I found m
that once I starteding that particular book, and it was
sharing with me how valuable I was to the
higher power. The higher power how valuable I
was to him. And then I started reframing
how I would speak about myself and how I would think about
myself. And then I would say, well, if he could do these
things, and he says that I could do these things, then why
not do these things, whatever these
things are, Right? And so
that's my favorite non financial book. I mean,
ironically has a lot about money in it, to be
honest. Um, and then I'll just plug
my own book as the
why not, why not
trilogy. You know, um, the volume three
really has a special place in my heart because it's my peers,
right. It's my other financial expert peers that came together,
and they did such a phenomenal job of sharing their
stories, but also relevant
strategy that people could use.
Anthony Weaver: Yes, yes. That book was amazing, by the
way.
Um, I had the digital copy,
uh, number four,
which is what is your favorite dish to
make?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Oh, my goodness, it sounds so
simple. But it is.
Salmon and fresh
greens. I love to make some fresh
greens. First of all, it's healthy for me. Um,
but it's something about where you can make it and it's not in the can.
It's something about, you know, I
had can good back in my day,
but to be able to put your own seasonings and
let it marinade and do all the little healthy
meat options you could choose. Yeah, I love
that.
Anthony Weaver: So how do you season your salmon? I to ask that.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: It depends on really what I'm going for. Sometimes we'll do a
lemon pepper, sometimes we'll do a Cajun. It's
a myriad of different ways, and that's the good part, because you could never
get bored because change up the seasoning and it changes the
whole dish.
Anthony Weaver: That is so true. You know, for the people who don't
like to branch out the different seasonings besides salt and
pepper, I mean, try something different. Some
dill, maybe.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: You'd be surprised. You'll be feeling like, ooh,
I didn't even know that I could do this
right. Yeah.
Anthony Weaver: So, Constance, this is the very last question of the
show, which is where could people find out
more about you.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Online? I would say, um, m on all your favorite
social media platforms as my name at C
Craig Mason. C. Craig Mason.
Anthony Weaver: All right. Love it, love it, love it. So
thank you so much, Constance,
for taking your time and also your
insights. Um, I have to say, enough
people that you all have done
amazing using work from the prior
years to make it to this year. And even if you feel like you're
failing, it's okay. You can always reset
assess from last year and
actually continue on pushing forward. You have what it
takes.
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Dr.
Anthony Weaver: Uh, Constance told you where she came from.
From the bottom to the top. Now she here. You know,
I'SAYING wenna take it to the next level. Let's go. Right?
Dr. Constance Craig Mason: Let's go.
Anthony Weaver: So, uh, I wish you all the the best, everybody. Y'all be
safe way out. Peace.