Ride Your Money Wave

On today's episode, I talk to Angjela about her current financial state and what decisions she should make.  She recently graduated graduate school with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and zero student loan debt.  She accepted a job working for Southwest Airlines but doesn't know what her next financial step should be.  Luckily, we were able to create a plan before she got her first paycheck, so she can build her life and career around financial stability.  

One of the listeners to the podcast emailed in and offered a few suggestions of topics to cover.  First up: why is debt bad and how should you go about paying it off?  

You may have noticed the past couple weeks have been light on the podcast.  Why?  Because I kept failing.  Today, I talk about how I beat my funk and got back into the swing of things.  

Michael Tindall joined the podcast again to talk about the basics of personal finance.  This is a great place to start if you are looking to learn more about your first steps in managing your money.  

In one of my most transparent interviews, John from ESI Money talks about why he retired at the age of 52 (and how he could have retired at 42).  John talks about why your career is your number one and often times, most overlooked, asset and how he utilized the skills he acquired in his career to build lucrative side hustles.  John truly is riding his own money wave and has even increased his net worth while in retirement by a 6-figure amount.  Listen in and be sure to check out ESIMoney.com  

I came across a statistic that only 24% of Millennials are financially literate.  I wanted to see if I was too.  15 questions later, I think my mom would be proud.  You can take the quiz too here.  

This week, I sat down with three Millennials to talk about money: how they handle it, what are their goals, why are we so reserved about talking about money, and more.  The talk is open, candid, and honest.  Enjoy! 

Last week, I was sitting at Starbucks doing work when a group of women walked in carrying fliers for an upcoming 4.01k race.  I asked them what it was all about, and it turns out it is a walk/race to help raise money for the Boys and Girls Club of Oakland and Macomb Counties.  The best part is, after the race the kids is "Wellabration" where kids get to learn about the power and importance of personal finance.  I sat down with Alma Ko, Marketing and Engagement Coordinator at Cambridge Consulting, a sponsor of the event, to talk about the race.   

My friend John sent me a financial article titled "25% of Millennials no longer having sex due to financial problems."  Naturally, that peaked my interest.  Can money really affect your sex life? It turns out the article was as clear cut as I thought it would be, but it did bring up an interesting point: it is harder to get by today than it was in the past.  Having said that, I discuss some bold moves you can make today in order to set yourself up for a abundant financial future. 

Adam Smith was on to something when he warned us to be aware of the relaxation of rules and how it can lead us to make bad decisions.  The same is true when it comes to personal finance - keep your rules simple, black-and-white, and never deviate from them - and you should end up wealthy in the end. 

Last week, Ride Your Money Wave turned 1!  Whoo hoo!  I took a moment to reflect on what the podcast has taught me and what common trends I hear in the stories of my guests as it relates to success.  Also, my wife, Becky, joined me on the podcast to discuss all things money - her relationship with it, how we handle money in our relationship, and more. 

Nick Apone went from working in his dad's restaurant to putting it all on the line to open and own his brick-and-mortar boutique wine shop, Old Woodward Cellar, located in the  heart of downtown Birmingham, Michigan.  Nick is a great example of what it takes to achieve the first step of a dream -  hard work, sacrifice, and 15 years of grinding.  

Anyone who has lived in Metro Detroit knows the impact Grey Ghost has had on the Detroit restaurant scene and community.  Close to three years ago, the Vermiglio brothers took the leap and acted on their life's dream of opening a restaurant together.  One of the many things that makes the restaurant so special is the division of labor - Dave is the "numbers guy" leaning heavily on his experience in the private equity space while his identical twin brother, John, is the chef.  Against the industry odds, these guys have opened three restaurants in three years...and it doesn't look like they are stopping anytime soon.  

Last month, the American government shut down, affecting the finances of 800,000 households.  With the government up and running (for the time being), we can now take a look at how the shutdown affected the "average" American.  While the survey sample is biased because they are all government workers, it does provide us some insight into the financial state of people.  As it turns out, average isn't good.  

Digg.com reported the median credit card debt by state.  Michigan ranked in the middle, with $7382.  While that is a trouble statistic, what is truly concerning is how long it would take to pay it off given you dedicate 15% of your income to it.  In today's podcast, I give a few tips on how to avoid credit card debt.  

On today's podcast, I talk about the six characteristics of wealth people as reported by Hillary Hoffower.  You can read the article here.  I gave myself a 5/6 characteristics.  How many do you have?

Running a small business is difficult.  You need to know a little about a lot of things (ok, more like a lot about a lot of things.)  We think that if we have an idea and a website, the phone will start ringing off the hook.  Wrong!  Instead, you need to go out and sell.  Whether you are selling yourself by building relationship or selling a product or service, being comfortable with selling is an important attribute to be successful.  Chris Budnik talks about his life in sales and provides tips on how to start selling. 

Failure is an always, everywhere possibility.  We fear it, we avoid it, and we dread experiencing it.  Ironically though, failure is a requirement to success.  Today's podcast talks about how failure teaches us to succeed.  

If you have turned on Netflix recently, you have seen Marie Kondo's Tidying Up is making quite the splash.  She is an organization guru who turns houses and lives around.  So we beg the question, what can her principles teach us about better handling our money?

Last week, sadly, it was reported 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.  That isn't living; that is existing.  Here are four things everyone who plans on creating their own Money Wave needs in 2019.