Net Worth Hacks

Ken deviates from his typical discussions to talk about adversity. He believes that adversity doesn’t build character but rather reveals it. What has 2020 revealed about you? What needs to change? Ken challenges you to explore this because if your not being your true self, then building wealth will have been for naught. Like net worth, you can measure this character by weighing your assets against your shortcomings. Growing wealth is a challenge and can reveal who you are, allowing you to improve yourself.

Ken touches on the well known proposition by Malcolm Gladwell: putting in 10,000 hours of work into a subject classifies you as an expert. When it comes to expertly managing your finances, your already on your way simply listening to this podcast. Every book you read and seminar you attend takes you closer. If you can’t invest time into learning finance, then call upon others to help. Apply this expertise criteria to them. Have they logged their 10,000 hours? Are there areas of expertise relevant to you?

Everyone is imperfect, we all make mistakes. In this episode you’ll find that Ken is no different. Ken shares personal accounts of his shortcomings. This includes over 117k in real estate losses as well as various business mistakes. All this to say, that these mistakes are in the past. What’s done is done and we must treat our mistakes as such: passed. Ken encourages you to let these mistakes go and press on without shame or guilt. This way you can accomplish your goals fearlessly.

Would you let a doctor prescribe you medicine without first testing you? Would you let a lawyer draft your will without ever meeting you? The answer is simply no. The same concept applies to your financial situation. Nowadays you are inundated with tons of “advice,” from the news and social media alike. “Get this, not that. You need an IRA, you don’t need an IRA.” Ken tackles this abundance of “advice” and encourages you reframe your strategy so that it is in your best interest.

Leadership. Ken has talked about it time and time again. This week is no different. You need a leader in order to enact and drive change in your financial life. To make this happen, you must set and keep resetting the vision for you project. You must establish a “why” in order to have everyone around you buy into this vision. Set milestones and establish a cadence of realignment. Ken gives a real-life example to help you understand how to put these principles into action.

Today’s episode features a special guest, Ken’s wife Angela. In order to successfully boost and manage your net worth, you need to find alignment with your significant other. Ken and Angela discuss how they’ve navigated money and marriage. They discuss the key lessons they learned that you can apply to your own relationship. This includes buckets, reserves and insurance. What about long term planning? How do you communicate to each other? Take a peek inside the Kaufman household and learn how it’s done.

Ken focuses today on generating assets to bolster your net worth. Most people can’t rely on a windfall of cash, so your primary focus is your income. Using your competitive advantage is key to earning this income. Mark Manson said that your passion for a problem that you - and no one else - can solve is your competitive advantage. The fewer people out there that do what you do, more income your competitive advantage will earn you. Pull back and assess your own skill set and what problems you love to solve.

Springboarding from last week’s episode, Ken explores the concept of leadership, taking action, and driving change. Ken defines key traits of leadership. They must have vision, be aware of the plan and its details. A leader must ask questions and must remain within the plan’s scope. They must initiate re-calibration if needed. They don’t delegate leadership, and must own the results of the tasks that are delegated. All these traits must be applied in order to take control of your financial life.

This week, Ken takes a different approach. He discusses the difference between simple tasks that can be outsourced and stuff that truly cannot be commoditized: Innovation, Creativity and Leadership. These things cannot be boiled down to pieces and replicated. Ken then reframes this discussion in terms of personal finance and how it applies to you. When it comes to taking control of finances, you can outsource the tasks and strategy. But when it comes to leadership, it rests solely on you.

“Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are.” - James Frick. Once you look at your bank statements, you will quickly realize what you prioritize. Ken asks us to reevaluate how we spend our time and money and what can we to do find alignment.