It’s Never Too Late to Start with Becky Heptig of startedat50.com – Episode 011

In this episode of the podcast, Chris and Debbie talk with Becky Heptig, of startedat50.com, while self-quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have an extensive and honest conversation about all that led up to the position Becky and her husband found themselves in at the age of 50–with three children, a net worth of $0, and no hopes of retirement. There are so many parallels to the financial struggles so many are faced with during this pandemic.

Becky walks us through being burdened with fear and debt, how they got there, and how they were able to get themselves out of the hole they were in and to their present reality–debt free and retired early from their investment portfolio.

Listen in to hear all the ups and downs, twists and turns, and even some step-by-step to help you realize it’s never too late to start.

Some memorable quotes from Becky in this episode:

• “We had walked through a lot of pain. I never want to go through that pain again, but for us, that’s what it took to change our minds.”
• “We hadn’t done any planning for the future, so one major event sent us off the cliff…I saw us digging a bigger hole every day just to survive.
• “These circumstances have been thrust upon us. None of us chose this. It’s bringing to light things that we wish we’d done differently. In our situation, we had no emergency fund.”
• “If someone’s listening to this and they feel like it’s too late for them or they’ve lost hope, I want to encourage you–that there is hope, and you can make positive changes for yourself right now.”
• “We don’t have to have all the things we think we have to have.”

Becky shares some important steps along their path to freedom:

• The support of their community and family in difficult times
• Changing her mindset
• Finding tools to support them
• Finding Dave Ramsey and applying his resources, including building a “baby emergency fund” then becoming debt-free
• How getting clear about their values and their spending helped them feel empowered, safe and brought them peace (rather than feeling deprived)
• How applying what they learned took them from feeling like, “They might not ever be able to retire” in 2008 to having the ability to pull their retirement forward by four years in 2018 at the age of 63
• How they’re able to pay forward the support they felt in their time of need now that they have financial security

She also has this advice for anyone struggling financially right now:

1. Find a mentor and an accountability partner (they can be the same person)
2. Forgive yourself (“You can’t move forward with fear and shame.”)
3. Formulate a plan and move forward

Listen to the end to hear about the adventures Becky and her husband share together in retirement and about Becky’s bucket list.

They leave you with this thought:

“Becky reminds us just how important community is. Sometimes we find ourselves in a moment or a place or a time in which we cannot help ourselves–when we don’t know how or even where to start. In those times, community is there to support, guide, and empower each other to a secure and peaceful place, just like it did for Becky.

As that well-loved song says, we get by with a little help from our friends.

Have you ever noticed that the really good, engaging stories we keep going back to play a little trick on us just near the end? It’s there that the poor, down-trodden, main character that we thought needed rescuing finds a way to step up and out of whatever pit he found himself in. Then we realize that the character we thought would step in to rescue him in a heroic climax, was really just a guide along the way. Right at the end, it’s the very guy that needed saving that becomes the hero of his own story and saves himself.

We all need help along the way. We all need guides pointing us in the right direction. We get even further when surrounded by a like-minded community to support and empower us.

From Becky, we learn that the strong members of those communities got there because of the struggles they’ve been through along the way, not without them.

In her book Second Glance, Jodi Picoult writes, ‘Heroes didn’t leap tall buildings or stop bullets with an outstretched hand; they didn’t wear boots and capes. They bled, and they bruised, and their superpowers were as simple as listening or loving. Heroes were ordinary people who knew that even if their own lives were impossibly knotted, they could untangle someone else’s. And maybe that one act could lead someone to rescue you right back.’

The trials and pain and struggle are a necessary part of the story. There is no hero’s journey without them. They are also the catalyst for giving and growing a community that supports and guides each other through similar pain.

We help and we guide and we empower others because we’ve felt the pain they are feeling, not because we’ve been spared from it.

It was Becky’s pain that led to her ultimate empowerment, freedom, and peace. And it’s the memory of that pain that drives her in mentoring and assisting others in their own liberation.

Sometimes we need guides, and sometimes we guide others. That is the role of community.

May you find connection today, friends. May you ask for help without fear or worry of not being enough. May your pain serve as your teacher, ultimately being alchemized into your own liberation. And may you not only get by but get empowered and find joy and peace within a tribe close to your very own heart. Because, after all, you’ve got just this One Life. It’s time to truly Live It!, today.”