[Music] all right BR so now let's talk about attitude right because we talk about all the time our folks have mutant mindsets and it's that mutant mindset that actually gets you to millionaire status. But when we think about millionaires, what do we think their attitude towards money is? Well, generally speaking, millionaires, they're greedy. Well, this is ebane, are they're stingy. They're stressed about money all the time and they don't have enough. They don't know what enough is and they want to build wealth just so they can do uh what was it Scrooge McDuck who was doing like the back pedal through uh through all the coins and stuff. That's our perception. All of those things lean heavily into what I consider Financial misers. Financial mutants are not misers. We actually know the value of our time. We know the value of building memories. So we wanted to show you what's the reality of what our clients when they look at their money, they look at their time. What does that show? Yeah, the reality is that

85% of our clients are actually Optimist. They believe that things are generally better more than they are worse. The future is brighter more so than darker. They have a positive outlook. They also say that they're not stressed about money. That doesn't mean that they've solved all of their money problems, but our clients recognize they have a plan in place. They are executing that plan, and they are moving towards common goals. And because they know that they have a plan that they are continue to execute, they don't have to feel that same level of stress, that same level of Burden that we see so of often associated with money. Yeah, I think it's I wanted to lean into on that Optimist because I I like to self-describe myself as an optimist. I really do believe that's why I always say take a little bit today for that great big beautiful tomorrow. When you contrast that with the general public, 53% classify themselves as pessimists, and that makes me sad because that is the the opposite of what we're seeing.

from our clients. So, I would challenge you to think about your mindset or your perspective, because you control that. And so, you know how you're using money as a tool. And by the way, yes, there is only 25% of our clients. I think this is something where we all kind of downplay our situation, say, classify themselves as wealthy. However, 75% do say exactly what you said. They're not stressed. These things are important to repeat because it lets you know that yes, money can. It's not going to be the why of your life because it is only a tool, but is definitely going to give you some facets to where you can enjoy it or lean into what you really do purpose into finding that purpose is great because what they recognize is that money is just a tool and it's used by our millionaires by our clients that way. Money in itself is not the goal, it's the tool. So, we asked him the question, hey, have you recognized that money is a tool? What's it help you?

do what are some of the outcomes that your money allows you to achieve and these were pretty exciting so the first one they said that money allows us to prioritize family and we have some direct quotes here's one uh aggressively saving live by your means so that you can have a stay-at-home spouse or so you can both work part-time to spend more time with kids one of our folks said that's what money allows them to do how about IVF a lot of a lot of a lot of our clients have used or a few I should say when they responded one their favorite thing they use money as a tool they were actually because they had difficulty in in growing their family they were actually able to pay for or have the option of paying for that those higher treatments so they could grow their family create their own legacy from that how about this one because of the hard work I did in my 20s or 30s now in my late 40s I have the freedom to spend additional time with my wife with my

kids with my aging parents and with all my other loved ones because I get to own my time because of the decision I made. That's how money can be a tool. Another thing they said when they thought about how money was a tool is that they used it specifically for security and for Peace of Mind. Here's a quote: It's nice to not stress about the little things, and at this point in our financial Journey, we can see the results of saving so much so young. It's a great feeling, awesome. Remember how I talk about your older self is going to give you that big hug and probably even put some stains from their sloppy tears of happiness that they're going to put on you. That is when I read a quote like that, that's the visual I get in my head. They're so happy of those sacrifices, that discipline, and deferred gratification from their younger selves. It is bearing fruit now. This one says, You know what money did for me? Money gave me peace of mind, which is priceless.

money was able to provide something that money cannot buy. Another thing when we ask, okay, what's a way that we use money as a tool, they said it's Freedom. When I think about money and what it allows me to do, it gives me Freedom. Yeah, no longer pinching pennies. I recognize that I traded in my tight wallet years ago. And I think it is because of those sacrifices in the early years that allowed that. And how about making decisions based upon want, not need? Because think when I think about my blossoming or bedazzling my basic life. I've done some trips on the cheap, but I think back and they still have a very special place in my heart. But now I look at the way we travel and we make memories. It's completely different because that discipline I did years ago has now Beed enough fruit that I can do discipline in a completely different way where it actually I get to do the nicer things. I love it. You talk about those blossoming memories. One of the things

that our millionaire said in their responses is that money as a tool allowed them to have experiences. One said, It allowed me to have a career hiatus for 3 years to do passion projects. I was able to step away from the workforce for 36 months because of the decisions I made, so that I could focus on my passions before going back to the workforce. Money was a tool that allowed them to do that very thing. How about this is another one I love, because it could be family, it could be friends, paying for a big trip and then also covering friends' tickets so they could come too. That's awesome. I mean, that is a generosity to build those bonding memories even if your friends or family don't have the resources to do it. I love, and that was the last one, they said, Is money is a tool. What it's allowed me to do is, it's allowed me to be more generous. I can be generous to people in need. I can donate to important causes that I care about or

even if I have aging family, and I have members of my family that need help, I can lean into that. I can use money as a mechanism to support and provide assistance. Whereas if I did not have money, if I did not make the decisions I made, I would not be able to do this. These are all beautiful. These are all ways that people recognize that money's just the tool. It's the method. It's the mechanism to allow us to focus on those things in life that we truly value, those things in life that we truly truly care about. Yeah, and I'm hoping people recognize there's a reason we're always holding up the financial order of operations. If you go to money go.com resources, we want to help you accelerate or know what to do with your next dollar. But a key thing that kept coming up with our survey is that people kind of figured out at a pretty young age, or really it doesn't have to be just young, that is the ideal, but we did find that discovering when you actually discovered

your money could work just as hard as you can, with your back, your brain, and your hands. It's a very important thing, but it did have some varied answers. Yeah, they got serious about the money. This was the question we asked: Hey, when did you start taking it seriously? When did the light bulb go off for you that taking money seriously can have a huge impact on you? Now, 31% of our folks, our financial mutants, said it was before 24, so like they got it prior, easy, that was the easy path. But then 25% said, you know, it really wasn't until my late 20s. Listen to this, 32% of our respondents said it was in their 30s, so now we're in the messy middle when it finally took hold, when it finally clicked, when it finally made sense. And then even 12% of our millionaires that are millionaires today said, I didn't actually figure it out until my 40s, but I figured it out and I was able to make very difficult decisions and I was able to move because.

I still had time to work towards millionaire status. The takeaway from this is that no matter where you are, it's not too late. It's not too late to start taking it seriously today, but don't wait another day. Make sure you prioritize getting serious today. And I think because we get excited about building your army of dollars, letting it work as hard as it can, but you still have to have emergency reserves. So we want to know how many of our millionaires really do prioritize because remember the foo has two cash steps. It's number step one, which is highest deductibles covered, and then step four, which is your emergency reserves of 3 to 6 months. When we asked our clients how many of them had emergency reserves and for how long, look at how big the reserves were. So 14% said 3 months or less, that's 14% of folks that our would argue still need to work on that, but 39% of our respondents said they have four to 6 months. 14% said 7

to 9 months. 18% said 10 to 17 months, and 16% of our respondents said they had over 18 months of emergency reserves built out. Now, these are millionaires. Some of them are retired, some of them are nearing retirement, some of them are still in the accumulation phase. What they recognize though, is that emergency reserves are the oxygen that you need when you need it the most, and they take it seriously. So, they prioritized having it in place. Yeah, I mean, I think it's pretty telling that 86% really are practicing that 3 to 6 months and beyond, so that's pretty powerful. And then we often talk about, remember, in part of the financial order of operations, we talk about step two, get that free money from your employer. It did not surprise me at all to kind of hear that echo, that confirmation once again, that our clients, our millionaires, are utilizing those tax advantage accounts. This was the majority of our millionaires reached seven-figure status in their 401(k)s first. It's why, it's why

the foo is so beautiful because if you follow the financial order of operations, it naturally forces you to do this. You get your employer match, and then you work through the other steps. And then you do your Roth IRA, and then you do your HSA, and then you do your employer sponsor. All those are tax-incentivized savings vehicles, and if you're taking advantage of those, not only are you Building Wealth, You're Building Wealth in a very effective and efficient Manner, and you'll be amazed at how easy it can be or how simple it can be if you'll just take the steps to follow the foo early on. I think it's important to give our respondents, our millionaires, the last words in today's show, and so we did ask them a question. He said, What would you tell your younger self or what's the top advice that you could pay it forward? Listen to this, save early and often, automate. How often have you heard me that make your wealth inevitable, make those good habits as easy as possible, have confidence in your plan, don't be

afraid to seek help. I like that. That sounds like graduating through the Abundant cycle and taking the relationship to the next level. Avoid debt and beware of Lifestyle creep. That's great. Don't let your lifestyle outpace where you are. Give it time. Don't use debt as a bridge. I also said know your why so that the money is not empty. Understand why you're doing what you are doing so that when you get to the end of your journey, you look back and you say, Man, that was an awesome path. And they said, choose your partner wisely. Make sure you understand the person or the people that you're going to go through life with, whether it be your spouse, whether it be business partners, whether it be colleagues, whether it be co-workers. Make sure you understand the people you spend this life with matter, so make sure you make wise choices with who you're surrounding yourself with.

The Millionaire's Perspective on Money (And What You Can Learn)

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