Aspire Insights: How Not Talking About Money Is Stopping You From Making It with Nicole Lapin

23:19I love that as a tip. And what else would you do? Like how much, how much planning, how much foresight, how much should you look in the future? Or should you really be thinking about the day-to-day? Because I think for so many people, you know, they're thinking about their groceries, they're thinking about their bills, they're thinking about, you know, their kids in school, and it's all so immediate and in the moment. So at what point do you start thinking about the long term? When do you think about retirement and, you know, like just old age? Studies have shown that we think of our old lady selves as different human beings.

23:53But we can, you know. Definitely. We don't think we're ever going to be that fabulous, you know, old Betty White, whatever you're imagining in your head. And so, you know, as soon as you get a paycheck, honestly, it's something, but it's not thinking about every day. It's setting it and forgetting it. Set it up once, you're good. Setting up an automated system, you know, contributing to any retirement account. So you don't need a 401k. If you work for yourself, you can get an IRA, which is an individual retirement account. There's a whole bunch of delicious varieties of IRAs too that you can get, you know, using the compound interest force, the beautiful, amazing force, will grow even a small amount of money over time.

24:36And where do you think people should get that type of information from? Like, how do you make those decisions? Because for most people, they're really working with their employer, whatever's in place. Like, how do you even begin to do that research? I'm really on a mission now to make sure that people are actually allocating the money that they put in their investment accounts. So some people think that they're contributing to it. So$7 ,000 a year into an IRA, you actually have to decide where that's going. You can't just fund it. Otherwise, it's sitting there just like, you know, a checking account.

25:05But any of these investments are just a matter of risk and reward. So lower risk, lower reward, higher risk, higher reward. And if you're just starting out and you're like, I don't know, this market, it's crazy. I need a volume. You know, you can look at lower risk investments like CDs, bonds. So what's cool about debt is that when you're the one holding the paper or the debt, it's awesome. So you can do that. You can be the lender, basically, to banks or governments in the form of CDs or bonds. So treasury bonds are basically you're lending the U.S. government money. And for the privilege of doing whatever they want with your money, they're going to give you your money back after a certain period of time plus interest.

25:50So they're going to build a road or a bridge or whatever. And then they're going to give you that money back. It's guaranteed. It's principle protected. And you're not going to make as much as you would in the stock market. But it's pretty safe. But it's pretty safe. But it's pretty safe. And it's something, and you need to make more than, ideally, 3 % a year, because if you're not, then you're going to lose out on your purchasing power because of inflation. So inflation, on average, is 3 % every year. But you have this feeling that I love that you say, set it and forget it. So you are really about, like, taking what you can, putting it over there, and then really walking away and forgetting about it.

26:25Come up with a process once. Think about it for a rainy day. Yeah, I'm not, like, playing with my investments every single day, are you? Absolutely. not. Absolutely not. It's coming up with a plan, sticking to the plan. When investments are down and it's looking red, your instinct is to get the F out of there. You're like, everybody's selling. I need to get my money, whatever's left. I got to take it. I got to hold it. But the actual, you know, the right thing to do historically, if you look at large data sets, which are my favorite, is to buy more. So when it's low, you have to do the opposite of what your instinct is.

27:04And when it's high, you sell, right? Or depending on what, whatever the asset is, it's just buy low, sell high. We want to do the opposite. I just wonder how you even start. Let's say, for example, we've got somebody who is a salary-based employee and they get a bonus. You know, they get their end of year bonus and it's a$15 ,000 bonus. What would you advocate for them to do? It's coming up with this idea that, you know, if you have no debt and it's in like a vacuum, I just got 15K. My instinct is to go buy stuff. Stuff. I would advocate stocks over stuff. I can tell you that, you know. Really?

27:43Always? Like if you buy like a piece of vintage clothing or a piece of vintage jewelry, that's not an investment? Certain things have outperformed the market for sure. Birkins have been over time, you know, good investments. But, you know, like I think even from... But they're few and far between these fashioning things, right? It's like really we're saying it's not a handbag. It's a different kind of financial strategy. Yeah. And I think that if you... Or financial product. I'm not saying like don't treat yourself, but see what that could do over time. Just for funsies. Yeah. Put it in a compound interest calculator and see like, okay I'm gonna buy this you know designer whatever what would that do in the market over time you could buy like five of those things um funny story I talk about this in in one of my books when I was growing up I was always jealous of the girls who wore those big chunky Tiffany bracelets I was like oh my god I can't with the dangle I wanted it so bad I actually was very jealous of those girls too I really was it's the truth I like I remember I would have like the fake Doc Martens and then I'd be called like Nurse Martin because I wasn't Doc Martin or whatever.

28:53This stuff like sticks with you. I don't remember what I did, you know, yesterday, but I remember the girl's name who called me Nurse Martin. So, you know, we'll have that financial trauma. When I finally made enough money, I heard from that girl. Like I got an email from her. I was on TV or whatever and she's like, hey. So congratulations. I'm like, hmm. I, my instinct was to run to Tiffany's. I like jumped in a cab, went uptown and I was like, I'm going to buy this freaking dangly bracelet once and for all. And I'm going to like feel really good about it. And I go and I look at this like sterling silver section and I'm like, and I stopped and I actually ran outside and I got Tiffany stock instead.

29:37Wow. And with that stock, I could buy bracelets for everybody. Wow. You really did that. How did you even begin to educate yourself in what to invest in? So I think that what I realized is that nobody can beat the market. So many people try. They all want to know quick stock tips, quick get rich, quick ideas, quick, quick, quick. You know, everything. There's like a culture dad joke, right? The fastest, easiest way to, you know, double your money is to fold it in half. There's actually no easy way to do it. I want my investments to be boring as hell. Like slow, steady, unsexy. That is how you grow wealth.

30:19Give me an example of those. What's slow and steady and growing nice? Slow, steady, S &P 500, index funds. Sexy. Give me an index fund. Give me an index fund all day. Not like some brand that you love that just went public. You're not like my favorite C2C brand. And now they've gone public. That is not it. We're talking about old school, established. Yeah. Like market, sell, Waltz. Yes. Got it. Yes. All day. You know, Warren Buffett, one of the greatest investors of our time. We love Warren. I love you, Warren. Put that in his will for his own wife to do with his money when he passes. Wow. He is the greatest investor.

30:55If he's saying like, it is so hard to beat the market, why are we trying to beat it? Just join it. Yeah. Well, as Warren would say, nobody wants to get rich slow. And meanwhile, it's the single best thing to do from one of the richest guys in the world. We all want like this quick fix. And I realized that there was no quick fix and there was no easy like elevator to the top. So you just got to educate yourself. You need to be aware, be out there and know that actually there are better things to do with your money than A, spend it or B, try to think that jewelry or clothes might be an investment.

31:28It really is about choosing these like slow, steady investments that you know over time. Yes, boring, but over time are actually going to perform for you. Totally. And I think that's the most exciting of them all. And that's what actually gives me security and safety. You know, we think that like the purchase is going to do it and it never does. You're just masking something else. And don't get me wrong. I think that the sweet spot is somewhere in between. I don't know where it's different for everybody, but thinking you're going to live forever and thinking you're going to die tomorrow. Yeah.

32:01Because we actually tend to be on one of those two extremes. Yeah, totally. Well, and also, I mean, you've just gone through like a huge life trauma, right? So after losing your house in the fires, in the Palisades, you must be sitting there with like that, like it's right there in front of you, right? You've lost every material thing you have, but I'm guessing if you practice what you preach, you're okay. Yeah. I had a lot of stocks. And stocks don't burn. They don't burn. They don't burn. But I also had a lot of stuff and I wish I had more stocks than stuff. I really do still. You know, and everything that you think is going to bring you stability, it's just, it's shaken everything I thought about what that looks like.

32:46Because you can, you can lose your house, you can lose your office, you can, you know, if you think a house is going to bring you stability, it's not. And you have the thing that matters. You have, and that's not the stocks just for the avoidance of doubt. But it's like you have your family, you have like everything that you've worked for in that sense. And so that's just so much more meaningful at this point, no? Yeah. Yeah, it has to be. All right. It has to be. Thank you for that. So switching a gear, I really want to know with all of your experience, what's the best financial advice you have been given?

33:22Oh, definitely buy low, sell high. And also to run what the numbers are. I think taking anything as gospel is not great advice. You know, buying a house, not buying a latte. The reason I started into this was hearing a lot of these so-called financial experts yell at me for buying a latte and then yell at me to buy a house. And I'm like, there is no one size fits all for everybody. Like I wanted to buy a latte and rent and the financial gods didn't kill me. Like we're good. There's, if you want to move around, it's probably not a good idea to buy. We've been told that this idea of home ownership is the path to wealth.

34:04It could be, but maybe it's not. Do you think that's changed now? Because that's one of the things that I wanted to ask you about. My whole life, I've been raised to think that the most important thing that you can do for wealth creation is to put your money into bricks and mortar, buy a house as soon as you can, have a mortgage, rent, like take rent off the table. Do you think that's completely like ill advice at this point? Depends on who you are. You know, renting is not throwing away money. When you buy, there's so many costs. I feel like that's a newsflash. It's like renting is not throwing away money.

34:38Please tell me why. It's because there's an opportunity cost. So a lot of people also become house poor, which I certainly don't advocate. And we can talk about the numbers here, but they don't account for the closing costs, the insurance, the property taxes. Even if you pay off your house after 30 years or whatever mortgage you get, you're still going to have property taxes. You're still going to have insurance that's only going to go up and you still have maintenance. So like the house, you know, the roof falls down. That's you. You're in charge of that. You have to pay for all of these other hidden costs and you're missing out on this opportunity cost of this down payment.

35:12So the opportunity cost is really important. I mean, a lot of rich people rent, especially if they're moving around a lot. And so I just want to make sure I understand that properly. When you talk about opportunity costs, you're talking about what you would have put in as a down payment. What else can you do with that cash? Can you put it in the market? Can you invest? Can you get 10 %? You know, over time, housing is 4 % or 5%. But that's not keeping pace with the overall stock market. Absolutely. Now granted. As you've just told us. Right. So you could actually take that money that you were thinking of as the down payment to your house and decide that that's what you're going to put in the markets and make it work for you.

35:44And then you have the compound in interest. Totally. You have to just, again, run whatever the numbers are. Don't assume that it's the right investment for you just because you've been told that over and over again. It is a really accessible investment for a lot of Americans to try and put equity into a house. A house is not a good investment. It is a home. It can be a whole bunch of other things. You can decide to buy a house because that makes you feel good and you want that for your family. That's a different discussion. than being a good investment. Being a good investment is owning an asset that appreciates.

36:21That could be a house. That could be a stock. That could be a business. Owning an asset that appreciates is a good investment. A house is not necessarily a good investment. Also, it's 10 years. If you think you're going to move around before 10 years, it's not a good idea to buy. You have closing costs. You have other stuff. You know, you're not going to get that capital appreciation that you would think. And you're not necessarily perhaps incorporating inflation. and we hear these stories, grandma bought a house, you know, for 25 grand. Now it's 250 grand. It's the best investment. Like how much were movie tickets when grandma bought the house?

36:53Exactly. It's a different day. We don't hear those stories anymore. It's a totally different time. But I was going to say, do you advocate against buying a house then? Would you say that's just not your recommendation now? I think it really depends on what your overall plan is. Just don't assume that it's the only way to build wealth. It's not.

37:17Every entrepreneur has that moment at 2am when they're wrestling with a problem that won't let go. Maybe it's restructuring a partnership deal, maybe it's figuring out international expansion, or maybe it's debugging a code that's blocking your launch. That's where Claude becomes invaluable, AI that thinks through problems with you. Upload your contracts, financial models, or business plans. Claude analyzes documents up to 200 pages instantly. Need to research market trends, Claude searches the web and synthesizes findings with citations you can verify. But here's what's different. Claude doesn't just give you quick answers.

37:53It works through complex problems step by step. Ask clarifying questions, spots issues you might miss. It's built for people who care about getting the right solution, not just any solution. Whether you're building the next billion dollar brand or solving technical challenges, Claude matches your level of ambition. Try Claude for free at claude.ai slash aspirewithemma and see why the world's best problem solvers choose Claude as their thinking partner. I used to think I needed a full drawer of makeup and at least 20 minutes to look presentable in the morning. But then I tried Merit and now I'm done in five minutes.

38:31Merit is a minimalist beauty brand that's made to simplify your routine. It's for people who want to feel put together without spending a ton of time or energy. Their products are clean, vegan, and so easy to use. You genuinely can't mess them up, even half asleep. Lately, I've been reaching for Flush Balm every morning. It gives me the most natural-looking flush, and it blends like a dream. The Minimalist is another go-to. It's part foundation, part concealer, and it evens out my skin in seconds without feeling heavy. And great skin serum? My skin just looks better and more hydrated every time I use it.

39:07Merit has made my mornings feel less rushed and more effortless, which I didn't really think was possible. It's time to simplify your morning. Head to MeritBeauty.com and get their signature makeup bag free with your first order. Swapping for natural options is a must if you want to feel good and glow from the inside out. And Primarily Pure has harnessed the power of natural ingredients in their complete line of non-toxic beauty products. They're rooted in time-tested traditional perspectives that honor ancient wisdom, animal-based products, and clean living education to guide you in creating non-toxic rhythms and transformative results in your daily life.

39:47They are wildly passionate about providing research-backed, results-driven products without compromising your health. Backed by thousands of five-star reviews and unbelievable before and after photos, their products are proven to create positive change in your skin and sense of wellness. From skin, body, baby, hair, and home, and you can't forget their cult following natural deodorant and tallow skincare products. Primally Pure products are handcrafted with real raw ingredients to optimize your results and your overall health. Use code ASPIRE to get 15 % off your Primally Pure purchase. That's www.primallypure.com S-O-R-E dot com and use code ASPIRE at checkout for 15 % off your order.

40:42I'm interested to know what your own portfolio actually looks like. Like what do you do? So I love low cost S &P 500 index funds. So should we just unpack really quickly what the heck that means? So let's just start with an index. So when you hear on the news, like the Dow is up, the Dow is down. That's an index. It's just like a barometer of what the overall market is doing. The Dow is 30 biggest, most powerful stocks. You know, the S &P 500 are 500 stocks. The Nasdaq is another index. It's tech heavy. So when you're buying an index fund, you're buying a piece of all of those companies, basically.

41:20And so instead of putting all of your eggs in one basket, you're buying an investment that will give you some exposure to all of those companies. So it's basically like hedging a little bit. You're hedging your bets. Yeah. And what's great about these indexes is if they suck, they get kicked out. Wow. So you're really like - You're somewhat protected. Quality control is good. But again, it's over time that those are yielding 10%. How much time? Are we talking like two years, three years? What's the amount of time? Big swaths of time. Do you have like hard and fast rules for how much you should be putting, you know, how much should you save?

41:53How much goes into your retirement fund? How much should you invest? Like, how do you think about that? So generally for a portfolio, the basic rule of thumb is put your age in bonds. So what the heck is a bond? It's, you know, is a safer investment. It's fixed income. It will give you your initial investment back plus a little extra. So you put your age, however old you are. As a percentage. As a percentage. So I'm 41. So I'd put 41 % in bonds. And then I'd put the rest in more risky investments, stocks. So, you know, 60%, 59 % in stocks. or you take a little bit of that, I would say no more than 1 % in fun stuff like crypto.

42:31I was going to ask you about crypto. Do you believe in crypto? How do you feel about crypto? Crypto, I say no more than 1 % of your net worth. And everybody has a net worth. You don't have to be rich. No more than 1%. Because 1 % you can afford to lose. But you also can't afford to lose out if that 1 % becomes 100%. Okay. So I personally, if you're going to play in the crypto party, I would stick to Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a scarce asset. So there's only 21 million Bitcoins mined ever. And that's going to happen in the next century. There's about 19 million mined so far. So the scarcity of, you know, supply and demand is potentially relevant there.

43:19But you are perfectly fine. It's the most risky. But you're perfectly fine with crypto as a means to build wealth, like in the same way that you're not to the same degree because you make that clear from a percentage point of view of your overall portfolio. But when you're thinking about whether or not to put a little, have a little bet on crypto, you're basically like, yes, just make it small. For me, yeah, just don't go wild. Again, the mentality behind that is it's a get rich quick idea. Like, OK, I found, I found the, you know, the shortcut. Yeah. There's no, there's again, no shortcut. I really want you to say that more.

43:55There's no shortcut. There really isn't. I feel like all we hear are the outlier stories, right? It's like, I have a friend and he put this in this. You saw this TikTok about this AI thing, about this whatever. More often, no, that is actually not happening. And those stories are very few and far between. And when they do happen, it's down to, you know, a lot of other things, but oftentimes like luck. Yeah. And it worries me that because we don't have the language to talk about it, that a lot of people get screwed. And a lot of people think that they're hearing this great new opportunity, but ultimately get screwed.

44:27And so I think when you're thinking about just starting, I reframe a budget as a spending plan. It feels more sustainable. It doesn't feel, again, it's all about this little wording that you can change. In the same way as a diet feels like a crash, terrible thing. But an eating plan feels like you can eat chocolate or some small indulgences so you don't end up binging later on. If you start on a crash budget, you know, people will say in the beginning of the year, Nicole, you'd be so proud of me. I cut out the latte. I'm so good. I'm like, bro. Not sustainable. By April, you bought a Gucci purse.

45:06Exactly. You could have bought the coffee shop forever, you know, and so it's these like extremes that we get into. Ideally, 70 % of your overall spending plan should go to the essentials. So your food, your housing, your transportation and all of that stuff. 15 % to the extras. So buy a latte, buy whatever it is that does it for you. And then 15 % to your end game. At least 15 % to what your investments are. Only 15 %? No, at least. No, but wait a minute. I want to go back to the middle 15%. Only 15 % is your extras. Yeah, that's good. What do you mean? So of the essentials, half of that to housing.

45:46We ended up spending a lot more on housing. Yes. But don't you think, come on, the women that I know are putting more than 15 % of what they make into their hair and their upkeep and the clothes and the things and the things. But what you're saying is that stuff, like everything in that bucket ought to be only 15 % of what you spend on an annual basis. Yeah. You look shocked. I'm looking around going, I think that my girls are spending more than that. They're all like holding onto their chairs. I've heard it all. I've heard it like, oh, but it's a, you know, it's part of transportation. I'll put it in here.

46:25Like, oh, you know, it's an essential. My eyelashes, I don't know. But think of all the things that people do now. There is no, I think there's very, very, certainly here in LA, 15 % will be on the low, low, low end. Yeah. Rich people stay rich by acting like they're poor and poor people stay poor by acting like they're rich. You heard. Yeah, she said it. She said it. Okay. So you got to get hair, lashes, clothing, all of this stuff, tanning into a 15 % budget. You can move it around. You just say like that's the framework. But you're not moving it around to like 30 % a month because if that's the framework, you need to stay within.

47:04Because we're talking about building wealth. And I think that everybody wants to build wealth for themselves, right? None of us want to worry about money. It is so miserable to worry about money and stressful and all of the rest of it. So having a framework, having a budget, as much as you would have a plan for your career, a plan for your life, I mean, it's an imperative. You were in all the businesses, right? Do you just like wing it? Absolutely. I'm the least wingy person. I'm the most planned to, I mean, I told you, I know the price of everything. I haven't been grocery shopping in, I don't know how many years, but I can tell you the price of everything in my fridge.

47:45That's just intrinsically who I am. But I know where that comes from. It comes from a place of scarcity. It comes from a place of not having and absolutely imagining that everything is going to run out in my life. So I'm not saying it's healthy, but that's just the way that I manage it. I work on a budget. it. I'm furious about like, like just knowing every, everything that's incoming, everything that's outgoing all the time. There is nothing that is spent on my watch that I don't know about. And that's just the way that I like to keep control. But in that same way, I think that I have my own framework.

48:16I start with a yearly budget and I think about all the things that I can do, but it's definitely, I think that 15 % piece, if you're on a regular wage, I would say like a woman in America is probably spending a lot more than that on what you call their free, you know, their free budget. How did you, Frank? You said it was the extras. Well, if you cut back on transportation or something else, you can move a little bit here or there. I do think we don't actually know how much it is. And that's the bigger issue. So I think we suffer. The unawareness. Yeah. We suffer in general more in imagination than in reality.

48:55Let's just sit with that for a moment. We are so scared of finances because we just think that if we don't know, it's not going to hurt us. Right. It's like not stepping on the scale and we're fine. Right. It's the same idea. And so I think confronting it and realizing that it might be better than you think. It usually is. You know, we think of these crazy stories like, oh my God, I'm going to get arrested for taxes. And I'm like, you know, people have stories that like really scare them about what the worst case scenario is. Not to get all philosophical, but stoicism has been really helpful to me.

49:35Yes. And imagining that worst case scenario too. So for me, getting through some of that, you know, financial trauma that I had was like, okay, let's address the fear of being broke alone and homeless. Like what's going to happen? Like say I lose all my streams of income. I have nothing. What next? Well, I'm going to go to Sarah's house. I'm just going to sleep on the couch. It's going to be okay, whatever that is. And so it's helped me get out of some of that financial trauma anxiety that we all have. I mean, you're an entrepreneur. So how do you think that your awareness around finance helped you start your business?

50:12You know, there's a lot of female founders who even get to great, amazing exits that are rare and stunning and keep that money in their checking account. You are 100 % right. I might have had that very conversation with, I don't know, I can't tell, it's embarrassing to think how many founders, and I'm talking prominent, brilliant, as you say, really meaningful exits, and their money is sitting in a check-in account in perhaps even like a, you know, what do you call it? Like a, not an international bank, you know, like in a local kind of, and I, my mind is blown. I'm like, you know, that money could have been working for you.

50:53And that is just not even in their mind's eye. That's just not, it's nowhere to be found. Take it out of Bob's Bank. Yeah. I mean, to me, it's take it out of Bob's Bank. To me, I just will never, I'll never understand that. And I think there's so much of it is because, A, again, women don't talk about these things as much. So we're not having those bro-down conversations, which is like, hey, come and meet my guy over at JP Morgan. And da-da-da. Like that is not a conversation that happens between women typically. Let's do it. We're doing it now. We're doing it now. We're doing it now. If you sell your company, your money should not be in your check-in account.

51:27It's just that simple. It's true, though. Like I have a great girlfriend. Sold her a company for nine figures. managed a P &L, managed employees, all the things like brilliant. The exit happened, the check came and a couple of months later, I'm like, so what's going on? It's in the Bank of America checking account. I am losing it. I am just like, how is there this block? Cause now we're, we're making more money, which is amazing. So wage gap is getting shrinking. shrinking, the entrepreneur gap shrinking, the investment gap is wider than ever. And so I think it's, again, we're making more money, but it's not about how much you make, it's how much you keep and how much you grow that matters the most at the end of the day.

52:11So how do you change that? How, from a societal point of view, I think having conversations like this is really important, but what's the behavior that ultimately needs to change? I hope that this moment in the world is a big wake-up call too. You know, I think that this is a huge opportunity. We're seeing, you know, potentially a recession. We're definitely in a low market, bear market, which just means we're down. But it's actually great buying opportunities. So great fortunes have been made during recessions. And so thinking of this as an opportunity and not being scared, looking at it as, okay, wow, things, high-quality investments, not everything is on sale.

52:51high quality stuff is on sale. I can get in on this. And even if you're not ready to make that investment, taking it as a learning opportunity, right? Watching what's happening, listening to the stories, talking to people. I feel like sometimes, you know, you listen to a conversation like this and be like, okay, the market's down. Like what next for me? Well, it's like, just open your eyes to it. Like listen and start to figure out what you might do next time. Because I feel like so much of the information is like, that's not for me. That's not, that's not interesting for me. So it's like, it is for you if you actually want to create generational wealth.

53:23Yeah. Just know that. It is for you. Money is for you. Is money for you? Money is for all of us. We absolutely need money. Right. But you can figure out like how to connect the dots to what you're hearing. You know, so the idea that interest rates are going up, like, oh my God, that's so bad. Is it bad? Nothing's good or bad. It's just relative. So if you're a saver, it's amazing because you're making more money on your money. So you're going to make more at a bank. If you're getting a mortgage, it might not be the most amazing, but they're all, the way that the financial system works is really cool once you can actually see it and not be so, so intimidated to join these.

54:02It's the intimidation piece that I think is the worst. What do you think are the best financial education tools that are out there? I use, you know, books, podcasts. Listen to your podcast as an example. I have a whole, you know, financial network of people who are looking at finances in different aspects every single day. So whether it's the market, whether it's, you know, advanced investing like options or different, you know, things that I wouldn't suggest for a beginning investor. But looking at it as like a, as an overall meal for somebody who's curious about money is what, you know, I spend most of my time on lately.

54:40Again, I'm so surprised. Sometimes I'm really surprised. I'm like, I know this or like, I'm making this. And so it's, it's always like, it's still just, you know, a moment of like, wow, I figured this out. But also we've, like I said, figured out harder things in life. Oh, we figured out so many hard things. I think for me, it was really like, you know, the curiosity has always been there, but as somebody who's dyslexic and finds numbers really difficult, I'm definitely guilty of being that person. It's like, this is not for me. Numbers are not for me. And I started just like my husband listens to those, you know, CNBC, like every morning, you know, what is it like Jim Cramans on the TV?

55:20And I've just like, I would almost blank it out. And then I started to just listen. And then you read in the news and then you start connecting stories and it really can be as simple as that. And when you start asking questions, it's really surprising in your own social groups, like who's investing. And that was the biggest thing for me. I'd suddenly realized that I had a bunch of people around me who were making investments or, you know, had stocks in this and shares over here and bonds over. And I was just blown away. And so I feel like once you are a little bit curious, you'll probably be surprised by who else in your orbit actually has an interest.

55:55And like leaning into that can just be the most simple thing to do because I don't have a bunch of, you know, apps or things that I look, I look at that like Apple stock apps, like every single day, but that's, that's it really. And I just read a lot. The awareness has to be that you, again, you have to know what you're doing and you can never be ignorant to those facts. There's certainly no one that has power of attorney for me. There's, I sign everything. I read everything. There is, that's just how it goes. And even, you know, too much information, but between my husband and I, right? There is a, there's an element of trust that happens in a marriage, but I, I have my own representation.

56:32I have my own way of looking at things. And, and I've always done that because I would never want to be in a situation where I'd outsourced what I have earned to anyone else. It's as simple as that. That's a bar. Yes. I'm telling you. So you had a prenup or you. I had a pre, it's actually a great conversation. I remember it like it was yesterday. We went to an Italian restaurant. I was living in London at the time, just before we got married. And it's like, obviously not a romantic subject, but we're in a very romantic restaurant. And we sat down face to face and hashed out our prenup. On an abgin.

57:05Yeah. But like it was, you know, like it was any other negotiation. I was like, well, if this happens and this happens, then I would want this. And he was like, well, if this happens on the other side, this is what it will be. And we just like went at it like an actual negotiation. And that was before I have what I have now. So that's just my mindset. You know, it's like that I'm not, I'm not parting with anything I've worked hard for. I love that. No way. I think it's important to take back the conversation too. I think a lot of women think he's making me sign a prenup. This idea of like, he's making me is like, no, what, what about all of the, the wealth that you've created or, or business that you've created, bring that up, like have it ready to go.

57:47Own that conversation because you're going to have it anyway. Well, you're 100 % going to have it. The government. Why do you want the government to decide or the state to decide what's going to happen to you? These are hard conversations. Take control. But also, talking to your significant other about money doesn't have to be like an interrogation, right? You're talking about your hopes and your dreams. Dreams have price tags. You know, a dream without a plan is just a wish. And wishes are amazing, but they don't pay the bills. Like, you need to just figure out the life you want and then reverse engineer it to figure out how to get the money.

58:16and all those contingencies around it. So I have a couple of questions for you that are from my group chat. So first one, and it's because, you know, we're on that topic of partners. Does it ever make sense to have a joint account with a partner? Yeah. When? In what circumstance? I think it's a yours, mine, and ours. Yes, I love that. I have that kind of setup. Yours, mine, ours. Yeah. Especially when you have children. Always have yours. Always. Always. Always. Always. But the hours can be weighted too. Okay. So if somebody makes more money, then they're putting in a percentage. So it feels more equitable.

58:53Oh, that's nice. Because if one person is making a million dollars and one person is making$100 ,000, $10 ,000 is going to mean or feel like a different amount to them. Okay. So a weighted share. That makes a lot of sense. For like the communal stuff. Yes. Yeah. Under what circumstances should you borrow? where you can make more money with that money. Yeah, money is, I mean, the way the rich people, and I don't even think we dug into this, but they'll borrow against their assets and use that debt to pay for a house. You then just pay the interest on that loan so you don't have to liquidate investments.

59:33So like a non-rich mindset, I would say, is you have a million-dollar portfolio. You want to buy a million-dollar house. you take out$200 ,000, you put a down payment on it. The rich person mentality is look at that million dollar portfolio, take out a$200 ,000 loan against that portfolio, pay a small amount so you never have to sell those investments and those investments continue to grow. And then the last question from the group chat, how can you sustainably build multiple streams of income? I feel like this is such a thing now with everybody having a side hustle. Do you advocate for people having multiple streams of income?

1:00:09I feel like you do. Yeah, but not in the way that you would think. So the average millionaire has seven streams of income. So even if you don't have a side hustle or 14 businesses that you're running or whatever, like a stream of income can be dividends. It can be interest. So if you set up your investments to get dividends, dividends, just fancy word to say, like they give you a little present every once in a while from that investment. That's a stream of income. It doesn't require you to go out and do more things. So before we end, I want to ask you some rapid fire questions. The first thing that you do in the morning, what is that?

1:00:45Check my phone. I should, I should drink lemon water. You shouldn't do anything. You only have to be truthful. That's all I ask. You check your phone and that's honest. Are you checking the markets? Is that what you're doing? Yeah, yeah. Surprise. What's the last thing you do before bed? Sometimes I would gratitude journal and all this stuff. Lately, I'm just not, I'm checking my phone and I'm going to bed. That's true for you. It's honest. I think a lot of people can relate. Yeah. And you're doing it as you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed. That's right. Fair enough. What are you currently aspiring for in your business life?

1:01:18So interesting. I'm aspiring to not move the goalpost for a moment. And I'll double click on that for one second. Please. But I think that the reason we've never feel like we can have it all is because we never define what it all is. And we constantly change the goalposts on ourselves mid game. I don't know much about sports, but like that's, you know, if you keep moving the goalposts, you're never going to get there. And so I think celebrating what those wins are, but first defining what that is, is how we can have it all, so to speak. And so saying like, these were my goals. I got there. We're good.

1:01:51Like, I'm not a failure because now all of a sudden I just saw somebody's yacht on Instagram and I don't have one. It's like, hold on. Was that on my list of the things that I wanted? No, it wasn't. So like, be aware of that. It's a fantastic answer. I really, really love that answer. What are you aspiring for in your personal life? Learning how to raise a baby. Knowing what to do with a baby. I don't know. I, you know, I had a baby when I was 40. Good for you. I don't know. I don't know. Great timing. Thank you. So trying to keep her alive and happy. I love that. What is the biggest misconception about your profession?

1:02:34That it's a guy's thing and that it's like a fancy club that you can't be part of if you didn't grow up in it. And I'm here to tell you, you can be. Yeah. And you really did that today. Is there a book that changed your life? Not in the way that you'd expect. My first company was named Nothing But Gold, which people think is about bling bling and like money. But it's actually a line from Anna Karenina that I love Russian literature. And it was this idea that, you know, Anna in the book, in her most depressed times looked at the beach and I'm going to butcher this, but looked at the beach and saw just small specks of gold in the sand as happy times.

1:03:18Like there was just so few and far between, but she wanted to look at the beach and see nothing but gold, nothing but joy. Wow. And so. That is beautiful. I know. I should have said some money thing, but it's. No, not at all. No, I love to see all these sides of you. It's so lovely. And what's something that you valued when you were starting out that you don't value anymore? Stuff. Stuff. And what's something that you value now that you didn't back then? Altogether. Stocks. I love that. Stuff and stocks. That will be my big takeaway. way. Thank you so much. This was absolutely amazing. Thank you.

1:03:57You gave so much wisdom, so many gems. This was heaven. Thank you.

1:04:04If you're loving this podcast, be sure to click follow on your favorite listening platform. While you're there, give us a review and a five-star rating and share an episode you loved with a friend. We'll be so grateful. Aspire with Emma Greed is presented by Odyssey. I'm your host, emigrate. Our executive producers are Corrine Gilead-Fisher, Derek Brown, and me. Our executive producers from Odyssey are Maddie Sprung-Kaiser, Leah Reese Dennis, Asha Saluja, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Justine Dom is our senior producer. Our producer is Kristin Torres. Sound design and engineering by Bill Schultz. Angela Peluso is our booker.

1:04:40Original music by Charles Black. Video production by Evan Cox, Kurt Courtney, Andrew Steele, Carlos Delgado, and Arnie Agassi. Social media by Olivia Holman. Special thanks go to Brittany Smith, Sydney Ford, my teams at Jonesworks and WNE, Maura Curran, Josefina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchinson-Rose, Tim Meekle, Sean Cherry, and Lauren Vieira. If you have questions for me, you can DM me at aspirewithemagreed. Greed is spelled G-R-E-D-E. That's Aspire, A-S-P-I-R-E with Emma Greed. Or you can submit a question to me on my website, emmagreed.me. In football, value isn't just about making flashy plays.

1:05:29It's about consistency, durability, showing up. Week after week, season after season. That's Toyota, the brand built for the long game. Award-winning quality, legendary reliability, and a lineup of vehicles that hold their value against the toughest competition. Every play, every drive. It's no wonder Toyota was named the best resale value brand for 2025, according to Kelly Blue Book's KBB.com, for the fifth year in a row. And why Toyota's proud to be the official automotive partner of the NFL. Because like every great team, Toyotas are built to go the distance. For great deals and reliable vehicles you can count on, visit buyatoyota.com.

1:06:14That's buyatoyota.com. Vehicle's projected resale value is specific to the 2025 model year. For more information, visit kellybluebookskbb.com. Toyota, let's go places.