September 14, 2024 • 23 mins
Click Here to Chat with Us! We're all ears (& probably wine).
Ready to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and make your money work for you? Join Brittany and Megan in this empowering episode of Fearlessly Female, "Assets, not Asses: Creating Lasting Green and Building Wealth." We're diving deep into the financial skills that traditional education often overlooks—budgeting, money management, and understanding credit. Discover how financial literacy can be your ticket to true financial independence. We'll guide you through each step, from saving and budgeting to savvy investments in stocks, bonds, ETFs, and eventually, real estate.
Stay ahead of the curve with our "Building Wealth Through Financial Literacy" segment. Learn how to leverage modern tools like Investopedia, NerdWallet, and the Kiplinger Letter to make smart financial decisions. We emphasize the importance of multiple income streams and understanding the financial "rules of the game," just like successful investors such as Warren Buffett. Plus, hear our tips on automating your finances to avoid impulse spending and ensure consistent growth.
Finally, we unlock the secrets to "Maximizing Asset Investments for Wealth." Discover why real estate is a powerful investment tool and how inflation impacts traditional savings. Get insights into creative financing methods like home equity lines and 1031 exchanges, and understand the difference between good debt and bad debt. We also explore using 401k loans to tackle high-interest credit card debt effectively. Engage with us on social media, share your experiences, and take this crucial step toward financial freedom!
🎙️fearlesslyfemaleuncensored@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brittany (00:10):
Welcome to Fearlessly Female, where two blondes make a
right.
We're Brittany and Megan, thehosts of Fearlessly Female.
This podcast was born out ofambition, drive and a lot of
wine.
We're two powerhouse comedicwomen having uncensored
conversations about topics thataffect women.
We're airing all the dirtylaundry, so grab your favorite
drink and give us a listen.
Meghan (00:29):
Today's podcast is Assets, not Asses Creating
Lasting Green and BuildingWealth Damn I love this topic.
Brittany (00:36):
It gets my juices flowing.
Meghan (00:40):
Also disclaimer please consult with a certified
accountant or financial advisor.
Aka, do not sue us, okay,Brittany DISH, the secret sauce
on how you become rich.
Brittany (00:57):
Well, first you want to go to your local 7-Eleven,
get a scratcher and play thelottery.
Meghan (01:03):
You're right.
Let me rephrase the questionhow do you become wealthy?
Brittany (01:09):
There we go.
That's a good question.
Become financially literate.
I would say, educate yourselfon the basics, the basic
financial skills, and be able toput them into practice.
It can be really challengingbecause this is not something
that we're taught in schoolpractice.
It can be really challengingbecause this is not something
that we're taught in school andyou know we go 17 years, 18
(01:34):
years, through high school andthen kind of spewed out into the
world to go and figure it out,go forth and conquer it, but no
one actually sits down to teachyou how to balance a checkbook
if we're still doing that, howto you know, apply for a credit
card, what to look for, how tomanage money, and it's kind of
taught through this whole tribalknowledge situation.
But nowadays, I would say, youknow, we really don't have
(01:55):
excuses anymore.
We're not in the position thatour parents were in, we're
grandparents, where you have to,you know, get on a bus or a
little horse and buggy and godown to the local library to
grab an encyclopedia and hopethat that book isn't checked out
, like we have everything at ourfingertips right now.
They can just go online, googleit.
You know, there's someone hasdone the research.
(02:17):
It's all about taking theinitiative and going out there
and finding the answers.
Meghan (02:23):
I used to always say that they needed that class in
high school for skills.
Exactly what you're talkingabout balancing a checkbook
though I'm sure our audiencedoesn't even know what that is
but things like renting anapartment and how to get back
your security deposit all thereal life stuff that is
connected to being wealthy, orfinancial literacy, but we've
(02:46):
been throwing this term aroundfinancial literacy pretty
loosely, so I know it's been arecent topic of discussion this
year, with some states nowmandating it as part of
curriculum For our listeners.
What do you mean by financialliteracy?
What are the topics?
What do you mean by financialliteracy?
Brittany (03:05):
What are the topics?
So the way I like to look at itis similar to Maslow's
hierarchy of needs.
Right, you have your basefoundation, and then, as you go
up the pyramid, you get toself-realization, actualization,
whatever he's preaching, butessentially the way that
financial literacy and becomingwealthy is very similar, right.
So you have your pyramid andyou have the base.
(03:26):
So the base you can think ofcreating a budget, creating a
savings account, having anemergency fund, stuff like that.
And then you start to build upunderstanding stocks, bonds what
is it?
Etfs, making an investment planand then, as you're building up
(03:48):
, getting into real estate.
But essentially you want to getout of that survival mode of
living paycheck to paycheck.
And by doing that is reallyjust building the foundation and
creating the budget.
You're not going to be richjust by saving your pennies away
.
You need to understand, next,how to make your money work for
you.
So understanding money, howmoney moves, the rules to
(04:11):
continue up to that pyramid.
Meghan (04:14):
And we're going to cover all of that in this podcast.
Someone had their wheeze thismorning.
Do you have a recommendationfor understanding all of that?
Garbly gook, you just said.
Brittany (04:27):
I would say learn, read research, watch videos.
Like I said before, we're justat a very interesting point in
our society where you don't haveto go down to the library to
you know, look at theencyclopedia and read all about
it.
You can watch videos on YouTube.
There's people on Instagram.
Everything that's out there hasalready been done for the most
(04:50):
part, and it's really just abouttaking the initiative and going
out to learn about it.
How money moves, how it works,what rules you need to play by
is really the secret to be ableto effectively manipulate things
in your favor.
Meghan (05:04):
So what would you say have been your favorite online
sources in reading?
Brittany (05:09):
I would say Investopedia and NerdWallet are
my two top ones.
I do like to take ideas fromyou know people on Instagram, on
YouTube, tiktok, whatever yoursocial media platform is, but I
always take those with a grainof salt.
I always really like to go backto more or less the quote
(05:30):
unquote accredited websites thatare able to dumb it down in a
very simplified version.
Meghan (05:37):
I would say Brittany is definitely the smarter one on
this topic, but I do read theKiplinger letter.
It is forecasts for executivesand investors.
Every week I get a prettydialed down newsletter.
It's very helpful for me tohave education in this space.
It's really to the point,simple, but it's helping me
(05:58):
understand trends and makefinancial decisions, whether
it's on the real estate marketor if it's time for me to buy a
car or wait, and just reallywhat's happening in our economy
overall.
So that has definitely beenhelpful for me.
So, now that I'm literate, nowwhat I have a 401k I'm good
(06:20):
right.
Brittany (06:23):
You know, it really just depends and I hate that
answer, but it really, it,honestly it just depends.
It depends on what yourfinancial goals are, because
everyone's different.
You know some people are okay,you know working a nine to five
and retiring out of one company,or you know having a corporate
job and taking that route,that's fine.
If you want to build wealth,that's probably not the best
(06:47):
route because you want to havemultiple streams of income
coming in.
Because, for instance, if youget laid off of said corporate
job, then what?
You're on unemployment andhoping to find another job.
No one gets rich working a nineto five.
The smart people or wealthypeople have multiple streams
coming in.
(07:07):
So if one stream dies down,that's okay.
They got six others and maybe aseventh on the way or eighth on
the way to keep the cashflowcoming.
Cause, like you said earlierwith the Kiplinger letter,
there's trends in the market,right, so you know, maybe one
quarter real estate's doinggreat market right.
So you know, maybe one quarterreal estate's doing great.
You're getting money, you know,left and right with whatever
your long term rentals, airbnbs,whatever your flavor is in real
(07:29):
estate, and maybe it takes anosedive.
You know the next quarter, butyou have other investments or
other streams to offset the riskat the risk.
Meghan (07:47):
That's helpful.
So I really want to understandhow money moves and really
understand building the wealthand kind of the rules of the
system.
Right, there's just so manycaveats.
So, as you're thinking aboutthose multiple streams of income
and that retirement, what arethe ways that you really think
about your finances and how yourun them?
Brittany (08:07):
That's a good question , but essentially, what I like
to do is understand.
I like to compare it togambling, which take this with a
grain of salt, but it's reallyjust the concept and principle
behind gambling.
When you go to a casino,everyone knows the house always
wins, and in order to win thisis where it kind of gets
controversial with gamblingspecifically.
(08:28):
But you need to understand whatrules the house plays by, and
so what I mean by that in thehouse in this situation, is the
government or a lendinginstitution or whatever person
controls the money.
So, for example, there arecertain items that you can write
off on your taxes.
There are certain things thatyou can establish, you know, for
example, as a business.
(08:50):
Now I can see okay, you know, Ihave a car, can I use this for
my business?
Write it off where it benefitsboth the business and myself
personally.
What rules specifically arethey playing by and how can I
leverage, maybe borrowing, youknow, $10,000, or getting
$100,000 loan to make moreincome for myself?
(09:11):
So that's really what I mean byyou know, understanding the
rules, how money moves and howit works, so you can use them to
your favor, legally, of course,you know, I'm not saying go and
you know, commit white collarcrimes and you know all that.
But you always want to pay thehouse.
Pay, uncle Sam.
Don't be shady or try to cutcorners, because the IRS will
(09:31):
find you or revenue department.
Apparently they're packing thisyear, so Got it.
Meghan (09:39):
So I need to make sure I pay my taxes and be interested
in long-term gains, becauseshort-term wins are usually
going to bite me.
What other habits do you haveto build wealth?
Brittany (09:52):
Study wealthy people, their habits, how they operate,
and by doing so, you can beginto understand how they leverage
these rules in their favor.
I mean, everyone knows WarrenBuffett is like just like a
genius.
So when it comes to wealthbuilding, his model is very
simple he buys essentiallyboring, long term, sustainable
(10:14):
businesses.
It works for him, they'rerecession proof, it adds to his
portfolio and he always keepsthe original, I think, the
people that work there, becausethat's what his model is.
He's found a model that works.
So leveraging someone like him,how he operates, how he thinks,
could be very beneficial, andthen also automating your
(10:37):
finances.
Also automating your finances.
So what I like to do a lot ofpeople have impulse control but
is, if you get your paycheck,just already set your direct
deposits to go into yourspecific accounts, right, so you
have your investment account,checking account, your savings
account that's where you're nottempted like, oh great, I just
got you know paid $2,000 thisweek.
(10:59):
Let me go and YOLO it out, cheatmyself.
I'm going to go shopping spreeand do all this.
No, the money's already in theaccounts, so you don't even see
it, and then you can spendwhatever money you have left
over.
Meghan (11:10):
I had a cousin that used the envelope process.
Have you heard about it?
Brittany (11:15):
No, tell me more.
Meghan (11:16):
So she would pull out her whole paycheck, essentially,
and she'd put the money intolike physical different
envelopes that were labeled for,like travel food shopping.
They're probably hiddensomewhere, but this is
definitely pre-auto banking, butit worked for her.
Brittany (11:34):
Yeah, and that's great .
I love that because it's allabout building the habit and
having a positive relationshipwith money.
So, yeah, that's perfect.
You know, you just really haveto find what works for you and
what works, you know, for yourpersonality and your type of
spending habits.
I do want to say a word ofcaution when learning about
(11:54):
finances.
Online is a lot of financejourneys are just a snapshot of
their current state.
So you see people on Instagram,influencers, you know promoting
.
I just can guarantee you youknow XYZ returns flipping real
estate and all this other stuff,and that's great.
I'm sure they can do that.
I'm not downplaying that at all.
(12:14):
But just take it with a grainof salt because it's just a
snapshot in their current timeand they could have filmed that,
you know, at the height of, youknow, 2021, for example, when
real estate was just absolutelybooming, they did this amazing
flip.
But you know those economicconditions may not apply today.
So just kind of take whatthey're saying with the grain of
(12:36):
salt and just analyze it andstart asking yourself a couple
of questions before, a couplequestions before you kind of
just blindly follow these peopledown the road.
Meghan (12:45):
That's incredibly true.
It does not happen overnight.
It's a journey.
I have been trying to start myown business for years and I've
seen my friends get involved intheir own business.
It does not happen overnight.
You hear a lot of no's beforeyou get yeses and you put a lot
of energy in places promotingyour business before you figure
(13:07):
out which style works and getsthe attraction that you're
looking for.
It is just a lot of work handsdown.
Brittany (13:15):
It really is.
And you know everyone makes itlook so nice and shiny on the
outside because you know they'rereally happy for it.
They finally got to that pointwhere they're super successful.
But it's just, it's just notthe case.
Everyone has the struggle andit's just not a very you know
pretty picture that a lot ofpeople advertise because it's
also kind of boring too.
(13:35):
It's a lot of late nights, it's.
You know, sometimes I'm justgoing to cry for 10 minutes and
then pick myself up and move onLike we've all been there.
But on a serious note, if you'reinterested in gaining financial
literacy, check out my ebookEverything you Wish you Learned
in School, but obviously didn't,because you know we were kind
(13:56):
of just spewed out in the world.
But I really wrote this bookbecause I didn't, because you
know we were kind of just spewedout in the world.
But I really wrote this bookbecause I didn't get into
finances until I was a littlebit older.
I had some basic understanding,but I came from a very, very
conservative, risk-adverse,middle-class family.
They were second generation, soyou know they were just getting
(14:17):
out of that survival mode.
They weren't really in thethriving area in terms of the
Maslow's hierarchy and needs Iwas talking about earlier, but
they built the foundation for me.
So my mindset changed a lot,understanding where they came
from and now taking a step backto where I want to be and what I
can do to advance myself and myfamily generations to come.
(14:39):
So that was one of the reasonswhy I wrote the book was to help
people like me and other peoplestart earlier in life, because
the earlier you get started, themore time you have to make that
money.
Meghan (14:53):
I think that's great.
So I think, too, it's also agood segue to our next topic.
We want to talk a little bitabout buying assets and
leveraging assets to buy assetsand connecting it to what
Brittany was just saying.
She's talking about startingearly and that helps you build
that wealth.
So you know, let's talk aboutit, Jump in.
(15:15):
How do you buy assets?
Brittany (15:22):
about it.
Jump in.
How do you buy assets?
So look, if I stuff $100 undermy mattress or in a savings
account that yields 0.0000005%order, the banks are offering
fucking annually.
I'm losing my money every day.
That little soldier isn't outthere recruiting more soldiers
like hands down.
Meghan (15:36):
I love it.
So why are you losing money?
Tell us the details.
Brittany (15:42):
So it's this subtle not so subtle thing we like to
call inflation.
You know, fucking inflation.
Meghan (15:48):
Oh my gosh, can you believe avocados are like $3 per
avocado?
I don't know who's buying freshavocados in this economy.
Brittany (15:59):
The guac is definitely extra, extra this time.
Absolutely, but exactly so.
This is why it's so importantto buy assets a lot as much as
you can, and this is what I wasmentioning earlier about
understanding the rules and howmoney moves.
So you don't need to come from awealthy family to do this.
It's really simple and a lot ofpeople kind of just
(16:23):
overcomplicate it.
It really doesn't need to beovercomplicated, but it's what I
like to what I've coinedcreative financing.
So here's just one example, andit's pretty common among real
estate investors, so I'm notreinventing the wheel here.
So I brought a modest firsthome at a good price.
I bought it.
It wasn't intended to be myforever home.
(16:45):
I didn't go above my pricerange.
I could have bought somethingthat was a lot more expensive.
Very nice, very whatever.
Meghan (16:55):
But I didn't.
Brittany (16:56):
I stood towards the middle to lower end of my budget
.
I ended up moving out of it andthen renting it.
I didn't you know like I stoodtowards, like the middle to
lower end of my budget.
Um, I ended up moving out of itand then renting it.
I didn't sell it.
I could have sold it.
But you know, whatever, Iwanted some extra income, but in
the past five years it'sappreciated 62% and it's making
me almost a hundred thousanddollars in just rental income
(17:17):
over the last three years sinceI started renting it out.
Damn.
Now here's where the fun begins.
Meghan (17:22):
What?
It already sounded fun.
To me it already sounded fun.
Brittany (17:28):
I can take a portion of that 62% of appreciation or
equity out and I don't get taxedon my profits and I can put
that oh I'm sorry, I can take itout and buy another property
with it with the equity, or Ican do a 1031 exchange.
So essentially I don't gettaxed on my rental property, the
profits I got on it, and I canput it in the 1031 exchange and
(17:52):
then put that money down onsomething else.
So since it appreciated now toalmost 700,000, I paid the first
loan off, keep the differenceand now I could put that down on
another property.
Same scenario, differentapproaches, just based on your
goals.
Meghan (18:07):
I love that you brought this up.
I've never seen myself assomeone who could own a home by
myself, let alone two, but it'shappening.
Brittany (18:17):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you.
I can't wait.
So I'm just curious.
There's a thousand ways to doit, but how did you end up
funding your second homepurchase and what are your plans
for the property?
Meghan (18:27):
Yeah, so my first house gained a hundred K in equity in
one year, and so, rather thanjust sit on the equity, like you
said, make those soldiers workfor me I decided to use it.
So I'm taking a home equityline, so I'm borrowing on the
profit or the equity to get adown payment for the second
house, and I'm going to use thesecond house as an Airbnb,
(18:49):
creating that second source ofincome you were talking about
earlier.
Brittany (18:53):
Oh my gosh, that's perfect.
That's perfect.
I love it.
I love like hearing what otherpeople are doing, because it's
essentially just it's nothingnew, right?
It's just how differentstrategies and how they work,
and I think that's a reallygreat segue into good debt
versus bad debt too, becausethere's this connotation that
(19:13):
you know, all debt is bad.
That was the belief I hadgrowing up.
You don't want to have creditcard debt, mortgage debt, any
sort of debt, but there's adifference in debt.
There's good debt, there's baddebt.
Bad debt, I would say, isanything related to consumer
debt.
So credit cards, if you'rebuying clothes, going on fancy
trips, just luxury or nice, tohave items where good debt is
(19:37):
buying assets, because thatmoney pays you back eventually,
whether through appreciation,cash flow, whatever.
Meghan (19:47):
I would say that you know talking about good debt
versus bad debt.
You know I've done some 401kloans before and so 401k I have
set up.
I had some debt on a creditcard that just kind of kept
gaining interest.
I wanted just to pay it off andmake progress on that debt and
so what I did was I took a 401kloan, paid off the credit card
(20:11):
debt and now I'm paying theinterest but it's going into my
401k, so I'm going to get theinterest at some point when I
retire.
I wouldn't do it all the timeand I would be cognizant of
changing jobs because that canaffect your 401k loans.
But if you feel very safe inyour job and you don't think
(20:31):
that it's going to change for awhile, sometimes it may be
helpful to do a 401k loan tohelp you get out of that bad
debt.
Brittany (20:39):
Yeah, and that's perfect too, because you know,
say, you're going to go buysomething else later, whether
it's a business or another realestate investment.
You also need to look to whatthe mortgage companies are
looking.
They're going to weigh yourcredit card debt a lot more
heavily than a 401k loan becausein their eyes it's not
considered a loan you'reborrowing from yourself.
So now that you've gotten ridof that credit card debt, you're
(21:02):
looking a lot better to amortgage company or another
lender.
So I'm honestly curious to hearfrom the audience and y'all's
perspective in terms of finances, wealth building.
Feel free to DM me, megan us,our Instagram directly or
comment on us on our posts.
Meghan (21:22):
I would say DM her probably not me.
Brittany (21:24):
She'll probably just give you a sassy, sarcastic
answer.
Meghan (21:29):
You'll get a gif back.
Well, I really wish I wouldhave brought a drink to this
conversation.
I'm going to like log off andgo get my post drink.
Math has always been mystruggle.
If you ask my dad about usfighting over multiplication
tables, he will have stories foryou.
He made so many worksheets andhe was like doing them by hand
(21:52):
and like photocopying them.
I can like picture them in myhead after all these years.
So, that said, let's sum it upBritt All right.
Brittany (22:03):
So to summarize everything we talked about
number one educate yourself.
I have a book, but there'sother resources out there.
The book doesn't guarantee anyreturns, it's simply just
educational purposes.
Two get multiple streams ofincome.
What I mean by that is assets,so house, cryptocurrency, buying
businesses, whatever yourflavor is get a mix of those.
(22:25):
And three invest in long-termsolid assets, so real estate is
a good one.
I think that would probably bea good long-term asset or any
sort of boring business that'smore like recession-proof.
You'll be good to go.
Meghan (22:41):
Perfect.
Well, thank you all for joiningus today.
We would love to hear from you,so please reach out, get a hold
of us and follow our socialmedia.
We would love to have youinvolved, so your input is
requested.
Thanks for joining us today.
Welcome to Fearlessly Female, where two blondes make a
right.
We're Brittany and Megan, thehosts of Fearlessly Female.
This podcast was born out ofambition, drive and a lot of
wine.
We're two powerhouse comedicwomen having uncensored
conversations about topics thataffect women.
We're airing all the dirtylaundry, so grab your favorite
drink and give us a listen.
Meghan (00:29):
Today's podcast is Assets, not Asses Creating
Lasting Green and BuildingWealth Damn I love this topic.
Brittany (00:36):
It gets my juices flowing.
Meghan (00:40):
Also disclaimer please consult with a certified
accountant or financial advisor.
Aka, do not sue us, okay,Brittany DISH, the secret sauce
on how you become rich.
Brittany (00:57):
Well, first you want to go to your local 7-Eleven,
get a scratcher and play thelottery.
Meghan (01:03):
You're right.
Let me rephrase the questionhow do you become wealthy?
Brittany (01:09):
There we go.
That's a good question.
Become financially literate.
I would say, educate yourselfon the basics, the basic
financial skills, and be able toput them into practice.
It can be really challengingbecause this is not something
that we're taught in schoolpractice.
It can be really challengingbecause this is not something
that we're taught in school andyou know we go 17 years, 18
(01:34):
years, through high school andthen kind of spewed out into the
world to go and figure it out,go forth and conquer it, but no
one actually sits down to teachyou how to balance a checkbook
if we're still doing that, howto you know, apply for a credit
card, what to look for, how tomanage money, and it's kind of
taught through this whole tribalknowledge situation.
But nowadays, I would say, youknow, we really don't have
(01:55):
excuses anymore.
We're not in the position thatour parents were in, we're
grandparents, where you have to,you know, get on a bus or a
little horse and buggy and godown to the local library to
grab an encyclopedia and hopethat that book isn't checked out
, like we have everything at ourfingertips right now.
They can just go online, googleit.
You know, there's someone hasdone the research.
(02:17):
It's all about taking theinitiative and going out there
and finding the answers.
Meghan (02:23):
I used to always say that they needed that class in
high school for skills.
Exactly what you're talkingabout balancing a checkbook
though I'm sure our audiencedoesn't even know what that is
but things like renting anapartment and how to get back
your security deposit all thereal life stuff that is
connected to being wealthy, orfinancial literacy, but we've
(02:46):
been throwing this term aroundfinancial literacy pretty
loosely, so I know it's been arecent topic of discussion this
year, with some states nowmandating it as part of
curriculum For our listeners.
What do you mean by financialliteracy?
What are the topics?
What do you mean by financialliteracy?
Brittany (03:05):
What are the topics?
So the way I like to look at itis similar to Maslow's
hierarchy of needs.
Right, you have your basefoundation, and then, as you go
up the pyramid, you get toself-realization, actualization,
whatever he's preaching, butessentially the way that
financial literacy and becomingwealthy is very similar, right.
So you have your pyramid andyou have the base.
(03:26):
So the base you can think ofcreating a budget, creating a
savings account, having anemergency fund, stuff like that.
And then you start to build upunderstanding stocks, bonds what
is it?
Etfs, making an investment planand then, as you're building up
(03:48):
, getting into real estate.
But essentially you want to getout of that survival mode of
living paycheck to paycheck.
And by doing that is reallyjust building the foundation and
creating the budget.
You're not going to be richjust by saving your pennies away
.
You need to understand, next,how to make your money work for
you.
So understanding money, howmoney moves, the rules to
(04:11):
continue up to that pyramid.
Meghan (04:14):
And we're going to cover all of that in this podcast.
Someone had their wheeze thismorning.
Do you have a recommendationfor understanding all of that?
Garbly gook, you just said.
Brittany (04:27):
I would say learn, read research, watch videos.
Like I said before, we're justat a very interesting point in
our society where you don't haveto go down to the library to
you know, look at theencyclopedia and read all about
it.
You can watch videos on YouTube.
There's people on Instagram.
Everything that's out there hasalready been done for the most
(04:50):
part, and it's really just abouttaking the initiative and going
out to learn about it.
How money moves, how it works,what rules you need to play by
is really the secret to be ableto effectively manipulate things
in your favor.
Meghan (05:04):
So what would you say have been your favorite online
sources in reading?
Brittany (05:09):
I would say Investopedia and NerdWallet are
my two top ones.
I do like to take ideas fromyou know people on Instagram, on
YouTube, tiktok, whatever yoursocial media platform is, but I
always take those with a grainof salt.
I always really like to go backto more or less the quote
(05:30):
unquote accredited websites thatare able to dumb it down in a
very simplified version.
Meghan (05:37):
I would say Brittany is definitely the smarter one on
this topic, but I do read theKiplinger letter.
It is forecasts for executivesand investors.
Every week I get a prettydialed down newsletter.
It's very helpful for me tohave education in this space.
It's really to the point,simple, but it's helping me
(05:58):
understand trends and makefinancial decisions, whether
it's on the real estate marketor if it's time for me to buy a
car or wait, and just reallywhat's happening in our economy
overall.
So that has definitely beenhelpful for me.
So, now that I'm literate, nowwhat I have a 401k I'm good
(06:20):
right.
Brittany (06:23):
You know, it really just depends and I hate that
answer, but it really, it,honestly it just depends.
It depends on what yourfinancial goals are, because
everyone's different.
You know some people are okay,you know working a nine to five
and retiring out of one company,or you know having a corporate
job and taking that route,that's fine.
If you want to build wealth,that's probably not the best
(06:47):
route because you want to havemultiple streams of income
coming in.
Because, for instance, if youget laid off of said corporate
job, then what?
You're on unemployment andhoping to find another job.
No one gets rich working a nineto five.
The smart people or wealthypeople have multiple streams
coming in.
(07:07):
So if one stream dies down,that's okay.
They got six others and maybe aseventh on the way or eighth on
the way to keep the cashflowcoming.
Cause, like you said earlierwith the Kiplinger letter,
there's trends in the market,right, so you know, maybe one
quarter real estate's doinggreat market right.
So you know, maybe one quarterreal estate's doing great.
You're getting money, you know,left and right with whatever
your long term rentals, airbnbs,whatever your flavor is in real
(07:29):
estate, and maybe it takes anosedive.
You know the next quarter, butyou have other investments or
other streams to offset the riskat the risk.
Meghan (07:47):
That's helpful.
So I really want to understandhow money moves and really
understand building the wealthand kind of the rules of the
system.
Right, there's just so manycaveats.
So, as you're thinking aboutthose multiple streams of income
and that retirement, what arethe ways that you really think
about your finances and how yourun them?
Brittany (08:07):
That's a good question , but essentially, what I like
to do is understand.
I like to compare it togambling, which take this with a
grain of salt, but it's reallyjust the concept and principle
behind gambling.
When you go to a casino,everyone knows the house always
wins, and in order to win thisis where it kind of gets
controversial with gamblingspecifically.
(08:28):
But you need to understand whatrules the house plays by, and
so what I mean by that in thehouse in this situation, is the
government or a lendinginstitution or whatever person
controls the money.
So, for example, there arecertain items that you can write
off on your taxes.
There are certain things thatyou can establish, you know, for
example, as a business.
(08:50):
Now I can see okay, you know, Ihave a car, can I use this for
my business?
Write it off where it benefitsboth the business and myself
personally.
What rules specifically arethey playing by and how can I
leverage, maybe borrowing, youknow, $10,000, or getting
$100,000 loan to make moreincome for myself?
(09:11):
So that's really what I mean byyou know, understanding the
rules, how money moves and howit works, so you can use them to
your favor, legally, of course,you know, I'm not saying go and
you know, commit white collarcrimes and you know all that.
But you always want to pay thehouse.
Pay, uncle Sam.
Don't be shady or try to cutcorners, because the IRS will
(09:31):
find you or revenue department.
Apparently they're packing thisyear, so Got it.
Meghan (09:39):
So I need to make sure I pay my taxes and be interested
in long-term gains, becauseshort-term wins are usually
going to bite me.
What other habits do you haveto build wealth?
Brittany (09:52):
Study wealthy people, their habits, how they operate,
and by doing so, you can beginto understand how they leverage
these rules in their favor.
I mean, everyone knows WarrenBuffett is like just like a
genius.
So when it comes to wealthbuilding, his model is very
simple he buys essentiallyboring, long term, sustainable
(10:14):
businesses.
It works for him, they'rerecession proof, it adds to his
portfolio and he always keepsthe original, I think, the
people that work there, becausethat's what his model is.
He's found a model that works.
So leveraging someone like him,how he operates, how he thinks,
could be very beneficial, andthen also automating your
(10:37):
finances.
Also automating your finances.
So what I like to do a lot ofpeople have impulse control but
is, if you get your paycheck,just already set your direct
deposits to go into yourspecific accounts, right, so you
have your investment account,checking account, your savings
account that's where you're nottempted like, oh great, I just
got you know paid $2,000 thisweek.
(10:59):
Let me go and YOLO it out, cheatmyself.
I'm going to go shopping spreeand do all this.
No, the money's already in theaccounts, so you don't even see
it, and then you can spendwhatever money you have left
over.
Meghan (11:10):
I had a cousin that used the envelope process.
Have you heard about it?
Brittany (11:15):
No, tell me more.
Meghan (11:16):
So she would pull out her whole paycheck, essentially,
and she'd put the money intolike physical different
envelopes that were labeled for,like travel food shopping.
They're probably hiddensomewhere, but this is
definitely pre-auto banking, butit worked for her.
Brittany (11:34):
Yeah, and that's great .
I love that because it's allabout building the habit and
having a positive relationshipwith money.
So, yeah, that's perfect.
You know, you just really haveto find what works for you and
what works, you know, for yourpersonality and your type of
spending habits.
I do want to say a word ofcaution when learning about
(11:54):
finances.
Online is a lot of financejourneys are just a snapshot of
their current state.
So you see people on Instagram,influencers, you know promoting
.
I just can guarantee you youknow XYZ returns flipping real
estate and all this other stuff,and that's great.
I'm sure they can do that.
I'm not downplaying that at all.
(12:14):
But just take it with a grainof salt because it's just a
snapshot in their current timeand they could have filmed that,
you know, at the height of, youknow, 2021, for example, when
real estate was just absolutelybooming, they did this amazing
flip.
But you know those economicconditions may not apply today.
So just kind of take whatthey're saying with the grain of
(12:36):
salt and just analyze it andstart asking yourself a couple
of questions before, a couplequestions before you kind of
just blindly follow these peopledown the road.
Meghan (12:45):
That's incredibly true.
It does not happen overnight.
It's a journey.
I have been trying to start myown business for years and I've
seen my friends get involved intheir own business.
It does not happen overnight.
You hear a lot of no's beforeyou get yeses and you put a lot
of energy in places promotingyour business before you figure
(13:07):
out which style works and getsthe attraction that you're
looking for.
It is just a lot of work handsdown.
Brittany (13:15):
It really is.
And you know everyone makes itlook so nice and shiny on the
outside because you know they'rereally happy for it.
They finally got to that pointwhere they're super successful.
But it's just, it's just notthe case.
Everyone has the struggle andit's just not a very you know
pretty picture that a lot ofpeople advertise because it's
also kind of boring too.
(13:35):
It's a lot of late nights, it's.
You know, sometimes I'm justgoing to cry for 10 minutes and
then pick myself up and move onLike we've all been there.
But on a serious note, if you'reinterested in gaining financial
literacy, check out my ebookEverything you Wish you Learned
in School, but obviously didn't,because you know we were kind
(13:56):
of just spewed out in the world.
But I really wrote this bookbecause I didn't, because you
know we were kind of just spewedout in the world.
But I really wrote this bookbecause I didn't get into
finances until I was a littlebit older.
I had some basic understanding,but I came from a very, very
conservative, risk-adverse,middle-class family.
They were second generation, soyou know they were just getting
(14:17):
out of that survival mode.
They weren't really in thethriving area in terms of the
Maslow's hierarchy and needs Iwas talking about earlier, but
they built the foundation for me.
So my mindset changed a lot,understanding where they came
from and now taking a step backto where I want to be and what I
can do to advance myself and myfamily generations to come.
(14:39):
So that was one of the reasonswhy I wrote the book was to help
people like me and other peoplestart earlier in life, because
the earlier you get started, themore time you have to make that
money.
Meghan (14:53):
I think that's great.
So I think, too, it's also agood segue to our next topic.
We want to talk a little bitabout buying assets and
leveraging assets to buy assetsand connecting it to what
Brittany was just saying.
She's talking about startingearly and that helps you build
that wealth.
So you know, let's talk aboutit, Jump in.
(15:15):
How do you buy assets?
Brittany (15:22):
about it.
Jump in.
How do you buy assets?
So look, if I stuff $100 undermy mattress or in a savings
account that yields 0.0000005%order, the banks are offering
fucking annually.
I'm losing my money every day.
That little soldier isn't outthere recruiting more soldiers
like hands down.
Meghan (15:36):
I love it.
So why are you losing money?
Tell us the details.
Brittany (15:42):
So it's this subtle not so subtle thing we like to
call inflation.
You know, fucking inflation.
Meghan (15:48):
Oh my gosh, can you believe avocados are like $3 per
avocado?
I don't know who's buying freshavocados in this economy.
Brittany (15:59):
The guac is definitely extra, extra this time.
Absolutely, but exactly so.
This is why it's so importantto buy assets a lot as much as
you can, and this is what I wasmentioning earlier about
understanding the rules and howmoney moves.
So you don't need to come from awealthy family to do this.
It's really simple and a lot ofpeople kind of just
(16:23):
overcomplicate it.
It really doesn't need to beovercomplicated, but it's what I
like to what I've coinedcreative financing.
So here's just one example, andit's pretty common among real
estate investors, so I'm notreinventing the wheel here.
So I brought a modest firsthome at a good price.
I bought it.
It wasn't intended to be myforever home.
(16:45):
I didn't go above my pricerange.
I could have bought somethingthat was a lot more expensive.
Very nice, very whatever.
Meghan (16:55):
But I didn't.
Brittany (16:56):
I stood towards the middle to lower end of my budget
.
I ended up moving out of it andthen renting it.
I didn't you know like I stoodtowards, like the middle to
lower end of my budget.
Um, I ended up moving out of itand then renting it.
I didn't sell it.
I could have sold it.
But you know, whatever, Iwanted some extra income, but in
the past five years it'sappreciated 62% and it's making
me almost a hundred thousanddollars in just rental income
(17:17):
over the last three years sinceI started renting it out.
Damn.
Now here's where the fun begins.
Meghan (17:22):
What?
It already sounded fun.
To me it already sounded fun.
Brittany (17:28):
I can take a portion of that 62% of appreciation or
equity out and I don't get taxedon my profits and I can put
that oh I'm sorry, I can take itout and buy another property
with it with the equity, or Ican do a 1031 exchange.
So essentially I don't gettaxed on my rental property, the
profits I got on it, and I canput it in the 1031 exchange and
(17:52):
then put that money down onsomething else.
So since it appreciated now toalmost 700,000, I paid the first
loan off, keep the differenceand now I could put that down on
another property.
Same scenario, differentapproaches, just based on your
goals.
Meghan (18:07):
I love that you brought this up.
I've never seen myself assomeone who could own a home by
myself, let alone two, but it'shappening.
Brittany (18:17):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for you.
I can't wait.
So I'm just curious.
There's a thousand ways to doit, but how did you end up
funding your second homepurchase and what are your plans
for the property?
Meghan (18:27):
Yeah, so my first house gained a hundred K in equity in
one year, and so, rather thanjust sit on the equity, like you
said, make those soldiers workfor me I decided to use it.
So I'm taking a home equityline, so I'm borrowing on the
profit or the equity to get adown payment for the second
house, and I'm going to use thesecond house as an Airbnb,
(18:49):
creating that second source ofincome you were talking about
earlier.
Brittany (18:53):
Oh my gosh, that's perfect.
That's perfect.
I love it.
I love like hearing what otherpeople are doing, because it's
essentially just it's nothingnew, right?
It's just how differentstrategies and how they work,
and I think that's a reallygreat segue into good debt
versus bad debt too, becausethere's this connotation that
(19:13):
you know, all debt is bad.
That was the belief I hadgrowing up.
You don't want to have creditcard debt, mortgage debt, any
sort of debt, but there's adifference in debt.
There's good debt, there's baddebt.
Bad debt, I would say, isanything related to consumer
debt.
So credit cards, if you'rebuying clothes, going on fancy
trips, just luxury or nice, tohave items where good debt is
(19:37):
buying assets, because thatmoney pays you back eventually,
whether through appreciation,cash flow, whatever.
Meghan (19:47):
I would say that you know talking about good debt
versus bad debt.
You know I've done some 401kloans before and so 401k I have
set up.
I had some debt on a creditcard that just kind of kept
gaining interest.
I wanted just to pay it off andmake progress on that debt and
so what I did was I took a 401kloan, paid off the credit card
(20:11):
debt and now I'm paying theinterest but it's going into my
401k, so I'm going to get theinterest at some point when I
retire.
I wouldn't do it all the timeand I would be cognizant of
changing jobs because that canaffect your 401k loans.
But if you feel very safe inyour job and you don't think
(20:31):
that it's going to change for awhile, sometimes it may be
helpful to do a 401k loan tohelp you get out of that bad
debt.
Brittany (20:39):
Yeah, and that's perfect too, because you know,
say, you're going to go buysomething else later, whether
it's a business or another realestate investment.
You also need to look to whatthe mortgage companies are
looking.
They're going to weigh yourcredit card debt a lot more
heavily than a 401k loan becausein their eyes it's not
considered a loan you'reborrowing from yourself.
So now that you've gotten ridof that credit card debt, you're
(21:02):
looking a lot better to amortgage company or another
lender.
So I'm honestly curious to hearfrom the audience and y'all's
perspective in terms of finances, wealth building.
Feel free to DM me, megan us,our Instagram directly or
comment on us on our posts.
Meghan (21:22):
I would say DM her probably not me.
Brittany (21:24):
She'll probably just give you a sassy, sarcastic
answer.
Meghan (21:29):
You'll get a gif back.
Well, I really wish I wouldhave brought a drink to this
conversation.
I'm going to like log off andgo get my post drink.
Math has always been mystruggle.
If you ask my dad about usfighting over multiplication
tables, he will have stories foryou.
He made so many worksheets andhe was like doing them by hand
(21:52):
and like photocopying them.
I can like picture them in myhead after all these years.
So, that said, let's sum it upBritt All right.
Brittany (22:03):
So to summarize everything we talked about
number one educate yourself.
I have a book, but there'sother resources out there.
The book doesn't guarantee anyreturns, it's simply just
educational purposes.
Two get multiple streams ofincome.
What I mean by that is assets,so house, cryptocurrency, buying
businesses, whatever yourflavor is get a mix of those.
(22:25):
And three invest in long-termsolid assets, so real estate is
a good one.
I think that would probably bea good long-term asset or any
sort of boring business that'smore like recession-proof.
You'll be good to go.
Meghan (22:41):
Perfect.
Well, thank you all for joiningus today.
We would love to hear from you,so please reach out, get a hold
of us and follow our socialmedia.
We would love to have youinvolved, so your input is
requested.
Thanks for joining us today.
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