Chain of Wealth - Debt, Investing, Entrepreneurship, Wealth & More

With summer finally here, we decided to dive into an episode all about travel hacking! If you become effective at travel hacking you can get free trips.

[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.

Parker is a former professional football player turned wealth advisor turned entrepreneur. Together with his friend and cofounder Jerry Workman, they created Destiny, an app aimed at helping millennials pay off their student loan and credit card debt as fast as possible.

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.

Nobody really tells you what to do with your paycheck, people don’t know what you should and shouldn’t do so today’s episode deals exactly with that.

[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.

Today we have Jeffrey Anazalone who is a doctor that writes at debtfreedr.com. Becoming a doctor involves spending a ton of money to get qualified, Jeff was over $300,000 in debt when he started. Jeff went to dental school then did a surgery residency.

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!

For most of us, salary is the main income source. The truth is, everyone starts this way and typically the salary we get each month would only go to our bills. Come and join us talk about different sources of income and how we tend to spend them. 

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

[2:46] First, what was going on with your debt? Can you tell us your story?

• 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

Your negative thoughts could have a negative effect on your finances! If you are one of those people who find it hard to change their attitude about spending, you might be interested in joining us learn how to you can make that change to transform your bad financial habits into a positive attitude to save more and build long-term wealth .

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) 

Lily Nwora is a personal trainer and founder of Dresses & Dumbbells have been featured on multiple news, media, and print outlets. Lily paid off $70,000 over 3 years and knocked out $40,000 in 2018 alone!

 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

Katie has successfully paid off her student loan! Like other people's success story about being debt-free, it does not stop there. You need to continue your plan and making that plan means figuring out how much money you have to work with and deciding how to spend it.

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

Today’s episode is a bit different because we have a special occasion to celebrate. Katie’s student loan has been paid off! Yes, you heard it right! Listen about her journey and on what she’s really been trying to achieve.

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.