← Young and Profiting with Hala Taha
Young and Profiting with Hala Taha
Dave Ramsey: Get Rich and Stay Rich, Financial Decisions That Help You Build Wealth | Finance | E388
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- [00:00]
Hala Taha
Today's episode of Young and Profiting is sponsored in part by Shopify, Indeed Intuit, Framer, Quo Spectrum Business, Northwest Registered Agent, Bitdefender and Experian. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you grow your business. Start your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com profiting attract, interview and hire all in one place with Indeed. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at indeed.com profiting intuit quickbooks bill pay it's a bill management tool that brings all of your bills, vendors and payment details into one organized dashboard so you can track and pay everything in one place. Learn more@quickbooks.com BillPay publish beautiful and production ready websites with framer. Go to framer.com profiting and get 30% off their framer Pro annual plan. Quo gives your team 1 shared business number like a shared inbox. Every call and text is in one place. Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com Profiting Spectrum business delivers high speed, reliable connectivity built specifically for small to medium sized businesses. Visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Northwest Registered Agent gives you the tools and guidance you need to build a complete business identity. Visit northwestregisteredagent.com yap4 and start building something amazing. Start protecting your business today with Bitdefender's Ultimate Small Business Security. Get 30% off your plan@bitdefender.com profiting the Experian app helps you track spending and find subscriptions that you forgot about and you no longer want. Get started with the Experian app today. See experian.com for details. As always, you can find all of our incredible deals in the show notes or@youngandprofiting.com deals I think it's an excellent
- [01:48]
Dave Ramsey
time to be in business. I'm so excited for a 25 year old entrepreneur right now. You're gonna make some mistakes. You're gonna stub your toe. You're still gonna get a bloody nose. Oh well, have at it. Do it anyway, man. But this is the best time in human history.
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Podcast Host
Personal finance expert, Host of the Dave Ramsey Show.
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Dave Ramsey
His name is Dave.
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Podcast Host
Dave Ramsey. Dave Ramsey.
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Hala Taha
Dave Ramsey.
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Dave Ramsey
I was gonna be the real estate guy. We had $4 million worth of real estate and we lost it all. We lost everything. We were bankrupt and we figured out that what we've been doing obviously didn't work. So we I don't borrow money. Period. 100% of the time. Debt equals risk.
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Podcast Host
The argument is, especially for high earners, is that you can pay off your credit cards. A lot of people are really interested in points. Why is that still a hard line for you?
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Dave Ramsey
There's tons of data, tons of pieces of research out there that show that a credit card versus cash is 12 to 21% more spending. And if you add to it, oh, I'm getting points, then I'll even increase my spending yet more. So you gave up a dollar to get a penny.
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Podcast Host
What do is the biggest money mistake that younger people do right now?
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Dave Ramsey
You grew up with this thing in your hand your entire life. That's a magic wand. You could push a button and anything happens. What that gives you guys is your abundance thinkers. You think anything's possible because anything has always been possible. And that's the good part. The bad part is
- [03:11]
Hala Taha
yap gang, more income doesn't automatically mean more wealth. In fact, some of the highest earners are also the most financially stressed. So what's really going on? Well, I got the opportunity to fly down to Nashville and ask Dave Ramsey in his home studio this very question. In this conversation today, Dave breaks down why making money and building wealth are two completely different skill sets. We unpack the behavioral traps that keep high earners stuck and the simple time tested principles that create lasting wealth. By the way, Dave first joined us on episode 344 last year where we talked all about how to build and scale a business that lasts. That was an incredible conversation. If you're an entrepreneur, you need to listen to that one. And we are replaying that conversation this Friday, so make sure you check it out. And if you're new here, kindly take one second to follow us on YouTube and your favorite podcast app so you can keep listening, learning and profiting. Dave, welcome back to Young and Profiting Podcast.
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Dave Ramsey
I'm honored to be with you again.
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Podcast Host
I am so excited for this conversation. I'm so happy that we're getting to meet in person.
- [04:16]
Dave Ramsey
Yes.
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Podcast Host
You know, I got to spend an hour with you already. Our first interview was amazing. We're going to play it again on Friday so everybody gets your background story. So everybody hears about your latest book, Build a Business. But today I really want to focus on money problems for high earners because most of my listeners earn over $125,000. They're usually like between the ages of 35 and 45. And so I've got a lot of high achieving people tuning in and a
- [04:44]
Hala Taha
lot of these people, like they know all the steps.
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Podcast Host
They know your baby steps They've listened to you for years and other financial advisors, but they still don't change. So why do you think people change? Even when they know the rules, they have the knowledge?
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Dave Ramsey
I'm not sure. I mean, I don't know why I still eat too many donuts. It's kind of the same thing when I know it's not going to help my figure. But, you know, people don't change because they don't have a real reason to change. They don't think it's worth the effort and it's worth the sacrifice. It's a pain gain thing. Is there enough gain for the pain if I've got to engage in this? And so we tend to take the easy button, we tend to go the easy route. I think it's just human nature. I'm the same way. I do the same thing if I don't make myself stop and as an intellectual act of the will, say, wait a minute, I need to make better decisions on this particular subject so I get a better result. And I people, you don't normally do that. It's an act of the will.
- [05:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Now, I know that you're really known for hard lines, right. You take hard stances, you've got hard rules. Why do you think that you're so, you know, absolutist in this way, in your thinking of having these hard lines? Is it because of the things that have happened to you personally or because of all the callers that you've heard over the years, thousands of people, and just knowing kind of what's best for people?
- [06:15]
Dave Ramsey
Well, any hard line I take with anyone is because I believe that's what's best for them. I'm not doing it just to make a stand. I'm saying this is a, you know, if you were my best friend, if you were my little brother, my little sister, this is what I would tell you to do. And so that's not ever changed from the day we got on the air. And there are some tactical things that we don't take hard lines on, but then there's some principles and some processes that are now proven. And so I've got eight grandkids, and if one of them's standing on the edge of the roof, I need to take a hard line because the law of gravity works every time and it's going to cause harm to them if they don't get away from the edge of the roof. And I love them and I don't want them to get hurt. So that's a hard line. But the law of gravity is a principle. We can count on it. There's a principle that when you give all your money to Citibank or you give all your money to Ford Motor Company, you don't have any money. And that's what debt does. It steals your most powerful wealth building tool, which is your income. And so that's a principle and I don't really need to think about that anymore. It was certainly influenced and initially when we started teaching this stuff almost 40 years ago when we went broken. Yeah, that influences it. But these days it's more influenced by tens of millions of people that have followed what we asked them to do. And it caused a positive result. Yeah, they've succeeded because of it.
- [07:46]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So I know that you were on the show before, you talked a lot about your financial collapse, but for those who don't know about what happened to you personally, do you mind just going into it a little bit and then telling us some of the big lessons that you learned from that period?
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Dave Ramsey
Well, I've got a degree in finance and specialization in real estate. I was going to be the real estate guy and I started buying real estate and nothing down flipped this house before Chip and Joanna were born. And so we've been doing this a long time. And I went broke because I was so highly leveraged. I borrowed so much money and the bank called our notes. We had $4 million worth of real estate and we lost it all starting from nothing. And So I was 28 years old at the bottom and brand new baby, a toddler and a marriage hanging on by a thread and we lost everything. We were bankrupt in the process. I had met God on the way up and I got to know God on the way down and someone said, hey, here's what the Bible says about money. Now that was weird to me because I was a hell raising, beer drinking hillbilly. And what the Bible got to do with money. And so I'm looking at these proverbs and they sounded like my grandmother, like, live on less than you make and have a plan and basic common sense. And so I started living our lives that way just because we figured out that what we'd been doing obviously didn't work right. So we needed a new plan and then we started sharing it with some people. And that was 30 years ago.
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Podcast Host
Yeah, and that's how it all started. So like I mentioned, you're really known for these hard lines and I feel like, because we've already, you know, talked before for an hour, then maybe I can like Push you on these hard lines, but tell you what other people say against them, and you tell me why you feel there's still a hard line or if over the years you've conceded on this hard line.
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Dave Ramsey
Okay.
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Podcast Host
Okay, sure. So let's start with no credit cards ever. Now, the argument is, especially for high earners, is that you can pay off your credit cards right away, pay off the full balance. And a lot of people are really interested in points, especially Gen Z millennials. We're all about our points. Getting free travel, free hotel, free flights. Why is that still a hard line for you?
- [09:59]
Dave Ramsey
Well, the only reason is just the data doesn't say that it works. There's two major problems with that. 78% of the airline miles are never redeemed. Hello. Okay. And the data tells us any of us that do any digital marketing, and I've got a large firm and we do a lot of digital marketing, we know that friction decreases spending. If it's harder to navigate the website to buy, you lose people, they abandon the cart. Right. And so you abandon purchases where there are friction. The less friction there is, the more increase in spending there is. And there's tons of data, tons of pieces of research out there that show that a credit card versus cash, nobody carries cash, but a credit card versus cash is 12 to 21% more spending. And if you add to it, oh, I'm getting points. Thank you, Samuel L. Jackson. Right. And I'm getting points. What's in your wallet? Then I'll even increase my spending yet more. And so, you know, and there's even examples of that in the commercials. They're advertising, oh, well, I'll pay for this for you. So I get the points. And, you know, so you gave up a dollar to get a penny. How's that increase wealth? And then the second piece of this is, so you do increase spending is the biggest problem because it's less friction. And let's go all the way over to, like, Apple pay. You don't even see an expenditure. It's just you wave a wand and stuff happens. Right? And so that's the ultimate in psychological lack of friction. And so you're going to spend more, you're going to spend more, you're going to spend more. It's easy. Just wave a wand. Wave a wand. And I do, too. I mean, you know, we were on a cruise the other day, Sharon and I, my wife. And you know, your room key buys everything on the boat, right? Because they don't have any transactions, not even your credit card. Not even your debit card? Not anything. No cash. And so, you know, I'm just buying stuff and I'm like, I teach this and look at what I'm doing, you know, it's crazy. So anyway, that's thing one. Then thing two is there's no credible data that says using points causes wealth. As a matter of fact, we did the largest study a millionaire has ever done at Ramsey Research. 10,167 of them. And the number of them that said I became a millionaire because of my points is zero. None. And so it's a game. And you're playing with a multi billion dollar company who has more algorithms tracking your behavior patterns than you can even imagine. And believe me, they're not coming out on the short end of this. The consumer is.
- [12:43]
Podcast Host
Now, what about credit cards for a business, for companies? How do you feel about that?
- [12:49]
Dave Ramsey
I use debit cards here. We've got about 85 people inside Ramsey that have a Ramsey debit card, like a company card. And so they spend it and it comes out of the account. And so the debit card does every single thing the credit card will do. And some debit cards even have points with them. Now some of them even have airline miles and stuff. But I'm not going to chase pennies with dollars. The logic of that, I get 2% back. So you spend $100,000 and you got 2 grand. How does that equate to wealth? It doesn't. That's bad math.
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Hala Taha
Young and profits. Picture this. You're on Zoom, pitching a huge client. You're in the flow, you're confident, the client seems super interested. And then your screen freezes, the audio cuts, connection is lost. Actual nightmare. That's why I'm very intentional about who I trust for Internet and why I use Spectrum Business. Spectrum Business delivers high speed, reliable connectivity built specifically for small to medium sized businesses that just can't afford any downtime. The connection is fast and reliable. But what really keeps me loyal is their 247 US based customer support. If something does go wrong, I'm talking to a real person who understands what's at stake, not a bot. Yeah, fam. Growing your business is already hard enough. Your Internet should never be what holds you back. Visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Again, that's spectrum.com business restrictions apply. Services not available in all areas. Yap, gang. Here's a hard truth I had to learn the hard way. If you're running a business and you don't have a clear picture of your cash flow, you're flying blind. There was a time when I was approving expenses and making decisions without fully knowing what was going out of my account or when. That's a dangerous place to operate from as a business owner. So as we started to scale YAP Media, I needed a change. And all of it improved when I started using Intuit QuickBooks Bill Pay. It's a bill management tool inside of QuickBooks that brings all of your bills, vendors and payment details into one organized dashboard so you can track and pay everything in one place. With QuickBooks Bill Pay, you can see what's due, control approvals, and understand how each payment impacts your cash flow. Now I make faster and smarter financial decisions because I actually know my numbers. Start paying bills the smart way, not the hard way. Learn more@quickbooks.com BillPay Again, that's QuickBooks.com BillPay terms apply money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Incorporated, licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services. What's up young and profiters? We're still at the start of a new year and you know what that means. New goals, new ideas, and maybe that little voice in your head saying, this is the year that I finally start my business. But let's be real, the what ifs show up fast. What if I fail? What if this is the wrong move? I've been there and what I learned is that it makes a huge difference when you have the right partner from day one. And the hardest part is starting. For many entrepreneurs, that partner is Shopify. Shopify is an all in one commerce platform that helps you build, run and grow your business. You can create professional looking websites with ready to use templates, manage payments, and even use AI tools to write product descriptions so you can launch faster. What I love is how simple Shopify makes everything. You don't need to be technical, you, you don't need to have it all figured out. It just lets you start. And like I said, starting is the hardest part. Yeah, fam. Don't kick yourself a year from now because you didn't take action today. Start your business with Shopify. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify. Today sign up for your $1 per month trial@shopify.com Holla. That's shopify.com Holla. Go to shopify.com Challa
- [16:57]
Podcast Host
I interviewed Michael Michalowicz recently if you're familiar with him. And he taught me about something called the Parkinson's Law, which basically as high earners get more Money. When they have more money in their bank account, they just end up spending more because visibly they can see more money.
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Hala Taha
Do you think it's the same thing with credit cards?
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Podcast Host
Like, if you know you've got a $20,000 limit, then suddenly.
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Dave Ramsey
Yeah, it's out of sight, out of mind. And it's the same. Parkinson's law applies to closet space, too. In your home, if you have an empty closet, it's going to fill up. There'll be some junk in there in about 10 months. And so your garage does the same thing. Right. So that applies to everything. And there's a sense of that and the way we've seen it, like in the old days, when I first started doing this on talk radio back in the day, we would have someone call in and say, hey, I got a $300 a month raise. How'd you celebrate? I bought a $400 a month car payment. That's Parkinson's law, too. It's the same thing. You know, if it's there, I have to spend it. Right. And so, yeah, I do agree with that. And I think you gotta watch that. And there's an interesting thing with the credit card, too, that kind of goes with the same thing. And again, no one spends cash. I actually use cash sometimes. I'm a cash guy. I'm an old guy, so that's possible. I understand. Everybody's not gonna do that. What's interesting is if I'm gonna buy something, I hand you money, you keep it, and I get the item. Yeah, it's like when you're a little child, you were trading toys. It's interesting visual that when you hand someone a card, even if it's a debit card, they hand the card back and you get the thing. Isn't that an interesting visual? There's no trade took place.
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Podcast Host
Yeah, that is really interesting. And it probably makes you feel like you're not really giving up anything to get it.
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Dave Ramsey
Exactly. That's that frictionless problem we're talking about.
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Podcast Host
Yeah. Okay, so another hard line which is on the same line, so we don't have to spend too much time on it. But there's no such thing as good debt. So even, like mortgages on a house, you believe there's no such thing as good debt
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Dave Ramsey
eventually. I mean, we don't yell at people for taking out a mortgage on our programs and in our processes. I don't borrow money, period. I've never borrowed any money since I went broke. And I built everything with organic cash along the way. 100%. It means I had to go slower than some people, and I'm not as big as some people, but I'm fine with that. I'm not going to lose it either. So the thing that we don't equate with debt hardly anywhere in our society or in this discussion is 100% of the time, debt equals risk. Little debt, little risk. Small interest rate debt. Small debt, little risk. Big debt, big risk. But people don't think about it. They only talk about debt as if there's one possible outcome and it's a positive outcome. And we always laugh and say, there's been, we've done detailed research and 100% of the foreclosures occur on a home with a mortgage. So if you want to destabilize your retirement, go into retirement with a mortgage. Think about it. Because you're 80 years old now and you got a house payment. You're 78 years old and you got a house payment. This is not a plan. And again, referring back to that millionaire study, we found basically two things that caused people to get their first one to $5 million in net worth. It was a well funded retirement plan taking advantage of good mutual funds and compound interest. And that'd be 7,800,000 bucks, maybe after 10 or 12 years of working on it hard, and a paid off 5, 6, 800, $900,000 house. Those two things combined, the number of them that had paid off houses as a big component of their first million dollars was huge. There's a correlation between it and wealth building.
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Podcast Host
That makes sense. And to that point, you don't believe that you should have any debt into retirement. Once you retire, you should be totally debt free.
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Dave Ramsey
It's the best way, obviously, to have a stable situation. And because the number of times I talk to someone that, you know, they've got a mortgage and then they've run through their nest egg and now they got a mortgage and they're trying to figure out how to, how they're going to support that.
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Podcast Host
Yeah.
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Dave Ramsey
And so it's, it's devastating.
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Podcast Host
Yeah. Okay, good advice. Okay, one more hard line. Debt snowball over avalanche. So the argument is that avalanche method could actually help you save more money, whereas you prefer the snowball method, which pays off the smallest balances first.
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Dave Ramsey
Right. The avalanche method pays off the highest interest rate to smallest interest rate, which is purported to be mathematically advantageous. Then the debt snowball pays off the smallest debt to the largest debt, which is a feedback loop because personal finance is 80% behavior. It's only 20% head knowledge. We started the discussion with, why don't people do this? Because they don't get positive feedback. If you go on, if you go to the gym for three months and you don't lose weight and your goal was to go to the gym to lose weight, you quit going to the gym.
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Hala Taha
Yeah.
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Dave Ramsey
Because you got no feedback loop. Okay? So the positive on the dead snowball is the feedback loop. I pay off the little one, it's like whoa. And then I pay off another one like whoa. And hope starts to kick in. And as you get more excited, you'll sacrifice even deeper. And the math gets better and better and better. But here's the big problem with the avalanche and people saying it's mathematically advantageous. It's actually not. Because if you're going to do the real math on it below the surface, you have to say, what's the probability of completion? Probability of completion because of the feedback loop with a snowball is way higher than the probability of completion. On the avalanche. Most people don't finish it.
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Podcast Host
Yeah.
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Dave Ramsey
Because they don't get positive feedback. And so if you add in probability of completion and you got a high probability of completion versus a low one, you put that in the math, which is an actual proper, sophisticated way of looking at the mathematics, then you would say, oh, that snowball is actually mathematically advantageous.
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Podcast Host
Yeah. Well, you must be onto something because you've helped millions of people at this point get debt free and become financially free. So I have a theme for this episode.
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Hala Taha
I'm calling it Mo Money.
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Podcast Host
Mo Mo problems.
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Dave Ramsey
So back to the fact, I like
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Podcast Host
it, that my listeners are doing really well. They're high earners. A lot of them are entreprene, are earning, you know, well over six figures, some of them a million dollars a year or more. And so I want to go through some financial scenarios that a lot of high earners might be facing. Not just people who are in. I don't think my listeners are in, you know, so much debt and things like that. I think they're just worried about the right moves to do now that they actually have money. So the first scenario I have is a 35 year old person, works in tech, they're making $300,000 a year, they've got a really high paying executive job, their lifestyle is built around their high paycheck. But they see layoffs happening and they're worried that, you know, one day suddenly their high paying job will just go away. So what do you think their plan should be? How should they Prepare knowing that job security today is an issue.
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Dave Ramsey
Yeah, well, job security is always an issue. And you don't want to fall for what we call the myth of continuity. The myth of continuity is because it's been this way, it's always going to be this way. It's not, it's not always going to stick. That it doesn't always, it's going to get, it's going to change, it's going to be better or worse 100% of the time. So I think you need to work a plan that works when times are good and when times are bad. And that's the advantage of the Luddite Ramsey plan. You know, the Ramsey plan that's just so grandma basic. Live on less than you make. Have a written budget, always be generous, always have an emergency fund, get out of debt and stay out of debt. If you're doing that and you make 300k and you got an emergency fund, you don't have any payments, you're okay. You know, you're planning and you're investing for your future and you're generous, you know you're going to be okay and you have prepared properly. Oh, by the way, that works. If you don't get laid off too, you'll still end up with a bunch of money. It works out great.
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Podcast Host
Yeah. How should you suggest that somebody who makes 300 grand a year budget, what should their steps should be in terms of creating a sustainable budget?
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Dave Ramsey
The only budgets that work is the married couple works together and they both have a vote and they both agree to it and stick to it. And you develop the plan before the month begins. And we call it a zero based budget. And that's where you take your income before the month begins and you give every dollar an assignment, every dollar a name down to zero. Now, we're not talking about your checking account balance, we're talking about your budget. So if you've got $25,000 coming in a month, $300,000 plus or minus taxes. Right? But I mean if you got that coming, $20,000 coming in, then we're going to put 20 at the top of the page and we're going to give every dollar an assignment, every dollar a name. That's why we named our budgeting app Every Dollar. And then we're in agreement and then we stick to that. And all you're doing there is being intentional. A budget. John Maxwell used to say a budget is people telling their money what to do instead of wondering where it went. And so we run about a $300 million company here. Every profit center has a budget before the month begins, before the quarter begins, before the year begins. We lay out rolling 12, rolling 18, what we're projecting revenues to be and where they're going to go and what the resulting profits are. And then we manage to that. Budget, we manage to that. And that's what you do in a household. And so we always say, if you work for a company called you incorporated and you manage money for you incorporated the way you manage money for you now, would you fire you? And I would fire somebody here if they have budget P and L responsibility and they don't do a budget and they don't stick to it. They just willy nilly go do whatever they want to do and impulse a Porsche, you know, I mean, you just can't operate that way and be successful. It's an intent. Winning is an intentional act. And budget is where we become intentional with our money.
- [27:07]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Now, I know a lot of earners, high earners, you know, as they start to break, you know, $500,000 a year, a million a year, they might lose sight of, like, needing a budget. They might feel like, well, I make so much money, I don't need a budget anymore. Do you feel like there's any problems with that kind of thinking?
- [27:25]
Dave Ramsey
Yeah, because it's just chaotic and wasteful is what ends up happening. You're not gonna go broke because of it. You know, you're making a million dollars a year and you're spending like a crazy person. That's fine. You're probably gonna be okay until you quit making a million. But the problem is you just didn't get the best squeeze for the juice. Right? I mean, you didn't get the best. You know, I don't wanna have. I don't wanna make that kind of money and look up 10 years later and have nothing to show for it. That would be like having a hangover. That'd be awful. And so I want you to win. I want you to get the most out of this as possible. All a budget is, again, is a spending plan. It's not to be restrictive. It's just you're telling your money what to do, and then you stick to what you want to do. It's your deal. You decide. And the same thing's true in a company. And so if we were running Instead of a $300 million company, if we were running a $3 billion company, we wouldn't say, oh, we don't need to do budgets now.
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Podcast Host
Yeah, okay, so let's Take the scenario of somebody's been making a lot of money in their 30s, they haven't been saving that much, they haven't thought about retirement. They hit 40 and they realize they only have a couple hundred grand for retirement saved. Even though they've been making a whole bunch of money in their 30s. What should they do next?
- [28:39]
Dave Ramsey
Well, obviously you got to play some catch up and there's some urgency, but not panic. I love urgency because it gets people moving, it gets me to change. I like urgency in my own life. I think it's a good thing. So let's just. Again, the framework we always use, and you're aware of this is the baby steps. And so we're gonna make sure you're out of debt, have an emergency fund. Once you've done all that, then let's start socking some money away. Let's start putting 15% of your income away. If you're 40 years old, you make an average income and you start putting 15% of your income away, plus or minus a match and a good Roth IRA in good mutual funds that give you market rates of return, you're going to be a multimillionaire easily in 25 years, mathematically. But you've got to do it. You can't just talk about it. It's not theory. The number one problem with retirement planning and retirement investing is not what people put money in, it's that they don't put money in. You got to put money in there for there to be some money in there. It's a pretty simple math thing. And so that's what you've got to gear up here, is just get some urgency and start. We gotta start socking some money away. We gotta get this 401k jacked up and we gotta learn a little bit about this and have some motivation and quit spending like we're in Congress.
- [29:52]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Okay, last one is about taxes. So somebody owns a business, they're making, you know, let's say $5 million a year. And they've become obsessed with saving on taxes. They're like me, they moved to Austin to try to save on taxes. And so much of their decision making energy around their business is saving on taxes. What's your thoughts about that?
- [30:18]
Dave Ramsey
You have to, in business, make first good business and economic decisions while you're doing that. If you can do that in such a way that it saves on taxes, fine. But if you do something to save on taxes, and when people get obsessed with this, this is what we do. I've done it too. In the past. Not in a long, long time. But I used to do it. If you get obsessed with I hate taxes so bad that I'm gonna do this to save on taxes, but it's stupid, it's bad business, it's a bad financial decision. And so I won here, but I lost 10 over here. And that's a bad idea. An example of that is the simple buying something that is not needed because you can write it off. Well, I mean, if you spend $100,000 on an item that is expensable in that calendar year, depending on the category of the item, but let's call it expensable, and you're in a 25% tax bracket, you save $25,000 in taxes, you don't save 100,000. Yeah, but you bought $100,000 worth of stuff you didn't need, so you gave up 100 to save 25 because of your obsession with taxes. I mean, your accountant said something stupid like you need a write off, but you don't need a write off that bad to trade a dollar for a quarter. That's dumb. And that's a very simplistic way of that motivation of tax savings getting out of hand. And I've seen a lot of small business people do that. Oh, I bought this because of my accountant said I need a write off. And no, not if you don't need it. All expenses coming off the bottom line or coming out of the P and L of a business should be looked at through the lens of I need a return on that investment. Oh, and I can write it off. Not zero return on investment, but I get to write it off. That's a dollar for a quarter. Don't make that trade.
- [32:13]
Podcast Host
Yeah, I find myself, you know, thinking about taxes and making these decisions all the time.
- [32:18]
Dave Ramsey
I hate them. I get really angry at that time of year. It's really hard for me. I hate it. But I still, I have never been able to weigh, you know, this idea. It always makes me angry too, when people say, oh, the rich pay no taxes. Well, I don't. I'm pretty rich and I pay a lot of taxes. So I don't know who those people are. I haven't been able to get out of it. So, you know, we're very diligent and very careful. We try to learn any techniques we can. But it has to first be economically, give me a rate of return on the investment from a business expense perspective, then it's a good tax move. Not, it's a good tax move. And it Sucks over here.
- [32:56]
Podcast Host
Yeah, makes sense. So I feel like that was super helpful for everybody who's a high earner or has a business now. I also have listeners who are, you know, wanting to be high earners. They're Gen Z, they might be taking their first job. They're in college. What do you feel is the biggest money mistake that younger people do right now?
- [33:14]
Dave Ramsey
Well, the Gen Z and millennials, we've got a thousand folks on our team, and probably 700 of them fall in that category. And so I have become a huge fan of those two generations. And part of it is from a business perspective and from a career and earning perspective. So here's what you've got at your advantage. If you're a Gen Z or a millennial, you grew up with this thing in your hand your entire life. That's a magic wand. You could push a button and anything happens. Stuff shows up on your porch. You can access the world's knowledge. You can do anything with it. Find out what the weather is, dodge a tornado, whatever it is, right? It's all right there in your hand. And so because of that, that's not native to my generation. That's native to your generation. And what that gives you guys is your abundance thinkers. You think anything's possible because anything has always been possible. I just wave this wand and stuff happens. It's amazing. And you really. Gosh. And that's the good part. The bad part is sometimes what goes with that. And to answer your question, long form is impatience. I want it right now because I've always gotten it right now. And you don't get good barbecue out of the microwave. Good barbecue has to be cooked a long time, like all weekend. I mean, you're in Austin, Texas. Good barbecue, right? There's no such thing as microwave barbecue. That's good. That's not a sentence anywhere. And so look at your career. Like barbecue, you gotta cook it. It's gonna take a while. It's not gonna be instant. It's gonna be sometimes frustratingly slow. And especially if you're used to not things being slow, right? And so just guard against that. And that's normal immaturity, whether you're 55 or 25, the ability to delay pleasure for a greater good. But it's amplified in this case, and it's not immaturity, but it's amplified by this fact that your reality has been things are quick and quote, unquote, easy button. And building a good career, building a brand, a depth of knowledge. And you've been at this seven years and you're kicking it, girl. I mean, I'm so proud of you. You've done such a great job and everybody knows who you are. You know, you're blowing up. But seven years, not seven minutes.
- [35:44]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [35:45]
Dave Ramsey
And you show up all the time and you're sharp and you're on it day after day, time after time. And every time we turn it on, we get the same girl. Right? Same lady. And so that, that's why you're winning. It's this persistence over time.
- [35:59]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Now, you mentioned that you have eight grandkids. Are you worried about AI and technology? And do you worry about their careers and their ability to get that experience, given that AI might be taking a
- [36:15]
Hala Taha
lot of these entry level jobs?
- [36:16]
Dave Ramsey
I think that's fabulous. AI is. I wasn't worried about the Internet when it came on too. I started before the Internet. Right. So I wasn't worried about that. I wasn't worried about when cable TV came on. It didn't bother me. Every one of these things represent opportunity. There's going to be more AI millionaires in Gen Z and more AI millionaires out of Millennials than any group of millionaires we've ever seen, because they're going to take it as a tool and learn how to use it. It works for you, you don't work for it, period. If you just look at it as a tool, it's like, am I worried that Henry Ford started making cars and so we don't have to ride in a horse and buggy? No, it means I can get to someplace faster. I can deliver my goods and services faster. It's called a business opportunity, man. Let's get with it. This is efficient delivery mechanisms. Right? And efficient work mechanisms. Now, if you're doing something that AI does now, you may need to do something different and make it work for you instead of it replacing your job. But hey, welcome to the world. I mean, if you used to make whips for horses and, and bridles for horses, you had to get a new job because Henry Ford put you out of business, you know, and so, yeah, that's cool. But yeah, AI is wonderful. The thing I do worry about with my grandkids is the access to evil that the phone and that the AI, it gives a gateway into children's lives of evil that shouldn't be there.
- [37:43]
Podcast Host
Tell me more about that.
- [37:44]
Dave Ramsey
Well, we end up with stuff like sex trafficking and we end up with people being groomed and we end up with 12 year olds bullying each other and the misuse of These wonderful technologies, the evil misuse. And some of it's just so horrendous. And so we have to teach our kids to not get addicted to screens and to not think that everything on there is what it says it is. Because most of it isn't. Most of it's a lie, including your Instagram reel, because your life's not really that pretty. None of it is. Right. You know, and so that's, you know, see me in the morning. Right. My hair doesn't look this good. And so, you know, that whole thing. Right. So we got to teach the kids that, you know, what's real and what's artificial intelligence. Artificial sweetener is different than sweetener. You know, what you know, so we have to teach some good spiritual and philosophical foundations for those kids to not become victims of this. And I do worry about that with the little ones in particular because there's some real nasty stuff out there.
- [38:47]
Hala Taha
Yeah.
- [38:48]
Podcast Host
Well, hopefully it all works out and, you know, kids get educated on how to tell what's AI versus what. I'm sure that will be like part of school moving forward because it's going to be such a big part.
- [38:58]
Dave Ramsey
I think you guys will catch on faster. It's my generation. I had a thing pop up up on AI on me the other day and then it's a fraudulent thing of me saying something I don't say, you
- [39:08]
Podcast Host
know, of you actually like a video of you.
- [39:11]
Dave Ramsey
Yeah, it's a video of me and it's not even really good. It looks like a kung fu movie. Like it doesn't match. Right. The words don't match. But it went everywhere. And like my 65 year old friends are emailing my wife going, what did Dave say that on Facebook for? Dave didn't say that. You know, they're more susceptible and naive.
- [39:27]
Podcast Host
Yeah, I think.
- [39:28]
Dave Ramsey
Than your generation. Your generation is naturally cynical for good reason. About you're like, is that real? Immediately, first thing goes into your mind, which is awesome. So I think you're protected that way.
- [39:38]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [39:41]
Hala Taha
Hey, App fam, if you're planning on starting a business, do not just launch it, build it the right way. When I first started my company, I thought registering the name was enough. I had no idea how many moving parts were involved just to operate legally and professionally. So I ended up using one company for paperwork, one company for a website, another for email. And it was messy and expensive. That's why Northwest Registered Agent is the company I wish I had back then. Northwest is an all in one business formation and identity platform that gives you everything you need to launch and run a legitimate business in one place. When you form with them, you get a registered agent service, a business address to get your home private, a domain website, a professional email, business phone number and built in privacy all bundled together. Now. Yap Fam, I want to take a detour right now and talk to you about the importance of a registered agent. I had no idea what it was when I first started Yap. I signed up with one and then I never checked the platform because it was only for my registered agent. I didn't even know what it did. Apparently I learned this the hard way that a registered agent is what notifies you if anybody ever sues you. So I actually got in trouble this year because I didn't even know that an old client that we barely worked with put out a lawsuit and they didn't notify me and I ended up missing a court date and it cost me a lot of money. So you really need a registered agent that you trust that does a great job. And I've recently switched to Northwest registered agent so this never happens again. Don't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for what you can get. For free on Northwest registered agent, visit northwestregisteredagent.com yap free. That's yap free. And start using free resources to build something amazing. Get more with Northwest registered agent@northwestregisteredagent.com yap free yap gang it's confession time. I thought I had my money handled. I thought I had a good handle on everything going on. But I recently checked my bank statements and there was subscriptions everywhere. Streaming apps, random charges. A few of them were billing me. For a long time I didn't even know what they were and it was a painful uncovering. So I downloaded the Experian app and now it's like I have a financial assistant in my pocket. The Experian app helps you track spending and find subscriptions that you forgot about and you no longer want. With your subscription cancellation feature available with an Experian Premium membership, you securely link your accounts, they scan for recurring charges, and you pick what goes and what you want canceled. And then they cancel it. It's as simple as that. They have over 200 eligible subscription types and it's usually done in three to seven business days. If getting your money tight is part of your growth plan this year and you don't want to manually have to do it, this is your move. Young and profits get started with the Experian app today. Results will vary. Not all Bills or subscriptions are eligible. Savings not guaranteed. Paid membership with connected account required. See experian.com for details. Young and profits Let me ask you something. Have you ever missed an opportunity from a potential client and felt that drop in your stomach? I know I have. Far too many times. When my business first started scaling, calls were going to one person, texts were going to another, and opportunities kept slipping through the cracks. That's why we switched to Quo, spelled Q U O. Quo gives your team one shared business number, like a shared inbox. Every call and text is in one place. Everyone sees the history. No more pointing fingers. And I thought you handled it going on. Plus the AI logs calls, summarizes them and flags next steps so nothing ever gets missed. Growing teams everywhere are upgrading to systems like this because once you scale, your old setup just doesn't work anymore. If you're serious about building a real company, this is a foundational move. Make this a year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. Try quo Q U O for free. Plus get 20% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/profiting Again, that's Q U O.com/profiting quo no missed calls, no missed customers. Would you give us the lay of
- [43:49]
Podcast Host
the land of Ramsey solutions? Like what are the different revenue generators? Where are you guys making the most money right now with all your products and offers?
- [43:58]
Dave Ramsey
Consumer facing the fastest growing thing is the EveryDollar app. It's exploding and we've spent an amazing amount of money, time, effort, intellectual calories on it, iterating it and building it and iterating. And we do every day, we work on it every day, making it better and it's going nuts. The broadcast properties is what we call them, but they're not really broadcast. We still have a talk radio show that is also on YouTube and also on podcasts, the Mothership, so to speak, the Ramsey show and those things. Through all the different platforms we're able to monetize with ad revenues. It's pretty substantial. And that revenue has moved. We still have a lot of talk radio revenue. There's still people listening to talk radio. I don't know where they are, but they're out there. And so that revenue is still very real. And we've still got one of the largest talk radio networks. So that stream is still there. I don't know how long it's going to be there. I don't think in 10 years I'll look the same. But the Spotify's and YouTubes of the world have had a huge impact. And so we're on everything and we're monetizing it with ads and with product delivery mentions integrated into show notes and integrated into the show bodies and so forth. We have a high school curriculum that has been taught now in 48% of the high school. Seven million students have been through it. And it's continuing to grow. There's a real move in that world to adopt. The adoption process, to adopt curriculum in high schools has been mandated by the states in 38 states to teach personal finance.
- [45:53]
Podcast Host
Oh wow.
- [45:53]
Dave Ramsey
And we're the premier curriculum in that. The best by far. And so that's continuing to grow. Thank goodness, because that's a great thing if you can get this stuff in high school. Obviously we've got the publishing arm. We're still putting out number one best selling books every year and have for decades. It's not a huge percentage of our revenue, but it's still a great brand mix and a great tip of the spear, so to speak, as we go forward. We've got a thing called Smart Dollar that is our corporate HR benefit to teach our lessons. It's like the old Financial Peace University but taught in corporate America. And so like U HAUL has done it, Costco is doing it. Companies like that and a lot of small and medium sized companies are buying that. And that's a massive thing. It's real quiet because it's B2B so the consumer doesn't really see it that much, but it's really massive and really moving. And then our Entree Leadership brand has exploded. It's gone crazy where we coach about 10,000 small businesses.
- [47:02]
Hala Taha
Oh really?
- [47:03]
Dave Ramsey
How to run a business. And it came out of the old book I did about 15 years ago called Entre Leadership. That was how we ran our business. And we started teaching other people how to do it. And so that's. I love entrepreneurs and I love small business people because I've been one my whole life.
- [47:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Now I learned. I was listening to some of your interviews that you've done recently and I heard you say that the radio show lost money for like 10 years or something like that. Like it was like not making money for. For many years. So how do you think of certain aspects of your business that actually don't make money? And can you talk about some of the biggest lead generators that might not really make money but are still important to your business?
- [47:46]
Dave Ramsey
Well, that's exactly what was a lead generator. And so we didn't look at it as a. We did look at it as A, P and L. That was losing money because I wanted to fight through and actually get some ads sold so to cover the cost of running this stinking thing. But it took forever. But the reason we kept doing it and didn't close it, if we had another business unit that was doing that, we might close it. But it was generating all the leads, you know, we were getting. We were generating bestselling books because of the show. We were generating arenas full of people because of the show. We were generating all these other things because of the show. Because talk radio in those days was in Zenith. It was like a, like a podcast today, like one of the top podcasts. We were one of the top talk radio shows. So that's why we kept it going. Now we've had other areas where we lost money, but it wasn't generating any, wasn't causing any, you know, and so we just closed those. That's a failed experiment. Welcome to business.
- [48:46]
Podcast Host
Yeah, and so I know that you have a podcast network. You've got the Ramsey Network. I'm not sure if you know this about me. I have a podcast network as well. I have the Yap Media Network as far 45 shows. So I represent people like Jenna Kutcher and Russell Brunson and Trent Shelton and I've had Amy Porterfield and Lori Harder and all these really big business self improvement podcasters in my network. I grow and monetize them. So Ramsey Network is an amazing network and you've got awesome personalities. I've interviewed a lot of people that have, you know, shows under your network.
- [49:19]
Hala Taha
How do you think about talent?
- [49:22]
Podcast Host
How did you start deciding that you wanted to have a network? In my mind, having a network is sort of the pinnacle of creator entrepreneurship. Like you're not just a creator entrepreneur now. You monetize other creators. It's kind of the top of, you know, the mountain, so to speak. So why did you decide to start a network and how did you first start picking your talent?
- [49:45]
Dave Ramsey
Really good way of saying that. I hadn't actually looked at it that way. That's really smart. The reason we did it was because we started studying 18 years ago. Yeah, I'm 65, so 18 years ago we started studying succession planning on family businesses. And so we figured out, okay, you got to train the next generation gen 2 of owners. You've got to have a stable full of excellent leaders to be able to, when I'm not here to run the business and so forth. The thing we couldn't figure out and we couldn't find any best Practices on was how to have this place survive when I die if I'm the only talent and if I'm the only on air Persona. Right. Because Paul Harvey Jr. Usually doesn't make it. And good guy, but he didn't make it. He wasn't his dad, you know, and sometimes that happens with a pastor when they pass away if their son or daughter tries to take the church. It doesn't work. Or sometimes it happens with a small business. So we started studying and we figured out Rachel, my daughter, is. Got a huge social footprint, does extremely well, was really blowing up at that time starting. And we said, well, I hate to put the whole place on her shoulders. It's not very well diversified. It's also emotionally crushing to carry the whole weight of everything your dad built. And then if you stumble, oh, it's double hard. Right. So I wouldn't do that to my own daughter. And so we started coming up with this idea of one to many rather than one to one handoff. And so it was a succession plan to brand handoff. And so we started studying, okay, what percentage of our revenue comes from me running my mouth? And in those days it was 98%. Right. And we said, well, what happens if I die? That means this whole place folds up. Bad idea for all the people that work here, you know, and bad idea for. Have worked 25 years to build something and it just dies when you do. So we said, all right, let's start building that today. We've actually transitioned finally to where it's about 96% of the revenue would survive if I'm not here.
- [52:06]
Hala Taha
Oh, wow.
- [52:07]
Dave Ramsey
And so hopefully people would be sad, but revenue wise, they're okay.
- [52:12]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Do you suggest that every business have some sort of show or way to get an audience in the way that you guys do at Ramsey?
- [52:25]
Dave Ramsey
No. You know, you need to think about how you can interact with the public, but not, you know, like, for instance, in entree leadership. We've got a bazillion heating and air companies.
- [52:39]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [52:40]
Hala Taha
What are they going to talk about?
- [52:40]
Dave Ramsey
The guy running the heat and air company doesn't need a show.
- [52:42]
Podcast Host
That's true.
- [52:43]
Dave Ramsey
Probably he might, but he might not. Or she might not. Okay. Every dentist doesn't need a show, but do they need some kind of interface with technology and with these platforms? Yeah, yeah. Some Instagram and whatever the platform is appropriate to where their audience is, to where their customer base is, they need to be there. But when Twitter Got hot 1000 years ago, when it was a big deal when it first started, There was a whole period of time people ran around saying, everyone needs a Twitter account. And everybody doesn't need a Twitter account. They don't for sure today they don't. But everybody doesn't need an Instagram account. Everybody doesn't need a podcast. But you know, you need to think about, is there a place for this? And do I have something to say that somebody actually wants to hear? Can I provide a service? Can I give information that's helpful? But Instagram reels will do that. You don't have to go all the way into the podcast world to do it.
- [53:43]
Hala Taha
Yeah.
- [53:44]
Podcast Host
And sometimes it could be real life having billboards or something like that.
- [53:46]
Dave Ramsey
Exactly. You can go back to old school analog stuff.
- [53:49]
Podcast Host
Yeah, yeah. Okay. So you mentioned that you were really excited about this app. Is it called the Everyday app?
- [53:56]
Dave Ramsey
Every dollar, every dollar, every dollar has a name.
- [53:59]
Podcast Host
And is it a subscription model?
- [54:01]
Dave Ramsey
Yes.
- [54:01]
Podcast Host
Talk to us about why that excites you so much and why you focus so much on that in your business.
- [54:07]
Dave Ramsey
Well, in this case, from a revenue perspective, it's wonderful because subscription models obviously are recurring revenue. I don't have to go leave the cave, kill something and drag it home every morning. It's already coming in. It's what we used to call in the old days, mailbox money. Right. And so the beautiful thing about having some best selling books, I still get royalty checks literally in the mailbox from books I did 20 years ago because they're still out there selling at some level. So that's mailbox money in that sense. And so subscription is recurring revenue. That's a wonderful thing. The thing though, in the digital setting, like an app or something like that that's subscription, is it forces me as the owner and my team to be of service every stinking day. Otherwise you get the churn dragon and they leave and they don't stay because they didn't get helped. And so if I can be of service to you every day and be a little bit better tomorrow than I was today and a whole lot better this time next year than I was today, then you're going to stick with it. And so it challenges me to love my customer better and to add value to their life better, because the net business result is they stick around. And one of the sayings we have around here is if you help enough people, you don't have to worry about money. And so if you keep your app iterating, you keep your digital offering growing and getting better and changing with the market because 100% of the time tomorrow's different than today. Always getting better, always getting better. Always serving more, always help. Being more helpful than you were. People will stay with you. And then you have this wonderful thing called recurring revenue. And if you don't meet that challenge, your subscription model will fold up like a Walmart tent. You'll crash because you'll become so stinking irrelevant in 20 seconds. And the other good news is that you can fix it quickly, you can change it quick, easy. I print a book, it's analog, I can't fix it. There's a mistype in the thing, I can't fix it. I find it four years later, I can't fix it. I can't. What? I'm gonna recall all the books cause of one misspelled word? No. But I can jump on this stinking app or a website or whatever, a digital product, and we can iterate, iterate, iterate, iterate and get better and test and test and test and test and work and help you and let you yell at us and let you smile at us. And man, we have all this wonderful interaction with our customer.
- [56:45]
Podcast Host
Yeah, trust is so important, especially with a subscription model. A lot of the people tuning in here are creator entrepreneurs and their whole business is basically trust in people buying their courses or their mastermind subscriptions. What are your thoughts about building trust with your audience? Like what are the key things that we need to do?
- [57:06]
Dave Ramsey
Well, I mean, I think of it as just a relationship. And how do you build trust in a relationship? What does it mean to be trustworthy as a dad or a husband or a mom? What does it mean to be worthy of trust? Well, one thing that comes to mind immediately is obviously telling the truth. Being authentic is another thing that's a form of truth. Another thing is incredible consistency. Earlier you were challenging me on some of the things that are said about me. Negative all over the place about. He's a hard line on this. He never changes. He never changes. And for that reason I'm very trustworthy. You may or may not agree with Ramsey, but you 100% know we're going to say it again exactly the way we said it before because we really do believe it and we really do believe it's best. And so it's a trustworthy source because you can count on it. It's solid. We know what's going to happen. It's repeatable. And so if you think about someone you hire that's on your team and you can trust them, well, they've proven their competence, they've proven their integrity. And it's all repeatable.
- [58:24]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [58:26]
Hala Taha
Okay.
- [58:27]
Podcast Host
So I end my show with two questions that I ask all of my guests.
- [58:31]
Dave Ramsey
Okay.
- [58:32]
Podcast Host
The first one is, what is one actionable thing our young and profits can do today to become more profitable tomorrow?
- [58:42]
Dave Ramsey
Quit trying to figure out how to make money before you figure out how to help someone, figure out how to help them first. Then figure out how to make money on it.
- [58:59]
Podcast Host
And what would you say your secret to profiting in life is? This can go beyond finance.
- [59:07]
Dave Ramsey
Open hand, generosity again. If you can put other people's best interest ahead of your own, God will take care of you. It works out. And it has for 40 years. I prospered beyond my wildest imagination when I quit trying to take care of Dave first. Instead I said, I'm going to love that person. Well, I'm going to love that person. Well, somebody's not going to like it. Somebody's not going to understand it, but I don't care. I'm going to do what I think I would do for my little sister, my little brother, my mother, my dad. I'm going to treat them like I would treat family and I'm going to do the right thing and then I'm going to try to figure out how to be wise about it where I can actually stay open. And that's worked out really well.
- [59:51]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Any other last words for the entrepreneurs tuning in right now?
- [59:58]
Dave Ramsey
Yeah, I think it's an excellent time to be in business. Probably the best time in human history right now. I think if I am so excited for a 25 year old entrepreneur right now, you're going to make some mistakes, you're going to stub your toe, you're still going to get a bloody nose. Oh, well, have at it. Do it anyway, man. But this is the best time in human history. You can get a product design idea to market so fast right now. You can serve people so quickly and so easily right now. If you ever were going to be an entrepreneur anytime since the sun came up the first time, this is the time right now.
- [60:34]
Podcast Host
Where can everybody learn more about you
- [60:35]
Hala Taha
and everything that you do?
- [60:36]
Dave Ramsey
Ramseysolutions.com yeah, it's all there.
- [60:38]
Hala Taha
Amazing.
- [60:38]
Podcast Host
Well, for all those links in the show notes, Dave, it is always such a pleasure to talk to you. I had so much fun today. Thank you so much.
- [60:44]
Dave Ramsey
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
- [60:48]
Hala Taha
Yeah, fam. I have to say it was super inspiring to sit down with Dave Ramsey face to face. Now, Dave is somebody who's in my world. So he owns a media company. He's got over a thousand employees and he's got a huge office and studios in Nashville. And this was one of the most inspiring moments for me as a podcaster, just flying out to Nashville, interviewing Dave Ramsey in the flesh, going to see his amazing studios and offices and everything that he's built. His company makes $300 million a year and it's just so inspiring. And so I want to go over
- [61:25]
Podcast Host
some of the top things that I
- [61:26]
Hala Taha
learned with him on that day. And here are the three things that I want you to remember from this conversation. Number one is adding friction to your spending. Dave broke down how easy swipe spending fuels lifestyle creep, especially for high earners, and why chasing points can distract you from the real goal. Make spending harder on purpose. That means removing saved cards, stopping the mindless swipes, and forcing every purchase to be more intentional. Second, treat debt like risk, not like a math game. Dave's message was simple debt always increases your exposure. Bigger payments mean less breathing room, less peace, and fewer options when life hits. Entrepreneurs need optionality and optionality comes from fewer obligations. Third, build a plan that you will finish. Dave explained why the method that gets completed beats the optimal method that gets abandoned.
- [62:17]
Podcast Host
That means a clear budget, quick wins,
- [62:19]
Hala Taha
and automatic habits like consistently investing and staying focused on progress over perfection. So my challenge to you is to make a move today. Add friction, cut a payment, assign every dollar a job. Small, disciplined choices compound into freedom. All right Yap gang, if you enjoyed
- [62:35]
Podcast Host
this episode as much as I did,
- [62:37]
Hala Taha
share it with a friend who needs a money reset now. Yapam, if you prefer to watch your podcast on videos, I'm doing a lot more in person content this year. So this episode with Dave is uploaded to our YouTube channel. I highly recommend if you want to level up your finances to rewatch this and actually watch the video because I think there's something special about watching your real life conversation. So if you like to watch your videos, check out YouTube. You can also find me on LinkedIn. Just search for my name. It's Hala Taha or Instagram at Yap with Hala. And I love interacting with you all so make sure you DM me. Let me know what you think about the show. Let me know any feedback that you have. Until next time. This is your host Hala Taha, AKA the podcast Princess signing off.