WEBVTT - Becoming Financially Optimistic #129 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:26.960 and today we are discussing becoming financially optimistic. Joel, I 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:29.280 know that this is an episode that you are excited 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:33.000 to talk about because you characterize yourself as this eternal optimist. 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.720 I'm pretty sure that's in my Twitter profile. Actually, that's 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.279 exactly where I recall recall it being. But yeah, we're 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:42.760 gonna talk about financial optimism. We're going to discuss some 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:45.800 of the different ways that being an optimist is beneficial 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.479 to our lives, obviously financial, but other areas as well. Yeah, man, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:52.000 I'm really looking forward to talking about optimism here because 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.200 I myself have a pretty strong bent towards optimism. But 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:57.279 before we get to that, I wanted to mention an 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.040 article I just saw recently, and basically it said that 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.320 Americans spend more on their lunch than folks in Britain do. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:05.880 I thought it was interesting that our lunches cost more 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.720 when we go out to eat. For some reason, lunchtime 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.360 fare is more expensive here than it is across the Pond. 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:14.600 I don't know exactly why that is. They gave a 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:16.720 couple of reasons in that article for why they think 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.080 that's the case. But what do you think about that? Like, 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:20.640 why do we spend so much on lunch here in 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:24.080 this country? Yeah, man, really fascinating article. Further down in there, 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.960 they were talking about how it's not because you know, 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:30.039 like it's more expensive to make that lunch, to make 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.360 that sandwich over in the UK, but basically it's just 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.280 due to different market conditions, whether that be because we're 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.919 used to tipping here in the States. Specifically, they're comparing 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:43.360 those sandwiches in New York versus in London, and I 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.160 guess New Yorkers are just used to tipping more and 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:48.600 so they kind of factor that into the cost for 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.360 a sandwich. But really, man, one of the most fascinating 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.400 things that stood out to me was the fact that 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.160 oftentimes restaurants will sometimes charge more at lunch than they 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.760 do at dinner, and that's because of that business lunch 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.560 time rush, just like an airline can charge more for 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.640 business travelers. They're just not price conscious. But yeah, they're 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.400 not price conscious. They know that no matter what, they're 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.320 just gonna go ahead and get that lunch. And I'm 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.200 just so happy that I'm not part of that crowd. 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.160 I hate not having an option, right, like, if you 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:15.880 know you have to go. But I guess if it's 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:17.800 maybe on the company and somebody else is kind of 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:20.200 footing the dime, I'm not going to be as concerned, 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.119 I guess, but maybe I would be. Who knows. Yeah, Well, 0:02:23.160 --> 0:02:25.720 I mean, I think we should treat our employer's money 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:27.840 kind of as we do our own. But I think 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:29.560 a lot of people don't have that mindset, and I 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.440 think a lot of people do spend more money just 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.760 because it's a company credit card or something like that. Right. 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:36.440 But the thing that it made me think reading that 0:02:36.520 --> 0:02:40.000 article was that whether you're a listener in Great Britain 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.120 or whether you are a listener here in the United States, 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.680 even if it's cheaper to get your lunch out in Britain, 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.240 I would still say you should pack your lunch most 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:50.840 of the time. If you can make it a habit 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.400 to pack your lunch, bring it to work four out 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.120 of five days a week. I pretty much do it 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.200 five out of five. That there's the very rare occasion 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.200 that I'll eat lunch out, but for the most part, 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:01.160 I'm eating lunch at my desk. That is a huge 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:03.520 money saver. I don't even think if you're used to 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.080 eating out for lunch, maybe you haven't even thought about 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:08.000 it as kind of one of those places that you 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.720 can cut back in your budget. But it's actually gonna 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.000 have a substantial effect if you think about how much 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:16.040 money you're actually spending every day. And one thing in particular, 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:18.920 my friend Len he writes an article every year. In fact, 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.880 this year it's his eleventh edition of this. He analyzes 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:26.000 the annual cost of ten popular brown bags sandwiches that 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:27.919 you can take to work or pack for your kids. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:29.600 I love that he does that. He factors in the 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.440 cost per serving, the change in price from from last 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.440 year for the sandwiches and these ingredients, so it's kind 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:36.840 of just a neat thing. Will post a link to 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.360 it in the show notes. But basically, pack your lunch. 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:41.880 Even if prices have gone up on the price of 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.320 peanut butter and jelly, that's not that big of a 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.840 deal really, when you're considering cutting back from buying your 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.320 lunch every single day or most days, yeah, or I 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:54.800 think what might even be a better option, man, is leftovers. 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.200 I think leftovers are so underrated. It's a way that 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:01.640 you can waste less food, save money. It's just a 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.480 couple of minutes in the microwave or that toast raven. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.160 You get yourself a hot, delicious meal that you can 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.600 relive all over again. I personally am a huge fan 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.040 of leftovers. It's a good call, man, I like that. Yeah, 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.680 more leftovers, more bringing your lunch, less eating out. There 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:20.440 are multiple different ways to avoid that expensive lunch option. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:23.760 Like on Friday's, for instance, there is a food truck. 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.600 They bring a different food truck to our work every 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.120 single Friday, very tempting. Literally, I've never done it, and 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.160 if I wanted to, I think at some point I will. 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:34.320 If it was a craft beard. Lunch trucks set your mouth, 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.120 I wouldn't get any work done the rest of the day, 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.120 that's for sure. But like in particular, there's this one 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.920 running around town that's like a main lobster truck, and 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.679 next time that comes, I'm gonna drop the eighteen dollars 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.599 for a lobster roll. I'm gonna do it. Yeah, oh yeah, no, 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:51.000 eighteen dollars. Seriously, probably it's like legit, main, what's not 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:52.720 going to be that much, dude, all right, whatever it is, 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.800 I'm going to drop it on that because that sounds 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:56.800 good to me. Lobster roll here in Atlanta. I'm gonna 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:00.400 guess nine fifty what No way, if it's a jet Maine, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.960 lobster's gonna cost way more. Seriously, Yeah, man, I cannot 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:07.360 afford to eat out for lunch. That is like the 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.160 one time I'm going to do it. But I'll spend 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.640 nine on a beer, but not on some lobster. I'm 0:05:11.640 --> 0:05:13.440 actually not a huge fan of lobster. I would much 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:16.200 rather have a crab. To me, crab tastes way better 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:19.760 than lobster. Crabs a little sweeter, Yeah, sweet and so good. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.800 I think I prefer lobster though. All right, but let's 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.000 get onto the beer that we're having on the show today, Matt. 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.960 We're drinking Caramel Machiatto stout by Old bust Head Brewing Company. Yeah. 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.200 This beer was donated to us by my in laws 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:34.120 while they're up in Virginia for a wedding. So thanks 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.480 to them, and I'm looking forward to diving into how 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.760 this beer tastes at the end of the show. Are right, buddy, 0:05:39.760 --> 0:05:43.080 me too, Now onto this subject at hand. Words, Yeah, 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.200 we're discussing optimism. Sorry I jumped the gun there. Well, 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.880 It's one of my favorite subjects. I think optimism is 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.640 so beneficial to people and and most people have negative 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.720 money scripts floating around in their head. Their their pessimism 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.240 hurts their current view of money and and also their 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:02.200 future of financial well being. Well, how can we combat that? 0:06:02.720 --> 0:06:06.040 I think the answer is financial optimism. When we're pessimistic 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:08.599 about the current state of money affairs in our life, 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:11.200 it leads us to in action. It freezes us up, 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:13.640 we find it hard to change things, we stay put. 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:18.080 It ends up creating a cycle that secures pessimism for 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.000 the long term. So I think today on the show, 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:22.480 we have to discuss this idea of optimism and how 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:26.520 it can have massive ramifications on how we handle money 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.680 in our lives. Yeah, man, and I can't help but 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.360 to think of investing as the perfect example, right, Like 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:33.640 you might think we don't have hardly any money to invest, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:35.720 and so you don't You think it's not going to 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.080 make any difference at all if you start investing now, 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.039 But man, it does make a difference, right, Like those 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.040 small amounts add up over time, and then even beyond that, 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.760 it has a lot to do with just the discipline 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.000 of doing the deed. Right, like doing the dang thing 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.000 and actually investing that money, no matter how small, that's 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:52.920 gonna help move you forward. So you gotta look on 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.120 the bright side of things and not be pessimistic about it. 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.200 Completely agree, But aside from the financial implications, optimists overall 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.960 tend to live longer lives than pessimists. Take that pessimist 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.200 and you know, based on the way that you know 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:08.200 you responded when you heard that sentence like that might 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.080 actually tell you which way you tend to lean. I'm 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:14.440 sure pestimists are probably like, no, they don't, that's yes, 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.400 I don't believe that, whereas optimists are like, oh yeah, 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:18.240 I always thought that that makes sense. And so if 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:20.800 we live a life a bit more optimistically, it will 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.000 lead to a longer and healthier life for us. So 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.160 it's not even just about doing better with our money. 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.280 The implications are much much larger. Yeah, and we're gonna 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:31.480 talk a lot about optimism as a whole today, but 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:36.160 but also particularly the financial effects of optimism. Well, basically, 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.000 I think the more optimistic we can be about our finances, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.320 the less taboo there is around money. You're more likely 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:45.600 to look for help, to ask for help, optimists tend 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.600 to make progress. They're getting things done, They're not necessarily 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:52.120 striving for perfection. I think sometimes pessimism can stem out 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:56.120 of this need for perfection and you're never gonna reach 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:59.040 that status. Well, if I can't save ten in my 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.000 four oh one, k, I'm not I'm not gonna save anything, 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.120 And that's pessimism rearing a totally head. The optimist is 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:05.640 able to say, you know what, I was able to 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.280 get the ball rolling. I'm gonna take that as a win. 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.200 I'm gonna put that as a check mark in the 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:13.040 column of I'm getting my finances together. Statistically, there is 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.160 a direct correlation of our level of optimism and then 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:19.560 the health of our finances. I think it's fascinating and 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.480 this is all great news for the actual optimists. Your 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.920 beaming right now, Yeah, but what if that's just not 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.920 how you are wired. You might be asking yourself, like, 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.480 how much control do I actually have over my optimism? Well, 0:08:32.520 --> 0:08:35.160 the answer is it's more than you think. Science shows 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:40.360 that only about twenty of our optimism is biologically determined, 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:44.440 is determined biogenetics. Seventy of it is up to us. 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.080 So we actually have a lot of room to make 0:08:47.200 --> 0:08:49.120 changes in our life. So even if you have some 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:51.760 of those natural or tendencies, you still have a lot 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.439 of control over the level of optimism in your life. Optimism, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.840 in our opinion, will will lead us to try more things, 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.679 to be more daring and more than anything, optimism forces 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.680 us to focus away from the things that we can't control. 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:05.880 It's easy to kind of fixate on those things, the 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.840 things that we don't have any say over, But optimism says, 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:10.839 you know what, I'm not going to think about those things. 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:12.760 I'm gonna try to focus on the things that are 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:16.199 actually in that locus of control that I can make 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:19.040 changes to and have a positive effect on my life. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.240 Which makes me think obviously of Stephen Covey's book Seven 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.920 Habits of Highly Effective People, where he talks about you 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.000 have your circles of concern, and then within that circle 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.079 of concern, you have your circle or sphere of influence. 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:33.560 And the idea is that we are going to focus 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:35.839 on the things that we have actual control over, that 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.680 we can have influence over, and that we're not wasting 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:41.120 our time and energy just spinning our tires trying to 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:43.480 change the things that we can't control. You know, the 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.679 trick is being able to identify the difference between the 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.640 things that we're concerned about and the things that we 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.360 have full control over. All right, Matt, we've got more 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.760 to say about optimism. We've got some physical ways that 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:55.559 we want to discuss that you can actually start to 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:58.839 implement optimism into your life. But first we need to 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.240 kind of change the way on mind works in regards 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:04.000 to optimism, and we'll get into that right after the break. 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:14.559 All right, Joe, we are back for the break, and 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.160 let's talk about our brains. Like you mentioned, we need 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.400 to mentally change our approach to our finances by working 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:24.480 towards becoming more optimistic. If we are continually looking at 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.480 things through the lens of what might just go wrong, 0:10:28.200 --> 0:10:31.520 then it'll have a negative effects on our ability to save, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.400 in our ability to invest for the future. So let's 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.200 make sure we're taking steps to combats our mental roadblocks 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:40.600 to financial optimism with these steps. Yeah, all right, let's 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:42.880 get into it. So, first things first, if you want 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:46.079 to become more optimistic, and what we're saying here is 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.040 that that's something we should strive for, the first step 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:52.439 towards becoming more optimistic is assessing the current reality on 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:55.240 the ground. So what do you tend towards if you're 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.559 a person that's kind of apt to pessimism. We just 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:02.840 talked about of your optimism. Pessimism level is basically predetermined 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.360 based on your biology. If you know that about yourself, well, 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:09.319 knowing is key. If you see that as a struggle, 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.800 well it's something that you can fight against, but you 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.360 have to know that that's the case first and foremost 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.640 before you can actually start to tackle the issue head on. So, Joe, 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:19.960 that totally reminds me of an email that we received recently. 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:24.040 He quoted G I Joe where he says that knowing 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.319 is half the battle. Because that's totally a G I 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:27.920 Joe quote, And I don't know if you remember that 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:30.599 from the early nineties. I don't. I totally played with 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.199 G I Joe's but I do not never watch G 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:33.959 I Joe. No, I think I think I did some, 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.160 but I definitely don't remember that quote from my gosh. 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.120 That was like it was at the end or the beginning, 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:39.360 I can't remember, but it was sort of like the 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.520 little moral lesson where the soldiers are like they're walking 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.440 along and two kids are fighting on the basketball court 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.400 and they talk about like what you should do instead, 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:49.240 and knowing is half the battle. You remember, maybe like 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.439 ten years ago when the g I Joe re Dub 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:56.079 videos came out. Those are pretty funny. That was really funny. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:58.280 But I mean I mentioned that because knowing is half 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.760 the battle. Like knowing in this case is being aware. 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.200 And in our culture, a lot of times we're often 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.200 so rewarded for just doing and going going going right, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:08.640 like to just do things without really thinking about them, 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.679 and taking that time to pause and to think about 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.400 why we're doing things and having that self awareness I 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.360 think is a really important step. So I'm just gonna 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:18.600 have to agree with you and say I think that's 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:22.160 great advice. Well, and I think too, there is generally 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.839 just kind of a pessimistic tone around us. In the 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.559 news and the things we read. There is often a 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:30.679 chicken little the skuy is following sort of mentality. And 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:33.240 not that there aren't issues, not that there aren't problems 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.040 in the world that we live in, but when you 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:36.880 step back and think about it and you read somebody 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.360 like Stephen Pinker, and you see, wait a second, the 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.400 world is actually overall getting a lot better, and human 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.040 life is is flourishing, and for the most part, the 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:49.079 the trajectory is is going in a solid direction despite 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.400 all the difficulties that we face. I mean, I think 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.000 it's easy to become pessimistic if we're living in the 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:55.800 daily news cycle and we we have to kind of 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:57.880 step back and assess the reality on the ground, and 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:00.679 I think that helps us become more optimist. Yeah, what's 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:02.400 at the center of that is just to make sure 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.520 that you're not dwelling on the negative. Right. So, for example, 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:07.520 when your budget just doesn't look, you know, quite as 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:08.800 clean as you hope to would at the end of 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.679 the month, don't beat yourself up about it. That can 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.640 be maybe motivation instead to kick more. But next month, 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:17.520 it can be hard to stay a beat when negative 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.800 things happen. And we aren't saying just to deny reality, right, 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:24.640 but having a plan to move forward when those unexpected 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:29.679 expenses arise, especially mentally, that's just incredibly helpful. Yeah. Man. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.040 For example, if you look at some stats on what 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.400 a person needs to save for their kid to go 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.040 to college one jillion dollars, it seems like that it totally, 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:41.640 totally does. There's been some rumblings about this in our 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:44.040 Facebook group, people have questions about how much money do 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:45.920 I actually need to be saving for my kids college? 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.120 And we've talked about that way back in the day. 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:51.040 I'm sure we'll talk more about plans in the future. 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:52.800 But when you look at the stats and it's like, 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.160 you need to save three thousand dollars for your kids 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.600 college for each kid, by the way, right and right, 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.800 and you've got four of them, so so basically you're screwed, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:02.640 and so we're your kids. Oh sweet daughter, have you 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.000 ever thought about taking up plumbing because because plumbers are 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:07.640 going to rule the world. Yeah, that's a side note, 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:10.640 but yeah, basically, yeah, when you look at those numbers, 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.560 it'll make your eyes glaze over because it's basically an 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.480 impossibility for ninety eight percent of us to fully fund 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:19.680 our kids college. But if you dwell on the negative, 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:21.360 if you if you dwell on the fact that there's 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.080 no way that we can fully fund college for our kids, 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.520 there's no way you can fully fund college for four 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:29.240 kids at that sort of rate, with those sort of projections, 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.000 There's no way I can do that for three kids. 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.840 And so the pessimistic take would be to say I'm 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.400 not even get started like, there's no way, so I'm 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.200 not going to tackle the problem. The optimistic side would say, 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.120 I'm pretty sure I can take a big chunk out 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:43.440 of that. I'm pretty sure I can make progress and 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.160 help my kid out in this endeavor, even though there 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.040 is no silver bullet and I'm not going to solve 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:50.880 the problem completely. And that's just kind of a mental shift, 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.000 or basically, you have to decide not to dwell on 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.440 the negative when you see absurd things like that, you 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.720 know in print, Yeah, there's a lot of room within 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:01.360 that gray area, right, It's not either a, oh, they're 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:03.080 totally not going to go to college or be I'm 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:04.480 going to be able to fully fund their college and 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:06.360 they are. There's a lot of room there in between 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.760 for either state schools, for local community colleges, for scholarships. 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:12.760 And we just joked about this, but trade school like 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:14.560 that's a real possibility for a lot of folks. There 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.880 are a lot of amazing jobs out there where folks 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.600 can learn a trade and make an incredible living by 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:21.600 doing that. It makes me think too of kind of 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.240 commercials that we're running years back for certain investment companies. 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:27.440 I honestly don't even remember who but it was kind 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:29.880 of that what's your retirement number? And you would see 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.480 these numbers from people you know that that this company 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:35.160 was saying, you need one point seven million dollars to retire, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:37.920 and there are all these just immense numbers floating around 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.280 and for a lot of people, that's gonna put the 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.880 kai bosh on you even considering saving for retirement, Like 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.160 that's probably pretty disheartening for a lot of folks. Yeah, 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:46.800 it's like, oh, well, I'm never gonna get there, so 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.320 I shouldn't even start. And and so I think certainly 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:50.960 things we've see in the media, things we see in 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.800 marketing can kind of lead us to a pessimistic point 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:55.600 of view. But what we have to do is we 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:56.760 have to turn that out in its head and we 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:00.120 have to say, you know what, that's ridiculous and or 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.800 is something that I can do. It's just gonna look 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.160 a little different. And on the note of staying positive, 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.240 right and not dwelling on the negative, it's also important 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:11.120 that we learn from our mistakes. We're not defined by 0:16:11.240 --> 0:16:14.840 our past money mistakes. By letting those mistakes rule our 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:19.160 financial life moving forward, that's just a recipe for failure. Optimists. 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.400 Instead learn from those mistakes, and they tend to view 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.200 those mistakes instead as fuel for you know, like that 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:31.320 optimistic fire that will burn eternal. Yeah, completely, man. You 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.760 can let a mistake ruin you, or you can let 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:37.840 a mistake drive you towards accomplishing bigger things. Another really 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.120 important thing we need to consider as we attempt to 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:44.080 become more optimistic and therefore boosting our chances of financial 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:47.360 success is controlling the inputs that we allow into our lives. 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.960 We ultimately create our own realities. In so many ways, 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.400 our attitudes can determine the opportunities that we get or 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.280 don't get, and it can also determine how we view 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.840 what happens to us. Do we have this like no pain, 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.480 no gain mentality or are we daunted at every setback? 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.000 And what are the things that we're letting influence our mood. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.080 If we spend a lot of time like we mentioned, 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.880 watching the news, scouring social media, it's easy to become 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.240 more pessimistic. It's easy to think that the world is 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.600 going to hell in a handbasket, or we just don't 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:17.600 have the things that we need, even though those things 0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:19.800 aren't needs. But we saw him on social media and 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:21.320 we feel like they are now, and we feel like 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:23.680 our life is lacking. So much of the pessimism that 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.480 we experience comes from comparison. So cutting back on those 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.400 negative inputs in a major way can provide a really 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:33.920 helpful boost to our optimism levels. And Matt, that actually 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.919 reminds me of this book I reading My Girls at Night, 0:17:36.040 --> 0:17:37.879 a Pete the Cat book. But this Pete the Cat 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.560 Book is about Pete and these magic sunglasses, and Pete 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.359 things that these magic sunglasses are are what's making his 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:45.320 day better. The fact that you know, his friend gave 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.439 me these sunglasses and it was like, okay, cool, now 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.600 everything is better when I'm wearing these sunglasses. But then 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.080 the sunglasses break and it takes somebody else telling Pete 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:54.879 that it wasn't the sunglasses, man, it's the way he 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.600 looks at the World's his outlook. It's his attitude. And 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.720 I feel a little lame given like a children's book 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.040 refere here, But man, it's so true, like it's made 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:03.720 this big impact that my girls and I talked about 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:05.679 it a lot. But it's not the sunglasses. It's it's 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.760 really it's your outlook on the world and what happens 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:10.720 to you. You can choose to view it in a 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:12.399 pessimistic way, or you can choose to view it in 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:15.680 an optimistic way. So, on this note of controlling our inputs, 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.119 we've had awesome feedback from dozens of listeners via email, 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.639 VR Facebook group about really cool ways that they have 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:24.800 been able to take control of their finances and make 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:26.920 a change. And so I feel like one thing that 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.000 we can do is provide positive input for everyone out there. 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.800 And so, Matt, let's here a couple of listeners success 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:36.040 stories really quick. How do you feel about that? Yeah? Man? 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:38.400 We got an email from Maggie and she is who 0:18:38.480 --> 0:18:41.560