Episode 181, saving money around the house. Hey, Money Clan! A very warm welcome to the Chain of Wealth Podcast. I'm your host, Denis O'Brien.

Katie Welsh [0:20]

And I'm Katie Walsh.

Denis O'Brien [0:22]

So Katie today, a lot of hot fire tips to really save money around the house, and, you know, have more money to save in the month and put to whatever you're looking for.

Katie Welsh [0:31]

We have been really trying to be a little bit more self sufficient, because we have been trying to pinch where we can to be able to pay for the wedding. And we thought, though, to give a couple of tips that we feel we are saving money just by doing it ourselves. 

Denis O'Brien [0:46]

You know, the thing is, Kate, I feel like also, in the world that we live in today, it's all about instant gratification. And you can typically pay your way out of anything. But I think that very often, if you put in the time and energy, you invest in skills to learn how to do things better yourself, you can save a lot of money instead of just having to pay someone the whole time.

Katie Welsh [1:04]

Well, and it makes me feel good. It makes you feel like I'm really handy when I'm able to fix something.

Denis O'Brien [1:09]

Yeah, it's totally true. So before we dive into our episode, if you guys haven't already, we'd love if you join our Facebook community, head on over to chainofwealth.com/group and come and say hi. All right, Kate's you ready to dive on him? 

Katie Welsh [1:23]

Yeah!

Denis O'Brien [1:23]

Fantastic, let's do it! 

Alright Kate, so saving money around the house. And I know this is a big passion area of yours. So what would you say is a good reason to try and learn stuff like this?

Katie Welsh [1:50]

For obvious reasons, Den to be able to cut back and do things yourself, it gives you more money to be able to put another place like you're saving or paying off debt. It just makes life easier. We I know he said earlier that you can basically pay your way out of anything. But sometimes having to find somebody to come and fix something can really be a hassle. And I say that because a few weeks ago, the pipe under my mom's sink broke. And she was like, Yeah, I could probably fix it myself. But she was like, I don't want to I'm old. I want to just be able to pay somebody to come and do it. I don't want to get under their sink. And even still wanting to pay her way out of it. She's had a hard time finding a plumber that is reasonable and reliable.

Denis O'Brien [2:41]

Yeah. And, you know, the thing is, like, very often, if you do things yourself, you do it the way you want it. Relying on other people, you don't get that sense of Okay, well, I got the exact outcome I was expecting, in fact they did it definitely, I've now paid them for it. And I'm disappointed sometimes can be a really bad situation.

Katie Welsh [3:01]

Well I feel a lot of times that happens, especially with, you know, things around the house that you most people don't like doing. And I'll just say for example, yard work.

Denis O'Brien [3:12]

Right.

Katie Welsh [3:12]

I mean, a lot of people don't enjoy yard work, because it's hot, and it's hard and it's dirty. And last time people pay somebody to do it. And then they start off great. And then after a couple of weeks, a couple months if you actually walk around your yard, they've had sprinkler heads, they have..

Denis O'Brien [3:34]

Cut corners?

Katie Welsh [3:35]

Cut corners. They're not eating properly. They're not doing this but not doing that they're not coming in there say they're going to come. So even hiring sometimes can be a little bit of a letdown and a disappointment and an annoyance.

Denis O'Brien [3:48]

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. So what are some great ways that people can save money around the house? What are some of the biggest topic areas that you personally think are great?

Katie Welsh [3:57]

Well, I really thought when I was a child that one of the reasons my mom had children was to do the housework. There's a while that I thought my mom only had a daughter to wash the dishes. So obviously, like cleaning up your own house and doing yard work is a great start. We don't have a yard in Virginia. So one way that we really have been working on trying to save money is you have sacrificed yourself to let me cut your hair. 

Denis O'Brien [4:31]

This is true.

Katie Welsh [4:32]

I've been cutting your hair for a while now.

Denis O'Brien [4:35]

Yeah, and I'm not gonna lie, first couple of times. I didn't look so well put together.

Katie Welsh [4:41]

You are so we're super..

Denis O'Brien [4:44]

Particular?

Katie Welsh [4:45]

Bossy.

Denis O'Brien [4:46]

Well, yeah, I mean, you know, your hair is something that people see every day. You know, you gotta work. You got off. everyone notices your hair. It's one of the I mean, it's on your face, you know, face.

Katie Welsh [4:57]

If it's that bad wear a hat.

Denis O'Brien [5:00]

Yeah, I mean, you can wear a hat to work, you know. But anyways, yeah, you started cutting my hair, and you've gotten better and better at it. And now it's at a point that I can't tell the difference between whether I haven't done at home or whether I go to a store. And look, there wasn't bit of an upfront cost. We had to buy the clippers and everything else. There was the learning curve. There was me looking like an idiot for a couple of weeks. 

Katie Welsh [5:24]

It wasn't that bad.

Denis O'Brien [5:25]

No it wasn't that bad. But um, yeah, I think it cost us about 80 bucks to buy everything like all inclusive and we Katie is actually a lefty so we get the special left handed scissors.

Katie Welsh [5:35]

They matter!

Denis O'Brien [5:36]

Which cost more.

Katie Welsh [5:37]

They matter though.

Denis O'Brien [5:38]

But anyway, it was about 80 bucks all in and, you know, every time you go get your hair cut, that's at least 20 bucks for a dude. So yeah, effectively now it's more than paid for..]You've cut my hair more times than I can count. So that's one big way that we've saved money and another way that I, well another thing that I like saving money with his coffee. So I am a huge coffee person.

Katie Welsh [6:00]

We could even venture snob.

Denis O'Brien [6:03]

Yeah, I would even go as far as snob. So I'm a big coffee snob. And, you know, like, I really enjoy my lattes. And I know, as a personal finance person, like that's probably one of the worst things that you could possibly say. But I enjoy coffee I do. It's something that makes me happy. It gets me started in the morning. I like to start my day with it. So I was like, all right, well, what happens if instead of, you know going out and paying $5 to Starbucks or whatever coffee store you going to, what if you tried to learn how to do your own espressos and cappuccinos and lattes and stuff like that. 

So I bought my own equipment to do it and it is more than paid for itself by now. And you get the coffee that you want every time so I think it's definitely was worth the investment for me, but I think this is a very person specific stuff. Maybe coffee is not your thing. But there's other stuff you can do.

Katie Welsh [6:54]

Right. So just like how you are a coffee snob, and we have like a mini coffee corner in our apartment where you could get anything that you want. I enjoy cooking and herbs are really expensive after a while and I don't know if it is just me but when I buy like a container of basil, I use like two or three basil leaves and then the rest of it goes bad and it's like that for almost all the spices that I use.

Denis O'Brien [7:26]

Well yeah, because you normally buy those hubs for a particular dish so once you use it for that dish and then some leftover you can even think oh I should use this

Katie Welsh [7:35]

So, I grow my own herbs and even to cut a little bit more back I buy the seeds so usually in the wintertime I will go and I will buy basil seeds and parsley seeds and everything like that because it comes cheaper. And I'm going to be honest, I do not have a green thumb and I am so good at growing basil. I'm pretty sure basil is like idiot proof. Anybody can grow basil. So if you enjoy basil or pesto or anything like that, grow it yourself. Right now we have basil, cilantro, parsley, spinach, and kale. Because those are the main things that we're eating, trying to get ready for our wedding diet. So I've just gone ahead and I grow those and it has cut back, not a ton. I mean, it's not a huge savings and off our grocery, but it is fun, I enjoy it. And it's nice to know that we're getting fresh stuff. I know it's completely organic, because it is in a pot in my backyard. And it's really nice that I don't ever have to worry about those herbs going bad because I just go and cut what I need.

Denis O'Brien [8:44]

Yeah. And on the topic of the kitchen, you know, a lot of people speak about paying your way out, they don't pack their lunches, and they will buy lunch at work. And every day, you know they're like oh, I'm going to go buy a salad, and that's 10 bucks and whatever doesn't seem like a lot of money. However, over a longer period of time, you're going to be eating, you know, you're going to be spending a lot more money. And it's not going to be as good for you because like you said, you don't know what's going into it. Versus like packing your own lunch. So you're eating salads, you pack your own salad, you can maybe bulk prep that as well, and effectively save a ton of money. And it's going to be better for your health.

Katie Welsh [9:23]

We pack our lunches every day. And I'm going to just throw out a little bit of a hint, after working all day and then having to cook dinner and then pack your lunch ii's really a drag. So I don't know why it took me about 10 years of working in the real world to figure this out. But pre packing at least some of your lunch on over the weekend is the best idea I ever had. And a lot of times it will take you know, leftover dinner from the night before for lunch the next day. But even just small things, like if you take berries, for example for your lunch, putting all your berries in, you know, a Tupperware per day, it just takes a little bit extra work away during the week when you come home and you're tired and you just want to go to the gym or watch TV or take a shower, you know, whatever. Meal prepping makes everything so much easier. Because it's take you're getting a lot done in the same amount of time that it would have taken to get one done.

Denis O'Brien [10:26]

Yeah, I totally agree. And something else that I think people can do to really save a whole bunch of money is to learn how to repair stuff yourself. So point in case, my coffee machine that I spoke about earlier. It was like you know, sorry, it's not taste as great, and they would have some coffee grinds falling off the back of the machine. So I decided...

Katie Welsh [10:46]

Coffee grinds everywhere...

Denis O'Brien [10:47]

Yeah, so I decided to take this machine apart and basically see if I couldn't fix it myself. And I ended up fixing myself, I had to use a glue gun to sort of fix the grinds from not like going everywhere, but the machine is now fixed, and it's working better than ever.

Katie Welsh [11:02]

And what is the new thing you're going to learn how to do?

Denis O'Brien [11:05]

You tell me?

Katie Welsh [11:06]

Your bike!

Denis O'Brien [11:06]

Yes, I'm going to learn how to do my bike repairs.

Katie Welsh [11:09]

So in case, this was a new thing for me, if you are not an avid biker. Bikes apparently need tune ups. And tune ups for a bike are not cheap.

Denis O'Brien [11:21]

Yeah, we priced it today. So the store down the road wants like 130 bucks. So yeah, it's not cheap. And you know, if you figure out how to do it yourself, you can basically save yourself a lot of money down the road. Kate, before we go any further, I think now's a great time to say a very big thanks to our sponsor.

Katie Welsh [11:38]

Yeah. 

Hey, guys. So as a teacher, I think that is super important that you are able to master a topic and know all facets of it. And that's why we have been loving the Great Courses Plus.

Denis O'Brien [11:55]

I've really enjoyed adding the Great Courses Plus to my own personal arsenal of resources. Kate, I think that it's an absolutely phenomenal product. And it gives you access to a library of over 11,000 video tutorials. And I must say a course that I've really been digging lately is the financial literacy finding your way in the financial markets course. So this course is all about understanding the markets and what you should be doing with your money. 

As an example, one of the great things that it dives into is it teaches you how to diversify. And most importantly, it teaches you why it's important and how to sort of figure out the blend between stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and much much more. 

Kate, we partnered up with a Great Courses Plus, and we're going to give our audience a very special offer. This is a limited time offer. If you guys head on over to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/Wealth, you can claim a full month of free access. So it's full access to their entire library for 30 days, you can claim your offer. It's TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/wealth. That's TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/wealth.

Katie Welsh [13:07]

Okay, so bouncing back to what we talked about before the break. I love cooking. I also love grocery shopping. And I admit, I may have a slight problem where I buy too much than what we need.

Denis O'Brien [13:24]

You buy the groceries store?

Katie Welsh [13:25]

I try really hard. So I have started making it a new goal to eat everything that we buy. And I try really hard to make the refrigerator look quite bare. And then I go.

Denis O'Brien [13:25]

Well, Kate, like I really feel like that's been fundamental to us saving so much money lately, you know, is that we will literally stretch out our food budgets. And you know, like literally, like you said, eating the entire fridge and making sure that there's nothing left in that fridge before we will go shopping again. I feel like we have literally saved hundreds of dollars by doing that.

Katie Welsh [14:01]

No, don't get me wrong. It's hard for me. I don't love it. And I the one thing I have noticed, because we try to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner from home. We make breakfast in the morning before work, we take our lunches to work and then we come home and we eat dinner. The big challenge that I face is when I freeze meat, and then I forget to take something out to defrost, then I'm just like, Oh, well, let's just go out. And then for whatever reason, it throws off my entire pattern for the week. So I've been trying really hard to keep like two or three chicken breasts or something in the refrigerator at all times. Or if I am cooking and I'm using that meat from the refrigerator, I immediately take another meat out of the freezer, because that's where I find my fatal flaw is if we don't have any, defrosted meat, it's just the straight downhill for me.

Denis O'Brien [14:55]

Yeah, I totally agree. And something else. Another way that we've already started saying having a lot of money as well is we typically have a rule that if we haven't used something, within about six months, we strongly consider whether we should sell it. And that's actually stuff that's just laying around the house. And you know, it's collecting dust and it's not going to good use. And, look, we've done it, everyone's done it like you buy stuff and inevitably, it sits somewhere. It's in a draw or on a council whatever the case is. And that's money that's not working for you. And if you were to sell it, you may not get as much as you bought it for however, you're better off selling it now, before that awesome starts aging and is worth even less.

Katie Welsh [15:37]

I will admit throwing things away slash selling things is one of my favorite things to do. Especially we have a smaller apartment. And when you have a lot of stuff in a small area, it feels very cramped. So whenever I find something laying around, and I've pretty much weaseled out everything, but occasionally I'll find some that we can live without. I love selling it. And I even have like an hair straightener that I won while I was working at the hair salon for my side hustle and it was like a $200 hair straightener. I already have a hair straightener. My hair straightener is fine. Why do I need another one? I sold it for like 100 bucks. It was a win win for both of us. I got 100 bucks. The girl got a great hair straightener for half the price. And it was great.

Denis O'Brien [16:31]

Yeah, definitely is a good deal. I think that another way that you can really save money is like being more strategic when you do go shopping. So..

Katie Welsh [16:39]

All we do is talk about food.

Denis O'Brien [16:41]

No, no, I wasn't talking about food.

Katie Welsh [16:42]

Oh!

Denis O'Brien [16:44]

No, I'm not talking about grocery shopping, I'm talking about shopping for things, you know. So towards the end of the year, there's obviously a massive rush with it being holiday season and everyone's spending a ton of money. And you know, everything's marked]up and because everyone knows that it's time to buy gifts and stuff. However, you wait a couple days after year end or after the holidays, and everything is suddenly cheaper.

Katie Welsh [17:09]

Well, especially for like holiday decoration. 

Denis O'Brien [17:11]

Exactly like wait till after the holiday. Because like as an example Easter, you may buy decorations right before Easter, and they're going to be really expensive. Right after Easter well hopefully not on Easter day. If you go into the stores, they're trying to get rid of this stock because they got new stuff coming in the next for the next season. So if you quickly buy up what they have, you can cut a ton of money off what you're buying.

Katie Welsh [17:38]

That reminds me, do you remember our conversation in February?

Denis O'Brien [17:42]

Which conversation in February?

Katie Welsh [17:44]

About chocolate?

Denis O'Brien [17:46]

Yes.

Katie Welsh [17:46]

I told you don't worry about buying me a chocolate heart for Valentine's Day rather go on the 15 so it's half price and so just as delicious.

Denis O'Brien [17:57]

And it was and you know like very often a lot of times today's made into such a commercial.. I want to say scam.. but obviously it's still holiday and that's not a nice thing to say but that's what it is like shops try to make a ton of money off your during the festive season then they and they prey on you trying to get them to the whole swing of things. But if you plan a little bit in advance and like plan you know, I know it's a lot to say a year in advance realistically what it is. You can save a ton of money.

Katie Welsh [18:23]

Yeah it is. I think that's about maxing out all my ideas for quick easy ways to save money around the house.

Denis O'Brien [18:31]

Yeah Kate and I also think you know, like making small incremental changes around the house can really save you a ton of money.

Katie Welsh [18:37]

Yeah, you don't have to do change your whole life all at one time. You know, if you have a husband and three sons, maybe invest in a pair of clippers and start learning how to cut hair at home. Because that is a lot of money that you're spending probably every couple of weeks.

Denis O'Brien [18:56]

Yeah, definitely. Well, awesome, guys. We've loved hanging out with you. And we'd love to catch you on another episode of Chain of Wealth

Katie Welsh [19:03]

Bye!

Hey Money Clan! A very warm welcome to the Chain of Wealth Podcast. I'm your host, Denis O'Brien. 

Katie Welsh [0:20]

And I'm Katie Welsh. 

Denis O'Brien [0:21]

So Katie, really cool. We got to catch up with Emmanuel. We actually had his father on the show a long time ago. Yeah, Chain of Wealth has become a whole family thing now. 

It really has. And he's followed in the footsteps of his father and he's already dug deep into assisted living, and he helps people set up businesses. So if you're looking for a stream of income, this is a great idea for you. 

Katie Welsh [0:46]

So back when we talked to Gene about assisted living, it was more questions about really what it was for me. And now with getting to talk to Manny is really seeing where an entrepreneur could benefit. 

Denis O'Brien [1:01]

Exactly. I had the same takeaway and and I think that there really is a lot that you can learn and it doesn't make a lot of sense if you think about it. Well, before we dive into our interview, if you guys haven't already, don't forget to join our Facebook community. You can head on over to chainofwealth.com/group. We'd love if you joined our awesome community and come and say hi. Alright, Kate, are you ready to dive in? 

Katie Welsh [1:24]

Yeah!

Denis O'Brien [1:25]

Fantastic, let's do it.

Our guest today is Emmanuel Guarino, who is considered the number one realtor for residential assisted living in Arizona. Emmanuel trains entrepreneurs and investors at the Real Estate Aassisted Living Academy and has experienced as a sought after coach and trainer for all things RAL he specializes in helping others take advantage of this mega trend opportunity.

Emmanuel Guarino [2:06]

Hey, how you doing, guys? 

Katie Welsh [2:07]

Good, thanks. So before we start off for somebody who doesn't know what is assisted living? 

Emmanuel Guarino [2:15]

Well, that's a great question. So what residential assisted living is, is, you know, we're all familiar with nursing homes, right? So the idea of a large building, where there's, you know, many seniors who are living there who need help in one way or another, what we do is instead of doing it in a large facility that can be, you know, maybe not so well suited for someone who's in their 80s or 90s. To be getting around. We do a nursing home in a residential setting. So what that looks like is you know, instead of it being 100 unit building, it might be a home with 10 elderly residents in it, and it might be a home where, you know, they're being helped with their activities of daily living, so cooking, cleaning, getting up and out of bed.

So naturally what we focus on at the residential assisted living Academy is showing people exactly how to do that. 

Denis O'Brien [3:07]

Right? So it's kind of taking the idea of that massive institution almost that does a whole bunch of people, but it's making it a bit more niche and sort of targeting people that, you know, want to live in a smaller place and have more sort of hands on care?

Emmanuel Guarino [3:22]

Yes, exactly. So you know, just like how you know, a hotel and an Airbnb serve the same purpose. But you know, an Airbnb sometimes can be a little bit more cozy, right? It can be a little bit more comfortable when you're going on that vacation. Same thing with us, you know, with our homes, there might be a caregiver to resident ratio of, you know, 1-5, 1-6, at a larger facility, it might be 1- 10, 1-20. So we're able to provide better care, you know, more one on one time with the residents and different things like that. 

Katie Welsh [3:56]

Interesting. So I'm just curious to know does the facility looked like a home like on the outside, does it look like a house in the neighborhood or is that? What does that look like? 

Emmanuel Guarino [4:06]

Yeah, it looks like a home that you driven by 100 times and you would have never known that it's there. And really, that's the whole idea is we want it to look like a home, right a place where you feel comfortable living, because the idea of, you know, someone is, let's say 85/90 years old, and they say, I need to move into an assisted living with you know, 100 strangers and it's a big building that may not be the most comfortable fit the most natural fit versus moving into a home with maybe 5 or 10 other residents and you know, be more of a home like setting so our homes are in completely normal residential neighborhoods, not in a commercial areas or things like that. So that really has that great home feeling to it. 

Katie Welsh [4:51]

So it's kind of just like, I don't want to be like completely blunt but basically like a bunch of old people who are roomy?

Emmanuel Guarino [4:59]

Yeah. You know, exactly, you know, you might have, you know, five or 10 or 15, you know, residents living in that home and you might have, you know, two or three caregivers taking care of them. So it's nice because they have that chance to be around other people. But you know, for someone who's maybe not incredibly outgoing, or incredibly social, instead of being around hundreds of people, you can be around a few roommates. And that's usually a lot better for people who are at that stage of life. 

Katie Welsh [5:30]

That's really interesting. So how did you get into this sort of business? 

Emmanuel Guarino [5:35]

Oh, that's a great question. So when my father, Gene, you know, the founder of the Academy, when he first started doing this, you know, we all looked at him like he had about, 12 eyes on his head, you know, we were like, what are you doing, right? You got the seniors and these houses, we did not get it. And my father, you know, I he was telling me, you know, invest in real estate and he was telling me about assisted living and, you know, as most kids do, I said, yeah, yeah, Dad, you know that that's, you know, not for me or this or that. But one day he handed me the purple book, right? And I'm sure your listeners know, the purple book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, right. And I read that book and what felt to be like 20 minutes, right. I just went through it and it was awesome. And, you know, a couple weeks later, I was at a real estate event. My dad, he dragged me along, and I saw Robert Kiyosaki and I said, Oh, my goodness, that's Robert Kiyosaki. And he walked up to my father, and he said, hey, you're the assisted living guy. I got some questions for you. And I just had to take a second. I was like, hold on, hold on, you know, Robert Kiyosaki, you're my hero, and you're talking to my dad, and that would make my dad my hero. 

Katie Welsh [6:51]

Suddenly, your dad is so cool.

Emmanuel Guarino [6:52]

Yeah. And that's when it all clicked for me. And you know, after that moment, you know, I said, you know, Dad - what can I do to help? And he said, you know, we got a lot of students that we teach on how to do this. They need homes, go find them some homes. And so I just went out there, I started knocking on doors, calling, you know, homeowners and just trying to find the right opportunities for those students. And that's how I really got started in this industry from that standpoint.

Denis O'Brien [7:20]

Yeah. And we did have show dad on the show a long time ago, he was actually Episode 49. And this is going to be episode 180. So it just goes to show how long ago there was. So just chatting about assisted living, you know, like, obviously, a lot of the baby boomers are starting to age. So like, how much of a crisis/opportunity, is there really in this kind of a business and, like how many people really need these kind of services? 

Emmanuel Guarino [7:50]

Yeah, that's a great question. And you know, right now, there are 10,000 people a day, turning 65 years old. Every single day -10,000 people. And you know, in our country, we have 77 million baby boomers in the US, they control our economy, they're a huge part of our day to day lives. And you know, one of the big things is, you know, someone who's 65, they might be moving into independent living, which is before assisted living, right? It's kind of like a community where it's kind of like a very serious HOA, they help out with a lot of things and might have a main Community Center, but it's not quite assisted living, which is what we're doing. You know, right now, there's 85, or there is 4000 people today who are turning 85 years old, and someone who's 85 is more likely to be moving into one of our homes. But you talked about the crisis, the opportunity, right? It all depends on if you're prepared. You know, right now, there is about roughly about 1.4 million beds in the US for assisted living. And right now if you take that number 4000 times by 30 times out by 12, you get about 1.4 million people turning 85 every year. So when you talk about the crisis, the opportunity, that's not even that wave hitting the shore of 10,000 people a day turning 65 years old. So when we talk about the best investment for the next 10/20 years, this is it. Right? Because the demographics are there, there are so many people who need this. And we're just at the beginning of it. So it's awesome. 

Denis O'Brien [9:29]

So speaking about your business, I've noticed that your motto is do good and do well. And I'm just really curious, what exactly does that mean? Where does it come from? And how do you guys try to sort of help people? 

Emmanuel Guarino [9:42]

Yeah, you know, our motto do good and do well, what that really means is, if you help enough people, you can definitely help yourself, you know, financially, right? And so I think my father has just been such a great example of that in his entire life, the way that he's lived, right, and he helped so many people get to that financial freedom point, help them out in times where they really needed someone. And he's been able to do very, very well financially as well. So really, that's what we're all about. And you know, one of the big things and, you know, I don't know if any of your listeners have ever put someone into one of these homes, right, a larger nursing facility or things like that, you know, it's scary, you know, it's a time where you're going, I have to trust someone else taking care of my mom or my dad. And so what we get to do right at the Residential Assisted Living Academy, helping so many people have a place where they can put their money they can put their dad and feel comfortable and feel safe and feel grateful that we're helping them in that time where they really need someone looking out for them. So it's a awesome business because we get to help a lot of people and you can also make a whole lot of money too. And that's what I really enjoy about it is, you know, some jobs and things out there. Maybe they make money but are we really helping someone. So that's a really cool thing about this is you get to do both help a lot of people and you can make money at the same time. 

Katie Welsh [11:09]

I like how, depending on which perspective you're looking at whether you're wanting to open a business like this for yourself, or you're on the flip side and thinking about putting a family member in a facility like this. I have a couple of questions on the latter because my mom is a baby boomer. And I like the idea that my mom would be living with a bunch of other ladies and they can have tea and play cards and do what old ladies do. 

Denis O'Brien [11:38]

Don't forget about bridge.

Katie Welsh [11:41]

But I want to know, how much does it typically cost to stay in this kind of home. And also is it different based on location is like for example, Florida. I mean, it could either go cheaper or more expensive depending on how you're looking at it versus like somewhere else in the country. 

Emmanuel Guarino [12:01]

Yeah. So the national average to be in an assisted living home in a private room in the US, the national average is $4,000 a month to be in an assisted living home. Now, I say that number $4,000 a month and sometimes people say, well, Manny, that's a lot of money, you know, $4,000. Well, when we break it down, and we think about what that covers, that's covering everything that's covering food that's covering care that's covering all their bills, the housing that's covering everything, you know, one time, my wife and I were actually walking through one of the homes and, you know, $4,000 It sounds like a lot, but we were like, Hey, wait a minute, it might actually make more sense for us to move into this home. We get our meals prepared for us, we get someone taking care of our laundry. This can actually make a whole lot of sense. it's kind of funny, but, you know, in the US, you know, the national average is 4000. There are people who pay much higher than that, right? That's the average. So when we talk about cities, like let's say somewhere like a Seattle, right, a very hot market, a very nice place to live, if you want to live in assisted living in a very hot area in a nice place, things like that, you know, it might be 7,8,9- $10,000 a month, a month to live into one of these homes. So when we talk about investing, right, sometimes people say, well, I, I live in San Diego or I live in, you know, one of these places where it's very expensive to live. And it's hard for me to make sense of my investments. This is one of those things where we're looking in nicer areas because people pay more to be in those areas. So it can actually be a great bonus from that standpoint. But yes, depending on where you are in the country, you know, the national average is 4000. There's areas that are less than that there are areas that are much more than that. I know in New Jersey, I believe one of their I believe there's state averages right around $6,000 a month in New Jersey.

So a great website is actually called www.genworth.com. And if you type in forward slash cost of care, this organization, they send out surveys to all the assisted livings across the country. And they get back about 18,000 surveys. And they actually give out that information of how much it costs to live in an assisted living home in those areas. And so that's where we get that information from. So that's a great resource. If you're looking into that. If you have a family member, and you're looking to start getting together those costs, that's a great place to start. 

Denis O'Brien [14:41]

So at your academy, what do you guys essentially teach people do you sort of train people how to start and operate these businesses? Are people sort of involved in the day to day or do you sort of Teach outsourcing stuff like what exactly does that entail? 

Emmanuel Guarino [14:56]

So my father and I the way that we do our homes is we're very hands off. So we're not personally in the homes taking care of the residents. Within a residential assisted living home, you'll have caregivers who are taking care of the residents, you'll have a manager who's overseeing the caregivers who's overseeing the residents. And then you'll have an operator above them, right. And that for our situation is us. We're above the manager, we're above the caregivers. So they're taking care of a lot of the day to day and we're focused more on working on the business, not in the business. And that's the way that we teach on how to do this. And that's the way that we run them ourselves. So at the Academy, we teach people exactly how to do that. So the marketing, the staffing, the licensing, we do a live bus tour of all of our homes, so you get to walk through them, meet the staff, meet the residents. We go over all the numbers, the financials, the expenses, and then we also have a lot of fun after hours after the class and getting to meet the students talk with them go over all their questions. So really, it's an A to Z guide on how to run one of these homes, and how to run it on a high level and very successfully. 

Katie Welsh [16:11]

So if I were interested in joining your Academy, where can I find more information out about it? 

Emmanuel Guarino [16:18]

A great place to start is actually the website, RAL101.com. So if you type in RAL 101 dot com, that's going to take you to a page where we have videos for you, we have a free book for you on the topic, that's a great place to get started. And on that page, you can actually schedule a discovery call with one of our associates and they'll talk to you and go over your questions and help you find out if this is the right opportunity for you. And we encourage you to reach out, you know, look at all those videos, give us a call, and we'd love to talk to you. 

Denis O'Brien [16:53]

So how much does it cost more or less to sort of go through the course. 

Emmanuel Guarino [16:57]

So our live training, we actually have it on discount right now it's usually $5,000 to attend right now it's $2,997. We got a great partner program for the live training. It's only $1,000. To bring a partner, we go by the BBB rule their blood bed or bank account. That's what we consider a partner. So if you're sharing a bloodline, you're sharing a bank account or a bedroom, we consider that a partner so you can bring a partner or spouse at $1,000. And then we have an online home study course that was also on sale right now. It's usually $1,500 thousand right now is on sale for $997. 

Denis O'Brien [17:37]

Great, thanks, Manny. Money Clan, we're just going to take a quick break and then we'll dive right back into the Value Link Round.

Kate, one of the things that I really appreciate is education. And I really believe that one of the best investments we can make is in ourselves. It's absolutely critical that we keep learning and develop our skills. And ever since I started using the Great Courses Plus I've found that I'm really accelerating my learning by getting tailored content. 

Katie Welsh [18:04]

Yeah, Den and I have taken a recent interest with all of our podcasts on money management skills and the Great Courses Plus has an excellent course on money management skills where they talk all about how to build a financial plan and how to achieve your goals and really stay on track. It has definitely helped me narrow down and really set focus. 

Denis O'Brien [18:30]

Yeah, and the Great Courses classes recently teamed up with Chain of Wealth to bring you a special offer. You can get a full month of access, if you head over to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/wealth. That's the TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/wealth. This is really an epic streaming service. They've got over 11,000 videos, so definitely grab your free trial.

Katie Welsh [18:56]

All right, Manny. So I'm curious to know what your retirement plan is looking like these days? 

Emmanuel Guarino [19:02]

Oh, that's a great question. So one of the really cool things about assisted living. And you know, my father talks about this all the time is when people are looking to move into an assisted living, right? When they move their mom or they move their dad and they say, Wow, this costs a lot of money. But then they have to ask themselves the question, well, what's my plan? And so what's nice about assisted livings is even if you do just one, when it comes time to move into an assisted living, you can move right into your own assisted living, and you could be paid to live in your own assisted living. And I think that is the best way to do it, quite honestly. Because, hey, we're all going to be involved in this business one way or another. We're either going to put someone in one of these homes, you're going to own one of these homes or we're going to go into these homes one day, hopefully not soon, but eventually we're all going to get involved and you know the best story about that I can give you there was a gentleman in Phoenix, Arizona, his name was Walt and he was a older gentleman. He was so nice. He ran one of the best care homes in all of Arizona. And I would go by every once in a while to, you know, visit and say hello to him, and he would always be at the care home. But I would ask him, I said, you know, Walt, how much do you work on the business? And he said, Well, about an hour a day. I said, Okay, you know, that's pretty cool. But every time I go over there to visit them, whether it's in the morning or the mid day or the afternoon, he'd be there. He'd be eating breakfast, he'd be eating lunch, she'd be eating dinner. And then at nighttime, he lived in the house right next door, he just walked back home and go sleep there. Now. You know, he passed away. But before he passed away, he even had a Tesla that he bought with cash that could he had a self driving car. So he had his own care home right there to feed them breakfast, lunch and dinner, take care of them. He had a self driving car and I think that's probably the coolest way to go out and retire and things like that. And he was such a great guy. Were you know, very sad that he went. But I think if you're looking for a good retirement plan, tell me something that can beat that. I mean, am I right? 

Katie Welsh [21:06]

Your story reminded me of I've always admired the families where they live in a big house, and both grandparents on both sides are living there. And then, you know, you have your parents and maybe an aunt or an uncle, and then all the kids are there, you know, there's kind of living situations that aren't super common anymore. But I've always thought they've been quite nice to think about. It's that kind of lifestyle, but you're just putting it like 10 times that. 

Emmanuel Guarino [21:35]

Right. Exactly. 

Katie Welsh [21:37]

That's really investing in your future. And then, like, with Walt, he knew everybody there, and it wasn't such a scary transition for him. It probably felt much more natural than that. 

Emmanuel Guarino [21:50]

Oh, yeah. And he got to choose which residents he wanted to let move in and things like that. So that even on top of it, I mean of all things so it's a really cool, cool way to go out for sure. 

Denis O'Brien [22:02]

So do you have a favorite book that you're currently into? 

Emmanuel Guarino [22:05]

Oh, I do. I, I've been really listening to How to Win Friends and Influence People. And every time I listened to that book, you know, and I'm sure a lot of your listeners have read that and you guys have as well. It's such common sense. But common sense isn't always that common, right? And sometimes listening that book, it's like, oh, my goodness, that is so important. That is such a great nugget. And that's what I've been listening to personally.

Katie Welsh [22:33]

And what about a favorite quote, you try to live by?

Emmanuel Guarino [22:35]

Ohh, work hard, play hard, that I would have to be it. That is definitely how my father he I think he really exemplifies that as well as do good and do well. But you know, just growing up seeing him. You know, he was such a hard worker, and he always put his heart and soul into everything that he did. But when it was time to relax, when it was time to hang out and play, he went all out with that too. And I think that's the only way to live life.

Denis O'Brien [23:01]

Manny we've absolutely loved hanging out do you have any last parting piece of advice for our listeners and then we'll say goodbye.

Emmanuel Guarino [23:07]

Yeah well you know if you're interested you know give us a call come check out our website RAL101.com love to get you more information so you can learn about this. And again, you know, you look at the demographics, there's a lot of people who need this so the time is right now. So come on by and let us know how we can help.

Denis O'Brien [23:26]

Money Clan, we've been hanging out with Emmanuel Guarino you can check out his website it is RAL101.com and definitely check it out and figure out if it's something that you're interested in. This is definitely a great way to make money on the side.

Hey Money Clan, a very warm welcome to the Chain of Wealth podcast. I'm your host, Denis O'Brien.

Katie Welsh [0:20]

And I'm Katie Welsh.

Denis O'Brien [0:21]

So Katie, just to give everyone a quick update this episode is dedicated to diving into our wedding budgets.

Katie Welsh [0:27]

Yeah. So right around the corner.

Denis O'Brien [0:30]

Yes. So our actual date of the wedding is July 20. And or super pumped.

Katie Welsh [0:37]

We had our wedding shower over the weekend, which was a complete surprise for us. And now I feel like it's actually like the real deal. Like it's coming. They had a countdown.

Denis O'Brien [0:49]

Yeah, we have less than 60 days to go until we will be tying the knot. So really, really exciting. And on a money front, we thought we'd give you guys a nice update and we'll really dive into some of the numbers. And let you know exactly where we're at in our budget. All right, Kate, well before we dive on into today's episode, if you guys haven't already, head on over to chainofwealth.com/group -]you can join our Facebook community and come and say hi.

Okay, Kate, you ready to dive right in? Y

Katie Welsh [1:18]

Yep!

Denis O'Brien [1:19]

Let's do it.

Unknown Speaker]1:20]

Welcome to chain of wealth. here's your host, Dennis inspiring you to begin your journey of financial freedom.

Denis O'Brien [1:34]

Okay, so diving into our budget- what do you think's been some of the most interesting things that we've been dealing with when it comes to figuring out our finances for the wedding?

Katie Welsh [1:43]

Well, I am going to start out with we have been doing something a little bit different because we are planning our wedding on the other side of the world. We are not really able to cut costs where a lot of people typically would like making our centerpieces or, you know, kind of haggling around finding different areas and different things that we know. Because we don't know the area super great.

Denis O'Brien [2:11]

Right, yeah, so for those of you who don't know, we're getting married in South Africa. That's my home country. And yeah, it's gonna be really, really fun. We're actually getting married on safari. So we're going to be out there like in the wilderness. They are free roaming big 5 animals

Katie Welsh [2:26]

Hopefully we don't get run over by a herd of elephants.

Denis O'Brien [2:29]

Yeah, so there's gonna be there's all kinds of animals that could come into the area. Everything from lion cheetah, what leopard, elephant, like, it's crazy any of the Big Five can come into the area where we are actually having our ceremony..

Katie Welsh [2:46]

Or zebra will be pretty cool.

Denis O'Brien [2:48]

Zebra would be cool.

Yeah, so in addition to having our wedding costs, we also have to pay for flights. And for our honeymoon. We're actually doing Family moon, well what we like to call a family moon. And so we're not doing a traditional honeymoon, what we're doing is we're saying, hey, all of this family's going to be together. Let's go and take everyone down to Cape Town. And let's go have a really cool time with doing a cool trip. We've planned out almost every day. And there's a ton of activities and it'll really explain us to two families to sort of get to know each other a lot better.

Katie Welsh [3:24]

Yeah, and I know that is pretty different. When I've told people about the family moon idea. I get a lot of strange looks.

Denis O'Brien [3:32]

Yeah, you get like the "Oh!"

Katie Welsh [3:33]

Yeah, like, oh, because everybody's like, Oh, are you going on your honeymoon? I'm like, Oh, I'm going to Cape Town with my mom and my in laws and everything. And they're just like, what? And but to me, in my heart, it felt like the right thing to do, mainly because we don't get to see your family very often. And I didn't want to ask my family to fly so far. And only be there for a week. It's not enough time.

Denis O'Brien [4:02]

Yeah, it's not really fair. So we thought that this was the best alternative to really try and get the most out of both families being there together. And, you know, in addition to that, we saw budgeted that into our total wedding. So we kind of know exactly where we're at. And at this point, you know, a lot of the deposits have been paid. We haven't got final numbers on everything yet, but we've got a pretty good idea as to how much it is going to cost us.

Katie Welsh [4:27]

Yeah, well, we're doing with most weddings. And I'm not a complete expert, because I've only planned this one. But there's the typical things that you need to pay for obviously, everybody says you need to spend a decent amount of money on a photographer, that's like the most important part that people have told me.

Denis O'Brien [4:46]

I would have to say the most consistent thing we've heard is spend money on the photographer.

Katie Welsh [4:50]

And then after that, which I never even thought about before. There's somebody who's like you need to pay money for your makeup. And I don't want to sound like I'm a super plain Jane or anything, but I'm not a huge makeup wearer like I will put on eyeliner and like mascara and everything, but somebody had a really good point that you're paying all this money photographer. Why would you risk not having your makeup look okay with the pictures. So we're getting you know, hair and makeup and the photographer and of course a cake and a DJ and stuff like that. The one place that I kind of always envisioned myself being able to save a few dollars is, you know, the centerpieces and the decorations and stuff like that either borrow from my friends or make at home with my mom and my bridesmaids and because South Africa is so far away, and from my own past experiences, everything in Africa is harder for me. We are hiring everything. I'm hiring somebody to do their centerpieces because the last thing I want to worry about is flying there for 24 hours and then opening my suitcase and a vase is broken, or they've lost luggage or something like that. So I have opted to get that done for us. So that's also been a little bit of an extra cost. And we've really done a lot of shopping around for it.

Denis O'Brien [6:18]

Yeah. So I think most people sort of listening will be like, oh, wow, you guys are doing this overseas wedding, you know, it sounds be costing a ton of money.

Katie Welsh [6:26]

But oh, contraire!

Denis O'Brien [6:29]

Yeah, so it's actually going to be a little bit quite a lot cheaper than what the average wedding in America costs. And there's a number of reasons for that. So the general purchasing power of the dollar is much stronger than that of the South African Rand. So your money goes much further there. And even with paying for flights, we still are pretty much getting to save a bit of money doing it overseas.

Katie Welsh [6:54]

Right. So basically, I want to say that the typical wedding in America run anywhere between $20,000 and $40,000

Denis O'Brien [7:04]

Yeah, I think the national I'm just pulling up Google here the national average is $33,931. So that's quite a sizable chunk of change Kate.

Katie Welsh [7:14]

That is, like a down payment on a house. Not even joking.

Denis O'Brien [7:18]

Yeah, it really is. And that's a lot of money. So the question is, well, how do we compared to the average?

Well, to be honest, black, after calculating, all of our budget costs, we're looking to spend about $19,000 on our wedding and that's all inclusive that a great venue hire food, drinks, decor, photography, cake, hair, makeup, DJ, flights, food and meals, flowers, your wedding dress suits, the wedding band, it literally is an all inclusive price. And you know, sort of, we've managed to achieve such a nice break by shopping around and also not inviting too many people to the wedding as well.

Katie Welsh [8:02]

Well, on that is quite a commitment for people to fly from America to South Africa. So we have invited family and friends and but it's a long time and it's a minimum of at least a week we're, you know, we were getting married in Florida, it could be like a nice long weekend. Not a big deal. But the extra time off and the extra expense and everything. And we totally get it. If it's too much, it's too much no harm, no foul. But that has cut down a lot of the our guests numbers because people like that we casually work with our people that we kind of know. You know, they're not able to make it and with that it's been able to keep our wedding more intimate and people who are really, really important in our lives are able to come.

Denis O'Brien [8:57]

Yeah, and I think that's going to be nice and sweet. We're looking at about 45 to 50 people total wedding. So you know, like, it's going to be really nice and small and intimate. But another thing as well as just the cost per guest is also so much less than what we would have paid on in the States.

Katie Welsh [9:13]

Right?

Denis O'Brien [9:14]

So we're looking roughly at about a cost per head of about $43 for food, and versus the US and I think you look at an average of about $100 per guest, which, you know, like, it's a significant saving that we have, however, it's still going to be really beautiful, you know, it isn't like you think of Africa and its people walking around and like literally tribal clothing, and stuff like that.

Katie Welsh [9:39]

Although you can hire that.

Denis O'Brien [9:41]

Although you can hire that. That's not what we're going for.

Yeah, but we're staying in a four star resort so we're not compromising on a being up a very nice wedding. You know, but by the same token because of that purchasing power difference, our money does go a little bit further. And, you know, Kate, the most important thing is we budgeted for this and were able to sort of build in this cushion, that, you know, if we did go over in one departments within another department, we would still be okay. And I think with any large purchase, this is something that you really have to do.

Katie Welsh [9:44]

We will be wearing regular clothes and eating wedding cake and everything like that, that goes along with a traditional wedding.

Well and to spend back and talk about how food was not nearly as expensive. The other big banger for a wedding I feel like would be cocktails and alcohol. And in South Africa, alcohol is significantly cheaper than it is in America.

Denis O'Brien [10:38]

Yeah, that's really true. Well, before we dive into anything else, we're just going to take a quick break and say a big thanks to our sponsor.

Katie Welsh [10:46]

So I recently started the Great Courses Plus to learn all about different kinds of topics, but my favorite so far has been the money management skill. I found it particularly useful learning about their psychology of money. Now that I've paid off my student loan, and now that we're paying for our wedding.

Denis O'Brien [11:05]

Yeah, Kate, I've really gotten a ton of value from the Great Courses Plus, I've absolutely loved diving into the library of over 11,000 videos, which in itself is a huge number. But I have to say that the quality of the courses is really, really good. They've got all sorts of things from experts from National Geographic, to people that work in the Smithsonian, some of the best professors around the world. And that money management skills course is really one that resonated with me, because it teaches so many the fundamentals that, you know, you really need to get in place to get your building blocks in order and be able to really get your money under control. So we've actually got a really special offer for our podcast listeners, you can get a free month of access to their entire library, you can claim that free offer by heading on over to TheGreatCoursesPlus.com/wealth.

Kate, I think another really big topic points that a lot of people start asking themselves is what do you do about gifts that people stop giving you Oh, when people stop offering to pay for the wedding

Katie Welsh [12:14]

Urgh the gift!

Denis O'Brien [12:14]

Well, let's be honest, like, so we're late 20s, early 30s. And you know, at this point, we are kind of able to pay for the cost of our wedding ourselves. But that doesn't mean our parents just you know, left us stranded.

Right.

You know, like both your mom and my parents as well. I've also said to us, you know, we want to help out. And we want to, you know, like do something for you guys and help, like ease the burden of paying for this.

Katie Welsh [12:41]

Right, yeah, well, let's start off with parental help. I told my mom, my mom and I were speaking about I said, whatever you want to help with is great. But I do not want to put any kind of extra strain on you, we are very fortunate that we don't really need the help for the wedding. But of course, any extra help would be nice, because whatever we don't have to pay for we can put that money towards something else, like buying a house later down the road. But that is how I took the approach with my mom, because I didn't want her to feel like she was going to have to be out thousands and thousands of dollars, just pay what you would like. And I know my mom, my whole life has probably not probably most definitely thought about paying for certain things for my wedding. So I'm letting her pay for those things, but not really letting her stress about the rest.

Denis O'Brien [13:39]

Yeah, I hear what you're saying and I definitely, see both sides of the coin. You know, on the one side, you know, at our age, we were trying to be independent. So we're trying to do one thing. That being said, it's a huge chunk of change. And let's be real being in the personal finance space, we know the impacts of taking that money and sort of investing it instead of you know, spending it on something like a wedding

Well, not that should look at a wedding as a big expense. But realistically, the power of compounding means that that money is actually worth significantly more later on,

Katie Welsh [14:13]

Right.

Denis O'Brien [14:14]

And you know, whether you are going to be getting your inheritance when your parents sadly passed away, or whether you get the money up front now, you should sort of look at it as one bucket.

Katie Welsh [14:22]

Right,

Denis O'Brien [14:23]

You know, so just like putting all that said earlier, you don't want to put your parents out. But by the same token, it's really going to help you a lot if they do give any kind of help. So what I think your approach should be is try and you know, pay for as much as what you can. But also, don't put any pressure on your parents and sort of see what they will suggest. And also like, Look, you know, the position of your parents probably better than anyone else in the world. You know, you grew up with them, you knew the last thought they had you knew more or less what job they were holding, you can kind of high level know how much they probably can and can't afford, to put down, you know, like, they will probably speak to you about retirement and stuff like this, depending on how old you are, when you do get married or engaged or whatever. And you know, based on that you can kind of make a quick assessment and think whether or not they are trying to extend themselves too much, or whether they're being fair and how much they're trying to contribute.

Katie Welsh [15:17]

Right, well and Den I also want to point out the fact that you and I have cut back significantly, if you listen to the podcast at all, you would know we live right in the middle of DC, there are a million restaurants to go out to, and places to shop and everything. And even though we're not big shoppers, we are very big foodies.

Denis O'Brien [15:40]

Yes, we are.

Katie Welsh [15:40]

And we have been going to the grocery store and meal prepping every week and really trying hard to eat at home because it's so much cheaper. And we have cut down our cocktailing on the weekend, dramatically, which has been great for the wedding diet and also for our wedding budget.

Denis O'Brien [16:00]

Yeah, hundred percent. And the other thing is as well, when you do get engaged or like any kind of big purchase, the sooner you start planning for it the better. You know, we've known about this for several months now. And you know, sort of knowing that there's a big expense coming, we're able to sort of start putting money into a pot and really start building up almost like that reserve that you can stop pulling off because let's be honest, like, obviously you guys are not looking at our budget, but everything basically is within two weeks, of the wedding so a lot of the money, we still have paid deposits now but the bulk of the payments are going to be due right before the wedding. And if you're not prepared for that,

Katie Welsh [16:38]

it's very stressful.

Denis O'Brien [16:40]

Yeah. Out comes the plastic and it's swipe, swipe, swipe. And before you know it, you're in $20,000 of credit card debt. And that's something you don't want to be and you really don't want to be in that situation.

Katie Welsh [16:52]

Yano for sure. That was one thing going into the wedding that thankfully, we agreed we were not going into debt for the wedding. I just got done. It feels like yesterday paying off my student loan. And the last thing that I was going to do is go back into debt for the wedding.

Denis O'Brien [17:10]

Yeah, I totally agree. The nice thing is, if you are able to sort of plan for this and get your money in order, you can literally start your lives together as being debt free. And that is a great position to be in, you know, like we now will be able to put a lot of our money in towards investments instead of paying off interest and debt.

Katie Welsh [17:29]

Yeah, definitely. And it's a really nice feeling to have to be able to do that.

Denis O'Brien [17:34]

Cool. Well, we'd love if you guys could join our Facebook community head on over to chainofwealth.com/group. We'd love if you joined and comments below us your story. Catch on the flip side!

[1:53] There are TONS of different loans when it comes to student loans - public, private, subsidized, unsubsidized etc

[2:34] What is the difference between subsidized vs unsubsidized loans?

• It depends whether you’re doing a graduate or postgraduate degree
• The government will pay your loan’s interest while you’re in an undergraduate degree
• While you are studying for your postgraduate degree - you are being charged interest on your loans.

[4:29] Chatting about the difference between private and public loans

• Private through a bank or another financial institution - your credit will be pulled, exactly the same as buying a car. There are a lot more restrictions on the loans such as qualifying for public service loan forgiveness (PSLF)
• PSLF actually isn’t that hard to follow as long as you are eligible
• • The reason so few people get it is they don’t understand how to do it
  • Qualified employer - anyone serving the organization is eligible
  • Payments for 10 years (120 qualifying payments)
  • Income based repayment program - must follow the payment plan
  • Only certain types of loan qualify - often good to consolidate your

[11:28] The people at the lender aren’t super helpful, but really people just tell them the wrong thing.

• Doctors could knock off 6 years off their payments
• People need to do their homework!

[13:5] Follow the rules!

[15:29] Most people don’t adequately do their homework, there are tons of companies out there that offer advice on this.

[16:11] Tell us about your debt story, we’d love to hear your debt story to give you free access to our debt destruction course!

Welcome Back!

[2:19] So Andrew took a mini retirement, when he was last on the show he was in the middle of it, now we have a chance to catch up with him and see how it went. First off, how did you plan for your mini retirement? Was there a dollar figure you needed to save up?

• Spoke last right at the beginning of his mini retirement, it wasn’t planned but it evolved over time, the plan was to travel the world, their number figure was $40,000 each.
• There was a lot of stuff that happened in their personal lives that changed their plans- Andrew’s wife got diagnosed with Thyroid cancer.
• Andrew was also completely burned out at work and got a lot of time to think about things

[7:51] Looking back, did your mini retirement go according to plan? With your spending goals?

• Andrew was obsessive about his money and definitely had a number in mind and wanted to make sure he kept strong tabs on spending money.
• Ended up spending the less of any year since they started tracking their expenses
• Ended up trying to beat his goals and only spent about $30,000 in the whole year

[8:1] Are there some things you weren’t expecting from your mini retirement? Like finding stuff to keep you busy etc?

• Andrew did a lot better job of his time keeping himself busy
• Coming up with a long list of things to do was important and gave him clarity
• Taking things one small piece at a time is really important, read Bird by Bird.

[18:8] You took a break off your FI route, would you say your mini retirement set you back? And if you could go back, would you do it again?

• Yes Andrew would do it again, even with some of the more difficult parts of it.
• It didn’t make that much of a dent in their FI journey

Sponsor:

[19:42] Debt Plan That Works

• Sign up for our upcoming course on getting out of debt.

Value Link Round

[20:3] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• Stayed the same after mini retirement, lifestyle expenses have been in check
• Baseline spending and save the rest

[22:48] Do you have a favorite book?

• Millennial Money
• Retire Early Not the Penny Pinching Way

[24:49] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• “Bird by bird” - focusing on one thing at a time

[25:34] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Focus on more than just the money, having a magic money is great but there’s more to life than that

• Katie hasn't done any massive impulse purchases but it's super easy to just get something in your hand and be ready to pay for it.
• Impulse purchases are actually a very common thing, it can be expensive items.
• One of the biggest items is your personality - are you materialistic
• It literally becomes a habit and people start to expect you to have the latest stuff
• Be careful about the company you keep

[4:55] This is exceptionally relevant for people trying to get out of debt.

• Forming a habit, it starts compounding and adds up so quickly.
• 3 or 4 days later you've forgotten about your purchase and you end up spending more 

[6:21] So what are some of the best things you can do to control your impulse purchases?

• Be mindful of the company you keep - find someone that is trying to accomplish something with money
• It's easy to feel lonely when you're trying to pay off debt
• To combat impulse purchasing, create a waiting list - set a number of days, e.g. 30. You can't buy the item if you have to wait.
• Seeing the fine line between the value of something given the benefit
• Avoid using your credit cards
• Always remember what your goals are
• Start avoiding stores :)

She blogs over at msfiology.com inspiring other women to take control of their lives.

Welcome!

[2:43] In addition to getting your finances under control, you had a battle with drug addiction in late 2009, which was really the turning point for you, was there any one thing that caused you to want to get your life back under control?

• One word to describe is transformed, really hit a heavy bottom
• Ended up asking for help surrendering and really doing some self reflection and realizing she had a lot of denial and resentments
• Always a high functioning addict but stuff needed to be dealt with
• Healed relationships, thought patterns.

[6:21] You really have been through a big journey, what would you say is one of the biggest success factors that has seen you through everything in your journey? Maybe a particular person, or goals you set?

• Multiple mentors in Deanna’s life
• Accountability, she felt like she was living a double life
• Faith has played a massive part of her transformation
• Getting the right people in her life has helped her get better

[7:41] What does financial independence mean to you and do you think that anyone can achieve it?

• Having enough money that produces passive income so you don’t need to work in the future.
• Having a diverse portfolio is very important.
• Yes, if you are still breathing there is a chance. It could mean different things for different people.
• 4% rule of thumb is a study that if you can save up 25x your annual expenses you can live off 4% of those investments for the remainder of your days. There are a lot of nuances

[11:49] What are some of the most important things you can do to achieve financial independence?

• Driving down expenses
• Housing, automobiles and food

[16:9] Any cool articles you’ve written recently on your blog?

• Get in the center of the room - Deanna learned how to do a headstand without using a wall.
• Find the right balance and knowing not to go too far but being uncomfortable enough that you’re pushing yourself.

Sponsor: Debt Plan That Works

[20:10] Get free access to our upcoming course on debt destruction, check out chainofwealth.com/debtcourse

Value Link Round

[20:45] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• First get out of debt, the start focus on investing and saving
• Having an emergency fund
• Fund for a future car
• Created a lot of sub savings accounts  by budgeting
• Max out retirement accounts

[23:1] Do you have a favorite book?

• Book: Dreamland by Sam Quinones
• Book: Retire Inspire by Chris Hogan

[25:23] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

[25:54] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Don’t be afraid to ask for help

[1:44] Finding out exactly how much debt you're in is absolutely critical as it's the first step in starting your financial future
●     It's really great being able to help people and teaching them how to conquer their debts
●     We're putting together debt destruction course that we're busy building, feel free to apply for the the scholarship!
●     The fear of the unknown is what gets people

[4:36] Diving into Kate's debt plan to help people understand exactly what we're talking about
●     When Kate moved in, after a few weeks the bills started rolling in
●     Kate always thought nothing good ever came from checking the mail
●     When they finally checked the mail Kate felt ashamed and didn't have the answers
●     When the looked through all the information, after calculating everything in excel, we came up with Katie's number, it was about $200,000 worth of debt.
●     When Kate realized how much debt she had she felt panicked and embarrassed

[9:56] 63% of American's can't afford a $1,000 emergency
●     The reason people don't have money is because they're in debt.
●     People end up paying significantly more money because of the interest cost, which doesn't seem like much.
●     Kate could've paid $67,000 if she paid her $38,000 loan if she paid it off over the maximum term.
●     It sucks when you have to split your paycheck between different bills.
●     Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to overcome debt.

[15:00] It's really beneficial to conquer your debt as soon as possible
●     Apply for our scholarship to win free access to the debt scholarship.

Welcome!

[1:55] What are some of the biggest money mistakes you’ve made?

• Having someone invest her money for her without asking the tough questions
• Always do your due diligence

[3:19] How do you believe spiritually and finances mix?

• There are two sets of rules, if you are spiritual then you won’t have abundance, and if you are rich you won’t be spiritual
• It’s about changing the way you view both of them
• Always try to get yourself in a strong position before helping others

[6:17] How much of money management do you believe is linked to your mental well being?

• If you remember the first money conversation you can remember, that is probably related to your current beliefs about money
• As an example if the first conversation you hear is about someone not being able to afford something you will either become a big spender and live paycheck to paycheck or end up spending every single penny
• Try to remember the first conversation you had and learning the lesson of what you should be doing and figure out where you are.

[12:39] What would you tell a younger version of yourself about money management?

• When you are younger you want material things
• Is what you’re going to school for going to give you the money that you need to achieve your dreams
• Find ways to further yourself, maybe volunteer yourself
• Find someone and pick their brain

Sponsor:

[16:29]

• If you’d love a free way to listen to book check out audible to get a free audiobook

Value Link Round

[16:59] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• Strong believer in real estate but also not putting all your eggs in one basket
• Having additional sources of income is super important- Chella is trying to setup something passive

[17:46] Do you have a favorite book?

• Wasn’t always a reader- start listening to books
• Book: The road less traveled
• Book: Think and grow rich

[19:41] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• Treat others the way that you want to be treated and have compassion

[20:15] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Your money journey begins today
• Know where you are and where you want to get to.

[2:17] People don’t realize how much they can actually negotiate their salaries, Katie was in a position where her salary was set, so here’s some things to consider about salary negotiations-

• Women typically don’t negotiate as much as men
• Katie had to take a pay cut when she originally took the job, so she felt like she didn’t really have the upper hand.

[4:2] How do you know when you’re in a position to try push salary negotiations?

• You need to be comfortable with yourself and know when you’re asking for a reasonable amount. If you have a number you want and won’t settle for it then that’s a good point to try negotiate.
• Lots of jobs have a fixed increase so there isn’t typically the ability to negotiate, one of the best times to negotiate is when you’re trying to get a new job.
• You typically have the upper hand because companies have normally narrowed it down to one or two candidates.
• Always start high and let them counteroffer you.

[7:30] A great example is Facebook Marketplace, always start high,

• If you don’t ask you don’t get.
• Most companies have a range that they’re looking to try place someone so always shoot for the higher end of that range.

[8:52] It’s all good to go in guns blazing, but when you’re actually in front of your future employer, you need to plan out what you’re going to say.

• Have a strong understanding of your self worth.
• You typically know more than what you realize.
• If you explain why you are the best at something you definitely have the upper hand, people don’t realize how critically important something is, perceived value is exceptionally important.
• If you have no idea- fake it till you make it :) If you don’t believe in that, you become what you focus on.

[12:20] Not formally announced, but we’re building a debt destruction course!

• We’re accepting 5 people to give them free access to the debt course.
• Kate paid off almost $200k in less than 2 years.

UPDATE: Katie asked for what she wanted and she got that exact amount. :)

Welcome!

[2:6] In the US one of the biggest debt problems is student loans, what does the typical millennial struggle with in the UK when it comes to their money?

• Didn’t used to be a problem at all back in the day, however 20 years ago the loans started coming in
• 10 Years ago they really started getting high
• Typically you only need to pay what’s affordable
• Some advisors believe it puts off a lot of people from wanting to go to university

[6:16] What is a debt management plan and how does it work?

• Get a list of all income, expenses and debts
• Calculate disposable income from subtracting your fixed expenses from your income
• You can then start snowballing you debts
• However if you can’t manage your minimum payments, at that point you need a debt solution
• The debt management solutions goes to the creditor asking to pay less (typically freezing the interest)
• It’s flexible so you can adjust amounts

[11:6] We emailed you a while back about negative equity in a car loan and you said it works quite differently in the UK. What are some of the things you can do if you’re given a car loan with unaffordable finance?

• This is an increasing problem in the UK, some cars are bought on higher purchase
• PCP purchases are now becoming more common, there is typically a large balloon payment at the end, they have to return the car at the end
• There are some protection in British law- after you have paid half of the available credit you can often hand back the car

[17:16] A debt hole people fall into are payday loans, do you have any solutions for people that get stuck and have to keep borrowing to repay their old loans?

• Was a huge problem in Britain, if there’s an expensive thing to cover people take out payday loans and people get stuck in a vicious cycle where they keep using the loans to finance the old loans.
• The new regulator has reduced the amount to about 1000 APR
• The regulator has capped the amount of interest people can pay to 100% of your loan value
• A lender has to check whether a loan is affordable for you, this must be repayable for your income without financial burden, you can typically ask for a refund of the interest you have paid
• If you borrowed for 5 months in a row, the lenders have to now cut you off

Sponsor

[24:33] Transformation Nation

• If you are looking for a long term retirement plan look into what a QRP is, head on over to our website to get a free book.

Value Link Round

[25:4] What are some of the steps you’d take if you were starting to setup a sound retirement plan?

• A lot of pension planning in the UK is orientated around your job
• There are defined benefit schemes and defined contribution plans
• Auto-enrollment has now been brought in (5-4 years ago)
• Currently 8% is now being put in, which is great but it depends on your age how effective this will be

[28:31] Do you have a favorite book?

• No book recommendation as most people aren’t buying books
• Check out good websites instead if you’re in debt

[29:40] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• “Nobody ever made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” ~Edmund Burke

[30:44] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• The rules do seem to be quite different in different parts of the world so definitely do your research

In this episode, we'll walk you through all the step you should take to move towards a high credit score.

[1:38] What did you do when you started building your credit Katie?

Kate was added onto her brother’s credit card when she went to college

Kate’s mom also opened an account for her and then made the payments

When she had to pay for her teeth she had to open a care account

A credit card application came after college because she had her student loan that was now due

She’s not got the Uber credit card

[5:35] Denis had quite a different story for his credit history

He had a platinum credit card in South Africa, however in the US it does not translate

Denis was told he had no credit history so he had to start from scratch

The easiest way is to open up a secured credit card- essentially you fund the credit card

Pro tip- put more money in then you can use the points

Eventually after 6/7 months Denis started getting stuff in the mail

Denis now had over $60k of available facility on his credit card

[11:42] A good way to keep your first credit card under control is to only put a few expenses on your credit card or only really spending what you absolutely need.

[12:51] What you do eventually get your first credit card, it’s a really exciting time.

Only really use what you absolutely need to.

Check out CreditWise from CapitalOne.

Welcome!

[2:10] So your app is all about debt and I’m sure there’s a big story to that, what is your personal debt pay off story?

• Came off a long period of unemployment debt comprises of-
• Student loans
• Home equity line of credit
• Credit cards
• Car loan
• Started with an extra $35 on her house and payments get bigger and bigger

[5:24] So we love money apps and since you had one we had to have you on the show! Can you tell us a bit more about your app- who is the audience that would benefit the most from it and does it just cover debt or other topics as well?

• Works with debt snowball or debt avalanche
• Calculates by when you’ll pay off your debt

[9:12] Do you have any inspirational struggle stories of any of your users? So what I’m asking is what is the craziest profile you’ve seen and how have they turned their life around?

• There’s actually not that much data provided
• A lot of people have told their stories

[13:28] A ton of our listeners are paying off debt, which super hard and sometimes depressing as you feel like you aren’t making a dent sometimes. Do you have any advice for people that are in the thick of it and what would you say is the biggest benefit to conquering your debt?

• Don’t add up how much debt you have
• Focus on the progress

Sponsor:

[16:25] If you’re interested in your retirement and looking for an option that is tax advantaged check out what a qrp is!

Value Link Round

[16:52] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• More about passive income, rental property stock market investments
• She can already do it but

[17:25] Do you have a favorite book?

• Mostly into fiction, favorite book is your money or your life

[17:44] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• Nothing everyone says or does is because of you

[18:12] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Focus on your dream

[1:51] Do you want to share a few places you've traveled to

• London
• FLorida
• Free hotel stay in Times Square New York
• Half a free flight

[2:34] You need to be paying your credit cards off in full

• Listen to episode 161

[3:31] How many credit cards do you have?

• Amex, Barclay Card, Chase, etc.
• About 10 credit cards in total
• They are all used for very different reasons, as an example, Denis earns 6% cash back on groceries

[5:19] What are your favorite credit cards?

• Amex Cash Back Preferred- 6% cash back on groceries and 3% back on groceries
• Chase Sapphire Reserve- great for travel in general. It does carry a high annual fee but if you're a big traveler it's great, good sign on bonus.
• Amazon

[9:35] Any spending on Amazon you should definitely make sure you're earning good points. The uber credit card is also great because it gets 3% cash back.

[12:49] A great general credit card is the Chase Freedom Unlimited card.

If you're interested in the Chase card, check out this chase offer.

Welcome

[2:0] Tell us a bit about yourself- what’s your money story?

• Played in the NFL, noticed that debt was creating a lot of problems with his friends.
• Parker grew up at the poverty line and saw first hand what was happening.
• Youngest advisor on a 7 billion dollar book of business company.

[3:28] How did you and Jerry come to create a student loan payoff app?

• No experience in making apps and tech.
• In 2016 Parker started reading  about the tech world and startups, it took about a year to understand everything.
• He wanted someone who could help him build an app, which is where Jerry came in.
• Jerry started coding it in his spare time.
• Used to have a rigid schedule with a full family

[7:35] All new businesses have mess ups- what is one of the big ones that you have learned in creating Destiny?

• Started building an app in September that they’re not building anymore - originally a fully loaded investment app
• Started focusing on debt instead based on feedback with users

[14:14] Tell us the details- where can we find it? What do we need to know about it?

• Still in a manual process, you enter all your information and the app calculates how much money it’s gonna save you
• Most people saving about $3,600 in the first year
• You don’t need to see any spreadsheets the app does it all in the background

Sponsor: Check out the Desinty app in the app store! Use promo code CHAINS

Value Link Round

[21:43] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• Feet first into entrepreneurship
• All forces are pointed towards setting this up

[22:44] Do you have a favorite book?

• Book: The Millionaire Next Door
• Podcast: Dave Ramsey, Planet Money

[24:7] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• Be bold, tweaks never change the world

[24:35] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Regardless of where you’re at, just start.

[1:40] Where are you putting your money Kate?

• Until recently (the last year) all of Kate’s money was kept in her bank account
• The money would rollover from a checking account from the savings account
• The big mistake with this is that it has an extremely low interest rate. Most investments are in the region of about 8%, savings accounts are typically below 1% and actually make you lose money as inflation is higher than the interest you’ll earn in a savings account
• Kate’s currently putting her money in mutual funds and stocks she uses her Robinhood account
• She makes sure that all her money is working for her
• There’s a common misconception that just because you have stock they aren’t liquid, but you can quickly sell them and convert them into cash

[6:30] A ton of people make the mistake that they aren’t responsible with their credit cards

• Lots of people live off their credit cards but they don’t pay them off in full
• Kate takes advantage of her credit cards to get points but she pays them off in full to avoid paying any interest
• Denis pays off his credit cards the moment he gets paid to avoid late fees and interest

[8:00] It takes some getting used to realizing that you can just liquidate your funds.

• Denis had a situation where he hadn’t been paying state tax all year, he wasn’t enrolled into state tax
• The mistake came about because he didn’t check his paystubs
• He was notified he had to pay 10 months’ worth of tax – 5.75% multiplied by your annual salary times 10/12
• When Denis was told he needed to pay the money, he was able to sell off stock he didn’t want anymore

[10:58] If you build up an emergency fund you can eventually start using the money for other reasons like putting money into an IRA

• There’s a common misconception that you aren’t saving because you can liquidate your portfolio, this isn’t true as most people still have separate savings accounts
• You should treat it as an account that you can’t draw from, it should be set aside for longer term things.
• You don’t have to have your money invested in the stock market just because it’s in a particular account.

If you are interested in opening up an investing account check out robinhood.

Welcome!

[5:33] What is your secret to becoming debt free forever?

• Jeff stumbled across Dave Ramsey and listened to principles, Jeff thought he had a job secured so he didn’t worry too much about it at that point.
• When Jeff finally started making money he used Dave’s principles and did the snowball.
• Jeff managed to pay off his debt in 4.5 or 5 years

[8:33] What’s the honest truth behind building a 7 figure or more net worth?

• Jeff had a slightly different take on Dave Ramsey’s principles so he was investing and paying off debt at the same time.
• He is also self employed so his take is slightly different
• Jeff was consistent about saving and after a long period of time he had a 7 figure net worth.

[17:59] Why is it really bad to rely on a single stream of income and what, in your opinion is a good way to setup more streams?

• The worst number is 1.
• To only have a single source of income, what happens if it dries up or if you get hurt
• Find what you like to do, there is no point to being miserable.

[20:42] Do you believe that anybody can achieve financial independence?

• Yeah- if you read the millionaire next door, it’s more about consistency.
• Regular people can become millionaires, as long as they are confident and try

Sponsor:

[22:23] Sign up for a free book about QRPs!

Value Link Round

[22:41] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• Office retirement plan 401k, 529 plans for the children, HSA for years but decided to do medishare instead, this change changed the premium from $1,600 to $300.
• Vanguard index funds, real estate crowdfunding
• Check out Joe Fairless podcast

[25:08] Do you have a favorite book?

• Book: JL Collins the Simple Path to Wealth
• Book: David Bach, Automatic Millionaire

[28:01] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• The borrower is a slave to the lender

[30:21] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Focus on getting out of debt now!

Welcome!

[5:21] People receive bonuses from work,  what do they typically do with those?
●     People tend to spend the bonus before they even get it
●     They use them for vacations
●     Sometimes instead of cash they receive gift cards

[12:06] For folks out there who have second jobs or additional side-hustles
●     Don't think of it as an extra money. Save it for future!
●     Set that money aside and pretend that you never got it 

[14:08] Learn how to budget
●     Budgeting your TIME is as important as budgeting your money
●     Start tracking what you're spending

• Made some choices that were really beneficial to her-
  • Lived in dorm only one year  then lived with roommates
  • Applied for a ton of scholarships and programs
  • Worked and paid during college
  • Once she got her disbursement she always put it right back into the loan
  • Parents took out loans as well

[5:40] What did you find most challenging when paying off your debt?

• Moved back home
• Wanted to go to Grad school but she had to decide what the next steps were
• Tawnya didn’t like owing money to people

[6:57] What lifestyle changes did you decide to make?

• Lived frugally
• Having side jobs helped a ton in getting  much more money coming in

[13:18] Did you qualify for any loan forgiveness?

• Tawnya took a slightly different route when she didn’t get into grad school
• She went back to school to get a masters, she built up quite a bit of savings for her masters, she paid out of pocket!
• Tawnya did qualify, however coming out of the recession, she was worried about finding a job so didn’t end up applying for it, however she could’ve actually received it.

[19:2] What would you recommend to someone who is trying to pay off their debt?

• Increase your income or decrease your spending
• Make extra payments often
• Figure out ways to increase your income like side hustles

Sponsor:

[20:55]

• If you haven’t already check out what a qualified retirement plan is, you can sign up for a free book here.

Value Link Round

[21:48] What is your savings or retirement plan?

• Most teachers have a pension plan that they’re paying into in Oregon it’s called PERS
• Been paying 6% of her salary into the pension plan
• 403b account (similar to 401k)
• Opened up an IRA
• Opened up a Vanguard account
• Bought a house recently, the real estate market has been really hot.
• Looking to buy a rental property

[26:39] Do you have a favorite book?

• Book: Financial Freedom by Grant Sabatier
• Book: The Richest Man in Babylon

[28:49] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• Money Saved is Money Earned

[29:39] Any other parting piece of guidance?

• Start early on

Welcome!

[2:45] Sometime you have to live with “Fake it ’til you make it”
●     It makes you feel better! 
●     Pretending you are in a good mood does flip your mindset and makes you happy.

[9:25] Mindset problems most people have
●     They are stuck paying off debts
●     Retail therapy

[15:16] Main takeaways
●     Money is a long-term strategy
●     Look towards a long-term view
●     Bulk-pack your lunches
●     Sing a song while driving (or while commuting) 

 Welcome!

[:] Tell us a bit about yourself

• Registered dietician and personal trainer and acquired some debt
• Mainly student loans

[:] What financial hurdles are you most proud that you have overcome?

• Lifestyle creep was hard when she started making money and wanted a big apartment
• You’re (almost) always going to have some living above you so if it’s in an apartment building or basement, it doesn’t make much difference.

[:] What link do you see between physical fitness and financial fitness?

• Consistency
• Having a set plan
• Setting a deadline
• Putting in place a plan that you’ll actually stick to!

[:] What was you plan to pay off debt?

• Lily didn’t make a plan and was enraged when she discovered how little went to her principal payments
• Started listening to Dave Ramsey and started paying off extra each month (over 3 times!)

[:] Give us a 60 second elevator pitch about your workouts.

• Platform to empower women to be strong and have a strong mindset

[:] Value link round: Want to lower the monthly interest off of your debts? Check out chainofwealth.com/refinance.

[:] What does your saving and retirement plan look like?

• Investing in a 401k and doing the match
• Roth IRA
• Saving 3-6 months of expenses as recommended by Dave Ramsey
• Extra streams of income

[:] What are some favorite books you can recommend?

• Podcast: Dave Ramsey Podcast
• Book: First Steps to Wealth by Dani Johnson

[:] A favorite quote?

• If you don’t ask you don’t get

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• Just start, things are not going to be perfect

Welcome!

[4:45] After being debt-free, what's next for me?
●     You can celebrate but no need to spend a lot! 
●     Shopping-spree after completely paying off your loan is not a  good idea.

[8:42] Katie's plan after the wedding is paid 
●     Maxing out IRAs
●     Making sure to have enough money on emergency fund
●     Maxing out savings
●     Keep expenses cheap

[10:16] What are dividends?
●     Payout for companies shareholders
●     Returns from stock investments

Welcome! 

[1:25] Let’s get to know Katie and her story
●    She is 30 years old now, teaches elementary and has always taught public school until she moved to Virginia
●    She was a typical college student in her 20’s, took a student loan and thought she’d be paying it for the rest of her life
●    Moved to Virginia in June 2017, has known Denis for over a year at that time

[6:35] How much did Katie have and owe back then?
●    Denis calculated everything and figured that Katie owed almost $200K
●    Katie was in so much debt not because of spending much on anything, but on not-so-great decisions with her car and student loans
●    Denis created a plan for Katie which started with selling her house, and was sold at 20% more
●    She got a Honda which costed more than a high-end BMW, and monthly repayment was $663 for 7 years

[12:30] How did you tackle your student loan?
●    Katie was teaching at a Title 1 school, where loan forgiveness was offered
●    Loan forgiveness application took 6 months; was eligible for $5K
●    Started freelancing and their podcast channel was mainly born out of this debt journey

[17:30] What exactly did you do?
●    Denis gave one condition for Katie to prioritize paying off her debts
●    All her salary was spent on paying her debt, and avoided shopping
●    Kept re-adjusting her goals, instead of quitting when not hitting them
●    She was earning $2400, but was short for $700-$800 on her monthly repayments
●    Did some side hustles like private tutoring, freelance editing, etc.

Welcome!

[:] There is a decision to be made
●     Cost-benefit analysis is a must
●     Check how much interest you will be paying on your mortgage in the long term
●     Additional payments toward loans will knock a lot of time off on the repayment term; use mortgage calculator to make side-by-side comparison on different terms

[:] Why you should invest instead of paying down mortgage
●     You can try using Robinhood app to start in the stock market and can even start with $20
●     The market is doing pretty well recently

[:] What's the total interest like for a $100K on a 30-year repayment term
●     Total interest paid would be around $93K
●     If double payments are made, the loan will be paid off in less than 10 years and the total interest paid would have just been $26K
●     If you can, you should be paying double payments

[:] What if I grow the money instead of paying double on mortgage
●     Your $536 monthly repayment for 118 months, would have only paid $45K worth of interest
●     Your $536 monthly repayment for 118 months, if invested, would have grown to $95K
●     With a return rate of at least 8%, the amount earned from investment over the same period of time would be enough to payoff your mortgage in cash

Welcome!

[:] Your website, poorerthanyou has been around for quite some time. Tell us your backstory and how you started.
●     I learned about personal finance blogging in college when I was so broke
●     She figured out that she didn’t have enough money to stay in college, dropped out of it and decided to write about it so people can follow along my journey
●     Net worth started at negative $26k when she was 20; took 12 years to turn around at 32 now
●     She ended up going back to school so had to take out more student loans.

[:] What are the options when you move from one job to another with your 401K? What should you do?
●     Stephonee had a great job, her dream job and but got laid off but she ended up working for a 401k administrator in her new job
●     The easiest thing to do is to roll into new 401k to keep everything consolidated in one bucket
●     You can also roll your 401k into an IRA; the downside is that if you do get sued, money in IRAs can be included in your personal assets
●     If you already have an IRA, don’t roll your existing 401k over into your existing IRA, so don’t co-mingle your assets

[:] Do you have any specific steps as to HOW you do that?
●     The administrator or company that runs your 401k or 403b, call them (whoever is gonna have the money), normally you will have to fill in a form.

[:] We had a listener write in that she is moving countries- do you have any advice as to what she could/ should be doing with her American retirement plan?
●     You pretty much can’t, the money is sheltered from US taxation
●     You will be charged for early withdrawal
●     They could roll it into a traditional IRA as it can allow withdrawals without penalty, one is an education exclusion

[:] We’ve talked about it before on Chain of Wealth but, if a person’s job does not offer a 401K - what other retirement options are out there?
●     You should be looking into IRAs
●     If your health plan is a high deductible account, as long as your plan qualifies, you can open a HSA on your own
●     Your best bet is often to convince your company to get a 401k if you are working for a small company
●     44 Million people in the gig economy (1099s), you are eligible to open a solo 401k on your own

[:] You’ve recently started a new project on-line called the Money-Middletons, how is this different to what is already in the blogosphere?
●     Stephonee has heard a ton of people in the realm of “I can’t afford this”.
●     There’s a ton of great retirement advice out there if you are able to max you retirement accounts, but the people in the middle are often left out.
●     She started a blog to share posts that will help people

[:] Value Link: Grab a free copy of Damion’s new book on QRPs

[:] What does your saving and retirement plan look like?
●     Big focus on taxes and reducing taxes as much as possible (legally of course)
●     Low cost index funds

[:] What are some favorite books you can recommend?
●     Book: The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins
●     Book: The Bogleheads Guide to Investing
●     Book: Get Money

[:] A favorite quote?
●     Not really one quote but,'You’re gonna regret something and it’s ok'

[:] Any last 401K/ retirement advice
●     A summary plan description is required for all 401ks, ask your employer for one.

Welcome!

[:] Difference between Traditional and Roth
●     Traditional IRA is pre-tax similar to a 401k while,
●     Roth IRA is typically tax-free or after-tax

[:] Until when can I contribute for tax year 2018 and what are the contribution limits?
●     You can contribute up to April 15, 2019
●     2019 limit increased to $6,000 from last year's $5,500, if you are under the age of 50
●     If you are 50 or older, this year's limit is set to $7,000

[:] What is a QRP?

• Qualified Retirement Plan, broad term for these tax plans
• Most people are familiar with 401ks
• This gives a different option that most people don’t know about
• Damion has created EQRP - it’s different in that it’s a 401k that you can invest yourself
• It’s strange to think about because you are the custodian

[:] What are the benefits?

• Match from company and then an IRA
• Over 20 years, you’re not going to save up a ton of money from that
• QRPs allow you to do up to $50k a year.
• You could even get a tax credit- paid out
• Most of the withdrawal rules are the same

[:] You explain the 8th world wonder in your book, for anyone grappling with this idea, what advice do you have for them?

• The easiest way to think of it is compound interest- if you don’t pay it off you owe a ton more money next month.
• On the flip side if you are earning it it works the same.
• 72 divided by your interest rate is how long it’ll take for your money to double
• However it’s not just about a fixed return, you need to choose what you want to invest in 

[:] How do you set up a QRP?

• You need to have business activity
• Giant trust document
• Rollover money
• You typically need a firm to set one up for you
• If you aren’t wanting to do the research then you might want to use someone

Value Link: Grab a copy of Damion’s new QRB Book

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• Damion keeps his money moving
• Money goes in and out and he continues to get paid
• Store money in gold

[:] Favorite Quote?

[:] Parting piece of advice?

Welcome!

[:] Things to always be mindful of
●     Don't withdraw 401k early mainly to avoid penalties
●     The value of your money now will considerably grow in the next 20-30 years from now
●     It can be disastrous to use your 401k money to payoff loans

[:] What you should do with your 401k account
●     Decide wisely on how much your contribution amount should be
●     Check your available investment options

[:] What to expect on 401k fees and taxes
●     All contributions toward your 401k are pre-taxed
●    Withdrawals made during retirement age will be taxed

Welcome!

[:] You have quite an interesting story when it comes to your personal life and debt. What position were you in? How did you work your way out of it?

• Didn’t start at $100k, but Ericka got married young with about $65k worth of debt.
• She and her husband started buying goods like cars, even though they weren’t unreasonable it pushed them over the edge.
• After just over a year they realized how much debt they were in, especially with a new born baby.
• Got a second job.

[:] Where do you see people, mostly millennials making their biggest mistakes? Not paying off debt? Not investing?

• The amount of student debt that is allowed to be taken on and people actually take it on and not pay it off.
• People don’t realize the impact of their debt

[:] So you and your husband paid off 100,000 worth of debt together- what advice do you have for anyone in a relationship or will be in one someday when it comes to working as a team and your money?

• You won’t always see eye to eye.
• Where do you want to be as a couple then figure out what you want to do.
• Ericka and her husband decided they wanted to take charge as a couple together

[:] Go ahead and give us the 30 second elevator speech for tailor made budgets

• Help couples get on the same page and achieve financial independence

[:] Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• Long terms person- mutual funds
• Accelerating the house payment plan (sell house to buy something cheaper for cash)

[:] Favorite Quote?

• Sacrifice is giving up something good for something better
• The best preparation for the future is the present well tended

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• The finances are hard, be easy on yourself we all make mistakes

Welcome!

[:] When do you start getting that retirement plan?
●     Start as early as you can
●     Stop thinking that retirement is not gonna happen soon. That's the worse idea.

[:] What's your advice? Where can people start?
●     Start contributing now
●     Make sure you are contributing enough

[:] Quick takeaways
●     Don't rely your retirement on your social security
●     Start contributing on your 401k
●     Use IRA as an alternative

Welcome!

[:] Den and I were discussing prenups last night as we’re getting married in July. We talked about how they are good for each others financial security in the off chance a relationship doesn’t work out. What are your views on a prenup and would you say there is any advice you have for people before they get married?

• Disclosure of financial assets are disclosed early on.
• Debt disclosed as well, it’s important to discuss finances before you get married.
• If someone comes into inheritance, the prenup takes care of those assets.
• People don’t always think very protectively when they receive the money

[:] What’s the fundamental first step for women toward building financial confidence?

• Becoming in tune to their finances, understanding spending, income source and building an emergency fund
• Knowing your credit score
• Understanding your own finances
• Money still defer the financial decisions to their husbands

[:] Is it wise for a married woman wanting to build her financial strength to have separate accounts, or does that often cause marital friction?

• It’s definitely something you want to consider but there is no right or wrong answer
• Have honesty with each other 

[:] Most women outlive their husbands so at some point if you’re a woman you are going to need to manage your money. In what financial area are many women least prepared when they find themselves alone?

• Sudden events are the most inopportune time to learn how to manage money
• The best thing to do is be involved in the finances

[:] Tell us a bit about your book Flourish Financially – Values, Transitions and Big Conversations

• Just came out in September
• Helps you have good financial conversations with people

[:] Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• Been in the business for 25 years, saving is super important
• Started 401(k) in the first year of her business which started 5 years ago
• Building her business for her retirement

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

• Flourish Financially – Values, Transitions and Big Conversations
• Traction
• Secrets of wealth women

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• Start having money conversations and take responsibility

[:] Beware of the loan that you getting
●     Katie was a victim of a student loan scam
●     Be sure to do your research before you apply for any type of loans

[:] Takeaways to paying your loans
●     Be wise. It's more important to have that emergency fund instead of getting that salary loan.
●     If you are a single mom, know where you can cut back to pay your loans
●     Get more side hustles

Welcome!

[:] Your blog gettingcanned.com was created as a result of you losing your job. Can you walk us through where you were in your life and how you felt when you got fired?

• ● Got a great performance review but ended up getting pushed out of his job after 4 years after the financial crisis
• ● Rob had recently found financial independence so it was a natural fit

[:] You’ve been working in Asia quite a bit lately, what has living there taught you about money specifically with regards to how money is handled differently to what you were used to in the United States?

• ● After wrapping up latest contract gig, rob packed up his two bags of luggage and went over
• ● So many things got cut out when he lived over to Asia
• ● One of the biggest things he got rid of was his car- it’s actually a very expensive asset to have.
• ● The geo-arbitrage is quite intense, it’s a lot cheaper overseas.

[:] How are you making ends meet? You mentioned in your email to use that you are freelancing?

• ● It’s been a long journey, Rob has 2 condos rented out in the US
• ● Background as a system analyst
• ● Teaching english is a nice thing to have in your pocket as well
• ● Hours are very different to a 40 hour work week

[:] I’m not going to lie, Asia is very very far away to the US- what ultimately made you decide to go to Asia and what were the steps you took to get there? Had you been there before?

• ● Original time going out was desperation
• ● Unemployed for 2 years -Rob was desperate to find work
• ● Chance encounter by meeting a random stranger at a party who has recently gone over
• ● Rob decided there weren’t many option for him at the moment so he asked a ton of questions and found out the requirements weren’t all that high

Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• ● Saved up enough that the bare minimum needs are met
• ● Eventually get social security
• ● Lived a pretty frugal lifestyle in the US- but in Asia you can get by on much less. Living costs changed from over $2,000 a month to about $1,500 a month.

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

• ● ChooseFI
• ● The FI Show

[:] Favorite quote you like to live by?

• ● I’m rich not because of all my possessions but my lack of wants

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• ● Don’t spend more than you can afford, index funds are the way to go.

[:] How we became comfortable opening a shared bank account
●     Know the person you are sharing bank account with
●     We've had so many financial conversations
●     We have shared expenses

[:] We just want to stress this out
●     If you are opening a bank account with somebody and gut is telling you NO? Don't do it!
●     If you are feeling stress, anxious or just really uncomfortable, Don't open a shared account.

Welcome!

[:] Let’s chat about your decision to start your blog, why another personal finance blog?

● Always interest in personal finance & money management

● Enjoyed learning about money and wanted to have somewhere to jot down his thoughts

● Helping the everyday person learn about money

[:] Your post on inside the FIRE movement was a great read, can you talk a bit about your FI journey?

● Not on the retire early track

● Enjoying career

● FI is definitely the goal

● Always entrepreneurial minded- one Jason started making real money he realized he needed to look long term

[:] You also have a podcast, podcasting is a great tool to get in touch with inspirational people. Who would you say is a guest that you learned the most from or a guest that gave you the biggest take away?

● Connecting with guests has been awesome, you develop friendships

● Diana from Ms Fiology

[:] Money for members of the military can be slightly different to money for non-military members. Do you have a money tip for military members?

● Start contributing as early as possible!

Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

● Saving about 50% of joint income

● Max out tax advantaged accounts

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

● Stacking Benjamins

[:] Favorite Quote?

● A lot of people miss out on opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work

[:] Parting piece of advice?

● Take a serious look at your financial situations

[:] Katie's routine
●     Katie puts her work out clothes out in the morning so when she comes home from work she will be reminded to go to the gym
●     When she gets home from work she always makes time for side hustles

[:] Katie's usual side hustles (She does all the side hustles before changing her work clothes) 😎
●     Regular day job
●     Tutoring little kids
●     Computer side hustling

[:] Update: Current balance left on Katie's student loan
●     $10,003 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻

The company provide this information free of charge through their portfolio of 58 different personal finance websites, with all operating expenses paid through advertising.

Welcome!

[:] Could you tell us a recent money mistake you’ve made?
●            Rented TV, bed and bed stand for 18 months (paid 3 times what it’s worth)

[:] Could you give us a brief history of District Media Finance?
●            Running for the past 5 years; last 3 years Amanda has been involved
●            Covers topics such as saving money, investing debt stories etc.
●            Amanda loves talking about her debt story and inspiring people

[:] You serve an audience of over 10 million visitors. More and more bloggers, youtubers and content creators are growing their audiences and reaching more people. How important do you think the social responsibility is of content creators and do you think there’s going to be even more ways to reach people in the future?
●            There will be tons of ways to reach more people the trend is going to continue growing
●            People that make content have a huge responsibility to give factual information and morality behind the story

[:] What’s one of the topic money tips you have for our listeners?
●            Don’t try to live without an emergency fund

[:] One of the best ways to read books is to do it via audiobooks. Check out audiobooks via chainof wealth.com/audible.

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?
●            Starting savings from scratch- emergency fund got depleted from the loss of a job

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?
●            Dave Ramsey Fan- Financial Peace University

[:] Favorite Quote?
●            Be the change you want to see in the world

[:] Parting piece of advice?
●             Whatever is happening to you financially right now is not the end of the world. It will get better.

Welcome!

[:] What’s one of the biggest mistakes you see people making with their student loans?
●            If you graduate with a $0 loan you can consolidate with the revised pay as you earn plan

[:] Do you believe the student loan crisis is going to get worse as time goes on as we see rates continue to rise?
●            It’s getting worse and better at the same time
●            There are different tiers, $0-80k are doing pretty well.
●            The average default os $10k
●            $80k to $1M is where the real problem is, the original estimate on income based repayment program is wrong
●            PLF is unlimited

[:] You have a strong history with tackling student loan debt, your wife got her debt from med school, what made you want to start Student Loan Planner instead of pursuing a career as a bond trader?
●            Travis tried to retire at 25
●            Travis’ wife had 6 figure of student loan debt, he met her traveling

[:] How important do you think it is to have an individual plan to tackle your student loans?
●            You can do it yourself if you are a certain type of person
●            Refinancing can be a great option if you’re married and in the private section
●            If you owe more than 2x your income you probably need a plan

[:] 30 second elevator pitch for Student Loan Planner?
●            Best group in the country to help you solve your student loan problems
●            $300-$600 for a 1 hour consultation

[:] Check out our brand new posts about financing. Get the ultimate guide to refinance your debt - chainofwealth.com/refinance

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?
●            Travis’s wife love living in the now and Travis enjoys saving
●            Save 20-25% to savings
●            Individual 401(k)s

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?
●            ChooseFI
●            FireDrill
●            Animal Spirits

[:] Do you have a favorite quote you like to live by?
●            You can’t take it with you

[:] Parting piece of advice?
●            Get a plan an educate yourself

[2:30] Credit score ranges
●     300 - 530 Bad Credit
●     580 - 670 Fair Credit
●     670 - 740 Good Credit
●     740 and up Excellent

[5:20] What affects your credit score
●     Paying bills on time
●     Late payment has a huge impact in your credit score 
●    Having a lot of accounts will boost up your greater facility

[12:14] Monitor your credit score
●     Most credit card companies provide monthly credit score online

Welcome!

[:] Your blog stood out immediately because you were a fellow speaker at Fincon, what did you speak about in Orlando?
●            Panel discussion on safe withdrawal rates for early retirees
●            Everyone on the panel said a safe withdrawal rate is probably better 3.5% or 4%

[:] A ton of people in the personal finance space always say Baby Step 1 is to get 6 months of living expenses saved up into an Emergency Fund, but you feel differently. Why do you think it’s necessary to have an investment fund and what would you rather do with the money?
●            Karsten never had an emergency fund but everything he saved he put into stocks
●            Why should the money be sitting idle
●            Suze Orman talks about having 9 months of living expenses saved up
●            Sometimes you might withdraw at the peak of the market and sometimes at the trough

[:] How long does it really take to plan for early retirement? Put in another way, can you ever start planning for early retirement too late?
●            It took 10 years saving 50-60% of take home savings for Karsten to save up his nest egg.
●            You definitely want to start saving up as soon as possible

[:] Tell us a bit about early retired life- what’s been keeping you busy lately?
●            Initially planned to retire in February, but employer asked to extent to June.
●            7 Month trip around the world at the moment

[:] Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?
●            Bad portfolio in 2008
●            Job prospects didn’t look too good either

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?
●            Your Money or Your Life
●            The Millionaire Next Door

[:] Do you have a favorite quote you like to live by?
●            Time is the most valuable things we have because it is the most irrevocable

[:] Parting piece of advice?
●             It's never to late to start saving

[:] People missing out if they are not contributing on their 401k

●     Contriburting to 401k doesn’t mean the money is being invested

●     401k provider normally gives free consulting and make recommendations

[:] What if your employer doesn't offer a 401k plan? Any Alternatives?

●     Look at IRAs

●     Take the rough IRAs

[:] Takeaways

●     Save for your downpayment

●     Save for your emergency fund

●     Save for your retirement

●     Invest in your 401k as early as possible

●     Contribute to the full amount that your employer will match it

Welcome!

[:] Making money online seems like it’s really straight forward but unless you know what you’re doing it can be really tough to stick it out. You’ve managed to make money from one of your hobbies (photography) as well as a side hustle as a web designer. Can you tell us a bit about your story?

● Started online back in 2007, based on web design

● Started as a portfolio site to find some clients

● After a few months, Marc discovered he preferred the blogging aspect

● Had lots of ad sales and affiliate marketing sales

● Naturally it led to photography

[:] You’ve managed to build and sell multiple six figure blogs, we have a ton of PF bloggers who listen to the show, what exactly does it take to get your blog to a level that is worthy of selling?

● Any blog that is monetized is worthy of selling

● The valuation is typically a multiple of the average profit per month

● Sold blog a few months ago and got a high multiple, definitely a sellers market at the moment

[:] Once you have some traction online how exactly do you go about selling a website or online business?

● Easiest way is to go through a broker

[:] Instead of investing only in traditional assets like stocks or bonds, some people are now growing their net worth through online businesses. Do you think this trend it going to continue into the foreseeable future?

● The market is hot right now and buyers have been unable to get what they want

[:] Value Link Round

Check out Katie’s round up post on what you should do when you get out of debt- https://www.chainofwealth.com/resources/experts-share-what-you-should-do-after-you-pay-off-debt/

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

● Contribute as much as possible into 401(k)s & IRAs;

● Lower Taxes

● Main strategy to get money in is through Marc’s business

● Income fluctuates as single income from business but he and his wife keep their expenses as low as possible

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

● Do You Even Blog

● The Money Peach

● The Side Hustle Show

[:] Parting piece of advice?

● Stick with it and keep going

[:] New year, new goals
●     Katie wants to do more freelancing and also wants to go back to teaching
●     She also aims to have her student loan paid off by June ●     Denis' goal for 2019 is to buy a house

[:] Some reasons why some people don't achieve their new years resolution
●     People often say unrealistic goals
●     People quit early
●     They don't hold themselves accountable and track what they are trying to achieve

Welcome!

[:] First off can you tell us a bit about your debt payoff journey? What motivated you to tackle all that debt and what was the debt from?
● When Beverly was young she knew nothing about personal finance, she was a CPA
● Getting out of College, she got a ton of offers for credit cards
● She spent a ton of money on her image (she was self-conscious)
● She took things seriously and really cut back to get rid of her debt

[:] Debt, debt, debt! We’ve seen a whole bunch of rate hikes this year, debt’s like one of those things that you should be using responsibly. When do you think it’s a good time (if any) to go into debt and what are some things to look out for?
● There is good debt and bad debt, 
● Good debt is something like debt on a home
● Bad debt is credit card debt

[:] It it’s always easy, some people have bad credit. What advice do you have for people with bad credit and do you have any good resources they can use?
● Don’t feel terrible
● Get a secured credit card; US News is a great resource
● Some credit card have fees
● If you are against a credit card, you could try get a credit builder loan.

[:] You wrote a post about whether you should get a credit card or a loan, do you want to give us your view of when you’d want to choose either option?
● People often reach for their credit card if they have big purchases
● If something is much more long term, then you might want to look at a loan
● Get a 0% intro APR on purchases if you have good credit
● You should always be careful of taking out any debt, get online and do research about the companies

[:] Value Link RoundIf you want to listen to books on the go check out chainofwealth.com/audible for a free trial

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?
● Emergency fund - a year's worth of expenses in the fund
● IRAs as self employed

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?
● Beverly’s book - The Debt Escape Plan

[:] Favorite Quote?
● Do or do not, there is no try

[:] Parting piece of advice?
● If you have debt do whatever you have to do

Happy new year everyone!

[:] New year expenses
●     Katie wants a new dress for new years eve but instead of shopping to the mall, she goes shopping to her friends closet
●     Host a party and invite people to your place instead of going out
●     Katie hates crowded places

[:] New years eve is the great time to make money
●     Uber driving

Welcome!

[:] A lot of people are unfamiliar with the FIRE moment, can you talk a bit about what FIRE means to you personally?

• ● Freedom to have the financial means to be independent
• ● A ton of people get the RE part incorrect
• ● Chris emailed his list and nobody mentioned the doing nothing part or early retirement.

[:] You have a post about how much you really need to be financially independent, so what’s your magic number? :)

• ● Be able to support the lifestyle that you want, do you want to live on $60k a year of $100k a year?
• ● The magic multiplier is 25x, multiple $40k by 25 = $1million

[:] If you’re trying to achieve financial independence and you’re young and want to do it quickly there are a few key components which you outline on your website, saving more money (so cutting expenses), earning more money (take home more money) & investing to build wealth. Why do you think so many people fail at these components and which do you think is the most important one?

• ● The idea sounds great of having financial independence
• ● You really need self discipline to stick with it for a very long time
• ● Just like being healthy
• ● Young people have no interest :)

[:] Being financially independent is a major mindset shift. You no longer need to work and that obviously changes your lifestyle quite a lot. What is something you didn’t expect to come about when you reached FI or put another way is there anything you wish you knew before you took the leap?

• ● Reached FI goal and worked 2 additional years
• ● Walking away from a 9 to 5 routine and a lot of attachments (co-workers, relationships, etc.)
• ● You always feel that you always need more money

[:] Value Link Round

Check out Katie’s guide to tracking your spending - https://www.chainofwealth.com/resources/why-you-need-to-track-your-spending/

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• ● Not really trying to make a ton more money, more trying to help other people with their money.
• ● Completely FI :)

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

• ● The Art of Living

[:] Favorite Quote?

• ● Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• ● The world is made up of people, you need to decide what you want your life to be. Find the balance that works for you.

[:] Katie's cat Raven's ear problem
●     Katie didn't plan for Raven's vet expenses
●     Katie spent $350 to cure Raven's ear infection

[:] Pet expenses
●     Animal food is expensive
●     Pet surgeries are also expensive

[:] Having a pet is fun
●     While having a pet is expensive, animal pets make you feel good
●     They will love you no matter what

Welcome!

[:] Could you tell us a bit about your story, your husband is a stay at home dad, was it always like that and what prompted that lifestyle?

• ● Married for quite some time with 3 kids
• ● Health issues 6 years ago
• ● Becoming more of a trend

[:] What’s some of the biggest struggles that women face in the workplace and do you feel like things have become more fair in years gone by?

• ● Face a ton of different struggles
• ● Gotten much better over time
• ● Negotiating is not done as much

[:] Liz, you’re a busy person. The breadwinner in your home and you have 3 kids you take care of. You also manage your blog and still find time for people. I know you’ve been asked this question before, but how you manage to fit all that in and still have spare time?

• ● Liz’s husband is able to give Liz a lot more spare time because he helps out around the house a lot
• ● Always been busy; went to school part time while working
• ● Having a knit list(3 things) has been fundamental to getting stuff done

[:] What’s one of the best pieces of advice you can give working women who are trying to get ahead financially?

• ● Know where you are and where you want to go and make a plan to get there

[:] Value Link Round

Check out our post on passive income- www.chainofwealth.com/passive-income/ there’s a ton of advice and strategies that can help you get ahead.

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• ● Stocks and bonds
• ● Vanguard before it was cool

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

• ● Your Money or Your Life
• ● Taylor Larimore
• ● Stacking Benjamins

[:] Favorite Quote?

• ● None :)

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• ● Take it easy on your self

Katie helps us understand how starting a 529 plan works.

[:] What is a 529 plan

●     A 529 plan is an education savings plan sponsored by a state or state agency

●     529 plans can be used to pay for college costs

[:] Best option for you

●     You have the option to use other states' 529 plan

●     Do some research online so you can the best options that you are looking for

[:] 529 plan calculator

●     There are tons of 529 plan calculators when you search on Google

●     mamafishsaves.com/choosing-best-529-plan

[:] Takeaways

●     The best way to save for college is to start early

●     Start a 529 plan

Welcome!

[:] As mentioned above you’ve founded a startup that specializes in Real Estate & Crypto. First off can you talk about what a security token is in crypto?

● Securities are well understood as stocks, bonds etc.

● ICO’s appeared over the last few years and companies started making money off these as tokens. Companies were able to use these tokens as a means to create funding of working capital.

● Companies started using ICOs to avoid disclosures and protections offered by typical securities.

● Tokens allow a huge amount of liquidity

● Leverages benefits of blockchain and is governed by the SEC/other regulatory bodies

[:] In traditional housing, you’ll apply for a home loan from the bank and based on your credit profile and down payment the bank will lend you money. How is crypto disrupting this space?

● QuantmRE allows people to unlock the value of their homes without taking on more debt

● If you have equity in a home, you can get paid cash for the equity

● Ultimately it comes down to trust

● Fund structured as REIT

[:] What makes the transaction enforceable? What’s to stop me from “selling” a part of my home and then disappearing? Visa versa, for the investor how do I know what I’m investing in is real?

● Traditional mechanisms are used to enforce, Matthew’s team has been involved in Real Estate for many years

[:] Do you think we’re going to see a shift from traditional funding sources to crypto with respect to real estate? Who actually owns the title of the property?

● Separate crypto from blockchain, blockchain creates a layer of truth

● The home owner remains on title

[:] Value Link Round

Check out the Chain of Wealth podcast show notes pages! Tons of links and useful information

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

● Not Bitcoin!

● Matthew bets everything on his businesses

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

● Crypto the Wonderdog (Podcast)

● Reading the news- build up your knowledge over a period of time

[:] Favorite Quote?

● Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

[:] Parting piece of advice?

●The answer is right in front of you!

[:] How do you plan on spending your money?
●     Budget your money
●     Katie starts stashing money as early as August to spend for the Christmas season
●     List what you want to buy

[:] How to keep your holidays spending in check
●     A lot of people fall for the store upsell. Have a price and stick to it.
●     Don’t buy stuff just to buy it
●     Set limit on what you are spending

[:] The true meaning of holidays
●     Spending time with family
●     Most people want company instead of presents

Welcome!

[:] Every good duke has had to breach a castle at least once in their lives, what strategy would you use to cross a moat? (ice breaker, doesn’t need to be PF related)

• ● Chris: Let’s see what Jack says but disguise would be a great strategy (like a ninja)
• ● Jack: Dragon ;)

[:] The pair of you have quite different backgrounds, tell us a bit about your background Master Duke Chris and then yours Master Duke Jack.

• ● Chris: from a small town with 2 parents, very fortunate and built up some strong values. Chris really enjoyed sports and got some good strenghts like integrity. He was the first in his family in College. Since then got into IT and grew his income.
• ● Jack: Starting early is definitely key, started at 17 full time. Had a rough college and had to walk away from family. Worked through college full time, ended up leaving the country at 21. Had some good support from mentors and got featured on budgetsaresexy.com; Jack’s wife’s parents died and left behind $500k and they’ve been trying to do some good in the world.

[:] One of the most popular articles on your site is about whether we as family members should  give our friends & family free money, it’s an interesting topic and not really one spoke about too much, what are your thoughts on helping family out?

• ● Chris: Blog has been more of a hobby, Chris personally had dealt with it because of a divorce. Grief, depression, hate and money are all massive things to deal with. If you want something in life you need to work for it. There is a thin line between enabling someone and empowering someone.

[:] For people looking to transform their financial life, what are some of the first steps people should take financially?

• ● Chris: Find why before you figure out anything else.
• ● Jack: There’s opportunities out there to capture “free” money, the earlier you capture it and get it to work the better.
• ● Chris: A ton of people who are listening have the why- Chris created a list of blogs and started following them; Sign up for Mint

[:] You have a section on your website about the great war of debt, could you tell us a bit about that?

• ● Chris: After getting his foundation set (work wardrobe, emergency fund, clothes, 401k match) he figured out he wanted financial independence- starting young is so important. Followed Jack’s strategy, the debt pool strategy- double your payment. Once done take a trip!

Value Link Round

[:] What is your saving or retirement plan?

• ● Chris: Max retirement accounts, pay off debt, multiple streams of income
• ● Jack: Investing and tax strategy are crucial, growing business

[:] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?

• ● Continue listening to Chain of Wealth!
• ● Stuff you should know
• ● Planet money
• ● Hidden brain
• ● Your money or your life

[:] Favorite Quote you like to live by?

• ● Chris: To get what you want you have to deserve what you want, Charlie Munger
• ● Jack:

[:] Parting piece of advice?

• ● Use Inversion
• ● Avoid big mistakes
• ● Having integrity

[:] Benefits from making money online
You can make money online anywhere as long as there's internet
You can manage you own time

[:] How can you start?
You don’t need to have a blog to start earning.
Make money online by setting you own guest house or apartment through AirBnB
Use your extra room as a commercial space

[:] Apps and sites to check out
Craiglist is one of the great ways to find jobs online
Katie found some jobs online through Craigslist to pay her mortgage
Use JobSpotter app to find tons of available jobs
Google Search

[:] Easy extra income
Use your hobby and offer services to get extra income
Babysitting is pretty easy money
Uber driving

[:] You want to reach your goal?
The best way to reach it is to write it down.
While working out on reaching your goals, write your thoughts and ideas and things that you learn to keep track of what you have been doing so far in getting your goals.

[:] Mega-guide in starting your own blog
You can check out Pete from "Do You Even Blog?" at www.doyouevenblog.com.
See other people's blog about personal finance and make that as your motivation.

[:] Best part about blogging
Katie keeps track of how much debt she has and updates the "About Us" page of www.chainofwealth.com
This is one of her motivations and everyone can always see that achievement
Start saving and get ahead of your financial debts

[:] Paying your debts
When you consistently paying off your debts, it gets easier as times goes on.
The amount of interest you pay on a monthly basis decreases every month and you can really knock out of balance quick and easy.
Connecting with other bloggers gives you the opportunity to learn from them.
It's really very helpful when you see what other bloggers are doing and apply the learnings you get form them.

[:] Learn from joining different communities
Other people take home equity and make bulk payments
Denis enjoys attending to FinCon - Financial Conference for financial bloggers, content producers, influencers etc.
Having online friends is as important as real-life friends

[:] Blog loosely
Start a podcast and reach out to other people
Getting involved and being surrounded by people that have similar aspirations is really important

[:] Takeaways
Write down what you are trying to achieve
Make friends with people who are trying to do the same

She believes the old market wisdom that individual people should not invest in individual stocks. And it’s a thing of the past and she’s trying to equip a new wave of investors with the tools they need to succeed.

Welcome!

[2:26] Tell us a bit about yourself- What’s your favorite superhero?
Wine sommelier and loves puppies!

[4:41] Let’s chat about investing, you believe individual investors should not be purchasing individual stocks. Why?

Lots of people feel distant from money and investing
The people that really succeed in investing that are active are the ones buying stocks.

To be successful you need to be very hands on and be in charge.
Used to help father manage his investments- he taught her to take a hands-on approach

[8:45] You’ve stated that there’s no equivalent female investor to Warren Buffett, why do you think that’s the case and how are you planning to change that?
Women need to change their mindset and take more control.
Culturally women don’t take on the responsibility
Hoda attends a ton of workshops and conferences
It takes a lot of time for equality to come into play

[12:7] What exactly is Stock Card? Do you have an app?
Website- stockcard.io
Help anyone with any background and time commitments to decide very quickly.

[16:0] How do people use your service? What is the fee structure?
Basic product is free, but with ads
If you want to get investment ideas there are different strategies and that’s a subscription model.

Sponsor
[19:53] Check out our mega post on passive income for amazing ways to take your money to the next level!

Value Link Round
[20:14] Why do you think people struggle to achieve their dreams?
Life happens, and you need to learn how to prioritize things
You need to think long term vs short terms

[21:43] Do you have any favorite books or podcasts?
Thinking fast and slow
Freak-o-nomics

[23:33] Do you have a favorite quote you like to live by?
Frank S. – live your life the way you want to

[24:40] Any parting piece of advice?
Take charge of your money
Make money a hobby

[:] Keep in mind
●   Check what you are actually getting paid
●   Check the deductions

[:] In a budget
●   It is very important to save money
●   Nobody wants to pay big bucks for the taxes
●   Don’t play catch up with your taxed because of paystubs mistakes

[:] Tax payments
●   Any income that you earn would probably be taxable
●   Don't take your tax responsibilities for granted and pay on time

[:] Important things to remember
●   Check your paystubs
●   Save money

[4:7] What is the process an entrepreneur can expect to go through when finding an angel investor?
It’s not easy finding angel investors
Could join accelerator or incubator
Often it’s who you know not what you know

[11:5] Tell us some questions that you ask as an investor?
Usually there is a warm intro and a pitch deck
Terri ignores cold emails and calls
Angel investors have a huge amount of calls to get through so establishing that relationship is crucial

[16:59] What are some questions people should be asking you if considering partnering with an angel investor?
Typically in relationship for 7-10 years
Ask what additional value the investor can add other than a check
Sponsor
[20:29] Value Link Round:
Check out https://www.chainofwealth.com/passive-income/ to learn ways to boost your income.

Value Link Round
[20:54] What is your saving or retirement plan?
Incredibly diverse
Got to work on father’s personal stuff (he was a CPA)

[22:49] Do you have any other books or podcasts you can recommend?
Terri’s own podcast, Piloting Your Life
Book: Angel
Book: Venture Deals

[25:33] Favorite Quote?
Go out on a limb, because that’s where the fruit is

[26:27] Parting piece of advice?
Invest early, invest often

Not meeting a goal? Don’t worry
If you can’t meet your goals, It's okay!
Although it is really hard, as long as you are always moving forward, you doing the right thing. At the end of the day it is still your goal and you are going to achieve it no matter what.
Don’t give up right away! Being a little late is better than quitting.

Reviewing your goals
Check your goals on a regular basis. It helps you set your next goals.
Once you have accomplished a goal, review it then decide to set new set of goals to achieve.
When you set goals, write them down. It also helps if tell a friend about your goals. That person may be able to help you and give you advice whether you reach your goal or not.

Goal setting: How?
Just do it and make sure to set those little goals and celebrate them regardless if they are small or big achievements. They motivate you and achieve more goals in the future.

[2:52] Tons of people think doctors had a ton of money and it’s all easy. Did you graduate with any student loan debt and how were the early days for you?
Had about 60k worth of loans
Lots of doctors

[5:46] The field of medicine has many different practices, you are an anesthesiologist but if you could go back and change your career path, is there any type of medicine you’d do?
Happy with choice
Trying to decide on retirement
Addiction is a major problem people face, it could be an interesting career path

[11:47] What sparked your interest to being on a path of FI
Study by Fidelity only 50% of physicians max out their 401ks
Father did a good job of teaching Lief

[16:27] What is some advice you would give the younger version of yourself knowing what you know now?
Building a large home- perhaps wasn’t the best thing to do.
Ended up losing $250k

[18:29] How are you preparing your children to be as equally financially responsible as you?
Teaching financially responsible behavior
Started giving kids 1% interest per month on their savings
Other things explained to the kids such as electricity and other costs

• You can’t adopt the “my way or the highway” approach.
• Committed relationships require compromise
• Money is a team sport
• You can keep your money separate and if it works for you then that’s great but you need to find something that works for you both.
• It’s a difficult thing to talk about but its’s important to get on the same page.
• Don’t get emotions involved

[4:21] How to handle the spender and saver relationship

• Denis is the spender and Katie is the saver despite her student loans and debt.
• Finding the balance is tricky- you need to be open to hearing other people’s ideas
• You need to find balance in your relationship or your middle ground.

[6:35] Things to mention before getting serious with money

• Tell the other person your “deal breakers” and anything that if the role was reversed you think the other person should know
• Try to get on the same page as early on as possible
• Some things can be red flags for you- find out early!

[8:50] How to agree on money goals

• Something you should do as a couple – you need to find out what works for you Long term-
• what are your goals and how are you going to get there
• Setting goals is super important- 800% more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down
• Review your goals after a period of time
• Setting new goals and crossing things off is super powerful

[11:20] Combining incomes as a couple

• This is a tricky aspect to approach
• There are pros and cons to whatever approach you take
• You need to find what makes you and your partner comfortable
• There’s nothing wrong with having a separate bank account
• Maybe wait until you’re married to have a joint bank account

[3:30] Why you need a credit card yesterday
Crucial for everything and gives you the ability to manage your money better
You need to pay off your credit card in full each month
It’s very easy to spend “invisible money”
You want to have as many credit cards for as long as possible
Don’t close your credit cards even if you’re not using them!
You want to have lots of accounts open for as long as possible

[5:24] How to manage your credit card
Pay off your balance in full every month- avoid interest!
Everything else will have interest
Tons of credit card companies draw you in with good incentives
Always keep your accounts open
You can use your credit card to finance things, just make such you have a big available balance

[7:17] Credit card gaming/ travel hacking
You can travel for free if you spend and get points on the right points programs

[9:18] What happens when you’re late
Always make sure you pay on time! ALWAYS!
At least make the minimum payment so you’re in a good place with your creditors
A great way to make sure you pay it is autopay!

[4:41] Do you have an emergency fund
Americans and millennials as a whole live paycheck to paycheck
Most people don’t have $1,000 saved up for an emergency
Pay yourself first!

[6:54] Managing a 401(k)
Extremely important- everyone should take advantage
At the least you need to match with your employer

[8:15] What do do when you max your 401k
Your 401k is technically invested in the stock market already
Use IRAs – Traditional and Roth IRA
Real Estate
Crypto – but be careful and only invest a modest amount

[10:3] Micro-investing
Tons of apps available today to help you start investing, such as Stash Invest, Acorns, Digit etc.
Automated savings that you don’t realize
Great way to invest “spare change”

[6:50] Getting financing whilst in college
Federal & public financing is available
Scholarships – different grants are available
Getting your employer to pay for your schooling even if you don’t have amazing grades
Where there’s a will there’s a way

[8:42] How to Consolidate
Consolidate = mushing all your loans together in a single interest rate
Lots of financial institutions can help you with consolidating
You can only do consolidating once but only after you finish studying
Much easier to manage 

[10:13] Why you should refinance
If you have a high interest rate on a loan- your loan can get bought out by another bank of financial institution
Works out cheaper for you as it gets you a lower interest rate
Works for all kinds of debt- great to take advantage of when rates go down in the general economy

[12:42] The problem with deferring your loans & minimum payments
People do this because they don’t have the money and you gotta do what you gotta do
However, don’t make it a habit!
You don’t want to pay minimums because in the long run you end up owing a ton more.
Your student loans will end up increasing in value