Order of Man - How Inflation, Scarcity, and Vanity Destroy Your Wealth ｜ ASK ME ANYTHING

00:00:00.000 This is the most important question you can ask yourself around this subject.

00:00:03.920 Do I believe in myself or not?

00:00:06.140 And what you ought to be doing every day is proving why you should believe in yourself.

00:00:11.560 Am I disciplined with my money?

00:00:13.160 And when you start stacking wins on things that are seemingly unrelated,

00:00:17.800 then when you get to that question where it becomes a big investment

00:00:20.600 or something you're excited about or you're willing to take a risk,

00:00:24.340 you can answer yourself, yes, I believe in myself.

00:00:26.860 Because look at what I'm capable of doing.

00:00:30.000 Kip, what's up, man?

00:00:32.860 Great to see you this week.

00:00:33.820 Looking forward to a conversation about all things money-related today.

00:00:38.520 Did I talk with you about the number one most pressing issues

00:00:41.840 that our guys in the Iron Council and Order of Man are dealing with?

00:00:45.640 Have I talked with you about that recently?

00:00:47.040 Uh-uh.

00:00:48.500 If you had to guess, what do you think it would be?

00:00:51.820 If you had to guess.

00:00:53.000 The top things guys are dealing with?

00:00:55.380 I would say.

00:00:56.600 Top one, two things.

00:00:57.400 Relationships with spouses and parenting.

00:01:03.860 It's, that's what I would have thought.

00:01:05.560 Maybe not the parenting, but definitely relationship with spouse.

00:01:08.940 Yeah.

00:01:09.620 And that's third or fourth.

00:01:11.240 Number one, financial issues.

00:01:13.940 Hmm.

00:01:14.260 And this is probably close to about 600, if I had to guess, 600 respondents between various

00:01:24.080 social media platforms.

00:01:25.060 And their number one issue right now is finances.

00:01:28.520 And then if we drill even deeper, it's making enough money.

00:01:32.360 Yeah.

00:01:32.920 That is the, that is the number one response for these guys.

00:01:35.740 So people are struggling, man.

00:01:37.040 And, you know, we got Trump out there saying how good the economy is and people don't understand.

00:01:42.280 And, you know, anytime a president or just a politician in general tries to tell us how

00:01:48.840 we're feeling about things, it's not a good look.

00:01:52.120 Yeah.

00:01:52.560 It's not a good sign.

00:01:53.240 And, and I understand, I understand there's some explanation that needs to go into certain

00:01:58.300 things because yes, we don't always understand how things work, but when you start explaining,

00:02:06.040 rationalizing, telling people they don't feel a certain way, you're not on, you're not on

00:02:11.460 the same page.

00:02:12.160 It's just not a good look.

00:02:13.340 So the president right now is making the, uh, the, um, uh, affordability slash inflation

00:02:20.520 tour and telling us why it's not that bad.

00:02:22.540 And he does have some valid points, but it doesn't mean that consumers aren't feeling

00:02:27.120 it.

00:02:27.460 So I thought we should talk about money today.

00:02:30.380 Yeah.

00:02:31.080 It's uneasy.

00:02:32.420 Like the markets, even if everyone says like, it's not that bad, it's, it's odd.

00:02:38.660 People are holding onto money.

00:02:40.800 It's, it's not, um, the job market is weak.

00:02:44.860 I feel like everyone's hesitant.

00:02:46.840 I don't know.

00:02:47.520 It's, it's a very odd time, certainly.

00:02:51.120 Well, it's, it is weird because if you look at our unemployment rate and I don't know what

00:02:55.100 it is today, but it seems like it was hovering right around 4%, maybe slightly lower.

00:02:59.300 That's basically zero in the history of our nation, uh, uh, under 4% inflate, uh, employment

00:03:05.640 rate, unemployment rate, excuse me, is amazing.

00:03:09.140 Uh, and then you talk about people holding onto their money.

00:03:11.500 Well, is that true?

00:03:13.080 Because you look at the stock market and the stock market's reaching new highs and it's

00:03:17.000 doing very well.

00:03:17.840 So what is actually happening?

00:03:19.280 If you look at the stock market, what's really happening is there's just a bunch of incestuous

00:03:23.640 relationships taking place where, you know, an AI company will invest into an energy company

00:03:31.400 and then that energy company or tech company or microchip company will then reinvest into

00:03:36.260 AI.

00:03:36.920 So they're just, it's, that's why I call it incestuous.

00:03:39.860 They're just, they're just passing money between each other, but that's not trickling down,

00:03:45.960 so to speak to anybody else.

00:03:47.800 Yeah.

00:03:48.580 Yeah, totally.

00:03:49.260 All right, man.

00:03:50.680 Should we get right into it?

00:03:52.760 Let's do it, man.

00:03:53.920 I'm excited about this topic.

00:03:55.740 And I understand this topic.

00:03:57.380 I mean, you just set the tone, here's the topic.

00:03:59.280 And then we have some questions that aren't necessarily connected directly to the topic.

00:04:03.840 So you okay.

00:04:04.660 Like hopping into some of those.

00:04:06.500 I mean, let's, let's hit them all. 0.88

00:04:08.420 If, if, if somebody gets a question answered, we'll hit them all, but maybe there'll be a financial 0.97

00:04:12.420 theme or undertone behind it all.

00:04:14.980 Yeah.

00:04:15.460 I'll answer it with a financial response.

00:04:17.320 How about that?

00:04:17.980 Yeah.

00:04:18.280 Yeah.

00:04:18.500 There you go.

00:04:19.180 Well, and this is going to be a stretch, but we'll, we'll do Matt Matusia solid here.

00:04:24.400 You'll see my skills.

00:04:25.460 You'll see my skills.

00:04:26.560 Okay.

00:04:26.700 All right.

00:04:27.380 Challenge, challenge accepted.

00:04:29.240 Let's see how Ryan does here.

00:04:30.740 Okay.

00:04:31.740 Uh, not wealth related, he says, but it's time-based and I'll keep it short.

00:04:36.560 Kip, how are you getting, uh, how was getting your physical baseline with your team exercise,

00:04:42.940 uh, exercise you're most proud of and least.

00:04:46.240 And then Ryan, how do you, how do you, how do you, or would you have done it if you participated?

00:04:50.960 So I mentioned, I think last week that we're doing some baseline physical within my battle

00:04:55.960 team.

00:04:56.340 And, and he's asking kind of, how did that go?

00:04:58.420 And Ryan, how would you do if you did your baseline right now regarding our, our physical

00:05:03.540 capabilities?

00:05:05.400 Okay.

00:05:05.760 Well, I mean, I think that's directed at you.

00:05:08.320 So you start and I'll go from there.

00:05:09.900 Yeah.

00:05:10.400 Well, first off, Johnny Loretty stud, um, you know, he, in the iron council and our exclusive

00:05:17.060 brotherhood, we have kind of this baseline physical test, right.

00:05:21.640 That he's put together.

00:05:22.860 Uh, he actually sent me kind of V to a draft version that he's working on full disclosure,

00:05:28.520 Matt.

00:05:28.920 Um, I didn't, I didn't hit bronze in every category.

00:05:33.680 In fact, I, I think I got silver in one, which I actually was surprised probably.

00:05:39.060 Well, actually I wasn't surprised.

00:05:40.300 My deadlift has always been strong.

00:05:42.100 I think it's the result of throwing hay bales as a kid.

00:05:45.420 So what, for whatever reason I can, I can do deadlifts fairly well.

00:05:49.980 Um, where I was surprised is my squat.

00:05:52.460 I thought for sure, like my, my knees kind of bummed, I'm not going to be able to go heavy.

00:05:57.840 Um, I went for a, a five rep max ended up pushing out 15 and I was like, well, geez,

00:06:05.520 I did way better than I thought.

00:06:07.200 So that's probably where I'd be proud of myself all in all though I have work to do.

00:06:12.840 And, and that was the intent of this baseline is we're wrapping up 2025.

00:06:18.000 Where am I at physically?

00:06:19.820 What areas do I need to improve on, uh, to, to be healthier?

00:06:24.540 And, and the key things I would say is probably my squat still needs some work.

00:06:29.600 My pull-ups should be higher, um, than they were.

00:06:32.980 I only got like 12 pull-ups in, in a single, uh, dead hang session.

00:06:37.460 I think that should be higher.

00:06:39.480 Uh, and then my bench was, was lower than I'd like it to be.

00:06:43.340 So there's, there's my, uh, there's my update.

00:06:47.280 Awesome.

00:06:47.720 Yeah, it's actually, we're actually probably pretty similar.

00:06:51.580 My greatest strength, I think in the baseline physical aptitude is my bench press.

00:06:57.120 So that might be one, one difference.

00:06:59.280 Um, I've always been strong upper body, chest, shoulder, anything shoulder related, anything

00:07:04.420 overhead, no issue whatsoever.

00:07:07.560 Um, deadlift is good.

00:07:09.460 Squats are pretty weak for me.

00:07:10.800 I don't actually do straight bar deadlifts anymore because why I just, I don't understand

00:07:18.960 I'm at, at 44 years old.

00:07:22.700 Do I still deadlift?

00:07:24.140 Yes, but I don't feel the need to do it with a straight bar because it just, it's not a

00:07:28.720 good lift.

00:07:30.020 I realized that it's actually really applicable to probably everyday life.

00:07:34.100 If you have to pick up boxes or other things, it's going to be out in front of you, but I'm,

00:07:38.600 I don't want to hurt myself.

00:07:39.360 So I do trap bar deadlifts.

00:07:41.080 Um, but I, but I can hit the baseline physical aptitude with a straight bar as well.

00:07:45.560 Uh, anything cardio related is a struggle for me.

00:07:48.600 The running, the mile run in, what is it?

00:07:52.060 Is it eight minutes, seven minutes?

00:07:54.040 I can't remember right offhand.

00:07:55.580 Yeah.

00:07:56.100 The one I followed was a little bit different, but yeah.

00:07:59.120 Yeah.

00:08:00.120 Yeah.

00:08:00.440 Cause he changed it for 2026, but I think it was under eight minutes.

00:08:05.140 I'm ashamed to admit that was a straw.

00:08:07.300 I hit it, but I'm ashamed to admit that was a struggle for me.

00:08:11.160 Um, the other one that's, that's harder than you would think is the, uh, the balancing one.

00:08:18.620 Is it 60 seconds standing on one foot?

00:08:20.560 Yeah.

00:08:22.180 Yeah.

00:08:22.340 I've heard guys struggle with that.

00:08:23.840 Like they kill every area.

00:08:25.580 And then when it comes to one foot balance, they can't pull it off.

00:08:29.860 That's harder than you would think.

00:08:31.200 Cause you basically extend your hands, close your eyes and balance on one foot.

00:08:34.600 But, and I did both, but I think my, I can't remember if it was my left or right, but one

00:08:39.940 of those sides was significantly harder than the other.

00:08:42.180 I was like, Whoa, this is strange.

00:08:44.240 Um, and then pull-ups are low for me.

00:08:47.340 So when I say shoulders, lats, things like that, it's push related, not pull related.

00:08:52.080 So I could, I could do better in the pull-up department.

00:08:54.740 So, so Ryan, how does this relate to finances?

00:08:57.260 Well, the way that it relates is sometimes if you're so strapped for money and finances

00:09:05.180 and you're trying to build your career, it's very difficult for you to put forth effort

00:09:09.240 in the physical realm.

00:09:10.880 And so if you are able to lock in your money, lock in your career, lock in your finances,

00:09:16.340 continue to have good investments, that's going to free you up the time to focus on other things

00:09:20.680 in your life that are important, like your physical fitness.

00:09:23.220 So let's make sure we lock your finances in so we can also lock your fitness in. 0.99

00:09:27.720 Well done.

00:09:28.520 Well done, sir.

00:09:29.200 That was pretty good.

00:09:30.000 That was pretty good.

00:09:30.640 Did I do all right?

00:09:30.920 Yeah, yeah, that was good.

00:09:33.960 All right.

00:09:34.840 Finance, finance question from John Preston.

00:09:37.480 What practical tips can you give somebody to overcome the scarcity mindset?

00:09:45.400 Oh man, that's tough because sometimes it is about scarcity.

00:09:49.980 You know, when your boat, let's, let's say, so I am working on the canoe again, Kip.

00:09:54.360 And let's say that my son and I, my oldest son and I, Brecken, are out on the lake and

00:10:02.820 we're in the canoe for the first time and we notice some water, the boat taking on some

00:10:07.780 water.

00:10:09.260 We could spend a bunch of time trying to scoop water out, but if the hole remains, it's going

00:10:14.780 to continue to be a problem.

00:10:15.820 So the first thing that you would need to do is how do we plug the hole to the degree

00:10:20.560 that we can?

00:10:21.300 And then, and only then do we start scooping water out of the dang thing.

00:10:25.480 And sometimes when it comes to your finances, we get in such a difficult spot that all we

00:10:31.280 can do is plug the boat, plug the boat and start scooping water out of the boat.

00:10:36.500 But that's not really abundance.

00:10:38.780 That's a survival strategy.

00:10:41.620 So in certain instances, you do have to be in scarcity mindset.

00:10:47.660 Hey, babe, beans and rice, as Dave Ramsey would say for the next 30 days.

00:10:51.700 Hey, we're trying to lock this in or we're trying to invest in this thing.

00:10:54.320 So let's tighten it up.

00:10:55.260 But one thing I learned when I was doing financial planning that I think was really helpful is

00:11:00.600 that you need to build the habits of abundance.

00:11:04.660 And so as you're paying off debt, let's say you've got a couple of car loans, you've got

00:11:08.520 a student loan, and maybe you've got a medical or personal loan outstanding.

00:11:14.740 A lot of the times you think, well, I'm just going to put all my money towards that and pay

00:11:18.140 it all off.

00:11:18.680 And that's fine, but it doesn't build the abundance mentality.

00:11:22.740 And so the abundance mentality would say, if I'm going to put, let's say, $300 extra

00:11:26.900 towards paying down this debt every month, maybe I take 10% of that, somewhere around

00:11:31.860 30 bucks, and put that into my emergency fund or some sort of investment vehicle.

00:11:40.700 So you're not going to put it all in there, but I want people to learn the habits of investing,

00:11:44.880 saving, building the discipline towards abundance as opposed to scarcity, which is paying off the

00:11:51.680 debt, which still has to be done, by the way.

00:11:54.080 The only other thing that I would suggest on this is a lot of what you're going to invest

00:12:00.860 in your life has no immediate rate of return.

00:12:04.300 So I went to a fundraising gala a couple of weeks ago, and we were in Austin Tech, just outside

00:12:15.780 of Austin, Texas, and it was a great event.

00:12:18.800 It was Matt Boudreau with Apogee, and they put an event called Legends for Leaders and

00:12:22.900 raising money for scholarships for their youth.

00:12:26.060 Incredible, incredible event.

00:12:27.460 And I would have gone because Matt asked me to do.

00:12:29.620 He's a close friend.

00:12:31.180 I believe it's a good thing.

00:12:33.180 But also, there's an investing side of it.

00:12:35.860 And the investing side of it is you're networking with other people who are interested in the same

00:12:40.340 things, these are successful, financially successful individuals, and you're rubbing shoulders with

00:12:46.620 people who you want to rub shoulders with.

00:12:49.100 Now, I can't quantify that rate of return.

00:12:52.880 I can't say, hey, I spent X amount of dollars in donations towards the gala.

00:12:59.240 I spent this much on plane tickets, this much on hotels, this much on our travel expenditures

00:13:04.220 throughout the couple of days we were there.

00:13:07.220 And that's where it gets a little tricky.

00:13:08.860 How do I quantify that?

00:13:10.460 Well, you can't.

00:13:11.880 But you have to have faith that it's going to pay off.

00:13:14.380 And it will if you do the right things.

00:13:16.020 And doing the right things might be a conversation for later.

00:13:19.000 But what I do want to say is that anytime you can put yourself around people that have

00:13:26.840 an abundance mentality, that's how you get over it.

00:13:31.380 You cannot operate at the same level of thinking that you always have without, excuse me, you cannot

00:13:37.200 operate with a new level of thinking by surrounding yourself with the same inputs that you always have.

00:13:43.580 Because you're always going to think the same way.

00:13:45.960 Yeah.

00:13:46.360 So if you want to have new ideas, new thoughts, new beliefs, new patterns, new ideas, then you need to put yourself around new information and new people.

00:13:55.100 And that will always, I believe, if you do the right thing, pay huge dividends.

00:13:58.740 Let me ask you this, Ryan, because when I think about, when I read this question, I immediately go, well, what's the drawback of scarcity, right?

00:14:07.980 Why do we want to have an abundant mentality?

00:14:10.800 Like, what are the pitfalls of this way of thinking?

00:14:14.020 One that comes to mind for me is when you are working with people, whether it's partner, client, even employees, that scarcity mentality and the lack of abundance with those that you network with and work with, that shows up eventually.

00:14:35.100 And it shows up in the space of you don't care.

00:14:39.580 And that's what's damaging about it, right?

00:14:42.960 I always, like, I find this fascinating from an employee perspective.

00:14:47.400 The biggest issue with an employee when they're seeking to get, like, comp increases or raises or promotions, the biggest issue is not that the raise doesn't happen.

00:14:58.320 It's that it feels as though you're taking advantage of me.

00:15:03.260 That's the bigger issue.

00:15:04.420 I've had this conversation with so many employees where it's like, Kip, it didn't bother me that I didn't get the raise.

00:15:12.680 Like, the $5,000 or the $10,000 really isn't that big of a deal.

00:15:16.480 It's the fact that I didn't get it.

00:15:18.820 It's the fact that I had to beg for it.

00:15:21.340 It's the fact that I had to, like, convince them I was valuable enough for it.

00:15:26.240 That's where the damage is, I think, at least in a business relationship with a scarcity mentality because it's a sense of, like,

00:15:33.540 feeling like someone's not being abundant with you.

00:15:37.620 Do you agree with that?

00:15:38.760 And is there other areas that you would add to that, Ryan, around the drawbacks of scarcity thinking?

00:15:45.080 Now, assuming, right, like, if we're in survival mode, obviously, we need to be scarce, right?

00:15:49.540 We need to be good stewards of our finances.

00:15:51.440 But what are the other drawbacks, maybe?

00:15:54.640 Well, before I get to that, I agree with what you said.

00:15:57.620 I agree that people believe they're being taken advantage of, but welcome to life.

00:16:01.740 I mean, even your romantic relationships are like that.

00:16:06.320 Transactional to some extent, yeah.

00:16:08.080 I mean, I wouldn't say transactional, but I understand what you're saying when you use that word.

00:16:14.760 We are measuring our value relative to the value others are offering us.

00:16:20.280 Yeah.

00:16:20.540 So, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

00:16:23.300 There's other things you need to consider, like compatibility, alignment, et cetera.

00:16:26.760 But a lot of these things, even romantic relationships, sure, transactional is not the right word, but we are evaluating that.

00:16:35.020 And I think it's important we be honest about that.

00:16:37.180 Well, the drawbacks of being scarce is you just, you leave life mediocre.

00:16:44.200 You leave a lot of room on the table.

00:16:45.480 That's it.

00:16:46.220 I mean, that's the biggest scarcity issue.

00:16:49.000 So, I'll give you an example.

00:16:51.240 The Order of Man merchandise store has done historically fairly well, but over the past couple years really hasn't done that well.

00:16:58.180 And I have some reasons why.

00:17:00.000 And I approached somebody, I can't talk about who it is right now because we're still talking about it.

00:17:04.780 But I approached somebody to be our store manager.

00:17:07.520 Now, this person's potential proposed salary will be between 35% and 40% of the revenue the store currently does.

00:17:18.660 So, that's not a good business model if you guys are curious about why I'm laughing.

00:17:25.180 So, I could be scarce and say, no, I don't want to do that.

00:17:29.200 Or I could be abundant and say, no, historically it's done pretty well.

00:17:33.200 We're not doing well now.

00:17:34.260 What's the problem?

00:17:35.100 I've already identified what it is.

00:17:36.780 And will investing in somebody who's qualified to do it help build a store?

00:17:43.380 And the answer is yes.

00:17:44.580 Of course, yes.

00:17:46.500 And I have to tell you guys this question.

00:17:50.460 This is the most important question you can ask yourself around this subject.

00:17:55.920 Do I believe in myself or not?

00:17:58.200 That's it.

00:18:02.660 Or put it another way, how much do I believe in myself?

00:18:05.820 And what you ought to be doing every day is proving why you should believe in yourself.

00:18:15.600 Potentially even unrelated to the question at hand.

00:18:18.060 So, if it comes to the store management thing, do I get out of bed when I say I'm going to?

00:18:26.660 Do I put down the sugar cookie when I want to eat it?

00:18:30.440 Do I have that difficult conversation I've committed to having but I know it'll be hard to have?

00:18:34.540 Do I go to bed on time?

00:18:38.100 Am I disciplined with my money?

00:18:40.060 And when you start stacking wins on things that are seemingly unrelated, then when you get to that question where it becomes a big investment or something you're excited about or something you're optimistic and hopeful about it or you're willing to take a risk, you can answer yourself, yes, I believe in myself.

00:18:57.420 Because look at what I'm capable of doing.

00:19:01.300 But when you get out of bed late and you fall prey to your vices and your temptations and you're a coward when it comes to difficult conversations and you ask yourself, do I believe in myself?

00:19:16.000 No, you don't.

00:19:17.120 Why would you?

00:19:18.400 Yeah.

00:19:18.620 You have evidence of why you shouldn't believe in yourself.

00:19:21.620 You've stacked those up.

00:19:22.640 Exactly.

00:19:23.040 So I think it's just as dangerous, if not more so, to lie to yourself than it is to other people.

00:19:32.940 Because other people, barring you really manipulating, taking advantage of somebody, injuring somebody, people will get over it because they've been lied to and let down before.

00:19:43.140 But if you lie to yourself, man, you're going to be in a really, really tough circumstance.

00:19:49.920 Yeah, that's good insight.

00:19:51.100 All right.

00:19:52.400 John Wallace Oliver, what's your thoughts on Ramsey's seven baby steps?

00:19:58.520 Maybe give us a synopsis of that, Ryan.

00:20:02.020 Yeah, and I don't know all seven of them in order.

00:20:04.460 I can look that up.

00:20:05.300 Do you want me to?

00:20:05.960 Is to save.

00:20:06.920 Yeah, let's see what I, let's see how many I can get right.

00:20:08.900 So I think the first one is to save $1,000.

00:20:10.900 I think the second one is probably to hammer off all of your consumer debt except for your house.

00:20:19.720 I think number three is to save and invest three to six months of your income.

00:20:26.200 Uh, number four might be to pay off your house early.

00:20:35.260 Number five might be to continue to invest 15 to 20% of your income.

00:20:39.900 Number six to give to charity, maybe a number seven to keep learning or growing that is something like that.

00:20:47.340 Dude, that's not too bad, man.

00:20:49.800 I'm actually.

00:20:50.680 Was that close?

00:20:51.240 Was that close?

00:20:52.140 Kind of.

00:20:52.700 Yeah.

00:20:52.860 Yeah.

00:20:53.160 Step one, save $1,000 for, for a start emergency fund to pay off all debt except house.

00:21:00.160 Step three, say three to six months of expenses.

00:21:03.320 Step four, invest 15% of your household income in retirement.

00:21:07.240 Step five.

00:21:08.040 Oh, I said that before the house.

00:21:09.920 Yeah.

00:21:10.780 Uh, six, pay off your home early and then seven build wealth and give.

00:21:15.540 Yeah.

00:21:16.180 Yeah.

00:21:16.540 Got it.

00:21:17.040 Okay.

00:21:17.300 I mean, it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close.

00:21:19.460 I was on the right track.

00:21:21.740 Yeah.

00:21:22.100 I was on the right track.

00:21:22.920 Okay.

00:21:24.140 Um, yeah, I agree with a lot of that.

00:21:27.580 I like steps one through three, I would say are my favorite.

00:21:35.940 What's that Kip? 0.77

00:21:37.220 I'll keep it up in case we need to reference it.

00:21:39.200 Okay.

00:21:39.440 Yeah.

00:21:39.560 Steps one through three.

00:21:40.420 Yeah.

00:21:40.580 I like steps one through three.

00:21:42.160 So, you know, it's, it's save a thousand dollars, pay off all your consumer debt, except

00:21:48.260 for your house and build up three to six months of savings.

00:21:53.960 Number four was to invest 15% of your income.

00:21:56.520 Is that right?

00:21:57.220 Yeah.

00:21:57.400 50% of your household income in retirement.

00:22:00.480 Yep.

00:22:00.660 But I like steps one through four.

00:22:03.760 Got it.

00:22:04.360 Because that is just a baseline, really prudent, very practical, wise way to deal with your

00:22:12.420 financial situation.

00:22:13.680 Um, once you start getting past that with the paying off your house, investing in your

00:22:19.900 kids, education, those types of things are a little questionable.

00:22:24.960 Yeah.

00:22:25.360 Um, and, and also I don't like Dave Ramsey's formulas that he uses.

00:22:31.680 It's not so much the baby steps.

00:22:33.440 It's the formula.

00:22:34.200 Cause he'll do a, so for example, he'll say, and I don't have the numbers in front of me,

00:22:38.260 but he'll say, if you save $500 a month, every month at 8%, by the time you're 65, you'll

00:22:45.400 have 10,700, $346,000 in your account.

00:22:48.520 It's like, okay, all right, like let's actually do the math around what it used to, what historically

00:22:55.740 the stock market has done.

00:22:57.000 Where are you going to get 8% linear for the next 35 to 40 years?

00:23:01.260 You're going to get it some years.

00:23:02.600 Sure.

00:23:03.400 But linear, linearity like that.

00:23:04.880 No, it just doesn't work.

00:23:06.760 So what ends up happening, and I've seen this as a former financial, uh, advisor is I would

00:23:13.600 see people come in with their, their accounts are like, oh, look, look at my financial plan.

00:23:17.340 I'm like, Hey, let's just change this one variable.

00:23:19.880 Let's lay you off for a year or two.

00:23:22.640 And all of a sudden the plan crumbles.

00:23:25.260 Yeah.

00:23:26.160 So that's where I start to take issue.

00:23:28.040 The other issue that I take is that that's not how Dave Ramsey built his wealth in the

00:23:32.820 stock market.

00:23:35.400 And I asked him about this when I had him on the podcast, he built his wealth in real

00:23:39.000 estate and business.

00:23:39.840 And surprisingly, well, maybe not surprisingly, but refreshingly, he gave me an honest answer

00:23:45.500 and he's like, yeah, right.

00:23:46.340 I know who my audience is.

00:23:48.860 He said, you're right.

00:23:49.600 I didn't build it in the stock market.

00:23:51.240 I built it in my business and real estate, but I know who my audience is.

00:23:55.860 And this is what I suggest for my audience.

00:23:57.820 And I thought that was actually a fair answer.

00:24:00.880 Right.

00:24:01.240 But that isn't how I'm going to build wealth.

00:24:03.920 And it hasn't, hasn't been how I have been building wealth.

00:24:06.840 So a lot of good principles in there, a little, quite a bit wrong on the calculations he uses

00:24:13.120 to determine net worth and those sorts of things.

00:24:15.620 But all in all, I would give it a seven to eight out of 10.

00:24:21.860 Yeah.

00:24:22.180 Ryan, would you put step three before two, like step three was three to six months of

00:24:27.020 expenses in an emergency fund before paying off all debt?

00:24:31.280 Like it just, I don't know why those seem backwards to me, but.

00:24:34.200 You could, I wouldn't do six, but you could definitely do three.

00:24:39.020 Six is too much.

00:24:40.540 Yeah.

00:24:41.080 That's a good point.

00:24:41.680 But I, I would, you could definitely make a case for three.

00:24:46.640 But you got to remember though, is that your debt is eating you alive.

00:24:53.740 Yeah.

00:24:54.460 Like the, the difference of interest between the two, well, 14, 20%, your debt is eating

00:25:01.060 you alive.

00:25:01.740 And that's why Dave Ramsey makes that recommendation.

00:25:04.340 And you could do, you could do a hybrid.

00:25:06.260 You could say, all right, well, I have this credit card at 18%.

00:25:09.060 So I'm going to pay that one down, but the rest, I'm going to build up three months.

00:25:12.200 See, this is where it gets a little bit more specific.

00:25:16.160 But I think as a general rule of thumb, I would say he's, he's on with the first four steps.

00:25:21.800 Absolutely.

00:25:22.160 Absolutely.

00:25:22.860 Yeah.

00:25:23.240 Yeah.

00:25:23.640 It's crazy.

00:25:24.500 My kids go to a private school.

00:25:26.780 We took them out of the public school system, geez, probably four or five years ago.

00:25:31.680 And my wife and I, we actually teach financial literacy for the high school kids in the, in

00:25:40.080 the private school.

00:25:41.700 And I pulled this statistic last week.

00:25:43.800 I thought it was fascinating.

00:25:44.960 Um, on average, uh, Americans end up playing two X on their debt.

00:25:53.040 Hmm.

00:25:53.620 Yeah.

00:25:54.120 Isn't that crazy on average?

00:25:55.520 So we're all, we're all doubling the amount of debt that we have by the time you have it

00:26:00.060 paid off on average, which is just, yeah, just such a waste.

00:26:04.520 But it is, it's, it's a waste of, um, unless, unless the, the asset outpaces the, the, the

00:26:15.500 investment.

00:26:16.080 Yeah.

00:26:16.600 So if I spend a hundred thousand dollars on an investment, it's going to cost me $200,000

00:26:21.080 over 20 years, but I make 400,000 over 20 years.

00:26:24.700 Okay.

00:26:25.340 That was a good use of capital and, and debt.

00:26:29.880 Yeah.

00:26:30.440 Yeah.

00:26:30.660 Good point.

00:26:31.380 Good point.

00:26:32.160 All right.

00:26:32.440 Brian Reynolds, how to know whether a standard IRA or Roth IRA is right for us.

00:26:39.160 Is there a formula for saving for retirement, like a 10 X your annual income or something?

00:26:46.260 Well, with the, with the IRA, it's really just a matter of when you're taxed.

00:26:50.140 So the biggest question you have to ask is, am I going to be in a higher tax bracket

00:26:54.540 an hour later?

00:26:55.420 And you can't really know the answer to that question.

00:26:58.040 So generally, if you feel like you're going to be in a higher tax bracket later, it's

00:27:03.960 better to pay the taxes now, which would be a Roth IRA.

00:27:07.160 If you're in a higher tax bracket now than you are later, then it's better to deduct the

00:27:12.800 taxes and pay the taxes down the road, which would be more of your traditional IRA.

00:27:17.300 Got it.

00:27:17.540 Ryan, is there, is there restrictions?

00:27:19.700 I know on the Roth IRA, there's restrictions of income and then how much you can invest per

00:27:25.560 year.

00:27:25.860 Does that exist for both an IRA and a Roth?

00:27:30.480 I don't, please don't quote me.

00:27:32.240 I don't believe it is.

00:27:33.420 I have a theory on that and I don't even know what's theory at this point or if it is the,

00:27:37.500 the United States government cannot invest in the, in the, in the market because that's

00:27:42.620 our money.

00:27:43.040 Like you can't take our tax dollars and invest in the market, but they figured out a really

00:27:48.180 clever way to do this.

00:27:49.240 And it's called the traditional IRA.

00:27:51.100 So let's say I'm going to put in $5,000 this year into an IRA and the limits are probably

00:27:57.920 slightly higher than that.

00:27:59.380 And there's other ways to contribute more.

00:28:01.500 Like if you're married and if you do it through a company and things like that, but let's just

00:28:05.620 say for the sake of argument, $5,000.

00:28:07.040 And let's say I'm in a 25%, let's use different numbers.

00:28:10.640 Let's say $10,000 and I'm in a 20% tax bracket.

00:28:14.140 I'm just using that for easy math.

00:28:15.940 So that means that I owe the government at the end of the year, $2,000 on that $10,000

00:28:22.080 that I made.

00:28:25.080 Well, the government says, well, hold on, we're going to let you defer that.

00:28:29.580 And what we're going to do is we're going to let you keep all $10,000.

00:28:34.300 You're not going to pay the $2,000 taxes on it.

00:28:36.440 You put it into an IRA and you're going to let it sit there for 30 years or more or less,

00:28:41.800 depending on how old you are.

00:28:42.840 Then when you pull that out, that $10,000, yes, that might've grown to $100,000 and now

00:28:49.560 you're going to pay us 20%.

00:28:50.840 I'm oversimplifying it, but now you're going to pay us 20% on $100,000 instead of $10,000.

00:28:57.340 So instead of owing us $2,000, you now owe us $20,000.

00:29:00.980 It's a very clever way for the government to participate in the stock market.

00:29:08.380 And they want it so badly that they tell you if you take it out early, not only,

00:29:12.840 only will you have to pay taxes, but you'll also have to pay us penalties for taking that

00:29:19.020 money out early.

00:29:20.300 So they really, really want your money in there for a couple of reasons.

00:29:23.820 They want to spur the market, which I think makes sense that the market is growing, but

00:29:28.900 I don't think the government should be playing in that game.

00:29:30.980 And it's a clever way for them to turn $2,000 into $20,000 over the course of, uh, 30 years

00:29:39.880 in our, in the example I gave you.

00:29:42.960 Got it.

00:29:43.940 Got it.

00:29:44.520 Yeah.

00:29:44.880 I think the key thing, you know, coming, coming out of this, right.

00:29:48.160 When I look at the question for, for Brian is, you know, do your research.

00:29:53.020 Cause I know I misunderstood Roth IRAs for a while.

00:29:57.220 I was investing in them when actually I was in the wrong tax bracket and you know what

00:30:02.320 I mean?

00:30:02.500 There's some trickiness to it.

00:30:04.180 So you got to be careful.

00:30:06.540 I generally recommend that if somebody's eligible eligible to, to participate in a Roth IRA and

00:30:13.420 that's based off their income, annual income.

00:30:15.580 If somebody's eligible to participate, I would say participate in that over a traditional

00:30:21.120 IRA.

00:30:21.600 That's usually the recommendations that I would give when I was in financial advising.

00:30:26.000 And then the other question was, is there a percentage of retirement calculation or something

00:30:31.840 like that?

00:30:32.720 Yeah, it was, you know, is there a formula for savings for retirement, like a 10 X your

00:30:37.440 annual income?

00:30:40.240 I mean, yes, we can come up with some of those formulas and I could give you a couple.

00:30:44.220 They're oversimplified and they don't take into consideration much.

00:30:48.000 So you really want to work with somebody who knows your situation and can put all the variables

00:30:52.660 into the calculation.

00:30:54.120 But let's just take, you said 10%.

00:30:56.320 Let's take 10, excuse me, 10 times your income.

00:30:59.800 So let's, let's do easy math again.

00:31:03.440 Let's say you're making a hundred thousand dollars and your last year of employment and the formula

00:31:10.420 is 10 times your earnings.

00:31:12.000 So that would be a million dollars.

00:31:16.140 So you've got a million dollars.

00:31:17.860 Now, if you want to replace your income, you're going to need, let's say, again, I don't have

00:31:26.800 my calculator in front of me, so I'm kind of slow on this, but let's say you want to replace

00:31:31.040 your, your income.

00:31:32.080 You're going to need to pull out a hundred thousand dollars out of that million dollars.

00:31:37.360 And if you got 0% interest, it will only last you about 10 years, right?

00:31:42.440 Yeah.

00:31:43.220 Before you're out of money.

00:31:44.220 So you're 65.

00:31:45.280 Now you're 75.

00:31:46.000 You're still alive and you have no money.

00:31:48.280 Now what?

00:31:49.080 Well, there's social security and your house will be paid off.

00:31:51.460 So maybe you don't need a hundred thousand dollars.

00:31:53.560 Like there's, this is a variable I'm talking about.

00:31:55.920 Yeah.

00:31:56.520 If on the other hand, you do 20 times your income.

00:31:58.960 So you have $2 million and let's say you can get a nominal average rate of return of 5%,

00:32:04.920 which I think based on what the markets have done is fairly reasonable over that timeframe.

00:32:09.800 Well, now you can pull out 5% of 2 million, which is a hundred thousand dollars.

00:32:13.980 And all you're actually doing is pulling out interest.

00:32:18.240 And that $2 million nest egg stays there.

00:32:20.760 It's a, it's, it's, it's the goose and it's laying golden eggs of a hundred thousand dollars

00:32:25.780 every single year.

00:32:27.860 So I lean more towards 20 times your income is a better number.

00:32:32.960 But again, there's a lot of variables, your, your earnings potential for employees that shuts

00:32:39.100 off when you stop working.

00:32:40.120 If I stop working, I have income that continues currently at 44 years old, right?

00:32:47.860 There there's social security, there's assets, there's houses, there's businesses, there's

00:32:51.400 real estate.

00:32:51.940 There's other things that need to be taken into consideration.

00:32:54.720 But I, I would say no less than 10 times, no less than, and 20 is a really good number. 1.00

00:33:04.040 Generally.

00:33:05.500 Got it.

00:33:06.540 Got it.

00:33:07.320 All right.

00:33:08.040 Kevin Miller taking into consideration inflation.

00:33:10.120 A hundred thousand dollars today.

00:33:11.820 When let's say you retire at 65, a hundred thousand dollars feels really good right now.

00:33:16.620 But in 20 years, you might need $250,000 to feel like a hundred.

00:33:22.180 Yeah.

00:33:22.760 So that's a big issue too.

00:33:24.760 That's not factored into that simplified calculation.

00:33:28.580 Well, and it's easy to fill that, right?

00:33:30.260 Like for me and you just think 20 years ago and what you could buy with the same amount 0.98

00:33:34.660 of money today, it's like, holy crap. 0.72

00:33:36.480 It's like night and day difference.

00:33:37.820 So who knows what it's going to be like in another 20 or 40 years?

00:33:42.040 Well, so there's a rule of 72 and I'm, I think I might butcher this, look this up while

00:33:46.160 I'm talking about it, Kip.

00:33:47.260 And then fact check me on this, but the rule of 72 says how fast your money will double.

00:33:52.020 So we can use it to calculate inflation.

00:33:53.700 So what you do is you take the number of year, or excuse me, the interest rate and divide

00:33:59.400 that into 72.

00:34:00.420 So let's say, uh, six, let's take an inflation rate of 6%.

00:34:05.760 That would mean 12, right?

00:34:07.680 72 divided by six is 12.

00:34:09.920 Is that correct?

00:34:11.960 I believe so.

00:34:13.340 Yeah.

00:34:13.900 Yeah.

00:34:14.080 I'm reading the definition here.

00:34:15.640 So what that means is that if you're getting, if there's a 6% inflation rate, a hundred thousand

00:34:22.800 dollars will, let me say it a different way.

00:34:26.200 If you're getting a 6% inflation rate in 12 years, you'll need 200,000 to maintain the same

00:34:36.940 standard of living as a hundred or put another way in 12 years at a 6% inflation rate, your

00:34:43.020 100,000 will feel like 50,000 today.

00:34:48.240 So the rule of 72 is a really good number.

00:34:50.340 When you're starting to start to think about inflation and how quickly inflation will absolutely

00:34:55.380 demolish and destroy you. 0.99

00:34:57.660 Yeah. 1.00

00:34:58.880 Got it.

00:35:01.180 Man, I'm, I'm, you're starting to make me depressed.

00:35:03.460 Let's talk about something else.

00:35:04.720 I'm just joking.

00:35:05.580 All right.

00:35:06.820 Kevin Miller.

00:35:07.500 Let's talk about your pull-ups.

00:35:08.740 Yeah.

00:35:09.060 Let's talk about my pull-ups. 0.99

00:35:10.100 That, that should make me feel like shit. 0.99

00:35:13.740 Well, I figured it would just make you worse, feel worse in another area. 0.99

00:35:16.580 And it'll prop you up in this area or something.

00:35:18.300 Yeah.

00:35:18.460 There you go.

00:35:19.100 Yeah.

00:35:19.320 It could be worse.

00:35:20.160 It could be as bad as your squats.

00:35:22.980 Exactly.

00:35:23.580 Yeah.

00:35:24.280 Exactly.

00:35:24.560 All right.

00:35:25.340 Kevin Miller.

00:35:26.040 What are your thoughts on the 50, 30, 20 rule in today's economic landscape?

00:35:31.060 Do you believe it can work out for listeners trying to change their discipline around money?

00:35:37.020 Once again, I actually don't know this rule.

00:35:39.600 So maybe.

00:35:40.020 So, you know, generally the 50, 30, 20 is how we divvy up our money on a, our budget on a

00:35:45.760 monthly basis.

00:35:46.560 So what I've heard is 50% is, yeah.

00:35:49.700 So like 50% would be your needs.

00:35:52.120 30% is your wants.

00:35:53.820 20% is your savings and investments.

00:35:56.960 That's, that's how I've heard it before.

00:35:59.380 Again, we're using simplified rules to navigate complex, multifaceted variable situations.

00:36:09.560 So does it serve a purpose?

00:36:12.360 Yeah.

00:36:12.760 I think it does.

00:36:13.720 If every person saved 20, saved and invested 20% of their income, we'd all be way better

00:36:20.600 off.

00:36:20.940 So that makes total sense to me.

00:36:23.680 But now we get a little tricky because what's a need?

00:36:26.680 What's a want?

00:36:27.840 Where does your debt servicing go?

00:36:29.560 Are you retiring?

00:36:30.340 Housing is a need.

00:36:31.600 Yeah.

00:36:32.060 But do you need, you know, people would say, well, my house, it costs $3,000 a month for

00:36:36.720 the mortgage.

00:36:38.220 So that's a need.

00:36:39.160 That's a 50% category.

00:36:41.440 Did you really need the million dollar home or could you have done okay with the $750,000

00:36:45.880 home?

00:36:46.440 So what was needs and what was wants?

00:36:48.400 You see what I'm saying?

00:36:49.500 Yeah.

00:36:49.820 You start to add these variables and it kind of starts to get a little wonky.

00:36:53.780 But what I would say is generally, I would flip the, I would flip the, the formula around.

00:37:01.820 I would say $20,000, $50,000, $30,000, save and invest first, then cover your needs, then

00:37:11.920 whatever's left over, you can do whatever the hell you want to do with it.

00:37:15.880 Got it.

00:37:16.420 The priority you would shift.

00:37:18.480 Yeah.

00:37:19.020 I would definitely shift the priority.

00:37:21.040 And I'd add another caveat, stay out of consumer debt.

00:37:24.920 Yeah.

00:37:26.140 That shouldn't be in needs or wants categories.

00:37:29.120 It should just not exist.

00:37:30.300 House, yes.

00:37:32.300 I can make the case for some education, not 10 years of schooling in gender theory studies 0.91

00:37:38.700 that you have your master's in that took you 10 years and now you're a quarter million

00:37:43.200 dollars in debt.

00:37:44.180 Okay.

00:37:44.380 That's not prudent. 0.99

00:37:46.060 That's dumb. 0.99

00:37:48.200 House, yes. 1.00

00:37:49.260 Businesses, yes.

00:37:50.060 There's investments that make sense, but that's generally what I would say.

00:37:52.960 That's how it, that's what I, those are the tweaks I'd make to that formula.

00:37:56.620 Got it.

00:37:57.420 Got it.

00:37:57.840 Alan Atkins, graduating the police academy Friday and try to make sure that I can set

00:38:03.900 my family up for success financially.

00:38:06.580 How do I set up my family for that success in what a lot of people call an underpaid

00:38:11.980 field?

00:38:12.440 Yeah.

00:38:14.780 Well, I'm sure it's underpaid.

00:38:17.180 I would be really curious if his wife is going to work as well.

00:38:20.720 I don't think that he had said that.

00:38:23.560 So with a income potential that you have, you're really going to need to be very, very

00:38:31.140 strategic and disciplined about the way that you save your money.

00:38:36.640 And you might go into that 20, 50, 30 rule, and you might follow that ruthlessly.

00:38:42.400 And if you can't do 20 now, maybe you do five or 10 right now, as far as savings and investments

00:38:48.380 go.

00:38:49.160 And then when you free up any debt or you have a promotion or your wife gets a promotion

00:38:54.240 or a new job and makes more money, think about how we allocate those resources.

00:38:58.860 So if she makes $50,000 more because she goes to work or $80,000 or $100,000, okay, what

00:39:05.640 are you going to do with that money?

00:39:06.760 Split it up in the right amount.

00:39:08.540 Make sure you get up to 20, then 50, then 30, and do that in the right order.

00:39:12.520 But I would definitely have, when it comes to this stuff, a money meeting with your spouse

00:39:18.660 every week.

00:39:20.580 That's something that you guys should just do regardless of the financial situation you're

00:39:24.700 in.

00:39:25.760 You should have a budget.

00:39:27.000 Whether you're good at budgeting or she is, somebody should be in charge of the budget.

00:39:31.820 And that person, both people should have access to the accounts, but that's being reconciled

00:39:36.640 every single week.

00:39:37.600 And then it's being discussed in that money meeting.

00:39:39.900 And that money meeting doesn't need to be a two-hour meeting.

00:39:42.500 It doesn't need to be everything a CFO might present to shareholders, but it's, hey, babe,

00:39:48.060 how are we doing financially?

00:39:49.360 And she's like, well, you know, we're down to $10,000 in the account.

00:39:52.700 It's like, okay, got that.

00:39:53.920 Um, any big expenses that we need to be aware of?

00:39:57.740 Well, you know, little Timmy next year is probably going to need some braces.

00:40:01.780 So we need to plan for that.

00:40:03.380 Okay.

00:40:03.640 How much is that going to cost?

00:40:04.760 And you start getting some cost options on that.

00:40:07.960 Um, or you know what?

00:40:09.140 Like that transmission on the car, I don't think it's going to last much longer.

00:40:13.740 I mean, I think if we're lucky, we have another six to 12 months.

00:40:16.760 Okay.

00:40:18.100 Transmission or potentially a new car.

00:40:19.640 Let's start thinking about that, planning for that.

00:40:21.700 And then that way, when you're tempted to take all of your kids to Hawaii for Christmas,

00:40:25.980 you're like, guys, we're not going to Hawaii.

00:40:28.300 We're going to go to San Diego this year for Christmas.

00:40:32.560 And then you save the money for the transmission.

00:40:35.200 So you have to be really disciplined, but you also have to be forward thinking and think

00:40:41.300 about what expenses or income is coming up in the future.

00:40:43.960 That's going to change the way that you navigate your finances.

00:40:46.640 And I feel like if you do that, if you guys are both anticipatory about what will come

00:40:51.480 up, you get on the same page every single week and you follow that 20, 50, 30 rule we

00:40:57.520 discussed a minute ago, you'll be in really, really good shape.

00:41:00.900 Yeah.

00:41:01.500 Well, and that's the benefit of that rule, Ryan, right?

00:41:03.760 Is it's really setting the tone of living within your means.

00:41:07.820 And let's be honest.

00:41:08.940 I think that's where we all go wrong is, is most people that have financial hardship.

00:41:14.220 It's because we're not living within our means.

00:41:16.320 We're buying the house that we shouldn't buy.

00:41:17.880 We're buying the cars that we shouldn't buy.

00:41:19.620 We're in debt because we want things now for around instant gratification.

00:41:24.280 It's really just not adjusting our lifestyle to match the income stream that we have.

00:41:29.060 Would you agree?

00:41:32.000 I would a hundred percent agree.

00:41:33.600 And part of the problem and the solution for you is that you have to be a lot more ruthless

00:41:41.980 with how you spend your money than you did in the past.

00:41:44.400 You just do, you know, I, I think about homes and people complain about the prices of homes

00:41:50.220 and I do too, because inflation is a real thing.

00:41:52.300 We just talked about it, but 50 years ago, people weren't living in the types of homes

00:41:59.300 they're living in now.

00:42:00.020 Now, the, the, the air conditioning, whether or not they had air conditioning is questionable.

00:42:06.080 They might've had one TV, but they didn't have four TVs.

00:42:10.300 Yeah. 0.82

00:42:10.800 They didn't have that big ass, you know, cube size refrigerator that climate controls everything 1.00

00:42:18.460 to the nth degree. 0.98

00:42:19.420 They didn't have the Netflix and the Amazon and the HBO plus and all this stuff computers

00:42:25.120 for every person in the household.

00:42:27.060 Right.

00:42:27.780 Yeah.

00:42:28.160 Yeah.

00:42:28.940 And not only the pocket computer, but then the monthly bill for the pocket computer for

00:42:34.040 five kids every single month.

00:42:37.480 So we, when people look at it, they, they look at these homes and they're like, Oh, it's

00:42:42.120 so beautiful.

00:42:42.680 It's like, yeah, well it, the materials are better.

00:42:45.040 It's going to hold up longer.

00:42:47.160 Um, it, it, there's more requirements about fireproofing your home, for example.

00:42:52.100 So we're not actually comparing apples to apples. 0.89

00:42:54.480 I mean, damn, you know, castles, Kings and castles 2000 years ago, live Kings. 0.96

00:43:01.420 The most, the richest people in the world lived in less lavish lifestyles than the average 0.99

00:43:06.780 person in America does today.

00:43:08.980 A King would kill for the bed.

00:43:11.020 I sleep in it every night.

00:43:11.980 A King would kill to be able to go to the refrigerator and pull out some leftovers from

00:43:17.360 last night or to have clean clothes. 0.84

00:43:20.720 So he didn't smell like a pig, but we have all that.

00:43:24.920 So you need to be very, very prudent about your spending and ask yourself, do I really

00:43:30.240 need this?

00:43:30.800 You know, one issue that I'm tempted in Kip is I've got a, and I've talked about this

00:43:34.780 before.

00:43:35.060 I've got a 2015 GMC three quarter ton and I love it.

00:43:39.340 It's a great truck.

00:43:39.920 I've had it for eight or nine years at this point.

00:43:43.620 And I'm driving down the road as I, as I do.

00:43:46.180 And I see those trucks everywhere and they're nice, brand new GMC three quarter ton, all

00:43:52.980 the bells and whistles, a little lifted.

00:43:55.300 Like they look great.

00:43:56.640 I'm like, Hmm, I think I'm ready for an upgrade.

00:44:00.480 Every day I say that.

00:44:01.540 And every day I say, you don't need an upgrade.

00:44:03.800 That truck is a good truck.

00:44:05.220 It's got a few little dents and dings.

00:44:07.220 You got a few little stains in the, in the cab, you know, where the kids spilled fry

00:44:11.500 sauce or something.

00:44:12.360 Who knows what it is?

00:44:13.480 I don't know what it is, but it'll, it'll do.

00:44:17.360 And it's just fine.

00:44:19.420 I don't need that other stuff.

00:44:21.620 Now there's, there's a challenge because we can get back into the scarcity versus abundance

00:44:27.120 mindset.

00:44:27.540 And I'm scarce on some of those things.

00:44:29.740 I don't need the best, the biggest, the brightest, the coolest.

00:44:32.420 I'd rather go on trips.

00:44:33.720 And so I'm abundant with my trips and scarce with some household expenses that are unnecessary.

00:44:40.760 Well, and some of that, right.

00:44:42.540 We, as you say that, Ryan, I'm like, well, what's abundance abundance is being grateful

00:44:47.040 for the truck.

00:44:48.100 Scarcity is keeping the same truck and then complaining about it and hating it and walking

00:44:53.040 around miserable because it's not good enough, right?

00:44:56.040 How much of abundance and scarcity is really just gratitude and appreciation versus complaining?

00:45:03.420 Yeah, that's a good point.

00:45:05.080 And you know, I do the little things on the truck.

00:45:06.820 Like I remember when I was tempted to get a new truck, I'm like, you know, I'm going

00:45:09.780 to get a new bed lining in it and I got it lined.

00:45:13.220 And then I was thinking, I'd like a new truck.

00:45:15.340 And I said, no, I just need some bars on the bottom.

00:45:17.120 That would look good.

00:45:17.860 And I'll put some bars on the bottom.

00:45:20.340 Yeah.

00:45:21.700 Probably in 2026, I'm going to put some new wheels on it.

00:45:24.360 Like, yeah, I need a new truck.

00:45:25.500 No, just put some new wheels on it.

00:45:26.900 You're fine.

00:45:28.060 Yeah.

00:45:28.340 And I'd rather do that than spend 90 or a hundred grand on a new truck that I'm going

00:45:33.440 to be bored with in 30 days.

00:45:35.340 Yeah.

00:45:36.120 This is a great question from Zach Zemeck.

00:45:39.440 He kind of alludes to this, but primarily around our kids.

00:45:43.100 He says, scarcity, fear of failure, and instant gratification are constantly reinforced nowadays

00:45:48.280 with our youth.

00:45:49.960 Those narratives we learn in childhood often have big implications in how we approach money

00:45:55.980 and opportunities in adulthood.

00:45:57.860 What are you doing to help change those narratives for your kids?

00:46:03.980 One of the things that, this is just general advice, but one of the things that I'd often,

00:46:09.620 that I often do and suggest for other people is for you as the exemplar in your home to pride

00:46:17.160 yourself in taking care of your stuff.

00:46:19.720 Because if you take care of your things, they're going to last longer.

00:46:26.820 So if I go get the oil changed on the truck and get the tires rotated regularly, it's going to last longer.

00:46:34.960 If I make sure the house is clean and we treat our things with respect, then it's going to last longer.

00:46:43.580 And so you can, if you take care of your garage and you have all your tools in the right place

00:46:47.940 and it always looks good and orderly, you can find them.

00:46:50.220 So you don't need to go buy extra tools because you can't find that one socket set you were looking for.

00:46:56.040 So pride yourself on having these systems in place where you take care of your possessions

00:47:01.640 and then teach them the same thing.

00:47:04.500 Because if you can teach them how powerful it is to take care of things,

00:47:09.140 they'll start to build this up where it's like, I don't want to replace this thing.

00:47:12.360 I like this thing and I'm going to take care of it.

00:47:14.680 The other one is learning how to fix things.

00:47:16.840 For you to be able to fix things.

00:47:20.800 So you should know basic plumbing and your kids should know basic plumbing. 0.97

00:47:25.260 You should know some basic electrical stuff for around the house.

00:47:30.640 You should know how to change the oil on your car.

00:47:33.980 You should know these things.

00:47:35.860 And you should be a man who, if you don't know what they are, you can figure it out.

00:47:39.960 You know, there was this little stool in the shed, in my girlfriend's shed.

00:47:45.420 And she's like, you can just throw that stool away. 0.99

00:47:48.060 And I'm like, why don't, it's a good stool.

00:47:49.680 You don't like it?

00:47:50.160 She's like, yeah, the leg's broken.

00:47:51.980 Like you just toss it.

00:47:53.580 I'm like, well, hold on a sec.

00:47:54.660 So I grabbed it and I took the leg off.

00:47:57.080 And there's this little metal bracket that goes in the hole where the leg.

00:48:01.240 So there's, and it has three screws.

00:48:03.120 Just loose.

00:48:03.940 And I was like, why isn't this working?

00:48:05.740 So I pulled that off.

00:48:06.820 It was because one of the screws, the hole was stripped.

00:48:09.660 And so I just unscrewed it, put it back on there, rotated it, screwed it back in and put the leg on.

00:48:17.880 And it was as good as new.

00:48:20.940 But too many of us would just throw that away in any other situation.

00:48:25.660 And then we'd go out and we'd buy a new one for $20 or $30 because of inflation.

00:48:30.460 That's a problem.

00:48:31.840 You should know how to fix things.

00:48:33.380 You should know how to replace things.

00:48:34.800 You should take pride in your stuff.

00:48:36.900 If you do that and you instill that in your children, you're going to have a much better time.

00:48:41.980 Just to add another thought for Zach around that narrative with your kids.

00:48:46.180 For me, this is all about instant gratification.

00:48:50.900 And so I look for those opportunities with my kids as much as possible to help them understand that the thing that was once like really exciting, are they still excited about it?

00:48:59.280 I remember my daughter, I think it was when she got a V, she saved up all her money.

00:49:03.420 Well, that's another benefit.

00:49:05.160 Have your kids pay for their things.

00:49:06.500 They'll appreciate them more and they understand the effort in buying things.

00:49:10.320 So look for those opportunities for them to buy things.

00:49:12.460 But my daughter saved up all this money, bought this VR headset.

00:49:16.620 And this is probably a couple of years ago.

00:49:18.480 But I remember it's like, hey, Kika, you love that headset?

00:49:21.240 Oh, yeah, I really love it.

00:49:22.180 I'm like, are you as excited about it as you were when you first got it?

00:49:27.760 No, not really.

00:49:28.820 I'm like, that's how things are.

00:49:32.380 So when you're really excited about buying these clothes or buying this thing, remember, it's fleeting.

00:49:39.020 And that excitement is only temporary.

00:49:40.960 And eventually, it'll just be another shirt or another pair of pants or another toy that was once exciting and is no longer exciting.

00:49:49.520 So understand the human condition that we're often drawn to do things.

00:49:54.000 The other thing that I'd really suggest to Zach, and I was talking, you know, earlier I mentioned that financial literacy class that I helped teach.

00:50:02.280 You know, this was the main thing for these high schoolers.

00:50:04.520 I was like, you know, what's the number one thing that you guys want to buy right now, right?

00:50:08.480 And they named off some shoes that I don't even know of.

00:50:11.460 And I'm like, why?

00:50:12.960 Why are those so cool?

00:50:14.260 Oh, because they're so cool.

00:50:15.540 No, that doesn't work for me.

00:50:17.640 Why?

00:50:18.000 Because other people say they're cool.

00:50:21.840 Yeah.

00:50:23.240 Got it.

00:50:24.380 So understand, right?

00:50:26.400 And I'm not saying it's wrong or bad or whatever.

00:50:29.700 Just understand that most things that we're purchasing, we're purchasing to look good.

00:50:36.840 You're purchasing things because everybody else is purchasing.

00:50:40.160 And it doesn't go away, by the way.

00:50:41.460 Like, we're like, oh, this is a kid conversation.

00:50:43.340 Oh, no.

00:50:44.100 No, trust me.

00:50:44.860 Most adults, what car do we drive?

00:50:46.520 Why do you drive that car?

00:50:47.800 Because of what it means.

00:50:50.740 Because it makes you look good.

00:50:52.760 Just like you care about the neighborhood and the house and the other things.

00:50:55.840 So much of it is not about necessarily what you want.

00:50:59.420 It's what you want others to think about you.

00:51:03.020 Be mindful of that.

00:51:04.660 That way we can put that in check and not just be a tumbleweed in the wind trying to appease

00:51:10.540 and get the approval and the accolades of men, right?

00:51:15.400 And let's check that mind or that way of thinking. 0.85

00:51:18.660 Well, it's also funny because when we have purchases that we want, we can justify it as

00:51:24.960 a need, right?

00:51:25.920 So I might say, for example, well, I need a new truck because it's safer.

00:51:30.960 It has a higher safety rating.

00:51:32.440 It has more capacity in the bed and I'll get better fuel mileage than my old one.

00:51:39.160 All of that might be true, but does that make it a need over a want?

00:51:45.960 No, they're just good selling points for yourself.

00:51:48.580 And we're really good at telling ourselves what we need to hear to turn a want into a

00:51:52.380 need.

00:51:53.620 Yeah, it's so true.

00:51:54.780 We're emotional beings that use logic to justify our emotional decisions, right?

00:51:59.720 That's really what we're doing.

00:52:00.960 And we know, I'll know it.

00:52:02.480 Like I remember I did that ride, that exact thing with Asia, right? 1.00

00:52:05.980 We're building the house and I'm like, I need a truck.

00:52:08.260 And I was like, I need to be able to get a truck for, you know, hauling all this.

00:52:12.740 But, you know, I come up with all these reasons and we're debating.

00:52:15.240 And then I went and then I got down to, I just want it.

00:52:20.240 And she, and then Asia's like, okay, makes sense. 0.51

00:52:25.260 Doesn't logically make sense.

00:52:26.600 I just want the thing.

00:52:28.000 Okay, let's do it.

00:52:30.580 So at least own it.

00:52:32.000 Right.

00:52:32.860 And, but that's, but that's, and there's nothing wrong with that.

00:52:36.160 If you can do that and it's a more fair response to a purchasing decision, just be honest.

00:52:42.740 I just want that thing.

00:52:44.400 Okay.

00:52:45.380 But don't lie about it.

00:52:46.400 You know, there's one other thing I would tell Zach here is what does your family pride

00:52:50.820 take pride in or what, what characteristics do you really believe in?

00:52:54.660 And so, you know, one characteristic might be, well, we pride ourselves on having the

00:53:01.260 biggest and the best.

00:53:02.820 Okay.

00:53:03.300 Cause there are people who are like that.

00:53:05.680 And maybe you build a family dynamic or culture around different values.

00:53:10.740 For example, resourcefulness, prudence, wisdom, discernment, yes, serving others.

00:53:20.240 Maybe you're, maybe you're a family who doesn't really care much about possessions because you're

00:53:24.220 more interested in experiences.

00:53:25.480 And so your, your discretionary income is spent on creating fun experiences with your kids.

00:53:31.500 But you, you probably would do well to consider what your family stands for and what values

00:53:39.800 do you really believe in as a family?

00:53:42.860 Yeah.

00:53:43.600 I love it.

00:53:44.640 I love it.

00:53:45.760 Okay, man.

00:53:46.520 That's all our questions.

00:53:47.760 Sweet.

00:53:48.560 Good questions.

00:53:49.260 You wanted to inject any, any other thing that comes to mind, right?

00:53:52.980 When you think about giving these guys advice around finances.

00:53:56.040 I mean, I think we hit on a lot, you know, I, I, again, just to recap, I really liked

00:54:00.360 the formula idea in theory and practicality, have some room for flexibility.

00:54:06.000 Think about your own personal situation.

00:54:08.500 I really liked the idea of saving 15 to 20% of your income first before anything else.

00:54:14.260 I love that we talked about how do we instill this stuff into our children?

00:54:17.500 Um, the other one that really stood out to me is making sure, and I haven't talked about

00:54:22.720 this for a while, but making sure that you're having a, uh, money meeting with your family.

00:54:27.380 And I would even include my kids in some of those discussions, not every discussion,

00:54:31.100 because the one, one thing you don't want to do is you don't want to parentify your child.

00:54:36.020 And that could happen if you bring your kid into every discussion.

00:54:40.280 Let's say you and your wife are really struggling financially.

00:54:42.800 You can let your children know, Hey guys, money's tight.

00:54:47.380 Hey, we're good.

00:54:48.100 We're good.

00:54:48.960 Daddy's doing this, putting in a few more hours at work.

00:54:51.320 Mom's selling a few things on the side.

00:54:53.440 We're good.

00:54:54.620 Money's tight.

00:54:55.400 So if we could keep that in mind, when we think about why we're not going out to eat

00:54:59.840 tonight or, you know, so you can include them in that.

00:55:02.560 But the minute you start making them worry about or making them feel like they're obligated

00:55:08.400 to help with some of this stuff, that could be a problem.

00:55:11.760 But I would definitely include them in the decision-making process, not, excuse me, not

00:55:15.280 decision-making process, include them in the process and let them see how healthy people

00:55:22.780 manage and talk about their money.

00:55:26.180 That was one thing my mom was really good at. 1.00

00:55:28.340 She was always willing to, there was details that she left out because those are her details,

00:55:32.920 but she was always really good about explaining these things to me, which is part of the reason

00:55:36.640 that I'm pretty good with money because of that.

00:55:39.820 When I was little in those format, I love it.

00:55:41.980 Yeah.

00:55:42.480 All right.

00:55:43.020 Call to action, man.

00:55:44.460 Christmas is coming up.

00:55:45.600 End of year.

00:55:46.420 A lot of you guys might be on the fence in regards to what 2026 looks like, what pivots

00:55:51.280 and adjustments you're going to be making going into the next year.

00:55:55.200 We would highly recommend that you join us in the Iron Council.

00:55:58.540 To learn more, go to orderofman.com slash Iron Council.

00:56:01.340 This is our exclusive brotherhood.

00:56:02.640 You join in the IC.

00:56:05.320 You establish a battle plan, goal setting for 90 days.

00:56:08.580 You join a team that holds you accountable.

00:56:11.400 Most importantly, you're banding with like-minded men focused on becoming better versions of

00:56:17.200 yourself, which is, that's the game changer.

00:56:20.780 So if you want to join us, orderofman.com slash Iron Council.

00:56:24.340 And of course, connect with Mr. Mickler on the socials at Ryan Mickler, both X and Instagram.

00:56:32.380 Ryan, any updates on the store?

00:56:34.640 Are we at our limit of if you want to get orders in?

00:56:37.140 Uh, you can try, but it's hit or miss as to whether or not we'll be able to get those

00:56:41.840 to you on time.

00:56:42.760 So my youngest son and I are feeling all the orders as frantically as possible and we'll

00:56:47.660 try to get it to you, but no guarantees at this point.

00:56:50.160 You know, there is one thing I want to say about the Iron Council and I want to be really

00:56:53.540 forward about something that I probably haven't been as forward with in the past.

00:56:56.960 It's about a thousand dollars a year is what it costs.

00:57:00.700 And you know, there's so many organizations out there who are like, well, you know, join us

00:57:06.080 on this thing and on the call and then fill out all this email stuff.

00:57:09.600 And then I'll have a coach call you about how much it is.

00:57:12.060 And it's like, no, it's a thousand dollars a year, give or take, depending on which option

00:57:16.420 you go with.

00:57:18.080 But let me ask you this, because we're talking about money and investing, this would be an

00:57:22.900 investment in yourself.

00:57:23.880 This would be part of that 20% because what's, what's the benefit?

00:57:29.480 What's the rate of return on losing 30 to 40 to 50 pounds in 2026?

00:57:36.080 What's the rate of return on being able to effectively understand and begin to communicate

00:57:42.300 with your wife in a more powerful way?

00:57:44.640 What's the rate of return on learning how to be more assertive, communicating your needs,

00:57:50.480 desires, and wishes, and asserting yourself when you feel like you have something valuable

00:57:55.000 to offer.

00:57:55.560 So you secure a promotion of 10 grand with your job in 2026.

00:58:00.800 What's the rate of return on learning how to properly communicate with your children

00:58:06.400 and teach them things about finances.

00:58:07.960 Like we talked about with those last questions.

00:58:10.220 What is the rate of return?

00:58:12.980 Infinite is the rate of return.

00:58:15.080 And here's the other, here's the other thought.

00:58:17.980 What is the cost of not doing that?

00:58:21.440 What's the cost of not being able to clearly communicate with your wife and getting frustrated?

00:58:26.240 Well, the greatest cost could potentially be divorce and that's going to cost you half

00:58:30.740 your wealth.

00:58:32.900 What's the cost to your health and your financial wellbeing and your mental wellbeing of continuing

00:58:40.880 to put on 10 to 15 pounds every year?

00:58:44.900 What's the cost of being involved in a business that you don't enjoy, your boss railroads you,

00:58:50.560 you don't get to share your ideas and concepts, and you feel like you're, to your point earlier,

00:58:54.300 you're being taken advantage of?

00:58:56.040 What is the cost of that?

00:58:57.740 Spend some time thinking about that and ask, is the cost greater than a thousand dollars?

00:59:01.500 And is the rate of return greater than a thousand dollars?

00:59:03.980 I would argue yes, with minimal effort, not none, but minimal.

00:59:08.860 Now imagine if you put forth maximum effort.

00:59:12.140 So there's my pitch.

00:59:13.480 And I think it should be a compelling one.

00:59:17.360 I wish I would have got involved in coaching way earlier than I did because the rate of return

00:59:21.520 is incalculable to me at this point.

00:59:24.300 So think about it.

00:59:25.700 Go to orderofman.com slash ironcouncil.

00:59:28.480 Anyways, Kip, I appreciate you.

00:59:29.920 Guys, great questions today.

00:59:31.080 Keep them coming.

00:59:31.680 We'll keep doing topics.

00:59:33.060 Got to think about what we're going to talk about for next week.

00:59:34.980 But until we are back on Friday, go out there, take action, and become the man you.

00:59:41.460 Thank you for listening to the Order of Man podcast.

00:59:44.440 You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you were meant to be?

00:59:48.120 We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.

00:59:54.400 Thank you.

00:59:55.820 Thank you.

00:59:56.100 Thank you.

00:59:57.320 Thank you.

00:59:57.480 Thank you.

00:59:58.380 Thank you.

00:59:59.500 Thank you.

Order of Man - December 17, 2025

How Inflation, Scarcity, and Vanity Destroy Your Wealth ｜ ASK ME ANYTHING

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