Is It Time to Upsize? Realtor Tracey Henkels Weighs In

Is It Time to Upsize? Realtor Tracey Henkels Weighs In

"Where the magic really happens is when you can marry your head and your heart." Many people assume upsizing is about wanting a bigger house. Our hosts, Natalie and Dan Slagle, talk to real estate broker and former architect Tracey Henkels, who says it’s actually usually about adapting to a new stage of life. Growing families, aging parents, remote work, changing school needs, and even grandchildren can all make a home feel too small. In these situations, the question becomes whether to renovate the existing home or move to one that better fits a family's needs. While remodeling can seem like the obvious solution, Tracey explains that homeowners often underestimate the stress involved. Construction projects can drag on, exceed budgets, require constant decisions, and place strain on relationships. A renovation may solve one problem while creating several new ones. Then there’s the financial angle. Many homeowners remain attached to the historically low mortgage rates they secured in recent years. Giving up a 2.75% loan can feel painful, but Tracey argues that comparing today's opportunities to yesterday's rates often keeps people stuck. Markets change, and decisions should be based on current realities rather than past conditions. Ultimately, buying or selling a home isn't purely a financial exercise. A house is both an investment and the setting for daily life. The best decisions balance practical considerations with personal priorities, ensuring that financial goals support, rather than dictate, how a family wants to live. As Tracey puts it, the goal is to bring both your head and your heart into the decision! Key Topics: * Why Families Decide to Upsize (02:08) * The Renovation Trap vs. Moving (08:09) * The Reality of Managing Contractors (09:11) * Why Today's Interest Rates May Be the New Normal (14:54) * Creating a Shared Vision Before Buying (21:36) * Conversations That Couples Should Have Before Approaching a Realtor (27:10) * Realtor Fees (34:22) * How to Find the Right Realtor (47:07) Resources: * Tracey's Website: https://www.rootedrealtypdx.com/ [https://www.rootedrealtypdx.com/] * Tracey's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traceyhenkels/ [https://www.instagram.com/traceyhenkels/] Schedule a Free Consultation: Go to https://www.fyoozfinancial.com [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com] and click the button in the upper right-hand corner Join our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest financial resources: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup] Natalie Slagle, CFP® and Dan Slagle, CFP® are the founding partners and lead financial planners at Fyooz Financial Planning [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] — an independent firm dedicated to helping high-earning couples in their 30s and 40s confidently navigate the complexities of managing money together. At Fyooz, they specialize in turning financial stress into strategy, guiding couples through everything from cash flow and investing to aligning money with shared goals. Disclaimer: For updated disclosures, please visit https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/]

Financial Rules We Break, And Tell Our Clients To Break Too

"You are not an average person, so don't make average financial decisions." Most financial advice is written for the middle. It assumes median incomes, median choices, and median ambitions. But what happens when you're not median? Some of the most widely repeated rules in personal finance don't apply to everyone, and breaking them, intentionally, might just be the smartest move you make. Our hosts, Natalie and Dan Slagle, walk through five commonly espoused finance “rules” worth reconsidering. Starting a business is too risky? Not if you've done the market research and built a financial runway. Donor-advised funds are only for the ultra-wealthy? Natalie argues you can open one for as little as $2,000 to $5,000, and the real barrier is a matter of perception rather than of access. Every kid needs a Roth IRA before leaving home? The custodial Roth IRA strategy (capped at $7,000 per year in earned income for 2024 and 2025) can be legitimate, but manufactured employment for a two-year-old is neither honest nor audit-proof. Renting is throwing money away? In a world where a 2016 mortgage of $1,500 a month now looks like a relic, renting can anchor a perfectly sound long-term financial plan. And don't touch your portfolio before retirement? People are dying with wealth unspent, and research on the "retirement spending smile" suggests retirees may have as few as 10 to 15 genuinely active years after age 60. Spend intentionally, and spend while you can. Rules are built for averages. Your situation isn't average. The goal isn't to break rules recklessly. It's to know your own numbers well enough to know when the rules don't fit. Key Topics: * Why Generic Financial Rules Fail High Earners (01:26) * Rule 1: Starting a Business Is Too Risky (04:01) * Rule 2: Donor-Advised Funds Are Only for the Ultra-Wealthy (11:33) * Rule 3: Every Kid Should Have a Roth IRA Before Leaving Home (15:28) * Rule 4: Renting Is Throwing Money Away (23:00) * Rule 5: Don't Touch Your Portfolio Before Retirement (27:50) * What All Five Rules Have in Common (34:25) Resources: * Money Dates Episode: Homeownership vs. Renting: The Good, the Bad, and the Budget https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/podcasts/homeownership-vs-renting-the-good-the-bad-and-the-budget [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/podcasts/homeownership-vs-renting-the-good-the-bad-and-the-budget] * Fyooz Financial Blog Post: Charitable Giving in 2025: 3 Smart, Tax-Efficient Strategies to Maximize Your Impact https://fyoozfinancial.com/moneymatters-blog/charitable-giving-in-2025-3-smart-tax-efficient-strategies-to-maximize-your-impact [https://fyoozfinancial.com/moneymatters-blog/charitable-giving-in-2025-3-smart-tax-efficient-strategies-to-maximize-your-impact] Schedule a Free Consultation: Go to https://www.fyoozfinancial.com [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com] and click the button in the upper right-hand corner Join our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest financial resources: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup] Natalie Slagle, CFP® and Dan Slagle, CFP® are the founding partners and lead financial planners at Fyooz Financial Planning [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] — an independent firm dedicated to helping high-earning couples in their 30s and 40s confidently navigate the complexities of managing money together. At Fyooz, they specialize in turning financial stress into strategy, guiding couples through everything from cash flow and investing to aligning money with shared goals. Disclaimer: For updated disclosures, please visit https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/]

How Transparent Money Conversations Helped This Couple Build Trust and Love with PJ + Jessica

“Transparency was the keyword from the beginning. We don't want to repeat the same mistakes we made before.” As a newly married couple, there’s never a perfect moment to have the money talk. The same goes for couples who’ve been married before. In fact, that conversation needs to start on day one. Our hosts, Natalie and Dan Slagle, sit down with guests, PJ and Jessica, who are now engaged and building a life together in downtown Los Angeles. They didn't plan to make financial transparency a cornerstone of their relationship. It became one by necessity, shaped by the specific pain of what they'd each survived before. Jessica’s wound was discovering at tax time that her ex had quietly raided a 401(k) (taking an early distribution, not even a loan!) to buy her wedding jewelry she never asked for. The penalty showed up on a joint return, and the secret collapsed everything she thought she understood about their finances. PJ had quite the opposite experience, having dealt in their previous marriage only with joint accounts, no personal autonomy, and the slow erosion that comes from carrying a financial life alone while calling it shared. So when PJ and Jessica got married, they deliberately opened individual checking and savings accounts, with visibility into each other's accounts if they choose to look. They also have an ongoing negotiation around a large lump sum from selling three properties. PJ’s seeing lost opportunity in cash sitting still, while Jessica needs the slower, less terrifying path of dollar-cost averaging over six months. What makes their story worth telling isn't that they got it right. It's that they kept talking on walks, after financial planner meetings, and during mid-vacation credit card panic. To them, money conversations are simply non-negotiables in marriage, and they encourage all couples to see them the same way. Key Topics: * Moving In, Splitting Expenses, and Paying Off Student Loans (05:55) * What Each of Them Was Trying Not to Repeat (06:29) * Individual Accounts, Shared Visibility, 60/40 Split (20:02) * Wedding Budget: $20K vs. $40K, and How They Resolved It (25:08) * Selling Three Properties and the Rent-vs-Buy Question (33:09) * Finding Compromise When It Comes to Investing (37:40) * Dollar-Cost Averaging as Couples Therapy (44:23) Schedule a Free Consultation: Go to https://www.fyoozfinancial.com [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com] and click the button in the upper right-hand corner Join our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest financial resources: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup] Natalie Slagle, CFP® and Dan Slagle, CFP® are the founding partners and lead financial planners at Fyooz Financial Planning [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] — an independent firm dedicated to helping high-earning couples in their 30s and 40s confidently navigate the complexities of managing money together. At Fyooz, they specialize in turning financial stress into strategy, guiding couples through everything from cash flow and investing to aligning money with shared goals. Disclaimer: For updated disclosures, please visit https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/]

Prenups and Postnups: What You Need to Know Before (and After) You Get Married with Kaylin Dillon

"Never stop talking about what feels fair or doesn't feel fair. It really should be an ongoing conversation that doesn't stop. That's just part of the dynamic of a living relationship." Our hosts, Natalie and Dan Slagle, chat with Kaylin Dillon. Getting married at 21 with a prenup she barely understood is what turned Kaylin into one of the leading voices on financial agreements between couples. What started as her husband's request to protect an inheritance became, years later, the foundation of her book, her course, and a practice built around helping couples have better money conversations before they say "I do." The word "prenup" still lands with a thud in most relationships. Kaylin reframes it not as a hedge against divorce, but as a Plan B that lets you sleep easier while fully committed to Plan A. Most couples skip it entirely, jumping straight to attorneys without first agreeing on what they actually want, which is where things tend to go sideways. A postnup, she explains, is available to married couples who want to address what a prenup never covered: a stay-at-home parent's vulnerability, a sudden large inheritance, or financial patterns that have quietly felt unfair for years. Infidelity, she notes, is actually one of the most common triggers, not as a prelude to divorce, but as a bid to stay married on more honest terms. For couples navigating family-mandated agreements, Kaylin introduces the "outlaw", meaning the partner entering a family structure. But there's often more middle ground available than the two options being presented. Never stop talking about what feels fair, because that conversation is the ongoing work of a living relationship. Key Topics: * Kaylin's Own Prenup: What They Did Right and Wrong at 21 (04:15) * What a Prenup Actually Is and What It Can Cover (11:13) * Postnups: Who Gets One and Why (13:23) * Stay-at-Home Parents, Inheritances, and When Married Couples Revisit Finances (17:15) * Step One: The Ideal Path Before You Call an Attorney (22:07) * How to Bring Up a Prenup Without Blowing Up the Relationship (23:25) * The "Outlaw": Marrying Into Wealth and Family Requirements (37:47) * Never Stop Talking About What Feels Fair (41:23) More About the Guest: Kaylin Dillon is a Certified Financial Planner who specializes in working with couples with separate assets, prenups, or blended families. She wrote the book Prenup Partnership and founded The Prenup Coach to help engaged couples have better money conversations before they say "I do." If she's not talking about money and marriage, she says she entertains herself by following real-time court cases involving spouses. Resources: * For Kaylin’s Book and Coursework, visit https://kaylindillonfinancial.com/ [https://kaylindillonfinancial.com/] * Kaylin’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theprenupcoach [https://www.instagram.com/theprenupcoach] Schedule a Free Consultation: Go to https://www.fyoozfinancial.com [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com] and click the button in the upper right-hand corner Join our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest financial resources: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup] Natalie Slagle, CFP® and Dan Slagle, CFP® are the founding partners and lead financial planners at Fyooz Financial Planning [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] — an independent firm dedicated to helping high-earning couples in their 30s and 40s confidently navigate the complexities of managing money together. At Fyooz, they specialize in turning financial stress into strategy, guiding couples through everything from cash flow and investing to aligning money with shared goals. Disclaimer: For updated disclosures, please visit https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/]

The High Earners Problem: Are We Spoiling Our Kids?

"I want our daughter to see us actively choosing a response or a purchase, not because it's about affordability, but because it's about values." When you have the means to say yes to most things, choosing not to, especially when it comes to your kids’ wants and needs, becomes an act of intention. As parents to a toddler not yet two, our hosts, Natalie and Dan Slagle, turn the lens on themselves. They face the reality that high earners face a version of spoiling that has nothing to do with being careless, but is the by-product of abundance. When "no" is always a choice and never a constraint, the values behind it have to be spoken out loud. Dan lands on entitlement as the after-effect of unchecked giving. Natalie frames it as a failure of appreciation, or not recognizing the work and trade-offs behind what you receive. Neither of them thinks their two-year-old is spoiled yet. But they're already watching for the signs. Natalie has quietly been front-loading their daughter's college savings, while Dan wonders what they're giving up today: a trip, a night out, a little room to breathe. A 2025 study by Talker Research, commissioned by Acorns Early, finds the average monthly allowance has reached $52. Two-thirds of parents in the study said they knew exactly how much to give and why; one-third said they'd need to ask other parents for reassurance. One question Natalie wants every high-earning couple to ask each other is, “What does enough look like for our kids?” There’s no right answer. But as parents, you need to have that conversation. Key Topics: * Micro-Decisions and What They Model (04:58) * The 529 Tension: Funding Her Future vs. Living Your Own Life (11:37) * A Client Story: The Apple Note That Drew the Line (16:59) * Natalie and Dan's Different Instincts Around the 529 (21:51) * Allowances in 2025: $52/Month, Venmo, and Preloaded Debit Cards (27:40) * Chores, Allowances, and What Kids Should Never Be Paid For (28:58) * How Parents Talk About Money Together is What Kids Remember (34:32) * The One Question Every High-Earning Couple Should Ask (36:15) Resources: * The 3 Best Ways to Save for Your Child's Future: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/moneymatters-blog/the-3-best-ways-to-save-for-your-childs-future [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/moneymatters-blog/the-3-best-ways-to-save-for-your-childs-future] Schedule a Free Consultation: Go to https://www.fyoozfinancial.com [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com] and click the button in the upper right-hand corner Join our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest financial resources: https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/signup] Natalie Slagle, CFP® and Dan Slagle, CFP® are the founding partners and lead financial planners at Fyooz Financial Planning [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/] — an independent firm dedicated to helping high-earning couples in their 30s and 40s confidently navigate the complexities of managing money together. At Fyooz, they specialize in turning financial stress into strategy, guiding couples through everything from cash flow and investing to aligning money with shared goals. Disclaimer: For updated disclosures, please visit https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/ [https://www.fyoozfinancial.com/]