# What Your Future Self Would Want You to Do Right Now

An episode of [A Little Bit Richer](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1706157445), 26 Mar 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2e9a850c-e6b9-48c2-afec-a8f8010f70f4/61b6e292-1c73-49e1-81ce-b075010b275f/278fbb50-8720-41d9-819c-b417010273af/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=aee4b1cb-b4f6-4283-99aa-b075010cd6b0

What does your future financial self really need from you today? In this episode of A Little Bit Richer, our host Iona Bain is joined by financial educator and content creator Tolu Frimpong to explore the powerful (and often overlooked) relationship between your present-day decisions and your longer-term wealth. Tolu shares the real-life choices and mindset shifts that transformed her relationship with money. And together, they unpack being stuck in “survival mode” with finances, why you can’t afford not to invest in your future and how your identity shapes your financial outcomes. If you’ve ever told yourself “I’ll start saving later” or “I just don’t have enough,” this episode will challenge that thinking and give you practical ways to start showing up for your future self today and make that life a little bit richer. Because whether you plan for it or not… your future is coming. You can watch episodes on L&G’s YouTube channel And see behind the scenes content on TikTok and Instagram You can play the podcast and find other useful content on L&G’s website: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/podcasts/a-little-bit-richer Follow Tolu on Instagram Iona and her guests share their own personal thoughts and opinions in this podcast. These might be different from L&G’s take on things. They give financial guidance for a UK audience that’s relevant at the time of recording. It’s general best practice, not the kind of personalised advice you’d get from a financial adviser. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Iona Bain: Hello and welcome to A Little Bit Richer, with me,
[0:03] Iona Bain: Iona Bain, brought to you by Legal & General. Now, when
[0:06] Iona Bain: it comes to money, a lot of us have a
[0:08] Iona Bain: story we tell ourselves like, I can't afford to plan
[0:11] Iona Bain: for the future right now, or, I'll think about saving
[0:14] Iona Bain: later. We're so focused on getting through the month and
[0:18] Iona Bain: when we're living like that, it's hard to think about
[0:20] Iona Bain: the future. But the choices we make today, where we
[0:24] Iona Bain: live, how we spend, what we save, they're all quietly
[0:27] Iona Bain: shaping the life our future selves will inherit. So today
[0:31] Iona Bain: we're exploring the idea of present you versus future you
[0:35] Iona Bain: and how the decisions we make today, big or small,
[0:38] Iona Bain: will shape the opportunities we have later. Joining me today
[0:41] Iona Bain: is financial educator and content creator, Tolu Frimpong, who has built
[0:45] Iona Bain: a community helping people rethink their relationship with money. Tolu,
[0:49] Iona Bain: welcome to A Little Bit Richer.
[0:51] Tolu Frimpong: Thank you for having me.
[0:52] Iona Bain: Let's start with a 30- second summary of why looking
[0:57] Iona Bain: after your financial future is so important. Are you ready?
[1:00] Tolu Frimpong: Oh my gosh. The pressure.
[1:02] Iona Bain: You'll smash it, I'm sure. All right. Go.
[1:04] Tolu Frimpong: Your financial future is so important because the reality is
[1:07] Tolu Frimpong: time is going to pass irrespective of how we spend
[1:10] Tolu Frimpong: it. It's so important for present you to really think
[1:13] Tolu Frimpong: and prepare for future you. So the lifestyle you want
[1:16] Tolu Frimpong: to live, the house you want to live in, the
[1:17] Tolu Frimpong: activities that you want to be able to do later
[1:19] Tolu Frimpong: on in life, all of that is shaped by the
[1:21] Tolu Frimpong: decisions that you make today. Yes, whilst life is happening,
[1:24] Tolu Frimpong: cost of living is high, we need to really think
[1:26] Tolu Frimpong: about what we're doing here and now so that later
[1:29] Tolu Frimpong: on we get to enjoy it.
[1:30] Iona Bain: Oh, yes. That was absolutely spot on. Yeah.
[1:33] Tolu Frimpong: Very good.
[1:34] Iona Bain: Brilliant, brilliant stuff. And very, very inspiring as well. That's
[1:37] Iona Bain: exactly the right tone, I feel, to start our conversation
[1:40] Iona Bain: because you yourself have made quite a big financial decision
[1:45] Iona Bain: in recent times. Could you explain to me why you
[1:48] Iona Bain: decided to move you and your family out of London
[1:52] Iona Bain: and what impact that's had on your finances?
[1:55] Tolu Frimpong: So my husband and I made this decision a couple
[1:58] Tolu Frimpong: of years ago to move outside of London. It wasn't
[2:00] Tolu Frimpong: a decision that we took lightly because I'm a Southeast
[2:03] Tolu Frimpong: Londoner at heart, born and raised, and I've always loved
[2:05] Tolu Frimpong: living in London. However, I really had to start thinking
[2:08] Tolu Frimpong: about the future that I envision for my family, for
[2:11] Tolu Frimpong: my children, what I want our lifestyle to be like.
[2:13] Tolu Frimpong: And unfortunately, it was just becoming unaffordable to stay in
[2:17] Tolu Frimpong: London just because of the rising costs. Our mortgage was
[2:20] Tolu Frimpong: rising. Our cost of living was rising. Everything was just
[2:22] Tolu Frimpong: going up and there wasn't enough of a gap between
[2:24] Tolu Frimpong: our income and our expenses. So we really had to
[2:27] Tolu Frimpong: have a tough conversation about, okay, if we want to
[2:29] Tolu Frimpong: be able to continue to live a certain lifestyle, we
[2:31] Tolu Frimpong: really need to re- strategize and start thinking about, okay,
[2:34] Tolu Frimpong: what can we do to widen that gap? And we
[2:36] Tolu Frimpong: made that tough decision to uproot our family, make our
[2:39] Tolu Frimpong: children change schools, change home and move outside of London.
[2:43] Tolu Frimpong: And it's been an incredible journey so far. Initially, I
[2:45] Tolu Frimpong: was a bit nervous and skeptical about doing it because I've
[2:48] Tolu Frimpong: never lived outside of London. However, I'm glad we made
[2:50] Tolu Frimpong: that decision because it saved us a fortune and it's
[2:53] Tolu Frimpong: just given us a better quality of life.
[2:54] Iona Bain: So no regrets?
[2:56] Tolu Frimpong: It's only coming on to a year now since we
[2:58] Tolu Frimpong: made that decision to relocate. And yeah, so far no regrets.
[3:02] Iona Bain: But that's really interesting that you were thinking ahead and
[3:06] Iona Bain: able to really plan for the future. We know people
[3:10] Iona Bain: do tend to be quite focused on the present for
[3:13] Iona Bain: very understandable reasons, but why can that be a bit
[3:17] Iona Bain: of a problem when it comes to our finances?
[3:19] Tolu Frimpong: The reality is that we focus on the things that
[3:22] Tolu Frimpong: are urgent rather than the things that are important. So
[3:24] Tolu Frimpong: because we're focused on here and now, I need to
[3:27] Tolu Frimpong: feed my children, I need to pay for groceries, I
[3:29] Tolu Frimpong: need to pay for the afterschool clubs, et cetera. There's
[3:32] Tolu Frimpong: always something right now demanding our money and our attention.
[3:35] Tolu Frimpong: So we focus on that without looking at the bigger
[3:37] Tolu Frimpong: picture and what we want our future to look like.
[3:39] Tolu Frimpong: What we end up doing is missing the opportunities for
[3:41] Tolu Frimpong: the better life that we could create for ourself because
[3:44] Tolu Frimpong: we haven't lifted our heads above the parapet.
[3:46] Iona Bain: We almost get stuck in survival mode.
[3:48] Tolu Frimpong: Exactly. Survival mode. Yeah.
[3:50] Iona Bain: So how do we shift out of that and start
[3:53] Iona Bain: thinking more about the future?
[3:55] Tolu Frimpong: There's a lot of things that we can do. I
[3:57] Tolu Frimpong: think number one is really understanding our numbers and really
[3:59] Tolu Frimpong: having honest conversations with ourselves about where we are and
[4:03] Tolu Frimpong: where we want to be. So like for myself, we
[4:05] Tolu Frimpong: had to have that difficult conversation about moving outside of
[4:08] Tolu Frimpong: London. For somebody else, it might be we need to
[4:10] Tolu Frimpong: downsize our house. I need to sell my car or
[4:13] Tolu Frimpong: choose alternative modes of transport. What can we do to
[4:16] Tolu Frimpong: reduce those expenses so that we can put money towards
[4:19] Tolu Frimpong: the things that are more important to us? And yes,
[4:21] Tolu Frimpong: there are so many external factors beyond our control, but
[4:24] Tolu Frimpong: the things that are within our control, let's focus on
[4:26] Tolu Frimpong: that and make decisions so that we can do the
[4:28] Tolu Frimpong: best that we can with the resources that we have available.
[4:31] Iona Bain: So for you, the decision to move out of London
[4:34] Iona Bain: cannot have been an easy one. It's where you were
[4:36] Iona Bain: born and brought up. How do you separate the practical and
[4:40] Iona Bain: financial considerations from what can be quite an emotional decision
[4:44] Iona Bain: to make?
[4:45] Tolu Frimpong: We used to live five minutes away from my in
[4:47] Tolu Frimpong: laws. So my mother- in- law, father- in- law, were
[4:49] Tolu Frimpong: literally around the corner. So we had that option of 24/
[4:51] Tolu Frimpong: 7 support for the children and we had to give
[4:54] Tolu Frimpong: that up. So that was a big emotional decision to make
[4:57] Tolu Frimpong: because my husband's super close to his parents and I'm
[4:59] Tolu Frimpong: super close to them as well. We lived with them
[5:01] Tolu Frimpong: for three years when we first got married. So very close-
[5:03] Tolu Frimpong: knit family. So making that big decision to move out
[5:06] Tolu Frimpong: of London wasn't one we made lightly, but we really
[5:08] Tolu Frimpong: did need to think about our children and the future that
[5:11] Tolu Frimpong: we wanted for them. And we knew that as much
[5:12] Tolu Frimpong: as it was something we wanted to do emotionally, stay
[5:15] Tolu Frimpong: close to family. We knew that financially just didn't make the most
[5:19] Tolu Frimpong: sense for us to stay and we needed to make
[5:21] Tolu Frimpong: that sacrifice for the future that we wanted for our
[5:24] Tolu Frimpong: family. So it wasn't an easy one. It was a
[5:26] Tolu Frimpong: very emotionally draining one. And it is one to this
[5:29] Tolu Frimpong: day that I'm like, it would be so nice to have them
[5:31] Tolu Frimpong: close by. I'm still hoping that we can convince them
[5:33] Tolu Frimpong: to move down eventually.
[5:35] Iona Bain: That's a long- term plan.
[5:36] Tolu Frimpong: Yeah, exactly. That's the long- term plan, to get them to
[5:38] Tolu Frimpong: retire and move to Ken. I think sometimes we do
[5:41] Tolu Frimpong: need to separate the emotion from the practicality and think
[5:43] Tolu Frimpong: about what actually makes the most logical sense.
[5:46] Iona Bain: I completely agree. And my parents have downsized, which is
[5:49] Iona Bain: a big financial decision to make, and they moved halfway
[5:53] Iona Bain: across the country as well, partly to be near me
[5:56] Iona Bain: and my brother, but also partly because it made financial
[5:58] Iona Bain: sense for them. But again, it's not easy. They were
[6:01] Iona Bain: in that house that they were in for 30 odd
[6:04] Iona Bain: years and therefore I'm very admiring of people who can
[6:07] Iona Bain: make those big decisions, but it is easier said than done.
[6:10] Iona Bain: So what would your advice be to anyone who is
[6:13] Iona Bain: thinking about making a really big decision that would benefit
[6:17] Iona Bain: their finances, but is going to represent a big change in their life?
[6:21] Tolu Frimpong: I would advise them to sit down and write the
[6:24] Tolu Frimpong: pros and the cons of this decision that they're making,
[6:26] Tolu Frimpong: because I think when you actually take the emotion away
[6:28] Tolu Frimpong: from it, when the pros strongly outweigh the cons, it
[6:31] Tolu Frimpong: makes it easier to make that decision. You can come
[6:33] Tolu Frimpong: back to that. Exactly. You can come back to it. It's like, okay,
[6:35] Tolu Frimpong: yes, this is hard. However, we've made this sacrifice because.
[6:39] Tolu Frimpong: And so for my family, it was the best option,
[6:41] Tolu Frimpong: but also we were considering things like secondary schools for
[6:44] Tolu Frimpong: my children. And just recently, my son got into his
[6:47] Tolu Frimpong: first choice, secondary school. So it was little things like that,
[6:49] Tolu Frimpong: that give you that reassurance that, oh, okay, actually we
[6:51] Tolu Frimpong: have made the right choice for our family. So yes,
[6:54] Tolu Frimpong: it's not easy, but nothing in life is easy, so
[6:57] Tolu Frimpong: you have to choose your hard.
[6:58] Iona Bain: Yeah. Embrace change.
[6:59] Tolu Frimpong: Exactly.
[7:00] Iona Bain: And there will be people who are wondering about making
[7:05] Iona Bain: a change in their finances when it comes to their
[7:07] Iona Bain: pensions or maybe starting to invest, but they don't feel
[7:11] Iona Bain: like they've got enough money. And for some people, that
[7:14] Iona Bain: is a reality. For other people, it may be more
[7:17] Iona Bain: of a perception rather than the reality. So what would
[7:20] Iona Bain: you say to anyone who doesn't feel that they have
[7:22] Iona Bain: any money to spare for those sorts of things like
[7:24] Iona Bain: a pension or investments?
[7:26] Tolu Frimpong: Yeah. I would say that you can't afford not to
[7:28] Tolu Frimpong: do these things. So if I give myself, for example,
[7:30] Tolu Frimpong: I opted out of my workplace pension when I first got
[7:33] Tolu Frimpong: my graduate job and I worked at that job for
[7:35] Tolu Frimpong: 10 years. So I missed out on all of my
[7:37] Tolu Frimpong: employer's contribution, my employer's match, and plus the compound interest
[7:41] Tolu Frimpong: that I could have been making on that pension for a
[7:43] Tolu Frimpong: decade. And that's because I thought I needed that money.
[7:46] Tolu Frimpong: I want to go on holiday, I want to travel,
[7:48] Tolu Frimpong: I want to save for a new car. All of
[7:49] Tolu Frimpong: these things that I thought were a priority then. Fast- forward
[7:52] Tolu Frimpong: to nearly 40 year old me, and I'm kicking myself
[7:54] Tolu Frimpong: at that decision that I made back then to opt
[7:56] Tolu Frimpong: out, because yes, you may think you can't afford to
[7:59] Tolu Frimpong: pay into these things, but it's for your own betterment
[8:01] Tolu Frimpong: and for your own benefit. So you're paying for your
[8:03] Tolu Frimpong: future self. Right now you think that, okay, this is the
[8:06] Tolu Frimpong: best decision, but actually you're only doing yourself a disservice
[8:08] Tolu Frimpong: later on down the line. So all you're doing is
[8:10] Tolu Frimpong: you're delaying your heart.
[8:12] Iona Bain: And part of the problem is that presumably at that
[8:14] Iona Bain: point when you were deciding whether to stay in the
[8:17] Iona Bain: pension, you weren't really being told what the benefits are
[8:20] Iona Bain: staying in that pension long term were. So do you
[8:22] Iona Bain: feel that sometimes people don't get given the kind of
[8:25] Iona Bain: information that they need to make an informed choice?
[8:28] Tolu Frimpong: Oh, absolutely. I didn't know what pensions were. All I
[8:31] Tolu Frimpong: knew was that it was another deduction from my payslip.
[8:34] Tolu Frimpong: I'm seeing national insurance, I'm seeing pension, I'm seeing student
[8:37] Tolu Frimpong: loan, all of these deductions from my salary. And I'm like, "
[8:40] Tolu Frimpong: Why are all these people taking my money?" So we
[8:42] Tolu Frimpong: didn't have that education. It's not until I went on
[8:44] Tolu Frimpong: a whole journey with money, getting myself into debt and
[8:47] Tolu Frimpong: paying off that debt that I learned about the value of
[8:50] Tolu Frimpong: things like pensions. And that's when I'm like, " Oh my
[8:51] Tolu Frimpong: gosh, Tolu, you've made a big mistake here by opting
[8:54] Tolu Frimpong: out." So definitely I think it's the unawareness that people
[8:57] Tolu Frimpong: have about the importance of things like your pension and
[8:59] Tolu Frimpong: investing. So you want to make those decisions today so
[9:02] Tolu Frimpong: that future you can be comfortable because the reality is
[9:05] Tolu Frimpong: that time is going to pass regardless of what you
[9:07] Tolu Frimpong: do with it. And I can't believe I'm going to
[9:09] Tolu Frimpong: be turning 40 soon. I thought I was going to be
[9:11] Tolu Frimpong: a baby girl forever, but here I am, barely 40.
[9:14] Iona Bain: It's a shock, isn't it?
[9:15] Tolu Frimpong: It's a shock and it comes by so quickly. So
[9:17] Tolu Frimpong: you want to really make sure you're putting things in place and
[9:19] Tolu Frimpong: preparing financially so that you are in the strongest position
[9:22] Tolu Frimpong: you can when you meet future you.
[9:24] Iona Bain: Absolutely. And how important is identity in all this? Because
[9:28] Iona Bain: we have previously covered the book, Atomic Habits in our
[9:30] Iona Bain: book club episode, and that talks a lot about how
[9:33] Iona Bain: identity drives current and future habits. So how would you
[9:38] Iona Bain: apply that thinking about identity and how you see yourself
[9:42] Iona Bain: to motivate you to really act in your best interests?
[9:46] Tolu Frimpong: Identity is a big thing. And I think it's one
[9:48] Tolu Frimpong: of those things that hold a lot of us back
[9:49] Tolu Frimpong: from becoming the best versions of ourselves. So I like
[9:52] Tolu Frimpong: to say that saying all the time where if you
[9:54] Tolu Frimpong: believe you can or you believe you can't, you're right.
[9:56] Tolu Frimpong: So if you don't think you can save money, you're
[9:58] Tolu Frimpong: not going to save money. So I've always said, I
[10:01] Tolu Frimpong: can't wake up early, but having children, I've had to
[10:04] Tolu Frimpong: become a morning person by force because they're morning people.
[10:08] Tolu Frimpong: So it's like all those years of me saying I'm
[10:10] Tolu Frimpong: not a morning person wasting all those hours early in the
[10:12] Tolu Frimpong: morning when I could have been productive, working on my
[10:14] Tolu Frimpong: business, et cetera. Had I have had that identity shift
[10:17] Tolu Frimpong: back then, I could have achieved a lot more. Likewise,
[10:19] Tolu Frimpong: when it comes to your finances, saying, " I can't save.
[10:22] Tolu Frimpong: I can't invest. I can't pay off debt. I can't
[10:24] Tolu Frimpong: do all of these things." You're never going to start
[10:26] Tolu Frimpong: taking the steps required to then achieve those things. So
[10:29] Tolu Frimpong: the book, Atomic Habit that you mentioned, he talks about
[10:32] Tolu Frimpong: starting small. So you can't go from saying, " I'm not
[10:35] Tolu Frimpong: a saver," to, " I'm going to save 1, 000 pounds a month."
[10:37] Tolu Frimpong: That's not realistic. You're setting yourself up for failure. But
[10:39] Tolu Frimpong: what you can do is say, " Okay, every time I
[10:41] Tolu Frimpong: spend 10 pounds or 9. 50, I'm going to save
[10:44] Tolu Frimpong: the 50 pence and I'm not going to touch it."
[10:46] Tolu Frimpong: And then you can build on that little habit incrementally
[10:49] Tolu Frimpong: week on week, month on month until you look back
[10:51] Tolu Frimpong: at the end of the year and you see how
[10:53] Tolu Frimpong: much money you've been able to save. And then you
[10:55] Tolu Frimpong: have that evidence that, oh, actually I can do that. And
[10:58] Tolu Frimpong: then that identity becomes more real to you.
[11:00] Iona Bain: Yeah. And it's really interesting because potentially from that small
[11:04] Iona Bain: behavior change in the beginning, further down the line as
[11:07] Iona Bain: you develop that identity of someone who is looking after
[11:11] Iona Bain: your future self, you're then in a position to make
[11:13] Iona Bain: those bigger changes perhaps that will really, really add up
[11:16] Iona Bain: and compound over the long term. So there's that kind
[11:18] Iona Bain: of relationship from the small habits right up to the
[11:21] Iona Bain: big decisions.
[11:22] Tolu Frimpong: Exactly. It's baby steps, but it all compounds over time
[11:25] Tolu Frimpong: for sure.
[11:26] Iona Bain: And how does somebody move away from thinking, I'm always
[11:31] Iona Bain: broke. That's just how life is. That's my situation, to
[11:35] Iona Bain: I'm somebody who builds wealth? How do you make that shift
[11:37] Iona Bain: from one identity to the other?
[11:40] Tolu Frimpong: So it's going back to building evidence in support of
[11:43] Tolu Frimpong: this new identity that you're claiming is yours. So if you're
[11:45] Tolu Frimpong: saying you're not somebody that can save money, if day
[11:47] Tolu Frimpong: in, day out, you're saving 50 piece, saving a pound,
[11:50] Tolu Frimpong: five pound, 10 pounds, eventually over time that money compounds
[11:53] Tolu Frimpong: and then you realize, oh, actually I can save. I've
[11:55] Tolu Frimpong: been able to achieve this goal of maybe paying off
[11:57] Tolu Frimpong: this amount of debt or opening my investment account finally.
[12:00] Tolu Frimpong: All of these little things, you build up that evidence.
[12:02] Tolu Frimpong: I think also what we say about ourselves becomes true.
[12:05] Tolu Frimpong: So be mindful of the words that we speak. So
[12:08] Tolu Frimpong: saying I'm lazy, saying I'm broke, saying I'm never going
[12:10] Tolu Frimpong: to be rich, saying only a certain demographic of people
[12:13] Tolu Frimpong: can be wealthy. All of these things that we say
[12:15] Tolu Frimpong: and that we consume in our content, all those things shape
[12:18] Tolu Frimpong: our identity. So when you don't think you can see
[12:21] Tolu Frimpong: yourself in a certain space or you can't see yourself
[12:23] Tolu Frimpong: achieving certain things, it's never going to be a reality.
[12:26] Tolu Frimpong: You've kind of set yourself up for failure even before
[12:28] Tolu Frimpong: you've got started.
[12:30] Iona Bain: So how did you go from being somebody who made
[12:34] Iona Bain: these decisions like opting out of your pension and tending
[12:37] Iona Bain: to think about the here and now to somebody who
[12:39] Iona Bain: clearly thinks very, very deeply about the future?
[12:43] Tolu Frimpong: I think it's life. Life happened. I got myself into
[12:46] Tolu Frimpong: a lot of debt and I went on a whole
[12:47] Tolu Frimpong: journey of learning about money. So a lot of the
[12:49] Tolu Frimpong: content I started consuming was more about people starting to
[12:52] Tolu Frimpong: budget, people paying off debt, people learning how to invest.
[12:55] Tolu Frimpong: And I'm seeing women that look like me who are
[12:57] Tolu Frimpong: now investors that have huge amounts of wealth that they've
[13:00] Tolu Frimpong: been able to accumulate, not because they were born into
[13:03] Tolu Frimpong: money or because they earn a high figure, but because
[13:06] Tolu Frimpong: they were just really good stewards of their finances and
[13:08] Tolu Frimpong: they were able to make their money grow. And so
[13:10] Tolu Frimpong: for me, seeing them being able to do it said
[13:13] Tolu Frimpong: to me okay, if they can do it, there's no
[13:14] Tolu Frimpong: reason why I can't do it. My mom always says
[13:17] Tolu Frimpong: to me, " They don't have two heads," and it's so
[13:18] Tolu Frimpong: true. They don't have two heads. So they're showing me
[13:21] Tolu Frimpong: the blueprint as to how I can also do it.
[13:23] Tolu Frimpong: I think before there was a lack of knowledge, so
[13:26] Tolu Frimpong: I didn't know what I didn't know.
[13:27] Iona Bain: It's interesting because some people might see that content and
[13:30] Iona Bain: think it's a little bit daunting, but you saw it
[13:32] Iona Bain: and you were inspired by it.
[13:34] Tolu Frimpong: Very inspired. Yeah.
[13:35] Iona Bain: And do you feel like the information that you receive
[13:39] Iona Bain: is also incredibly important to you cultivating that new identity?
[13:43] Iona Bain: What advice would you have for people who want to
[13:46] Iona Bain: improve what they see around them? Because that was clearly,
[13:49] Iona Bain: really, really crucial for you.
[13:50] Tolu Frimpong: Yes, absolutely. I would say be mindful. So if you're
[13:53] Tolu Frimpong: just seeing people live these lavish lives, but they're not
[13:56] Tolu Frimpong: showing you how they've been able to do it makes
[13:58] Tolu Frimpong: it seem like, oh my gosh, I'm missing out. What have
[14:00] Tolu Frimpong: I done wrong? Why is my life like this? And
[14:01] Tolu Frimpong: there's this like that. But when you're following accounts of
[14:04] Tolu Frimpong: people that look literally just like you, ordinary everyday people
[14:06] Tolu Frimpong: that just make better money decisions and they're able to
[14:09] Tolu Frimpong: pay off debt, they're able to save, invest, et cetera,
[14:12] Tolu Frimpong: it makes you think, okay, if they can do it, I
[14:13] Tolu Frimpong: can do it too. I think the books and a
[14:16] Tolu Frimpong: podcast and everything that we consume can help shape us
[14:20] Tolu Frimpong: for the good or for the bad. And I think
[14:21] Tolu Frimpong: for me, I was just consuming a lot of materials
[14:24] Tolu Frimpong: that helped change my money mindset and helped me get
[14:27] Tolu Frimpong: better with money and enabled me to start a platform
[14:29] Tolu Frimpong: that I ended up starting.
[14:30] Iona Bain: Yeah. It's a really good point because for me, I
[14:33] Iona Bain: have to balance news about how difficult the economy is.
[14:36] Iona Bain: But I know that if I consume too much of
[14:39] Iona Bain: that, it then starts to influence my perception of my
[14:42] Iona Bain: finances and I start to get things out of perspective.
[14:45] Iona Bain: I then have to balance that with information that actually
[14:48] Iona Bain: helps me to be more positive and constructive and helps
[14:51] Iona Bain: me to keep the news in perspective because otherwise it
[14:55] Iona Bain: can get to you. We are in tough times at
[14:57] Iona Bain: the moment.
[14:57] Tolu Frimpong: Tell me about it. No, we really are. I like
[14:59] Tolu Frimpong: to focus on what I can change and not things
[15:02] Tolu Frimpong: that are beyond my control because it makes me kind
[15:05] Tolu Frimpong: of feel helpless. Whereas when I'm consuming stuff like, okay,
[15:08] Tolu Frimpong: I can apply this, those are the things I tend
[15:10] Tolu Frimpong: to lean more towards.
[15:12] Iona Bain: And if somebody maybe doesn't feel quite ready to make
[15:15] Iona Bain: a big decision about their finances, whether it's starting a
[15:18] Iona Bain: new job or moving to a new place, whatever it
[15:20] Iona Bain: might be, what kind of one or two things could
[15:23] Iona Bain: they start doing today that could really add up and
[15:26] Iona Bain: make a difference over the long term?
[15:28] Tolu Frimpong: What you don't know, you can't change, right? So just
[15:31] Tolu Frimpong: learning about money. Listening to podcasts like this, this is
[15:33] Tolu Frimpong: a great step as well.
[15:34] Iona Bain: Absolutely.
[15:34] Tolu Frimpong: But not just listening to it, but actually taking one thing
[15:37] Tolu Frimpong: and saying, " Okay, this is what I'm going to apply
[15:39] Tolu Frimpong: today." Whether it's opening that savings account, whether it's opting
[15:42] Tolu Frimpong: back into my workplace pension, whether it's starting to invest.
[15:45] Tolu Frimpong: Whatever it is, just make that decision. I think that would be
[15:47] Tolu Frimpong: a great place to start. I would also say, look
[15:49] Tolu Frimpong: at what you can do about your financial circumstances. So whether
[15:52] Tolu Frimpong: it is skilling up, whether it is speaking to employer
[15:55] Tolu Frimpong: about a pay rise. You've been in that job for
[15:57] Tolu Frimpong: five years and you've only had a pay rise once. Why
[16:00] Tolu Frimpong: is that? And just add value to yourself even within
[16:02] Tolu Frimpong: the workplace. So maybe you've asked but your employer said
[16:04] Tolu Frimpong: no, maybe ask, " Okay, what can I do?" And make
[16:07] Tolu Frimpong: that your mission over the next six months to position
[16:10] Tolu Frimpong: yourself in a way to revisit that conversation and get
[16:12] Tolu Frimpong: that pay rise. So what can I do within my
[16:15] Tolu Frimpong: control to improve my financial situation? And then once I've
[16:18] Tolu Frimpong: made that improvement, what am I going to do with that
[16:20] Tolu Frimpong: extra money?
[16:20] Iona Bain: Yeah, because it's not just about saving money. It's also
[16:23] Iona Bain: about investing in yourself because then over the long run,
[16:26] Iona Bain: that will obviously have a really, really big dividend. So
[16:29] Iona Bain: after this episode, if folks want to go away, have
[16:31] Iona Bain: a cup of tea, whilst they're waiting for the kettle
[16:33] Iona Bain: to boil, what's one thing that they could do to
[16:36] Iona Bain: try to make their futures better?
[16:39] Tolu Frimpong: I think one thing is come up with a plan.
[16:41] Tolu Frimpong: So sit down, write down what future me wants to
[16:44] Tolu Frimpong: look like and what steps I can take towards making future
[16:46] Tolu Frimpong: me a reality, whether it's opening a savings account or
[16:49] Tolu Frimpong: opening an investment account, opting back into your workplace pension,
[16:53] Tolu Frimpong: just making a decision today that future you is going
[16:56] Tolu Frimpong: to thank you for.
[16:57] Iona Bain: I feel really inspired now to go and do that
[16:59] Iona Bain: and have a cup of tea at the same time.
[17:01] Tolu Frimpong: Love it.
[17:01] Iona Bain: Thanks, Tolu.
[17:03] Tolu Frimpong: Thanks for having me.
[17:03] Iona Bain: A huge thanks again to Tolu. And we really hope
[17:06] Iona Bain: this episode has given you something to think about. What's
[17:08] Iona Bain: one small step that you could take today that would
[17:11] Iona Bain: make life easier for future you? One to think about.
[17:14] Iona Bain: Next time, I'll be joined by Tom from L& G
[17:17] Iona Bain: for a recap on workplace pensions. This podcast is brought
[17:20] Iona Bain: to you by L& G. I'd love it if you
[17:22] Iona Bain: could share the podcast and help others get a little
[17:25] Iona Bain: bit richer too. You can keep up with the show
[17:27] Iona Bain: on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, @ legal& general. And if you've
[17:31] Iona Bain: got a question or a topic that you would like
[17:34] Iona Bain: answered on the show, please do get in touch on
[17:36] Iona Bain: our socials because we love to hear from you. Until
[17:39] Iona Bain: next time, see you soon and thanks for listening.

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